Some Updates....

Here are some updates on important stuff:

1. Sasquatch carcass a fake. No big surprise here. Hey - I know a Sasquatch when I see one, and that was no Sasquatch. The funny part about the whole thing is the three guys who held the live press conference on CNN last Friday and claimed the whole story is 100% true have now disappeared. In fact, one of the guys who "found" the costume, I mean "body," has been shit-canned from his job. From a report of Fox News:

Asked for comment on Officer Whitton, Clayton County, Ga., Chief of Police Jeffrey Turner, corrected FoxNews.com. "You mean ex-officer Whitton."

"As soon as we saw it was a hoax," Chief Turner explained, "I filed the paperwork to terminate his employment."

Turner said he hasn't heard from Whitton, and that he was mystified at the former officer's involvement in such a blatant scam.

"He was a real go-getter," Turner said, citing Whitton's wounding in the line of duty earlier this summer while apprehending a suspect who had allegedly shot a woman in the head. "For someone to do a complete three-sixty like that, I can't explain it."

I can. It was simply the lure of The Sasquatch. The truth is still out there - somewhere.

2. Frightening quote of the day from Packers QB Aaron Rodgers:

“I understand it to some point if I put myself into a Favre fanatic’s shoes,” Rodgers said today, per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “The things I can’t understand, the things I really take personally, is when I’m driving up to the [parking lot] gate and punching in my punch code and somebody says ‘F— you’ to me. That kind of bothers me. Or when a little kid is yelling swear words at me. That kind of gets to me. The boos, they expect a high level of play and they miss Brett Favre. I understand that. But the ‘F— you’ and the little kids saying swear words to me, I don’t understand that.”

Wow. Kids dropping the F-Bomb at Rodgers basically just for being there. That's scary. Yep, there is going to be some pressure for Mr. Rodgers this year.

3. Tunes Update: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges. Upon the recommendation from CR and Dave M., I have My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges on heavy rotation. I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around this one, but I like it. These dudes from Louisville, Kentucky, are bringing me back to the glorious '70's with their mix of Southern twang, funk, bubble-gum pop and psychedelic/progressive rock. They play everything. I hear influences on Evil Urges from Prince, Neil Young, the Bee Gees, and definitely the Flaming Lips. Check it out!

4. Twins a game out of first. Somehow, the Twins sit at 70-54 and a game out of first place as of today, August 19th. As I have stated, I thought the Twins would win about 75 games this year after the Santana and Hunter trades. Add in Scott Baker's early season injury, Pat Neshak's season-ending injury, Alexi Casilla's late-season injury and Michael Cuddyer's season-long string of injuries, their performance is truly amazing. Along with expected great years from Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan, credit Denard Span, Jason Kubel and the young starting rotation for really elevating their game this year.

Here is what "looms in the distance," however:

August 21-24: Four games at Anaheim
August 25-27: Three games at Seattle
August 28-31: Four games at Oakland
September 2-4: Three games at Toronto (just a short flight from Oakland)

Folks, that could be the stretch that does this young team in. I don't know if the bullpen can hold up during that 14-game span. The Twins might come back 7 or 8 games out of 1st after that one.

No matter how the Twins finish the season, I believe they have exceeded expectations for 2008. I am a little bummed that they did not go out and get some bullpen help before the trading deadline, but I'll live with that. There are no excuses, however, for NOT going out and getting a stud third baseman this off-season with some of the money they are saving on not retaining Santana and Hunter.

Peace,

Jeff