Are People THAT Stupid?

Since there's no Red Sox on tonight, and the Paw Sox are getting their ass kicked by Columbus, I figured I'd check out this "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" show on Fox. Do we really need a game show on TV to prove just how stupid some people can be? ARGH.

The first question I saw was in the category "4th Grade Math". The Question (its a tough one):

How many perfect squares are there between the numbers 10 and 20?

The contestant had to think really hard about that one. She did answer "1", thank goodness, (16 is the only perfect square: 4x4=16), but her husband in the audience was convinced she was wrong. He told her that 12 was a perfect square too!

C'mon people! COME ON! Please don't make me throw a shoe through my TV because you don't know what a perfect square is! PLEASE!

Now I feel better.

Free Bacon

I'll have to admit, one of the reasons we all went out to Pittsburgh this past week was to visit the Harris Grill. On Tuesday nights, they serve up FREE BACON at the bar. About every 30 minutes or so, the bartender would bring out baskets of bacon and just hand them out to anyone with their hand stretched out. Besides that, they've got a great selection of beers, and great appetizers.

I must ask, why is there not a bar in Boston / Cambridge / Somerville that will serve up free bacon for a Tuesday "happy hour"? Bacon and beer seriously go hand-in-hand. My cholesterol level may be about 20 points higher now.

A few years ago we all headed out to Chicago to visit The Prodigal Son, for the same reason. Every Wednesday, they served up free bacon to patrons. Unfortunately, the bar is no more - it was lost in a fire. And yes, it was a grease fire.

So, while most people want to travel the United States to see all of the wonderful historical sites and national parks, I'm on a quest to travel the country and visit bars that serve up free bacon. Rumor has it, there's a bar in Texas that has Country Fried Bacon. Man, I'm hungry.

MLB Rule 4.12 (a)

Last week in Pittsburgh, I was able to catch 2 Cubs wins in one day -- and I didn't attend a double-header. How can that be? Well I'll gladly let you know.

On Tuesday night, in the top of the 7th inning, the Cubs scored 4 runs to take the lead over the Pirates, 6-5 (thanks to a Cliff Floyd bomb into the Allegheny River). In the bottom of the seventh, with one out, and the count at 1 ball and 2 strikes, the skies opened up and the umpires delayed the game. After 2 hours, they suspended the game - it would be resumed the following day. I had never heard of this situation before.

Apparently, there's a new MLB rule this season regarding suspended games - 4.12 (a). To paraphrase, if the visiting team scores 1 or more runs in the top half of the inning to take the lead in the game, and the game is delayed or postponed due to weather in the bottom half of the inning, the game will be suspended and resumed at the next meeting.

This was great news for Cub fans. In the past, if a game was called in the bottom half of the inning, the score would resort to the score at the end of the previous inning, and the game would be called. So, if this game had happened last year, the Cubs would have lost the game. With the new rule, they resumed the game the next day, at the exact point it was suspended!

My buddies and I had tickets to the Wednesday game, so we got to see the final 2 1/2 innings of the previous game, plus the full scheduled game, all for the low low PNC Park price of $26.00. Oh yeah, the seats were 2 rows from the field too. And even better, the Cubs won BOTH games. Maybe I was too hard on them in my earlier post. Ever since I ranted and decided to put my faith in the Red Sox, the Cubs have gone 8-3, have a 5 game winning streak, and are back up to 2nd place in the NL Central. Although, I'm still not convinced it will last. I hope I'm proven wrong.