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Un-Ticklish Blunder of the Week - Interleague Play

Few times of the year can compare to the start of a new baseball season. The weather is warming up, anticipations are high and the ballpark franks are looking tastier than ever. After a few weeks or so, teams start to define their own identities for the campaign: certain pitchers really lock in, sluggers step up and start regularly belting their yard balls, hit-for-average guys get into their groove, bullpen arms begin to settle into their roles.

Then, for a series in May and a few weeks in June, the rules of the game suddenly change, strange teams start coming to town and every team’s rhythm seems to be thrown off.

First, for a complete list of the “pros” of interleague play, read this article from The Onion.

Although interleague play does allow Mariners fans the thrill of seeing players like the Padres’ Brian Giles, the Tickle City of the Week committee just can’t get behind it, especially after it drags on week after week in June, just when division races are starting to get interesting.

Big rivals meeting each other in the World Series is supposed to be one of the most special times in sport, a rare, rare chance to see bitter foes squaring off in a game that matters so much. How is this feeling not destroyed by the teams playing each other a bunch of times every single season?

The Committee agrees, though, that nationwide excitement over the “Beltway Series” between the Orioles and the Nationals does reach a fever pitch. The MLB itself would likely crumble if these rivals did not meet 6 times every season. The same can be said for the “Citrus Series” between the Marlins and Rays, the “Battle of Ohio,” the “Bay Bridge Series,” and the aforementioned battle of the Peoria, Arizona Spring Training foes, the Mariners and Padres, who also play a yearly home-and-home series.

For concerns of space, we won’t even get into the DH arguments against interleague play, which are plentiful. The Committee also won’t be citing the Chien-Ming Wang example, when the former ace injured himself running the bases in an NL park and it directly caused him to become a terrible pitcher.

Lastly, if you intensely scrutinize the standings, you may discover that the divisions do not have equal numbers of teams. This causes various severe strength of schedule inequalities between teams. Divisions do indeed square off against each other, but because of the disparities someone gets to skip the good team and someone else doesn’t get to beat up on the last place team, for example. It’s just not fair.

And did anyone see Bartolo Colon bat last season? That was just painful...

Week Thirty-Four - Burmese Bloggers

The Tickle City O’-The Week Award committee thoroughly enjoys scouring the country to hunt down the most ticklish people, places and things in order to share them with all of you.

The Committee feels honored to receive such a positive reaction from the larger community, including friendly comments, reactions and submissions sent in to ticklecity@gmail.com.

Bloggers worldwide, however, do not enjoy the same type of atmosphere. In fact, it can get downright dangerous sometimes.

According to a CNN news article, a recent report by the Committee to Protect Journalists describes how in certain countries, including Burma (Myanmar), Iran and Syria, bloggers face extreme oppression, censorship and severe punishment if their thoughts are considered subversive by their government.

In the age of the social web, in which individuals can have their voice heard more easily than ever, some authorities are turning the tables.

The Burmese government censors web pages, monitors personal communications and tosses bloggers in prison if they object to their material. One particular blogger is even serving a 59-year jail term.

So to all of the bloggers in Burma, Iran and elsewhere who continue to take extreme risks to get their ticklish stories out, you are tickle city!

Week Thirty Three - Grinnell College Baseball

There have been several email submissions this past week, but the story behind the Grinnell College baseball team’s weekend, sent in by outfielder JP Prouty, has out-tickled them all.

The Pioneers beat Illinois College three times, pounding out 11 home runs and 43 runs in their victories. Grinnell is now tied with Monmouth at the top of the Midwest Conference standings with a conference record of 6-2. At 19-9 overall, Grinnell is just one triumph away from a 20-win season.

Catcher Mike Nodzenski ’12 went yard three times in Sunday’s game, in which Grinnell stormed out to a 14-1 lead after just two innings. Brett Maloney homered twice in the second half of Saturday’s doubleheader, a 15-4 eight inning win. Pitchers Gary Kahn and Chad Christoff combined to throw a six hitter, striking out five and three, respectively.

Another Pioneer who made a significant impact at the plate was Paden Roder, who hit two home runs on the weekend and raised his average to .404 (104 AB). Grinnell’s impressive hitting onslaught coupled with some effective pitching secured the season sweep over the Blueboys.

To get some insight into the minds of the Grinnell players, Prouty casually interviewed his teammates:

"Nodzenski, when asked from where he derives his hitting abilities, replied, 'I believe my diet of eating live babies and my regimen of devoting 10 hours a day to baseball allows me to hit yardballs.'"

Prouty also did research pertaining to Maloney’s post-game customs:

“It is rumored that after the game, Brett Maloney showered with the IC Blueboys to further intimidate them with his athletic physique and close resemblance to Michaelangelo's 'David'. In reality, Brett was the only one of the Pioneers that couldn't find the visiting team's locker room.”

Finally, the junior outfielder from Stilwell, Kansas, contributed the pictures (above), with the following captions:

"The first is of Paden Roder making a catch in right field with his mouth wide open."The second is of Mike "Baby-Killer" Nodzenski punishing a ball to deep center."

Prouty will be presented with the award in the next couple of days. Grinnell College baseball, you are tickle city!

Week Thirty - Tickle City Bracket Spectacular

The Tickle City O'-The Week Award Committee hereby announces the Tickle City Bracket Spectacular, the most ticklish March Madness pool ever. You could take home the coveted Tickle City O'-The Week Award automatically just by choosing the right teams. How do I enter? Here's the official invitation from Tickle City Head Organizer Mark Rosenberg:

"March Madness is upon us, as is the Tickle City Bracket Spectacular. Tickle City Bracket Spectacular: Submit a bracket to me via e-mail at Rosenber@grinnell.edu. (Inquire about submitting a bracket through facebook, as a group will soon be set up for that purpose)

All who submit a bracket MUST INQUIRE ABOUT ADDITIONAL SIGNUP INFORMATION. Submit up to 3 brackets per person!! All brackets must be received by March 18th at Midnight. If interested you may send an e-mail to Rosenber@grinnell.edu, I will create a mailing list and send out brackets to those who request them.

My Grinnell College mailbox is PO Box 4397 Grinnell College, 1115 8th Avenue, Grinnell Iowa 50112. If you have any concerns, email me at Rosenber@grinnell.edu.

Rules: Submit 1-3 brackets, and INQUIRE ABOUT ADDITIONAL SIGNUP INFORMATION. Rosenber@grinnell.edu.

Points: 1st Round Correct Winners are each worth 1 POINT
2nd Round Correct Winners are worth 2 POINTS
3rd Round Correct Winners are worth 3 POINTS
Elite 8 Winners are worth 4 POINTS
Final Four and Championship game winners are worth 5 POINTS"

Stay tuned to Tickle City for breaking news and updates pertaining to both the Bracket Spectacular and the tournament as a whole. Be sure to check out Tickle City's analysis of the Midwest Region below this post. Bracket Spectacular, you are tickle city!

Tickle City Bracket Tip O'-The Day - Midwest Region

2009 NCAA Basketball Men's Brackets

It was a year of college basketball that was supposed to be fairly straightforward, UNC was expected to roll through the season mostly uncontested. Instead, a number of worthy competitors have challenged and made strong arguments as to why they will be the team to cut down the nets in Detroit on April 6th.

Now with the selection process complete, we wait until Thursday for the most dramatic and action-packed weeks in sports to commence. While intrigue and excitement is flowing through all corners of the bracket, the Midwest Region especially impressed the Tickle City O'-The Week Award Committee.

The Midwest has overall number one seed Louisville, but their road to the final four will be anything but a cakewalk. Michigan State and Kansas represent two more power conference regular season champions. Wake Forest has looked like final four material at several times throughout the season and boasts three potential NBA first rounders in Teague, Aminu and forward James Johnson.

The Midwest also has the possibility for some serious upsets. It would be tough to name a better 12 seed in recent years than Arizona, teeming with NBA talent and lead by stars Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill. North Dakota State is a mid-major that can light it up from beyond the arc (fifth in the nation in 3 pt. %) but also has the size to match up against tough opponents. USC will bring a huge amount of talent to their 7-10 matchup with Boston College, and their highly touted freshman DeMar Derozan has been great down the stretch. Cleveland State won the Horizon League over Butler and have a couple big wins on their resume.

Midwest region, looking very ticklish!

Tickle City Weekend Outlook

There is a lot of buzz surrounding a candy described as "jalea y malvavisco cubiertos con sabor chocolate" going into the weekend. Bubu Lubu, a product of Mexican company Ricolino Candies, is a chocolate with marshmallow and a thin layer of strawberry jelly inside. Low price, ticklish name, just maybe a little hard to track down if you don't have a Mexican grocery nearby. The Spencer Grill at Grinnell College recently began to stock the confectionery, and many students seem to be wary of the strawberry filling. A subtle flavor, it goes perfectly with the marshmallow and chocolate to provide a ticklish sweet taste. When asked about the recent emphasis on snack foods, the Tickle City O'-The Week Award Committee pointed out the fact that it is no longer on a dining plan and meals have recently been less than traditional. Bubu Lubu, tienes cosquillas!

Week Twenty Two - Bowling

The Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee has been spending the vast majority of its time recently chasing turkeys, hitting the pocket and assuming the attributes of a “power stroker.” Yes bowling has seen a surge in popularity in recent times, both in the United States and worldwide. It is estimated that more people worldwide bowl than play any other sport other than soccer, and bowling has inspired video games for the the PS3, Nintendo Wii and even appears as a mini-game in GTA 4.

We knock down ten pins sitting at the end of a 60-foot lane with a ball measuring 2.25 feet in circumference. Throughout history, though, there have been many quite different varieties, dating back to primitive versions of bowling played in Egypt over 5,000 years ago. Ancient games were also played in areas as diverse as Finland, Yemen and Germany. Another variety is Irish road bowling, in which participants attempt to bowl a ball down a bit longer of a lane, a country road up to 4 km long. The player who makes it to the end in the fewest throws wins. So if your bowling skills rarely lead your balls into the gutter, you may want to challenge yourself and try to bowl one down the nearest road for at least 1,000 yards without having it leave the right lane or strike any vehicles or pedestrians. If you wish to stay inside, though, modern conveniences like electronic scoring, strange chairs and graphics depicting cartoon pins humorously escaping from jail while the “prison guard” bowling ball snoozes have transformed bowling into the game we know today.

Transitioning to Madison, Wisconsin news, the Committee recently investigated a “Bowl Your Brains Out” promotion at the east side Dream Lanes, with great results. From 9 to 11pm, $7 was enough to get you unlimited bowling and shoe rental while food and drink specials abounded. New York based musician and songwriter Jake Brower, in Madison for the holidays, had only good things to say about the selection of songs playing over the sound system. Crowds cheered when Vermont league bowler Alex Connelly stepped up to pick up a spare, dribbled the ball up to his lane with his feet, stylishly kicked it down the lane, and successfully knocked over the three remaining pins.

But the most ticklish aspect of “Bowl Your Brains Out” was the red-pin special. Exactly one frame per game for each bowler, a red pin appears as the head pin on the computer monitor. If you get a strike on that frame you win a spin on the prize wheel, with prizes including t-shirts, movie passes, various food and free bowling passes. All members of the party, even Young-Eun Park, won at least one spin, and all bowlers proceeded to proudly show off their prizes for the remainder of the evening like war trophies. This is certainly one of the best bowling alleys in Wisconsin.

Every where you look these days, people are bowling. If you get a high score, a 7-10 split or start with a clover, pick up a greek church and proceed to go off the sheet and get Sparta’s army, notify ticklecity@gmail.com and you will be appropriately awarded. The Tickle City O’-The Week Committee also plans to cover in detail the spring bowling season in Grinnell, Iowa, including bowling club on Saturdays and bowling class with head coach Brian Jaworski. Bowling, you are tickle city!

Week Nineteen - McDonald's Monopoly

It only comes around once a year. Masses of fast-food customers nationwide, as if in a trance, purchase very specific food and drink items in great quantities, although they aren’t interested at all in the taste. They have been captivated by the allure of McDonald’s Monopoly, the most ticklish sweepstakes advertising promotion ever created.

Recently the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee has been scouring the country for rare pieces, and devouring an outrageous amount of Big Macs, Southern Style Chicken Sandwiches, Large Fries, and Medium and Large Premium Roast Coffees (excluding Iced Coffee and Specialty Coffee Beverages) along the way.

At times the process has been frustrating. After racking up four Baltic Avenues in one trip, for example, the Committee almost gave up hope. However, an Instant win medium fries peeled from the next large drink provided renewed optimism. But this was not the end of the bumpy Monopoly ride. After placing an order at a McDonald’s in Waukesha, Wisconsin over the weekend, the Committee looked on in horror: its large fountain drink cup did not have any game pieces. An anxious conversation with the restaurant manager thankfully revealed that an employee had simply mistakenly stocked the wrong cups, and the missing game pieces were gladly given.

Now the Committee is planning a trip to the Marshalltown, Iowa Foot Locker to put its 25% Guaranteed Bonus game piece towards some ticklish kicks. And the search is on for Tennessee Avenue, Water Works, Ventnor Avenue, Short Line and the other “rare” pieces (the rare piece is always the last one alphabetically in the group, Boardwalk being the only exception as it is the last piece on the game board).

The Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee has attended numerous meetings and presentations, and has been in constant communication with its associates about hot tips and monopoly strategy. The Committee is being very careful to keep everything legal though, after learning about the 2001 scam in which Jerome Jacobson, an employee for the company in charge of distributing the game pieces for McDonald’s, was caught passing along the winning pieces to friends, a maneuver he had been doing for several years. Jacobson and associates collected $24 million salary, but landed on Go to Jail in October 2003, and they were not just visiting.

The Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee is now planning a trip to McDonald’s for breakfast, where it will order three hash browns and a medium coffee for a very cost-effective eight game pieces. McDonald’s Monopoly, you are tickle city!

Week Seventeen - Return of the Viking Age

The Vikings were a truly amazing group of explorers, warriors and beard-wearers, their famed longships having travelled east far into the Roman empire and Kiev as well as westward to Greenland and Newfoundland. They really burst onto the scene in 793 with a raid and subsequent brutal tickling of the monastery of Lindisfarne, as a representative from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reported to the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee: “In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on January 8th the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God’s church at Lindesfarne.”

The Viking Age proceeded to be a great time for seafaring, plundering, mead drinking and having names like Thorbjorn Oxen-Might, Hallbjorn Half-Troll, Sweyn Forkbeard or Hallfred the Troublesome Poet. We know the stories of heroes, great battles and hearty consumption from a combination of sources: Norse sagas, literature and Norse mythology. The vigor with which the Vikings stormed a destination, their thirst for adventure, aggressive demeanor and their extravagant feasts have drawn comparisons to events recently held at various living settlements, halls, and 916 ½ Main St. in the town of Grinnell, Iowa during the Spring and Summer of 2008.

Patrick Trollhammer Lyons remarks that he is inspired by the Viking exploits he has been reading about in Njal’s Saga and the Prose Edda: “I could see myself storming into a party in Clark Lounge in a 50 foot “knarr” Viking ship with a crew of men, wearing a elbow-and-knee length mail shirt, helmet and brandishing a breið-exi type of axe. If nothing else, I could see this letting our crew skip the line on the table if it is long.”

Benj Haggardbeard Wagman has stated he is considering putting his future plans on hold and returning to the North (Grinnell) for a chance to participate in these adventures and the great feasts that follow. Trollhammer Lyons and the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee are in talks about investing in many of these items, including vessels, full equipment and perhaps renovating 1014 High St. or 916 ½ Main Apt. 6 into the “Asgard Mead Hall” believing that the plunder that will surely result would more than match any start-up costs. Return of the Viking Age, you are tickle city!

Tabish O'-The Week Award - Tabish Dar

Week Fifteen - Iowa Irish Fest '08

Any reports of a ticklish musical extravaganza taking place this weekend would surely have to be referring to Lollapalooza, featuring Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West and a multitude of other bands across eight stages and three days in Grant Park, Chicago. Not necessarily. Those looking to get their musical taste buds tickled for a little bit cheaper than $205 for a three day pass or $80 for a day simply had to travel to Waterloo, Iowa.

For this hot summer weekend, you would have been forgiven for thinking you had traveled deep into the heart of the Emerald Isle when in reality you hadn’t strayed farther than the Lincoln Park area of downtown Waterloo. The event was Iowa Irish Fest ’08, a ticklish combination of music, dancing, food, drink and Irish culture, costing only $5 for a day pass or $10 for the entire weekend.

Big deal, you say. Probably just a group of drunk middle-aged Iowans awkwardly tapping their feet and clapping to the fiddle and guitar of a couple of average local musical groups. Not even close. Headlined by none other than the highly acclaimed band Gaelic Storm, the festival was a rare opportunity to see a great lineup of groups, including the world famous Trinity Irish Dancers, The Killdares, The Young Dubliners, Cherish the Ladies and many others, practically for free.

From 6:30 to 8pm on Opening night, Gaelic Storm enchanted the crowd at the Miller Lite stage with their typical high energy set full of rollicking pub sing-along numbers and sets of reels and jigs. Gaelic Storm first rose to prominence as the “party band” in the 1997 film Titanic. You remember, when Jack and Rose go downstairs on the ship to experience “the real party.” Since then, the group has gone on several world tours, and their 2006 album Bring Yer Wellies reached #2 on the Billboard World Chart. They have a huge fan base worldwide.

Securing Gaelic Storm for the event was a major success on the part of the Cedar Valley Irish Cultural Association and president Jim Walsh: “The Irish in Iowa have done such a fine job of melding into their communities that we felt it was time to draw them back out a bit and show them off to their neighbors and as many visitors as we could,” Walsh told the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee through the event website.

In addition to the music, the festival featured a wide variety of vendors offering interesting Irish clothing and cultural memorabilia for good prices. The food and drink also featured incredible deals, especially the drink tickets, just $3 for a choice between Guinness, Harp lager, Smithwick’s and several American varieties. The choices proved to be too much for event-goer Jelal Younes, who became flustered and eventually ordered a Lemonade. He then was almost chased away from the park after doing so.

Other highlights included the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee’s meeting Gaelic Storm frontman Patrick Murphy after the show: chatting briefly before getting Murphy to laugh uncontrollably upon seeing the Committee’s shirt, which read “Save the Ales” with a picture of a large glass of ale. Murphy eventually signed the shirt.

Attending the Iowa Irish Fest, a great fall budget move by the Tickle City O’-The Week Award Committee, has freed up funds of $195 by not attending Lollapalooza. The Committee is currently in talks about where those funds should go, with the two front-runners being baseball cards and advertising for various Tickle City O’-The Week themed events that will take place this fall.

Iowa Irish Fest ’08, you are tickle city!