Juskimoblog

Benjamin Baum, Carl Taalak Ahsoak, and Travis Dean Picantine

2010-11-09T17:44:00.001-09:00

I am not sure how these stories ends, but I need to tell them.

November 10th, 2010 is my grandfather Benjamin Baum's yahrtzite and marks the 19th anniversary of his death.

November 10th, 2010 marks the first anniversary of the death of Army SPC. Travis Dean Picantine.

November 14, 2010 would have been my father Carl Taalak Ahsoak's 62nd birthday. He passed away on May 28, 2009.

My grandfather was a veteran. He was a captain in World War II and served in England and France. He told me stories when I asked him about the war, but they were those that were appropriate for a 9-10 year old boy. I am sure that he saw things that were horrifying and that he served with soldiers who were affected by the things they experienced. I like to think that he would have tried to help those, particularly those men under his command, deal with the demons that come with war. He was 78 when he passed away.

On September 17th, I was getting ready for the beginning of yom kippur and I read a story on cnn.com about a company that was making memorial bracelets from the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts. The company had introduced an option where you could choose a specific soldier or elect a random selection. I ordered a random bracelet and completely forgot about it as I headed off to services.

A week later, a padded envelope arrived with a black metal bracelet, bearing the inscription SPC. Travis Dean Picantine Army 11/10/09 Fort Drum, NY and a picture of a young soldier. I looked at the bracelet and was surprised at the location. I googled SPC. Picantine and read several stories, which all contained nearly identical wording :

"Army Specialist Travis Dean Picantine, 23, of Sesser passed away Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, at Fort Drum, New York.
Visitation will be held at the Brayfield-Gilbert Funeral Home in Sesser from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, for family and after 5 p.m. for friends and guests. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20 at the Brayfield Funeral Home in Sesser with Kirk Packer officiating. Burial will be in Mitchell Cemetery near Sesser."

SPC. Picantine's death, sans mention of any other factors, could really only be one thing. Suicide. This was not what I had expected. I have not yet had a chance to contact his family, but I expect to do so before the year is over. I believe that they will tell me a story that begins with SPC. Picantine trying to serve his country and better himself and ends with his taking his own life.

In many ways my father (who was also a veteran, serving in the Navy in Vietnam) also killed himself, one bottle at a time. But he was such an extraordinary man that it took the better part of 40 years for him to do so. He decided that he was going to go on as long as he possibly could, laughing all the way. He drank himself into a stroke, which revealed two brain aneurysms. In 2002, he had brain surgery for the first time. He was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, which didn't stop him from doing much of anything (including drinking).

One year I had time off around the holidays and decided to go to Barrow for a few days. When I arrived, my aunt told me that my dad was in the hospital. He had ongoing problems, between the circulatory issues, the second aneurysm, and the fact that half his body did not work, so it was not unusual for him to be there. They told me that he had been pushing himself around town and he had gotten stuck in a snowbank for several hours.

He looked ok, except for his right (non-working) hand, which was heavily bandaged. The doctor came in and unwrapped his hand, which looked like it had had the fingers replaced with jumbo sausages. Each finger was easily four times what it normally was. The doctor explained that there was swelling from the frostbite and that they were going to try to save the fingers, but things did not look good. My dad laughed and said "Good Luck!"

Two days later, the doctor unwrapped the bandages and my father's right hand looked as if it has been turned into some kind of black wood. The fingers were now roughly half the size that they had started and had somehow become longer. They looked like death and felt like stone. The doctor explained that they could no longer be saved and that my father would have to have all of the fingers on his right hand amputated. He laughed and told the doctor "good luck." After that, I called him Stumpy or Stubbs until the second aneurysm burst.

There were no facilities on the north slope capable of taking care of him, so he moved into a long term care facility on the south side of Anchorage. It was a very nice house that had about seven patients living there, mostly people who needed 24 hour care, but not hospital care. I would go and sit in his room and talk to him, read to him, or just sit and show him pictures from the albums my aunts had put together for him. I would play the cds of Inupiaq hymns or watch baseball while sitting in his room. Eventually he improved to the point where he could go sit downstairs and watch tv, and drink his own meals. But his mind never came back. Even after the first operation, he was still capable, even if not as sharp as before. After the second brain surgery, he could still say "yeah" or "no" or "that's alright", but that was about it. He could barely remember one or two words.

We had one last conversation. We had started guardianship proceedings in State court, and one of the steps was meeting with the court appointed visitor. The visitor, my dad's social worker, the managing nurse, my dad and I all met one May afternoon. While we were sitting and waiting for the visitor to write something, my dad touched me on the knee and said "coffee?" He had eaten lunch sometime before so I asked him if he wanted more coffee. He shook his head no and again said "coffee?" I realized that he was offering me coffee. I told him I was ok and he said "that's alright." He died five days later.

I often question what makes men into the people they are, what influences guide them to make the choices that define them. I try to think of what choices and what situations could lead me to become like these men, what choices lead to success, what choices lead to failure, the bottom of a bottle, or the barrel of a gun. I like to think that I understand what lead my grandfather to devote himself to advising his community, what lead my father to laugh at the consequences of his choices until his body literally broke down, and the thoughts that lead to someone committing suicide. I do not presume to know or understand what SPC. Picantine went through that left him dead on an Army base at the age of 23, but I know that there is a lesson for me to learn from him.

I have tried very hard to become a better person and to make choices that will lead me to do the right thing. This has not been easy and for everyone that praises me, I am sure there are two people who would be happy to tell you what a jerk I am. But I think that SPC. Picantine and the lessons my grandfather and my father taught me that relate to him will play a part in the next phase of my personal development.

A long time ago I was at some function with my mom and a friend of hers came up and told her that Chris, a crazy acquaintance of theirs, had been institutionalized. My mom said she was not surprised by this. I asked her why and she explained that Chris was crazy and that he had no one to advocate for him in trying to get through the bureaucracy that lay between him and the treatment needed to help him. Mentally unwell people cannot navigate the often Byzantine systems set up to oversee the distribution of benefits.

I suspect that, when I have had the chance to contact his family, SPC. Picantine's story will be much the same as many other soldiers. He came back from the war broken and could not get help, so he took his own life. And he couldn't get the help he needed because he could not navigate the administrative maze that is military benefits.

I don't know how much of a difference I can make, but I am going to try. I am going to try and find a way to help. Maybe I can be that force in another man's life that will turn him from the bottle or the wrong end of a gun. I have devoted much of the last ten years of my life to learning how to navigate administrative mazes. Perhaps it is time to help people like SPC. Picantine through the maze.

I don't know if I am strong enough on my own, but I am not alone.

Project Smokin!

2009-08-18T21:43:00.002-08:00

So I have smoked some fish this year. I have this on hand, which is going to get shipped out sometime in the next two days:

I am planning on going to Valdez over Labor Day, and hopefully come back with many silvers, which means I need to clear the freezer, which is currently in this state:

Almost all reds, with a bit of halibut and one chum (the tiger striped one). I figure that it will take me four to five double batches to clear it out (probably four).

A duffel bag full of fish

2008-07-26T14:24:00.003-08:00

55 pounds of fillets in a duffel bag.

In the cooler.

And I have 14 fish at the processor getting smoked and turned into lox. I am going to buy a canner and start canning fish today.

43 fish total, probably 175-200 pounds total fillet weight.

Kenai, Round 2

2008-07-24T22:57:00.003-08:00

So I am heading out for the second weekend of dip netting the Kenai. I will be going out on the boat with KTG and The Moefather tomorrow, then hitting the beach with Fito and Lizza on Saturday. Hopefully I will have gotten my fish and will merely be running/cleaning/advising/taking pictures/video rather than getting my gear on and getting into the water.

The forecast is partially cloudy, with highs in the 60s and wind. Saturday is mostly cloudy with scattered showers. We will see.

21 fish to go.

I got this shirt at B & J's in Anchorage this afternoon.

It says:

Fishes Fishies!

2008-07-20T22:34:00.003-08:00

Back from the Kenai, ended up with 29 reds after a marathon weekend. Very tired, more words and a write up to come tomorrow. Here are some fish pictures.

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Fish and fillets

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Fish!

And I'm Off to Kenai

2008-07-18T02:25:00.001-08:00

It is now 2:25 am, I just got up from my nap and finished loading the car, and I am off in 5 minutes. I am going to stop and get ice and coffee and then hit the road, in time to be at the Kenai for the 6 am opener. I think my setup is promising, but needs to be tested. Pictures and a report to follow.

Dipnetting is Here!!!

2008-07-16T19:13:00.002-08:00

I am leaving for the Kenai to go dip netting tomorrow after work. I am very excited about this fact. I got a total of 28 reds last year and I am hoping to limit out this year. For those of you who do not know what a dip net is, I got one and it looks like this:

If you say "But Josh, I can't see how big it is", here it is leaning against my bike:

Another shot of it:

I am very excited to get it in the water. 25k fish through the Kenai and 19k through the Kasilof yesterday (that is very good).

For those of you who did not eat some part of my reds last year, here is what they looked like:

Kenai red sushi

Lox on cream cheese and crackers

Sushi Buffet

Fillet pre super bowl sushi

Super Bowl Sushi Spread

It was very tasty fish. I hope to learn to smoke and can fish this year, in addition to the kippered, the lox, and the salmon strips.

In any case, I am leaving late tomorrow and will be back sometime on Sunday.

HAHAHAHA

2008-05-28T00:47:00.002-08:00

Marc, oh marc!

(h/t With Leather)

Live blogging an extra innings Detroit Tigers - Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem and Santa Barbra and Orange County and San Mateo game

2008-05-26T15:44:00.035-08:00

[EDIT: The title of this blog changed in the 11th inning of the Tigers game, as I am now 4 and a half hours into this and the Tigers game is Fantastic!]

So there seems to be a lot going on. Going on at the same time today will be a Pistons Eastern Conference finals game versus the Celtics, a Red Wings Stanly Cup game against the Penguins, a Tigers game against the Angels, possibly some poker (I put $25 on stars last night and ran it up to $500 (plus $50 given to the Chinese relief effort, which is an awesome promotion by Stars)), and maybe even a BBQ later. All bets are off in the event that I get called away by some woman or another to go hang out.

4:13 - they show the Red Wings bench and the team is markedly less affected by the anthem than the crowd, particularly given the day. Much like Manu Ginobili mother's day comment, most of the Wings may be more in tune with the European counterparts to the anthem and remembrances.

4:18 - I call a push with K9 on the 5th hand of a tourney, vs qq. Flop is k9k. Sweet.

4:27 - BOOM! Brad Stuart drops it in. The Wings are like an octopus. They don't need two specific tentacles to do all the lifting, as long and some of the other 6 (doesn't matter which) grab something, they are ok.

4:29 - 9 minutes in, the shots are Wings 6, Guins 0.

4:34 - Sheed Says Get Out Ya Seats! Let's Go! I get out ma seat and get amped. JJ v 66. The Ampage continues. I love the final countdown music, just like when they used to introduce Joe D. and the gang.

4:37 - I'm going to propose to my boss that we dance in a "hype it up" circle every morning so that I can start each work day by doing the Sheed dance.

4:39 - I am probably going to be watching more Pistons than Wings for a couple of reasons. First, the Wings are already up 2-0 in the first adn I have seen nothing from the Penguins that makes me think the trend will change. I am much more worried about Detroit (which is now up 8-0, sweet) and I get ESPN (and thus the Pistons game) in HD, but do not get versus in HD. (Tigers to come on the computer). If you are looking for a more detailed live blog of the Wings Game, I suggest you follow Joe over at Behind The Jersey

4:46 - Please Tay, DUNK! Boston gets on the board. 10-2 Stones.

4:55 - I check the lineup and see Shef hitting 3rd and Guillen hitting 6th. I don't like this. Then again, this means that we have Guillen, Joyce, Rentaria hitting 6-8, which is pretty sweet.

5:04 - Maxiell lays the Smack Down on Garnett. Big Block with two and change to go in the 1st. 20-10

5:07 - I push with 3 high and the idiot flush draw, get called by a shorty with tp. River my idiot flush to knock him out in 28th.

5:11 - Sheed sticks his hand out and doesn't let big baby off the ground, much as a big brother might do to a little brother. Still, Celtics got it down to 22-17 after the first quarter.

5:15 - First break in the tourney. I am 7/21 and about to be in the money, wings are 2-0, pistons at 22-17, about to set up the tigers game.

5:20 - I turn on the Tigers game in time to see Carlos whiff on a grounder in X-Mo vision.

5:24 - whee, itm at 6/18. Vlad gets doubled up the end the 1st. Pistons have stretched it to 33-19. Wings still up 2-0.

5:28 - I am rooting for the 6-8 Power Pack to produce and carry the team tonight. First up: Carlos .... Doubles off the wall in right center. Joyce to the plate. Carlos tags on a fly ball to right center and comes in safe. Very Aggressive.

5:30 - I run 97 into KK and go out 13th.

5:31 - Rentaria sloooow rolls a ball to the left side. Carlos does not go. Edgar out a first. Should have been a run.

5:33 - Is the block Sheed is working on the same block Jenny is from? And the Tigers turn a man on 2nd, no one out into nothing, thanks to a virus that innables them to hit with runners in scoring position.

5:40 - Polanco gets the lead runner and Sid the Kid goes to the box. Wings 2-0 at the 2nd intermission. Rogers hits Angels Catcher 2b. First and Second with one out.

5:48 - Granderson goes back and catches a ball hit to the warning track in center. First Half Ends with Pistons Up 43-39.

5:54 - Shef pulls up lame on the way to first, holding his side/back/ribs area. MMMmMMMMmmMMMm, ribs. I need to order or find some food. I did not think I would be hungry after eating for several hours at the bbq I attended, but I am.

5:57 - J9 v AA v 66 on a floppalicious flop of 1087. 3300 early on. Give some back with aj v kq the next hand. AKs the very next hand.

5:59 - Cabrera circuses a routine foul ball.

6:07 - Big and Mig hit and run and have runners at 1st and 3rd, none out.

6:16 - And the Tigers turn first and third with none out into NO RUNS.
Pistons up 51-43.
Wings up 2-0.

6:28 - Thames steps into the on-deck circle. Shef out.
Pistons 59-48
Wings 3-0 (Missed the Goal)
From BTJ:
11:12 - GOAL DETROIT: Filppula (5) from Franzen and Stuart. Wow! Filppula was getting beaten up as he skated towards the net, Letang was all over him, Filppula dives and still gets off a magnificent shot past Fleury. It remains 4-on-4.

Guess those second line scoring worries are taking care of themselves.

6:34 - Sweet. Versus shows a shot of a Wings Jersey on one of the Tigers in front of Comerica. Anyone have any pictures of this?

6:39 - Rayburn for Sheff.

6:42 - someone takes a shot at Ozzy with less than a minute and a half to go and a scrum erupts. Paval throws many punches. Someone named Orpik (who?) is talking lots of smack.

6:45 - a graphic for the Pens lines shows "shots" and "chances". No need to show actual stats like points or +/- or anything. Oh Yeah.

6:47 - Wings win 3-0 to take a 2-0 win with a much larger edge in awesomeness, particularly considering what Sid looks like not clean shaven.

6:49 - with RISP: Tigers 0-7, Angels 0-6. What is the opposite of clutch? Brake? These teams are brake with men on base. Sounds about right.

6:55 - I put my Trammell jersey on for good luck. 0-0 in the top of the 7th. Pistons up 72-65. Sheed in foul trouble.

7:06 - Rip blocks Posey from behind, then goes the other way for a layup.

7:15 - Carlos bobbles a grounder to put runners on 1st and second with one out. He has walked himself into two in between hops for no apparent reason.

7:20 - Kenny gets through 7, going to the 8th 0-0. Pistons up by 8 with 2:30 to go.

7:23 - Grandy doubles leading off the 8th. Garland is still in the game. I doubt we will see Kenny back in this game. Polanco bunts successfully. Grandy to 3rd. Scoscia pulls Garland.

7:28 - the aisle 5 crew comes in to finish it out. Final score is 94-75. Rip was rippin. Now if only the Tigers could hit a fly ball.

7:30 - Rayburn strikes out. He is very brake. Its up to the big tilde. The Big Tilde is also brake this evening.

7:35 - Zach Miner. I am swiss about this decision. Vlad doubles on a bloop to right with one out. Hunter walks. Anderson to the plate.

7:45 - Angels backup catcher 2b gets the count to 3-0 with 2 out. Kotchman on deck. Bases loaded, 2 out. Kotchman. Please don't let this be where the bullpen (which should be ZUMAYA, for gods sake) blows a gem by Rogers.

7:47 - Soft fly to Joyce in left. Miner loads em, but gets through the inning.

7:54 - Carlos walks. Joyce to the plate. AAAnnnd, Carlos gets thrown out at second by nappoli (formally random catcher 2b). Great tag by Macier Iztures. Joyce strikes out. Going to the bottom of the ninth.

7:59 - Miner out for a second inning. I am swiss about this as well. Fly to granderson, one out.

8:03 - the Big Tilde makes a catch against the fence. We Go To The Tenth!

8:07 - Edger leads off the 10th with a single to left. Renteria on a slider in the dirt. Nappolli loses one to the right. 2-2 on pudge with a runner on 2nd. And pudge strikes out. Granderson lines out to Vlad, who keeps Edger at second.

I go to make ravioli, Placido makes his way to first in my absence. Rayburn strikes out. Bottom of the 10th.

8:18 - Dolsi out for the 10th. I stir ravioli, there is one out and they are going out to check dolsi. Mathews chopped a ball into his chest. He survives to stay in the game.

8:25 - I come back from finishing the ravioli and there are two out and Hunter is on 2nd. Something shady, possibly involving Dolsi loafing on the mound, have lead to this. Leyland elects to walk Anderson, and Dolsi throws a JG:IOSTUJRIOKJ WILD PITCH. Hunter goes to third. They successfully complete the intentional walk without giving up any further bases. First and third and Napoli at the plate. Anderson takes 2nd on strike one. Nappoli chops out to the mig tilde and we got to the 11th.

8:35 - the tigers go 1-2-3 in the 11th. Onto the bottom of the 11th.

8:44 - firefox freezes, I come back and there are two out in the top of the 12th. We go to the bottom of the 12th.

8:50 - Iztures singles to right off Dolsi. Gary Matthews steps to the plate. Flies out. Vlad at the plate. Ground ball up the middle, runners at first and third with one out. Tori Hunter at the plate. Another intentional walk. This time, to the other side. They compete the walk. Bases loaded with one out. Anderson to the plate, Leyland is coming out and bringing in Seay.

8:58 - Seay to Anderson with the bases loaded. Anderson is 0-4 with a walk. The Tigers bring the outfield in because Iztures is some kind of speedy fellow, or so the commentators claim.

Two and oh on Anderson, who went way past halfway there. Another breaking ball drops off the plate. Three and zero to Anderson. Seay comes in and walks Anderson.

Summary of the Tigers Night: Bobby Seay is very brake. VERY BRAKE!

9:04 - So ends the four and a half hour day of Detroit Sports. We won the two playoff games, which is good, but the Tigers managed to turn a great set of pitching performances into a loss without anyone having anything near a clutch or hard hit. ANYONE. There were multiple points where a Tigers fly ball (A FLY BALL, as in SOMETHING hit to an OUTFIELDER) would have plated a run and avoided all the nonsense. Leyland still does not seem to know what is going on with the roles in the bullpen.

I am stepping away to get some air.

My crew got a whale!

2008-05-22T20:46:00.002-08:00

May 11th, 27'6".

Co-Captains Herman (center, back row) and Jonas (right end, back row) once again proving worthy.

Go Team!

Disc golf and Roller Derby

2008-05-19T22:58:00.003-08:00

A natural combination, no doubt. What follows is a recap of last Saturday. A couple notes before we get to the video madness. 1) I just got a memory card big enough to start playing with the video settings on my new camera (Casio Exilim) and the work so far is rough. 2) I am in the process of growing my hair out and it has reached "long enough to be annoying, but not quite long enough to fully fit into a ponytail". This is not an intentional style choice, but rather one of the (several) horrific stages between short and long. Anyway, onto the video and some shot analysis.

Peters Creek #6

This is only my 4th or 5th round of the year and both my form and my fitness are still working there. On my forehand shots, I am not fully closing my shoulder and, as a result, my shots are a bit too far to the right. This still turned out relatively well, but I should be in birdie range on every throw by midseason.

Peters Creek #9

As you can see, I am not getting anywhere near level on this shot. My right arm angle is way below where it should be and the disc came out high and sailing to the right. It turned out ok (about 9 feet to the right of the basket), but it is not where I would like it to be.

Peters Creek #11

As you can see from this shot, the disc goes straight down the middle of the trail before cutting to the right. Ideally it should be s-ing to the left side of the trail before cutting back. Once I am getting my shoulder closed all the way, it should s a bit more and get over to the left side. Again, a good result, as the shot ended up at the base of the hill below the basket.

Peters Creek #12

I purchased an Innova Star, with the hopes that it will become my backhand disc for left turning holes. This is an early shot and a definite work in progress. I think this will be good in the long run. I need to get my footwork on my approach worked out, as I have an over-exaggerated hitch out, followed by closing my shoulders too far at the start of my delivery.

Peters Creek #13

We call 13 "dotting the i" This is my buddy Moesepheus shooting. He got on a run in this round and dropped 5-6 good shots with this disc (the Predator, I believe, but I could be wrong). This shot landed about 3 feet past the basket. Great shot.

Peters Creek #18

This is one of the better shots I have thrown in the last year or so (despite looking like a schoolgirl while watching it fly). 18 is a fairly tight hole that breaks wide to the left, then cuts back straight at the end of the hole. Also, there is a line of trees to the left, with two breaks that go down to the creek. There is a landing area there, but it is below the hole and a tough approach. This shot went directly over the basket, about 3 feet above the top. It turned about to be not as good a result as I would have liked. Despite only going 10 feet past the basket, the shot was really not all that makable, as there is a dopr off about 8 feet past the hole. Thus, the disc ended up 7 feet below the hole. Still a good shot. I can usually throw the overstable hook, but I usually lose it to the left. This time I kept it level enough that it tailed back to the right at the end.

After we finished up the round, Moesepheus and I met up with KTG and some other friends to hit the Roller Derby, more specifically the Rage City Rollergirls. The evening turned out to be awesome! I did not have any expectations going into the evening (besides being told that the players came in all shapes and sizes), particularly considering I had never seen a roller derby and that I did not have the first clue about the Rules. Here is what it boils down to: Imagine that you have two football teams consisting of 4 lineman and a running back. The goal is to have your running back run past the other teams lineman as many times as possible. And you are all running the same direction. In a circle. On Skates. Thats pretty much it. Once you know that, it goes from a confusing tangle of women to a sport with some pretty cool strategies and neat things going on. Imagine football before you knew what the hell was going on. But with hot women in miniskirts on roller skates (whoever was rocking 1/2 tsp. was garnering some admirable comments from the beer garden). Anyway, here are a few jams from the second half.

The only downside to the event? The lack of seating in the beer garden. There were 4 rows of seats in the front, then one section of bleachers tucked in the corner. The other 200-300 people in the beer garden had to stand up. So everyone was ready to go as soon as the event was over because we had been standing on a concrete floor for two hours by the time it was over. Had there been somewhere to sit, it would have been 1000% better.

Overall a fun day. I think this is going to be a good season discing and that I am going to get my game to places where it has not been since I left Ann Arbor. And I will probably go back the next time the roller derby goes off in town.

Watching the Tigers is starting to feel like Watching the Lions

2008-05-14T22:31:00.000-08:00

I have not posted as much Detroit Tigers material as I thought since I started blogging, mostly due to my inability to watch most games (being on Alaskan Standard Time, its generally 9:30-10 on the east coast by the time I get home from work). Also, there are many Tigers bloggers who do a much better job than I could, both due to their dedication and their ability to catch more games than I. Off the top of my head, Billfer at the Detroit Tigers Weblog, Samara at Roar of the Tigers, Kurt atMack Avenue Tigers , Ian atBless You Boys , Lee at Detroit Tiger Tales, Jerkwheat and crew at The Big Tilde, Andy at Mickey Tettleton's Memorial Overpass, Big Al at the Wayne Fontes Experience, and Blake at the Spot Starters generally do a more comprehensive and better job than anything I could do. (I am going to try and become an actual responsible blogger and post and have a blogroll and stuff, all of you who have come here once because I randomly commented on your blogs, I promise)

That having been said, I was posting a comment over at Mack Avenue Tigers after watching the last 3 innings of the latest debacle (Thank you, Big Tilde, for your patience in seeing ONE whole pitch before grounding into a double play with two on and none out in the eight, it took so much longer than just declaring to the ump that you were out) when I realized something.

For a while, mostly the second half of 2006, following the Tigers returned to the magical thing it was in my childhood, when I would watch the games on the couch next to my grandfathers big leather recliner in his basement or listening to the dulcet tones of Ernie Harwell over the radio. Following the Tigers was like following the Red Wings or the Pistons, like a team where you expected to win and if something bad happened, you knew that there was a comeback in play. Not that it always worked (see: tonights loss to the Stars), but it was not crazy to think that a comeback was possible.

This was blessed after craptacularity that 1997 (when tram, as bald as woody, had said goodbye and I lost interest as the completion of high school, my first love, and my freshman year at the University of Michigan and all it brought drew me away) to 2002 was. In 2003, I began law school and quickly made friends with Jason, a classmate who was as avid a Mets Fan as I a Tigers fan (he was also a Wisconsin grad, which is a whole different can of worms). As Jason can attest, my mantra beginning in 2003 was "Tigers in '08". I repeated this over and over as the Tigers soared to a historically bad season. Jason, as a good friend and fellow sports fanatic would do, stuck with me throughout the season, ribbing me when it wasn't too painful and not saying anything when it got to bad (at least he did through August, when the Mets season implosion was too much for him to bear and he swore off baseball for the year). All though the season, I got through the Mike Maroth and Steve Sparks starts by telling myself "Tigers in 08" "Tigers in 08". I even made it to three games at Yankee Stadium, including a very moving game on 9/11/03 (two quick tangential points: 1) this was in a streak of games in which the Tigers went 0-17 at games I attended between the last game I went to before my grandfather died and the unreal down 4-1 with none on and two out game against the Blue Jays and Halladay last fall which was my mom's first Tigers game and my sister's first major league baseball game ever and 2) there is a level of fandom even more depressing than bad, namely "irrelevant", which I first experienced in 2003 at Yankee Stadium when the Yankees didn't even bother to boo the team or cheer when the Yankees did anything, because it was given that they were going to win and the Tigers were not worth the time it took to boo or cheer. I'll take hated over indifferent any day).

2004 and 2005 showed signs of promise, as the team slowly and carefully started to improve, with some gambles that seemed iffy (Maggs signing was borderline at the time), but I stuck to my mantra, telling Jason "Tigers in 08, Tigers in '08" at every opportunity, touting Bondo as the next Rocket, and telling him that Illich was going to give the Pirates $5 million and 3 Little Caesar's franchises for Oliver Perez.

I finished law school and moved to Alaska at the beginning of 2006. I did not see as much of the Tigers, but I was excited for what I did see. The Tigers were good, we might have a shot good (as opposed to we might not lose 100 games good) and my email correspondence with various folks reflected this. I remember going through the Playoffs, getting taunting calls from all my Yankee fan friends and not being worried. Much like the Wings and Pistons, I expected the team to win, particularly when they steamrolled the A's (I was at the bar next to my office, jumping up and down in the middle of the afternoon when Maggs went deep to end the series).

2007 was disappointing in the sense that it did not end in a championship, but it was different than many seasons in the sense that the Tigers Mattered. In the "in the hunt till late in the summer" sense. No, we did not win it all, or make the playoffs, but there was progress. I was eager for the 2008 season. Then the trades happened. DD and the Pizza Man made it clear that they wanted to win NOW.

And now is now, and the Tigers have turned into the Lions. Miguel Cabrerra is here, playing the part of Shaun Rogers, more interested in where he will find the next rack of ribs than in using his immense talent to crush the souls of his opponents. Willis, playing the part of Kevin Jones, injured and ineffective, yet unwilling to adjust his style. Leyland, inexplicably making odd coaching moves, like pulling Nate earlier this week, or the weird Rapada-Dolsi sequence tonight. Now I expect them to lose. I expect things to go wrong. I could have called the Maggs dp, just like I could call any number of Joey-McMahon-Kitna interception, watching the team blow leads like the Lions D giving up Fareverrererrrvvvvvvree touchdowns.

So is this it? Has this Tigers team gone the way of the Lions and not the Wings and the Pistons? Can we expect to keep losing, keep blowing games, keep scoring 2 runs when the opposition scores 3, 3 when they score 4, and none when they score 1? I hope not. I have never been one to get too down due to sports (save bowl games and football games against OSU), but the Tigers are in danger of being horribly depressing. How long does Leyland have before making changes? Can Illich eat $80 million if Robertson/Bonderman/Willis continue to stink? Is this it? One great season, then overpaid disappointment? Have the Tigers really become the Lions?

Life update

2007-09-18T21:55:00.001-08:00

Well, the end of fishing season was a bust. The silver run was absolutely terrible. I only ended up with 5 on the season and only the first was a good sized fish.

So the tally for the year was
1 king - 24 lbs
28 reds - 320 pounds
5 silvers - 38 pounds

And I probably fished 70 days this year, with most of my fishing sessions being somewhere between 1.5 and 3 hours. However I did get in a good 20 or so days of 4+ hours of fishing.

Goals for next year (note that this includes proxy fishing):
Limit out on kings - 10 for the year. Seeing as Moesephus is getting a boat and Fido has both an suv to haul it with and a cabin on a lake to use as a base camp, I think I will be able to do this on the little su and the deshka, with some trips to whichever creek is hot on the parks highway.
Limit out on reds dipnetting. Got 28 this year. I want to get the full 60, as the allotment of salmon has disappeared rather quickly. I feel as if the supply will run empty sometime in February, if only because of the double secret reserve, which will soon be added to the mini-chest.
40 silvers. Moesephus' dad went to Valdez for three days and came back with 200 pounds of silver fillets. I want to do this at least once next year. Moesephus is talking about doing it the weekend of labor day, which I may have to do.

Poker.
I was on vacation and threw some duckets onto stars for the reload. I am back multitabling the 2/4 game to clear the bonus. Hopefully, by the time it is done, I will have enough to keep me going at 2/4. If I can run well for 8k-10k hands, I should be able to move up to 3/6 in relatively short order. While on vacation, I also finished 17/2600 in the 3r on stars, which I was pretty happy about. I am also going to try to devote more time (probably on the weekends, now that I am not fishing) to playing tournament poker, by playing the 3r and some other low-mid buy in nl mtts as well as the razz/stud/stud h/l tourneys. My goal is to have a tourney cash of over 1k and be playing 5/10 by the end of the year. If I put in 10,000 hands a month and play 40-50 mtts (total), I think this is attainable.

First Silver of the Year

2007-08-01T00:35:00.000-08:00

7/31 Campbell Creek 1.5 hours
1 silver 12 pounds, 7 pounds filleted

Went and fished Campbell Creek, which runs through south Anchorage. Went to the spot off Arctic and Diamond where I fished last week (and caught a bunch of trout) and worked my way upstream. There was a large school (15+) of spawned out kings at one point. Some decent sized fish in the 25-30 pound range but just dark red all over and really beat up. Went up some more and found a nice undercut bank with deep water in it. Threw a #5 orange vibrex in and got him on the second cast. Man, the silvers can really fight. This fish made 3 good runs of about 30 feet before I managed to walk upstream to where there is a little kidney shaped island and beach him. Nice fish.

First dipnetting trip

2007-07-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

Went to the Kenai on Friday with Treg and Adolf. Dipped from about 7:30 till 10:30 and got two. Dipped Saturday with Treg and a couple of his family members and got another 12, for 14 total. We got about 60 total, with Treg doing the brunt of the success, with 28. I lost about 10 fish total in stupid rookie ways. However, thats how you learn. Now I feel confident enough to go dipnet by myself.

More pictures after the break.

Me and the fish.

The filleting process is getting better. I made some ugly fillets early in the process, but slowly remembered what the hell I was doing.

I have been waiting a long time to have a freezer this happy.

2007 King fishing is done

2007-07-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

The 2007 king season (at least for me, the season ends July 13th in most parts that I fish) is about done. The only thing left is the late kenai run and that requires a boat. Since I am already scheduled to go halibut fishing in a few weeks, I do not really want to go king fishing. Besides, I got a king this year, which was the goal anyway. Also, I am leaving to go dipnetting on the kenai on friday.
Day by day fishing report after the break.

6/28 - Ship Creek - 1 hour
Went at lunch with Pat. I actually misread the tide guide and timed it so that we would have been there for the high tide the week before. Next year I will master the "put the good tides on the schedule before the run starts" and catch a king at lunch.

6/29 - Eklutna - 3 hours
Two stories. First, this was the first day I said "why am I here, I should be fishing" at the office and had someone reply "so go fishing", which I did. Left early to beat the traffic out and got to eklutna around 4:15 and fished till a bit after 7.
Second. I had gone over to my buddy Dave's house and tried to get him to go fishing the night before and he did not want to do so. I told him he was wasting his summer and then bet him $10 that he would not go fishing the next day. At around 6:15 or so, I was tossing a vibrex, but getting pretty bored and he called to tell me he was fishing at eklutna, which was odd, because I had been there for over two hours and had not seen him. He was down on the knik river side and we met up and talked and then drank a beer in the parking lot and split.

6/30 - Little Siux - 6 hours
I head to Moesephs after spending the night at the cabin. While we are chillin he asks if I want to go fishing with his friend Jesse. We head to the point mackenzie launch and fished upriver of the launch. Nothing, but I did learn how to de-rock a jet boat engine after we ran aground at one point.

7/2 - Ship Creek - 1.5 hours
I broke down and did something I have not done in probably 15 years and should probably have done when Noah was here. I purchased and fish with a bobber. I picked up some slip bobber rigs and started fishing ship creek with eggs. I like the slip bobber setup because it allows me to fish much deeper than a regular bobber does. I have several people I have told I will teach how to fish during silver season and I think I am going to start them on slip bobbers because it is the easiest way to start them.

7/4 - Ship Creek - 2 hours
Got up at 9 to fish the early high tide - was there from 9:30 till 11:30. Floated eggs under a bobber without success. Not much going on.

Eklutna - 3 hours
Got there about 1 and left at 4. They opened the tailrace all the way to the plant discharge, so I threw a spinner right at the discharge with a dozen or so people. There was a couple families who had stayed and fished all night who had caught a few fish, but not much going on. There was a lot of carcases and dead fish.

- Interlude -
Then I got burnt out. Lots of fishing in a long period of time, and the fish were not running. I did not do any fishing for the next 5 days. Needed to recoup.

7/9 - Montana Creek - 3 hours
This was effectively the last day of king season (note kenai exception, which I will not be fishing) because the streams of the parks highway were only open till midnight.

I hemmed and hawed about whether to go and then my mom called and told me I should, so I bolted the office at 4 and hit the road. I left home base at around 4:30, stopped for gas near willow and got to the creak about 6:30. One guy pulled a blush 18# out right when I got there (I walked in with some very nice people) and that was the only fish I saw landed the entire time. Threw a tigerstriped mepps, then a pixee (at 3/4 it was the heaviest thing I had in the box, so I could get it out the farthest into the siux, as the water level was up), then finally a spin n glow, which was what everyone else was fishing.

It was a beautiful night out and I am very happy I went. When I was sitting at the office I asked myself "when is the next time you can go out and catch kings?" and I realized it will probably be a year before I can do so again.

I got my one king and I was very happy with that.

Now I go dip netting for reds on Friday.

Actual Baseball Content

2007-07-01T22:20:00.001-08:00

Got to watch the Tigers-Twins game today, which is only the 10th or 11th full game that I have gotten to see this year. Because of the time difference (4 hours) Tigers games generally start here at 3:05, or when I am right in the midst of my 1:30-4:45 afternoon work block and not able to sit down, crack a beer, and watch a baseball game.

Bonderman pitched a great game, Thames continued to make the case (what has it been, 2 years now) for more every day LF playing time, and Miller and Morgan basically raved about Baker and ignored Bondo's performance. It was awesome that they had Ernie in the booth for a couple innings. Some of my earliest sports memories are listening to Ernie calling Tigers games.

I was watching the game, moreso the players attitudes when I was reminded of the '97 Michigan team (freshman year, greatest team ever, screw you Tom Osbourne). Every time that team was in a tight game you would see someone like Streets or Shea nodding and getting ready to go back out when the defense was on the field. They knew that they would get an opportunity and that they would take advantage of it. Bondo looked like he knew the O would come through with it, whereas Baker looked like someone had dared him to ride a bicycle along a concrete wall and he was amazed he had not yet fallen off. Good to see a game, good to see a win. The last 1-0 game I saw was at Yankee stadium. I had gotten tickets from a friend of a friend (who went to school with this gorgeous blond from Texas I had previously hooked up with, oddly enough) to a game. The seats were in the bleachers, which is less than fun, as it is no alcohol there, and the only run was a Giambi homer in the first. We got to see Randy Johnson pitch, but it was more the ineptitude of the other team (they were so not memorable I dont recall who they played, the Orioles maybe). This was a much better 1-0 game.

But I digress.

Fishing resuts YTD

2007-06-28T23:52:00.001-08:00

Results so far

6/16 - little Siux - 4 hours
Fished 2.5 miles from the spike off the Point Mackenzie with Noah and Moe. Water was up, no boats fishing anywhere near us, nothing.

6/17 - Willow Creek - 1 hour
8 pm Shoulder to shoulder, no spin n glos on me

6/18 - Willow Creek - 2 hours
6 am, shoulder to shoulder, relatively hot combat fishing

6/18 - Eklutna - 8.5 hours
9am to 1:30 pm. Fishing was hot between 9-12:30 or so, 11 kings came out.
10 pm-2 am. Dead, saw two fish landed. Some guy had told us that it was hot from 1-4 am, but nothing was hitting and we were tired.

6/20 - Elkutna - 1.5 hours - 1 King 24 lbs 16 lbs filleted
Was supposed to meet some friends who didn't show up. Got there about 8, fishing picked up at 9, my fish hit at 9:20 and was landed at 9:30 and was the 5th landed in the time I was there.

6/22 - Eklutna - 2 hours
4 pm to 6 pm, not much going on.

6/26 - Ship Creek - 1 hour
Not much going on, didn't see too many fish caught.

Just missed the right tide

2007-06-28T23:51:00.001-08:00

Fished ship creek twice today, missed the tides both times.

6/28 Ship Creek - 2 hours
12 pm to 1 pm
Went at Lunch, not much happening, tide was low.
9:30 pm to 10:30 pm
High tide was at 8:30, so we just missed the window (Which Fish & Game had been saying was 1 hour before and 1 hour after high tide). Fish were running but the water was dropping fast and the mud was thick.

I think the plan is to get some of the european style slip bobbers and float eggs just before and during high tide. I am going to be hitting eklutna tomorrow, then the Little Siux, and/or willow, sheep and montana creeks this weekend.

Tight Lines.

Of course he is good, his )(&$^)(^(*&# name is Fielder.

2007-05-02T23:15:00.000-08:00

Keith Law recently wrote a column on how the Brewers had turned around, including the following sentence "Fielder went seventh overall in 2002 despite his fame."

Prince Fielder went 7th behind Bryan Bullington, BJ Upton, Christopher Gruller, Adam Lowen, Clinton Everts, and Zach Grinke. Naturally the Tigers picked 8th (because it would have made too much sense for him to play here) and selected Scott Moore, who was included in the trade to the Cubs for Kyle Farnsworth.

I mean cmon. Look at this guy.

His dad, Cecil Fielder was an amazing player. He was one of those legitimately strong guys who was just built like a mac truck and didn't need to do much to stay strong. The kind who carry refrigerators down flights of stairs one handed. Or at least he did from a nine year olds perspective. Unfortunately, at least in my mind, he could not stay in good enough shape to be dominant for a long period of time. I remember a Cecil Fielder triple that lasted at least three handfuls of popcorn.

Prince's power as a kid was well known. Every now and again you would read the news and notes section of the paper and see something about him hitting a ball 425'. This was when he was in his early teens.

So here is the thing. Prince Fielder is Cecil Fielder, but with modern conditioning, off-season programs, nutrition, etc. He is much more likely to stay in shape and productive for a long period of time.

Now imagine that things had turned out just a bit different and the Tigers had the 7th pick in 02. Can you imagine him hitting 6th in this lineup? you think he would have more than 81 rbis if he hit the same 28 homers this year with: Sheffield, Ordonez, and Guillen hitting in front of him?

Bah.
J

First in a long series of non-sensical posts

2007-05-02T23:07:00.000-08:00

It has come to this. I need somewhere to rant. None of my rantings will be often enough to justify posting them on the various forums dedicated to my individual interests. That having been said, in the aggregate, they add up.

These three things are my leisure activities at the moment (and biking, but that does not require too much thought), along with Disc Golf, which will come into play at some point.

As a bit of background, I have been a Tigers fan since a young age, when I used to watch Tigers games with my grandfather. I began playing poker seriously about a year ago and have settled on stud and various stud variants. I have began the process of looking for a home recently, as my current lease is up at the end of June.

If you have made it this far, I congratulate you as this promises to be a great series of rants.
Please bear with me, as this is my first time using blogspot and it may take me a bit to get up to speed with this.

J