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| Profiles In Potential Greatness II |
| 10.29.04 (5:11 am) [edit] |
This is my recurring series on people I've known from my childhood who have recently achieved fame in some way (or are trying to achieve it, anyway).
BRANDON BACKE
This guy needs no help at all from me in gaining fame. Major League Baseball is taking care of that.
It's hard to believe that one of the emerging stars in the Houston Astros used to live four houses down from me. In the eighties, he was always the blond-haired kid brother of Steven Hitchcock, who was my age. He played around with the other kids on the street his age - Wayne, John, Tapy, Joel and David. The few years I've known him, Brandon's always had an intense interest in baseball. Once I moved away he became a distant memory like everyone else from the neighborhood.
Then this year, all of a sudden I hear the Astros are in the playoffs, and helping the team get there is some amazing young talented pitcher from Galveston named Brandon. I read how he grew up idolizing baseball greats like Craig Biggio and Roger Clemens, and how he almost took the Ball High Tornadoes to the state championship in 1996. Then he made his major-league debut in 2002 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and was traded to Houston this year. I thought, this couldn't be the same guy from my neighborhood... could it? A few Internet searches later, my suspicions were confirmed. And I was cheering him on in the playoffs as he pitched a remarkable seven innings against the top-ranked St. Louis Cardinals.
Well, the Astros couldn't quite make the World Series this year. Which was probably for the best... this year was meant for the Boston Red Sox, who finally broke the "Curse of the Bambino" and won their first World Series in 86 years. I'm very happy for the Red Sox, and frankly, I didn't really want the Astros to win it all at their expense. But maybe next year the Astros can finally become baseball's World Champions, with Brandon Backe getting the MVP award and having his best year ever.
At any rate, the Little League kid from Sycamore Drive is now Galveston's newest hometown hero. The city's throwing him a party on Saturday, November 13, complete with parade and autograph session. I'm definitely gonna be there.
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| Tom's Mascot Melee - Week 8 |
| 10.28.04 (3:17 am) [edit] |
WEEK 8 (Last Week: 8-6 - Season Total: 56-49)
Cardinals at Bills - The bird's gonna be in unfamiliar territory, so the buffalo has the edge. PICK: BILLS
Ravens at Eagles - It's noble bird vs. spooky bird. I'll give it to our national symbol. PICK: EAGLES
Bengals at Titans - The gigantic Titan will easily make striped roadkill out of the tiger. PICK: TITANS
Lions at Cowboys - The "king of the jungle" will be out of place in Cowboy country... and he'll be lassoed in no time. PICK: COWBOYS
Packers at Redskins - Even a staple gun is no match for a fierce tomahawk. PICK: REDSKINS
Colts at Chiefs - Taming a young horse is a no-brainer for the Chief. PICK: CHIEFS
Jaguars at Texans - One bullhorn-skewered kitty coming up! PICK: TEXANS
Giants at Vikings - Remember last week? Well, I say the Viking pulls the catapult-n-slash trick again. PICK: VIKINGS
Falcons at Broncos - Eventually the Bronco will kick the Falcon in the head. PICK: BRONCOS
Panthers at Seahawks - The panther will pounce at the seahawk... only to miss, land in the ocean and drown. PICK: SEAHAWKS
Patriots at Steelers - It's one bayonet against some huge steel objects. Edge goes to the steel worker. PICK: STEELERS
Raiders at Chargers - The Raider's enough of a daredevil to jump on the speeding Dodge Charger and take control of it. PICK: RAIDERS
49ers at Bears - If there's anything gold miners are skilled at, it's overcoming grizzly bears. PICK: 49ERS
Dolphins at Jets - If the missile blast doesn't kill the dolphin, the resulting tidal wave will. PICK: JETS
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| Tom's Mascot Melee - Week 6 |
| 10.14.04 (10:15 am) [edit] |
Based on an original idea by Kelly Mohr.
WEEK 6 (Last Week: 9-5 - Season Total: 43-34)
Panthers at Eagles - Yet another cat-mauls-bird scenario. PICK: PANTHERS
Bengals at Browns - At least a tiger vs. a brown dog is a bit more level playing field. The tiger may have the claws and fangs, but he's in unfamiliar territory, which'll give the pooch the edge. PICK: BROWNS
Packers at Lions - No way is a packing worker sufficiently trained in taming lions. PICK: LIONS
Texans at Titans - The worst that can happen to the Titan is piercing his foot on the bull's horns. PICK: TITANS
Chiefs at Jaguars - I think the Jaguar will get the jump on the Chief before he can get to his arrows. PICK: JAGUARS
Dolphins at Bills - Flipper's getting trampled. PICK: BILLS
Chargers at Falcons - The Falcon's gonna play it smart and stay in the air until the Dodge Charger runs out of gas. PICK: FALCONS
Seahawks at Patriots - Just another target-practice day for Mr. Patriot. PICK: PATRIOTS
49ers at Jets - It's gonna be like this: The crazy gold miner jumps off a cliff onto the jet and rides it into the cliffside, in the style of Slim Whitman in "Dr. Strangelove"... all the pilot's gonna see is miner ass. PICK: 49ERS
Redskins at Bears - The grizzly will prove to be too much for the young brave. PICK: BEARS
Broncos at Raiders - More glue for the ship! PICK: RAIDERS
Steelers at Cowboys - Now this is gonna be a knock-down-drag-out fight. I believe the Cowboy will prevail over the steel worker. PICK: COWBOYS
Vikings at Saints - Another even matchup... a mighty Viking vs. the valiant knight St. Albert. And in the end, the Saint'll send the Viking to Valhalla. PICK: SAINTS
Buccaneers at Rams - The pirate will easily skewer the Ram. PICK: BUCCANEERS
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| Tom's Mascot Melee - Week 5 |
| 10.07.04 (5:01 pm) [edit] |
WEEK 5 (Last week: 8-6 - Season total: 34-29)
Browns at Steelers - When the steel worker throws the hammer, it ain't gonna be to play fetch with the Brown dog. PICK: STEELERS
Lions at Falcons - It'll be a tough battle, but the Lion will eventually devour the Falcon. PICK: LIONS
Dolphins at Patriots - The skilled Patriot can easily shoot the defenseless Dolphin. PICK: PATRIOTS
Vikings at Texans - A Viking can stand up to a bull, especially since he has the horns to match. PICK: VIKINGS
Giants at Cowboys - The Cowboy pulls an "Empire Strikes Back" on the Giant, roping the big guy's ankles and making him fall on his face. PICK: COWBOYS
Raiders at Colts - Those Raiders need some fresh glue to patch up their ship, anyway. PICK: RAIDERS
Buccaneers at Saints - Now here's an epic sword battle... a swashbuckling Buccaneer vs. St. Albert of Louvain, a noble knight in his time. Edge goes to St. Albert because he'll have more armor. PICK: SAINTS
Bills at Jets - Maybe I shouldn't have picked a fighter jet for these matchups. There's not much out there in the NFL mascot universe that can stand up to it. And the Buffalo's no different. One missile shot and he's burger meat. PICK: JETS
Jaguars at Chargers - Even if the Jaguar WAS the car of the same name, the Dodge Charger would still be much more fierce. PICK: CHARGERS
Cardinals at 49ers - Eventually the gold miner's pickax will connect with the bird, knocking him out cold. PICK: 49ERS
Panthers at Broncos - This is a pretty even matchup. I think the Panther will pull it out. PICK: PANTHERS
Rams at Seahawks - A Ram can't really ram a Seahawk, but his horns could probably knock the bird out. PICK: RAMS
Ravens at Redskins - Native Americans ain't scared of no creepy bird. PICK: REDSKINS
Titans at Packers - The fiercest weapon a packing worker could probably have is a staple gun. PICK: TITANS
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