BS Bears

I sure hope the Bears' D was playing the third game of the preseason like it was bullshit. But that's probably bullshit. On the other hand, I hope the 49ers' D was playing like it wasn't bullshit. But that may not be bullshit.

Orton undeniably put up great numbers, mostly because he had all day to throw to receivers that were wide open. Of course, the facts that the line gave him all day and that the receivers got wide open were encouraging. We'll see what happens in a real game, I suppose.

On the other hand, it's hard to comprehend how the dominant D of '05 and '06 (differing by only two starters, I believe) has become such a joke. I'm having nightmares of Adrian Peterson (V) passing out in the late fourth quarter against the Bears after having run one too many 80-yard dashes down the middle of the field.

The Sporting News

Before the Cubs swept the Brewers I was ready to call the Central for Milwaukee, so you may not want to take my opinions seriously. However, my assessment of the State of the Cubs follows.

Obviously, no major complaints about the starting pitching.

My concerns about the bullpen can be stated in two words: "Bob Howry". If the Cubs were playing anyone but the Cards (or Brewers) on Friday night I honestly would have been rooting for him to blow yet another game, so maybe Lou would start to consider not using him when the game is on the line. I just don't understand the confidence in a mediocre career reliever. He's got a stellar K/BB ratio, but does that really matter when half the balls going into play are making it to at least to warning track. The Cubs have four solid relievers (assuming Wood's healthy) and that should be more than enough, but why do I have this sinking feeling that Howry's going to be trotting out in the seventh inning of Game 1 in the NLDS with the Cubs up 3-2?

I'm more worried about the offense. We've got a right fielder who can't hit and a first baseman who has hit four home runs since May 29th, is slugging .475 for the season despite a hot start, and seems to always be good for a ground ball with men on base. Moving DeRosa to RF, Fontenot to 2B and benching Fukudome seems like the right move to me, but I doubt it will happen.

Remember how the 2000 White Sox put up runs in bunches all year and hit a wall during the ALDS?

Guatemala (Pictures)

Finally, here are some pictures from our trip to Guatemala last month. Like the majority of tourists arriving by air, we headed straight for Antigua after landing in Guatemala City. Antigua, a 16th century colonial city, lies below the inactive Volcan de Agua (above). We were lucky to get that shot: The volcano was obscured by clouds for most of our stay.

Here is a shot of the Santa Catalina arch:


After going for a swim, we walked up a mountain and had some nice views of the city below:


The Museum of Santo Domingo had a moving exhibition about the disappeared during the Argentine Dirty War. This piece shows the artist's disappeared father from our point of view:


The image gradually fades to blankness as one walks around to the back of the sculpture.

After staying a couple of days in Antigua, we headed to Panajachel, on Lake Atitlan.
This is the view from our hotel the first night:


This place was about a 20-minute walk outside of town, and we heard from the locals that the road wasn't safe at night, so we moved down into town for the next two nights. Here's a typical shot of Calle de Santander:





We headed to nature reserve later. See if you can spot the monkey:


A day later we took some boat trips to other towns on the lake,


and saw San Pedro and Santiago, both more impoverished and less touristic than Panajachel.

The cathedral in San Pedro:


In Santiago we visited an effigy of the local saint Maximón. Unfortunately, the camera ran out of batteries at this point, but there's a picture at the link.

The next day we said goodbye to Lake Atitlan and its volcanoes,


and headed stopped back in Antigua for one more night on our way back to Mexico.