Virtual Postcard from North Carolina: Wool E. Bull Sez Hello....

These scores from last night (Wednesday night) will be outdated very shortly, but since there was apparently no rain all along the east coast and areas in the Midwest east of the Mississippi River, all of the scheduled games in the Triple-A level International League were played last night.

For those of you in Sweden or Malaysia who may not understand how the minor league baseball system in America works, some players who need to work on some skills play three levels of baseball in the hopes of playing for a major league team like the New York Yankees or the St. Louis Cardinals.

Wool E. Bull (pictured top) is the mascot for the Durham Bulls in Durham, NC. The team has been successful on the field as they are perennial contenders, and the team was the subject of 1988 film "Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. Over the weekend, Sarandon became the latest celebrity to have ice water dumped over head in a bucket to raise awareness for ALS.

Here are last night's scores; home teams are in (*):

1) *Norfolk 5 Charlotte 1

2)  *Gwinett 8 Durham 1

3)  Buffalo 6 *Scranton 5 (first game)

4) *Scranton 8 Buffalo 3 (second game)

5) Columbus 9 *Toledo 4

6) *Lehigh Valley 5 Pawtucket 1

7) *Syracuse 4 Rochester 3

8) Louisville 8 *Indianapolis 3

http://www.thisisdurham.com

 http://www.durham-nc.com

Special Quote of the Week-Orhan Pamuk

Today, we quoting the great Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk (b.1952) whose 2003 novel "Snow," set in the remote northwestern Turkey of Kars, near the border with Armenia, captured where Turkey is both socially and politically and that has held true in the close for the ten years since it was first published.

Pamuk, like the other two Turkish literary giants poet Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) and fellow novelist Yashar Kemal (b. 1923), has had many poltiical problems at home. After the publication of "Snow," he has made provacative comments regarding the Armenian Genocide Controversy (it should be pointed out here that when I use this term, Armenians hate the fact that I use the word controversy, and Turks don't like the use of the g-word, but either way or regardless of how I feel, the spat is not going to be made worse or resolved by whatever opinions I hold about the matter. But, unlike Pamuk, I would rather not go down that dark backstreet alley).

The German author Gunter Grass (b. 1927) who has also had isssues with right-wingers in his country defended Pamuk's right to speak about the matter. We are featuring a quote from Grass on other blog.

Here is the quote from the author of "Snow" and "My Name is Red:"

"Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen."

SIDEBAR: Shifting our attention to minor leage baseball, our beloved Durham Bulls (in Durham, NC) beat the visiting Indianapolis Indians 1-0 in a day game today. The two teams face each other again tommorow night; the Bulls have a record of 21-13.

Also, the Salem Red Sox from my hometown of Salem, Va, lost their last game to the Wilmington BlueRocks in Wilmigton, Del., but they return home to face the Winston-Salem Dash from Camel City (Winston-Salem, NC) on Friday night at 7:05 p.m.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Country Music DJ

The joke here is that obviously, aside from perhaps a college radio station show, no one actually plays vinyl for radio stations any more, but we love this photo!

Alas, I have decided to discontinue the Silly Picture to Fill Space series for at least a few months for the new High School of the Week series, which will now move to Tuesdays. We have posted perhaps close to or just over 100 silly photos on our two blogs for quite a while now, but we think the jokes are getting as stagnant as a Jay Leno monologue!

Our feature series within a series is Summer Jobs, which is in itself becoming as a joke as Labor Day is approaching, but we thought we'd suggest the field of country music djs for college students looking for a part-time job even though many radio stations have laid off djs because of the recession (I know of one incident that occured at an adult contemporary station in Greensboro, NC, earlier this year).

But, there are some country music stations that are thriving. Since our feature city for the month of August is Lynchburg, Va., we will cite 108-FM WYYD, a sponsor of the Lynchburg Hillcats, which is based in or around The Hill City (they cover the Roanoke market as well). WYYD has traditionally been a powerhouse station in the market (note: we don't have the latest Arbitron ratings) and as of this morning, they were playing "Pieces of My Heart" by Faith Hill, "All My Friends" by Luke Bryan and "The Life" by Kenny Chesney.

FROM THE OOPS! DEPARTMENT: No one cited us for it or complained about it, but we erred in Saturday's entry about the Durham Bulls game with the Gwinnett Braves. Though the Braves have one of the best minor league baseball records in the country, they did in fact lose that partcular game on Friday night by a 4-3 margin as we saw in a Greensboro newspaper. But, the Bulls beat the Charlotte Knights yesterday
8-5. Though we know absolutely no one with the Bulls, we regret the mistake!

Top Ten Favorite Minor League Baseball Teams -Slight Hometown Bias

The mascot here belongs to the Bowie Bay Sox from Bowie, Md., who play in the AA Eastern League, but the team that will top my list is The Salem Red Sox from Salem, Va. I was born and raised in Salem, Va. In fact, legendary baseball player Dave Parker played for the then-Salem Pirates in the '70s before going on to glory with the Pittsburgh, who haven't experienced a glory year in quite some time.

The famous Durham Bulls from Durham, NC, who were featured in the 1988 movie "Bull Durham" are our number two team. The Bulls won the coveted Minor League World Series last year.

While the Akron Aeros from Akron, Ohio, who play the Bay Sox in the Eastern League rank third. Their home stadium Canal Park is perhaps the nicest minor league stadium I've ever been to.

Salem lost a road game to Kinston 2-1 last night. The two teams play each other again at 7:05 tonight. Their next home game is Aug. 31 against the Potomac Nationals.

Durham won its game over Gwinett 4-3 last night, and the next home game for the Bulls will be against the Charlotte Knights on Monday at 7:05 p.m.

Akron plays the Erie Sea Wolves tonight at home.

And, the Bay Sox play the Altoona Curve, another team on this list, at home starting Aug. 30.

One day, when we get a chance, we'll have to post a photo of the West Virginia Power's mascot......he is even more amusing than the Gumby-look alike who is the mascot of the Altoona Curve!

As a rule, I decided not to put more than one team from each state on the list, hence I am snubbing our hometown Greensboro Grasshoppers. But, they do host the Savannah Sand Gnats from Savannah, Ga., this week. They, in fact, made the list!

Here is the list!:

1. Salem Red Sox

2. Durham Bulls

3. Akron Aeros

4. West Virginia Power

5. Myrtle Beach Pelicans

6. Altoona Curve

7. Salt Lake City Bees

8. Savannah Sand Gnats

9. Bowie Bay Sox (pictured)

10. Louisville Bats

Happy Birthday Amerika Birlesik Devletleri * from Daffy Duck!

I realize that since it's gradually approaching midnight here on the east coast of les etats unis** the only folk still watching fireworks might be in Reston, Wash. (a 'burb of Seattle), nevertheless we wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July.

My favorite Russian emgire rock band (well, we love Gogol Bordello too!) The Red Elvises tweeted the following message even though it appears they are in Moscow, and we don't mean the college town of Moscow, Idaho:

"We my be Russia now but any excuse to celebrate is good! Happy 4th of July America."

Meanwhile, our beloved Durham Bulls*** defeated the Gwinnett Braves from Georgia 6-4 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 11,674 fans in Durham, NC, tonight.

*-How you say USA in Turkish

**-How you say USA in French

***-Yeah, I know I should perhaps be more loyal to the Salem RedSox since I'm from Salem, Va., and the Greensboro Grasshoppers since I am a resident of the Triad (Greensboro, NC-area) as opposed to the Raleigh-Durham area, but hey none of those teams had a movie made after them! (I'm of course referring to "Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon which first came out in 1988). I will say for my hometown that the Salem Fair is going on right now, and apparently some people drive from Fairbanks, Alaska, to enjoy the smell of (how should we put this?!)_ the bull---t!

PSA- Have a Safe Fourth of July

We want to use this weekly Thursday 'PSA' (Public Service Announcement) entry to wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July even if they live in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

But, in all seriousness, The American Civils Liberty Union (ACLU) tweeted today that they are advising anyone traveling to see their aunt in Yuma, Ariz., what their rights are should they be stopped by a federal or state law enforcement officer in Arizona which recently passed a new highly controversial anti-immigration bill. Among the fears expressed by Hispanics who live in The United States legally is that they will be stopped and harrassed simply because of their ethnicity. The ACLU has full details about what perspective travelers passing through Arizona should know at their web site http://www.aclu.org

In more fun news, The Durham Bulls are having a Fourth of July homestand in Durham, NC. Tonight, the Bulls play the Louisville Bats, a team they beat 5-4 in 10 innings last night thanks to a bases loaded walk which scored Jose Lobaton. The Bulls will also have four straight nights of fireworks starting with tonight's game, which will be underway in about 20 minutes.

Another minor league team in North Carolina, the Asheville Tourists of Asheville won their game last night with one of their in-state rivals The Kannapolis Intimidators by a 2-1 count thanks to a ninth inning homerun from Orlando Sandoval. The game was played in Asheville.

In World Cup news, a Twitter site devouted to strange news reported that an Austrian man is selling his bejewelled vuvuzela on the Internet for $20,800. And, Austria was not even in the World Cup!

Congrats to 2010 NCAA Gymnastics Champ UCLA

Congratulations to the UCLA Bruins' women's gymnastics team as they won their sixth NCAA title earlier tonight in Gainesville, Fla.

The Bruins had stand-out performances from the likes of Anna Li (pictured), Vanessa Zamarripa, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Brittani McCullough, Aisha Gerber, Monique De La Torre and Tauny Fratone.

SIDEBAR- In other sports news, the Durham Bulls won their eighth straight game with a win over the Gwinett Braves (from Gwinett, Ga.) by a 5-4 margin.

In minor league hockey, the Idaho Steelheads swept the Utah Grizzlies with a 4-1 win in Salt Lake City tonight to advance to the Western conference finals in the ECHL. The Steelheads will start their next series in Boise, Ida., on April 30, against either Stockton or Bakersfield. The Steeleads were lead by star goalie Richard Bachman.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Minor League Mascots

Today in our Silly Photo to Fill Space series we feature the mascot of the Durham Bulls the triple-A farm team of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Durham, NC, which was once featured in the Kevin Costner-Susan Sarandon film "Bull Durham" (1988).

The Bulls have a home day game with the Charlotte Knights at 1:05 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams play each other again in Durham on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

Movies of Our Youth (8 of 12)- "Bull Durham"

Congrats to the Durham Bulls from Durham, NC, , who won the Triple-A World Series over the Memphis Red Hawks by a 5-4 margin (the game lasted 11 innings, and it was broadcast on ESPN-2) in Oklahoma City last night.

Since they won the game, I thought I would feature the 1988 comedy hit "Bull Durham" as the latest entry in our series. At the time of the film, the Durham Bulls were in the Single-A Carolina League along with my hometown team the Salem Bucs from Salem, Va., (now the Salem Red Sox). But, the Bulls are now a triple-A franchise of the Florida Marlins.

Though I am considerably more politically moderate (I consider myself a centrist Democrat) than two of the film's stars, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, I admire their outspokeness against capital punishment which also happens to by my position on the highly controversial issue.

Robbins and Sarandon met on the set and quickly fell in love. They have co-habitated for a number of years but apparently they are not married. Both are also avid New York Rangers fans.

PS- This is NOT me in this photograph, but it is the mascot of the Durham Bulls.