Hunger Strike : Hour 48 (2 Days)

So now it's been 2 whole days, which still doesn't sound like a lot of time... unless you are me. Do you know how hard it is to not do something that you love for 2 whole days? I love to eat, which is commonly referred to as the Kurutz Kurse. (I intentionally spell curse wrong, much like we intentionally spell court wrong when referring to Kurutz's Kourt up at Afterglow.) My Mom's side of the family, the Kurutzs, are known for their willingness to party and extravagant food spreads lovingly called Nana Meals. Whenever our family gets together to party, there's always way too much good food, and it's hard to stop eating because it is so incredible. And so I eat until I'm about to burst, which rarely results in a good aftermath. Especially when there is kielbasa involved. I'll leave it at that, much like I will leave the 3rd grade humor back in the hour 36 post. Regardless of how this all shakes out (because I know I'm going to eat something soon, I not so sure I can make it much further than 72 hours) I hope that I learn some kind of lesson from this adventure. Cause that's what life is all about anyway - having adventures and taking experiences away from them. I just want something positive to come out of this interesting departure from my everyday life. Or else what is the point of all of this?

2 days. 2 whole days. It went by real fast. Normally I am too busy goofing around, sleeping, and working, so to be honest with you I didn't really even notice that I haven't eaten during that time period. I guess I just don't really get hungry, and I eat just to eat. Tomorrow is a new day and more erie feelings might creep up into me, so I hope I'll have some interesting things to share. Since I really don't have anything to add anymore, I'm only going to do 2 updates (once every 12 hours) a day at 1:30 am and 1:30 pm. Those times (especially 1:30 am) are important because they represent turning points in this saga. So for now I am done, and I will once again go to sleep on an empty stomach. Oh, and the Hunger Strike charity dollar count is now at $48.00. So some good will come out of this then. Hooray for being righteous and noble.

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Hunger Strike : Hour 42

Life sucks when you are hungry because it's all that you think about. Nothing else matters except getting a little tiny bit of food in your tummy. Just enough to get you by until the next time that you can eat. At least that is the way that it is for people who are really starving. This Hunger Strike may seem like a joke to some of you, but this has given me a brand new perspective on things. By stepping outside of my comfort zone and making a sacrifice (albeit a rather small one), I feel like I have learned something. I think that I'm a little bit more tolerant of other people, and I can understand why people do things. When I ell people that I'm on a Hunger Strike for no reason, they stare blankly at me, then ask the eternal question - why? I still don't have a good answer for that question. I just tell people I'm doing it because I've never done it before. That seems to suffice for now, but once we get to 72 hours or something I'm going to have to come up with something a little more concrete. But knowing me, I'll probably fail by then, so I won't need to answer questions. But what do I know, I'm just a guy.

So the temptation has been strong, and it has been worse considering that I neglected to tell anyone that I was on a Hunger Strike. This was painfully obvious when Jenny stopped over to give me my mail, and she cooked up a big sweet bag of microwave popcorn. You all know how wonderfully fantastic that stuff smells. Now imagine how wonderful it smells after not eating for 42 hours. I'm pretty sure that's what Heaven smells like. They should make air fresheners, candles and incense that smells like microwave popcorn, but then people would probably start eating the canisters, wax and sticks. I know I would.
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So other than a little distraction and a whiff of fantastic smells coming from Applebee's at Bayshore Mall and when I passed by Grecian Delight on the way home, I'm doing pretty good. I don't even feel like eating yet. Apparently the hunger hasn't hit me yet. I'm pretty sure that's tomorrow when I wake up after not eating for a total of 54 hours. If my alarm doesn't wake me up in the morning, my stomach certainly would. Then I would yell and curse at it, punch it, and set the sleep timer. Just like I do with my alarm clock. And then I will get up and go to work and think about food all day. Or something like that. I just hope that my cat Gordon doesn't start looking like one of those savory rotisserie chickens that you buy at the grocery store. Now that would be make for an interesting evening. Me chasing him around the apartment, and him ducking and hiding under and behind every object within range. Please Lord don't let it come down to that. I'd eat my own arm before I sunk my teeth into my baby. Well that's it for now, I'll throw another post up here before I head off to bed tonight. Oh, and start saving some food for me. When this ends, I'm gonna feast like the Whos in the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Roast Beast here I come!

- pookon -

www.pookon.com
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Hunger Strike : Hour 36

I'm not going to type a lot cause I'm not supposed to be doing this at work. But I like to rage against the machine, stand up to the man, and goof around at work. In your face corporate society!! I love using company time for personal gains. It's like taking a poop at work - everybody poops so why not get paid to do it. Plus then you can use their toilet paper, but they usually get the rough stuff. If you want the gentle double roll cotton stuff, you gotta hold it until you get home. But I'm not going to talk about pooping, because even though everyone poops, you don't poop if you don't eat. And this blog just became filled with 3rd grade humor. I guess I'm just shooting for the lowest common denominator again, and bathroom humor always kills with those people. You can go political or topical, and they'll stare blankly back at you. If you make fart noises with your mouth (or better yet, with a whoopie cushion) they'll fall out of their seats with laughter, clutching their sides and crying in the process. The whole world is doomed. To not think about the hunger, I need to think about other things to keep my mind sharp. In the next few days (if I can rock it that long) you'll be reading some very interesting stuff here. It's gonna be wild.

So it's been 36 hours, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm getting a little bit hungry. But not that much really, because I rarely (except when there is free eats) eat at work. I'll snack on an occasional bag of chips or pretzels, but I mostly do my eating at Vitucci's 2. My biggest test (since every test from here on out is exponentially bigger than the one before it) will be when I get off the bus tonight and have to walk by McDonalds, Grecian Delight, Sil's and Chubby's Cheesesteaks without succumbing to the Temptations. Oh My Girl, It Was Just My Imagination. When I get home, I half expect Tim Meadows and a bunch of chicks to be in my bathroom eating hamburgers, then they will try and persuade me not to eat them. I think I kind of want them. Luckily for me there is no way in hell that Tim Meadows and some scantily clad women will be eating burgers in the bathroom, so I will have no problem resisting the temptations. Unless they turn bad feelings into good feelings, don't give you a hangover, are not habit forming, and are the cheapest shit there is. If they are, then I'm in trouble. Then God help me. God help us all.

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So I just totally almost ate a dum-dum lollipop. I wasn't even thinking. I unwrapped it and brought it near my mouth, but then I realized what I was doing. So what, it's only a lollipop, right? But that's how it starts. First it's a lollipop, then it's a couple of chips. Before you know it, you're eating one of those Renaissance Fair giant turkey legs and the gravy is dripping down your chin. And just like that, you're back to being a food junky again. Not me, I will not give in to the Temptations, no matter how good they sound. I won't even crack if some asshole walks down the hall carrying a bag of bag of delicious fatty food from Wendy's. Those devils are just not making this shit any easier. But I've come too far to turn back now. What if Frodo turned back when he reached the edge of the Shire? Then Middle Earth would have been screwed. Like Frodo, I will not quit. I'm gonna dispose of this cursed ring into the fiery depths of Mordor too. Then I'll be the hero of the world. Or just some dude who decided to go on a Hunger Strike for no reason. Whatever. But at least it gave me an excuse to waste company dollars by typing a lot. Work can rule sometimes. Later dudes.

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- pookon -

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http://www.pookon.com/

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Hunger Strike : Hour 30

It's not too hard going on a Hunger Strike when you A.) don't have food at your house and B.) don't have money to get food outside of your house. Sure, I could eat condiments on paper napkins like a true homeless person, but I'll just refrain from eating for the time being. If I start scrounging around for half eaten scraps of food and free condiments, then slap me and tell me to stop these shenanigans. This Hunger Strike nonsense isn't worth getting sick over. At least I'm not going full out bum and sleeping with cardboard boxes and newspapers in the back alleys of downtown Milwaukee. That's just crazy.

I've always been told that breakfast is supposed to be most important meal of the day, but I never eat breakfast because I wake up 45 minutes before I catch my bus. I wake up so late because I stay up until the wee late hours of the night and don't get to bed until 2 AM. I don't really get tired because I never do anything except sit in my office chair at work, sit on the bus, sit on the couch and sit at my computer. If I actually moved around the day I might actually burn calories or use up some of my stored energy. So I don't eat breakfast because I don't need to kick start of energy in the morning to get me going. The only time that I eat breakfast is at McDonalds, and I'm pretty sure that a greasy Egg McMuffin and greasier hashbrowns are not the most important meal of the day. No matter how much you're McLovin' it, it doesn't make it a good McFreakin' idea.

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So the big task will be seeing how I do at work today as I'm crunching numbers and trying to stay awake. I normally am bored out of my mind when loading hotel rates and inventory, so we'll see how this crap goes once my stomach goes from full to empty as I burn this tank down to fumes. So far so good though. I'm getting used to this not eating crap. What the heck are all those people in 3rd World Countries complaining about? Bunch of whiners. And wow. That is officially the most offensive and worst thing that I have said today. Here I am trying to bring about change and I have to be an ass about it. Some things just never change then I guess... See you at 1:30 pm.

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- pookon -

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http://www.pookon.com/

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Hunger Strike : Hour 24 (1 Day)

So now it has been a complete day since I started this Hunger Strike thing. To be quite honest with you, I am feeling full right now. Not an single bit hungry. That makes me realize that I eat way too much, and not just when my body needs the food. I eat for the sake of eating and because it tastes good. It's almost like I eat because I love doing it. That's what you call an addiction ladies and gentlemen. I'm hooked on food and I'm loving every single bite. Oh no! That means I'll probably be going through withdrawals pretty soon too. That's gonna be a rough one as I'm sitting in my cubicle tomorrow. The hunger will probably hit me tomorrow too; I just hope that my growling stomach doesn't upset my co-workers. Then I have to explain to them that I'm participating in a meaningless and unnecessary Hunger Strike, and that I'm basically doing it for fun. The real test will be if someone brings in free eats tomorrow at work. There's this sign up sheet that people are supposed to get on, and when it's your turn, you're supposed to bring snacks for everyone. Sometimes it's donuts or cookies, one time it was apples with hot caramel dipping sauce, and another time someone brought cupcake sized cherry cheesecakes for their birthday. All were extremely delicious, but it was wrong for me to eat them all because I have not signed up to participate in the snack bringing. But that's how I am - take take take take take. I never give. Which is why I will keep this Hunger Strike going so that I can give. In the end, it may only be like $48 dollars, but it will be $48 dollars more than what they already have. I've been drinking plenty of water, and I haven't had a single thing that contained calories in the 24 time period. So far I am holding up pretty good, and I probably wouldn't even be thinking about it if I weren't up at 1 in the morning writing about it. But those midnight cravings didn't come today, and I even hung out downstairs at Vitucci's 1 and refrained from drinking a beer. For the 1st time in my "adult life" I could've totally cheated and done the wrong thing (and totally got away with it no less) but I didn't. Oh, and there were Hershey's chocolates on the table in the living room, and although I looked at them, I didn't touch them. No way. A Miller Lite or an individually wrapped kiss is not going to make me quit on this meaningless game. Not now. Not when I am only 24 hours in to it. What if Columbus had said screw it, it's been 24 hours, might as well stop looking for a safe water route to Asia. We'd all be Indians. This is one thing that I'm not going to quit. At least for now...

Before I go, I just want to address the fact that many (if in case many people read this crap) people may be like, "so what asshole, you didn't eat for 24 hours. Big whoop. I've done that plenty of times." I know you have, and I'm pretty sure that I have too. That's not the point. The point is that I'm an over eater and that I'm borderline compulsive when it comes to the stuff. It's a big step for me to purposefully commit to breaking a bad habit, and sticking with it for at least a day (and counting). That's about 23 hours longer than I usually get, as I also have problems with commitment. I'm not very reliable, and most of the time I feel like a real piece of shit. If I can prove to myself that I do something little and insignificant, then maybe I can do other things too. It's an attitude adjustment, it's not just about the eating thing (although it certainly does factor in to the equation.) Basically it breaks down to this - I don't like the person that I have become. Somewhere along the line I gave up, and let my life kind of go to hell. I blame my looks or my personality on the fact that I've been single for 27 years, but in all honesty it's the fact that I just haven't tried. And I've used my glasses, or my wavy hair, or my "alcoholism", or my weight to blame for my lack in socializing with other people. I've always got an excuse for everything. Time to stop making excuses and take control of my life. I used to think that I'm running out of time, but the truth is that time is all that we really have. I'm gonna go to bed and try to figure out why people like me, because when I look in the mirror all I see is some ugly bastard that doesn't care anymore. It's time for me to see through that and see what everyone else sees - the real me. But it's gonna take longer than 24 hours for me to figure that one out.

Good night folks, I'll see you in the morning. Save some breakfast for me - just kidding :)

- pookon -

www.pookon.com

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Hunger Stike : Hour 18

So we're on hour 18 right now of my hunger strike, and to be honest with you, I'm not hungry at all. I was just doing dishes, and I was in close proximity to food, and I had no intention of putting any of it in my mouth. Before you congratulate me and award me a gold star sticker, I'd like to point out that all of the food was several days old and well caked on plates and bowls. I don't think even the Starvin' Marvins of Ethiopia would mow down on that crap. I should really be doing this cause for hungry kids or some shit, because they are the ones who need nourishment for survival. I'll tell you what, I'm going to pledge $1 for every hour that I abstain from food then I am going to give that money to my Mom so that she can get it to the proper charities or families that are in dire need of help. That way I'll feel like I am doing something instead of just being silly. If you read this and actually care, you could also pledge some sort of donation to the hungry hungry (and I'm talking about those board game Hippos) and when this is all said and done we can present my Mom with an envelope of cash. I know that we don't have a lot of money, but there are people out there who have less than we do. It's like the Arrested Development song Mr. Wendell - "Here, have a dollar. In fact, no, brotherman, here have two. Two dollars means a snack for me, But it means a big deal to you." I orginally picked the bowling logo because it was funny, and I intended to make fun of people going on hunger strikes, but in fact this really means something. In one of the later postings, I'll shed a little light on hunger strikes and give my opinion on them, but for now we'll stick to the topic on hand. I picked the matchstick because it still is humourous, but at the same time it's lighting a flame and getting something started. Which leads me into really my only purpose for doing this.

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So I still don't really know why I'm doing this, and although you might not really care why I do things, I still think that there is supposed to be a reason for everything. Without getting all philosophical and religious, I believe that everyone is on this planet for a reason and one day we will all get to do our part (be it big or small) to change the world. I don't think mine has come yet, but I do know that this is not it. This is just me being a little depressed and looking for a little something to break me out of a funk. I hate myself right now, so it's tough for me to be positive. If I can prove to myself that I can set a goal and achieve it, then maybe I am not a total loser, failure, and disappointment to my family and friends. You know, not to discredit what I am doing, but I just realized that there really is no one around to make sure that I'm not sneaking candy bars when no one is looking or raiding the fridge after midnight like a sinister mogwai. You pretty much just have to go by my word, and if you don't believe me, I completely understand you because I lie all the time. I've never been serious for a moment in my entire life, and even at the most serious of times (family illness, my parent's divorce) I'm cracking jokes and trying to lighten the mood. I always tell people to not even to take me seriously cause I'm full of shit and I'm all talk and no game. Well this time I'm bringing the game when I say I'm going on a hunger strike. I can't promise to make a difference or bring attention to an issue, nor can I promise to keep this going for an extended period of time (which would be ridiculously unhealthy). I can promise to pay attention to what I am doing and to start acting in moderation. It's time to get on up and get healthy, and I think that this is a nice start. 18 hours isn't a whole lot of time. In fact it is next to nothing. But it is a start. And everything must have a start before it can end. Let's hope that the ending is a little more far off than 1:30 am tonight, cause what's the point in a 24-hour hunger strike? See you in 6 hours...

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Hunger Strike : Hour 12

I've got a little bit of a weight problem, and the problem with me is that I eat the wrong kinds of foods and I don't exercise like at all. The proper way to fix my problem is to eat right and exercise, but I'm going to take a more drastic approach and go on a huger strike, and see how long I can go without eating before I cave in to the demands. I last ate at 1:30 am last night (another of my horrible eating habits, which is eating crap food right before bed) when I had some french fries and Nacho Cheese Doritos. During this time period of a hunger strike (if I get pretty far into this, I'm going to think of a good cause to strike towards) I can not willingly consume calories, so that means no food, candy, snacks, juice or soda. I obviously will be drinking plenty of water and taking some vitamins, so that my system has something to work off of. Hopefully I can keep this going long enough so that my body starts eating away at the useless fat that is clinging on to my body. I know that this isn't healthy, but I have to try it. Just like I had to try not sleeping for more than 36 hours because I read someone that you start getting delirious. In the name of science, I need to see if the same thing happens here. So it's been about 1 hours since I ate anything, and the lunch hour is upon us. I usually don't have a problem with food at work because I don't bring a lunch, nor do I have enough money to get something out of the vending machine. I also do not have the time to walk to the nearby restaurants, so I usually eat when I get home. So that means around 7:30 pm tonight (17 hours in) will be my biggest challenge today.

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This kind of got me thinking about other things. It's like a challenge - how long can you go without _____? Or how long can you do ______? One thing that I'd like to do is see how long I can wear the same shirt (it would have to be an undershirt, since I can't wear the same shirt to work everyday) before it started to drive you crazy? The smell alone would make you want to change it, but how long could you deal with it? Or how long can you go without shaving? Eventually you would look like a homeless guy or a mountain man, and people would have to stage an intervention to clean you up so that you are presentable. Having all that scraggly facial hair and looking like a hobo would be tough to deal with. And that's all that this is about - dealing with it. It's times when things feel so wrong and different that you truly feel alive, because you are out of your comfort zone and experiencing change. I need to feel alive, so don't be alarmed if I start to do some crazy shit in the near future.

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So stay tuned to this blog for updates, as I'm sure eventually (and hopefully) I'll start getting the hunger so bad that I will want to start eating my office supplies. I no doubt will puss out long before that happens, but we'll see I guess. Maybe for the first time in my life I will commit to something and make a real change. Hey, it could happen... I just want to warn you not to try this at home. I am not a professional, nor am I being monitored by professionals, but I'm pretty sure that my body can handle this. And unless you are morbidly obese like me, don't do anything that could cause harm to your body. And don't use the phrase morbidly obese - that makes it sound like I am hanging out on death's doorstop waiting for him to let me in. I have no idea how long I will stick this one out, but it's sure to provide some much needed content to this blog. Plus maybe this little stunt will draw in more viewers to this blog. Hell, it usually works for that idiot David Blaine. But I shouldn't need stunts to get people to notice me, but I do need to alter my appearance and my attitude. Maybe this will help. I'll see you in a few with an update...

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- pookon -
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http://www.pookon.com/

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

A Glass of Wine

In keeping on topic with sober week, I'm going to present you with an article that I have been writing for some time about wine. Now that I am supposed to be a grown up, I'm going to have to start conforming with society. That means drinking wine at dinner parties, discussing current world events and attending community meetings that focus on improving the quality of life in the neighborhood. Of course then I'd have to start wearing neatly pressed khakis and sweater-vests, but it would be worth it if I could be accepted by the middle class society. That day may or may not come (I can't make any promises either way), but I have to prepare myself now by drinking the wine that I can be ready for the future. Plus I need to get used to wearing sweater-vests and caring about the community. Yuck.

I read somewhere that having a glass of wine each day has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and slow the progression of neurological degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. Some people (not to point fingers, but I'm talking to you Mom) have criticized me for my love of alcohol, but I'm just trying to stay healthy. If online doctors using the Google on the internet machine say that it is good, then I'm going to listen to them and take their advice. After all, how can internet doctors be wrong? When has the internet ever led you astray? Isn't WebMD the place to get better information and better health? I'm just trying to live past 50 people! And I might just need some white zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and chardonnay to get me there. Who's with me?

But I think that naysayers and people like my Mother get all uppity because people like me drink to excess, much like when they consume an entire bottle of wine (750 ML) in a day instead of the 1 or 2 glasses that make wine healthy. The only benefit that you get from the wine is a little classy buzz that helps you write genius commentary on a website or a blog. Plus wine is relatively cheap compared to some of the other forms of alcohol, and it makes me feel more like an adult than when I drink countless cans of Milwaukee's Best Ice.But the hangover can be quite troublesome depending on which grade of wine you consume. They say the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice, but I say the cheaper the wine, the heavier the hangover. I know that all too well.

Which leads me into my next point. I'm not a wine guy at all, so when I drink wine it usually comes in a plastic bag with a nozzle inside of a cardboard box. Chillable Red is my favorite, and it comes courtesy of the Franzia Wine Company, who have paved the way for kids of all "legal" drinking ages to S the B. That is the main benefit to drinking box wine because no matter how you try, you can't get as much satisfaction by slapping a glass bottle as you do by slapping a plastic bag. It's so much fun, that a small group of us have been known to consume all 5 liters in 1 night, which results in some pretty wicked hangovers the next day. Hangovers in general suck, but B-Dubs hangovers are hell. My head feels like the B getting S'd repeatedly for an extended period of time.

All's good with consuming a safe amount of wine everyday, as long as I don't end up like this guy. He calls himself the World's Greatest Wine-O, and he prides himself on being a drunken attraction at Venice Beach. If you give him some money (which he promises to spend on booze, and I totally believe him) he will tell you funny jokes, songs and stories. Now that I think about it, being this guy wouldn't be so bad. He probably makes more money than me, doesn't pay taxes, hangs outside with hot chicks, drinks all day, and is loved and remembered by all who cross his path. I bet if I engaged in conversation with someone who has been to Venice beach and I mentioned the Wine-O, they'd know exactly who I was talking about. Now that's big time famous. That's legendary. All for being a drunken derelict. I've been aiming high as far as career and life goals go, maybe I should start aiming low like this guy.

- pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

I'm not an Alcoholic...

...because Alcoholics go to meetings. I'd probably consider myself more of a two-fisted slopper. You remember the two-fisted slopper, right? You don't? Then you probably are one of those bandwagon Brewers fans that I will soon bitch about in an upcoming blog entry. Back when the Brewers used to suck, they played at a place called Milwaukee County Stadium. County Stadium opened in 1953 and the Brewers played there until 2000. In the 47 years that it stood in what is now the parking lot of Miller Park, they really did not make any improvements to the stadium. Everything that we complained about being smelly, cramped, obstructed, and outdated is not considered cool, retro, and thought upon with fond memories. But this isn't a blog about former stadiums where I spent some of the best times of my childhood, this is about drinking, which is where the two-fisted slopper comes into play.

The reason that I write this blog entry is that my Mom thinks that I am a raging alcoholic. I believe that statement to have a little truth, but I still don't consider myself to be an alcoholic. Alcoholics need alcohol and are dependant on it, and it is an addiction that they cannot control. I can easily go without alcohol, but I thoroughly enjoy it, so I consume it on a regular basis. In that regards, I am more of a drunk than an alcoholic. I call myself a two-fisted slopper because when I drink, I never just have one. I usually have 1 drink in each hand and am belligerent before the night is over. Sometimes (like at Afterglow) I am drunk by 3:00 pm, and I often make a fool out of myself. My Mom is always super embarrassed by my actions, but I always just tell her that I am being young and foolish. Until one day when I figured out that I'm really not that young anymore. 27 year-olds are supposed to be working at careers, not jobs. They are supposed to be getting married and having children, not living above a bar with two other dudes. They are supposed to be setting life goals, not training for a National beer pong tournament in Las Vegas. But then again, I never really did what I was supposed to.

I try to stay sober for a long period of time (which I consider to be a week, because a week is FOREVER) but it never happens because of my friends and my lifestyle. I guess I could change my friends and my lifestyle, but that would mean giving up my life as a beer pong player. I'm not yet ready to do that, because it's one of the few things that is keeping me from growing up and moving on with life after college. I still try to pretend that I am still 23, and I even delayed graduating by about 2 years so that I could party longer in college. I party a little more that I probably should at my age, and it really isn't cute or funny anymore, which is why I declare sober weeks every now and then when I need to recuperate. It doesn't sound like a lot to any of you non-alcheys out there, but during these sober time periods I abstain from midweek drinking and generally just lie around on the couch because I have nothing to do. I don't write on the site, don't visit with friends, and I just kind of become an anti-social little caterpillar in his sober cocoon. But it is what I make it it out to be, and I tend to make it a lot bigger than it actually is.

The problem that I face is that I've always been a beer glass is half empty kind of guy. Then I turned into the beer glass is all the way empty because I drank all of the beer to drown away my sorrows kind of guy. I think the reason that I drink so much is that dealing with the world when sober is really tough, and it's just too easy to get drunk, pass out, and forget about all of the crazy shit that's going on around you. I'm kind of half and half on all of this nonsense. Call it borderline if you will. I'm on the fence on whether or not I can handle the world while sober, or if I need some liquid courage to get me through the day. Whatever it is, it's really not working out for me and I need to find some alternative method to working out my problems. So for 3 weeks out of the month I'm drinking them away, and in the last week I'm recovering from one hell of a month. Not a good way to live the life, but what the hell else am I gonna do?

Oh, and before you start getting worried and think about staging an intervention and sending me to rehab, I'm half serious and half joking on this topic. It's up to you to figure out which half is the truth and which half is a lie. Cause I'll never tell. That's one of the best things about holding the power (truth and answers) because it keeps everyone else guessing.

Sober week has begun, so expect tons of stories about alcohol and drugs. Or expect nothing at all. It's not like I update this shit on a regular basis now that my sole method of entertainment (the Milwaukee Brewers) have ceased to exist for the remainder of the season. I've got a couple of stories in the pipeline (the playoff wrap-ups, season review, preview of next season) but I'm still suffering vicariously from the immense choking that Jeff Suppan did in game 4 of the NLDS at Miller Park. But that's another story for another day.

I'd say cheers and lift my glass to you, but it's just not the same when there's water in the glass instead of Sailor Jerry. But cheers anyway my friend.

- pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Cubs 9/26 - 9/28 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 52 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Chicago Cubs September 26 - September 28 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

When the 2008 Brewers schedule was released in September of 2007, I boldly predicted that the season would be decided in the final weekend of this year when the Brewers squared off against the Cubs. I was only halfway right, because I predicted that they would be battling for the division title. Since the Cubs had already wrapped up the NL Central title and homefield advantage for the playoffs, they were just playing for pride and division rivalry. The Brewers however, had just a little bit more at stake LIKE THEIR 1ST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE IN 26 GODDAMN YEARS!!! All eyes were on the Mets/Marlins series because both the Brewers and Mets entered this weekend deadlocked in a tie for 1st place in the NL Wildcard. It was tough to not scoreboard watch, because none of that matters if we don't take care of business and win, but I couldn't help but root for the Marlins. Seeing how shitty that the Brewers have played in September so far, we were going to need a little (ok, a lot) of help from others just to make it to baseball's sacred postseason. The fact that they were playing the hated Cubs really didn't make it easier on the fans, because "Wrigley Field North" would be anywhere from 30% - 50% full of jackass Cubs fans who can't get a ticket to hangout in the toilet they call Wrigley Field. It kind of takes the homefield advantage out of the equation, but that just means that whatever Brewers fans didn't sell their tickets to Cubs fans would just have to cheer twice as loud. Any Brewers fan that sold their ticket to a Cubs fan should be ashamed of themselves. In fact, I'm working on finding out who did it, so that we can issue them a lifetime ban from Miller Park for their inexcusable actions. I know that Cubs fans are jerks, but this was the most important series of the entire year, and the Brewers really needed you to be there to support the shit out of them. From the time when the gates opened and the 1st Cubs fan walked through the turnstile, there were already 1 too many Cubs fans in Miller Park. Thanks a lot assholes for allowing those FIBs to infest our park with their suckiness. You're a great benefit to us all and our cause. But enough about harping on the fans that did not attend - that's not the reason why I started the 2008 Brewers season Wrap-ups; I did it to reflect on the games and give my 1st hand insight into this magical season. So with 159 games down and 3 to go, we needed to win at least 2 out of 3 and hope the Marlins take 2 of 3 from the Mets just to make it to the playoffs. Show me something more exciting than this, and I'll show you a liar (you). There is nothing better than this weekend, so let's get on with the wrap-up so that I can tell you all about it.

Game 1 (Friday) - Jeff Suppan (10-10, 4.96 ERA) vs Ryan Dempster (17-6, 2.96 ERA)

Jeff Suppan has so far had a very forgettable September. His losses and ERA are up, and lately you just can't count on him to put your team in a position to win the game. It's terrible, because he used to be such a big game pitcher and exactly the guy that you would turn to in this must win situation. He had a magnificent September back in 2007 to keep the Brewers in it as long as they were, but this September in 2008 has been a nightmare for him (and all of us). So why then, did the Brewers run him out there to pitch in this game? Because they simply didn't have any options remaining. Sure, Carlos Villanueva or Seth McClung maybe could have started today, but both of them have been so incredible out of the bullpen that Svuem probably didn't want to disrupt that. So while we all held our breath waiting for Suppan to screw it up, he made us feel relaxed enough to exhale. Suppan wasn't especially sharp, allowing 8 hits in 5 innings, but he limited the potent Cubs offense to just 1 run on a Jim Edmonds homerun. in the 2nd inning. The Brewers got that run back in the bottom half, and it stayed tied until the 6th inning, when the Brewers took a 1 run lead. I was able to watch this entire game, and I once again had the Mets game constantly refreshing on my iPod. When the Mets lost to the Marlins, I was brimming with excitement. But the Brewers were clinging to just a 1 run lead, and the Cubs, as we all know too well, are very capable of a big comeback inning. That's why Rickie Weeks' pinch-hit 3 run homer in the 7th inning nearly sealed the deal. But some Brewers pitcher still needed to close this game out, and we all know that Torres is not the man for the job (given his track record against the Cubs this year). That is why the hero of the game today was none other than "Big Red" Seth McClung. He came on in relief of Suppan in the 6th inning, and tossed 4 scoreless innings of 1 hit ball. Simply amazing. I know that the Cubs really aren't trying too hard, but McClung deserves some recognition for his job well done today. With a Mets loss and a Brewers win, we move up to a huge 1 game lead in the Wildcard standings with 2 games to play. Plus we beat the Cubs today. It's always a good day when we beat the Cubs. Final score Brewers 5, Cubs 1.

Brewers record : 89 - 71, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card (1 game ahead of the New York Mets)

Game 2 (Saturday) - Ben Sheets (13-9, 3.09 ERA) vs Ted Lilly (17-9, 4.09 ERA)

Ben Sheets exited his last start with elbow problems, and although everyone in the world begged him to not go out and pitch if he wasn't 100% healthy, Ben Sheets went out there and pitched. The Cubs threw out a lineup of bench players (Fukudome, Cedeno, Hoffpauir, Ward, Johnson, Fontenot, McGehee, and Blanco) so that they could rest up all of their regulars. I thought that the Cubs were sending out replacement players, and I half expected to see Shane Falco, Clifford Franklin, and Nigel "The Leg" Gruff take the field under the tutelage of Jimmy McGinty. But this was real life, not my favorite movie. In reality, the Cubs were sending out 16 game winner Ted Lilly, but the Brewers have historically hit well against left handed pitchers. But the worst that could happen did, and all hell broke loose at Miller Park. Ben Sheets gave up a 1st inning homerun to Daryle Ward (who was batting a majestic .216 with 3 homeruns and 15 RBIs coming into the game today) and just really didn't have anything today. He didn't even had bad stuff, he had nothing. When he gave up 2 more runs in 3rd inning, he was pulled for Mark DeFelice and everyone saw the Ben Sheets that we have known all too well during his tenure in Milwaukee - the one that has spent more time on the disabled list than on the pitching mound. We all knew that Sheets just threw his last pitch in a Brewers uniform. But there was no time to lament over Sheets' mysterious injuries in his career, we still needed to figure out a way to win this ballgame. Dave Bush came in after DeFelice, and he went 3 innings and didn't even give up a hit. He was supposed to start this game had Sheets not been ready to go, and I know that second guessing is easy because it happens after the fact, but maybe, just maybe, he should have started while Sheeter shut it down and rode the pine. Too late for that. The Brewers scored a run in the 7th, and 2 more in the 8th to make it a 4-3 ball game. With the Brewers down by a run, Sveum put in his closer Salomon Torres, and Torres once again sucked the big one against the Cubs. He gave up 3 runs without recording an out, and this game was suddenly out of hand. The Brewers had a chance to come back and win this one, but they failed. Since the Mets won, they fell to a tie in the Wildcard lead with 1 game left to play. That means tomorrow's game (game # 162) was for all of the marbles. A Brewers win and a Mets loss, and the Brewers go to the playoffs. A Mets win and a Brewers loss and the Mets go to the playoffs. If both win or if both tie, then there is a 1 game playoff at Shea Stadium on Monday to determine the Wildcard winner. God I hope it doesn't come down to that. This is just too thrilling and exciting for me to handle. Final score Cubs 7, Brewers 3.

Brewers record : 89 - 72, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card (tied with the New York Mets for 1st)

Game 3 (Sunday) - CC Sabathia (17-10, 2.70 ERA) vs Angel Guzman (0-0, 5.59 ERA)

The Brewers once again asked CC to pitch on 3 days rest, and he once again took the ball in a do-or-die game. Hard to believe that they play 162 games (which is a lot compared to all of the other major professional sports) and that the season comes down to just 1 day, and the final day of the season at that. That's why baseball to me is so exciting, because so many things can happen during the final weeks depending on the matchups. I awoke early and suited up for the game, fully expecting to work today. When I got there, to my surprise I found that I wasn't on the schedule. Normally I would have been pissed because my boss told me that I was working, but today was anything but normal. I stayed punched in for a half hour while they tried to work it out, but I said screw it, I'm just gonna go somewhere and watch the game. My friend and former roommate Fresno Chris was there, and I had a ticket from my friend and current roommate Joey Kanz to give to him. So I met him outside of Friday's in the outdoor smoking patio. He had some Miller Lites on him, so I downed a couple of beers (free drink count : 2) while we were chatting. Then my Uncle Gary and his friend Dennis walked by, so I hung out with them for a minute. My Uncle bought me a beer (free drink count : 3), and then I got a ticket from him to give to my brother James' friend Dave. So that means the game hasn't even started yet, and already I have had 3 free beers, 2 tickets, and 1 free admission to the game (via my employee badge). I sat down in left field level section 128 (my Uncle's seats) for about an inning with Dave and James, then I had to move because I was occupying some dude's seat, and he arrived and finally claimed it. I then went up to the club level to watch the game, sitting in the wheelchair section 310. The cashier Theresa allowed me to get some food, so I got a nachos grande, bag of peanuts, and a large mountain dew (free drink count : 4.) That is where I spent the majority of the game (about 3rd inning on) where I nervously ate my peanuts and paced back and forth. We all now know what happened during this game, but let me play it out for you (and me) so that we can one day look back at this as the greatest game that we have ever seen. Yep folks, I am putting this game at #1 on my list of all-time Brewers that I have attended. CC retired the side in the 1st inning, and it looked like this one was getting off to a great game when Mike Cameron singled (something he hasn't done often in the leadoff spot) to start out the Brewers half of the inning. But that's about all that happened for a long while. The Mets/Marlins game got a late start due to a rain delay, and every time that the Marlins score popped up on the left field video board, the crowd went nuts. I've never seen so many Marlins fans (if only for 3 days) in my entire life. The Cubs decided to use a cadre of bullpen arms (mostly September call-ups that would not be on the postseason roster) to throw the 9 innings in today's game, and I think the constant switching off left and right handed pitchers with different styles really threw off the Brewers batters, because after Cameron's leadoff single, another Brewer wouldn't reach base until the 7th inning, when Ray Durham leadoff with a double. The Cubs had scored in the 2nd inning, and this was looking like no more scoring would go on today. But not so fast! Durham, as I said, reached on a leadoff double. He moved to 3rd on Braun's ground out. Then with a base open at 1st, Fielder was intentionally walked. JJ Hardy then worked a nice at bat into an unintentional walk, and the bases were loaded with 1 out and Corey Hart at the plate. And then came one of the worst at bats that I have ever seen in my life. Hart struck out swinging on 3 total pitches that were all low and outside. All he had to do was lift one to the outfield for a sac fly to tie the game. Corey Hart just looked lost up there at the plate, which has pretty much been the case for him since the All-Star Break. And then came Craig Counsell. He worked an excellent veteran at bat to take a walk with the bases loaded to force in the tying run. He may never hit above .250, play every day, or knock in a bunch of RBIs, but he does the little things like working counts, moving runners over, and playing great defense - 3 things that no one else on this club knows how to do. Kendall grounded out to end the inning. Sabathia was still cruising along, and it looked like he would be going to distance today. Former Brewer Wes Helms had just hit a homerun to put the Marlins ahead of the Mets, and the cheering had just stopped at Miller Park in bottom of the 8th inning, and then came the moment that will always give me chills when I watch/listen to the in-game call. Cameron singled, then Ryan Braun crushed a first pitch fastball from Bob Howry into the Brewers bullpen for the lead in the game. That place just erupted with screams, and I saw more high fives than I've ever seen in my entire life. People were going apeshit up in there. It was so loud, I thought that the glass panels were going to break. With that homerun, Braun just joined the likes of Yount and Molitor for greatest Brewers player ever, even though he's only been on the team less than 2 years. For me though, it's hard to imagine a Brewers team without Braun. It's a good thing that we got his ass locked up for like 6 years. And at $45 million, it's a steal! He's only gonna get better. The crowd quieted down at the end of the inning, but it didn't take long for them to get amped up again when CC walked out to the mound to pitch the 9th inning and go for yet another complete game. After getting the lead man out, CC allowed a single to Ryan Theriot. But then Derreck Lee hit into a double play, and the Brewers did it...well at least they did their part. Miller Park was rocking hard, but a Mets win over the Marlins could force a 1 game playoff at Shea Stadium tomorrow (Monday) so it wasn't over until that game ended. But the Miller Park staff put the Marlins/Mets game on the big screen in centerfield, and I went back down to section 128 to hang out with my brother James. Because of the rain delay, we joined the Mets game in the 8th inning, and had to sit (not gonna lie, but I was standing because I was too nervous to sit) on the edge of our seats to see if we were going to the playoffs.When Marlins pitcher Matt Lindstrom collected the final out to seal the 4-2 victory for the Marlins, millions of Mets fan knew that feeling of a late season collapse all too well, after seeing it happen last year in 2007. But no one in Miller Park cared, because our team was the NL Wildcard Winner and was going to the playoffs in 2008. Music blared over the loudspeakers, confetti and streamers fell from the rafters, players doused each other and some lucky fans with champaigne, and thousands of fans who stuck around Miller Park hugged, high fived, and roared in celebration for this wonderful moment. I was right in the middle of the festivities, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else to revel in this victory. These are my people, and although some of them were stepping on and off the bandwagon during our September swoon, I kept the faith theh entire time. I may have not believed they's make the playoffs, but until the team is mathematically elimninated, they still have a chance. It might take 162 games to get there, but the fact that we got there speaks volumes for this team's willingness to push through adversity and focus on the final goal. And what a roller coaster season that it was, and despite what happens in the playoffs, I will always be able to refer to this team as the 2008 National League Wildcard winning Milwaukee Brewers. So this game ended, but the fun for me on the Greatest Day of my Life did not, but I'll get into that in just a minute. Final score NL Wild Card Winning Milwaukee Brewers 3, Cubs 1.

Brewers record : 90 - 72, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card

The following is an entry that was supposed to be by itself and labeled the Greatest Day of my Life, but I'll just include it on here because I already told you about the 1st half of the day in the Game 3 Wrap-Up. We hung out for a while to soak it all in, then we went over to Friday's to get another drink. Dave was buying, so I got a Captain and Coke (free drink count : 5) and got rowdy with some Brewers fans. Things started to die down at Miller Park, so we went out to my Uncle Mike's house. Today was my little cousin Joey's baptism, but I missed it due to the fact that I need to be at the game 2 hours prior to the start, and since I don't have a car, I need to leave my house on the bus 1 1/2 hours prior to that. So that means if the game on a Sunday starts at 1:00 pm, I need to leave my house at 9:30 am. So I had no choice but to miss his baptism. But we went over to hang out, with my family, and I grabbed a couple of more beers (free drink count : 7). Since we were already out in Menominee Falls, we stopped by J. Reiley's, which is a bar owned by Dave's brother Mike. James bought me a beer (free drink count : 8) and we sat at the bar. James had to work at 5:00 am tomorrow morning, Jenny at 7:00 am, and I had to work at 8:00 am. We were all ready to turn in and head off to bed, but James' friend (one of his co-workers from the HD) called and said that the Brewers were partying over at Karma on Ogden and Van Buren. So of course we had to stop there. I got to meet and party with CC Sabathia (who is all of 6'7" and 290 lbs, and was really wasted that night), Mike Cameron, Bill Hall, and Prince Fielder. I stood behind Fielder, and I realized that I am Fielder's white body double. He's the same height and same build as me, but I have to imagine that he's stronger and in better shape than I am. I got CC's and Bill Hall's autographs, and got to mingle with them for about a half hour. After those guys left, James bought me yet another beer (free drink count : 8) and his friend bought me a shot (free drink count :9). It was after midnight, and I really should have been going home and into my warm and cozy bed, but I went out to BBC's to meet up with my roommate Paul. I finally paid for a drink today (paid drink count 1), and before you think that I was freeloading all day, I didn't bring any money with me because I was expecting to make money at work. I grabbed some bills, and Jenny and I (James went home cause he had to work in less than 5 hours) went out. While I was there, I talked with some other Brewers fans, and they ended up buying me a shot of Goldschlager (free drink count : 10). Jenny and I finished off the pitcher of Miller Lite, then we went back to my house. Since Jenny worked across the street at Beans and Barley (I live above Vittuchi's) she slept over on the pull-out couch. So at about 1:30 am, I finally went to bed and officially closed the book on the Greatest Day of my Life. So getting to the playoffs was an exciting thrill ride, I expect the playoff games to be exactly the same. I altered my work schedule so that I will be home from work by 2:00 pm so that I can sit on my couch, pop open a few beers, and soak up every moment of my 1st Brewers postseason in my non-baby life. The whole reality of this hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm sure that it will tomorrow. Hells yeah bitch.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers @ Philadelphia Phillies (Wednesday October 1st, 2:00 pm CST) - Game 1 of National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA

- pookon -

www.pookon.com
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Pirates 9/23 - 9/25 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 51 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates September 23 - September 25 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

We have played some stellar baseball against the Pirates this year, and like the local schoolyard bully, we have beaten them up pretty bad. This series could not have come at a better time. See, we needed wins bad, real bad. What better team to get wins against than a team that we already had a 11-1 record against (including 6-0 at home)? We needed some momentum big time going in to the final series against Chicago, and there was no doubt in my mind that we needed to win out the season just to have a chance to make it to the playoffs. The Brewers had an off day on Monday September 22, but the Mets played the Cubs and lost. In fact, the Mets are playing a huge 4 game series against the Cubs, and it was the first and only time that I cheered for the Cubs. It hurt really bad to have to root for the FIB Southsiders to win, but one of my friends made it easier by saying that we shouldn't root for the Cubs, we should root for the Mets to lose. No matter what semantics you use to describe this awkward situation, for 4 days only, I was saying let's root root root for the Cubbies!, if they don't win we don't go to the playoffs. I'm sure that both the Mets and Cubs knew what was at stake here for the Brewers, because it was pretty hard to ignore it. All you have to do is turn on SportsCenter or log onto the internet and be constantly reminded that the Brewers were seeking a return to the postseason for the 1st time since 1982. That year has been emblazoned into our memory for the past few years, so I'm ready for a new year to take it's place. Can it be 2008? If the Brewers take care of business at home against the Pirates and Cubs, and the Mets tank it just like they did last year, then we'll be popping champagne right along with the players as we dance in October. But we have to get there first, and the first order of business is to take down the Pittsburgh Pirates and put a couple more W's in the appropriate column. Let's now stand up, cheer our asses off, and get on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Tuesday) - Dave Bush (9-10, 4.25 ERA) vs Jeff Karstens (2-6, 4.03 ERA)

I got home from work just in time to see the Brewers score 2 runs in the bottom half of the 1st inning. Cameron reached on an error, and Braun sent a laser beam triple to center field that Nate McClouth (Pirates center fielder) just barely missed on an all out dive. The ball caromed off of the indentation in the center field wall and started heading away from McClouth and towards right field. Braun scored on the play, and originally I thought that he just hit an inside the park homerun. I guess I was just cheering too loudly to hear Brian make the call that Braun scored because of a throwing error by McClouth. Oh well, we still scored 2 runs in a very promising 1st inning. But Bush gave them all back plus 1 in the top of the 2nd, when all 3 batters that he walked (including the pitcher Karstens) came around to score. It was tough to watch that shit. Walks almost always come back to haunt you, and I cringe whenever a Brewers pitcher walks a man to start off the inning. Those 3 runs proved to be costly cause the Brewers just couldn't put together any offense after that. I was worried that we would get shut down today, and I was even more nervous when I saw that the Mets won. We certainly couldn't afford to fall further back of the Mets in the standings, so today was a must win. In the 7th inning, Mike Cameron hit a double scoring Counsell and Lamb, and the Brewers took a 4-3 lead. Guillermo Mota, who has been pitching so well lately, chose a really bad time to serve up a homerun, and the Pirates took a 5-4 lead. The season seemed to be crashing down around us just when we were on the verge of greatness, but then Jason Kendall came through with a clutch hit in the 8th to score Hardy. Torres came in with the score tied 5-5, and kept it that way to give the offense the chance to walk this one off and send the crowd home happy. And that is exactly what they did tonight. With 2 outs, Braun legged out an infield single, which gave Prince Fielder a chance to win the game. He connected on a pitch from TJ Beam and sent it deep into the Toyota Tundra Territory for a huge walk off homerun. I was yelling and jumping all around my apartment, and it's a good thing that there aren't any dead bodies in the vicinity because I was yelling loud enough to wake the dead. I sure hope the bar downstairs heard me, because I sure as hell couldn't hear them. They should've been going crazy. Damn fairweather fans. The Brewers gave me something to cheer about though, and I loved every second of it. 5 games to go now baby. This is freakin' exciting. Final score Brewers 7, Pirates 5.

Brewers record : 86 - 71, 2nd place NL Central, 2nd place NL Wild Card (1 game behind the New York Mets)

Game 2 (Wednesday) - CC Sabathia (16-10, 2.80 ERA) vs Paul Maholm (9-9, 3.71 ERA)

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The Brewers were in a must win mode, so it was no surprise when they brought CC Sabathia back on 3 days rest to face the Pirates. We probably could have thrown Carlos Villanueva or Jeff Suppan out there against the Pirates, but neither of those were guaranteed wins. CC is as sure as they get to being guaranteed, so it was nice to see him out there. Things didn't start out so hot, as CC ran into some trouble early and needed 28 pitches to get out of the 1st inning. But he didn't give up any runs, so it could have been a whole lot worse. The Pirates did manage to get on the board in the 3rd inning, but the Brewers took the lead in the 4th thanks to some patience at the plate. Maholm couldn't find the strike zone, and both Weeks and Kendall walked with the bases loaded to score some runs after Fielder had already knocked one in. And it turns out that those 3 runs were all that CC needed (as usual) to win the ballgame. Just to be safe, the Brewers tacked on a Badger Mutual Insurance run in the 6th inning to put them up 4-1. CC made it through 7 innings, and although Torres gave up a run in the 9th inning (continuing his recent struggles on the mound) the Brewers were able to hold on and win this one. And since the Mets lost today, the Brewers pulled back to even in the Wildcard standings with 4 games left to play. Wow. This is the most incredible time that I have had in my entire life and I can't imagine anything being as exciting as this year's playoff race. Final score Brewers 4, Pirates 2.

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Brewers record : 87 - 71, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card (tied for 1st with the New York Mets)

Game 3 (Thursday) - Yovanni Gallardo (0-0, 1.88 ERA) vs Zach Duke (5-14, 4.82 ERA)

Today's game was one of the best games that I have ever seen in person. I would easily place it in the top 5, but I don't think that I could call it the #1 of all time. It was mega important because of what was at stake, and also because Yovanni Gallardo was making his 1st start since May 1st when he went down with a torn ACL. All eyes were on him from the beginning of the game, since he would be on a limited pitch count (somewhere around 70 pitches). He started off a little shaky, but ended up going 4 innings (57 pitches), while striking out 7 and only allowing 1 run. The Brewers really couldn't have asked for anything more out of him. My God did Yovanni look good today. It mad me wish that he never got injured and that we would have had him for the entire year. But then I have to ask myself a question - if Gallardo had stayed healthy all year, do we still go out and trade for CC Sabathia? I don't think that we would have, because Gallardo would have been that front of the line pitcher that could have stabilized the rotation just like CC Sabathia did when he came to Milwaukee. But who knows what could have been, we only know what is, so we welcome Gallardo back onto the pitching staff with open arms and loud ass cheers. As promised, Dale Sveum emptied out the bullpen in an effort to win the game at all costs, and the bullpen answered by holding the Pirates to just that 1 run. Unfortunately, the Pirates starter and relievers also held the opposing team to just 1 run in regulation. By the 7th inning, the Brewers players and fans had already learned that the New York Mets had defeated the Chicago Cubs, so we needed to win if we wanted to remain tied for the Wildcard lead. Things were looking a little bleak, but at least it was tied 1-1 in the 9th inning, which is always favorable for the home team. But the Brewers came up empty in the 9th. We went into extra innings, and Coffey (a real nice and surprising waiver pickup who will be in the Brewers bullpen next year) and Stetter blanked the Pirates. In the 10th inning, Weeks singled, Kendall bunted him over, and Durham and Counsell walked, which made way for Ryan Braun to be the hero today. Braun launched a 2-2 pitch into the leftfield bleachers for his 1st career grandslam and 1st career walkoff homerun. I moved down to the leftfield bleachers (I was working tonight up in the Club Level) for the final 2 innings, and it was electric out there. Hell, the whole goddamn stadium was electric tonight. Everyone who entered got a white Brewers towel, and in the 10th inning, everyone was on their feet waving the towels and screaming like crazy. When Braun leaped into the arms of his teammates at homeplate, the place went absolutely nuts. The players then made their way back to the dugout and to the clubhouse. The fans kept on cheering their asses off and wouldn't shut up until Braun came back out for a curtain call. What a way to end the series and remain tied at the top of the Wilcard standings. Final score Brewers 5, Pirates 1.

Brewers record : 88 - 71, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card (tied for 1st with the New York Mets)

Boy, the Pirates must really hate the Milwaukee Brewers this year. The Brewers finished the season with a 14-1 record against the Pirates, with the only loss against them coming at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. That's not just beating a team, that's mollywhooping and manhandling them. If the Brewers go on to make the postseason, it will be because of teams like the Pirates. Sure, you gotta win the big time important games, but if you don't beat up upon the teams that are worse than you are, then there's no use talking about October baseball. Our 14-1 2008 record against the Pirates was awesome, and the Pirates streak of consecutive losing seasons adds another year. It must suck to be them, but I can't feel bad for that team, the city, or their fans, because I'm way too busy getting excited about our team, our city, and our fans. After all, Pittsburgh was last in the playoffs in 1992, so they haven't been suffering nearly as long as we have. Sure, we're getting better and playing competitive baseball until the end of the year. We've got a good mix of young players and veterans. We've got a great pitching staff. We have an owner who invests money in the team. We have a general manager who does what it takes (trading the top prospect Matt LaPorta for CC Sabathia, firing Ned Yost with 12 games remaining) to field a competitive team. We have the fans (over 3,000,000 passed through the turnstiles at Miller Park) who continue to come out to support this team. And then we have me, a diehard Brewers fan who has been waiting for this moment for my entire life. Come to think about it, I kind of do feel bad for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans. Except for the sweet ass team name and logo, there's not too many reasons why I'd be proud to call myself a Pirates fan if I was one. I guess they do have it pretty rough. But teams like Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay have really turned it around lately, so who's to say that the Pirates aren't next? I don't mind if they do, as long as they still let us beat them 14 out of 15 times a year. Wouldn't that be awesome if the Brewers and Pirates were 1 and 2 (respectively) in the division next year? That would be like a complete opposite of 5 years ago. And just to make it sweeter, the Cubs and Cardinals would have to be dwelling down in the cellar. Man that would be cool. Yeah right, in my dreams. So get hyped, and enjoy every moment of this playoff run while it lasts Milwaukee. It could be another 26 years before baseball is this exciting in late September again. Here's hoping that it won't be. Take care.

Next up - September 26 (Friday) - September 28 (Sunday) Milwaukee Brewers vs Chicago Cubs at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers @ Reds 9/19 - 9/21 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 50 - Milwaukee Brewers @ Cincinnati Reds September 19 - September 21 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH

Thankfully this 10 game roadtrip is coming to an end, but we gotta get through Cincinnati to get back home to Milwaukee. You can never overlook a team that is out of contention for the playoffs, because they are so pissed off about their season that they want nothing more than to ruin your season. Or at least it appears that way. I do believe that is why they call it playing spoiler to the other team. I know that the Reds are in evaluation mode right now (so much for being picked to be the surprise team to win the NL Central) but I'd rather like it if the Reds could just let the Brewers win a few here and take it easy on them. But no one in their right mind would ever do that, so we just have to go out there and hope for the best. I'm getting tired of wishing, hoping, yearning, praying for some miracle, and all that bogus jazz. I want results, and I want them now. But I have to be patient and let the rest of the season play out, and be satisfied with the results. Those results better be damn good or I'm about to flip out again after yet another disappointing Brewers season. But not yet - gotta lay 'em out for them to play 'em out. This sucker isn't over yet, no matter how bleak things have been looking lately. So on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Friday) - Jeff Suppan (10-10, 5.06 ERA) vs Ramon Ramirez (1-0, 2.45 ERA)

This game was just downright ugly. I'm really not sure that I have seen many games as bad as this one, and I at least can be thankful that this kind of thing doesn't happen every day. Jeff Suppan was nothing like his former late season dominant self, and in fact, he was quite the opposite. He allowed 3 runs off of 6 pitches to open the game, and it just got worse after that. By the time that he was out of the ball game, he had given up 5 runs off of 5 hits and 2 homeruns. Manny Parra was asked to come in the game and eat up some innings, and even though he went 4 innings tonight, he also gave up 5 runs. But he one-upped Suppan by allowing 4 homeruns. Tim Dillard gave up yet another homerun to the Reds in the 8th inning, making it a total of 7 homeruns that the Reds hit today. Yikes. I read after the game that the Pepsi smokestacks out in centerfield ran out of fireworks because they shot off too many of them during the game. Bill and Brian were saying that it was like a heavy fog was rolling in off of the Ohio River. I just hope that the fog was strong enough to push this game out of my memory, because it certainly is strong enough to push our playoff hopes further and further away. Final score Reds 11, Brewers 2.

Brewers record : 84 - 70, 2nd place NL Central (9 games back of Chicago), 2nd place NL Wild Card (2 games behind Philadelphia)

Game 2 (Saturday) - CC Sabathia (15-10, 2.85 ERA) vs Johnny Cueto (9-13, 4.62ERA)

Things were getting worse by the day. One of the reasons that the Brewers signed Jeff Suppan is because he is a consistent veteran pitcher who has been there before and is not supposed to feel the pressure in the big games. He's supposed to perform at times like yesterday when the Brewers needed him most. As you can tell by the results, that didn't happen. In fact, it was far from it. So that's why this game was huge. We needed to rebound badly, and we once again turned to CC Sabathia to bail us out of this current predicament. CC didn't pitch all that bad, but he pitched bad enough to suffer his 2nd loss as a Brewer and his 2nd in a row after losing to the Cubs last time out. CC allowed 4 runs, but only 1 of them was earned thanks to Prince Fielder's 16th error of the season. With all this talk of Chad Johnson legally changing his name to Chad Ocho Cinco, I think that we should all persuade Prince Fielder to legally change his name to Prince Error. Cause he certainly isn't much of a fielder. It's simply inexcusable for a 1st baseman to commit that many errors in a year. After all, 1st base isn't really that hard. Besides left field, it's the easiest position to play. You just stand there are people throw you the ball. Wow, sounds real tough Prince. Way to cost this one. I was upset big time because the Wildcard is slipping away, but I was super pissed off because we were watching the game over at my Aunt Linda's house. My cousin Tyler is a huge Cubs fan, and he kept on reminding me that the Brewers lost and the Cubs won, and that the Cubs won the National League Central Division title. Yeah, like I needed to be reminded that we totally suck right now. And then he made it even worse (it was possible) by wearing an Alfonso Soriano jersey style t-shirt. When I saw it, I told him that there was only 1 player on the Cubs that I hated more than Soriano, and that was Carlos Zambrano. While I was busy drowning my sorrows in a glass of Captain and Diet Mountain Dew, the kid goes and changes into his Zambrano jersey t-shirt. I wanted to give him an atomic wedgie so bad, but I didn't because he's probably still feeling the effects of the one that James gave him like 4 years ago on the 3rd of July at the Lakefront. No need to further scar the kid. After all, he's already got it bad enough cause he's a Cubs fan. The Brewers tried to put up enough runs to cover the 4 that CC gave up, but surprise surprise, they couldn't scrape together a few runs. Tell me if you've ever heard that one before. So once again we failed to win a game when CC is on the mound. Damn it. It's looking very bleak, and with a week to go, we're 2 1/2 games back in the Wildcard race. Egads. But we're not mathematically eliminated, and that my friend, is all that counts right now. Final score Reds 4, Brewers 3.

Brewers record : 84 - 71, 2nd place NL Central, 2nd place NL Wild Card (2 1/2 games behind the New York Mets)

Game 3 (Sunday) - Seth McClung (5-6, 4.17 ERA) vs Bronson Arroyo (15-11, 4.66 ERA)

So after losing games 1 and 2 of this series, the Brewers turned to Seth McClung (?!?) to stop the bleeding and right this ship back into the winning direction. And for the most part, he succeeded. He went a shade over 3 innings, but only gave up 1 run, which would be the only run that the Reds would score today. Knowing that, you need to stand up and give a nice applause to the bullpen (including McClung) for limiting the Reds from scoring today so that the offense could have a chance to put up some runs without ever being behind and playing in a pressurized comeback mode. Coffey, Villanueva, Gagne, Mota and Torres all chipped in to keep the Reds off of the board, and Svuem is showing good managerial skills in using all of his available resources to win games at all costs. The Brewers were going up against Bronson Arroyo, who has been putting together a very nice 2nd half this year, so I knew it would be a tough game for the Brewers to scrape out a win. But they did just that, and scraped out a rather nice one. Fielder hit a solo homerun in the 2nd to keep his scorching hot streak going. And then the Brewers did something that they haven't been doing lately - they tacked on some runs. Fielder collected 2 more RBIs today when he doubled in Braun and Counsell in the 4th. The Reds committed an error in the 5th that allowed 2 more runs to score, and luck was finally starting to swing back on our side. This was one Sunday that you wouldn't catch me watching football (although my roommates insisted that I put football on the main TV in HD so that everyone could be happy and I could watch the Brewers game on the secondary TV) because there were bigger and better things on TV. I had the Mets game constantly updating on my iPod, and rejoiced when the Brewers won and the Mets lost, to cut their deficit in the Wildcard race to 1 1/2 games. With 6 games left to go (all at home) and 1 1/2 games between us and the playoffs, this is about to get really ridiculously interesting and exciting. Hell, I've been along for the ride for 156 games, why would I suddenly get off? Final score Brewers 7, Reds 1.

Brewers record : 85 - 71, 2nd place NL Central, 2nd place NL Wild Card (1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets)

So the Brewers take the final game of this series, and finish with a winning record on the road at 41-40. They haven't had a winning road record for some time, so that's got to be a good sign that better things are on the horizon. We've got a good record at home and a good one on the road, but none of that really matters unless we are at least 1 game better than the next best team. As we've seen in previous years like 1992 (when we finished 92-70 but did not make the playoffs because there was no Wildcard team in the playoffs) your record really doesn't mean squat if you aren't playing baseball in October. The last roadtrip of the year was really rough on this team, but the good news is that they would be coming back home to play the Pirates and the Cubs. The Brewers have totally owned the Pirates this year and are currently 11-1 against them. And the Chicago Cubs have already clinched the NL Central, so they most likely will be resting some of their starters. If they still do happen to play their regulars, you'd have to imagine that they won't be giving it their all, because there is no real reason to do it. So we got that going for us. I only know one thing for sure - this thing is really gonna come down to the last minute and I'm gonna love every single minute of it. But we'll see about that. No sense getting all excited about something later that I don't have any control over right now. But it feels so good that baseball still matters to people in Milwaukee that aren't named Scott Andrew Reck. See you in a few...

Next up - September 23 (Tuesday) - September 25 (Thursday) Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

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