10 reasons why America should be rooting for the Angels

L.A. Times staff writer Bill Shaikin offers 10 reasons why America should be rooting for the Angels to beat the New York Yankees in the ALCS:

1The Yankees had their century.

2The Angels could become the first team to knock the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox out of the playoffs in the same season, ridding us of both the teams that are force-fed to America all summer.

3What do the Yankees call a $1,250 seat? Half-price.

4Torii Hunter! Say anything! Down with the bland corporate personalities of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira!

5If the Angels and Dodgers win, how cool would it be to see Gail and Dave Weaver rooting their boys on, wearing those custom-designed, half-Angels, half-Dodgers jerseys?

6Can you imagine the disgusted looks on the faces of New Yorkers if Joe Torre gets into the World Series and the Yankees do not? Better yet: Jeff Weaver gets into the World Series and the Yankees do not.

7The Angels have the rally monkey. The Yankees have bleacher creatures.

8The Yankees charge $20 for a stadium tour. No game included.

9Biggest contracts in baseball history: 1. Rodriguez ($275 million); 2. Rodriguez ($252 million); 3. Jeter ($189 million); 4. Teixeira ($180 million); 5. CC Sabathia ($161 million).

10The Angels have won the World Series more recently than the Yankees. America loves a winner.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com


Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

NAMI WALK and CSU

This weekend we traveled to Salt Lake City to participate in NAMI WALKS with my sister ARTI and the rest of TEAM VOLDEMORT (CODY, KIM, PARKER, AIDEN HOLLAND, LORI SNOW. Thanks to many of you we riased more than our team goal and the event total was greater than $50k!

I'll add pictures again later once we get some from CODY and ARTI.

Later that night we went to the CSU game in Provo vs. BYU. We were suprised to see that Ann had made it all the way from Fort Collins! We caught up, Faye ate peanuts, nachos, root beer and the neighbor's candy... ohh and snacks form the nice lady across the isle. She really liked to throw nut shells on the ground.

I was not too concerned about pictures so I only got 2 on my phone and missed pictures of Ann and Darren all together (Ann had a great be-dazzled CSU hat)! I will have to be better when we go to Vegas.

Before the game we had hot dogs and swam at Grandma Lori's! Thanks for being such a great host MOM!

Bret's plea for the NAMI walks... and some pictures in the middle

About 7 years ago I was fighting a bought of depression. My grades in school fell, I lost intrest in most everything, and felt awful about who I was. I had friends, mission comanions and family members with mental illness issues, but it was hard for me to admit that I needed help myself. After waiting too long, and with some encouragment from my family, I finally asked for some help. I wish I could have overcome the stigma of seeking help for my problem earlier.

Just yesterday I was asked to walk in a fundrasier for a group that is helping to fight the stigma of mental illness. Arti, my little sister, used to intern/work for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and has kept some ties with the group and the cause.

I am supposed to tell you everything in a form letter that I am attaching, but the most important thing I need to tell you is that I am well short of my NAMI fundraising goal of $100 (I've only had one day). If you can spare $5 here is where you can donate: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks09/SLC/breto. I can turn donations in the morning of, so if you want to pass me a contribution in person that is okay too, I'll come by and get it (my cell 773-3521).

The organization is very flat with no frills, I don't even get a t-shirt for walking, all the money goes to this important cause. You can check it out here: http://www.nami.org/ Ohh and if you don't donate now, remember it soon will be Friends of Scouting time so save up.

-Bret


Here are the promised pictures, with captions.



Here is the attached letter from NAMI!

Dear Friend,

I am writing you today to tell you about an upcoming event that I am participating in that is both very important and very exciting to me. It is NAMIWalks for the Mind of America, NAMI’s signature walkathon event that is being held in Salt Lake City, UT at Spring Mobile Ballpark (was Franklin Covey Field) on September 26, 2009.

I would like to ask you to come and walk with me or to donate to support my participation in this great event. Visit my personal walker page to sign up: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks09/SLC/breto. It features a link to my team's page where you can see who else is walking with me. There is also a link so you can donate directly to me online. Donating online is fast and secure, and I'll get immediate notification via e-mail of your donation.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all those whose lives are touched by these illnesses. This includes persons with mental illness, their families, friends, employers, the law enforcement community and policy makers. The NAMI organization is composed of approximately 1100 local affiliates, 50 state offices and a national office.

The goals of the NAMIWalks program are: to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved, and to raise funds for NAMI so that they can continue their mission.

NAMI is a 501(c)3 charity and any donation you make to support my participation in this event is tax deductible. NAMI has been rated by Worth magazine as among the top 100 charities "most likely to save the world" and has been given an "A" rating by The American Institute of Philanthropy for efficient and effective use of charitable dollars.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Bret Olsen

okay so I removed the Hoff's playlist

So after about 10 minutes of the Hoff I was getting really irritated at him so the playlist is taking a break...