Musings from Mandy

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek with the fam waiting in line at Carrabba’s in Fort Myers . . . Sox rookie Brandon Moss meeting friends to catch a flick at the Regal 20 . . . Pitcher Jon Lester begrudgingly signing his old Pawtucket Red Sox cap offered up to him by a PawSox long-time season ticket holder now in possession of it . . . I usually don't take my news from the Inside Track, however, Jon, you best not be signing things begrudingly until you are 18-4 with a 2.49 ERA. Do I make myself clear?

Inspired by Chad Finn , who was apparently inspired by one if his wife’s friends…here are 50 things about me. 50. My favorite outfit is sweatpants and sneakers. 49. At Big Papi’s charity event two summers ago, he pinched my cheek and said, “Hi sweetie”. To which Katelyn responded, “That was really cute, in a creepy kind of way”. 48. At the same event, I caught a Sox cheating on their wife, had Jason Varitek touch the small of my back and say, “Excuse me”, and won a 1,000 gift certificate. 47. The most amount of Red Sox games I have ever been to in once season was somewhere between 20 and 25. In 2006. I went to about 15 last year. 46. I have a horrible addiction to shoes and purses. 45. My favorite time to get drunk is in the middle of the afternoon on a nice day. At the beach. 44. One of my goals is to go to every state, and 6 of 7 continents. 43. I hate cold and am not going to Antarctica. 42. I am so bad at cleaning my room and organizing it is not even funny. 41. I hop...

The most chatty Joshua I have every seen!

I realized the other day, quite how much I am not over the Patriots lost. I'm still absolutely angry. As one of my students proved the other day with his, Giant's Super Bowl hat, complete with it's, "We Wanted It More" logo, I am angry, I am hurt, and I wanted my Super Bowl ring and even the warm wonderful glow of spring training is not quite warming the ice over my sports heart. *I live in coastal Eastern North Carolina, and I've been waiting to see this whole Duke / UNC feud up close . A few weeks ago, I saw that match up at a neighborhood sports bar, and quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing about how other rivalries rival the Boston / New York rivalry. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anything yet to see show me otherwise. *Does Tiger Woods actually drive a Buick? I don't think so. At least, I hope not. I've seen the picture of his house, and I don't see a Buick parked in that driveway. *The NBA All Star game uni's did nothi...

Jason Giambi mailed back my card, complete with signature, I guess he didn't have anything better to do. So to keep our tally up, I recieved signed cards back from Mike Timlin, Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds, and A-Rod.

I decided in a moment of weakness last night that I hated the wallpaper in my bathroom and it needed to go. Forgetting the facts that: 1. I rent. 2. I'm not big on hard work. 3. I don't know how to take off wallpaper. 4. I don't have any money at all to pay for paint and whatnot. 5. I hate painting. Anyway, right now, I have half wallpaper covered bathroom, no shower curtain, and shards of wallpaper anyway, which is why I don't have a real live blog for you. But I leave you with this. We play a game in my class sometimes called, "Red Sox Trivia" where, to kill a few extra minutes at the end of class, I make up questions and use questions from my Red Sox daily calender. Today, we were playing, and after we were done and recess began, my four sixth grade boys congregated around my desk to ask me questions. I shared with them the games I went to, and the player's I've either met or gone to the same event as. Showed them the pictures of me and Pe...

Hey Tom, I just wanted to say, "Sorry", I'm sure you don't remember meeting me at the Burlington Mall. But I was about 13. I had on a Charlotte Hornets starter jacket and I had Paul and Chris with me. My biological brother and his best friend who never left my side. I had convinced my mom to drop us of at the mall to meet you. We had heard that you were going to be at the Burlington Mall raising money for the Bridgewater State Girl's softball team or something like that. I was in the beginning of my love of baseball. Paul and I had started collecting baseball cards and making Daddy buy us cards (all of which are now dusty in our cellar just waiting for a hot water tank to blow so my mom can toss them). Anyway. I was starting to like baseball, but mainly I liked liking something that my dad and brother liked. Then we went to the Burlington Mall. We were allowed to get one thing signed per person. I had an 8X10, and about 9 baseball cards. You smiled...

I just moved into a new house a month ago, and I have been getting my mail forwarded. And the other day...I got mail from Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds since I got here. That is right. From A-Rod I got my card returned along with an autographed A-Rod photo and from Barry Bonds I got my card back, unsigned, along with another Bonds card and a letter thanking me for being a fan. So my two least favorite baseball players on the earth do at least, return mail. So now I have heard back from 4 players, Manny (card returned unsigned), Timlin (card returned signed), Bonds (card returend with letter), and A-Rod (card returned unsigned with autographed photo). Seriously?

"They show no class, no class at all, and maybe that comes from the head coach" L "I steal nick names and am a little bitch" T Good afternoon! I am going to be semi-live blogging today while I eagerlly await tonights killer matchups. Chargers @ Patriots and Yankees @ Red Sox. A very busy night in New England. I am in prime form. I alept till 11:00. Had some homefries and sweet tea. Watched the pregame shows. I'm ready to go. I got 7 hours to kill and you do too... A few thoughts from the pregame show... *Boomer annoys me. *Why do we need so many people on the show? *Everyone likes the Patriots. Me too. *"Coach" Mike Ditka keeps forgetting his picks. Good work "Coach". I once coached a basketball team at the Boys Club. From this day forth, I would like to be called, "Coach" please. *Eli Manning will play today. Well thank God. I still can't get over the feeling that Eli would rather be running around a field with ...

I'm getting my life in order and the blog is back, hopefully to stay... So I've had access to MLB TV for about a week now, (thank you Joe) and in that time I've seen the Sox lose every time I watched. Last night I was planning my lessons for the next week, and my computer was running low on battery. Instead of plugging in my computer and throwing on the Sox game, I put it back on my desk and let it charge, hopped in the shower, and got ready to go out. I got to the bar, and checked my phone, and had a missed call from Katie, and two texts from my brother...the first one read, "The Red Sox have all the hits through the 8th", and the second being, "Clay got a no-no". I was wondering if Paul was messing with me, then Frank's "Awesome" text came in. I got the goosebumps, Paul called and filled me in, then I called Katie back and she told me she had wanted to call but had the whole "fate of the no-no" to worry about. I totally un...

Finally got the Sox highlights on Sportscenter. Saw Lester's reception. Man I miss us. PS. In North Carolina, they have these things called Palmetto beatles, a fancy name for cockroaches, and a lot of people have them, and we are currently working on killing the little mo-fo's, and I just spent a good 20 minutes at war with one, chasing him around my apartment with a spray bottle of "home defense". I finally was getting nervous I might miss the Sox highlights and had to go get a shoe. I will kill these bugs. PPS. Michael Vick shouldn't have waited so long to plea. Always better to go first in these kind of things.

"They're loud, they're drunk, they're obnoxious. They're one of the few places you'll hear racial comments . . . it's just different." Angels outfielder Gary Matthews, Jr. on Red Sox fans at Fenway Park. I'm always surprised when I hear things like this said about Fenway. I took in 20+ Red Sox games this year, about 15 last year, and about 10 the previous year. Not once, in all that time, have I ever, ever heard a racial comment. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. Every village has its own idiot. But I really think that Sox fans are fair when it comes to race. We will cheer for, love you, boo you, hate you, regardless of color, creed, ect. I'm sure Mr. HGH himself will find Fenway a much more hospitable place the next time he comes to Boston.

After 8 long days without internet AND cable TV with the exceptions of some sneaking done at the Sheraton I am back thanks to the shady internet guy who came today and and the new roommate who figured out how to get my wireless internet working. Anyway, for the last week + I have been like a junkie in need of heroin. Through phone calls, texts, bits and pieces of info through the Chicago news (for some reason we get there here), and the occasional break from high school football in the local paper, I have been without sports. I haven't seen Sportscenter, I haven't seen the Sox play except for when we could pick up Maryland TV in the Outerbanks last weekend, (I saw the O's first walkoff), I haven't read Rob Bradford...it has been a cold dark world. It's also been a kind of stress free world. I haven't been on Tom Brady Baby Watch 24/7. I haven't spent nights worrying about our lack of offensive production. I haven't heard announcer after announcer complai...

Just a quick update to let everyone know the big move to North Carolina is happening tomorrow, so posting may be a little scarce for the next week or two, but hopefully I'll have internet up and running at the new house soon! In the meantime, Go Sox!

Well, last night was fun wasn't it? It was one of those Red Sox games where you just knew something good was going to happen. The Sox finally got some timely hitting, Batshit pitched alright, the bullpen was once again great, and, incase-you-forgot-who-your-mother-fucking-closer-is , it's me , Jonathan Papelbon . He makes me a ridiculously happy girl. Today is Bobby Doerr (it might get a little dusty when you read that one) day at the Fens, where Bobby says he his making his last trip because he's getting too old to fly out from Portland. Also, it's Timmay's birthday. The amount of good karma flying around Fenway today will be too much for the lowly Orioles. *Also, the picture above is UNDEFEATED!

I realized this morning while writing the ESPN entry, that I commented on my “list” of sporting events that I planned on going to. I’ve decided to make an actual list of places I’ve been and places I’m going for your viewing pleasure. Places I’ve been… Fenway Park, Boston, MA Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY Oriole Park @ Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD Tropicana Field, Tampa, FL Rogers Center, Toronto, ON Comerica Park, Detroit, MI The Ballpark at Arlington, Arlington, TX The Boston Marathon, Boston, MA Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA The Boston Garden, Boston, MA The TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA The Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY The Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto, ON Saratoga Horse Races, Saratoga, NY LeLacheur Park, Home of the Spinners (A), Lowell, MA McCoy Stadium, Home of the PawSox (AAA), Pawtucket, RI Volcanoes Stadium, Home of the Salem Keizer Volcanoes (A – San Fran), Salem, OR Places I’m going… Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ Turner Field, Atlanta, GA Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL U.S. ...

Well, I’ve been a little bit MIA lately eh? I promise to never leave you alone on the trading deadline again. I left to go shopping with my mom yesterday morning and my cell phone was 100% dead, so, not realizing the significance of the day, I left it at home charging. A trip to Walmart, Homegoods, the dentist, Target, TJ Maxx, and Sports Authority later. I returned home to find a panic related voicemail from Katie telling me, “I really needed you to be at work today”, and about the Gagne deal. I will never again be away from the TV / internet on the 31st of July again. Anyway, here are 10 things I think I think (again, sorry Mr. King) about the trading deadline, Celtics (yes, the Celtics!), Patriots and whatever topic I need to get to 10. *I was surprised how disappointed I was to see Kason go. I was legitimately bummed out. The kid came up, pitched well, always kept us in it, and was very good looking. Everything I love in a starter. I wish him very good luck in Texas (except fo...

Working on a post right now, but found this while google image searching for Kason and thought it was too good to pass up.

The Red Sox are continuing to show me why I hit the panic button a little too soon. But, let’s face it. I’m nothing if I’m not a panicky, crazy, worrier of a fan. We just took 3-4 from the Indians, Jon Lester completed his amazing comeback, Matsuzaka and Beckett dominated, Gabby and Tavarez were picked up by the bats for once, and today we are heading onward to Tampa Bay (would give a major organ to be laying on the beach outside the Sirata right now). Today is the first day when training camp is open to the public and is my last chance to see the Patriots live, probably for the season, unless I somehow make it out to Charlotte on the 24th, but I’m probably not driving 6 hours for an exhibition. Tonight we got Timmay and the gents taking on those cute (allbeit peskey) little Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And seeing that it worked last time, let’s not forget who likes to murder small animals.

Faithful readers, I have an announcement to make. I’ve accepted a teaching job in North Carolina and will be moving very soon down there to get an apartment and whatnot. I will do my best to keep the blog up, but if I’m MIA for the next few weeks, I appreciate your patience. (That means I don’t want nasty, are you ever going to blog again messages). I do, however have some tickets that I am not going to be able to use because of the move. Let me know if anyone is interested! I have five tickets to the games August 11th and August 12th games at Camden Yards if anyone knows anyone looking for any. The Friday night, August 10th ones were $40 each and are in Section 262 and the Saturday ones are on August 11th for Section 71 LR and were $18. I'll sell them as 5 together, or as 2 / 3 if anyone knows anyone that is interested. I also have 5 tickets to the Phillies / Marlins game for that Thursday night, as we were going to stop on the way down. Also, I have 2 tickets to the PawSox ...