Hunter Checked Out Too Soon To Meet Wx Gal at Derby

Yesterday, my pal Chad in Tennessee said this sports weather blog thing may attract a larger readership if I posted photos of Stephanie Abrams of The Weather Channel. After all, Awful Announcing has picks of the weather chick all over its page with posts about the weather for the ALCS in Cleveland, Chad said. So, I took Chad's advice and posted a photo (see below) of Stephanie. That photo is probably the most popular shot of her for obvious reasons. Later, I wondered if Stephanie is a sports fan or has any background in athletics. Turns out, she has covered some significant sporting events for The Weather Channel. According to her TWC bio, Stephanie's assignments since joining the network in 2003 have included "on-the-scene weather reports from major sporting events in the country like The Daytona 500, The Kentucky Derby, The Chicago Marathon, and Major League Baseball spring training." Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Florida and received a bachelor's degree in meteorology from Florida State, or as she was quoted in a U. of Florida alumni magazine, "that other university in Florida." The screen capture above is of Stephanie at the 2005, I think, Kentucky Derby. There. That should increase my Web hits, and steal readers away from Awful Announcing and Deadspin and maybe even Profootballtalk.com.

You Are Not Looking Live

The possibility of rain and therefore rain delays existed last night in Cleveland for Game 4 of the ALCS, and I, a dude who operates a sports/weather blog, was all set to do my first ever live blog of the event. I was sitting on my couch with my laptop on my, uh, lap and eating popcorn left over from Sunday's Patriots at Cowboys game. However, before Paul Byrd could finish his warm-up pitches, my wife and two kids quickly reminded me that I sort of have a life and the words "live blogging" did not, and could not ever exists in my universe.

Speaking of blogs, my favorite blogger, sports media and business columnist Neil Best of Newsday in New York, has gotten into the sports weather spirit today with a post about the Rockies and Broncos possibly playing on the same night (Oct. 29) in Denver. The Broncos have a game that Monday night, and the Rockies are scheduled to play Game 5 of the World Series, if it goes that far, at Coors Field. Best is looking forward to the possibility of an October snow storm in the Mile High City that night, making for a "highly entertaining TV evening," he said.

Spawning Mud

The prevalence of artificial turf and superior field drainage systems these days have greatly diminished the sight of dirt and especially mud on NFL uniforms. But don’t tell that to Todd MacFarlane. His Spawn NFL figures almost always have at least a bit of dirt on them, creating a look on football uniforms that most of in our 30s and older became accustomed to seeing on TV during our youth. I don't know about you, but I hate the site of a clean football uniform. That's just another reason why it's tough being a Jets fan. I heard McFarlane on a sports radio program a few weeks ago talking about the research that goes into making his figures realistic. Sometimes I think there may be some embellishing in the mud department, but who cares? Check out the photo of the LaDainian Tomlinson figure. Awesome! Totally awesome!

Six and Done

I've posted five items here today – Oops, this one makes six – and I think I need to quit for a while and concentrate on a few other things. I have a couple other stories I could get to today, but I think I'll save those for later. Hey, I may post tonight if my wife leaves me alone long enough. Don't tell her I said that. That said, I'll leave you with this uber cool photo of the Bengals' kicker Shane Graham doing his thing in an intense fog. Good night sports/weather fans – both of you! Enjoy the cold, possibly rainy ALCS tonight, and Go Tribe!

Russia Makes England Fake It

Speaking of world soccer and the 2008 European Championships (See below), there is a far more interesting story concerning the qualifying matches than the story I posted below about Scotland practicing in the rain. Boring! On Wednesday, England will face Russia in a qualifier at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, and the match will be played on an artificial surface, a decision made by the home squad. The England side says they're fine with not playing on real grass, but some pundits (Read: England fans looking for excuses in the event their team bellies up.) are wondering aloud about the fake turf giving an advantage to the Russians. Guus Hiddink, manager of the Russian side, argued that an artificial surface was the natural choice after rain, sleet and snow fell on Moscow over the weekend. Hmmm. This could turn out to be very interesting if England loses. Ok, I think that's enough postings today about soccer, although it is sure to increase the number of hits to my blog from 18-34 year-olds in Ukraine, one of most active demographics.

When It Comes To Soccer, I'm All Wet

I can't pretend to know much about world soccer, but apparently Scotland is surprising the game's enthusiasts with an unlikely run toward the 2008 European Championships. The Scots have won eight of 10 qualifier matches and play Georgia – the country, not the university of – soon with hopes of advancing to next year's champion round. (I hope I'm getting all this right. If not, I'll here about it from all my international readers.) The photo (REUTERS/David Moir - GEORGIA) above shows the Scotland side training in the pouring rain Tuesday at Boris Paichadze National Stadium in advance of Wednesday's match in Tbilisi.

UPDATE: A week or so ago, I celebrated my 100th post to this blog. (There was a wild party of one with cake, streamers and imaginary strippers in my basement. You should have been there.) Today, I celebrate this post as my 100th of 2007. It's party time and the lap dances are on me! Get it?

Weather (Photo) Update

This is an update to a post I made a couple of months ago, but it's mostly a chance for me to get away from baseball for a moment and post a photo of some super hot rain on gridiron action. (That's awkward!) The new-look NFL.com features a ton of improvements for this season, and one of those upgrades is the number of photos the site offers. A featured gallery provides picks of bad weather games. When it first went online, there were 31 photos of recent bad weather games. Now the count is up to 43 shots of rain, sleet, snow and fog gracing stadiums around the league. Great stuff! Grab some popcorn, T.O., and enjoy the show.

Warning: Expect Delays

While everyone is finding their seats on the Rockies bandwagon, it seems that other League Championship Series has been pushed to the backburner a bit, except in Cleveland and Boston. In case you missed it last night, the Indians grabbed a 2-1 series lead at Jacobs Field. Tonight in Cleveland is Game 4 of the ALCS between the Tribe and Red Sox, and if you're going to the game or just checking it out on your high-def TV, you should expect some delays. The temps forecasted to dip to the high 50s with a 40 percent chance of rain and, my favorite, scatted thunderstorms. (High 50s equals about 15 degrees Celsius for those two or three of you from Malaysia who occasionally visit this blog.)

While we're visiting Cleveland, take a look this Plain Dealer time-lapse video that zips us through the Opening Day snow storm that hit the ballpark as the Indians were hosting the Mariners.

I Thought This Was Winter League

The Rockies did it. They finished off Arizona Monday night in four games and clinched the team's first ever World Series appearance.

Wonderful! But wait.

The Series begins Oct. 24, and is still eight full days away. That's a lot of downtime. If you heard Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio Tuesday morning, you may have heard the duo offer suggestions to the National League champions on what they can do during their down time. Visit Britney Spears kids, apply for the Yankees managerial job and print out a roster of their own team and try to figure out who the heck they all are were among the suggestions.

Funny. But what will the Rockies really do?

Baseball guru Seth Everett said on Steve Czaban's radio show – wow, that's two days in a row I've mentioned the Czabe – that the Rockies may move Rocktober Fest to some winter league location to practice where temperatures will be a bit warmer than those on Rocky Road. (Man, I'm getting in all the new Rockies bandwagon slogans, aren't I?)

The weather in Denver over the next eight days isn't exactly summer-like, but it's not too bad. According to The Weather Channel's extended forecast, the best day for the Rockies to practice in their home city is Saturday, when temperatures are expected to reach 75 degrees. The worst days will be Wednesday (60 degrees, chance of thunderstorms) and Thursday (54, morning showers and windy) of this week.

By the way, my pal told me this blog might actually get some readers if I posted photos of Stephanie Abrams of The Weather Channel. So, there ya go. Now, how can we work Erin Andrews on to this blog?

Patriots Rock Like A Hurricane, Jets Just Blow

If you don't believe the 2007 version of the New England Patriots could be the best team ever, then you're either irreversibly clueless or a disillusioned Jets fan. After Tom Brady put up video game numbers on the Cowboys Sunday, there is legitimate reason to believe this team, cheating or not, could run the table all the way through the season. A few weeks ago, Steve Czaban, on his nationally-syndicated radio show called the Patriots – and here's where this post gets sort of weather related – a Category Five super team. It's beginning to look more and more each week like The Czabe may be right. This morning he compared the Pats season thus far, and all the hype and build up surrounding the team, to Hurricane Katrina. That may be taking the analogy a bit too far, but New England looks like a strong, unstoppable force that is turning the rest of the NFL to unrecognizable rubble. And this is coming from a disillusioned fan of the Jets, who, at 1 and whatever, look like a tropical depression.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks... and a Poncho

I love October baseball. Most people I talk with say they hate when cold weather comes into play during the playoffs. "It's just not baseball weather," they tell me. I, of course, disagree. The cold, rainy playing conditions at Coors Field last night, and every other time the weather has come into play in the MLB playoffs, creates an entirely new challenge for the teams embarking on the grand prize. It's a beautiful stage that blends perfectly with the emotions of the games. And you can't tell me the fans at Coors last night didn't just absolutely dig it that their team is kicking the frozen snot of a Diamondbacks team that hails from Arizona and plays in a ballpark with a retractable roof. I'm sure the folks in Denver believe the cold weather is to their team's advantage – they're probably right – and cheer louder with each drop on the thermometer.

A look at the weather-related sports headlines in the Denver Post today gives insight into how into the mindset of the Colorado faithful. Here are a few of those heads:

- Rockies fever keeps away cold
- Almost on Ice
- Rockies Right As Rain
- Arizona Gets Lost in the Fogg (Referring, of course, to Josh Fogg, but still…)
- Rain, Snow, and Base-brrrrrr (This headline actually was in Sunday's Post, but it is my favorite.)

In case you missed the game last night, the Rockies defeated the D-Backs 4-1 at Coors as temperatures dipped into the 30s and cold rain fell before the game during the early innings. It was a beautiful sight. Tonight's Game 4 weather forecast calls for temps in the high 30s, but with mostly clear skies. It’s Broncos weather in Denver, but as their team sits one way away from reaching the World Series, fans in the Mile High City are hot for the Rockies.

Meanwhile, the ALCS moves to Cleveland tonight with the Indians and Red Sox tied at 1-1. Folks at the Jake should be fairly comfortable with low temperatures expected to be in the mid 50s with a slim change of precipitation. Tomorrow night, however, could be a different story. Rain is being forecasted all day with a chance of thunderstorms at night during Game 4.

Lightning Strikes and Jayhawks and Bears

Heavy thunderstorms and lightning in Lawrence delayed the start of today's gridiron clash between homestanding Kansas and visiting Baylor. Kickoff was pushed back two hours. The game is now underway with the Jayhawks leading 10-3 late in the first quarter. So, this is what it has come to -- me writing about a rain delay at a Kansas versus Baylor football game. I'm really bored.

Rainbow Warriors Shine After Wet California Day

I turned my attention away last night from the striptease videos I was watching on YouTube and noticed that Hawaii, the No. 16 team in the nation, was trailing unranked San Jose State by two touchdowns with less than four minutes to play in the game.

But suddenly, as quick a Rainbow Warrior can strike (What?), Hawaii picked up a quick touchdown to get within seven points. On its following drive, San Jose State conveniently placed the pigskin on the wet, sloppy turf and, you guessed it, Hawaii recovered and soon thereafter drove for the tying score.

Regulation time ended shortly after midnight Eastern, and that's when I had to go to bed to ensure I got at least four hours of sleep that night. While I was dreaming (most likely about Liz Lemon), the Warriors won in overtime, 42-35.

Colt Brennan, Hawaii's star quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate, threw for 545 yards on 74 pass attempts – that's a WACky record — four TDs, but also four interceptions. Rain fell all day before the game, so we'll blame Brennan's four picks on field wetness.

What, No Rain Plan?

This isn't sports related, but for some reason I thought it was worth a mentioning here that Drew Gilpin Faust was installed Friday as the 28th president, and first female leader at Harvard University. More than 8,000 people gathered for Faust's inauguration and braved occasional rain showers to hear the new president speak of her vision for the university. Well, I assume she did some of that, but the Boston Globe stated today that "Faust's words, made it clear that Harvard's 28th president would use her high-profile position as a bully pulpit on gender and racial diversity and other issues in higher education." Meanwhile, to make this post somewhat interesting and sports related, the Harvard Crimson will host Lafayette today under clear skies with high temperatures nearing 60.

Do Dogs and Drinks Affect the Spectator Index?

The Spectator Index is 6 for tonight's opening game of the American League Championship Series between the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park.

What?

You've never heard of the Spectator Index? Well, you have to check it out.

The Index is a feature on weather.com that rates the comfort factor for fans at a particular sporting event based upon temperature, chance of precipitation, humidity, wind speed and cloud cover. So, the reading of 6 for tonight's contest is "good," meaning comfy conditions for fans when the first pitch is hurled at 7:07 p.m. The Index goes from 1 to 10, with 10 meaning "excellent" live viewing conditions. A Spectator Index of 1 means you're probably in Buffalo. The Index is updated several times a day. So if you're sitting at home tonight watching the game from your living room, where I'm sure your personal Spectator Index will be a 10, you can click on weather.com and see just how the temperatures and wind conditions and such are changing the Spectator Index reading at Fenway. Then, just for fun, try to determine just how many beers Sox fans will need to drink to stay warm when temperatures dip to 45 degrees and winds reach 15 to 25 mph. Oh, and a 20 percent chance or precipitation is also forecasted.

Those west winds at Fenway tonight, The Weather Guys at USA Today remind us, should mean an increased chance for home runs to right field. Let's hope the winds calm when the Sox are at the plate. On their blog today, The Weather Guys have a cool graphic (see above) illustrating just how the winds tonight could benefit lefties.

(The above graphic is from USA Today. You didn't think I drew that myself, did you?)

SPRINKLES: It looks as though there's a turf war brewing in Columbus, Ohio involving the intramural football fields. An Ohio State student has written in the school newspaper five reasons why rain should not halt intramural play. Reason No. 4 is the best. Wikipedia fans will agree. … We've spotted a snow football game in Canada. …The Williston (Fla.) Pioneer Sun News tells us that in rodeo, like pro football, the show must go on despite the presence of rain and mud. You just know there's a scientist working some place in a lab to develop artificial mud for rodeo. Jeez!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Full disclosure: I'm a Yankees fan, so I need not explain to you why I want the Red Sox to be eliminated from the MLB playoffs as soon as possible. Also, I still have bad memories of the Diamondbacks beating Mariano Rivera and the Yanks in the Fall Classic a few years back. All that said, you can probably gather that I'm rooting for an Indians-versus-Rockies World Series. The above reasons withstanding, I would love to see how the weather plays a factor for late October baseball games in frost-brewed Coors Field. I hope, good golly I hope, we see something resembling the above photo. Go Tribe! Go Rockies! Go Snow!!!

Oklahoma's Reigning Back

Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray is getting plenty of love from the press this week, particularly in the wake of his 128-yard performance that helped his team defeat rival Texas last Saturday. A year ago, Murray redshirted with a turf toe injury and has since rebounded to demonstrate plenty of gridiron talent this season. Not to shabby for a fella who didn't play running back until he was a high school freshman. The text below is from Thursday's Tulsa World:

"I didn't start playing running back until my freshman year in high school," he said. "Before that it was linebacker, DB and all that."

The football savant who switched Murray over? "My running backs coach at Gorman High School, Coach Wright," he said. "He pretty much told me, 'Hey, if you want to do it, we'll give you a shot.' I guess he had a lot of faith in me."

Wright believed because of what he had seen.

"It was DeMarco's ability to make people miss as a defensive player," he said. "He'd turn his body certain directions, glide through the line, shed blockers and make plays. I figured if he could do that, he'd be a pretty good at running back for us. We tried him out and lo and behold . . . He was like a fish in water. He took right to it."

In the photo above, Murray runs threw Miami defenders during a steady rain in Norman.

Is It Open Or Not?

This is hardly news or anything other than what you might expect, but the retractable roof at Chase Field will be closed for tonight's National League Championship Series opener between the homestanding Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. Why? Because it's going to be hot as the third layer of hell outside the ballpark, with high temperatures there expected to hit around 97. Temperatures will be a very cozy 72, I assume, inside Chase. Temps hovering in the high 90s are forecasted for game two, so don't expect to see any daylight in this series until the two teams depart for Coors Field. I can’t wait to see what kind of weather we get for those games in Denver.



UPDATE: According to a story today in the Pueblo (Colo.)Chieftain, the Chase Field roof will be closed for tonight's NLCS opener, as I wrote above. However, I just now discovered that the Chase Field Web site states that the roof will be open tonight and also for Game 2. So who do we believe? I guess we'll just have to tune in tonight and see for ourselves. The Chase Field site does list a phone number – it's not toll free, by the way – that gives out roof information. I haven't had time to call it, but I may at some point today. If you want to call, the number is 602-379-7663.

Rain Could Slow ALCS Opener

As you can see in the photo, it was a rainy day in Cleveland – better than bug attacks, eh? – so the Indians hurlers had to cut their workouts short. The Tribe hitters, meanwhile, left the wet Jacobs Field and took some swings at the team’s indoor facility.

The way it looks, the Indians will be taking the wet stuff with them when they travel to Boston for games one and two of the American League Championship Series. Rain is being forecasted over Fenway Park for both of those contests, which are scheduled to be played Friday and Saturday, respectively.

But don’t worry Red Sox fans, your smock-wearing manager has a plan for his pitchers should a game be called or endure a lengthy rain delay.

From the Associated Press:

The rotations would be shuffled around if games are delayed or postponed by rain, which is forecast for both Friday and Saturday. Francona said he would consider using lefty Jon Lester following a long rain delay, if necessary; Lester threw 38 pitches on Tuesday to stay fresh.

More About the Japanese Umbrella Girls

Last week in a post about the very rainy and extremely treacherous wet driving conditions at the Japanese Grand Prix, I posted a hot photo and briefly mentioned that the race queens – I initially referred to them as umbrella girls, I think – were present at the event and sporting cute pink and white short skits and umbrellas of the same colors. I didn't know it at the time, but Race Queens in Japan are a big deal. They stand in the pits along with the crew looking sexy and probably turning more than a Formula 1 drivers' heads.

The BBC News Web site featured an interesting story about the Race Girls a few years back. Below are some informative excerpts:

No Japanese race is complete without a parade of race queens, long-legged models in daringly skimpy costumes adorned with the colours of their team and its sponsor.

The race queens attract a lot more attention than the cars, attracting devoted fans who jostle to snap photographs of their idols.

Race queens embody the cult of 'kawaii' or cuteness, which you see all over Japan, peddling an image of doll-like beauty and unobtainable sexuality.

Ice Bowl As You've Never Seen It

Those of us who dig our sporting events mixed with a dash or two of bad weather hold with high regard the 1967 NFL Championship game between the Packers and Cowboys, or the Ice Bowl as it's commonly known. You know the story of that contest, so I won't go into details. Anyway, I was Googling pics of bad weather football games today, and stumbled upon this unique, uh, photo (above) of the Ice Bowl I had never seen before. And, I'm betting you've never seen it either. It was made by a filmmaker who operates the very cool Web site, Stopactionfootball.com, which features those beloved electronic football players from our childhood. You really should take a few minutes and examine his work. It is great, and particularly check out his film about Jim Marshall's wrong-way run. It's a classic and perfect irony for the electronic football environment. But if you're in a hurry to get back to work and have only a few minutes to kill, below is a film from the site highlighting the most recent Super Bowl. Yeah, it's weather related. Remember the rain?

Cloud Puts Colgate Football On The Shelf Momentarily

Folks in Morrisville, N.Y. thought they had spotted a tornado Saturday, but those thoughts funneled out quickly. Here's the scoop from The Post-Standard:

A cloud that had the appearance of a funnel cloud typically associated with tornadoes was reported over Morrisville on Saturday, but weather experts quickly determined that it was a "shelf" cloud that accompanied a thunderstorm, National Weather Service meteorologists said Monday.

At Colgate University in Hamilton, a few miles southeast of Morrisville, a football game between the Raiders and Bucknell was delayed for an hour and fans were asked to leave the stands at Andy Kerr Stadium when lightning was spotted in the area just after 4 p.m. University officials said they had not received any reports of a funnel cloud.

Raider Nation Finds Odd Way to Prep For Chargers

In case you didn't notice the Oakland Raiders have played in two consecutive road games in which the contests were delayed by Mother Nature. First, a lightning storm halted the Raiders' game in Denver by 24 minutes, and couple of weeks ago Lane Kiffin and his Black and Silver crew had its kickoff in Miami pushed back a half an hour by more charges of lightning. (The photo placement above is to visually illustrate the rainfall before the Raiders game in Miami and not just a gratuitous posting of a picture featuring a hot, wet NFL cheerleader.) This week, the Raiders are guaranteed to see lightning again, but this time it will be on the helmets (and pants) of the San Diego Super Chargers. There is a very slim chance, however, the Raiders will face a third consecutive weather delay. Forecast for San Diego Sunday call for mostly sunny skies. What else would expect from Sunny San Diego?

You Can Stand Under My Umberalla, ella, ellla, ay!

Earlier today I mentioned the rain-slicked Formula 1 racing at the Japanese Grand Prix (see below) just outside of Tokyo last Sunday. Those guys, unlike the NASCAR boys, will race in almost any kind of weather. And those photos of the cars zooming around the track with rain water flying everywhere are always a cool site to behold. However, those on-the-track images aren't the best photos that came out of the race. I prefer this image of Japanese umbrella girls -- actually they're called race queens -- standing by in case they're needed. Very sexy! With that I say, good night everybody and have a great weekend. …and, rain or shine, enjoy the games!

UPDATE: I just realized this is my 100th post to the sports/weather blog. That's a bit of a milestone, right? Right! Especially for a part-time, novice blogger such as me.

UPDATE #2: I know I said the above were my last words here for the day, but I just found a really cool photo you should see heading into this weekend's college football schedule. The photo is of Kelsi Metzler, a University of Oregon cheerleader, posing with an umbrella as part of a photo shoot for SI.com. Metzler is the Web site's Cheerleader of the Week. You can see the entire 18-picture gallery here, beginning with the umbrella pic. Be sure to check out photo one. Metzler makes those hideous Oregon football jerseys look nice while rocking a super-tight tummy and some really tight jeans. Go Ducks!

Ok, that's it for today. I promise.

Wrigley Blows

Speaking of weather, ballparks and the baseball playoffs (see below) there will be at least one game played at Wrigley Field. And you know what that means: Wind. Most likely wind will blow at Wrigley – and so will the Cubs -- but the bigger question is which direction. Dusty Baker appeared on Colin Cowherd's ESPN Radio show today talking about how the wind factors into almost every game at Wrigley. Baker didn't really say anything we didn't already know, but he did say that if the wind blows out or across the field, it's in the Cubs favor since they have the bigger bats. However, Arizona, which has a two-game lead and could sweep the short series with a win Saturday, has the advantage with the wind blowing in because of its superior pitching and defense.

Coors Served Cold

Many folks around the country are experiencing an October heat wave, but as the weekend arrives, folks in Denver will have to deal with some pretty cool baseball weather as the red-hot Rockies try to handily dispose of the National League East champion Philadelphia Phillies. Saturday night at Coors Field is going to be a bit nippy, but if the Phillies can force a game four, Sunday night will be nasty with a chance of rain and even a slight chance of snow and low temperatures dipping into the 30s. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

Slick Racing

I know NASCAR is the most popular racing entity in the States, but you have to hand it to the Formula 1 guys when it comes to bravery in dealing with the natural elements.

Last Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix was no exception, as you can see in the photo above taken of British driver Lewis Hamilton, Aussie Mark Webber and Japanese racer Sakon Yamamoto during the race at the Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Japan. That's just west of Tokyo for those of you not up on your geography of Japan. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

Hamilton may not have been the safest driver on the track. According to news reports, the FIA is investigating his driving tactics during his win in Japan.

Meanwhile, the NASCAR fellas (left), on the same day, huddled under their umbrellas while waiting for rain to stop in Kansas City. What a bunch of pansies.


The baseball photo below is about a week old, but it may be my last chance this year to bring you a pic of a ballpark grounds crew. The photo shows members of the PNC Park crew clearing rain water following a sudden downpour during a Pirates game with the Arizona Diamondbacks.


You XM Radio subscribers out there who frequent or sometimes just scroll past the regional traffic/weather stations in the low 200s may have noticed a unique message on the Boston station Thursday. As you may know, the display screen for those channels offers weather messages such "Fair" or "Rainy" or "JAM ALERT" for, of course, traffic jams in that particular city. But on Thursday, the opening day of the Major League Baseball playoffs, and the first game between the Red Sox and Angels being played at Fenway Park, the Boston channel display read "Go Sox!"

New NFL.com Treats Foul-Weather Fans

In case you missed it, the NFL has given its Web site a fresh look for the upcoming season. As usual, there are tons of cool features, one of which is a super cool photo gallery of bad weather games. The gallery features 31 photos of games played in recent memory – there's nothing of the Ice Bowl or anything that far back – that includes rain, sleet, snow, fog, and, well, go see for your self. If you love bad weather football, this gallery will blow right into your jet stream.

By the way, I still haven't seen the NFL Network's Top 10 Bad Weather Games. I taped it, yeah, taped. (My DVR still is on the UPS truck someplace.) But I still have not watched the show all the way through.

Drizzles:
This Arizona Republic reports today that the Arizona State football team has gone 10 consecutive practices without any weather issues, excpet for a small delay because of lightning.

Busch Whacked: Anniversary Edition

By the way, Deadspin.com -- the king of all sports blogs, according to Neil Best -- reminds us that today is the anniversary of the big rain and wind storm that hit Busch Stadium last year.

Hear's the link to the Deadspin story, complete with YouTube video of wind-blown trash cans.

Here's what we reported last year, the day after the storm.

Rain And Chill Invade British Open First Round

I’m really too busy today with my real job to make any significant contribution to this blog. That’s a shame, too, because the British Open began this morning at Carnoustie, Scotland, and if you follow golf, you how nasty the weather can be at the course, particularly the wind. That said, I will, however, blog deliver to you (via this link) an article from AP writer Doug Ferguson about just how difficult Carnoustie can be when the wind and rain settle in. I can tell you this weather-related item from today’s British Open first round: Tiger Woods sank a 90-foot putt for birdie during this morning’s damp, chilly conditions and finished his round with a 2-under, 69. Play began with a steady drizzle and wind with temperatures in the low 50s. Sounds like a great day!

In the photo above: Australia's Stuart Appleby blows rain off his putter on the 1st green during first round play at the 2007 British Open Golf Championship tournament in Carnoustie, Scotland, July 19, 2007. REUTERS/David Moir (BRITAIN)

At The Bronx: I’m barely listening to the Yankees / Blue Jays game, but I think I heard the Bombers broadcast crew of John Sterling and Suzyn “Goodness Gracious” Waldman mention the possibility of rain there at Yankees Stadium. However, the teams are still playing, so I’m not sure what’s going on. At the time I’m writing this, the Yanks lead 2-0. Watch your back BoSox!

B.O. Weather Doesn't Stink -- Yet

It rained today at practice for the upcoming British Open. Of course it did. What would you expect? Today’s practices were the final preps for the major, the 136th in the history of the event, which begins Thursday at Carnoustie, Scotland. Tigers Woods, we here he’s pretty good, is looking to win his third consecutive B.O. title. (That’s an odd way to say it.) Anyway, Tiger, whom my son is not named for, would be only the second golfer in 125 years to accomplish the trifecta.

Forecasters are predicting nice weather for the first two days of the event, but rain could enter into the equation by tourney’s end. Speaking of British Open weather, below is an article from Reuters explaining how the weather over the past few months has set up the course for ideal playing conditions. Enjoy!

By Jon Bramley
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland, July 18 (Reuters) - Organisers say the bad weather rather than any grand planning on their part has left Carnoustie in "great shape" for the 136th British Open which tees off on Thursday.

Open championship committee chairman Martin Kippax said that every player he had encountered had praised the Scottish links course's condition, in sharp contrast to the brickbats it received when the event was last held there in 1999.
But he denied there had been any concerted plan by the Royal and Ancient (R&A) club to help the 156-strong field after so many struggled with high rough and strong winds eight years ago.

"We don't have any grand plan in relation to what width the fairways would be," he told a news conference.

"Very rarely will an Open championship venue vary to its own members, players and so forth. We don't try to cultivate anything.
"The rough isn't as severe as it has been in the past but that's because of the weather we have had. If you have a warm and wet May and June then you'll have heavy links rough.

"If you don't then you don't get the rough. And the rough is nothing like as heavy as it might possibly be.

"We already have seen it's going to be pretty soft so I expect a pretty low-scoring championship."

Forecasters are expecting a wet finish to the tournament over the weekend with clearer weather for the first two days.

Briton Paul Lawrie won the 1999 edition with a six-over-par 290 total.

(AP Photo above by Jon Super)

Dempsey A RoBHoFer?

I’ve joked here before about creating a Rainout Blog Hall of Fame, and just how lame it would be to actually carry out such a goofy idea. However, if I ever were to do so (please stop me), former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey would no doubt be the inaugural inductee of the RoBHoF for his antics in the late 1970s during various rain delays. If you’ve seen the performances by Dempsey, the son of a Vaudeville actor and former Broadway actress, you know all about the player’s precipitation-inspired comedic genius. If not, you may have to look through your dad’s old baseball video tape collection. Dempsey first performed his act during a rain delay at Fenway Park in 1977, well short of the YouTube and DVR generation. I have searched far and wide across the great landscape of the Internet and have yet to find a trace of footage showing Dempsey sliding across a rain-soaked turf.

Baseball Library dot com has a nice bio piece about Dempsey. The last paragraph (I’ve pasted it below) delves into his rain delay act. The paragraph could very well be engraved on Dempsey’s RoBHoF plaque.

Dempsey, whose father was a Vaudeville actor and whose mother was a former Broadway star, was known to be a bit of a ham himself. During a 1977 rain delay at Fenway Park he entertained players and fans alike by performing a baseball pantomime routine with towels stuffed in his shirt to evoke Babe Ruth's well-known belly. He ended the routine by belly-flopping across the rain-soaked tarp at home plate and then leading the crowd in a rendition of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." Dempsey reprised the routine at various times in later years, including once in a September 1982 game at Milwaukee when he wore a Robin Yount jersey and mimicked hitting a home run before circling the bases to the delight of the crowd.

By the way, you may remember White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle tried a similar stunt in April of 2006 but was quickly told to knock it off by general manager Ken Williams, who was quoted as saying, “He (Buehrle) needs to find another hobby.”

Blame It On The Rain

I know next to nothing about track, so it would be a horrible injustice if I were try to relay this story to you about American runner Tyson Gay's failure to break some world record this weekend through a downpour at IAAF Grand Prix. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Plus, I'm lazy. There, I said it. And since I'm ignorant and lazy, I'll give you this brief account of the event from Reuters. Enjoy! I'll be back later.

SHEFFIELD (Reuters) - American Tyson Gay won the men's 100 meters in Sunday's IAAF Grand Prix at the Don Valley Stadium in 10.13 seconds, persistent rain ruining any hopes of beating the world record of 9.77.

In-form Gay asserted in the final stages to race home a couple of meters clear of Britain's Marlon Devonish, 0.10 behind in second.

Gay is the fastest man in the world this year after posting 9.84 at the U.S. championships last month.

What? I Missed It?

This year’s Wimbledon was one of the soggiest in recent memory, and I, a person who from time-to-time writes a sports weather blog, made no mention of it. Big deal. “I just didn’t feel like it,” is my only excuse. (Plus, I just couldn’t find a great photo of Maria Sharapova getting wet.) It’s not that I don’t like tennis. I do. But this year, I just couldn’t get into it. I’m not sure I watched one live serve and volley. That said, I promise, to the three of you out there who read this nonsense, that’ll I’ll do better next Wimbledon. And then in 2009, a brand spankin’ new retractable roof will be in service over the grass courts and everyone can stop bitchin’ about the rain.

I should have mentioned this yesterday – Give me a break, I’m moving into a new house…Jeez – but there was some uber cool fog that moved in the Double A Eastern League All-Star Game Wednesday night in Norwich, Conn. The game was called because of what one local media outlet there called “thick-as-pea-soup fog.” Pea soup! Yummy! The score was tied at 2-2 in the middle of the third inning when everyone was told to go home. This brings up the question: Should ballparks install fog lights? Hmm! There’s a debate for sports radio during the doldrums of summer. Below is a cool photo (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) of some of the players lining up during the singing of the National Anthem.



The Union Leader in Manshester, New Hampshinre reports this:

Conditions were difficult enough at the start with center field barely visible from behind home plate. But with a full house and a cable television audience to satisfy, no one was willing to make the tough call to delay the game.

"If we kept playing," said Jeff Corsaletti, who played center field for the Northern squad, and was one of three Portland Sea Dogs on hand, "somebody was going to get hurt. There was a ball hit over my head that I didn't even see. I just heard it hit the wall. They did the right thing by calling it. It was crazy."

I love this photo. It’s not sports related, but it is fog related.

Speaking of fog, it poses no problem for the Brazilian soccer (football) team during a recent practice near Rio de Janeiro.

I still haven’t gotten around to watching the NFL Network show about the Top 10 Bad Weather Games. However I did TiVo it, so I should get to it soon. Who am I kidding? I’m still living with 90s technology. I taped the show.

I don’t know much about sports in Japan, but if there were any games planned there for this weekend, those events will have to be rescheduled thanks to Typhoon Man-Yi.

One more thing: This is not weather related, but by now you know that soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria have arrived in the U.S. And no doubt you’ve read that it’s the biggest craze surrounding Brits coming to America since the Beatles. So, will the Becks make as big a splash on America culture as the Beatles? (I can’t even write that question without laughing outloud.) Not bloody likely! (Lame!)

Good night everybody. Don’t forget you umbrella, ella, ella, ay, ay. (Is somebody smoking something around here?)

Philadelphia Phillies Rockies Rain delay Storm

Tarp Madness in the Rockies

If I were ever to create a Rainout Blog Hall of Fame (Boy, how dumb would that be?) one of my inaugural inductees may have to be Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies. By now, you’ve seen the video of the storm that hit Coors Field Sunday. If you haven’t, it’s right above this text. Duh! Also, you can see the ESPN SportsCenter highlight of the game and tarp whipping here.

Anyway, Victorino and his teammates did great work and were fast on their feet to help the Rockies groundscrew Sunday when a freak storm swept through during the seventh inning causing a 50-minute rain delay.



From wire reports:

Shane Victorino grabbed a corner, dug in and began wrestling it toward left field. Ryan Howard held a section down with a knee, and Michael Bourn started heaving sand bags onto the tarp to weigh it down.

By the way, where were the Rockies? Hmmm! LaTroy Hawkins was the only Colorado player pitching in. Anyway, thankfully no one was hurt. Below, a grateful head groundskeeper describes the scene and expresses his gratitude to the visiting team.

"That was the worst ever," said Mark Razum, Colorado's head groundskeeper. "The wind was so strong, we couldn't hold it. When it draped over the guys, I was worried that somebody might suffocate. It was really cool the Phillies came out and gave us a hand."

This rain delay story, as you can imagine, has gotten considerable play from various new agencies and blogs, including one my favorites, uniwatchblog.com, where one commenter provided this super cool pic of Brian Trottier sliding on the tarp in Pittsburgh with Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Weather Games Encore

The NFL Network will show an encore presentation of the Top 10 Weather games at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The show originally aired weeks ago, but I never got a chance to see it. Given that the show will be on in the afternoon on July 4th, I’m pretty sure I’ll miss it again. Hey, there are a lot of hot dogs and hamburgers out there with my name on them. No time to watch TV.

O's Soaking Mad

The Baltimore Orioles have gotten their feathers in a bunch, and no one can blame them. Thursday night against the Yankees, the skies opened and released a downpour upon Camden Yards. The score was tied at 6-6 in the top of the eighth inning. The Yanks had runners on second and third with Derek Jeter coming to bat when the rain began falling harder. The game had already been delayed once for rain, and this looked like the perfect spot for another delay. However, the umpires let the teams continue although it was visibly clear on my TV screen that all the players were having a difficult time dealing with the heavy precipitation. Jeter was shaking water off his helmet and cleaning mud from his spikes. Still, play continued, and Jeter eventually lined a single that scored the two runners giving the Bronx Bombers an 8-6 lead. At that point, the umpires sent the teams off the field and the grounds crew rolled out the tarp, for the night, as it turned out. Melvin Mora was seen on TV arguing with the umps, and frankly, all of the Birds should have been on the field to convey their displeasure. I’m not sure why the umpires kept the game going through the downpour, unless they were hoping Jeter would make a quick out to complete the inning.

The Baltimore Sun’s Roch Kubatko has some good quotes from Mora, who was tossed for airing his grievances with the ump, and O’s hurler Chris Wray, who was on the mound during the rain.

The game was suspended and will resume July 27.

Below is nice AP photo of Jeter's go-ahead hit in the driving rain.

Rain Delay Talent Show

I'm not sure what the SLC Tournament is, but this is a pretty funny rain-delay act.

Cricket Cure For Drought?

If I have learned one thing while writing this sports/weather blog, it is this: A region suffering through a drought should immeditately stage a cricket match. It seems to me that playing cricket is somehow equivalent to performing a rain dance. Today... well, I don't even care to write about a cricket rainout because I can't even pretend to understand the sport (Stupid American!). However, if you care, you can read the story here.

From Pennsylvania to Pakistan

As I was searching for sports-weather news today, I bumped into the above photo (AP Photo/B.K.Bangash) of Pakistani boys playing soccer in a street during a downpour following a scorching heat wave in Islamabad. According to media reports, dozens of people died during the heat wave and hundreds hospitalized with heat strokes and gastroenteritis.

Soft Greens
The U.S. Open teed off today and many ahead of the event wondered aloud if the course at Pennsylvania's Oakmont Country Club might be too tough with its hard, fast greens. Even Arnold Palmer predicted this year's championship would be rough-going through the first two rounds. However, less than a half an inch of rain from a thunderstorm Wednesday softened the greens and may have made playing the course a bit tamer. Tiger Woods was among those who shot under par in the opening round Thursday, however reports are now coming in saying many first-round scores are high.

"It's not going to be what we planned for. Things were moving along quite well (before the storm). We thought we'd have a true, hard test for players on Thursday. The rain has altered this a little bit. We're going to try and do everything we can to get the golf course back to where it was before this little rain." -- Tim Moraghan, USGA agronomist

Sprinkles
Rain knocked out play Thursday in the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England. Maria Sharapova, among others, had her match postponed, and weather reports predict more rain Friday for the Wimbledon tune-up tournament. All this does is give me an opportunity to post of pic of Sharapova getting all wet at Wimbledon. Check out the grounds crew. Pay attention to the task at hand guys.



On this date in 1959: The San Francisco Giants’ Mike McCormick tossed a 3-0, five-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Richie Ashburn singled in the top of the sixth for the Phillies, but the hit didn’t count because the game was stopped by rain. …In Japanese baseball, the game between the Chunichi Dragons (You know, the team Tom Selleck played for in Mr. Baseball.) and Rakuten Eagles ended in a 1-1 tie after rain forced the contest to be called after the 11th inning. Koji Nakamura gave the Dragons a 1-0 advantage in the first, but Rick Short (Hmmmm!) tied the game for the Eagles with a solo homer in the seventh. I wish I had photos from the rain portion of the game, but here's a cool photo gallery from the Rakuten Eagles Web site. Check out the cheerleaders dressed in cowgirl gear in the first photo. … This can't end well.

WEATHER TERM OF THE DAY
HABOOB -- Sudanese name for duststorm or sandstorm with strong winds that carry small particles of dirt or sand into the air, particularly severe in areas of drought.

Out From The Rain

The Rainout Blog sure picked a heck of a time to go on hiatus. It was about three-and-a-half weeks ago when I made my last post, and during that time frame there were numerous sporting events affected by weather, particularly rain. The most prominent was the rain-shortened Indianapolis 500. Some great images came from the event, but perhaps the best was those pictures of, not the winner, but of the winner’s wife. Wow, Ashley Judd and a rain-soaked sundress go very well together. There were a couple of NASCAR events affected by the wet stuff in the last 30 days, and most recently, so was qualifying for the Champ Car's Grand Prix of Portland. We also had some baseball games, both in the Majors and in the NCAA super regionals, showered upon. Plus, there was rain at the French Open. Oh, and you would never fogive me if I forgot to mention the Macedonia soccer championship. Also while we were gone, The NFL Network, or “The 212” as we DirecTV subscribers have dubbed it, ran a pretty cool hour-long show featuring the Top 10 Weather Games. I only saw portions of the show, but what I saw was great.

So, where has the Rainout Blog producer-guy been? I’ve been around, here and there – mostly there. There have been many rumors that I can neither confirm nor deny. However, I can confirm there is no truth to the rumor that I took Rhianna up on an invitation to stand under her umbrella – ella, ella, ay, ay ay… (Sorry. That’s just dumb!)