Virtual Postcard from Maryland: The Mascot of the Frederick Keys

Maryland is home to the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, the grave of Peley, the Little Rascals' dog in the D.C. 'bur b of Silver Spring, and a statue of Testudo the Terrapin who has left the ACC for the Big Ten (editorial comment: BOO!) in College Park.

But, our choice for this virtual postcard is of Keyote, a coyote, which is curious because we imagine there aren't many coyotes in Maryland, who is the mascot of the Frederick Keys in Frederick, a medium-sized city about 45 miles west of Washington, D.C.

The Frederick Keys split a double-header at home with our hometown team the Salem Red Sox, from Salem, Va., in Carolina League play; here is the complete scoreboard from Wednesday night's games. The home team is marked with an (*).

*Frederick 3 Salem 1 (game one)

Salem 5 *Frederick 4 (game two)

Potomac 3 *Wilmington (Del.) 0 (game one)

Potomac 3 Wilmington 0 (game two)

Lynchburg 6 *Carolina 2

*Myrtle Beach 16 Winston-Salem 5

http://www.visitfrederick.org

http://www.roadsideamerica.com

Quote of the Day- Nick Nolte

Today, we continue to quote actors who have played presidents with a quip from Nick Nolte, 71, who came to fame in the late-1970s thanks in part for his performance in the tv mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man," which was a sensation at the time.

Notable films in Nolte's filmography include "48 Hours" (dir. Walter Hill, 1982), "Cape Fear" (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1990) and "The Prince of Tides" (dir. Barbara Streisand, 1991).

He played President Thomas Jefferson in the feature film "Jefferson in Paris" (dir. James Ivory, 1995) with Gwyneth Paltrow playing his daughter. Ironically, Paltrow's mom Blythe Danner played Martha Jefferson, the mother of Paltrow's character in real life, in the musical film "1776" (dir. Peter H. Hunt, 1972).

Today, on our other blog "Poltics, Cultures and Other Wastes of Time," we are quoting Charlton Heston who played Jefferson in a tv movie entitled "The Patriots," as Heston played another president Andrew Jackson in the feature film "The Buccaneer" (dir. Anothony Quinn, 1958).

Here is Nolte's quote:

"If you have a film that's valid, you stick your ass on the line."

SIDELINE: In a quick sports note, in minor league action in the Carolina League, the hometown Lynchburg Hillcats (Lynchburg, Va.) fell to the Potomac Nationals (Woodbridge, Va., near Washington, DC), a farm team of the Washington Nationals, by a score of 10-1. The Nationals scored on nine runs in the fourth inning of the game. For the visitors, Matt Grace, 23, a UCLA alumni (6-10), was the winning pitcher over Cody Martin, 22 (10-7) for the Hillcats. The same two teams play tomorrow.


http://www.nicknolte.com

http://www.monticello.org

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.washingtonnationals.mlb.com

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!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Lynchburg Hillcats' Mascot

We continue our series within a series that focuses on summer jobs with Southpaw, the mascot of the Lynchburg Hillcats. They are a minor league baseball team in Lynchburg, Va., where the late Rev. Jerry Falwell (one of the main reasons I became a Democrat) once preached his morality and imposed his judgment from the pulpit (we couldn't resist).

The Falwell family has actually been closely linked with minor league teams in Lynchburg- in fact they play at Calvin Falwell Field, but since we love SouthPaw we won't hold that against them!

The Hillcats are currently in the middle of a homestand against the Potomac Nationals who play in the DC suburbs of Virginia. The Nationals won last night's game 6-4, and the two teams play again tonight at 7:00 p.m.

The 'Cats have several promotions coming up, including a fireworks display on Aug. 14when they host to the Kinston Indians from Kinston, NC, and on Aug. 16, there will be a 50-Cent Hot Dog Night when the team plays The Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

As for our local team, The Greensboro Grasshoppers lost a road game to The Kannapolis Intimidators 7-4 in the South Atlantic League. The Intimidators' pitcher Cameron Bayne retired 14 'Hoppers in a row.

SIDEBAR: In Danville, Va., an hour and a half south of Lynchburg down Route 29 a maricahi band will play at Los Tres Magueyes Mexican Restaurant during dinner time on Monday, Aug. 9.

SIDEBAR TWO: I recently 'lost my virginity' (term they give first-time diners) at The Texas Tavern in my hometown of Roanoke, Va. There used to be a Texas Tavern in Lynchburg as well. I had the establishment's speciality which is a bowl of chilli for a mere $1.60. It was definitely worth the proverbial price of admission.