Not Just A Hat Rack

Great Guidebook Recommendation...

I received my advance copy of Fodor's in Focus - Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks.  It's 170 pages of park information, hotel reviews, recommendations and sundry commentary about two of the most unique places in North America.  Unlike last year's Yellowstone guide, I don't share byline or credit with anyone - it's all mine.

Call me vain, but I can't wait to see it on the bookshelves in some Barnes and Noble...

According to Amazon.com, it ships May 5 if you pre-order now.

I have an update on Yellowstone in the workds in the coming months, and possibly, a portion of a book on Utah.  I can review the LDS Temple tour, Acme burger, Sette Bello and Fin's... how fun.  I may even have an editorial assistant for this one.

That was fast...

WEEK 4
Game	AWAY (A)	HOME (H)	A-H-T
1	New England	DC United	A
2	RSL	NY Red Bulls	H
3	Kansas City	Chicago	T
4	Los Angeles	San Jose	H
5	Seattle	Chivas USA	T
6	Colorado	Houston	H
7	Toronto FC	FC Dallas	A
8	Boston (WPS)	Washington	H
9	Bay Area	Los Angeles	H
10	NJ Sky Blue	Chicago	H

I commuted to the west suburbs... of Chicago... today.  Long day.  This week's soccer picks are above.  More real blogging to come.

Opening Night

Is it just me, or do more people seem interested in baseball this year?  

I think the regeneration of the Mets and Yankees, each with sparkling new stadiums, is part of it.  Maybe there's a hangover from the Phillies winning the World Series - it's Philadelphia, where a hangover is a good thing.  There's the story of Manny and Torre in Dodgerland - which replaced Vero Beach with some Arizona desert complex this year.  A Cy Young winner in San Francisco, plus Randy Johnson and the young lively arms of Cain, Lowry and Sanchez.  The Baby A's.  Cub dreams.  Big stories in major markets.

And then there's the tragedy of Nick Adenhart's death, who will live on only in our memories now.  I thought of Nick when I took the two 'Hat Rack boys to see the Salt Lake Bees play tonight.  We saw Adenhart pitch last summer.  His number is emblazoned in front of the Bees' dugout now, and adorns the team's uniforms.

It was Opening Night on the Wasatch Front, and an announced crowd of 10,000+ braved swirling clouds (it stayed dry).  The "Hat Rack boys lasted 6 full innings - their best performance to date.  We started 11 rows back from the field near the third base dugout, then moved upstairs for better sighlines, ending behind the plate in the upper deck, where Lucca counted the panels on the home plate netting.  I think they're a little more into baseball this year having learned more basics by playing baseball on the Wii.  I kid you not.

Another pitching phenom, Anthony Delgado won his sixth game without a loss in a Bees' uniform - dating back to his late-season call up last year.  Brad Coon, a smallish infielder who will serve as a pall bearer at Adenhart's funeral this coming week, homered.  Grown men cried.  Young men hit balls over the wall.  Kids played catch.  It was another day at the ballpark and another layer of legend and tribute in the Grand Ol' Game. 

PS - This year's Bees' team is stacked. I think they'd split a season series against the Giants.

(Photo: Coon and Freddy Sandoval embrace c/o Salt Lake Tribune) 

Update: Soccer's famed Bradley clan has a member I'd heard of long before the name Bob Bradley meant anything to me.  Ex=Major League baseball player Scott Bradley suffered a loss equal in tragedy to the Angels' family this week.  Read about it here. 

Weekend Predictions

So I'm going with Army Black over Air Force Blue on Saturday in the big televised match on the U.S. Olympic handball website.   I'm thinking Amry Black is going to run to the Men's Collegiate title - making it back-to-back for the Black Knights. 

Oh, and for soccer... here goes: 

WEEK 3
Game	AWAY (A)	HOME (H)	A-H-T
1	Dallas	Toronto	H
2	Chicago	San Jose	T
3	DC United	Real Salt Lake	T
4	Colorado	Columbus	H
5	New York	Houston	H
6	Kansas City	Seattle	H
7	Chivas USA	Los Angeles	A
8	St Louis (WPS)	Boston	H
9	Chicago (WPS)	Washington	A
10	FC Gold Pride	Sky Blue FC	H

Watch live handball this weekend

When Army and Air Force meet in any competition from marksmanship to checkers to football - it's a battle.  That competition is renewed Saturday at 3:30pm mountain time in team handball, when the top two seeds in the College National Championships meet in Colorado Springs.

Watch live here.  Kenn Tomasch and three-time Olympian Laura Ryan call the action.

Herman Franks Follow Up & NU Journalist in Prison

It was reported in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune that the son of former Major League manager Herman Franks could not attend his funeral last Friday.   Herm Franks Jr. is the cyclist who was seriously in a much talked about hit-and-run accident on Wasatch Blvd. 11 days ago.  Utah continues to offer some of the best bicycling terrain in America (this area is the stomping grounds of David Zabriskie and Levi Leipheimer) and some of its most dangerous roads.  Franks Jr is expected to recover.

Meantime, the Trib also reported that the "Share the Road" license plate became available.  This initiative gained steam after the death of cyclist Josie Johnson four years first rallied hard-core and occasional cyclists alike to push for safer roads.

Finally, I've been following a story for weeks.  Roxana Saberi is an Iranian-American journalist from North Dakota who has been held prisoner in Iran for two months. I get almost daily updates from Northwestern professors and classmates who are trying to draw attention to her case.  Latest reports indicate that her parents have traveled to Iran and may be able to visit her this week.  Saberi is accused of working in Iran after her accreditation expired. Formal charges may be brought forth this week.

Saberi has reported for the BBC and for America's National Public Radio. She has spent six years in Iran studying and writing a book.  

"That's God, You Better Not Argue With That Guy"

The quote of the week comes from Joey Amalfitano during his eulogy of baseball manager Herman Franks, who died this week in Salt Lake City.  In several decades in baseball, he managed the Cubs AND the Giants. He was 95.

Can you name the other four managers who guided both the Giants and Cubs?

Who is Stephen Strasburg?

I've marked my calendar to be in Ogden May 14, 15 or 16.  The University of Utah is hosting San Diego State those days in baseball (why they're not playing at their on-campus stadium six blocks from my house is beyond me), which ordinarily wouldn't mean a thing.

Except the Aztecs have this guy: 

Stephen Strasburg struck out 23 Utes in one game last year (how did I miss that?).  He's being talked about as the hardest-throwing baseball pitcher... ever.  Clocking 103mph on his fastball.  "Nintendo fast," said his coach, Tony Gwynn, who knows a little bit about hitting good pitching.

Strasburg is a perfect 5-0 this season... with 88 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.  That means 88 strikeouts and 39 outs by all other means (fly outs, ground outs, hidden ball tricks, etc.)  These numbers are just unfathomable.  Oh, just eight walks.  88 K's.  8 walks.  42 innings.  Good gracious.

This column  tells you more.  Last mega-prospect to come out of SDSU with this much hype?

Former High Desert Maverick Travis Lee?

Thanks to the Automatic Man for setting up an MLB Fantasy League. My fortunes rest on the Giants' arms... Lincecum, Cain, Johnson, Wilson... with an eye on Lowry and Sanchez, too.

10 Winners.

I picked 7 of 10 last week... let's see how this week goes:

Winners: RSL, New England, DC United, Colorado, San Jose, RED STARS!, FC Gold Pride, Czech Rep. 

Ties: NY-CHI, SEA-TFC

Umm, can someone remind me where FC Gold Pride plays?  And I love the name St. Louis Athletica, by the way... but can't go against the Red Stars in their debut.

Read yesterday's post here if this is all Greek to you.