Fantasy World Cup

With the NBA season mercifully coming to an end, Zoomstick is proud to announce ZoomstickPremiere, the ultimate 2006 FIFA World Cup Fantasy League.

Now before you start moaning about how unfamiliar you are with international soccer, just remember how well you knew George Mason, Bradley, and Oral Roberts before March Madness went into full swing. And when you consider the fact that your next chance to do this won't roll around again until 2010, there's never been a better time to join ZoomstickPremiere. Follow the instructions below and have fun!

1. Go to sports.yahoo.com
2. Click "sign in" (if you don't have a yahoo account, click "sign up")
3. Sign in
4. Click "Fantasy"
5. Click "Fantasy FIFA World Cup"
6. Click "Sign In/Sign Up"
7. Follow instructions and then click "submit team" (be ure to join public group "Fans of United States")
8. Once your team appears, click "Group"
9. Click "join group"
10. Group # is 17627, password is pnwfootball
11. Read the rules and create your team
12. Good luck!

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Happy Mother's Day

Since moms like sports so much, I thought I'd post my latest musings on minivans, the Mariners, ironing, and other surprises.

1. Here's to my mom, Julie Simmonds. Thanks for the tips on how to properly iron a shirt, for giving me and all my goofball high school buddies a fun place to hang out when we could have been getting into trouble, and for wiping my snotty nose when I was three. You're an amazing woman.

2. Poll: Which is the most surprising stat to you so far this big league season?

A. Albert Pujols/19 HR and 47 RBI?
B. Roger Clemens/0 IP?
C. Kenny Rogers and Mike Mussina/6 W?
D. Adrian Beltre/9 SB?

3. The NBA playoffs are happening right now. In the words of Matt Foley, "Whoop-dee frickin' doo!"

4. I was trying to put together a list of great sports moms, and all I could come up with was Mama McNabb. I also recall Larry Johnson dressing up like his grandma for some TV commercials back in the early 90's. And although I've never never seen nor heard of her, I personally want to acknowledge the mother of John McEnroe. I can only imagine what life was like for you when your son was a teenager.



5. Speaking of amazing women, my wife is pretty much the coolest mom to ever drive a minivan. And for all you minivan haters out there, just remember how "cool" you are when you find yourself trying to load three kids, eight bags of groceries, and an Ikea bedframe into your sweet '97 Toyota Camry.

6. Seattle fans ought to be proud of what the Mariners (17-22) have managed to put together this season. The pitching has been a pleasant surprise, Johjima has been as advertised, and the youngsters have made solid contributions. The obvious problem is right in the middle of the lineup, where Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre have combined for a whopping 6 HR's and are both hovering around the Mendoza line. Considering the fact that these guys flat-out stink right now, 3.5 games out of first isn't too shabby.

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Game 3

AP - Ballard, WA

The Fog returned to the diamond last night, facing Casey Warren. Like all teams in the Loyal Heights A League, the opponent and their skill is unknown. As the visiting team, the Fog managed to put two runners on base, but they were left stranded when Nate flew out to right field.

Joe took the mound again for the Fog and proceeded to retire Casey 1-2-3, including what would be a reoccurring them, two of them on fly balls. The Fog started the scoring action in the 2nd, with 5 of 6 batters reach base safely. Houser drove in the first run, Ben followed with a rbi single, then Peter cleared the bases with a 3-run bomb. Fog 5 Casey 0.

Casey got two back in the bottom of the second, again two of the three outs were via air to the outfield. The Fog played add on with 3 more in the 3rd, including Graeme's third HR of the season - Graeme now has a OPS of 2.500 and a Slugging Percentage of 1.8000. Graeme is almost half way to his own Fog record of 7 regular season home runs, and he is now tied with Mike Carlson with 15 home runs since the 2001 season. Casey was unable to keep pace in the third, and again two more fly outs.

The Fog plated one more in the 4th, though Casey pushed across 3 in their half to trail 9 to 5 going into the 5th. Casey failed to score again and the Fog sealed their victory with a 3 spot in the top of the 7th for a 12-5 victory.

It was during Casey's half to he 4th, when they scored 3 runs, that the Fog almost lost catcher Steve Boyd. With two runners on base, Casey hit a drive over Aaron's head in right center. Just as the Fog practiced, Aaron fired a strike to his cutoff man, Graeme, and from the grass, Graeme fired a strike to home. The runner was just rounding third when Graeme let loose and though the ball was up the line, the throw was going to beat the runner, the one problem - they would be arriving at just about the same spot. As Boyd reached from the throw, one eye spied the runner, and the ball glanced off his glove. Gone was the first chance for a runner at home.

Other Notes: Joe retired a Fog record 12 batters on fly balls to the outfield, including 6 alone to left fielder Derek. Way to keep your outfield involved. Likewise, for the third consecutive game, Joe was hit by a line drive. Following the shot off his foot, Nolte's favorite umpire, Howie, asked if he was okay, Joe replied "Don't worry, it's a prosthetic."

The Fog 2006 Regular Season Stats
Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SF	GIDP	AVG	Total Bases	Slugging Percentage	On-base Percentage	OPS
Graeme Hanson	10	4	7		1	3	8					0.700	18	1.800	0.700	2.500
Derek Kensinger	9	2	6				3			1		0.667	6	0.667	0.600	1.267
Peter Watson	8	5	5	1		1	5	1				0.625	9	1.125	0.667	1.792
Aaron Sorenson	8	3	5			1	5			1		0.625	8	1.000	0.556	1.556
Joe Gerlitz	5	1	3			1	5			1		0.600	6	1.200	0.500	1.700
Ben Byrd	9	2	5				2					0.556	5	0.556	0.556	1.111
Brent Amsbary	9	2	4				0					0.444	4	0.444	0.444	0.889
Nate Watson	10	3	4		1		0					0.400	6	0.600	0.400	1.000
Matt Cook	5	0	2				1	1				0.400	2	0.400	0.500	0.900
Will Stroud	8	3	3				3	1				0.375	3	0.375	0.444	0.819
Eric Nolte	9	5	3				0	2				0.333	3	0.333	0.455	0.788
Dan Houser	9	4	3	1			1		1			0.333	4	0.444	0.333	0.778
Steve Boyd	10	2	2				1			1		0.200	2	0.200	0.182	0.382

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Fog Open Season with Doubleheader Split

AP - Ballard, WA

After much off season news, The Fog were finally able to return to what they know best - softball. 2006 is a new year and gone are the familiar faces of Mike Carlson, Darin Jensen, Curtis Feddern and Jody Wilkins. Likewise, sidelined for this coming season is Daunte Gouge. This left a hole in the Fog roster, and a common email subject, who would fill out the roster.
Boyd and Nate had a plan and they had their four: Aaron, Derek, Will and Ben. As players arrived to the field for the first game of the season they were introduced to their new teammates.

Play Ball.

For the first time since 1995, the opening day starting pitcher for the Fog was not Nate Watson, instead Joe Gerltiz took the mound. The Excitable Boy's opened the first with three infield outs sandwiched around a infield error. The Fog started their half of the first with a single from Boyd, after a fly out by Nolte, Graeme grounded into a fielders choice, sending Boyd to 2nd. Derek recorded the first RBI of the season with a single that drove in Boyd. Nate followed with a singled, then Aaron introduced himself to the Fog with a 3-run HR to left center. Just like that it was 4-0. Ben singled, bringing up Dan for his 2006 debut. After watching to straight balls, Dan too a called strike before swinging and missing the next pitch - a big fat K to end the inning.

The Fog got another run the 2nd, the ExBoys got 3 back in the top of the third. Nolte led off the bottom of the 3rd, reaching base via error, Graeme followed with a 2 run HR and before the inning was over, the Fog sent 5 more across the plate for a 10-3 lead. The ExBoys scored 5 over the last two innings but it wasn't enough and the Fog won 14-8.
Joe was economical in his pitches, hitting Boyd's glove and needed only 60 pitches over 6 innings.

The second game of the night saw the Fog playing host to Coopers. Again Joe kept the ball in the infield for the first inning, this time only needing Boyd and Aaron as each batter was set down 1-3. Good thing Joe brought his glove. Like the first game, The Fog got the scoring going early, this time pushing three across in their half of the first.

One of the golden rules in softball is, stay away from the big inning. Last nights 2nd inning was just that, a big inning. Coopers sent 12 batters to the plate, at one time 9 reach base in a row. A 3-0 lead was quickly a 7-3 deficit. The Fog chipped away, scoring 1 in the 2nd, 1 in the third on Graeme's second HR of the night and finally retook the lead in the 4th with a 5 spot for a 10-7 lead. The inning was capped by a bases loaded walk by Will - what an eye, forcing in Aaron. Like Gil Meche, no lead was safe with The Fog. Coopers evened the contest in the 6th and went ahead by 2 in the 7th. The Fog were down to their last three outs, and went quietly. Coopers 12 Fog 10. Joe finished with 72 pitches in game two or 122 for 13 innings, not bad.

The Fog return to the diamond this coming Wednesday, May 10th at 6:15 vs Casey Warren.

The Fog 2006 Regular Season Stats
Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SF	GIDP	AVG	Total Bases	Slugging Percentage	On-base Percentage	OPS
Graeme Hanson	6	3	5		1	2	5					0.833	13	2.167	0.833	3.000
Aaron Sorenson	5	3	4			1	4			1		0.800	7	1.400	0.667	2.067
Derek Kensinger	5	2	3				2			1		0.600	3	0.600	0.500	1.100
Peter Watson	5	3	3	1			2	1				0.600	4	0.800	0.667	1.467
Brent Amsbary	6	0	3				0					0.500	3	0.500	0.500	1.000
Joe Gerlitz	2	1	1				5			1		0.500	1	0.500	0.333	0.833
Nate Watson	6	2	3				0					0.500	3	0.500	0.500	1.000
Matt Cook	5	0	2				1	1				0.400	2	0.400	0.500	0.900
Will Stroud	5	2	2				3	1				0.400	2	0.400	0.500	0.900
Ben Byrd	6	1	2				0					0.333	2	0.333	0.333	0.667
Eric Nolte	7	3	2				0					0.286	2	0.286	0.286	0.571
Steve Boyd	7	2	2				0					0.286	2	0.286	0.286	0.571
Dan Houser	6	2	1				0		1			0.167	1	0.167	0.167	0.333

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2006 US Men's National Roster Announced

Yesterday, national team manager Bruce Arena named the roster than will compete in the 2006 World Cup this summer in Germany.

The US looks to building upon it's success from the 2002 WC when they reached the quarterfinals. The 2006 roster features 11 new faces. The US will have three tune up games later this month before leaving for Germany

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