netminder

I know. It's just a fun tradition in baseball. I'll bet the players didn't have more than 2-3 beer after the game anyway. And the whole thing last for about an hour at the most. Let them burn off some steam and have fun. Enjoy every victory. I think it's the Canadian hockey fans who look at this and think of guys like Bobby Orr who never looked like he had fun once playing the game. Just put your head down and skate back to the bench after scoring. Don't even look at the Campbell or Wales trophy, God forbid it brings bad luck.

MLB. That's why. I had the distinct feeling like we were watching the other team's broadcast. They even kept showing a bar in Baltimore, but didn't do the same for a bar in Toronto. Even had freaking Cal Ripkin on the broadcast crew. No bias there... No matter though. The good guys prevailed and now we have another classic Blue Jays memory to keep forever. Thank you Encarnacion!

Amen to that. Since I'm going to be at my parent's most likely this weekend I'll probably hit up my favourite (secret) bass lake. Last time I was out it was almost like cheating. Now that the water temps are coming down hopefully they're getting their feedbag on. Hope to run into some footballs.

I just hope the Jays get their heads out of their behinds and start putting balls in play, using the middle of the field, and not trying to hit the right field foul pole. The only guys in this lineup that should be allowed to take those big violent hacks are Encarnacion and Bautista, assuming they're batting 3-4. Everyone else needs to play table setter. If the guys who aren't the real power hitters play to their capabilities, like Tulo has been lately, they will roll this one. I think the first couple innings will be telling for how this game will end. I'm excited, and I think the Jays are the better team on paper - they just need to play like it.

I don't know if I have a bottle big enough to get me through tonight's game. I just hope the Jay's bats show up early and often. In fact that may be the only road to victory. The O's BP is almost unbeatable. If everything goes right, the Jays win 8-4. Any thoughts on the pitching match up? A lot being said about throwing the southpaw at the O's, and Liriano has been lights out in September. However, while he has the biggest upside, he also has the potential to unravel the most. Stroman doesn't walk many batters and is one of, if not the best ground ball pitchers in the game. I think they're defending against the big inning by using Stroman in place of Liriano. Liriano may also be more capable of coming out of the pen, if need be. That being said I still would have gone with Liriano. Tillman, on the O's side has a career ERA of 7.01 in the dome, although his numbers this year are way below his career average. That being said, I think a lot of people thought Jiminez was going to be the man for tonight, considering his recent play.

Definitely something wrong with this group. Now all the stories start coming out about how dysfunctional they've been all year. People posting pictures of reporters with big 'x's on their faces saying "do not talk to these guys". I know they've been a solid team all year, but they've never really looked like a good team. And then EE and JB walk off the field last night with basically 0 acknowledgement that this may be their last home regular season (or ever if things continue) game in TO. I know it's insane to take baseball this seriously, but I've been feeling seriously depressed all month and I have been blaming the Blue Jays. This sounds ridiculous but I don't even really care if they win. Probably because I'm so resigned to the idea that it's very unlikely at this point. They played like such an inspired group last year and then to watch them sleepwalk through the most important regular season games of the year has just completely put me off.

I think I was there on or around opening day for pike/walleye. There were lots of fish to be had that day, and healthy too. I don't go there very often though. Too crowded and too many guys boating around aimlessly. While those guys aggravate me to no end, I think they'd have to hit it pretty hard to deplete that lake. Guelph lake, on the other hand, is conceivable that it's been devastated. Last year my wife reported seeing at least 5 cars parked on the County Road 29 culvert every morning from ice out until July. This year, not so much. I haven't been there personally this year though. I imagine there's still lots of carp to be had though. Soon enough that lake is going to look like a really dull, dirty koi pond.

head to Belwood in the spring. Too many pike there. Probably not much help this time of year though... I haven't been by there in a while but I bet the water level is down to a small trickle.

I hate to pile on, taking this too far off topic, but I agree with this. My wife and I have good paying white collar jobs and no kids. We're 30 years old and we own a house but a decent boat (even a tinny) and truck for fishing is still a dream that's maybe 3-4 years away, if everything goes right. But whatever though... different times, different lives. I just hope they get the lakes back to where they ought to be by the time I've bought my boat!

Boston's due to regress and Toronto might be primed to go on a run. You never know... if they're within 2 or 3 games by the time they play each other in that last series. I'm not giving up hope yet. Playing that wildcard game scares the crap out of me. Baseball isn't meant to be a one game winner takes all sport!

I dozed off last night watching the hockey game and woke up just as the bottom of the 3rd was ending and going into the top of the 4th. Told myself I would just watch the Jays bat and then go to bed as it was already 11:00. 45 minutes later I make my way to bed lol. They definitely needed that, to say the least. Especially the pummelling of a pitcher they shouldn't match up well against (Iwakuma who is a sinker baller with few lefties to counter). Travis now just needs to stop trying so hard at 2nd and just make the routine plays. I said a little while ago that this team couldn't keep leaving that many men on and be kept to under 3-4 runs. Eventually they'd break out. Good to see.

The problem with Bautista is he's easily frustrated and flustered. He was upset that two throws he made earlier very well could have been outs and then he tried to get revenge on a throw home he should never have made, when he had the chance to get the double play/assist at first. Kevin Barker was on Dean Blundell's show this morning and I think he said it quite succinctly that they are feeling the pressure and now they're trying too hard. Baseball isn't a game where trying harder gets you ahead. I think some of the boppers need to cut their swings down (in spite of what Zaun says) because trying to hit 6 run homeruns with no one on base isn't working either. This is crunch time guys, make something happen!

True, and I remember seeing pictures of team outings and stuff like that. No one buying everyone bathrobes, no one buying everyone scooters. JD did buy everyone cologne after that one incident but... Chemistry seems a little off this year. I know I shouldn't say this, but maybe there's too many cliques in this clubhouse. There's Spanish guys who've been playing this game at this level for how long and still prefer to use an interpreter for interviews? Just seems a little strange if you ask me. Although, there have been teams in the past who've hated each other and still managed to win in spite of each other.

Some great memories with my grandfather out on Lake Huron/Georgian Bay back in the day. He shared his boat with another guy but they eventually had to give it up because maintenance alone became way too expensive.

Not much action on this thread in the past couple weeks. I've been patient with them through this slump. But this September is turning into a month to forget. I have tickets to the game on the 24th. Hopefully it isn't a funeral. Maybe I follow this team too closely, but I definitely find that my general outlook on the day is considerably worse when they lose the night before. Probably not healthy.

I wasn't sure about this going in, but after watching a few of the pre-tournament games I'll be probably watching very closely. Team NA looks like they could skate circles around anyone, but I haven't watched them play a team that wasn't the orphaned Europeans team. Some of those guys look out of place and their defence is very suspect/immobile. I also think that if there's one team that doesn't have their hearts in it it would be the Euro team.

Mr. James's Grade 10 English class. Had a girl (I know exactly who she is still, but won't mention her name out of respect. Used to live down the road from my grandparents and her father used to hunt on their property) from down the hall come in and say that a plane had hit the WTC, and another one did soon after. The early suspicion was there was a poor visibility day and the one plane was trying to follow the other and both ended up hitting the buildings. No one anticipated it being a jetliner, more like a Cessna. I honestly can't remember what happened the rest of the day, but it couldn't have been much. Everyone was pretty distracted, to say the least.

Around my neck of the woods you can always tell where a good water access point is by the amount of garbage on the side of the road (Grand River between Fergus and Elora not included). The amount of disrespect these people have for the natural environment that they apparently "enjoy" on a regular basis is mind boggling. Take a drive by the upstream part of Guelph Lake or Belwood Lake if you need any indication. It upset me so bad the one day I was to go fishing I just turned around and went back home. Didn't want to be associated with those people.

Unless something goes horribly wrong, I don't think there's much room on the postseason roster for Dickey. Sad, but true. In the post-season you only need 3-4 starters, and Dickey is probably ranked 5 or 6 of the current staff. As for the prospects, this is a win now year. We may not recognize the team at this time next year. There's plenty of time to stock up on prospects. But until this season is done, age is only a number.

It's not as easy in open water to cover water, but you have to look for the right underwater structure/depth/weeds and watch your sonar. Bass will often times show up on sonar unlike pickerel or other bottom huggers.

While we're on the topic of laying blame where it's due, I see a lot of people bringing up golf courses as a contributor to increased phosphorus and nitrates in the water supply. But let's not forget about the excessive use of fertilizer, etc. on the cash crop/factory farming operations (and yes, this includes "organic" farming which can actually be more extensive). I wish I could find an actual article on it, but I had heard that the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the topsoil on many farms is somewhere in an amount that it would take several generations to return to background levels. I don't want to hazard a guess at what it must be on golf courses, though... edit: found it... http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/phosphorus-fertilizer-1.3535475

I'm not surprised that Nestle isn't #1 on the water demand list, but I am shocked at how much water CBM and Capitol Paving are allowed to take for aggregate washing. The golf course up the road does have permits to take a lot of water, but it's only about half as much (totalling three separate wells) as Nestle. To be frank, I agree that there must be some sort of "hidden agenda" here or conspiracy against Nestle. But for the average person it's pretty easy to look at bottled water and think how wasteful this is on so many resources (energy, petroleum, transportation, etc.) when clean, potable water is freely available in every home. I think, if nothing else, that is the agenda.

Not trying to be a smartass here, but I did try to do a bit of research to see who the biggest water users are and had little success. Basically all I got was national statistics. Interestingly enough, the paper industry drew about 45% of all freshwater drawn in the country, and Ontario and Quebec by far the biggest industrial water users. So I'm asking, in Wellington County, particularly in Aberfoyle and Elora, who are the biggest water takers?

If you've ever driven through this part of the country you'll know that pretty much everything is opposed, from gravel pits to wind turbines, and more often than not by the same people. But I still love the attitude of if we can't fix it 100% we shouldn't bother trying. I think what bothers most people though is how little they pay vs how much they take, and then leave the government to foot the bill. Still not sure what the "agenda" is...

What's the agenda? I'm all for conspiracy theories.