No extreme list or rad retrospective today, I’d just like thank everyone for their participation in yet another successful theme week. Maybe the 90s didn’t specifically have anything do with what’s currently going on around us, but it gave us a chance to reminisce about a time so dear to our hearts. Who knows when we’ll do our next theme week…. Perhaps a Christmas themed week? Anything is possible… Wrapping it up I’ll leave you with one of my favorite commercials from the 90s featuring a young Ethan Supplee, enjoy!

Wassup?  Here at Cat Fancy we love themed weeks just as much as the next website.  But we’re in the rare position of actually being able to put these events together.  So, in honor of the return of weekly classic albums and top 10 lists, we are proud to present you with 90s week.

I couldn’t think of anything really captivating for today’s post, so thought I’d briefly give my thoughts regarding the SNL program “Thursday Night Live” that premiered last night. If you haven’t heard, SNL has decided to do three episodes in a new 30 minute format to cover all the latest political events and other news. Consisting of a cold open and followed by a “Weekend Update” segment, despite it being played on a thursday, I was somewhat surprised by the show’s opening but less than enthused by the “Weekend Update” segment.

Opening with a parody of the last Presidential Debate, Fred Armisen and SNL veteran Darrel Hammond took the stage as Barack Obama and John McCain respectively as former cast member Chris Parnell donned the role of moderator Tom Brokaw. Now I haven’t really been a fan of the show for awhile now but I’d rather liked some of their political segments lately, so I gave it a shot and I actually thought it was pretty funny. The exaggeration of the limited response times was pretty clever and the impressions were pretty spot on. Though Fred Armisen has been in the past all over the place with his Obama impression, he’s definitely the rhythm of Obama’s speech down even if his voice isn’t quite low enough. Darrel Hammond is master impressionist and has managed to slip into John McCain like a leather glove and with his perfection of McCain’s mannerisms and portrayal of McCain aimlessly wandering around the stage he was probably the best part of the sketch, though I did rather like McCain and Obama answering questions simultaneously to save time. Chris Parnell did his part just fine as did others and it was pretty neat to see Bill Murray pop in for an appearance. So all in this was a pretty solid sketch with the kind of classic humor SNL’s certainly been lacking these days.

As for the rest of the show it was pretty much same old, same old. There may have been a couple mildly amusing jokes here and there but it was mostly pretty dry and I just can’t stand that insufferable twerp Seth Myers. Weekend Update has been pretty weak for awhile now, I haven’t actually been a fan since Norm Macdonald hosted it, but whatever it was kind of fun getting a political satire SNL on a weeknight and I look forward to the next episode.

I believe you can find the whole episode all over the internet. Last time I checked they had it up on IMDb.

Since my switch from full time music student to communication bum, it has been pretty crazy. I know that Wildcat Baseball is wildly popular among the Cat Fancy audience, so here’s my first article that came out in the CWU Observer yesterday:

As the Jose Vidros and Richie Sexsons of the world sit at home this off-season praying that they will find a job next summer, a new batch of talent will be conditioning this fall. Eager to see what is on the horizon in their young baseball careers, Central will spend the off season preparing for another run at the post season.

This Wild Cat team is definitely one of the youngest head coach Desi Storey has seen in recent years. With nine seniors graduating last year, it is going to take some serious recruiting and some critical performances from returning upper classmen to keep this program competitive.

Probably the most devastating loss to this team is the departure of short stop Jamie Nilsen, who graduated and is now playing in the Kansas City Royals organization. Nilsen, the only player in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history to have over a .400 career batting average, obliterated just about every school record at central.

“We’re not going to replace Jamie; he’s the best player in school history,” Storey said. “Our goal is to have a great core group come in. With the absence of Jamie not only do we have to find a quality shortstop, I think we need to get better in the places that we lost guys.”

Some of those players could be guys like corner infielder Frank Donangelo. Donangelo was in the top five in nearly every offensive statistical category in the 2008 season. He batted .349 with an outstanding OPS (On Base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage) of .972. Donangelo’s season is surely going to be one to keep a close eye on.

When asked what his personal goals are for the season he said what most competitors would say. “Win a championship; I think that’s the goal of every player,” Donangelo said. “Especially now that I’m a senior, it’s kind of what we’re all pushed to do.”

As for the hole at short stop, junior Kevin Walkenhauer seems to be the logical choice. A two time MVP in high school at short stop, Walkenhauer played mostly second base in 2008 due to injuries at the position.

It is, of course, unfair to compare Walkenhauer to Nilsen, but from a team evaluation standpoint, the question must be asked.

“Average wise, Kevin should hit for a high percentage, and he’s got really good power,” Coach Storey said. “Whether or not he can match Jamie’s numbers I don’t know, but Kevin’s going to get his share of home runs too. He’s pretty strong.”

With only a handful of positions solidified on this team, a strong freshman recruiting class is going to be crucial to build not only a winning team in 2009, but for years to come.

Sophomore transfer from Whitworth, Mac Collette commented on the level of competition during the fall workouts so far.

“It’s definitely tough,” Collette said. “There’s a lot of good talent and quite a few good transfers.”

Unfortunately Collette will be sitting out this season with some hamstring issues and is rehabbing for a hopeful return for next year.

There are plenty of reasons to be excited for Wildcat baseball this spring. Most of the pitching staff is back and there is talent throughout the roster. There are still some key positions with holes and it will be interesting to see how the roster looks when it is finalized in January.

I can’t express how excited I am for playoff baseball in words. These series are some of the most interesting match ups in the last twenty years. Baseball is changing. Teams are changing their philosophies on evaluating talent and how to build a baseball team. These play offs have a little old school and a little new school. After a long six months we finally see the product of two separate leagues giving it their all. Here’s my predictions.

National League Divison Series

Philadelphia Phillies Vs. Milwaukee Brewers
This is probably the hardest to predict, but I’m gonna have to go with the Phillies. The Brewers barely got into the post season solely on the back of CC Sabathia who pitched on three days rest three different times. With out their other ace Ben Sheets, they are not really as intimidating in a 7 game series as they would have been.

Los Angeles Dodgers Vs. Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are the better team. With two absolute studs in Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano anchoring their staff, they are the clearly better than the Dodgers who came out of a weak National League West. But we must remember, this is the Cubs. They have recorded unfathomable collapses year after year, and haven’t won for a century. Anything can happen in this series.

American League Division Series

Chicago White Sox Vs. Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays have overcome too much adversity to fall apart now. They have won at home, on the road, and without some of their key contributors. They just find a way to get it done. They play great defense, have great pitching, and they hit the ball over the fence. As much as I want Jr. to win, I can’t help but feeling what a waste all this would be if Tampa’s dream season were to end here.

Boston Red Sox Vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
I hate the Angels. I also have a great resentment of the Red Sox, but they are the lesser of the two evils in my opinion. I think very highly of general manager Theo Epstien, and think the Red Sox are not really a wild card team. They’ve been here before, they know how to win, and it will be proven once again that the Angels can’t get it done in October.

So with Tampa and Boston advancing in the AL and Chicago and Philidelphia advancing in the NL, here are my Championship series predictions.

National Leauge Championship Series

Chicago Cubs Vs. Philidelphia Phillies
This is a really tough one. Philidelphia has some great key role players as well as a solid pitching staff. Also you have two of the most experienced managers in the game with Sweet Lou and Charlie Manuel. I’m gonna have to get on the Lou bandwagon and pick the Cubs because they are the best in the National League, and you can’t mess with that pitching staff.

American League Championship Series

Boston Red Sox Vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay won the American League East. Tampa Bay proved to those national media bimbos time and time again that they are for real by beating the Red Sox in key situations. Home, Away, it didn’t matter. This young team knows how to play and more importantly they know how to win.

World Series

Tampa Bay Rays Vs. Chicago Cubs
The National League sucks. It is weaker in every aspect. This Tampa Bay pitching staff including James Shields, Scott Kazmir, and Edwin Jackson will eat apart this Cub lineup and the offense will hit their share of bombs. I give your World Champion Tampa Bay Rays.

Nintendo had an event in Japan today, and they revealed what industry insiders have been predicting for days now, the new DS model.  Called the Nintendo DSi, this new version features slightly larger screens, a camera, an SD card slot, and new Internet features.