Blogrolling: Trees Paint, iCheat, Hiding in Ikea Sight and an epic prank

The Larch... is an artiste.

iCheat, for your iPhone, with the iBlackjack. I'm pretty sure that iPain results. I also love that the first commenter is either the developer or a very inventive spammer (most likely the latter).

I don't want to be seen in Ikea, either.

Nick at IWS examines the disappearing Tulowitzki. Consider it a preview of my sleeper/busts fantasy baseball column, which is going to be 100% opposite of what I really think this year, just to throw my roto league competitors off the scent. (And if it's 100% opposite, it'll also be really helpful to you, unlike past years...)

Prank Wars continues with a hoax that has tens of thousands of accomplices. Maryland, you done good.

Watch Prank War 7: The Half Million Dollar Shot and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

Mets Fan Knew It All Along

Houston Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui will undergo surgery to repair an anal fissure on Monday in Houston.

Matsui has struggled with the health problem for much of spring training and was diagnosed with the condition earlier this week. The expected recovery time after the surgery is two weeks...

Matsui was signed in December to take over at second base after Craig Biggio's retirement. He had 37s RBIs and four home runs with a .288 batting average last season for Colorado.

Right now, Felix Pie is thanking the Lord that he isn't Matsui.

Epic Drop: Top 10 World Series Stories That Will Start At Insufferable And Get Worse

Your list is here, and I'm sure we could add a dozen more without too much of a sweat, really...

Once More, Dear Friends: WS Picks and Update

Nation,

Here's your updated MLB Playoff scoreboard. Remember, the losers in the Tool Division suffer Abject Humiliation TBD, while the winner in the Non-Tool Division gets a FREE Garment of Greatness. In this as in many things, it's good to not be a Tool.

Tool Division

Ninja - 60
Truth - 35
Shooter - 20

Non-Tools

Joeski - 80
DC Scrap - 75
Zach - 45
Shorty - 40
BD - 35
Andrew - 35
Klondike - 30
Vegas - 25
Original DJ - 20
SDuck - 10
JCobra - 0
Suzy - 0

Third and final round, the points double once again... so if you pick the team and the number of games correctly, you're looking at 80 points. (One game off, 60.) Please post your pick in the comments before Game 1.

Kiss Your World Series Chances Goodbye Rockies

What are the Rockies thinking? Nothing like taunting the Baseball gods. The Rockies are trying to trademark the term "Rocktober" so nobody, except them, can commercialize the term. So instead of focusing on winning their first World Series, they are focusing on expanding the bottom line.

I haven't seen such a blatant tempting of fate since the 2002 World Series when Dusty Baker called Russ Ortiz back to the mound to present him with the ball in Game 6. Usually, you want to do this after you have won the game and the Series. Oh yeah, the Angels rallied that game and went on to win the Series.

You can check out the full story on the Rockies at ESPN.

Epic Drop: Top 10 Signs The Rockies Are Just A Wee Bit Hot

Your list is here. I started watching the game when it was 5-1 in the seventh, and here's how hot the Rocks are right now... there was no suspense to me, even when the Diamondbacks had two on and no out in the 7th and Francis was starting to look a little shaky. It's absurd that a team with a relief corps of Matt Herges (nomad), Jeremy Affeldt (failed Royal), Brian Fuentes (mid-season arsonist) and Manny Corpas (no name second year reliever) should inspire that kind of feeling, especially on the road against a team that just swept their last series... and yet, they do.

And if they pull it off another 7 times, they'll go down in history as the best stretch run team ever. Right now, it's hard to think they won't do just that. (By the way, sorry for the lack of an image right now; Blogger's on the rag.)

NLDS Wrap-Up And Update

How unexpected were the Western Division Sweeps? No one -- not a single person -- in our little game picked either series to end in 3. Only 7 of 26 picked either Western division team to win, period. And only one -- the Nostradamus like Joeski -- went with the West in both instances.

Tonight's game had it all for the frustrated Phillies fans... a sudden and relentless lack of offense, a mind-boggling blown move by embattled manager Charlie Manuel (J.C. Romero, a lefty, was left in to face right-handed batter Jeff Baker; righty closer Brett Myers got the third out of the inning, one batter too late), and bad defense (the Matsui "triple" that could only have happened with the magic of Pat Burrell). They wasted a courageous effort by the ancient but effective Jamie Moyer. But nothing was going to stop the Rocks, who now have won 17 of their last 18. Good grief.

Who gets the edge in the NLCS? Both teams now get a ridiculous amount of time off (nothing until next Thursday), so the rotations are more or less however the managers want them. The time off will also give the networks time to try to sell this to the 80% of the country that Could Not Care Less. But at least to look at the bright side... less Frank TV means less Frank TV inspired violence. (According to Yahoo News, over 3,000 people have already been killed, or have taken their own life, from viewing those ads.)

Oh, and one last bit of bad news... no third game means nothing, outside of your own sense of self-preservation, can stop you from watching John Madden give the mouth job for three-plus sloppy hours on NBC. It's go time, baby!

Six Random Observations from Phils-Rocks Game 3

> What happens if you keep the bats in a humidor -- is everything back to square one, and Colorado becomes a bandbox again?

> If Jamie Moyer pitches for another 5 to 10 years and gets to 300 wins (he's now at 230), does he make the Hall of Fame, despite having six years with over a 5-run ERA?

> So, just so we all know... Miller employs windbag delivery men to go from town to town and steal beer from its vendors. Makes sense to me.

> Pat Burrell reminds me of a very, very slow... Greg Luzinski.

> Moyer is so old-school, he doesn't even talk into his glove during catcher-pitcher conferences. Don't you know they could read your lips, Jamie? Curt Schilling taught us -- CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

> How much would you have to be paid to watch Frank TV? For me, I'm thinking... $200. But then again, I'm a whore. And that price just keeps going up.