Off the Top: General Entries


June 16, 2012

A Pitcher's Perfect Game is a Team Effort

Tuesday night Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giant’s pitched a perfect game (no hits, no walks, nor errors, and no runs). This was the first perfect game by a Giant in the 130 years the club has been around. Cain’s 14 strike out tied the best perfect game of Sandy Kolfax, so 2 of the 22 best perfect games ever.

But it Takes a Team

One of the most amazing moments in this perfect game was in the 7th inning when the Giants’ Gregor Blanco made an amazing play on the Astros’ Jordan Schafer’s smash drive to center field. There was a whole lot of amazing and special in his play, but the most amazing bit came in his talking about the play the following day.

From yesterday’s MLB.com article Cain bak at work as Giants revel in perfecto Gregor Blanco talks about his talk with Cain after the game and Cain’s deep appreciation of that catch that saved the perfect game…

Right fielder Gregor Blanco spoke at length about his remarkable seventh-inning catch of Jordan Schafer’s drive to the center-field warning track.

Blanco refused Cain’s offer to reward him for his impossible grab. “He asked me what I wanted – a watch, a car, a house,” Blanco said, prompting laughter from reporters. “I said, ‘No man, we’re a team. I’m always there for you.’” Having the chance to make such plays is its own reward, Blanco said. “I work hard, and it’s great to have a moment like this in my career,” he said. “I’m enjoying this, enjoying the moment, and I’m just thankful to the Giants for the opportunity.”

Blanco repeated that he didn’t think he could run down Schafer’s drive. It wasn’t false modesty.

This understanding of team is fantastic. (I do love Matt Cain’s gesture of reward, and Matt’s hat tip to Gregor just after the play as it was pure class and grace.) It is a great thing when many moving parts come together like this. When each member is looking out for the team and supporting those who are having a shining moment reach their best.

This, is what it is all about!



March 30, 2002

It is a sad day as the Queen Mum dies.


February 20, 2002

Oh yes, I nearly forgot... David Gallagher, David Gallagher.


January 28, 2002


January 5, 2002

Every now and then and obituary showcases what one can do in life. The death of Alfred Heineken is one of those times. Freddy had reach in that the Nigerian Guardian and South China Post, among others, had enough interest to publish obits. Heineken beer and brand are parts of 170 different countries around the world. Heineken owns 110 different breweries in 50 different countries. Freddy said he was "not selling beer, but warmth".

The Heineken site is providing a Condolence Register for people to leave messages. Many of these speak warmly of the man.



January 4, 2002

Now for something completely different... Dollar Bill origami. I made the Shirt in less than 10 minutes and I suck at origami. I had to stay in on recess in grade school to improve my folding, but no more. [hat tip Michael Angeles]


December 10, 2001

This week may be a little slow here. I am on vacation this week and was not intending to work. This means time away from the computer and work environments. It has been scheduled for quite some time and it just happens this week I am between jobs. I start work for a new company on Monday the 17th and I am trying to ENJOY my time in between time consuming events. I have a few days to dabble with my own side projects, read, decompress, was to have spent a day in NYC (but a meeting has side-tracked that wonderful plan). My last vacation was a working vacation (as most of them are) in San Francisco at the Web2001 conference and the 9/11 events. I will be taking sometime this later this week to escape completely where I can not be called into meetings. I was hoping to have time to focus on my favorite side project Boxes and Arrows, but that has dwindled too due to circumstances.


We always find time to present the bright and ambitious so here are the Newest Rhodes Scholarship Winners.


December 6, 2001

In Washtech (the Washington Post's technical section of their paper) has an state of the tech workers story as former dot-com employees go to work for government contracting firms.

A sad note in this article is that the Olympus Group is closing its doors. I have know many folks that worked there and have work with them in a client role and was very impressed with their work and presentation. However their former president, Julie Holdren, has started a new group, Homeland Technology Corp. and I wish her well.



November 12, 2001

Welcome to those of you who are from the link from SXSW Interactive. Yes, it is a great conference to learn and meet others who are developing and looking forward.


November 2, 2001

There is a new measurement for wind chill that is not as drastic as the previous version. The new measurement has 35 degrees with 20 mph wind measuring a wind chill of 24 degrees and the old was 11 degrees.


November 1, 2001

Welcome to the New View

Welcome to November 2001. This is the new look for Vander Wal Net's "Off the Top" section. This section has been updated by adding categories and entry areas (essays, journal, and weblog), which are hyperlinked to similar content. The location where the entry was made is also captured. The permanent link now states just that, so there is no confusion. The fonts are now variable, so that you the user can vary the size in your browser. In time you will have the ability to comment on this site's entries (this will be reviewed by the management of the site for general civility).

Essentially this portion of the site is easier for me to manage again. I have a rather straight forward tool for entering the information. The management tools are being added as you read this to add further ease of maintenance.

Please enjoy.



October 31, 2001

Welcome to the new look Off the Top. The weblog/journal has been redesigned and is now using a dynamic tool built using PHP and MySQL. Enjoy, I know I hopefully will.

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