wxbear73

This is an impressive story...

SHG grad O'Malley posts win in MLB debut with Cubs

(AP) HOUSTON -- Sacred Heart-Griffin and Lincoln Land Community College graduate Ryan O'Malley posted a win in his major league debut today as his Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 1-0.

O'Malley scattered five hits over eight innings. He struck out two and walked six.

O'Malley, 26, got the call to the big leagues early Wednesday morning after the Cubs had beaten Houston 8-6 in 18 innings.
Rich Hill, who was scheduled to be the Cubs' starter Wednesday, pitched the final two innings in relief in the win over Houston.

O'Malley graduated from Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in 1998 and helped Lincoln Land Community College to the 2000 National Junior College Athletic Association Division II national baseball championship.

He was signed by the Cubs as a free agent out of the University of Memphis in 2002. He was 7-7 with a 4.08 earned run average at Class AAA Iowa this season.

O'Malley, a left-hander, is 28-23 in his professional career. His seven wins this season are a career high.

He was scheduled to pitch tonight for the Class AAA club in a game in Round Rock, Texas, which is about a 4-hour drive from Houston.

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Why can't I open up the paper every day and find cuties like this guy greeting me at my doorstep?



I had to turn up the a/c just to bring this paper in the house. LOL

It says he is a catcher for the Springfield Rifles. Hmmm...maybe I'll have to take a trip to the ballpark one day to investigate things further.

[Access to audio link denied]
this was the post that I tried to make from the road as the tornado touched down on Sunday evening. I was disconnected before I could post it but you can hear the urgency in my voice as I had to make a split second decision to dive from the chasing van and take shelter in a home across the street. I am thankful that those people were home and were gracious enough to share their basement shelter with me.

Well it looks like we survived the first round of severe weather last night here in Central Illinois. I think the timing of this system (well after midnight) when it came through last night helped keep the damage in check. The squall line had serious potential though as it raced across our area. Shortly after it passed by Springfield, there was a significant change in the radar signatures that could have meant major trouble had it materialized. At one point there was a large core of opposing winds at well over 100 MPH in the upper levels, and radar was starting to pick up some TVS signatures but they were short-lived.

Today's severe weather will be farther north and east across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, then all attention will start focusing on Sunday. All indications are that a SIGNIFICANT severe weather episode will develop from MO into IL and IN. Areas from Kansas City to St. Louis and Quincy to Indianapolis could be in line for long-track tornadoes and EXTREMELY LARGE hail. This will not be a fun day for travel across these states. All of the ingredients are still coming together, but this outbreak could be very similar to the one we had that created the tornadoes here in Springfield earlier this month.

Stay tuned and stay safe! We'll be on the road in Indianapolis tomorrow but I'll update everything tomorrow morning and tomorrow night should conditions continue to develop.

Now we have a blizzard Warning in effect for tonight and tomorrow...

( BLIZZARD WARNING )

After another long day surveying damage in Springfield and then this afternoon and evening in Morgan County/Murrayville, I am speechless at the destruction and heartache. The personal stories of survival and the mere fact that nobody was killed on this night of deadly tornadoes is truly amazing to me. wxcub72 and I made it to a hotel for the night finally. We are some 50 miles south of Springfield tonight because all of the local hotels are booked. Still no progress on the power situation on our side of town. The pictures of the apartment complex on Gaines Mill Road in the link below are right behind our building. Tomorrow will definitely be a miserable way to spend a birthday, but I will continue the surveying of the Springfield area and Sangamon County. I just wish a few of my friends were nearby. It would make things a little easier. Missing someone in Chattanooga and someone in Atlanta tonight more than they will ever know. I almost feel like jumping in a car and driving down there just to get a hug from them. I also want to thank pornocub, nightfallcub, vamapper, and shelbycub for the messages they have sent both of us since yesterday morning offering help and voicing concern over our safety. Tomorrow night we should be back in Springfield at the 3rd hotel of the week. Take care of yourselves everyone!

( 3/14/06 Springfield damage pics )

( Morgan County/Murrayville damage pics )

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
900 PM CST MON MAR 13 2006

...PRELIMINARY DAMAGE SURVEY RESULTS FOR SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS...

AN ASSESSMENT TEAM FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN
SURVEYED THE DAMAGE FROM A TORNADO THAT STRUCK SPRINGFIELD DURING
THE EVENING OF SUNDAY MARCH 12. THE FINDINGS ARE AS FOLLOWS...

THE FIRST TORNADO CROSSED INTERSTATE 72 NEAR MILE POST 92 AROUND 820
PM. IT ENTERED THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD NEAR COCKRELL LANE AND
CONSTITUTION...TRACKING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST. THE TORNADO WAS ABOUT
300 YARDS WIDE AND PRODUCED F2 DAMAGE TO SEVERAL BUSINESSES FROM
CONSTITUTION TO VETERANS PARKWAY AND LINDBERGH BLVD.

THE TORNADO WIDENED TO ABOUT 0.4 MILE WIDE AS IT CONTINUED TO TRACK TO
THE EAST NORTHEAST SOUTH OF WABASH AVENUE...BETWEEN VETERANS PARKWAY
AND CHATHAM ROAD. THE TORNADO WIDENED FURTHER...TO JUST OVER ONE
HALF MILE WIDE FROM THE VILLAGE OF JEROME TO WESTCHESTER BLVD. THE
DAMAGE WAS RATED AS F2 ALONG WABASH AVENUE BETWEEN CHATHAM ROAD AND
MACARTHUR BLVD.

THE TORNADO THEN WEAKENED SLIGHTLY...PRODUCING F1 DAMAGE...AS IT
TURNED TO THE NORTHEAST...NEARLY PARALLEL WITH THE NORFOLK AND
WESTERN RAILROAD TRACKS. THE DAMAGE PATH REMAINED NEARLY ONE HALF
MILE WIDE. THE WIDTH OF THE TORNADO DECREASED TO ABOUT ONE QUARTER
MILE AS IT STRENGTHENED AGAIN...AND TURNED TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST
NEAR ILES PARK AND IN VICINITY OF OAK AND MYRTLE STREETS...BETWEEN
6TH AND 9TH STREETS. THE DAMAGE WAS RATED AS F2 IN THESE LOCATIONS
WITH ROOFS BLOWN OFF OF HOMES AND BUSINESSES AND GARAGES SEVERELY
DAMAGED. THIS TORNADO DISSIPATED JUST NORTH OF 9TH STREET AND SOUTH
GRAND AVENUE.

THIS FIRST TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND IN THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD FOR
NEARLY 5.5 MILES...FOR APPROXIMATELY 6 MINUTES BETWEEN 820 PM AND
826 PM. THE ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS WITH THIS F2 TORNADO WERE AROUND
120 MPH.

A SECOND TORNADO DEVELOPED AS THE FIRST TORNADO WAS DISSIPATING...
AROUND 825 PM. THIS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT ONE QUARTER MILE
NORTH OF THE BUNN PARK GOLF COURSE AND TRACKED TO THE NORTHEAST.
THE STRONGEST DAMAGE WAS BOUNDED BY 15TH STREET...CORNELL AVENUE...
SOUTH GRAND AVENUE...AND POPE AVENUE. SEVERAL HOMES HAD ROOFS TORN
OFF...WITH EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO POWER POLES AND LINES...ALONG WITH
NUMEROUS DOWNED TREES. THE TORNADO WAS ABOUT 300 YARDS WIDE AND
WAS RATED AS AN F2.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED TO TRACK NORTHEAST ACROSS OLD ROCHESTER ROAD
...SINGER AVENUE...AND COOK STREET FROM WHITE CITY BLVD TO A BLOCK
EAST OF DIRKSEN PARKWAY. THE TORNADO THEN CROSSED I-55 AT THE CLEAR
LAKE AVENUE INTERCHANGE...CAUSING DAMAGE TO MOBILE HOMES IN THE
AREA...AND OVERTURNING A SEMI TRUCK. THIS TORNADO DISSIPATED NEAR
OLD ROUTE 36...ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF A MILE SOUTHWEST OF THE
VILLAGE OF CLEAR LAKE.

THIS SECOND TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR NEARLY 4 MILES...FOR
APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES BETWEEN 825 PM AND 830 PM. THE ESTIMATED
WIND SPEEDS WITH THIS F2 TORNADO WERE ALSO AROUND 120 MPH.

FUJITA SCALE

F0   40 MPH TO 72 MPH
F1   73 MPH TO 112 MPH
F2  113 MPH TO 157 MPH
F3  158 MPH TO 206 MPH
F4  207 MPH TO 260 MPH
F5  261 MPH TO 318 MPH

DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM MEMBERS

CHRIS MILLER    WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
CHRIS GEELHART  HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL TECHNICIAN
MIKE HARDIMAN   METEOROLOGIST
ED MARTIN       ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS ANALYST
BOB RESIDE      SPRINGFIELD FIRE DEPARTMENT

Pics from today's damage surveys. We had issues accessing several of the hardest hit areas today but will try to get additional pics over the next few days as the cleanup continues. We are safe tonight at a hotel in Springfield and have running water, power, and food. We may have to do some jumping around the next few days as most hotels locally are fully booked, but hopefully we will continue to have a place to stay until power is fully restored to our neighborhood. Estimates as of this evening put the time frame from anywhere from mid-late week due to the extensive destruction of the power infrastructure in our area. Initially 65,000 people were estimated without power last night after the tornadoes struck. Now the estimate is down to 12,000. Many of those may take some time to be restored due to the extensive number of power poles downed. CWLP has ordered 400+ power poles sent to the area and crews from surrounding states have been called in. Springfield City schools will again be closed on Tuesday as over half of the school bus fleet has suffered damage, one high school is being used as an emergency shelter, and at least a dozen schools remain without power. The governor declared the county, along with 5 others, state disaster areas today. Stay tuned.

( Damage pics )

Just got back from a nice evening in town having dinner with our friend Roseanne ("our fag hag") at a local Chinese buffet. Got some good pics. She was being her usual flirty/slutty self and I think she gave David an eyeful. He has been suffering from blindness ever since. It was nice to get out and de-stress a little. We had to run out to Jacksonville earlier and I discovered an interesting new road sign along the way. It seems they have put a marker at the point where the 90 degree line runs (this is 1/4 of the way West around the world from where the international date line/GMT begins). Get out your globes and draw a line through Central Illinois west of Springfield and east of Jacksonville and you'll find the 90 degree point. Pretty neat.

Roseanne and David



Bear and Cub



Larry and Roseanne



90 degress west sign

We went to sleep last night watching a forecast of "scattered flurries" on Saturday and woke up to the sight of this...



very pretty, but unexpected. We actually got over 6 inches of lake effect snow bands from Lake Michigan. The stuff was coming straight down I-55, circulating around that massive ass low pressure system that is now winding its way up the East Coast. I bet the folks in New York City and northward don't wake up to as pretty of a sight in the morning. Blizzard conditions are forecasted up there. Stay safe everyone!