On comebacks, Lions, stench and ships

Let me go on record as being disgusted by the Red Sox comeback in game five of the ALCS. Down 7-0 and winning it in the bottom of the ninth? Ugh, what a lousy evening in the Slapinions household. Pass me the Pepto.

Outside of the Cubs there is no team in MLB that I detest more than the Red Sox. (although my hatred is tempered by their recent success. At least now I can't critique their fans for following a perennial loser.)

That late inning collapse might be enough to break the backs of the Rays, but if I was their manager I'd tell them the God's honest truth: it was a game, one game, and nothing more. Shake it off and seal the deal.

Rays in six, unless God is napping and the Devil rules in Florida.

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Unrelated to my Red Sox bias, although you won't believe me: What's with all this man-love towards Dustin Pedroia? My gosh, the guy didn't create time travel or cure cancer; he didn't even invent Robitussin. To hear the announcers talk he's had just the *hardest* life ever and is such a scrappy little guy yada yada. [with scrappy being a codeword for 'short as your ten year old'].

The guy makes a fortune and he's barely old enough to drink. I think his life's OK.

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On one of the ESPN channels I caught a replay of a Lions/Packers playoff game from 1993(?), the one where Brett Favre comes into his own with a cross-field touchdown bomb to Sterling Sharpe. I enjoyed the in-depth analysis of the plays (wish baseball coverage was that detailed) and it was great to see the dawn of the Favre era again.

Of special note was a fan in the stands on his cell phone; a great big honking brick held up to his ear. Technology does march on, doesn't it?

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According to this article space smells of steak and hot metal. Astronauts have reported the smells on their space suits following excursions outside their vehicles. The aroma of fried steak and welding is now trying to be recreated in a lab in order to better train future astronauts.

I have no idea how this would aid in training, since it has nothing to do with their actual work, but it is a neat little bit of trivia.

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In other news the last remaining survivor of the Titanic disaster is auctioning off Titanic memorabilia to pay her nursing home bills.

Millvina Dean was only two months old when she escaped the ship that took her father's life. With no memories of the event she ignored the weight of Titanic fandom until the 1980's, when she became more active in those circles. Now confined to a nursing home at age 96, she will be selling off the suitcase her parent's used on the trip, letters offering her Mother survivor benefits, and rare prints.

There's certainly a pitiful aspect to this story, of course, but on the other hand the ship has molded her life for nearly a century. It's only fitting it now provides her the means to live out her life in comfort.