Slackin' ain't easy!!

Usually the beginning of summer vacation allows my schedule to open up and have time to do the things I enjoy ... like keeping this blog up to date! But since school ended I've been busier than a whorehouse on nickle night!!! I know all you who work year round are playing tiny violins and offering me some cheese with my whine. Look ... it's a rough life but somebody's got to do it!! I just took my first mid-day nap of the summer, so there are more ideas in my head than free porn on the internet. I'll try to parcel them out so I don't interrupt too much of your Fifty Shades of Grey reading time today.

I've got Euro2012 on as I'm building up the callouses on my fingertips. Through the first eight games, the tournament hasn't really lived up to its billing as many of the top teams have opened up playing very defensive football. England and France played today in a continuation of the battles these two nations started in 1066 at Hastings .... and it ended in a 1-1 draw. Of the teams playing wide open football, one failed to score despite taking 28 shots on goal in a 1-nil loss and the other thrashed the Irish 3-1. Name those two teams and win fabulous prizes!! The violence and racial abuse many feared hasn't really been on display yet either - outside the Russian fans beating several stewards (the name given to stadium ushers/security personnel in Europe) senseless in Wroclaw, Poland. No clear cut favorite has yet to emerge as the first round of games concludes today. Round two of group play sees Russia take on Poland tomorrow in a replay of 1939's epic "World War II" while Greece tries to remain afloat - no, not their economy - in Group A when they play the Czech Republic. Tensions both off and on the pitch will rise as the group stages conclude and the knockout rounds begin. Desperation leads to better soccer in my opinion as teams attack looking for goals which lead to wins and the vital three points. On a side note ... could ESPN have picked a poorer studio commentator than Michael Ballack??? If I didn't know Ballack was German, I would make fun of his horrible German accent. At least he tells the truth. When Bob Ley was asking Giuseppe Rossi - born to Italian immigrant parents in Teaneck, NJ - why he chose to play for the Italian national team instead of the good ol'U.S. of A, Ballack said, "Because he has a better chance of winning!" Gotta love those pragmatic Germans!

The Reds continue to dustrate like a child in the midst of his/her terrible twos as father Dusty watches silently from afar. For a team with a veteran core (Vottomatic, DatDude, Bruce, Rolen, Stubbs) they make too many mental errors on a regular basis. Add in Dusty's daft decision making and you've got a combination as explosive as vinegar and baking soda. Ever tried it??? Then you know what I'm talking about. I can give multiple examples in the last four games (1-3 in those four BTW): DatDude falling asleep on a sacrifice and allowing a runner to advance from first to third on a sacrifice bunt, DatDude and Cozart not being required to sacrifice bunt with a runner on second and no outs several times in the last four games, the Cuban Missile throwing only fastballs which were eventually timed up then throwing a wild pitch when he was finally asked to throw a slider, multiple players unable to hit the ball to the right side when a runner on second and less than two outs .. okay Dusty apologists I'll stop there. The Reds are tied for first in the NL Central with 32 wins .... which is like saying Germany is the strongest economy in the European Union (Have fun propping up Greece, Spain and Ireland!! The Reds are propped up by the sCrUBS and Lastros!!). 32 wins wouldn't put the Reds in the first place in any other division in baseball, an average of 4 games out of first place actually. Only three regulars are hitting over .275 (Vottomatic, Hanigan and Smokin' Todd Frazier) and Dusty can't wait to bench Smokin' Todd Frazier for Scott Rolen (.200 pts lower in the BA category and .400 pts lower in the OPS category than Smokin' Todd). The starting pitching continues to be just good enough to get beat with three starters posting mid-four ERAs. The next nine games are against the Cleveland Indians and New York Mets - both clubs playing above .500 ball through the first two months of the season. Unless the Redlegs start clicking, first place will disappear quicker than a bag of cotton candy in my son's mouth. So get your toothpicks, wristbands and Duncstrator cap on ... figure out the 2012 Reds.

Commerce Secretary John Bryson experienced a weird episode over the weekend and I'm not talking about President Obama saying the economy was fine Friday ( BTW - I've never seen a more hastily called press conference in my life!!). Bryson apparently suffered a seizure which caused him to hit the same car twice and then hit another car in the course of fifteen minutes of driving his Lexus. Not even Japanese aircraft carries could withstand damage like that and keep moving (historical sidenote: 70th anniversary of the Battle of Midway was last week). Can't say I blame the guy ... I'd probably have seizures too when looking at the U.S. economic numbers. As the government bailout spending dries up, so are the jobs. The private sector continues to make record profits, mainly because they've learned scared employees work like slaves to stay employed. Of course that's not the language corporate American uses to describe increasing profit margins in this fashion ... they call it efficiency. Whatever you call it, private sector hiring isn't coming back anytime soon unless China's economy bottoms out (it's slowing as I mentioned a couple weeks ago for the first time in a decade plus, so it will be interesting to see how the Chinese government responds). Profits generated through "restructuring" and "streamlining" and "efficiency" are just polite ways of saying, "We ran off 10% of our workforce so look at all the money we have now!!" Romney's campaign has taken a single minded approach to the upcoming election which can best be described as, "It's all about the economy stupid!" President's are often re-elected solely on the strength of the economy (how else can you explain Nixon winning in '72?), so Bryson might not be the only member of Obama's inner circle having a "seizure" in November.

Enough for today. I'm headed off to summer league as the Clark Cougars take on the Elder Panthers and Lakota West Firebirds. Oh ... and if you haven't watched the Mad Men season finale you better. My recap is coming tomorrow and it's going to be beautiful!!!