This last month saw the Twins, Pirates, A's, Orioles, and my Mighty Red Sox eliminated. The zombie Indians were re-eliminated. Sabo's Padres have been hung with the dreaded ~0. Right now it's shaping up as a 4-team race down the stretch. The following focuses only on the most likely scenarios for these four teams...

• Dodgers (5-2 35%). The Dodger organization has six dog games left. In Pittsburgh Aug 22, in Rancho Cucamonga the next day, where Sabo will be watching his Storm visit the Quakes. And... that big four game Labor Day weekend series in the Barkyard. The Dodgers need to win out, and get a D'back loss; or go 5-1 and get three D'back loses.
  
  
• D'backs (14-9 28%). The D'backs host the Cubs tomorrow, and in a pivotal SDDC game, the Astros on Monday. Subsequently, they have five games at home, and three in the Barkyard. The D'backs need to win out; go 8-2 and get a Dodger loss; or go 7-3 and get an Astro, a Red, and two Dodger loses.
  
  
• Reds (7-3 16%). The Reds have dog games at home against the Mets and Card's. The Reds need to win out, and get an Astro, two Dodger, and three D'back loses.
  
  
• Astros (1-0 12%). The Astros play in Phoenix Monday, then they have away & home games against the Mariners. The Astros need to win out, and get two Dodger, and three D'back, loses.

#87 7-14	Indians 0 (0-2)	@A's 5 (2-1)	"Bark at the Park"
#88 "	Giants 5	@Padres 4	"Barkyard" boxes
#89 7-15	Giants 3	@Padres 5	"
#90 7-16	Giants 1 (5-5 ~0)	@Padres 7	"
#91 7-18	Brewers 3 (4-3 ~0)	@Pirates 4	"Pup Night"
#92 7-23	Nationals 6 (3-3 2%)	@D'backs 2	"Dog Days of Summer" boxes
#93 7-24	Braves 2	@D'Backs 10	"
#94 "	Mets 5	@Padres 3	"Barkyard" boxes
#95 7-25	Mets 6	@Padres 5	"
#96 7-26	Mets 3	@Padres 6	"
#97 7-27	Mets 5 (5-3 3%)	@Padres 7	"
#98 7-28	Pirates 2	@Padres 3	"
#99 7-29	Pirates 2	@Padres 4	"
#100 7-30	Pirates 7	@Padres 1	"
#101 "	Lake Elsinore 3 (pd)	@Visalia 0 (dm)	"Dog Day at the Ballpark"	MiLB, Sabo !!!1!
#102 7-31	Lancaster 2 (rc)	@Lake Elsinore 0	“Dog Day Mondays”	MiLB, Sabo !!!1!
#103 8-1	Reds 9 (7-3 16%)	@Pirates 1	"Pup Night"
#104 "	Twins 0	@Padres 3	"Barkyard" boxes	Sabo !!!1!
#105 8-2	Twins 5 (1-3)	@Padres 2	"
#106 8-8	Tigers 3 (2-4)	@Pirates 6 (5-9)	"Pup Night"
#107 8-13	Cubs (1-3)	@D'Backs (14-9 28%)	"Dog Days of Summer" boxes
#108 8-14	Astros (1-0 12%)	@D'Backs	"
#109 "	Phillies (0-4)	@Padres (30-31 ~0)	"Barkyard" boxes
#110 8-15	Phillies	@Padres	"
#111 8-16	Phillies	@Padres	"
#112 "	Braves (1-3)	@Rockies (6-5 2%)	"Bark at the Park"

Today was a very emotional day for me. I don't know how I would have fared without Sabo here to comfort me all day long. Gotta that Sabo... he's a good guy !!!1!

With their loss to the D'backs, the Astros were effectively eliminated Monday. This makes it primarily a three team race between the Dodgers (5-2 39%), D'backs, and Reds (7-3 20%). It's do-or-die time for the Nationals in the Barkyard. If they sweep, they'll make if a four team race at ~20%. If they lose two or more they are eliminated.

Just recently, for 1-2 days, Sabo's had been shaking his head... again. It was a head shaker. He wasn't doing as often as last time, and he wasn't in distress yet again, but still... he was shaking his head. So off to the vet, again, we went Tuesday morning.

Sabo still ain't even pretending to like the vet. This time he didn't even want to go down the driveway to the building. Instead he went to ground, and I carried him in. I tend to forget how small Sabo is... just like I'd forget how small Cinnamon was. With The Missile, I'd be reminded when I hadn't seen her for awhile. Sabo and me are never apart, so that doesn't happen with Sabo. I remembered with Sabo because he went to ground.

It turned out Sabo has a right ear infection this time... not a foxtail way on down his ear canal. He got prescribed some ear drops. So, Sabo is free from going to the vet... well for two weeks. We already had an appointment to get a travel certification on the 30th. Once again, Sabo was very happy to leave the vet. Gotta that Sabo... He's a Good Guy !!!1!.

The Nationals beat Sabo's Padres three out of four... effectively eliminating both teams. Moving right along, we have a pivotal two game stretch for the Dodgers organization. If they sweep they'll become odds-on at ~67%. Split and they'll remain favorites at ~35%. Get swept and the D'backs will be the new favorites at ~38%, while the Dodgers All-Star Sabo-Metric win projection would drop to ~9%.

The feature game will be tomorrow: Sabo's 32nd pro baseball game, his 11th MiLB game, the fourth time he's seen his Padres' Lake Elsinore Storm this season, and the sixth overall, and... his second visit to Loanmart Field up in Rancho Cucamonga. Sabo sez... go Storm !!!1!

Sabo's 11 MiLB games: 6(1 home) Lake Elsinore Storm (pd A), 4(3) Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (an A), 3(2) Lancaster Jethawks (rc A), 2(2) Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (dd A), 2(2) Las Vegas 51s (mt AAA), 2(1) Visalia Rawhide (dm),2 Albuquerque Isotopes (rc AAA), 1 Modesto Nuts (as).

In week -1 action, my Patriots scored less points than some other random team for the second straight week, in a game that doesn't count. Starters actually played a bit in this game... in fact, T.Brady threw a TD pass. The third game that doesn't count is traditionally the game where NFL teams made a show of playing the starters and actually kinda play some football. It just kicked off. I guess I'll watch it... over beers down at the bar.

Week -1	Sat 8-19	my Patriots (ex loss)	@Texans
Week 0	Today 4:00	my Patriots (ex)	@Lions
	Tomorrow 11:30	Oregon St P12 4-8	@Colorado St MW 7-6

^{A gratuitous sports post. Times pdt. 2016 Records.}

In actual news, the FBS season kicks off tomorrow with five games. The first of which is Oregon State @Colorado State (above). We'll be spending the day setting up this seasons brand new football watching tv room.

This season, Sabo's football week is the same as ESPN's, except tomorrow's games are on Sabo's week #0. Add one to Sabo's football week number to factor the NFL's official week number. Sabo's Aztecs, and my Golden Bears, kickoff in Sabo's week #1. My Patriots start their regular season in Sabo's week #2.

Sabo thoroughly enjoyed his second visit to Loanmart Field (nee Epicenter) in Rancho Cucamonga. The dog admission was $3, but Sabo got in free because his Aunt JQ bought his tix. This was JQs first MiLB game... 10 short of her pupil Sabo. Sabo almost got to see extra innings twice in a row... but alas, Sabo's Padres Storm lost when David Bednar hit the Quakes DJ Peters with a walk off pitch. Ouch.

The Quakes win, combined with the Dodgers win in Pittsburgh the day before, has made the organization odds on to win the SDCC at 67%. The next four days there are eight dog games. The feature game is Mets@Reds on Tuesday. A Reds would eliminate the Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Mariners, Nationals, Mets, Rays, and Royals.

Sabo's a go dog. He's always happy to go. But his happiness abruptly ends, when we walk up the driveway to Grand Animal Hospital. There he pulls, then goes to ground. But he's a little dog, and one of the many reasons little dogs are better than big dogs is you can just scoop them up. So I did, I slipped the little brown cage mussel on him, which really does work better for him... and in we went to see Doc Kevin.

Sabo only growled at her under his breath, and she didn't need to handle him much, the exam was quick enough. After the exam was over, Sabo even ate the treats they offered this time. And smiled a little and wagged his tail a bit. But... he was still late for the door.

Doc Kevin swabbed his right ear, and it was clean as a whistle. Those drops, which annoyed him, but which he tolerated me applying, like the good dog he is, did the trick just fine. He also got a clean bill to fly. Gotta that Sabo... He's a Good Guy !!!1!.

Sabo's Aztecs finished 2017 by whipping the marque G5 program, the University of Houston, 34-10 in the Las Vegas Bowl. It was a statement game for the program, who staked a claim to being the unquestioned second best G5 team last season. It was the Aztecs best FBS season since the Coryell era, and arguably the best ever. For the second straight season.

Rocky Long is still the head coach & defensive coordinator. Junior Christian Chapman returns for his third season as starting QB. All time FBS rushing leader* Donnel Pumphrey has graduated to the Eagles, where he'll prove he's not too small to play at the next level. Senior RB Rashaad Penny, who was also the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year the last two seasons, will take his carries.

Sabo's Aztecs are scheduling up this year. They've scheduled two Pac-12 teams, including #14 Stanford, and have MW powerhouse Boise State rotating onto the schedule. They open Saturday at the Q against FCS UC Davis, in the annual KGB Sky Show game. They start their play -vs- FBS a week later @Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe AZ. This is a must have game, as they need to establish they can win regularly -vs- P5 teams, and demonstrate they can do so on the road. That, and they're staring at the Cardinal the week after that... eek.

Sabo's picking his Aztecs to win their third consecutive undisputed Mountain West title, and fourth in the last six seasons. He's dreaming of the Fiesta Bowl... and sez (if he talked)... go Aztecs !!!1!

^{* with an asterisk shoutout to the real all-time rushing leader Ron Dayne, and his bizarre non-counting bowl yardage.}


My Golden Bears had a typically frustrating and disappointing season last year. They finished with a decisive win over UCLA, 36-10 @Memorial Stadium, to win the mythical UC championship. But... the dream of the roses was stomped out early, the Axe came to visit Memorial Stadium, but our boys never even got to touch it, as Stanford crushed Big Game 45-31, and they finished a game short of going bowling.

Bear Raid architect and head coach Sonny Dykes was fired strangely late in the offseason. Standout grad transfer QB Davis Webb has moved on to hated football Giants, where he's in line to succeed the despised Eli Manning. Justin Wilcox is the new head coach, who was just Wisconsin's Defensive Coordinator. Redshirt sophomore Ross Bowers has been named starting QB for the opener, but we'll see week by week who starts, it seems.

The Golden Bears scheduled up too... all the way up to the hardest schedule in all of the FBS. Ouch. They start off Saturday in Chapel Hill, NC facing the ACC powerhouse Carolina Tar Heels. North Carolina is -500 (-12½ pts). Next week they host FCS Weber State, their only non-P5 opponent. The schedule just keeps getting harder, as 44% of their conference opponents are ranked.

With a new head coach, new QB(s), and the schedule from hell, I can't project going bowling this season. But, this team isn't a bad team. They could go bowling. In fact, with their schedule, if they can luck-box the Pac-12, it's hard too imagine not making the playoffs. Which is what will need to happen... finally after all these decades... to smell the roses. This is a Rose Bowl playoff season.

Speaking of the Rose Bowl, this is as good as place & time as any to make this solemn commitment. If I haven't been to the Rose Bowl game previously, which will necessarily mean that Cal hasn't been in the Rose Bowl, I solemnly pledge upon Sabo's very body, right now as I type, that...

I will urban camp on the streets of Pasadena on New Year's Eve 2023, enjoy the Rose Parade on New Year Day 2024, and attend the Rose Bowl game that same afternoon.

My Patriots are kicking off their last exhibition game as I type... and I'll be down at the bar watching it soon enough. They finished last season with the greatest comeback, in the greatest pro championship, in the best Superb Owl that is more-or-less possible. Oh yeah, it went OT too. And I predicted they'd flat out win... at half-time. And oh yeah, my Patriots have still never lost on my watch.

Head coach Bill Belichick, and QB Tom Brady, arguably the greatest coach-QB combo in pro football history, return to head arguably the greatest dynasty in pro football history. No sane peep is going to predict a 19-0 season... but this team is most certainly capable, they've been there before at 18-0, and we know they'll cheat if that's what it takes. Also, I'd like to point out, my new team has never lost on my watch.

They start the quest a week from today, when they kick off the NFL season hosting the Chefs.


Details: Week #-3: (Cowboys win) -vs- (Cardinals) @Canton, 8-3 Thu. Week #0: Oregon State 27 @Colorado St. 58 7-6 MW. Week #12: Raiders -vs- Patriots @Mexico City. Week #14: P12 Champ @Santa Clara. Week #18: Holiday Bowl (P12-vs-B10), 12-28 6:00 Thu; playoffs are Rose Bowl & Sugar Bowl 1-1 5:45 Mon. Week #19: FBS Champ @Atlanta. Week #23: Superb Owl @Minneapolis.

In this week's feature dog game, the Reds pounded the Mets on Tuesday. This led to a mass extinct, so that now there are only five contenders: The Dodgers, D'backs, Reds, Rockies (7-5 2%), and Marlins. The Dodgers were the pre-season All-Star Sabo-Metric favorite at 15%, have spend most, but not all, of season as favorite, and are now odds-on at 61%. They complete their dog game season next... with a huge visit to the Barkyard. This series is so huge, Sabo's Padres will host surely the first MLB dog game doubleheader on Saturday... just to fit all four games in.

If the Dodgers go...

• 0-4: It's been a long season for Sabo's Padres. As advertised. The highlight has been the home series sweep of the defending world champion Cubs. But, to a die hard Padres fan, like Sabo, nothing can top a sweep of the hated Dodgers. A sleep would eliminate the Dodgers.
  
  
• 1-3: This would effectively, but not mathematically, eliminate the Dodgers. As above, the new favorite would be the Reds ~43%, followed by the D'backs ~36%, Marlins ~17%, and Rockies ~4%.
  
  
• 2-2: A split would also make the Reds ~39% the new favorite, followed by the Dodgers ~31%, D'backs ~27%, and Rockies ~3%. The Marlins would be eliminated.
  
  
• 3-1: This would eliminate every other team except the D'backs ~14%.
  
  
• 4-0: The hated Dodgers are SDDC champs.

It's time for Sabo's big summer vacation... and we're talking bigger than any two of his previous out-of-town trips combined. It's simply huge. And... it all starts right this instance, pre-dawn, today.

• Today: Delta Air Freight opens at 5:30am pdt. Sabo will be there, in his hard-sided nest, ready for his flight to MSP. So off he goes. I, OTOH, will have enough time to open a bar up (6am in Cali), then it's over to off-site parking, the shuttle bus, and onto my 8am pdt Southwest flight to Baltimore.
  
  I'm scheduled to land in Baltimore at 3:55pm edt. Where I'll get the rental car, check into our hotel, and take the light rail to Camden Yards. After enjoying the Blue Jays @Orioles game with my old friends Official P & Official W (both who were in the Pointless Lg back in the day, and so are known by their official team letters).
  
  After the game, I'll take the light rail, then the rental car, back to BWI, and pick up Sabo from his MSP connecting flight. Note: Sabo will be able to say (if he talked) that he's been to MN, one of the six states I've never been to.
  
  
• Tomorrow: We're going to start the morning by driving to the Sunnyside railroad yards, Queens, New York City, NY. Sabo likes train watching, so I got him a hotel room overlooking Amtrak's biggest coach yard. While Sabo's watching the rails, I'm taking the NYC Subway to Penn Station, meeting up with my good friend R from Boston, then we're taking the Subway to Yankee Stadium, to watch our Red Sox whip the Bronx Bombers. Go Red Sox !!!1!
  
  
• Labor Day: Sabo finally gets a game day, as we're driving a few blocks to Citi Field, where Sabo will attend the Phillies @Mets game... the only day game on our trip. Right after the game, on one of the busiest driving days of the year, we are setting off in the rental car to Altoona PA.
  
  
• Not Local Summer: Tuesday, in Missile Beach, is the holiday of Local Summer. The day we symbolically get our beach back from the invading tourists. No such holiday exists in fly-over land, it's just another Tuesday. Altoona is the home of the Railroaders Memorial Museum, and the Altoona Curve... the first and most famous train watching park in the world. After Sabo gets his train watching fix in, we'll continue west to PNC Park, in Pittsburgh... where Sabo will attend the Cubs @Pirates game. After the game, we're going to start on driving southeast towards West Virginia.
  
  
• Wednesday: Sometime round 3am we'll arrive at Charles Town Races. This is a Racino with a hotel and card room... and which will be our base of operations for the remainder of our vacation. There will be poker on this trip. Later that morning, at 11:30, I've arranged for Sabo to have a private tour of the nearby Martinsburg Roundhouse. This site is not only famous for it's railroading history, it also holds a pivotal place in labor history, as it was the flashpoint of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
  
  
• Thursday: Charles Town WV (not to be confused with Charleston, the state capitol), is actually a far suburb of Washington DC (not to be confused with Washington, the state). Thursday, we're off to the district for a day trip. Sabo, a dog of national interest, will enjoy our country's town square... the National Mall. That evening, Sabo & Official W & my brotherman N & myself will attend the Phillies @Nationals game at Nationals Park.
  
  
• Friday: Sabo gets to run wild and free in the hollers of West Virginia.
  
  
• Saturday, Sept 9: All great trips must come to safe and sane conclusion. That's our goal for this day. I'll drop Sabo off at Delta Air Freight BWI at around 11am, for his flight to ATL. That gives me time to have lunch in Baltimore, return the rental car, and then catch my 2:25pm edt flight back to SAN. Where I'll get the minvan out of long term parking and finally return to the Sabotat.

What about Sabo !?!?! I'll return to SAN and pick him up. His ATL connecting flight gets released a couple hours later.

After the Dodgers 1-0 win in the Barkyard on Labor Day Weekend Friday, they were 81% favorites to win the SDDC, and only two days away from wrapping it all up. Sabo's Padres were having none of that... they swept Saturday's first ever MLB "doggy-header" (doubleheader), and then eliminated the hated Dodgers on Sunday. Sabo sez-if-he-talked: "Beat L.A.!!!1!"

Then there were four: the new favorite D'backs, Reds (8-3), Marlins (5-2), and Rockies. The SDDC stage moves to Chase Field today & tomorrow (above). Tomorrow's game in Phoenix is a must-have for Colorado. In other dog game action, my Red Sox need a win in St.Petersburg, Russia, to retain their Mighty designation.

I dropped into Lucky Lady last month, and picked up a chop in their morning tourney. I thought I'd check it out before they close up forever, probably in November. Other than that, I played in two new cardrooms (for me) on our recent Baltimore trip.

I've been to Charles Town Races before, but that was before they had opened their card room. A gentleman, who obviously struggled with his vision, asked me to change seats with him (#5 vs #3) so he could see the flop better. He proceeded to personally torture me, showing me the nuts every single time, and taking about $1000 off of me. He was nice, and friendly, and a good player... so I couldn't even feel bitter. Luckily, I did more-but-less the same to the rest of the table, and only lost almost $500.

Maryland Live !!!1! is in a giant mall right near the BWI rental car return. Having some time, after dropping Sabo off for his flight, and waiting for mine, I checked it out. This is a huge room, which actually covers two floors. It was also packed this Saturday... as they had a tourney, and were running a $1000 high-hand promo every 20 minutes. I ended up waited 90 minutes to just get into a game.

Did the Philly Phanatic travel to D.C. For the game against the Nationals? Probably the best mascot in baseball right up there with "Mr. Met". Must be nice to be back in the "sabotage"

No. We saw the Phillies twice on this trip, @Citi Field & @Nationals Park. The Phanatic didn't make either game.

Now that the Chicken is semi-retired, I guess. We did see Mr. Met right up close however. I've also been remiss blogging Sabo's encounter with the Visalia Rawhide's bighead mascot this season.

At the Rawhide game, Sabo and we were minding our own business, just watching the game at the far end of the OF lawn section. As I've blogged, most dogs hate these bighead mascots. I imagine they see them as monsters. Anyways, the Rawhide bighead "Tipper" comes over and starts "playing his act". Sabo objected, and starts in giving the fool a stern "go away now" yapping. I also asked the mascot to politely go away. Instead, the fool starts "playing his act" off of Sabo. So, I get up, go over to him, explain he's annoying my dog, and again politely ask him to go away. He stays in character, and keeps "playing his act" off of Sabo. At this point I ask him flat out if he has a boss I can speak to. He then "plays his act" of leaving... but does indeed leave. Good riddance.


Our interaction with Mr.Met was much more positive. The dogs & peeps were all queued up and packed in backstage at Citi Field. waiting for the pre-game pet parade. Mr.Met and his handler needed to squeeze by all the dogs. I'm thinking... oh, no, with the tight space and crowding, this ain't going to go well at all. However, Mr.Met wasn't "playing his act", none of the dogs reacted... and in a miracle, Sabo even let Mr.Met give him a pat on the noggin with his clown-hands as he squeezed on by us. Gotta that Sabo... he's a good guy !!!1!

Missledog, thanks for the stories of Sabo encounters with mascots kind of feel bad for the Visalia Rawhides bull because when your a mascot for a minor league team I'd imagine they are really trying to be "in character". Sounds absurd to torment a fans canine despite their sober protestations and only backing off once a higher up is summoned. Got a much higher tolerance for someone provoking/tormenting me than my dog Svën, I fear the day someone does anything aggressive towards him.
So nice to hear my 2nd favorite baseball Mascot Mr. Met was more respectful, as a fellow New Yorker it would greatly disappoint me to hear otherwise. Used to watch a bunch of pro sports but stopped a few years back, will always have a fondness for mascots and their pageantry it is supposed to be about fun not competing or taking someone out although sometimes that happens too with mascots especially the Phanatic everyone wants to test that poor guy. A few years ago someone stole his outfit from the Philly home field and tried to sell it, fortunately their dastardly plot was foiled and justice got served in the form of a grand theft conviction because that costume is 10k+ possibly designed by Jim Henson.

Me and a friend were chatting about sports last night and mutually agreed that the Phoenix Sun's gorilla is a top 5 mascot perhaps podium. My pal used to live in AZ and informed me that a since retired gorilla performer was also a trained gymnast who would rappel down from the stadium catwalk in addition to slam dunking off the trampoline.

Do the Padres even have a mascot? Cheers bud.

Oh well, my personal new team winning streak wasn't long... just three games... but it sure was sweet, being a 3-0 playoff run to the Superb Owl championship. I didn't see this loss to my ancestral foes, the Chefs, as Sabo & me we at the National's game that night. I did "get" to hear the second half collapse on the radio during the drive back to WV. Ouch. This was arguably the worst loss during the Belichick-Brady era.


So, we find ourselves already a game back. At least the hated Jets lost too, getting whipped @Buffalo 12-21. The Saints also lost their opener... Monday in Minneapolis 19-29. My Pats are 9-4 vs Saints. New England is 4-3 @Superdome (3-1 vs Saints, 1-2 in Superb Owls). My Patriots won the last meeting 30-27 @Gilette Stadium back on 2013-10-13. New England is -280 (-6½ pts).


Sabo's Aztecs, and my Golden Bears, are both off to surprising 2-0 starts. Sabo's Aztecs opened with a win @KBG Skyshow XLII, in their first meeting vs FCS UC Davis. They then travelled to Tempe Sun Devil Stadium, where they won in an supset their first game ever against Arizona State (SDSU is now 1-10-1 vs AZS, inc 1-2 @Sun Devil). My Golden Bears also pulled off an upset @North Carolina, then followed up with a win @Memorial Stadium over FCS Weber State.

Sabo missed all these games, and I only saw the Carolina game while in flight to BWI on SWA. Which is a pretty damn cool innovation, as it flips negative "dead time" into positive "game time". The Weber State game was also played while I was in flight, back to SAN... but sadly SWA didn't pick that game to show. The UC Davis game was played while Sabo was still in transit, and I was at Camden Yards. The only excuse for us not seeing the Arizona State game is the Spectrum Cable fail-boat not having Pac12-AZ. A new cable provider might well be in the works. At least both games are on tv this week... simultaneously.


Ole Miss is also 2-0, beating pesky South Alabama 47-27, and then FCS Tennessee-Martin 45-23, both at home in Oxford MS. Like North Carolina, and Weber State, this is the first meeting between these programs. Ole Miss is -175 (-3½ points).


The pressure, so to speak, is off Sabo's Aztecs. They've already beat a P5 team, and on the road, this season. However, beating two P5 teams, including a ranked Stanford team, would be a huge step moving the program upward and onward. The Cardinal (now #19) are 1-1... whipping Rice 62-7 in Sydney AU three weeks ago, and then losing last week 27-42 @USC (now #4). Stanford leads the series 3-1. The programs are tied 1-1 @Q. The Cardinal won the last meeting 31-10 @Palo Alto back on 1987-9-17. Stanford is -350 (-8½ pts).

Asking to talk to the boss was a bluff (I'd never mess with a working folk like that)... but yeah. Every Sunday is a dog game @Visalia, so their mascot should know how to handle himself around dogs. That's part of his job.



The Padres have the Swinging Friar (above), which according to today's Wikipedia editors dates from the 1958 PCL Padres, although he didn't get his "big head" until 1996.

Two non-official Padres mascots are of note. We had the Chicken, of course, who really popularized mascots in MLB, and pro sports in general. In fact, we were just talking about the early Chicken days at the Orioles game, on our recent trip.

The Chicken originally worked for radio station KGB, which even though I haven't tuned it in for several decades, I just blogged about regarding their annual Sky Show at a SDSU Aztecs football game. The idea came because a rival station (KPRI??) was doing the old "cash call" promotion... where they keep adding money to a pot until a random listener guessed the current amount. KGB decided to deride that station, saying they had to pay peeps to listen. To further rub it in, they came up with a satirical "chicken call" promotion, where they added pieces of fried chicken to a pot, etc.

Then they hired a SDSU student, Ted Giannoulas, to dress up in a chicken outfit, and go around with the "prize patrol", giving concert tix, promo records, and the prized and impossible to otherwise get KGB Chicken shirts... of which my dad has a mint copy. This was mainly in front of high schools and at the malls. What Official P & myself were reminiscing about is (a) the Chicken got "beat up" in front of our high school, and (b) how I showed all our buddies how to induce the Chicken to give us prizes (which was being quite and asking nicely).

Later he started working Padre games for the radio station... and a star was born. Giannoulis couldn't use his real name while employed by the radio station (although I knew that deep secret because my friend Stacy C was a HS buddy of his). Soon the Chicken was more popular than the station itself... so they fired Giannoulis, and hired some fool to use their suit. The imposter was booed right out of the Q. Instead, Giannoulis created his own chicken outfit, and had a great "hatching" at the Q to introduce the now independent San Diego Chicken (below).

Unlike all the other mascots, Giannoulis always worked for himself, not the team.



The other character wasn't a mascot. Instead Jim Eakle was a Marine helicopter pilot, who while on leave brought a tuba to the Q... during the dark, dark days of 1973 when his beloved Padres were going to move to DC. Soon he had painted his tuba green, and had attracted a merry group of die hards known as McNamara's Band, after then Padres manager John McNamara. After the team didn't move, the "Tuba Man" was popular enough, that the Padres would buy him plane tickets from where ever he was stationed around the Pacific to appear at their games.

When Eakle retired from the Marines, be opened a couple of (now long gone) pizza places around town, first in North Park (below), then in OB. To promote his business, he advertised he'd deliver by helicopter... which he didn't really plan on doing. However, the mom&pop systems programming shop I worked for at the time called him up to actually do so. Which he did. He rented a helicopter, landed right in the street, and with local tv filming... delivered 10 pizzas to our company party.

The D'backs beat Sabo's Padres at their general dog day, but then lost to the Rockies the next day at a dog boxes only game... making the Reds the new favorite. The SDDC spotlight stays firmly on the D'backs, but now shifts to Petco Park. Will the Barkyard be the D'back's Waterloo... as it's been for the hated Dodgers among other teams (see above)?

In other action, my Red Sox forfeited their Mighty status... losing a game that looked like they wouldn't even play a few days ago because of the hurricanes.

MissleDog, your stories about the KGB chicken, Tuba Man, and Swinging Friar had me fascinated and amused. Read on Famous Chicken's wiki that he had a $300k judgement levied against him by former Chicago Bull's cheerleader who claims he broke her elbow and jaw by wrestling her to the floor. And poor Tuba man had his Tuba Man's Grand Slam Lounge burned to ashes by an arsonist after S.D hosted a super bowl one year. They surely rebounded from the misfortune, any guy who would make good on a promise to deliver pizzas by helicopter and land right in the middle of the street is a complete hero to me.

Grand Hatching video was some Bob Uecker "Wacky World Of Sports level stuff, theatre of the absurd a genius performance using the Loomis armored truck for his arrival and coming out to 2001 Space oddity theme just unreal.
Apparently Pete Rose has donned the costume at a Wrestle Mania where he was "Tombstoned" by Kane, LOL!

Near my hometown of Easton PA there is minor league baseball team in Allentown called the "Iron Pigs" whose mascot Ferrous does zany things very similar to the KGB Chicken. They have a female equivalent to Ferrous, and some lesser side mascots; Bacon, Sausage, and Ham who do foot races and other games.

Have some favorite high school sports Mascots the best being the Bangor "Slater" who is a blue collar slate miner complete with hard hat.

For tomorrow, the last partial day of summer, and the first partial day of autumn, Sabo & me are going to spend the day in O.B.... including the main beach, Dog Beach, and Formosa Slough.


The D'backs just barely survived their visit to the Barkyard... needing that come from behind victory in the last game. That SDDC life could be short lived however. Today's scenarios are simple: a Reds win eliminates the D'backs and Marlins. A Reds win & a Padres win and it's all over... Cincinnati would be SDDC Champs for 2017.

First, today's the Autumnal Equinox here in the northern hemisphere. Second, yesterday both the Reds and Rockies blinked... but weren't eliminated. The scenario for the next two days is also simple... the Rockies need to win both games @Petco to avoid elimination.

They had a "Blackout" at San Diego County Credit Union Stadium on last Saturday night... then the students occupied the field. SDCCU just bought the naming rights for what might be the last two years of their football home, originally known as San Diego Stadium. The "blackout" referred to wasn't SDSU's black on black uniform ensemble... instead most of the lights went out right in the middle of their winning TD drive. This happened with about ~4 minutes left in the 4th, and lasted ~15 minutes. After the victory, for the first time in the stadium's 50 year history, the student section stormed the field to celebrate.

This was a huge win for the program. They replaced the mighty Cardinal in the rankings... after a 0-30 streak vs ranked P5 opponents. With two wins over P12 teams this season, one on the road, one vs a (then) ranked opponent, most certainly puts the Fiesta Bowl into play.


Sabo's Aztecs start conference play @Air Force. The Falcons are 1-1... slaughtering FCS VMI 62-0 at home, then after an early bye, losing 13-29 to #8 Michigan on the road. Air Force leads the series 19-15. SDSU is 6-11 @Falcon Stadium. I was at the last meeting, as Sabo's Aztecs won the 2015 MW Championship game 24-27 @SDCCU Stadium. SDSU is -160 (-3 pts).


My Golden Bears are also off to a surprising 3-0 start. Saturday they beat Ole Miss of the SEC. This was a great game, and a nail-biter, just like the Aztec game. Which were both the last games of the day, and on simultaneously. The new tv-watching room, which is also Sabo's room, was the perfect venue with both games on. The lights going out at SDCCU allowed us to watch the end of the Cal game, then the end of the SDSU game... which worked out quite nicely.


Now that they've completed their non-conference schedule... it just keeps getting harder for my Golden Bears. Next up: The 3-0 University of Spoiled Children... the first of four straight games against currently ranked and undefeated opponents. USC leads the series 69-29-5 (inc 34-12-1 @Memorial Stadium). I was at last season's meeting, as the Trojans pounded Cal 45-24 @LA Coliseum. USC is -900 (-17 pts).


I didn't really see it, as I will soon blog, but my Pats won handily in the Big Easy. They are now half a game behind the Dolphins.

The good news about the NFL moving back to LA -vs- when they were there before is that San Diego isn't officially part of that NFL market anymore. In theory. In fact, and this is a network level decision, CBS insists on cramming the LA teams down our tubes regardless. So what happen Sunday, and what will happen all season long, is we didn't best matchup (which is the national game). Which was my Pats this last week.

Man... the NFL really does seem act like they'd rather we just not watch, or even care, in so many different and creative ways.


Next up is a familiar foe for my Pats. Last season, on Sept 22, they beat the Texans 27-0 @Gillette. They beat them again @Gillette 34-16 in the Divisive Round of the playoffs. Then my Pats went to NRG, the Texans' 'house', to win Superb Owl LI vs Falcons. This season, in week -1, my Pats returned to NRG for an exposition vs Texans... and didn't win. Sunday, the Texans are back @Gillette.

The Texans are 1-1 this season. My Pats are 24-16-1 vs Houston (inc 16-15-1 vs Oilers). They're 11-4 vs Texans (inc 3-3 vs Dallas). The Texans are 0-5 @Gillette (inc 0-2 in playoffs). New England is -900 (-14 pts).

The Rockies needed to win their 4-game Barkyard series to stay alive... but once again, Sabo's Padres were having none of that, and they eliminated Colorado last night. The final spotlight for the dog game season shines on Phoenix. If the Marlins win today @Chase, they are SDCC champs. If the D'babks win, it'll all come down to the Giants @D'backs game tomorrow. If the D'backs win that game too, they're SDDC champs. The Reds (8-4) can become SDDC champs from the clubhouse... if the D'backs win today, and if the Giants win tomorrow.

It really looked like the Marlins would complete a most miraculous dog game season, and wrap up the SDDC championship yesterday afternoon. Miami was leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the 8th. However... the D'backs scored a run in the 8th, and a walk off run in the 9th, to eliminate the Marlins. And incidentally to also clinch the MLB playoffs.

Now it all comes down to tonight, 6:40 PDT, in Phoenix. Playing as proxy and champion for the Reds (8-4), we find the Giants. The line at vegasinsiders.com is Giants (Cueto) +118; D'backs (Godley) -128.