Bob's Blog

I have a new pet peeve, one I just endured a few minutes ago while filling up with gas (which is back to nearly $3 by the way).

A kid pulled up to Quik Trip. He had his hat on cockeyed and he was wearing a muscle shirt and I’m sure he was one of those guys who thought he was all that.

Anyway, when he went into the store he left his windows down and his car stereo going _ really loud.

What’s that all about? Kids today. I mumbled something as I walked past his car, which is kind of pathetic, too, when I think about it. Who was I mumbling to? Why did this upset me?

Questions to ponder.

I do two hours of radio every weekday on KFH (98.7 FM, 1240 AM). I write a newspaper column. I talk about myself to the point where talking about myself becomes awkward.

For the most part, I live a quiet life. I don’t get out and about all that much and when I do it’s around people I know well and enjoy. I hang out a lot at Side Pockets because I like the people there.

Connie sent me an e-mail telling me how disappointed she was when she opened up my blog on Kansas.com on an almost daily basis and found little there that was updated. I have not done a good job with this blog and I know that. You want my deepest, darkest secrets? You want me to be funny? You want me to write about my long career at The Eagle and the fact that, for the past couple of weeks or so I’ve been wondering about whether this is all there is?

As my good friends are prone to tell me, I have one of the best jobs imaginable. And I do. I love sports and I love writing. I have also grown to love radio. So when I feel like this, like there should be more, it creates a sizable amount of guilt. What could I possibly complain about?

Oh, I also have a son who is getting to experience a great summer in Atlanta, covering the Braves for MLB.com. He loves it. He inherited my passion for baseball, which I inherited from my father. I can’t tell you how rewarding that is.

I’m sure this is just a lull, created by the suddenness of not having as much to write about. When Wichita State’s baseball season ended a couple of weeks ago the local sports merry-go-round came to a standstill. I was ready for a break, but now that I’m in one I’m ready for something to happen.

Doesn’t make sense, I know. I’m going on vacation in a couple of weeks and getting away will be good. Planning a trip through the Dakotas and into Montana and Idaho. Then swinging down through Wyoming. I’m really looking forward to some time away from here and I’m only going to turn on my cell phone once a day, just to check messages.

I do appreciate all of you who come to this blog and I again _ AGAIN _ vow to do a better job of keeping it gassed up.

It’s always fun to have some time off in the summer. I’m looking forward to getting away from the newspaper and the radio show in the next few weeks. The summer is always a good time to re-charge the batteries and get ready for the upcoming football season, although there are some good stories to be done in June, July and August.

Once the Shockers’ baseball team was knocked out by UC Irvine, a little lull started. Today, for instance, I played golf. I’ve been getting some errands done around the house, including having a new garage-door opener installed yesterday. Is that great or what?

As I write this I’m watching the Royals-Cardinals and witnessing yet another pitiful Cardinals pitching performance by starter Kip Wells. He was given a 4-1 lead but promptly blew up in the second inning. I think it’s time to release Wells, who could lose his 11th game tonight. KC leads 7-4 at the moment but it could get worse. It just got worse _ 8-4. It’s difficult to follow St. Louis this season because for everything good that happens, two things go bad. But the Cardinals have had a pretty nice run the past 10 years or so, so I guess it’s a little selfish to expect every season to be good.

I’m not that interested in the Cleveland-San Antonio game tonight. That series is over. I’ll give it a look later to see if the Cavaliers might win just one game, but I fully expect the Spurs to win the championship tonight.

My son has been in Atlanta for nearly four weeks now and I have become a regular reader of Braves.com, the website where his work is displayed.

I’m his father, OK, but the kid is doing a really good job. He knows baseball and, in his writing, it shows. He eats and sleeps the game, much the way I do but probably to an even greater extent.

It’s been strange not having him around but this internship with MLB.com is a great thing and he’s taking advantage of it by doing a really good job. Maybe he’ll post here and tell us about some of his experiences so far. Right, Jeff?

Here’s what happened. The New Orleans bats, silent from the fourth through the eighth innings, erupted. And it all started after Josh Tarnow struck out against Noah Krol to start the top of the ninth.

The New Orleans rally, which has seen the Privateers score three times to take a 7-6 lead, started with a wild pitch from Krol after New Orleans’ Nick Schwaner swung at a pitch in the dirt for strike 3. He reached first and the next three Privateers’ hitters _ Drew Anderson, pinch-hitter Ryan Eden and Brandon Bowser _ followed with hits. Bowser’s, against Noah Booth, drove in two runs to give NO the lead.

Amazing.

We go to the bottom of the ninth  _ New Orleans 7, Shockers 6.