Arroyo gets shelled, Reds fall 15-3

Just call Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo Mr. Peanut, because he got shelled by the Mets Wednesday night. Arroyo's short night started with him giving up five runs in the first inning. He followed up that gem with four more runs in the second inning before recording an out. Arroyo's performance was rather uncharacteristic of a pitching staff that currently holds the best ERA in the majors.

The good news is that a 15-3 loss counts just the same as a 4-3 loss. A team typically doesn't want to look ahead to a game before the previous one is done, but when a team that averages roughly 3 runs on offense per game is down 9-zip after an inning and a half, they're usually free to wait 'til tomorrow.

The other point of interest in this game was the pitching performance of Paul Janish. He struck out two and allowed five runs. That isn't bad...for a shortstop! Since the game was already decided early, Reds manager Dusty Baker decided to give his bullpen a rest and allowed Janish to pitch. Janish is the first position player to pitch for the Reds since Lenny Harris did it in 1998.

So far this season, The Reds pitching staff has been nothing short of fantastic. It's the bats that are not quite up to par. The team is good enough to hover around .500 for most of the season, but it's the offense that will need to get things going if they hope to contend for a playoff spot.

Opening Day 2009

I am extra excited about the upcoming baseball season. This is the first time in three years that I will actually be in Cincinnati for the baseball season, which means I'll be able to go to a lot more games. The previous two seasons, I made it to a total of four games; two in Cincinnati, one in LA and one in San Diego. This season, I plan to attend anywhere from 10-20 games, as well as away games in Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The Reds also look to have a decent club this year. It's gonna be a great summer!

Tesla Model S

Tesla Motors, the struggling electric car company, has unveiled their second soon-to-be doomed vehicle, the Model S. While I absolutely hate the Tesla Roadster and think that the company is a complete joke, my first thoughts after seeing photos of the Model S were, "not bad." However, that's about the best compliment I can give it.

While the Model S is a four-door sedan that's supposed to be better suited for daily driving (unlike the two-seat Tesla Roadster), the car still has a laundry list of obvious flaws.

While a starting price at over $50,000 may be significantly down from the Roadster's $109,000 price tag, that's still A LOT of money for a car, and still much more than the average car buyer is in the market to spend. So far, Tesla has made a car for the super rich and a car for the slightly less than super rich.

Range is another issue. The Model S can go 300 miles on a single charge, which rules out taking the car on any long trips. The batteries aren't cheap, either.

Another area of confusion is the claim that this car can seat seven people. I mean, when I think of Tesla the company, I immediately think that they would be best suited manufacturing clown cars based on their management that resembles a three-ring circus, but this just seems ridiculous. There's no way in hell you can fit seven normal-size adults comfortably in a four-door sedan.

And my biggest gripe of all; the design. While the Model S looks like a very sleek sedan, that's part of the problem. The car looks too much like a concept vehicle, and concepts are not exactly designed for everyday driving. The car also appears to have a lowered stance and a lack of protective body panels. It would only be a matter of time before the front end of one of these cars was covered in dings and scratches from road debris. And, you'll be ordering a new front end if you take a high curb too fast at the wrong angle. Let's face it, this is not a family sedan. With a 0-60 of 5.5 seconds, this is a high-performance sports car. The wheels are nice, though.

In my opinion, Tesla really screwed the pooch on this one. Instead of making a reasonable sedan to show off the practicality of electric cars, they had to go and make everything on the Model S so high-tech that only people with lots of money will be able to afford one. Either the people at Tesla are way out of touch with reality, or they think this car is so good that people will fork over twice the cost of a hybrid, which would put them way out of touch with reality.

With the state that Tesla Motors is in, it's highly unlikely that this car will even make it into production. Electric cars have a future, but like a lot of Silicon Valley start-ups, Tesla doesn't seem to have a clue what they're doing.

Tesla Motors Dying Slow Death

Tesla Motors, manufacturer of the all-electric car that's also unaffordable to the common man, is apparently running out of cashola. CEO Elon Musk admitted that the company has spent most of the customer deposit money and will soon run out unless they get more funding. To top it off, Tesla has only delivered 50 of its roadsters. Apparently, laying off 24% of its employees wasn't enough to balance out Tesla's losses thus far.

So, why would Tesla have so many problems? Let's review:

1. Startup: Privately-owned automakers never survive amongst the juggernauts. Delorean, anyone?

2. Price: The Roadster retails for over $100,000, meaning average Joe plumbers can't afford it. And, if they could afford it, they probably would go for something else.

3. Distance: The Roadster can only go about 250 miles on a charge. That's fine if you're just using it to go to work, but don't think about going on any long (or short) trips.

4. Repairs: Who in the heck is going to fix this thing when it breaks? Beyond brake-work or tires, there probably isn't a mechanic that's going to have a clue how to get a Tesla going when it won't start.

5. Practicality: Two seats and no trunk. But it goes really fast! Rich people like to go fast. Rich people can also hire other people to deliver their furniture. Tesla is planning a four-door sedan that's supposed to be be priced at a more reasonable $50k, but will the company be around long enough to see its release?

What have we learned? Never trust a Silicon Valley startup that asks for millions in funding with the promise of a big turnaround. You think these VCs will be a little more careful about who they give money to in the future?

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

I watched Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and wanted to give a few quick thoughts.

I'm a big Street Fighter fan, but I had very low expectations for this movie. While the movie wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, it was still pretty damn bad. I know people always talk about how they could make a better movie and what not, but I am 100% sure that, given even half the resources these filmmakers had, I could come up with something much better. The film's story was completely screwed up and had very little to do with the actual video game series. Instead of being a psychotic dictator, Bison was a corrupt real estate developer, Chun-Li wasn't Asian (at least she wasn't played by one), Balrog wasn't a boxer, Vega was ugly and Charlie was irrelevant. The only character that didn't really upset me was Gen (portrayed by Robin Shou), although Gen is much older in the video games. Interesting side note: Shou also played Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat films.

Which brings me back to Chris Klein as Charlie Nash. It's fitting that one of the worst actors in Hollywood gave one of the worst acting performances ever captured on film. In the game series, Charlie is killed by Bison before the events of Street Fighter II ever happen. Unfortunately, this is another area of the game that the movie fails to stay true to.

Final verdict: 3/10.

Give me back that Filet-o-Fish

I love this commercial! Whoever came up with this should be given a medal.

ASA GT1 Wheels

I found these new wheels from ASA on Tirerack.com. I think these would look really good on an 05-09 Mustang. They wouldn't really go with my 2000 GT, but if I upgrade in the next year or two, I'll probably be shopping for a set of these. I'm just not a fan of the current Mustang factory wheels, so these 19s would be a nice addition.