Road Trip=Heading home

The trip wrapped up on its final day with a little time killing needed.

I wanted to take Ryan to Pickle Bill's,which was the seafood place that you might remember that Cherie and I went to last August when we went to Northeast Ohio.

In order to wait for Pickle Bill's to open,we had to wait until one o'clock and we wanted to be there when it opened as we expected it to fill quickly as it was Father's Day.
So,we were able to take a leisurely trip across the state to get to Pickle Bill's,but we were able to see the Cleveland skyline from the road.
From a distance,if you looked quickly and closely,you could see the area around the Quicken Loans Arena area beginning to fill up for the television watching party as this was the day of game seven of the NBA finals.
It would have been so neat to have driven by when it was completely filled!

When we arrived a little early at Pickle Bill's (after struggling to find a place to walk around ),we waited outside by the Cuyahoga River until it opened.
Ryan and I swapped lots of basketball talk,which was the type of thing that I hoped would still be there for us.
I've written before that the top thing that I missed about Ryan being gone was those times of just sitting around swapping sports talk and those late night baseball games from the west coast.
When Pickle Bill's opened,we were seated quickly and the line we were in lengthened before we were officially in to eat!
It was a smart move to get there early as when we left at two,the place was packed with people waiting for a table!

Ryan and I had the all you can eat Perch and Walleye and we each had some of the other (shhh) and it was as tasty as I remembered!
I still want to try the rival across the stone drive in Brennan's seafood house sometime,but sometimes you don't want to get into a spot of losing the known quantity when you so rarely get to go!

We worked our way home as we wouldn't be hungry for the rest of the day,only stopping for the standard drinks,breaks etc,but as we neared the Pennsylvania Turnpike.I could see where the vacation had started-Oakmont.
We crossed under the bridge and heard a huge roar and I looked and saw the 18th hole grandstand standing in cheering,so Ryan and I knew something big had happened as the final round of the U.S.Open was in progress!

The trip was over and I missed the few minutes of game seven,so we made it in time for most of the game.
I'm not sure if I'll ever get to make a trip with Ryan again,but it was exactly what I was hoping for-One last fun trip with my son.
It meant a lot and even if I never get to make another one-I still have this one in the memory bank.

Coming soon will be the Buddy Ryan tribute,boxing ratings and maybe,just maybe a podcast...

Cavaliers trade for Mike Dunleavy

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in a position to profit from someone's cap problems and they may done so with the addition of Mike Dunleavy Jr from the Chicago Bulls in a trade late Wednesday night.

Chicago needed to clear cap space in order to sign Dwyane Wade and Dunleavy,a long-time favorite of LeBron James,was an easy savings for the Bulls cap.
Cleveland,who is so limited in cap space was able to use part of it's trade exception from the trade of Anderson Varejao to be able to squeeze in Dunleavy and his 4.8 million contract for 2016-17.

Dunleavy played in just 31 games last season,having been hampered with back problems and there is no guarantee that the soon to be 36 year old will return to form,but I'm willing to guess that he'll be able to shoot his way back.
Much like in boxing,where the last thing that goes is punching power,in basketball,a standup shooter can knock shots down for years-even when their other talents have gone away.
Why else do you believe that teams are chasing a 41 (by seasons start) year old Ray Allen that has been out of the game for two years?
Because in the right situation-Ray Allen can still shoot and if Mike Dunleavy can move a little bit-he'll be able to shoot it.

Dunleavy is known to be a solid passer and of course possessing the skill to drain the three as he hits 37 percent of his shots from beyond the line for his career.
Adding that you can get away with playing (how much depends on other situations) Dunleavy at three different positions and it is a good fit for both parties.
It's funny because just yesterday on a trip to Harrisburg,Derreck Chupak and I were discussing the type of player that the Cavaliers could use to surround LeBron James with to help off the bench and the names that were mentioned were similar to Dunleavy (although his name didn't come up) J.J. Redick,Kyle Korver,Doug McDermott etc-shooters to take advantage of when James drives and kicks the ball out.
Dunleavy (if healthy) has the capability to do that.

Cleveland will also retain Richard Jefferson,who decided to change his mind from a decision to retire and signed a two year contract.
No word on what the Cavaliers will be paying Jefferson over the term of the contract.

Also no word on what the Cavaliers will be sending to the Bulls for Dunleavy,although the Cleveland Plain Dealer says that it will not be any draft picks and will likely be the rights to an overseas player,although it will not be their prized youngster Cedi Osman from Turkey.

Back injuries are tricky problems and it's not a sure thing that the Cavaliers will get anything out of Mike Dunleavy,but if he is able to play-Mike Dunleavy is exactly the type of situational shooter that this team needs.

Podcast-Chasing Cardboard!!

Another edition of Chasing Cardboard from the world of minor league baseball with Derreck Chupak!

Road Trip-Toledo

The trip on its second day featured the most downtime Ryan and I had, and we took it to its best advantage.

You see, I've had different travel partners, and each does things differently.
Kendall Morris is a straightforward get-to-the-destination with as few stops as possible.
Derreck Chupak will stop for food occasionally, but it's usually at McDonald's, including a recent stop in Bowie that ranks among my worst stops of all time (check my TripAdvisor page for more on this).
Doug Hopkins likes to stop at places and look around as well as dig around before we go to interesting places to eat at, and I must admit I'm a lot more like Doug on trips to places that I've never been to than Kendall and Derreck, but that's not always the case!

On this day, Ryan and I had time to kill, and I saw so many things and places from the state that, despite not living there for a long time,  I'll always consider home, and what a wonderful experience to share with my son.

When we left Louisville (after a grape icee stop at Thornton's as mentioned in part one!), we originally considered a return (when they were open) to the Muhammad Ali Center and/or a Kentucky Derby museum trip to start our day.
Well, we decided to pass on both - the Ali Center due to the issues we had leaving Louisville and not wanting to get caught in that again, and the Derby Museum due to its cost, which wound up being over $ 30 per person by the time different fees were introduced.
We then moved through Kentucky into southern Ohio and entered Cincinnati.
I had never been to Cinci, and it was really neat to see some of the things as we crossed the Ohio River that I had seen so often on clips of the classic "WKRP in Cincinnati".
Ryan then surprised me by taking an exit, so we stopped at Great American Ballpark for a few pictures before we left town.

We had another target in mind near Cincinnati in Blue Ash, Ohio.
Blue Ash is a town that was downright brilliant in the late 80s, as the reconstruction of the late lamented Crosley Field was done on their sporting facility.

Their Crosley is accurate down to its exact dimensions, including hills in the outfield and a perfect replica of the Crosley scoreboard with sponsors of the time and the scores of all the MLB games when the final pitch was thrown.
They also have an original ticket booth from Crosley, and the seats on the third base bleachers are all from Crosley's original incarnation to boot.
Add to that another field that has the dimensions of the Reds' home after Crosley in Riverfront Stadium, complete with artificial turf, and the people of Blue Ash certainly have made a unique home for their advanced youth baseball programs.

After we left the fields, Ryan wanted a coney from Skyline Chili, not a full meal, just a quick dog, and since we had passed a Skyline on the way in, it was convenient.
As we ate, I wanted to make a note of the exact location for my later reviews for TripAdvisor, so I asked what the exact town the Skyline was located in.

This sounds dumb, but many times in the suburbs, if you don't get the city exactly right, nothing will come up, and therefore, no review.
On my Kindle, it was coming up that we were in Sharonville, yet I thought we were in Blue Ash, so I asked the waitress which was the case.
She looked at me with a puzzled look and said three times in a deep southern drawl, "This is Blue Ash"...
This was a lot funnier in person than it reads- I promise!!

We then continued our run north through Western Ohio, including a cruise through Dayton, where we saw the Dayton Arena, where the first round of the NCAA tourney is played, and moved to Wapakoneta yet another place that I've always wanted to visit as a space buff (wasn't every kid in the 60's and 70's?)-The Neil Armstrong Air and Space museum honoring hometown hero and first man on the moon-Neil Armstrong.
I smiled as I snapped the picture at the top of the page as it reminded me exactly of what you would think a space museum built in the 1970's would look like a large walking path leading up to an imposing dome, although it appeared that there was lots of landscaping work being done to give the museum the appearance of being buried.

Once inside, you saw that the museum was actually below ground level, and you worked your way to the dome at the top. Things began to clear up.
I was simply enthralled by the Armstrong Museum. It had a seventies feel without the mustiness and lack of care that some museums with lower funding often have.
Well maintained with lots of Armstrong and U.S. space items, it also gives its fair share of attention to the opponents in the space race as the Soviet Union has some attention paid to it as well.
There is a video on the moon landings under the dome, and to be fair- it's a little dated, but if you have children or haven't done a lot of lunar reading of late, it's entertaining and interesting enough to get you by.
I just loved going to the Armstrong Museum, and at 8.00 for adults and cheaper for kids, it isn't going to be oppressive in cost.
I did pick up a few postcards and a little something for myself- an Armstrong snow globe.
I've always liked those, and even though I don't really collect, I couldn't pass this little guy up!
If you are ever in the area, give it a try. Ryan said he enjoyed it, and he wasn't sure that he would when he arrived, so there was an endorsement from someone other than me!!

After leaving Wapakoneta and the museum (which is very visible from the interstate), we moved toward Toledo and passed (the shot wasn't great) Doyt Perry Stadium, home of Bowling Green football.
I'm planning on making my first visit to the Doyt in Sept to see the Falcons take on Middle Tennessee State (not sure about travel partners, if any for that trip), and it was nice to have a little bit of an idea of where the Doyt is located!

More northern driving saw us decide to cross the Michigan line to count Michigan as a state that we have been to, and we'd drive for a little bit, stop and get out, and then turn around to return to Ohio.
When we saw a sign for Beef Jerky Unlimited, we knew we had our stop!
Located in a small store right off the highway, Beef Jerky Unlimited has a lot of different flavors, ranging from sweet to hot, and in beef, chicken, and pork!
Ryan graciously bought us some, and we used them as snacks down the road, in the hotel, and even the next day.

We left Michigan and passed Toledo again to eat at Frisch's Big Boy.
Frisch's is the midwestern version of Bob's and Shoney's, as it has the classic Big Boy statue out front, and I remember it from being the sponsor of a Cincinnati Stingers pocket schedule in my collection.
Frisch's offered the classic Big Boy burger and fries combo, and I happily had such as we ate before our jaunt to Toledo for the home team Mud Hens and the visiting Rochester Red Wings.

I'm never a fan of paying for parking.
NEVER. It has to be done, and it's part of the price of playing when you visit big cities, but I really don't like it.
There is ZERO parking on site at Fifth Third Field-home of the AAA Mud Hens, so you could either pay eight dollars and park across the street or five and walk blocks.
That was an easy choice, and even with my foot feeling better than the day before (In which I spent much of the day in slippers), I still wanted to save steps.
Entering the stadium was interesting, as those of you who know me know the briefcase that goes everywhere with me, and it came to Toledo as well.

I wasn't checked when entering the stadium, which I found unusual, except for Hagerstown or Frederick, where they know the contents, I'm usually checked, which I have no problem with.
Ryan and I made a hard turn into the team shop, where I discovered I was being tailed by a guy in uniform.
Everywhere I went, this guy was there, and then after a while, I watched this guy go up to another uniformed person and start looking at me.
Honestly, I was a little uncomfortable, so being me, I decided to end their suspicion and walked over and said, "You guys are watching me, right?"
The second fellow arrogantly responded, "Yes, we are", so I said, let's end your suspense and showed the contents, which relaxed them.
The follower said, "You have to admit that's pretty unusual," and I responded, "Perhaps, but usually I'm checked at the door".
I understand the need for security, and I never have an issue checking the case, but wouldn't it have been so much easier to check it before I walk in????

Fifth Third Field was sold out for that night, and we were treated to good seats, but had the misfortune to sit in front of some dopey kid who seemed to know all and tell all to a girl sitting next to him.
My highlight was listening to him talk about basketball despite knowing next to nothing.

This guy brought to mind a cross between Cliff Clavin and a local grapher, and it was painful.
The noise was a little loud with us sitting under a speaker, but it wasn't terrible.
Toledo has some similarities to Akron, where the stadium is located in an urban area with various things to do around the ballpark's exterior for revelry to ensue.
In other words, all the things that I hate! LOL.
Toledo did a mild stadium renovation, which Ryan remarked is likely the reason for an attendance increase.

I did like this "Wedge" of seats that started this season in which incorporates a building that is used as almost part of the scenery (I'm not sure if it is part of the park or not) and adds what I'd bet is higher-priced prestige seating.
I'm still not a huge fan of the downtown parks, but Toledo was okay. I'll take a suburban or a slower city location anytime.

After a long and fun day, we left Toledo and moved to our hotel for the night in Sandusky, Ohio.
I had a great time with Ryan, and I hope you can handle the length of this post!
I'll have the final day up soon, but I'll have the podcast and the latest edition of Chasing Cardboard later tonight...

Road Trip-Louisville

Of all the trips that I made and will make this season,this one was the one I wanted to make the most.
Not because I had a huge hunger to see Louisville or Toledo,but because this was a trip with Ryan.

Planned trips with Ryan haven't always worked out and I prepared myself not to make the trip,but I really wanted this one.
As some of you know,Ryan is getting married later this year and I've always went into this assuming that would be the final trip that we would make.
Life changes once married and the more than likely inevitability of grandchildren will make times for things like this very short.

Much of the early part of the drive is very similar to the drive that I went on to Bowling Green-across rural West Virginia including the Coal Country miniature golf course.
I love stuff like that with themes built around your area and had time been a lesser factor (as it would on the following day),I would have loved to have played it.
I dozed for a bit and woke up in Mount Sterling KY,where Ryan took care of some work business and I was able to eat at a favorite fast food stop-Krystal.
Krystal is the southern version of White Castle,so their small square burgers should be at least known to you.
The burgers were great,but really enjoyed something called Junkyard Fries,loaded with chili,cheese,onions and jalapenos,that trip to the junkyard was pretty yummy.....

We went straight to Louisville from there and wanted to make a few stops before the game.
We went to the Louisville Slugger museum first in downtown Louisville and passed much of the sights of the city including the KFC Yum Center,home of the Louisville Cardinals and the building that attempted to attract the team that became the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Louisville Slugger Museum is where the Slugger and Hillerich and Bradsby bats are made,so most of the bats used in the majors come out of this shop in downtown Louisville.
The museum itself wasn't huge,but the best part was the tour of the facility and seeing how they actually make the bats themselves.
Very cool and I almost bought a custom bat in which they make a bat with your signature on the bat,but the line was long and I didn't feel like standing in line for that long for it.
Maybe someday.
The huge bat pictured is located in front of the museum and the RIP Champ is for the recently passed Muhammad Ali-a Louisville native.
Yes,that is the head of Iron Man at the lower left corner too!
For a reason that was never explained-there were two statues of Iron Man and two of Captain America in front!
Weird for a baseball museum!

Louisville's downtown was really neat-it wasn't overcrowded and bustling,but there were people around the area as well.
Ryan said it reminded him of Indianapolis,which I'll take his word on because I haven't been there since I was 10!
After traveling through downtown Louisville and more sights,which included crossing the Ohio River,which made me laugh when the GPS said "Welcome to Indiana" and then "Welcome to Kentucky" when we returned,we went to Louisville Slugger field.
The home of the Louisville Bats (AAA Cincinnati) is considered downtown,but it's more on the edge of downtown and was pretty easy to get to.
When I entered the stadium what I noticed was rare,but welcomed-the line to enter the stadium is indoors and air conditioned!!!
What a feature and I'm sure one appreciated by me!
At the ticket window,as often happens when I go to the park,the young man thanked me for coming to the park,comped my tickets and placed us in the suite section for the evening!
And it didn't even come surrounded by concrete blocks like some stadiums that I know!

The above picture has a little bit of glare,but I wanted to take a picture as the sun was going down.LSF has a spectacular view of the Ohio River and all the steamboats going up and down the water.
It was beautiful and I liked it better than the other AAA stadiums that I have been to-what a view.
The autographing was futile as few players came out and two of the players that I needed badly (Cody Reed and Jose Peraza) were promoted to the bigs the day before,but I was told that on a good day,Louisville can be a decent AAA graphing stadium.
The funny part of the game was when the visiting Pawtucket Red Sox lineup was announced and two members of the 2007 Hagerstown Suns were in the starting lineup with Justin Maxwell and Chris Marrero each holding spots.
Marrero homered in the Pawtucket thrashing of the home team and it was fun re-living those early Suns days as a Nationals affiliate with Ryan talking about those teams.

I didn't stick around to graph post-game,I was enjoying the day with my son (I didn't want to push my luck) and as we left the park a little before 10,it was still light out,which I found remarkable until thinking that Louisville is located at the western edge of the eastern time zone,which will enable the light to linger longer than home,but the sun comes up a bit later than here.
There was some construction in Louisville,so we did get kicked around town a bit,but we did see the Muhammad Ali center from the outside and began to make our plans for day two as we drove back to the hotel.
We stopped at a place named Thornton's to for a quick snack and discovered a place with a dozen different flavors of icees!
I tried lemonade,but then saw grape on the machine,so I "nudged" the less than tasty lemonade to garbage with a small nudge and grabbed the best grape icee I've ever had!
I asked Ryan,if we could stop there before leaving in the morning for another,while we gassed up and he agreed.
Sleep awaited and I had a great day,but I loved hitting the bed for some rest....

Day one was in the books and day two was coming soon-I'll be writing on our travels to Toledo later this week or even tomorrow,if time permits!!
Also look for the promised Buddy Ryan post soon as well!!

Free Agency Moves and Grooves!

With July 1st arriving and drafts in the NBA and NHL over-it is time for just one thing-the nuttiness that is free agency.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost two players to the free agency pool as Timofey Mozgov signed a four year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers for 64 million and Matthew Dellavedova signed a four year offer sheet worth 39 million with the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Cavaliers are not expected to match the offer sheet and will then lose Dellavedova to Milwaukee.
Now,these deals cannot be officially signed until July 7th and the deals are not binding (ask DeAndre Jordan and Mark Cuban about that),but usually where there is smoke there is fire.

Mozgov was very impressive after being acquired in the 2014-15 season from Denver,but a return from knee surgery never seemed to go smoothly and the seven foot Mozgov wound up playing sparingly for most of the season and postseason.
Dellavedova didn't play a lot vs Golden State,but was a valuable backup to Kyrie Irving on the point in the Eastern Conference bracket.
The hustle off the bench made Delly a fan favorite and one of mine as well,but for just under ten million per year and J,R.Smith needing to be re-signed,one can make an excellent argument that Dellavedova would be a far too expensive luxury for the salary cap stressed Cavaliers.
Cleveland will still have Mo Williams and rookie Kay Felder to back up Irving,but it would not surprise me at all to see the Cavaliers try to sign a veteran at the position,if one can be signed inexpensively.

Meanwhile on the ice,the New Jersey Devils fresh off obtaining Taylor Hall signed two players to the team and watched another sign elsewhere on day one of the silly season.
The loss came to the defense as David Schlemko signed with the San Jose Sharks on a four year deal at 2.1 million per season.
Schlemko played very well in his only season in New Jersey,but honestly considering the length of the contract,I'm Ok with not re-signing Schlemko.

New Jersey did add two players,neither of which were massive acquisitions,but both should see plenty of ice time in the 2016-17 term.
Defenseman Ben Lovejoy was brought in from ,in a stunning surprise-Pittsburgh.
Lovejoy actually will be making more than Schlemko per season,but will be on a three year contract.
The 32 year old Lovejoy played in 66 games last season and finished with four goals and six assists and a plus nine.
Lovejoy isn't a flashy addition and neither is 36 year old Vernon Fiddler.
Fiddler scored 12 goals last season for the Dallas Stars and should be a fourth line center on the checking line as well as helping kill penalties.
Fiddler's signing will likely mean that at least one or two of the Devils unrestricted free agents are unlikely to return as most of them (Bobby Farnham,Stephen Gionta,Tyler Kennedy,Tuomo Ruutu and Jordin Tootoo) are similar types as Fiddler-3rd to 4th lines that specialize in checking/penalty killing.
Neither signing will be part of the long term turnaround,but should at least help the Devils in the short term.

That finishes the day one recap of the arrivals and departures.
If I have time,I'll try to to knock out part one of my last trip....

Cleaning out the inbox-Non-Sports Edition

The non-sports edition of the inbox features quite a few interesting notes...

Buzzfeed looks at the comet-like career of acerbic musical comedian Tom Lehrer.
The now 86 (or 88 depending on your source) year old Lehrer isn't quite a recluse,but he also isn't in the public eye and hasn't been so very often over the last 50 or so years.
One thing that I didn't know about Lehrer is that he briefly wrote for the PBS show The Electric Company in the 1970's,which was such a staple of school children during that time.
Lehrer's "It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier" was parodied in Ball Four as "Makes a fellow proud to be an Astro"
John Edwards may drink too much and call some long home runs,indeed...
If you've never heard of Lehrer-check out his work on YouTube-think of Mark Russell crossed with Weird Al Yankovic,If you are twisted,like me,I think you'll love it...

Joe Plum sends us this interesting note from Noisey on the wave that was Morrissey and his fans takeover of the most traditional of Hollywood's kingmaker-the Johnny Carson version of the Tonight Show.
I never saw this (As readers should know,I was a Letterman guy),but it looked like one interesting night as the Morrissey fans basically took over the show and made Carson and Bill Cosby range from angry to uncomfortable!.
Ryan's favorite all time musical act is Morrissey,so I'm sure he found this to be quite funny!

Krista Anderson offers a rare local note that caught my eye as one of our newer parks (Kiwanis Park) is going to be a sanctuary for the Monarch Butterfly,which is seeing its numbers decrease in the Eastern U.S.
I've often talked of setting up some milkweed (the Monarchs preferred food and egg laying site) here,but I never seem to find the plants,although I do faintly remember getting some seeds that must have either gone away or failed to take!

This is a sports note,yet it isn't as UniWatch finds the man responsible for designing a logo that has followed an NBA team through four cities,a name change,multiple colors and now has returned to close to the original design.
Check it out as Robert Grove is found and answers questions about the logo,how it came to be,how much he was paid for it and why he never did another logo....

You all know how much I rave about Strat O Matic baseball,but I never played their football game,which is reported to be a tremendous head to head game.
NFL.com's Marc Sessler writes about the game and what it takes to be a good SOM football player.
It also discusses how SOM football was different than fantasy football and the recent Madden video game versions.
Good Stuff.

Boston,com sends word of the sunken wreck of the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria is in worse shape than expected with the bow of the vessel nearly broken off.
The Doria,which was famously hit by the Swedish ship Stockholm,killing 46 and sunk eleven hours later in 1956,lies 50 miles off the American coast.
The ship is over 240 feet under water and has claimed the lives of 16 visitors to its site.

The Presidential History Blog posts about the death of President Warren Harding.
Harding,who has had his death surrounded by controversy and by conspiracy theorists throughout the years,died of a heart attack in San Francisco in 1923.
This article briefly touches on the conspiracy types,but focuses more on Harding's wife and doctor along with Harding's ailments...

We wrap up with the return of the river herring to the Wynants Kill tributary as the city of Troy,New York has removed a lock to open the Hudson River to various fish that could not reach their natural spawning areas due to the various man-made obstacles from the early 20th century.
The herring quickly returned to the area after an 85 year absence once the lock was popped and as other cities along the river continue to remove these obsolete blockades,more and more native fish will spread across the area.
Stories like this just make sense in an easy effort to revitalize both species and the environment.