The Wager

Remember the Blue Jays bet I made with Stephen Amell from Searching For '93, back in March? You know; eight categories, over/under, seven worth one point, wins worth two points, highest total score wins.

And, of course, $100 and a videotaped autograph with Mike Wilner on the line.

Well, I joined SA on a podcast for an update. Thanks to some fine handicapping by Mr. Amell, the score is tight, and it should be fun to see how it plays out over the summer months.

Have a listen. As SA put it: "Along the way, we may or may not talk about Twitter, Jeff Blair, the Raptors, Reggie Evans, Bryan Colangelo, the Stanley Cup Finals and, um, other stuff. It's a great conversation."

Enjoy. If you get through the whole thing, you're a trooper, and I'd love to know your thoughts.

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A Simple Decision

What to do on a Friday night: head down to the Rogers Centre and watch Roy Halladay abuse the Florida Marlins? Or head to a local establishment to watch game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Red Wings and Penguins? (Win that shit, Hossa.)

In all honesty, it's a no-brainer. Doc only starts 15-to-17 home games a year.

(Another) Podcast, Please

My good friend and yours, Stephen Amell, from Searching for '93, had me join him on another podcast to talk some more Toronto Blue Jays baseball. This time, we were betting on the Blue Jays. Well, I was betting on the Jays. Stephen was busy betting against them.

Here's a link to the mp3. Have a listen. I guarantee you will enjoy the song off the top. Anyway, we lay down our bets, talk some hockey, where I admit to the world that I am a New York Islanders dynasty denier, and, brace yourselves, even talk about the weather. In Canadian Celsius of course, my American friends. You know who you are. But, yes, exciting shit.

No, I'm not going to tell you what we bet on. You have to listen to the podcast, silly.

Alright. Fine.

There's eight categories, each being an over/under, and each worth one point, with the exception of the first category; wins. It's worth two points. Whoever accumulates the most points at the end of the season is the victor. Scientific, I know.

Categories:

1. Blue Jays O/U wins: 80.5

2. Vernon Wells O/U games played: 125.5

3. Home opener O/U number of fans: 49,500

4. Roy Halladay O/U wins: 17.5

5. Lyle Overbay & Scott Rolen O/U combined home runs: 35.5

6. Alex Rios O/U home runs: 22.5

7. B.J. Ryan O/U saves: 31.5

8. Total attendance O/U for the season: 2,000,000

I took the over. On all of them. If that surprises you, you're an idiot. I'm nothing if not a fatally optimistic homer. And I probably wouldn't be too good at The Price Is Right.

Logic? You want logic? Look, no Blue Jays team led by the Gastonian one is winning fewer than 81 games. Especially not this one ... Am I worried about Vernon's health? Sure I am. But the way I see it, with his bum hamstring, he's getting the injury over with now ... Will the home opener be a sellout? It better be, Toronto ... Barring injury, Doc's winning 18 games. Actually, more ... Can Overbay and Rolen combine for 36 home runs? Let's just say that's probably the stupidest over I went with, but that doesn't mean it's not going to happen ... Alex Rios is going to be frighteningly good this season. Frighteningly. Good ... If The Beej can save 32 games 10 months post-Tommy John, he can do it again in '09 ... As for total attendance, when the Jays are well on their way to winning the pennant, people will be rushing to the Rogers Centre SkyDome. Daily.

So, there you have it. A cool, crisp $100 is on the line. And I'm sure Stephen and I will update you as to who's closer to glory over the summer. We've also decided that the loser (Stephen, eventually) has to be videotaped getting an autograph from the one and only Mike Wilner. In a perfect world, the loser (Stephen, eventually) will pay me via one of those massive cheques, which will then be presented to me by the one and only Monsieur Wilner. (Let us know, Mike.)

Oh, and I've decided: when Roy Halladay is pitching at home this season, I'm heading downtown. A little walk-up ticket action, please. He's worth the price of admission, every time. And like I said in the podcast, he won't be around forever.

Remember to regularly check out Searching for '93. Stephen's got a new layout, and is doing his thing. Follow him on Twitter (follow me, as well), get him up in your RSS reader, and subscribe to his podcast. He's good people. While it will pain me to take his hard-earned money, it's something I must do.

And if you're interested in getting in on some of the monetary action, I'm still taking bets on the Jays winning more than 80.5 games. If you're foolishly thinking under, holla at ya boy, along with how much you're willing to lose. Want to shit on the Jays? (PPP, I'm looking at you.) Put your money where your mouth is.

For the last fucking time: Blue Jays baseball ... you gotta believe.

UPDATE: PPP is taking the under on wins. $50 on the line. I'm going to be fucking rich come September.

Podcast, Please

Are you excited about Toronto Blue Jays baseball yet? You should be. I am. So much so that I woke up early Wednesday morning, did some homework, and talked baseball with Stephen Amell over at Searching for '93.

My good friend Stephen was looking for some reasons to justify renewing his Jays' season ticket package, and graciously invited me to join him on his second podcast (his first podcast featured Toronto's favourite sports writer, Dave Feschuk). 

Now, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty sure I delivered. I mean, it's what I do.

Here's another link to the podcast. We're talking Blue Jays baseball, the origins of "eyebleaf" and Sports And The City, and some Toronto Maple Leafs hockey, or whatever it is the Leafs play these days. Have a listen. I'd love to know your thoughts. My segment gets going around the 35:00 mark.

And make sure you spend some time over at Searching for '93. Stephen's relatively new to the Toronto blogging scene, but he's already making his mark. He sheds a lot of light on the Toronto Raptors, whom I've managed to completely and disrespectfully ignore for the past month or so. He hates Jamario Moon, is coming around on my man Andrea Bargnani, and loves to get under the skin of RaptorBlog's Scott Carefoot. 

He's also working on lining up some huge guests for his podcasts. Obviously, he's going to have a tough go at getting a bigger guest than yours truly.

Yeah, right.