<![CDATA[On The Felt ]]> http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm Freewebs <![CDATA[Before I Had Kids]]> http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=4485480 Funny new little parenting blog - check it out.

]]> http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=4485480#topBox http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=4485480 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:03:00 -0100 <![CDATA[Does anyone still play online poker?]]> http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=3942146 At the US Open on Thursday night (saw Roddick lose in the quarters - I was about as high up as you can go without actually leaving Arthur Ashe Stadium, but had front-row seats for what almost turned out to be a major brawl in the crowd) . . . I overheard some guy talking about online poker, and how he hadn't played for a year or two, but was thinking about getting back into it.

I'm about the same - despite several sites offering free chips every once in a while, I haven't played a single hand of online poker in about a year, but I'm starting to get the itch again (and for once I don't have to go to the pharmacy to get rid of it).

Partially I just got way too busy, with the new businesses, a promotion at work, a toddler, etc. etc.  But partially the whole US ban and the related fallout sort of 'took the shine off' of online poker for me.

And yet . . . the WSOP this year had an enormous turnout.

So I'm left to wonder - was it just me becoming a lame old man all of a sudden that killed the online poker buzz for me, or did it happen on a larger scale?

Partygaming stock has dwindled over the past couple of years to the point of being pretty much worthless - a pretty darned good indication of a general decline.

So is it just online poker then?  Did everyone just come to their senses and recognize that online poker, sort of like wall climbing, is just a pathetic shadow of its real-life counterpart?

Perhaps.

Either way, my desire to play poker is rising quite rapidly.  But when I take that first deal on my Ali-like return to the ring . . . I'm quite certain it will be from a real flesh-and-bones card dealer.

I'll keep you posted.



]]> http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=3942146#topBox http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=3942146 Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:53:00 -0100 <![CDATA[Visiting One of the Great Cathedrals]]> http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=3912773 Sort of like George Lucas, despite it being a terrible, terrible idea . . .  I just can't seem to leave this thing alone.

But nonetheless . . . I had to revive this little slog, at least temporarily, because I've been thinking a lot about baseball lately - I'm in New York this week and trying desperately to get in to see the old Yankee Stadium before she's gone forever.

Anyway, watching ball games always makes me think about Annie's (Susan Sarandon's) opening speech in Bull Durham about the Church of Baseball.

It wouldn't make any sense to most people, but to baseball's faithful, it's one of the best openings in film:

"I believe in the Church of Baseball.

I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I've worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn't work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology.

You see, there's no guilt in baseball, and it's never boring... which makes it like sex. There's never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn't have the best year of his career. Making love is like hitting a baseball: you just gotta relax and concentrate. Besides, I'd never sleep with a player hitting under .250... not unless he had a lot of RBIs and was a great glove man up the middle.

You see, there's a certain amount of life wisdom I give these boys. I can expand their minds. Sometimes when I've got a ballplayer alone, I'll just read Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman to him, and the guys are so sweet, they always stay and listen. 'Course, a guy'll listen to anything if he thinks it's foreplay.

I make them feel confident, and they make me feel safe, and pretty. 'Course, what I give them lasts a lifetime; what they give me lasts 142 games. Sometimes it seems like a bad trade. But bad trades are part of baseball - now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God's sake? It's a long season and you gotta trust.

I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball."

I believe in the Church of Baseball too.

If only the Blue Jays weren't such sinners.

I'll keep you posted.

(Maybe)

]]> http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=3912773#topBox http://www.onthefelt.com/index.htm?blogentryid=3912773 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 23:23:00 -0100