What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been (Jerry Garcia)

Posted on October 4, 2024 by AverageAndy

The NY Mets had one of the craziest, strangest, exhilarating weeks a baseball team can possibly have

They got things starting with Monday’s incredible comeback in game one of a doubleheader in Atlanta to clinch a wild-card playoff spot. After a no-show in the 2nd game, they ended up having to fly back to Milwaukee for a 3 game series against the Brewers (who had just beaten them 2 out of 3 over the weekend. They responded by playing a great game to take a 1 – 0 lead in the best of 3 series (All games on the road). They then came out strong in game 2 and jumped out to a 3 – 1 lead in the 2nd inning, and things were really looking good. Then they just stopped. They were unable to score any more runs and finally gave up the lead when the Brewers scored 3 runs in the 8th (including Jackson Chourio’s 2nd HR of the game) and lost game 2 by a score of 5 – 3. This forced a decisive game 3. Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively and the game was scoreless after 5 innings. The Brewers finally broke through in the 7th with back-to-back home runs to take a 2 – 0 lead. The Mets continued to struggle and when they failed to score in the 8th, it meant they had gone 15 consecutive scoreless innings. But this is the 2024 Mets. A team that seems to never give up always finds a way. Francisco Lindor led off the 9th with a walk (until this point, the Mets had managed 2 hits, and both were by Lindor) and there was still hope. But after Mark Vientos stuck out for the 1st out, things really looked bleak. Brandon Nimmo then laced a single to the right, and the Mets had life again. Then up came Pete Alonzo. You could not have written a better script. Pete had been struggling most of the season and has recently looked lost at the plate, flailing and striking out on breaking balls every other at-bat. He had also tripped over his own bat the night before, costing him a hit in game 2, and one inning earlier, had dropped an easy foul pop-up that almost allowed the Brewers to tack on some insurance runs. He is also in the final year of his contract, and with Scott Boros as his agent, there is a chance he will go elsewhere after the season. So this could have been his final at-bat as a Met. After taking the 1st pitch strike, he showed some patience and took the next two pitches for balls. Then he got a hold of the next pitch and sent it over the right field wall for a game-changing 3-run Home Run. The Mets tacked on an insurance run and held on for a 4 – 2 victory and a match-up with the Philadelphia Phillies starting Saturday in Philadelphia.

Games like these are what make baseball the best sport. So many unscripted and unexpected things can happen at any moment.

Here is the list of the Mets last 13 games played, as well as their next 3 in the playoffs

PHI, PHI, PHI, PHI, ATL, MIL, MIL, MIL, ATL, ATL, MIL, MIL, MIL, PHI, PHI, PHI, …

There was some sad news this week in the world of baseball. Pete Rose (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024) passed away at the age of 83. “Charlie Hustle” was the all-time hits leader in MLB History, amassing 4,256 hits over his 23-year career. He won 3 World Series and was a 17-time All-Star. He is perhaps best known for stuff off the field. He was suspended for life in 1989 for betting on baseball, including betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. This kept him out of the MLB Hall of Fame for the rest of his life. Like him or hate him, he was one great baseball player and left his mark on all future players and fans. He will be missed.

Also, it is unfortunate to see that actor John Amos passed away at the age of 84  (December 27, 1939 – August 21, 2024). A great actor known for his role as Kunta Kinte in the mini-series Roots, as well as James Evans Sr. in the show Good Times. He was also a fine film actor appearing in numerous classic films. He was born in Newark N.J. and lived for many years in Tewksbury Township, New Jersey which is one town over from me. I did see him walking around or at the local grocery store. Another person gone to soon and he will be missed.

Pete Rose
John Amos

Besides the Mets, the NY Football Giants have a big game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Seems like forever since they last played a game (Last Thursday against the Cowboys).

#LetGoBigBlue

Lehigh Football has back to back bye weeks before taking on Yale on October 19th

Need some downtime and will be back with my thoughts on Survivor 47 — Mostly positive

Enjoy your weekend and Let Go Mets

#PEACE
#Survivor47
#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#NickGilder

AverageAndy

Posted in Baseball, Football, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Movies, Music, NY Giants, NY Mets, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Opposite Week

Posted on September 30, 2024 by AverageAndy

Not a good week for my teams

The NY Giants lost to the Dallas Cowboys 15-20 in another strange game. The Giants were not bad, but they were not good. They again could not score a touchdown at home (2 Games, no TDs, 7 FGs). Still trying to figure out if coach Brian Daboll and QB Daniel Jones are good/bad/meh. Next week they play in Seattle so we will see

The Lehigh Engineers / Brown & White / Mountain Hawks lost a heartbreaker at home to Bucknell. A couple of big plays (100-yard kickoff return, 85-yard Interception return) kept Bucknell in the game, and they eventually won 35 – 38 when Lehigh fumbled on their 1st play of double overtime. Was a tough way to start off Patriot League play

After getting rained out in Atlanta on Wednesday and Thursday, the Mets played some sloppy baseball and lost 2 out of 3 to a Milwaukee Team that really had nothing to play for. At least they were able to salvage a win, and that set-up having to play a doubleheader today (Monday) against Atlanta, needing to win one of the 2 games to get into the playoffs. Lose both and the season comes to an abrupt end. I’m feeling good that they can win 1 and then it’s back to Milwaukee to start the Wild Card Round

Some sad news in the music/movie/sports world

Kris Kristofferson passed away at the age of 88. A great singer and actor who had a long and prestigious career. I will always remember him from the movie Convoy (which played constantly on HBO when I was growing up). RIP Rubber Duck

Actor John Ashton passed away at the age of 76. A fine actor he is probably best known for his role as Sgt. John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cops movies. He stared along with Judge Reinhold as Det. William ‘Billy’ Rosewood as police officer’s assigned to keep tabs on Eddie Murphy (Axel Foley). One of my all-time favorites. Here is a classic scene from the move. He will be missed

Basketball MVP Dikembe Mutombo passed away at the age of 58. A standout at Georgetown University, he went on to play 18 years in the NBA. A true legend, he was also a great humanitarian. RIP Dikembe Mutombo

More to come soon

#PEACE
#SURVIVORCBS
#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#LetsGoMets

Andy

Posted in Baseball, Beverly Hills Cop, Convoy, Lehigh, Movies, NY Giants, NY Mets, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Good weekend for my teams

Posted on September 23, 2024 by AverageAndy

Was a good weekend for AverageAndys teams

Lehigh Mountain Hawks (3 – 1) — Big win over Princeton. Next up is a Patriot League matchup against Bucknell

NY Football Giants (1 – 2) — They won big over the Cleveland Browns to avoid a 0 – 3 season start. With Malik Nabers, they look like they have themselves a star. They have a huge game this Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys.

NY Mets — Took 3 of 4 from the Philadelphia Phillies and maintained their 2-game lead over Atlanta for a Wild Card spot. They now head to Atlanta for a crucial 3 game set against the Braves. Have a good feeling about them this year (as opposed to 2022 when they got swept by Atlanta to lose the NL East).

Look for updates on these games as well as updates on Big Brother and Survivor this Friday.

Just a random observation

Getting a bit annoyed and confused with all the Facebook Posts about celebrity birthdays. Feels like I see the same celebrities listed repeatedly with different birthdays mentioned. I got curious, so I did a quick search (Wikipedia) and saw that the birthday dates listed on Facebook were just wrong; then you see all the comments of “Happy Birthday,” which I now believe are just bots. Just frustrates me as it becomes harder and harder to believe anything posted. May need to get away for a few days with no internet just to clear my thoughts

#PEACE

AverageAndy

#Survivor
#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#LetThemPlay





Posted in Big Brother, Lehigh, NY Giants, NY Mets, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Survivor is back

Posted on September 20, 2024 by AverageAndy

I thoroughly enjoyed the Survivor 47 premier on Wednesday. Was like reconnecting with an old friend after a time apart. Was also fun to watch it with my wife, as she is a big fan of Jon Lovett and Pod Save America. Not really sure of who I want to go far as it takes me a few episodes to get a feeling of who I best connect with. Though the challenges were a lot of fun. I am getting a little tired of the current beware advantages. To much individualism. I liked them better when they had to say those crazy phrases to the other tribes. Even the bead making was more enjoyable than watching a person run from place to place.

This episode also showed me again why I think the show is fascinating and would love to be a contestant. Once Andy (great name by the way), had his small panic attack, I’m thinking, well so much for him. But he was able to rebound and somehow get his tribe to think he was an asset that they needed to keep. There are so many times when I think to myself, what are these people thinking, and why are they making these crazy decisions and moves. I also think how I would play things (would I lie, or hide a found advantage from everybody). I tend to think I would play the game as an open book and just see what happens.

I did submit another application, and have my fingers crossed that this is my time. I just have to keep thinking positively and hopefully good things will happen

Was good to be able to read Dalton Ross’s Survivor Recap on EW. Crazy he has been writing the recap since the beginning, and I have been reading it for almost as long (don’t remember when I started, but it was way back.

And I am almost done with Season 2 of Kellyn Bechtold’s Road To Reality PodCast. A real fun listen and lots of interesting insight on past Survivors personal view of things, (as opposed to a Survivor Contestants view)

Big Brother is getting down towards the end. Will be interesting to see how things play out. Was a fan of Quinn, but with him gone, I’m rooting for either Makensy or Leah. Crazy how this show continues to keep me watching

Big win for Lehigh Football last week over LIU. The Mountain Hawks take on Princeton at Goodman Stadium on Saturday. This season already feels more upbeat and exciting then the past few seasons, and hoping for a win over Princeton to keep things going

The NY Giants played such a strange game against the Washington Commanders. It suckes that they lost, but I feel a lot better than after week 1s pathetic performance. I think they will be able to beat the Cleveland Browns this weekend, which would set things up for the Thursday night matchup against Dallas.

Lets Go Mets / OMG — The Mets scored 10 runs in 3 consecutive games for the 1st time in team history as they continue to move closer to clinching a playoff spot. After the crazy beginning of the season (Lost their first 5 games, fought back to .500, only to have an awful stretch where they fell to 11 games under .500). Then Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonzo called a players meeting, followed by Grimace throwing out the 1st pitch and its been all uphill since then (they enter the final 9 games with a 85 – 68 record)

Thats a wrap for now

Enjoy your weekend everybody

#PEACE
#Survivor47
#RoadToReality
#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance

AverageAndy

Posted in Baseball, Big Brother, Dalton Ross, Football, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Kellyn Bechtold, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Reality Shows, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

RIP James Earl Jones and Ed Kranepool

Posted on September 13, 2024 by AverageAndy

We lost two people who had a significant influence on me when growing up in the 1970s and 198s. James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was the voice of Darth Vader, one of the first and best villains in movie history. Right from the beginning of “Star Wars” his presence and voice changed movies forever. I remember, as a young kid, going to the Mall to actually see and meet Darth Vader after Star Wars came out, and thought it was the coolest thing. I still have the poster I got (this was years before conventions and autograph signings became big business)

Darth Vader

James Earl Jones appeared in several classic movies besides Star Wars — Besides popular films like “Conan The Barbarian” “Coming to America” and “Soul Man”, “Field of Dreams” and “Sneakers” are two of my all-time favorite movies. He was also the voice of Mufasa in Disney’s “Lion King”.

Also a talented stage actor, he was one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). Rest in Peace, James Earl Jones. One of the greatest and will be missed

Field of Dreams
Sneakers

Ed Kranepool (November 8, 1944 – September 8, 2024) was the original Mr. Met. Joining the expansion MY Mets as a 17-year-old, he played his entire career with them, and by the time he retired in 1979, he had become the last remaining Met from their inaugural 1962 season and from the Miracle Mets World Championship team of 1969 I remember watching him as a young kid, and he was the player that got me to become a Mets fan. The Mets were terrible in the 1970s, but I loved rooting for the Mets and Number 7. He is a part of my childhood and will be dearly missed

Quick Follow Up from last Post

Lehigh Football — Good home win over Wagner — Next up a road game against LIU on Saturday

NY Mets — Still hanging in the playoff race after taking 2 of 3 from the Blue Jays. Big weekend series with the Philadelphia Phillies this weekend.

NY Giants — Nothing to say — Hoping for a better effort against the Washington Commanders on Sunday

Only 5 Days until Survivor 47 premiers on CBS. Really getting excited about this season. Even my wife is interested (She’s a big fan of the Pod Save America Podcast and is looking forward to seeing Jon Lovett, who is one of the contestants this season)

More on Survivor, Big Brother, and other stuff coming next week

Have a great weekend

#PEACE

Andy

#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance

Posted in Baseball, Big Brother, Dalton Ross, Field of Dreams, Football, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Movies, NY Giants, NY Mets, Podcasts, Reality Shows, Sneakers, Sports, Star Wars, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lets Go Mets / Giants / Mountain Hawks

Posted on September 6, 2024 by AverageAndy

Playing around with Artificial Intelligence — Pretty cool what it can come up with

Mets with a series against the Cincinnati Reds — Hope to keep on rolling

Lehigh with their home opener against Wagener — Hoping for a home win

Giants open their season against the Minnesota Vikings — Looking forward to seeing how explosive the offense can be — Hopefully they open things up and score some points

The cast of contestants for Survivor 47 was released the other day. Season 47 Premiers on CBS on Wednesday, September 18th

Due to this, I will do my best to avoid social media for the next few weeks, as I like to go into each season with a fresh perspective and see people for the 1st time rather than know all about them.

I will be submitting my application next week. Hopefully, this is the one that gets casting director #JesseTannenbaum’s attention. #NeverToOldForSurvivor #GiveMeAChance

Finally, here is an oldie but a goodie (Crazy to think is 14 years old)

Hope everybody enjoys their weekend and I will be back next week with a recap of the baseball and football games

#AverageAndy

#PEACE

Posted in Baseball, Dalton Ross, Football, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, NY Giants, NY Mets, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Random Update

Posted on August 30, 2024 by AverageAndy

Here are a few things going on in the world of AverageAndy

I’m still watching and enjoying Big Brother. I don’t know why, but I just find the show exciting and entertaining. Every season, I tell myself I can’t watch another season of this, and every season, here I am watching every episode. (Thank God I never got into watching the live feeds. I checked them out way back when, but it just didn’t do anything for me.)

I’m currently listening to the #RoadToReality podcast hosted by #thekellynb and really enjoying the behind the scene interviews. It’s very interesting to hear past Survivor contestants talk about their lives before and after they were on the show. Gives you a different perspective on things. It reminds me of the Ponderosa videos that used to be posted of players after they were voted off. Their guards came down, and they had real-life conversations. Plus, Kellyn is a good interviewer and keeps me engaged in the conversation

The Mets lost a brutal game to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday when Edwin Diaz gave up a two-out Grand Slam in the bottom of the 8th after walking the bases loaded. This was after he had given up a walk-off home run in his previous appearance against San Diego. But to their credit, as they have done much of this season, they bounced back with a solid win on Thursday with Diaz coming in to get the save. With a 3 game series against the truly awful White Sox this weekend, now it’s the time to start stringing some wins together and too battle for a wild card spot.

#FranciscoLindorForMVP
#LETS GO METS

Lehigh opens their 2024 Football Season tonight against Army in West Point. Hopefully, they can rebound from last season’s 2 – 9 record and put together a decent season.

Lehigh Football 2024 (141st Season)

The NY Football Giants open their 2024 season next Sunday, September 9th at home against the Minnesota Vikings. Hopefully, the Giants (especially Head Coach Brian Daboll) got the memo that in today’s NFL, you need to score points. This team has struggled the last few years to score points. Last year, they scored a dismal 266 points (good for 30th in the league) while giving up 407 (a dreadful -141). Both Dabol and GM Joe Schoen have said they are all in with Daniel Jones, and even passed up drafting a new QB to draft a superstar receiver in Malik Nabers Hopefully, they let Jones throw the ball down the field rather than the dinking and dunking they have done the past few seasons

I have read some good books lately and hopefully can find the time to continue reading

Camino Ghosts (Camino Island, #3) — Very enjoyable series from John Grisham.

Last Man Standing (The Earthburst Saga, #1) –I Really enjoyed it, but I will probably stop after just the first book in the series. Though the book was a complete story and no need to read more

These Silent Woods — A very good book, something I usually would not read but gave it a try (Free Kindle Books)

Not much new with TV shows. Waiting for some the series I enjoy to come back for their next season

Severance, Shrinking, Silo on Apple TV
Last of US – HBO

Finally, I want to thank Jia Jiang for taking the time to have a Zoom call with me last week. I had written to him on his web page that I really enjoyed his Ted Talk and book about Rejection Theory and asked for some suggestions on how to move forward when you do not get any feedback (The Survivor application process). He was very generous and encouraging and gave me great ideas and advice. Will be using this as I complete my next Survivor Audition video and again apply to be a contestant

You can watch some videos that my daughter made regarding Survivor and Non-Sport Card Collecting at the following links.

Average Andy (by Katherine)


That’s all for now. Enjoy the long weekend (Labor Day Holiday), and will be back soon

#PEACE
#JOY
#SMILE
#NeverToOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance
#Fish
#We are all just Sugar Mice in the Rain

Average Andy

Posted in Big Brother, Books, Card Collecting, Football, Fun and Games, Holiday Weekend, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Jia Jang - Rejection Therapy, John Grisham, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Non-Sports Cards, NY Giants, NY Mets, Podcasts, Reality Shows, Shrinking, Silo, Sports, Survivor, Ted Talks, Television, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jia Jiang and Mike Cubbage

Posted on August 12, 2024 by AverageAndy

Been a fan of Jia Jiang since his Ted Talk about Rejection

Jia Jiang – What I learned from 100 Days of Rejection

Here is is latest video “Jia Jiang Speaking Reel 2024” about his rise and his passion for Rejection Therapy. Very well done

Very sad to hear of the passing of Mike Cubbage at the age of 74. He played for the NY Mets for 1 year, and was also their Manager. Don’t know why, but he is one of those players that I just remember growing up as a Mets Fan in the 80s. RIP Mike Cubbage Thanks for the memories

#PEACE

Average Andy

Posted in Baseball, Books, Jia Jang - Rejection Therapy, NY Mets, Sports | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Some thoughts on things

Posted on August 9, 2024 by AverageAndy

I have been enjoying watching the 2024 Summer Olympics. Is kind of cool to see views of Paris, considering I was just there with my family is June. I do wish I had found more time to watch some of the lesser sports like Volleyball, Handball, and Water Polo. Due to the time difference, most of the events were live in the middle of the day (Here on the East Coast). They did have the Olympics on a few TVs, and I did watch a few events on my phone, but it’s just a little strange to watch are work. Part of it is that for whatever reason, most people at work just don’t seem to care at all about the Olympics, (or sports in general, or TV or music), or at least they do not show any interest. It is a little strange.

Speaking of sports, the Mets are hanging around. They have been able to avoid any long losing streaks, and are right in the middle of the hunt for a Wild Card berth. I would like to see them take at least 2 of 3 from Seattle this weekend, before coming home to face the A’s and Marlins. Now is the time to make their move

Will be heading to Las Vegas next week for my nieces’ wedding. (Its the 3rd destination wedding we have attended this year). Will be a small gathering but looking forward to seeing my sister and her kids and having a good time. Going to try and get the the Sphere Las Vegas. No musical acts scheduled, but they do have a tour / experience that looks like it might be fun.

I am really enjoying “Camino Ghosts” by John Grisham. Its the 3rd book in the series and it is really interesting. I do like how stories from the 1st two books are referenced and entwined with this story

I tried to quit, but Big Brother sucked me in again. Don’t know why, but I really do enjoy it, and continue to watch year after year. Like always, they tried some things that just fell flat, but its still an interesting look at how people interact in a confined space with different personalities

#Survivor47 premiers on September 18th on #CBS and I am looking forward to another season. Also auditions have opened up again, so I will be working to get my application submitted soon. I have tired all kinds of different things throughout the years, and hopefully I will find the right conversation that will catch the eye of #JessieTannenbaum #JeffProbst and any others at #SurvivorCBS in charge of casting . If anybody reading this has any tips or suggestions or possibly any contacts, send them my way. I would be appreciated

#GiveMeAChance
#NeverToOldForSurvivor

#thedaltonross
#survivoradam
#thekellynb

#PEACE

#SMILE

Average Andy

Posted in 2024 Summer Olympics, 2024 Summer Olympics - Paris, Adam Klein, Christian Hubicki, Christine Hofbeck, Dalton Ross, Drew Basile, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, John Cochran, John Grisham, Mark Burnett, Mike Gabler, NY Mets, Parvati Shallow, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2024 Commencement Address by Roger Federer

Posted on July 22, 2024 by AverageAndy

Came across a video or Roger Federer giving the 2024 commencement address at Dartmouth. I thought he did a great job, and found it very inspiring. I hope the students listened and appreciated having Roger give them words of wisdom as they start the next chapter of the lives.


My commencement speaker (Lehigh University Class of 1989) was Sanford N. McDonnell. I have to admit I do not remember anything about this speech.

On an entirely different note:

I saw that they recently opened a Big Chicken near where I work, so I gave it a try for lunch. I got the buffalo chicken sandwich and really enjoyed it. I will definitely be going back to try some of the other sandwiches on the menu. 👍👍

Chicken sandwich franchise backed by Shaq opening first NJ location.

That’s it for today

#PEACE

Average Andy

Posted in Announcement, Big Chicken | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment