Snow Chairs

Yes, Myrtle Beach had snow! SC doesn't know what to do with it. February snow storm and we cannot use the porch at the beach! It must have lasted a day. To say the least - it's been an unusual winter and early Spring! We'll forget this day come July and maybe hope for it back??? 

Hermosa Beach

Long, long story behind this painting and I won't go into it - 

suffice it to say - we made it to Cali in December and we were a little beat up by the road.

NAPA!

Napa and we did a little tasting! Just a quick one before I make some moves here, Venezia Winery.
Excellent. Like most of the places out there - incredible lay out. The back porch is a great spot for lunch!

Island View

Just a spot Looking back towards Portland.

Jacoby!!

2014 - Jacoby will look good in pinstripes - Yuck!! 

Jacoby and his buddies were officially eliminated last night

with a Yankee win  and a Sox loss. Typically, the Sox had the lead

and lost it in the 8th and 9th innings.

The night before they had the lead and Papelbon coughed it up.

So goes the season. Loads of things went into it and

there's not enough space here to go into it -

it's well documented elsewhere.

Jacoby has had his replacements and Kalish

seems like a keeper.  2 Grand Slams - not too bad.

Nava Is hanging in there and doesn't look too bad 

with the bat. Josh Reddick who has had every chance

looks loads more confident at the plate. Just the way he

looked the other night - I knew he was going to get a 

hit. But, the season is winding down and I'm afraid we are

out of it. Pitching just now is coming around. Beckett, Buchholtz

and Lester had 3 good outings. We just couldn't fit

all the pieces together fast enough or long enough.

Jacaby has taken a beating this year in more ways than one

The first question was - why move him from 

CF  for an over the hill player like Mike Cameron?  

That should never have happened. LF at Fenway 

is a confined space! You don't want Ellsbury in a confined space!

Then he gets his ribs crushed by colliding with Beltre, then he gets

misdiagnosed, then he comes back too soon and he takes more

time off and gets a second opinion and takes more time off,

takes rehab assignments, starts in again slowly and gets hurt again.

The fans are not exactly on his side questioning his mental and physical toughness.

His popularity index has taken a huge hit. Plus he's a Boras guy which

definitely doesn't help. I have no idea how many CFers the Sox ran out there this 

year - 8-10? Somewhere in there -  that's for sure. His season was a complete

washout. And coincides with the success of the Red Sox. Wild Card this year? I don't think so.

Way too many holes to fill. Petey's just coming back, Youkilis is gone for the year.Papi is not

bankable. Drew? C'mon. Lowell is a shadow of what he was, Varitek is hurt. Martinez and Beltre

is where it's at - and that's just not enough. The list of injuries is well documented. It was just so hard to keep filling the roster with the Nava's of the world.

Jacoby Ellsbury should be the Red Sox MVP thus year.

There are so many things to like about him. I guess his

signature moment  this year came against the Yankees

when he stole home. He caught everyone by surprise

even Francona in the dugout where Ellsbury may

never have had to return if he was thrown out. His

Batting Ave. hovered around .300 all year

and he led the league in steals as well as breaking

Tommy Harper's season stolen base record for Boston.

His defense was superb and plays like this were almost

routine.

If he had only made that catch the other night! Mays like!

We may have had a different ending. 2011 was not good

teamwise! Had to go to 162 games to decide Wild Card!

Pap blew save! However, Jacoby had a terrific season and he is in

consideration for a ton of awards. MVP for one! Competition is

tough with Verlander and Granderson and not making postseason

doesn't help!

Now what are we going to do? Tito was let go and he said he

could not reach the players as he used to. What players? Who

reached Ells? Who reached Petey? The only regular player

who really fell off in September was Ortiz! Couldn't reach David?

Hmmm.  Youkilis? He kind of disappeared with numerous injuries

and really wasn't around for the September Collaspe. Aviles played.

Lourie played. Scutoro was very consistent and had a really good year.

At least 5 players had outstanding years. Ortiz, until the final month

was the best DH in the AL - Pitching was one huge problem.

No one could go 5 innings minimum on a consistent basis.

Lackey, Lester, Beckett. Wakefield? Ok, Timmy, by the way,

see you - we love you now go away. 

Cape Hedge Beach

This Cape Hedge Beach was painted from a photo. I wasn't exactly up on the rocks getting soaked! Although, I've been there and done that. It's Cape Hedge Beach in Rockport, MA. If you spend enough time down there, you get to experience just about whatever weather and surf you can imagine. This is towards Land's End which is reportedly to be one of the closest points in the US to GB. Thatcher's Island and Twin Lights are off to the right. Thatcher's has a very interesting history that reaches back as far as Plymouth. Supposedly Marconi put his transcontinental wire down here as well.
Loads of history here which includes Early 20th century Rockport to Gloucester Trolley car pilings. But. that's another story.

Brady - He's Baaaaaaaaaack!!!! 6th trip? 2015

Deflategate BS!!
Brady is the MVP of the 49th Super bowl and Pats defeat Seahawks in a thriller 28-24. Great game. Brady's Back! Crazy 2015 year ended with deflategate - taking air out of footballs versus Colts! Of
course he did! Every QB does! If they don't have the footballs right where they want them - they aren't doing their jobs!! Versus the Super Bowl Champs 2014 Seahawks with old buddy
Pete Carroll at the helm. See what happens Sunday Feb 1st

Brady 2012 Super Bowl Bound vs NYGiants! Let's see what happens here in a week for this rematch! It wasn't pretty but they had the lead up until around a minute and half left in the game.  They just couldn't make a play at the end. They talk about three dropped passes and how bad the throws were.
They are actually bashing Brady even though all the throws were catchable. His worse throw was to a one legged Gronk that was intercepted. Who knows what would have happened if he was healthy?
Once again, history repeats itself and one great catch won it for the Giants. Pats needed a  lucky bounce of the ball and the game itself could have gone the other way. The winning were actually scored when the Pats allowed Bradshaw to score in order to get the ball back.
Well, I knew it was coming! But, 17 seconds into the game?? They just did not instill confidence this year. They were so inconsistent. Just way too many holes to fill. No defense, no running game, losing Welker was huge. Will he even play next year is in question. Tommy boy - what's up?
Here we go with the dreaded Ravens! Houston and Welker is not good. Possession type receiver is definitely needed. Season is in the balance here. Tommy boy has to pull one out of his hat! It is not something that has been happening here for awhile.
Buffalo was suppose to be a win and we'll take it. Defensive line decimated - patched it up and went ahead. The best part of the weekend was NY and Miami lost.
It was not a thing of beauty (Carolina win). One more off the schedule. On to BUFFALO! UGH! Randy - show up!
Next he had a baby - Now Carolina and a must win. Got that off his mind I hope. Beautiful, bouncing, baby boy.
After Miami - we are in full panic mode. There were so many opportunities to win that game, there's not enough space. What was that? Triple coverage in the end zone for a pass intercept? Not even Cooper could have caught that ball! Maybe you should kick the ball on fourth down somewhere along here? Playoffs? How about winning the next game. I don't care who it's against.  If the defense wasn't a question before, it is blatant now.
New Orleans was a bad game. Now we see the pass defense for what it is and there will be some changes made. That was awful. Many of the questions about 4th and 2 at Indy should be answered. They cannot stop a good QB. Back to the drawing board versus Miami. I'm waiting for that 3rd receiver to show up. Sam Aiken has to catch that pass - not wave at it as it goes by - GO GET IT!!!
Against the Jets, this time, they had Welker and the game was over. 15 Catches? 2 that were not caught?
Is there another receiver who sees that many balls? He just must stay healthy. Still, not the best game.
Loads of mistakes. Blocked punt and a missed FG, Maroney fumble. The O Line is a patch work. Mark LaVoir anyone? Had a couple of great plays yesterday, though. ND Alum. I never felt the Jets were going to be a problem and that first game with them was a fluke - the same goes for Denver. The Patriots should be 10-0. And they haven't played a perfect game - that's crazy.
After further review, the Indy game was not pretty, to say the least. I am trying to put the proper spin on this and I just cannot do it. Eventually, I'm a firm believer, it will work itself out. However, with the Jets on the horizon and New Orleans following, I am not supremely confident. That fourth down call will be dissected and analyzed until the cows come home. Right now, it ranks right up there with Buckner and Grady in the annals. Not a good start to the week. Right up to the last 2 minutes of that game, it had looked like a slam dunk. How quickly things turn around.

Ok, Ok, let's just stop the rhetoric. Breathe. . . Slowly, in and out. Starting to feel better? It is not the end of the world. They should have won the game. Just a couple of drops. A split second difference in one or two defensive or offensive plays and it's a whole different ballgame. An easy interception should have been made. A fumble recovery. A couple of drops. A shoe string tackle. The Jets were lucky to escape. Brady had the ball with less than 2 minutes left to go in the game - and a little of the magic had left the building. With Welker, the game is over. Half the starting team was different than last year. Edelman, Taylor, Galloway, Guyton, Springs, and Baker is a short list. Hell, Brady wasn't there last year. Ask Peyton how long it took him to get back. It's a work in process. It's going to get very interesting.
I don't suppose anyone saw the Titans game? The 5 TDs in one quarter game? The one in the snow?
That game? 59-0? And, once again, don't get too high, or, too low. Are the Patriots that good? Or, are the Titans that bad (0-6)? Combination, I suppose. Now, it's off to London to play Tampa Bay. The winless Bucs. What in the world is going to happen here? There are so many intangibles involved.
Denver was bad and the Jets have dissolved (somewhat). I still don't understand how NE lost those 2 games. Oh well, we are spoiled, I guess.
MVP 2010-11 - extremely well deserved just judging by his supporting Cast - (Moss?)