I was hoping to have the Talk Ottawa stuff up on Youtube by now, but the little hellions kept ringing the doorbell last night!

Bekah dressed up twice this year - once as Cinderella (didn’t get a picture of it - picture below is from Disney World last fall), and as ‘Jack Jack’ from ‘The Incredibles’ (picture may follow later). Zak, camera shy as always, went as what else, a baseball player.

What you can’t see is the death grip she’s got on Cinderella with her right hand. We had to pry her little fingers loose.

Here’s some interesting reading to keep you busy in the meantime. It’s too bad the MLB affiliated blogs don’t seem to archive….

*** UPDATE:

The only Lynx related Hallowe’en stuff I’ve got: photos of Brandon Marsters in the ‘Hallowe’en at the ballpark’ jersey.

The Rogers Television program which “delves into the various topics and social issues that matter to Ottawa and its residents”, had the councillor from Ward 13 (Rideau-Rockliffe), Jacques Legendre on as well as the candidates vying for his seat on City council. I was channel surfing and caught the end of a question being posed by “Ernie” concerning the parking lot issue. It came at around the 15 minute mark of the program and I was able to catch most of the responses on tape - the show repeats today at noon, so I’ll get the computer to record it and hopefully have it uploaded to Youtube and then the blog later tonight.

In fairness to the panel, before I give my impressions of the answers, I’ll have to review the tape. I will say that I was less than impressed with the incumbent’s response; essentially blaming the Lynx for their attendance problems. They did note his potential bias - he was apparently against AAA baseball in Ottawa from the get-go.

*** UPDATE: The Lynx organization might want to note Mr. Legendre’s recollection of his conversation with Kyle Bostwick with respect to 2005 Opening Day.

*** UPDATE: Unfortunately the link to the original CBC story is dead, so I can’t verify the accuracy of the passage quoted, but here it is:

‘Parking lot full’ means trouble for Lynx
There is a very Interesting story from CBC-Ottawa about parking problems at Lynx Stadium (satellite view here . )

In the early 1990s, he opposed the stadium’s construction precisely because there weren’t enough parking spots.

Interesting. The councillor believes 2500 spots was insufficient. I was never very good with math, but I do know that if 2500 isn’t good enough, 800 must be worse.

Here’s the link to the original post.

Here’s another about Opening Day 2005, and one more here.

Lifted from the story in the last link I posted:

Wayne Scanlan, longtime sports columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, says he believes the parking and other logistical problems make it seem as if the city has already given up on the team.

***UPDATE 3: Add this to Ottawa councillors reactions to the news of the prospective sale:

“Crap,” Alta Vista Councillor Peter Hume said. “That’s a 10,000-seat stadium with no tenant. That’s just not good.” (Ottawa Citizen, July 1, 2005).

No kidding.

Nice to see some Lynx alumni performing well in the AFL -

“PITCHING IN: In a league that has been marked by hot hitting and not-so-hot pitching in the first few weeks, it was an especially impressive feat when Baltimore’s Cory Morris combined with four relievers for a 5-0, three-hit shutout of the Peoria Saguaros Oct. 25. It was the Rafters’ second combined shutout of the season and helped contribute to their league-best 4.09 ERA.” MiLB.com

Too bad it came at the expense of some of the new Lynx prospects.

“The Saguaros ended up boasting the starting battery for the West Division team in the Rising Stars Showcase, although that hadn’t been the plan until the day of the game. Phillies prospect Gio Gonzalez, who had been named to the club from the get-go, was a last-minute replacement for scratched starter Luke Hochevar (Royals) of Grand Canyon. Catcher Jason Jaramillo, also of the Phillies system, was named to the team just hours before the game to replace ailing Braves prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and ended up starting the game ahead of original Showcase star Neil Walker of Pittsburgh/Grand Canyon. It was a good day on the mound for both Phillies representatives as J.A. Happ struck out the side in his lone inning of work.“

MiLB.com

The Saguaros were beat up pretty badly yesterday, losing to Mesa 14-4. They’ve fallen to second in their division with a 7-10 record.

I’ll leave it to others to speculate on what impact the exodus of these players may have on the ‘07 Lynx roster.

And here’s more wishful thinking admittedly disguised as little more than speculation. I’ll play along, and wish for a small injury which would require three or four rehab starts here in Ottawa.

This really is painful/funny. The poor guy, er…. lynx. Not only does he fall onto some steps, he manages to nail the package on a CONCRETE dugout on the way down. I used to wonder why he didn’t have kids…

Lenny the Lynx

Well, you know.

I was taking a look at the 2006 Lynx team stats vs. the 2006 SWB stats - you might be surprised with the numbers, considering that the SWB made the playoffs.

Lynx team batting average: .261
SWB team batting average: .260

Lynx total HR: 105
SWB total HR: 83

Lynx total RBI: 538
SWB total RBI: 530

Lynx team slugging: .389
SWB team slugging: .388

Lynx ERA:3.59
SWB ERA: 3.28

Lynx strikeouts (pitching): 953
SWB strikeouts (pitching): 897

Lynx total stolen bases: 127
SWB total stolen bases: 106

Lynx team on base percentage: .323
SWB team on base percentage: .320

Pretty even statistically in a lot of areas. I was surprised to see that SWB, being a National League minor affiliate, had fewer SBs than Ottawa by a fair margin (i.e. almost 20% fewer) - then again, maybe the speed merchants were called up by the Phillies and never got a chance to add to the SWB totals. Having said that, they had 28 more doubles than Ottawa (268-240) and twice as many triples (42-20).

It’ll be fun to watch things play out in 2007.

All things being equal, I’d rather be in Disney World. Can anyone recall a more dismal fall than what we’ve had to endure this year? Rain, grey and cold, followed by more rain. What can you do, though?

Surfin’ around the net I found a blog being run by the Phillies media spokesman, John Brazer - didn’t have time to go through all of it, but what I did read was pretty good stuff.

Here’s a list of more Phillies blogs that appear to be loosely connected with MLB.

There may or may not be blogging tomorrow, but thanks for checking in!

Remember - we get the government we deserve.

Let’s see if there’s any response. Scroll down to the “comments” section.

**UPDATE:

Sorry for the blogging delay today - a recent minor crisis at home (aka: a fire) has me tied up this weekend. Anyway… unless I’ve suffered a stroke recently, I could have sworn that I left a comment on Larry O’Brien’s website. I checked back today and it’s been deleted.

Hmmm….. I guess somebody’s just going to have to show up at an all candidates meeting and put the hard question to these guys. On Thursday, I went down to City Hall, dropped $5 to cover the cost of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection fee and requested a copy of the lease the City has with the team. It’ll be nice to be able to confront the mayor, armed with the agreement….

The absolute nerve of the Yankees GM, Brian Cashman.

This is unconscionable, picking up a player’s $13 million dollar option. Apparently, all part of an effort to keep him from putting on a Red Sox uniform.

Meanwhile, back in the ‘real’ world, last night the Saguaros lost a tough one in extra innings. Jason Jaramillo (C), in a DHing role went 2-5 and drove in 2 runs (he’s now hitting .306 for the AFL season).

Yeah.
Congratulations Fred.
It could have been me. A 1 in a 1000 shot – not bad. Had I won, I’d be off to Walt Disney World – really. I might even take the family with me. I’m somewhat of a minor Disney freak – were I a major or complete freak, 95% of my wardrobe would be comprised of Disney logo attire. I believe I’m at the 75% mark. Want to see what a minor Disney freak looks like? Here’s the first entry from my pre-2005 WDW trip planning blog.

Disturbing, isn’t it?

I’ll probably get to the Arizona Fall League results later today, but I figure I should clear the air a little first. As I look back on the 50+ posts in the blog, it occurred to me that I probably appear to be an angry, somewhat young man, who gets up too early, spends too much time on his bike and cries a lot. In my defense, I think it’s got a lot to do with this municipal election – daily sound bites from some of these candidates have really raised my frustration level. Beyond that though, I’m a pretty happy kinda guy, if not passionate. As I’ve said before, if you give me an issue I feel strongly about, a captive audience and a keyboard, stuff happens.

I’ll settle down after November 13. I’ll sleep a little later. I’ll ride a little less. I’ll get my emotions in check.

Promise.