In the name of bi-partisanship I was able to obtain the theme song for the Republican National Convention, I hope you will enjoy and sing along if you wish. This special edition is to recap our trip to Colorado, by ours, I mean Scott, Denny and myself.  First and foremost it was a fantastic trip highlighted not by the fact we had the BEST tickets I have ever had at a ballgame, but by the company I was in and the truly fantastic scenery that I hope is not taken for granted by the lucky people who live there.

The first thing we did when we got there was to head down to the DNC and take in the ambiance of the event.  Unfortunately this is one time I wish I did own a camera because Scott was “wanded” by no less than 4 different security personnel, one who actually was security and 3 others who I don’t know where they got their plastic wands but they seemed to enjoy the process and Scott seemed like he resigned himself to the fact that this was going to happen every five feet or so.  After all it is the DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, not some fund raiser at Tim Robbins or Susan Sarandon’s, there IS security and Scott stuck out like Oprah at a Jenny Craig convention or Johnny at a AA meeting (you have to actually want to quit or those people will know).

I introduced myself to “Soon to be President elect Obama” and we low fived, high fived and knuckle punched and a few other brother moves that I had to learn on the fly.  Then I told him about Ted and his “possumetrics” and how lucky and fortunate we are to have big oil “helping out” our economy.  He said that reminded him of his favorite quote “Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.”  Actually he stole it from Clint Eastwood from the movie The Outlaw Josey Whales but I had to admit it was perfect for the moment.  After a long and hearty laugh we agreed that the moaning sound that Ted was sitting on, was his wallet crying out for help and that instead of loudly proclaiming “Thank you sir, may I please have another” he should be worried that if he gets his way, that the new boss, may be the same as the old boss.

When we left the convention we found Scott sitting on the curb no worse from the wear from his numerous “wandings” obviously disappointed he was unable to participate in the festivities.  It’s hard to believe that the weekend could get any better at that point, but it did.  It was off to The Eagle’s Nest.

Our first mission was to open up The Eagle’s Nest for Jori and her friends, so that everything would be in working order when they arrived.  This meant going up the mountain in the dark, no easy feat.  Thank God Scott has been there a thousand times because it looked like the Vietnamese tunnel system to me.  There were driveways, roads, drop- offs and ditches everywhere you looked, yet he somehow found his way.  He got everything squared away and we were soon motoring on to our hotel in Blackhawk, a tiny community that shares some space with its sister town Central City.  We were told that there were 22 casinos between the two towns and I must say it is a sight to behold.  These were LARGE impressive casinos smack dab in the middle of two completely restored towns from the 1800’s.  But more impressive than that was the fact that this was the location of the first and only detonation of a neutron bomb.  Beautiful town……….no people……..none.  I was fully prepared to be hit with a wave of grey from the land of the living dead or at the very least a gaggle of 30 to 70 year old looking women in frosted shags looking for that next jackpot or cigarette or whichever came first.  The clerk at the hotel desk told Scott that they were full, yet there was no one in sight.  It’s possible they all died in their rooms and I’m not going to rule that out, but it was strange, strange indeed.  That night we went down to the bar and had about 6 rounds of headache beer and called it a night.  Denny and I were staying in the Alzheimer wing and Scott was in the Orthopedic wing of the hosp….er uh…casino and they were situated at opposite ends. While trying to find his gurney Scott parlayed a twenty dollar bill into a sixty dollar bill in one of the quarter slots.  It was a good night indeed, there was singing and dancing, at least in room 1158.

The next morning we toured Central City and marveled at the lack of tourists in such a quaint setting. In 1859 John Gregory discovered the “The Gregory Lode” and the town grew to a population of 10,000 in only 2 months.  I’m not sure what the population is today but with all the senior citizen arm yankers I don’t think I would bother with posting a current population unless someone was willing to change the tote board on a daily basis.  It is also the home of the famous Teller House and “The Face on the Floor” which we were able to gaze at through locked doors.  We did meet one of the locals, a lady who owned a second-hand store and one of the only stores open that day, she remarked that the casinos have taken over the towns and the only tourists who come now are the gamblers.  On that note, I went into Doc Holliday’s casino and waxed their joint for a $3.75 cool profit.  After we were kicked out for spin counting on the slots I used my windfall to buy a snazzy new pair of reading glasses for $3.21, leaving 54 cents to bank.  We were still able to get a good feel for the history of the town from Scott who as a kid had the chance to see the town evolve or de-evolve depending on your opinion of casinos.

Later that day we met Scott’s Uncle Norm and Aunt Esther and toured their beautiful property between Golden and Blackhawk, complete with a thriving trout pond.  If we only knew how many beautiful canvasses God has painted just off the road or just around the bend, if we could just make that effort to search and look, the reward is astounding.  I defiantly have to get off the couch, get out of the house, get out of the state and get out of the car more often.  It has left a lasting impression on me.

On to the game that night.  Larry our friend in Denver got us the best tickets I have ever had at a baseball game.  Thanks to a girl he works with we were able to get tickets 2 rows behind the Reds’ dugout.  Scott spent the night counting up his bazillion points from Joey “I hit the Colorado Lotto” Votto, who was at least 19 for 20 for the weekend, along with Matt Holliday, Ian Stewart and Jay Bruce who all had good nights.  Denny was able to count on Garrett Atkins for his lion’s share and I of course had no one playing.  I’m not sure I have anyone playing, anywhere for that matter.  I spent the night deciding if it was ok to drink beer on top of an ice cream cone or if it would be better to create a layer of bratwurst, peppers and onions in-between to buffer the effects of the beer on the ice cream.  I went with the layered strategy and it paid off nicely.  All in all, a perfect ballgame at one of my favorite parks.

We decided that it had been 12 years since we had our league trip to Colorado and I can guarantee you that it won’t be a fraction of that time before I visit again.  Scott made the mistake of showing me where the key to his cabin is located and I have that burned into my memory, unlike our last trip to The Eagle’s Nest that Denny recalled in frightening accuracy.  I loved hearing about the golf outing and the trip to the Bucksnort restaurant, until he informed me I was there too.  You’re kidding me,  I barely remember Denny, let alone this fun trip he was talking about.  Scott says he remembers the trip but I’m going to need some independent proof.  I can’t tell if they’re serious or just picking on a slow kid.  So I would appreciate it if someone would come forward and verify that I was at the Hogsnostrel that night, or day?

The Saturday night game was also a treat even though we had to sacrifice our seats from the previous night for some ones a little further back, like 3^rd deck back, but good nevertheless.  Funny, the correlation between the quality of ticket you have and the quality of the person sitting next to you.  Somehow a barnacle got attached to Scott that he had a hard time shaking, some guy who was intent on filling him in on the nuances of the game.  Fortunately his love of food outweighed his love for baseball, because he spent the majority of the night in search of anything and everything that Coors had to offer.

I love baseball and Coors Field is about as good as it gets, but the star of the weekend was The Eagle’s Nest.  As much as I am looking forward to New York next year, it will be hard to convince me that it could be any better than sitting on top of the world with a million dollar view, knowing that a wonderful stadium is less than a half an hour away.  We probably went up and down Bear Mountain at least 8 or 9 times and each time I  tried to extend my mental map of the route to Scott’s cabin, hairpin left turn, hairpin right turn, hairpin left again, ok we’re on gravel now, go .4 of a mile at 90 degrees vertical, not that driveway, not that one….you get the idea, I’m not going to remember how to get there, so here’s the deal.  If anyone can get me to Scott’s cabin, I know where the key is hidden and if I forget, Denny will sure as hell remember.

Dave was suppose to go on this trip with us but he was “unavailable” in fact, he’s been gone so much this summer I fear he may have been fired and with suing season just around the corner.  Let’s all hope for his return.

 2 past HSL champs and some other guy

How tough is horse shoes, the stake’s only  2 feet away

 There will always be doubters, Yes Alpenglow does exist and so does Big Foot………

Or, is it another sighting of Shamu?  Your call

We told Larry we wanted to see his tattoo but just the one on his arm

HEAVEN!!

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BLUES ROCK ON

After their dominance over the rest of the league was challenged in a minor way last week, the Blues put an end to the question about whether there would be a pennant race after all by pounding out 528.2 points during our 22nd week of competition.  With a mere four weeks of competition left in the 2008 campaign, the Blues hold a commanding edge of 446.8 points over the 2nd place Cubs.  Might as well get the Cup to the engraver, Shamu, because this one is over. 

WEEK 22 STANDINGS

POINT TOTALS FOR WEEK 22

Yes, it is most definitely the Blues’ year. 

Editor’s note:  All five of these top pitchers for the month had 6 quality starts out of 6 total starts. 

Editor’s notes: