Oh Nooooooooo!

Aaaand…the M’s lost to the Angels 8-6. Hernandez got tagged for three homers, including a three-run blast from slugger Vladimir Guerrero in the 6th that put L.A. up over the Mariners. Of that last fateful pitch the Seattle Times quotes Mr. Hernandez as saying:

“I did what I wanted to do that at-bat. I threw that fastball because I wanted to. He hit it.”

Ah, the confidence of youth…or of Jupiter trine the Sun. As I said earlier, baseball IS a team sport, and there were good things popping up in Guerrero’s chart last night…the Sun was lighting up both his Mercury and Mars (in professional sports players, I seem to find Mercury to be on the prominent side…probably because of the hand-eye coordination aspect); he also had both Jupiter and Saturn approaching trine to his own Jupiter (from opposite ends) and Jupiter showing up in near direct opposition to his Mars. This latter would indicate something big, fat and lucky (as far as his desire/drive/energy is concerned) showing up externally…like a young pitcher throwing a fast ball right down the strike zone. Pow!

Anyway, this is just looking at only one batter…what about the two guys on base that Vlad knocked in? What about the earlier batters hitting homers off Felix? And the Mariners were up 5-4 prior to that three-run shot; there must have been some good things going on for the M’s batters, right?

Sure, maybe…but not necessarily. Ichiro bats consistently all year round…that’s just what he does. The stars can’t always “line up” for him…they’re probably going to mean more to his emotional make-up as anything else.

Same with Hernandez…he felt good about his pitches, he just didn’t get the job done. Hopefully, he sees how he can learn from the experience (Saturn trine Sun) and integrate the game into his psyche, making him a better ball player.

This is one excellent reason not to use astrology for directly picking the outcome of games (especially for betting folks). While you can look at charts for players (or even charts for a team!), my version of astrology is mainly concerned with the internal make-up and effects of the event…and a game can have positive effects even if the team registers an L instead of a W. For example the Seahawks failing to win Super Bowl XL was a pretty tough blow for a lot of Seattleites…but I see a helluva’ lot of Seahawks gear walking around Seattle these days (in the middle of May, no less!). Just playing in the big game brought a lot of pride to this town…and there were no post-game celebratory riots either!

Anyway, the other thing about team sports is that there’s a whole team of players to consider. In this game, I only looked at three players (Hernandez, Guerrero, and Weaver…Jered was pulled early, by the way). Looking at the emotional make-up of every single player on both teams compared to game-time…well, that’s more work than I want to do, even in the relatively short (16 game) NFL season!

All of these professional players are incredible athletes; that’s why they are paid to play the game. I have no doubt that your average WNBA player can smoke 90% of male and female basketball players on any given court…just as your average pro-football player would seem like Ladanian Tomlinson when lined up against the State varsity champs. Sure there are some players that are a cut above the rest (Peyton Manning or L.T. for example), but again it takes more than one or two “stars” to make a championship team.

Chemistry, chemistry, chemistry. Well, that and “good coaching;” which I would argue is also chemistry (most pro coaches being the equivalent of pro players, it’s a matter of getting the ones who can best communicate the game plan to a team for proper execution).

Back In The Saddle

Well, for the folks holding their breaths to see if I would continue writing my blog, you can now exhale. I was at NORWAC through Sunday, and then I was ill Monday and Tuesday (what a bummer…I didn’t even make it to Folk Life Festival this year, which is pretty darn disappointing!). Oh, well what can you do? I would definitely have made it to Folk Life on Monday if I hadn’t been flat on my back, and the conference was fantastic, well worth missing three days of food, festival, and fun.

Fact of the matter is, I learned a lot at NORWAC this weekend. What a great convention…much better and more fun than I imagined it would be. Highlights included working with the challenging energies of interceptions and T-squares, Neptune as a means to receiving and manifesting one’s dreams, and Uranus as a tool for blowing up old, conditioned patterns. Sessions on astrological timing (whether using the natal chart as a day clock to chart bio-rhythms or using the secondary progressed Moon with transiting Saturn) were also very useful, as were the discussions on astrology itself: ethically, professionally, and historically. It was also fantastic to receive lectures from authors whose books I own and respect; truly a wonderful experience.

And one I could blog about at length, if I let myself. Actually, I’m still digesting the ideas and discussions, incorporating them into myself. Probably, I’ll get to them over the next few days…if not on this blog, hopefully in my own astrological practice.

In addition to neglecting my blog, I’ve also been slacking on the sports pages. Last time I checked, the M’s were under .500 (again). Now six days and five wins later, they’re over .500 and within shouting distance of the Angels. Tonight, they are again playing in L.A. and have a pretty good chance of finishing the series with a win. After all, Hernandez is pitching tonight and this is a pretty good time for him from an astrological point of view…Jupiter is trine his Sun giving him a jovial, confident feeling. At the same time, Saturn is trine his Sun (from the other side of the chart) making sure he keeps that confidence disciplined, doing what he needs to do without going overboard. It’s hard to tell for certain without his actual birth time, but it would appear Mars is closing in on his Sun and Moon, making him fiery and energetic both inside and out, and is also moving trine Felix’s natal Saturn, giving him courage to take on his normal fears, doubts, and self limits.

It appears the Angels will be starting Jered Weaver (younger brother of “the Weave”), quite fitting opposition as his Sun sign Libra directly opposite Felix’s Sun sign Aries. The stars aren’t nearly as energetic for Jered tonight, so he’s going to need help from the rest of his team…lucky for him, baseball is a team sport and Libra’s are excellent team players.

Hmmm…I might actually have to watch this game.

Football’s my normal sport, and I couldn’t help but notice the ridiculous article in USA Today about the 49ers having a shot at number one in the NFC West. Even if I wasn’t a Seattle fan, this article would smell pretty offensive. The fact that 61% of voters polled are saying Frisco can win the West is…well, it’s disgusting to be quite frank, and I would say it smacks of some pretty severe ignorance!

‘Course, it appears that my Scorpio insecurities have gotten all riled up…probably because the article fails to account for or mention my Seattle Seahawks (with the exception of former Seahawks now playing/coaching for San Fran). Here’s the Note of the Day: if you’re going to talk about who’s the top team and whose going to the play-offs in the NFC West, you’d better be mentioning the Seattle Seahawks. Let me refresh your memory:

2004 – 1st in the NFC West
2005 – 1st in the NFC West
2006 – 1st in the NFC West

Not a bad track record for the ‘Hawks the last couple years, and I’m not expecting a drop-off till 2009 or so. Right now, the road to #1 in the NFC West definitely necessitates going through the Pacific Northwest...please don't insult my intelligence!

But, hey, I realize I’m not at my most objective right now. Tell ya’ what: I’ll do an astrological work-up on the 49ers and we’ll see what we see. Maybe Alex Smith and Frank Gore are worth putting money on...but I wouldn't bet on it!

Me...the Busy Bee

This week has been a little busy for me and it’s going to be tricky for me to get anything posted the next couple days. This weekend is NORWAC (the Northwest Astrological Conference), and I shall be attending Friday through Sunday. Between that, trying to get into the gym, and cleaning the house (not to mention a couple other projects) I’m not going to have the time to blog as much.

Well…we’ll see. Maybe I’ll get some stuff out in the evenings.

New book seen at Elliott Bay Book Company today: Tales from the Seattle Mariners Dugout. With a big grinning photo of Ichiro on the cover. Man, I am tempted to pick this up just for blog-fodder!

Ichiro, by the by, is a pretty interesting character…deserving of a whole separate post of his own on this site. Today, I’d just like to point out the retrograde Mars in his birth chart…so easy to dismiss someone’s athletic potential simply because of an incomplete astrological understanding of the ol' backwards Mars (or lack of other considerations…you know; free will and stuff). Wish my free will was stronger…I was only born three weeks later then the Japanese superstar, but you don’t see me re-defining a sport.

I’d blame the difference on Ichiro’s Mars being in Taurus while mine is in Ares, but that would be short-changing pro-bowler and Super Bowl champion Lawyer Milloy whose birthday is just one day after mine (and also has his retrograde Mars in Ares). Ah, well.

Dancing With Skates

Congrats to local boy Apolo Ohno for winning this season’s Dancing With The Stars. Although I don’t actually watch the show, I do read the front page of the newspapers while standing in line for coffee every morning.

And that’s about all I want to say. Although competitive dancing could be considered a team sport, Mr. Ohno is still only an un-paid amateur athlete and this blog discusses professional sports (and astrology, of course). Apolo: please give us a call when you go pro!

(for those who are curious: Apolo does have Mars and Saturn in Libra in the 6th house; he also has both Moon and Sun in the 2nd house, although the Moon is in Taurus and Sun is in Gemini. Moon and Mars and Saturn are all ruled by Venus in Aries in the 12th, conjunct Apolo’s Ascendant…Mr. Ohno may well want to save and invest any money he does earn through his natural hard-working self, making sure it's diversified across many blue chip and conservative options…this will make him feel better/more secure as well as keep his funds from “magically” disappearing. Ah, youth!)

Musings on the Salary Cap

As I sat at the bar last night, eating my cheeseburger and watching a string of Yankee bruisers step to the plate and clobber the heck out of the Red Sox, three thoughts continued to run through my mind:

- the pub is more fun when my wife’s in town
- soggy jalapenos are worthless
- thank God the NFL has a hard salary cap

What was the final score of last night’s game? I left at the bottom of the 6th with New York batting, no outs, and up 6-1.

(okay, just checked USA Today…final score was 6-2; guess I saw most of the damage)

For two or three innings it really seemed I was watching a line of clones, as successive large men struggling to look thin in pin stripes (and horribly failing), continued to chop mercilessly at Boston’s pitchers.

Not that I don’t love to hate the Yankees (like everyone), but I am more than satisfied with the way the salary cap has increased parity in the NFL. Instead of hating whole teams we can now single out individual players for enmity: like Tom Brady and Terrell Owens, for example.

The only downside to the implementation of the NFL’s 1994 salary cap appears to be the way players so rarely end up finishing their careers on the same team. The days of Steve Largent playing an entire 13 year career for the Seahawks would appear to be over.

Or is it?

Actually, the salary cap appears to have been more a response to the development of free agency in the NFL than anything else. Prior to 1989, if a team tried to “steal” a veteran from another team (by offering a more lucrative contract), the NFL commissioner would “compensate” the team losing the player by taking something of “equivalent value” (usually draft picks) from the team signing the free agent and awarding it to the agent’s former team. This fairly arbitrary method of penalizing teams (called the “Rozelle Rule”) prevented most teams from even negotiating with players on other teams.

From 1989 to 1992, the NFL engaged in Plan B Free Agency, under which only 37 players from each team could be designated as subject to a reserve clause in their contract (i.e. the Rozelle Rule). However, due to anti-trust lawsuits, by 1993 the NFL had changed free agency to the form in which it exists today.

The implementing of a hard salary cap, along with a hard salary floor (minimum) and revenue sharing has allowed NFL teams to compete on a pretty darn even footing. In addition, it appears to have had some other side effects:

- teams have to be smarter about how they scout and draft players, paying more attention to issues of character and chemistry
- teams are less likely to keep “problem” players on pay-roll
- players have been forced to consider what is more important to them: consistency and team-building or going where the money is

There are still players that are finishing up their careers on the teams with which they have become associated. Brett Favre has continued to play with the Green Bay Packers since 1992, and is a fixture of the Pack as Vince Lombardi. DE Cortez Kennedy chose to retire a Seahawk in 2000 rather than take contract offers from other teams. Both Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were allowed to sign contracts with their former teams (the 49ers and Cowboys respectively) at the end of their careers so that they could retire as members of their original team.

Teams also have their own methods of honoring players, whether it is retiring their jersey numbers or inducting them into a “Ring of Honor;” Dave Krieg was inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor despite playing nearly half of his 18 year career on other teams (of course, Krieg is among the most beloved of former Seahawk players).

I don’t think the salary cap prevents players from staying with their teams (though Lawyer Milloy might disagree) any more than free agency forces players to move. I have a strong suspicion that if free agency had been an option in the past, some players would have taken advantage of the opportunity…and others would not have. Would Jim Brown have played for a team other than Cleveland if free agency had been available? It’s certainly possible...and he may have ended up playing for more than nine years if there’d been a team that’d taken him after his dispute with Art Modell.

What does any of this have to do with astrology? Not much, really…unless you want to look at birth dates of NFL Commissioners.

Pete Rozelle (Commissioner 1960-1989) Pisces
Paul Tagliabue (Commissioner 1989-2006) Sagittarius

Pisces is all about encompassing the whole, “merging with the cosmos,” swimming in the big picture, and adapting to circumstance. Pisces is also extremely emotional, sentimental, and super empathetic. Any wonder that the NFL under Rozelle’s leadership merged with the AFL, glommed onto television, and encountered boundary issues (like “family fights” with Al Davis and other owners). In the chaos of the beginnings of what is now the modern NFL, Rozelle was the perfect adaptable commissioner to swim with the ebb and flow…but is it any wonder the salary cap and free agency issues were ill-defined?

Sagittarius on the other hand is all about expansion and freedom…but done so not for the sake of exploration alone as for the creation of new paradigms. Creation of more franchises, allowance of free movement (both players and teams), and ballooning of salaries would all be expected under a Sag commissioner. What’s more interesting is the creation of a salary cap (limits?!) and the restrictions associated with free agency under his leadership…but of course, the NFL is influenced by more than a single person and there still is a lot more freedom than in the past. Also, Sag is the sign that rules lawyers and organized religion…it’s all about the creation of a new big paradigm that gives a place to hang all those little bitty facts, rules, and dogma.

The current commissioner, Roger Goodell, is an Aquarius. Under his direction, I would expect to see some non-traditional, “outside the box” thinking (Aquarius is the genius/nutty professor sign). Goodell has begun discussing the possibility of expanding the NFL outside of the USA, which would be a first. Of course, Aquarius is an organizer more than an initiator, so Goodell might only lay the groundwork rather than actually give expansion teams to Toronto or Vancouver or something. He might simply organize some sort of “world championship” between teams from different national leagues (a “World Cup” of American football). Aquarius is also the sign that rules both television and computers; I’d expect to see more active NFL involvement in both under Goodell’s leadership (streaming NFL podcasts, etc.).

By contrast, the Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig, is a Big Leo. Commissioner since 1998 (“acting” Commish since 1992), Selig seems to have a lot of the stereotypical Leo archetype…i.e. the need to look good, the need to not look bad. A fixed, organizing sign (like Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio) Bud is not likely to implement much in the way of “changes” to the MLB, but appears ready to make whatever arrangements he can to draw attention/focus to it. Lots of strangeness has thus occurred under Selig’s watch: far too many to list here (though “tie” games and congressional hearings on steroids do stand out). But Selig has certainly managed to have his name remembered and associated with baseball (um…not necessarily the same as being a good Commissioner). Ah, fame.

The "Dope" on Doping, Etc.

I was having a drink with friends Friday night, and one of ‘em asked if I could or would post a piece about American cyclist Floyd Landis and the recent investigation into his possible use of performance enhancing substances. She also asked if I would cover the whole Greg LeMond part of the story.

Unfortunately, there’s not much I can say about the story. While I have mentioned more than once my interest in astrology and team chemistry I was not speaking of chemistry set steroid abuse. Despite my strong opinions on the use of steroids and chemical enhancements (bad, bad), I don’t have much interest in these particular sports dramas, except insofar as they affect the action on the field, so to speak. Furthermore, there’s really no good way for astrology to prove or dis-prove drug allegations (nor should it! That’s not the way to use it!), nor even if a person might have a proclivity towards using performance enhancers.

For example, let’s look at the homerun hitter, Barry Bonds. While Mr. Bonds has always been a great ball player, his statistics improved dramatically beginning in 1999, around the time it is alleged he began taking steroids and performance enhancers.

There’s plenty in Barry’s chart to indicate a potential for greatness, especially in athletic endeavors. Sun in Leo in the 8th house combines expression-creativity with passionate-obsessive-intensity. Ascendant Sagittarius ruled by Jupiter in 5th house Taurus is someone who shows up larger than life based on his own internal resources, broadcast for all to see. Moon in 2nd house Aquarius makes for an emotionally private and detached individual; though his emotional nature has the potential to alienate others, he has potential motional inner strength to do what he feels is necessary “for the greater good” (as defined by his own particular perception). Mr. Bond’s Part of Fortune is exactly conjunct (within 13’, i.e. less than .25 degrees) his Mars in Gemini in the 7th, and both are conjunct his Venus by less than 3 degrees; all three are ruled by Mercury also in Leo in the 8th. Finally, Barry has his South Node in Capricorn in the 1st house; for a karmic perspective he brings self-mastery and personal diligence into this life (what he needs to work on is emotionally relating to others – North Node in Cancer in the 7th – but that’s a whole different story!).

Nothing specifically in Mr. Bond’s astrological chart indicates that he might turn to the use of performance enhancers for an “edge.” He does have Chiron in Pisces in the 3rd house ruled by the dispositor Neptune in Scorpio in the 11th. Chiron is a comet, not a planet, and in astrology it indicates how one might harm himself, harm others, or be harmed by the world around him. Pisces, Neptune, Scorpio, and the 8th and 12th houses have all been traditionally known as places to look for potential substance abuse in a person’s chart. But generally (in astrology) the reasons behind drug and alcohol abuse (at least, as associated with these signs) is because of tendencies towards escapism (Pisces-12th) or obsession-compulsion (Scorpio-8th) with a lot of boundary issues mixed-in. Personally, I’m not sure performance enhancement drugs really fall into the same category.

What I find more telling for Mr. Bonds is the context of his life. Barry is the son of Bobby Bonds (a former Major League All-Star for the Giants), cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, and godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays. That’s a lot of greatness to live up to, although by 1998 he’d managed to eclipse his father’s homerun record and had nearly equaled his stolen base total (he would beat it in 2000).

In 1998, Barry had some difficulties due to injury, and although his numbers were up to the same level as the prior year by the end of the season, for the most part they were down from earlier seasons. Barry turned 34 that season…one year younger than the age at which his father retired. In 1999, Bonds would be passed over being named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, though Ken Griffey Jr. (with lesser stats) and Mark McGwire (admitted steroid user) made the cut.

Could the thought of getting old or missing out on accolades led to the use of pharmaceutical enhancements to sustain a career be a far stretch?

As has been mentioned before, a person’s Sun sign colors and influences every part of one’s personality; this is why the Sun sign is considered so important in a person's chart. A Sun in the Leo in 8th (which is like saying “in Leo and Scorpio”) is a person whose need is to shine brightly as a living creative expression of possibility. Leo (like the Sun that rules it) is the way in which we channel the divine through our own individual ego. Leos can be examples of possibility to those of us who are only “mere mortals.” In the negative, they can appear as arrogant, but for the most part they are simply doing what comes naturally to their personality…shining, and getting attention.

Scorpio, on the other hand, is about the intensity of desire and focused will. They are the “higher octave” of the Mars energy, bringing passion and volcanic energy to their endeavors in a way that doesn’t simply initiate new experiences, but transforms (themselves and others) through their experiences. Scorpio is the sign of the Phoenix that burns itself to dust in order to re-create itself. Like Leo, this regenerative process can be done in both the positive and the negative.

Here are a couple examples of how this Sun combination can play out:

Example #1: The superstar finds that because of age and/or mileage he can’t quite perform quite as brilliantly as he once did. He accepts the reality of his changing nature (everyone changes over time), assesses the attributes he has and the skills he’s acquired, and re-creates himself in a new role that allows him to still shine as an example for others. Perhaps he becomes the veteran ball player, coaching others in the art of slugging and stealing. Perhaps he serves as an example in locker room, showing maturity and leadership. Perhaps he becomes a philanthropist, using his fame and fortune to help the less fortunate and showing others how even a single person can make a difference in the lives of others. He may even withdraw from the public spotlight, and focus his energy simply as a light for the smaller circle of his family or community.

Example #2: The superstar faces the same challenge as in the 1st example, but instead cannot let go of his ego attachment to the prestige and accolades he has built up over the years. He is afraid that “re-creating” himself in a new arena will be too challenging, too boring, or simply doesn’t attach the same value or “worthiness” to other possible endeavors. “Lesser roles” are for lesser men, may be his perception; alternatively, he may feel that he has more to prove, and fails to realize he is already that which he wants to be: a shining example to others, an expression of the possibility of his profession. Fighting to stay in his current position, he turns to anything that will give him “new life” in his chosen path…whether he finds herbal supplements, or digs into darker methods of maintaining/improving himself makes no real difference. The fact is, he is still re-creating himself, but in a way that promotes his own ego attachment, no longer trusting in the natural cycles of the universe (what some might call the “divine plan”). There may be unfortunate side-effects (physical, social, emotional) for failing to honor the rhythm of life, but the main danger is passing on the opportunity of evolving into a new stage of life.

I’m not saying either of the above examples describes Mr. Bonds’s life, but both are possible choices that exist for the Leo-Scorpio Sun sign. Regardless of which choice a person (Bonds or anyone) makes, the universe continues to place challenges and life lessons in our path…there is no “easy” road. Each choice has consequences and new tests for us to take. But some people prefer the path they know to the path that is un-familiar…even though the new path may lead to more exponential growth.

So back to Mr. Landis and his challenges: unlike Barry Bonds, Floyd is a Sun-sign Libra. Like Bonds, he has Mars in Gemini and his Moon in Aquarius; otherwise, that’s where the similarities end. Unfortunately, I don’t have Mr. Landis’s exact time of birth, so I can’t speak with absolute certainty, though I’d hazard the guess that he was born in the early afternoon (around 3:40pm).

Mr. Landis and Mr. Bonds also appear to have had VERY different upbringings. Floyd was raised in a Mennonite community and his father was actively discouraging of his bicycle riding at the beginning of his career. However, more information would be necessary to see if and how his background factors into his personality.

Again, there can be dozens of contributing reasons why a person may have resorted to performance enhancing pharmaceuticals to provide an edge in professional sports. For a Libra, there is always an issues of independence versus co-dependence. As mentioned, Libras don’t like folks to be unhappy…unhappy people are a source of disharmony and lack of balance. One would think that the Libra personality would abhor any kind of cheating or drug use, as this would be “unfair” to the other competitors, resulting in an “uneven” playing field.

However, as a Libra leader seeking balance, perhaps there was a feeling/compulsion to “step up” for the competition, in order to not let the team down. The Tour de France is indeed a team sport. Lance Armstrong had helped the American team to victory for seven consecutive years (hmmm…most dominant player in a team sport? See earlier posts).

But in 2006, Mr. Armstrong was retired and victory not nearly as sure for the American team; Landis, after all, only placed 9th in the 2005 Tour. Is it possible that Floyd felt a need to do something, anything to ensure he wouldn’t let down American cycling fans or fellow teammates? Sure it is.

But is it possible that his claim of innocence and theory of increased levels of natural testosterone is true? Maybe…it may have taken a lot of…um…"guts" to break out of the normal mold of the dutiful Mennonite son. Floyd may have all sorts of interesting stuff going on in his body as well as his natal horoscope (if only I had his birth time!). However, his defense theories sound a bit more like the Libra devil’s advocate using its creative intellect to grasp at straws.

Anyway, as with Mr. Bonds, the situation gives Mr. Landis an opportunity for growth and development as he meets these new challenges (his trial, life after being removed from the cycling team, negative press coverage). Like all of us, he’ll be able to use his own free will to determine how he meets those challenges.

What’s up with the Bucs? (QB Controversy Part 2)

After a great fill-in season last year, Jeff Garcia has certainly showed he can still start in the NFL. It was only a question of where he was going to end up (Philly has too much invested in McNabb to dump him, knee surgery or no).

So now he’s landed with the Bucs, a team that could’ve really used a good fill-in starter when Chris Simms went down in the 3rd game of last season.

And now both are competing for the job in Tampa.

American football is a team sport; in many ways it is really the epitome of team sports. Each position is so specialized, and each so necessary, that a team is incapacitated, not just diminished, by a vacancy in any section. A soccer or hockey team can still score when short-handed, a baseball team can fill spots with “designated hitters” and “pinch runners,” and the Sonics had the best record in the NBA in 1994 without fielding a true Center (we just used three forwards in those days).

You can’t do that in the NFL.

So being the ultimate team sport, team chemistry is that much more important. An NFL team is like a many-tentacled Kraken…and those limbs all need to work in concert to be an effective team.

And this applies to the relationship between coaches and players as well. Does anyone (well, any astrologers anyway) think it strange that Mike Holmgren (Gemini) has had such an outstanding rapport with his QBs over the years?

- Steve Young (Libra)
- Brett Favre (Libra)
- Matt Hasselbeck (Libra)

(for the non-astrologers reading…Libra and Gemini harmonize well due to the shared Air-Intellectual quality of the signs)

Sometimes I think folks forget about Jon Gruden (well, at least outside of Tampa). It wasn’t too many years ago he was showing up regularly on television…both as a Raider and as a Buc coach. As a big Leo, Mr. Gruden is quite “shiny and expressive;” it’s strange to me that both he and the Bucs have been so quiet in the years since winning the Super Bowl.

Yes, yes…I realize they limped into the 2005 play-offs on the legs of Cadillac Williams. But I’m talking about being a big splash in the NFC, not being a speed bump to other teams. The team needs all the pieces to be a real contender.

So let’s take a quick look at the Bucs QB position, especially in relation to the head coach (chemistry, remember!):

Coach Gruden is a big Leo (I always add the “big” as a prefix when talking about Leos…it just feels right, somehow…). In addition to a big, expressive personality Mr. Gruden has prided himself on his ability as a MOTIVATOR. The advanced Lion grows beyond simply expressing themselves (um…roaring, so to speak), to a place where they can encourage others to find their own inner “king of the jungle.” Of course, it’s challenging to keep one’s own ego small when you have a direct pipeline to the source of creativity…but, hey, we’ve all got our challenges, you know?

Besides which, Jon has more in his chart than just Leo…he’s got Venus right on top of his Sun, making him quite the harmonizer (similar to a Sun-sign Libra). He also has Mercury, Uranus, and Pluto all firmly in Virgo gifting him with a critical, analyzing mind fueled by some heavy hitting planets.

Unfortunately, without knowing Mr. Gruden’s exact birth time, it is difficult know just exactly how heavy-hitting we’re talking. For a variety of reasons, I wouldn’t be too surprised to find out he was born in the early afternoon.

ANYWAY…let’s look at the coach’s chemistry with his Tampa QBs:

Brad Johnson – Virgo
Brian Griese – Pisces
Chris Simms – Virgo
Jeff Garcia – Pisces

Interesting.

Virgo and Pisces are OPPOSITE signs in the zodiac. Whereas Virgo is all about critical analysis and refining of minutiae and facts, Pisces is the most “cosmic” of the signs…the Fish swim in a sea of faith and mysterious intuition. Virgo’s challenge is to not get obsessed with every little tiny piece of the puzzle; Pisces’s challenge is establishing some boundaries and not just absorbing everything going on around them.

Thing about opposite signs is that they can balance and compliment each other; Pisces learns how to focus from Virgo, and Virgo learns how to stop counting beans and make leaps of faith.

Now let’s dig a bit deeper.

Brad has Jupiter right on top of his Sun. Jupiter is a huge planet and colors the Sun Sign, giving it the expansive optimism, confidence, and energy…almost as if Brad was a Sun Sign Sagittarius with an analytical nature. Coach Gruden has his Jupiter in Aries, his Sun, Moon, and Venus in Leo…he enjoys fiery, exuberant folks (a good reason to have a profession in sports, really). And if he can connect with his player on a mental level (Virgo Mercury with Virgo Sun), so much the better. Let’s get together and figure out how to win a Super Bowl!

Brian is a Pisces, the exact opposite personality as Brad; except that he, too, has Jupiter right on top of his Sun. Another optimistic, energetic, exuberant personality; what fun! But as a Pisces he may have some difficulty making the mental connection. It depends on a lot of other factors, of course, but Pisces is more likely to just “pick things up” (i.e. from the Universe) than to get overly enthused about watching tape.

Cut to Chris…a Virgo’s Virgo’s Virgo (Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn all in Virgo). His Jupiter is close to the Sun (within 11 degrees), but not enough to carry the exuberance of Brad and Brian; he will enjoy watching tape, though. Chris also has his Mars in Scorpio, bringing a scary intensity of willpower to what he enjoys doing (I’m guessing, here: playing football). Coach Gruden is going to have an affinity with young Mr. Simms.

Finally: Mr. Garcia. Another Pisces. One with a competitive spirit (Mars in Aries). One with a brilliant mind (Mercury in Aquarius). A guy with Jupiter in Scorpio (which could be a whole post in and of itself). But I don’t see anything to indicate a strong, or at least an immediate, rapport with the head coach. Or course, a full chart might reveal some mitigating factors, and I’ve only got the basics here.

On the other hand, one thing about Pisces, they are the most malleable and adaptable of all the zodiac. You know how water takes the shape of any container into which it is poured? That’s Pisces. Along with a competitive spirit, a brilliant mind, and an obsessive, intense intuition, you’ve got a player who can step into a situation (say a starting position when the main man goes down with injury) and squish into shape with minimal effort. Not every player has it that easy.

(One example of another adaptable guy: Frank Reich. Being responsible for the largest comeback in both NCAA football history and NFL history, in both games Mr. Reich came off the bench to replace an injured quarterback. While Frank has no planets in Pisces, the final signature for his horoscope is Pisces (adaptable-water) and his Part of Fortune is in Pisces; I’d be interested in knowing Frank’s time of birth to check 12th house planets)

ANYWAY (what a digression!) it’ll be interesting to see who Coach Gruden decides to start this year, and how they’ll fare throughout the season. I’d expect Chris to start if his health is up to it, though Garcia should be just as capable to step in if Mr. Simms goes down. Hopefully, Mr. Gruden won’t do any more analyzing then necessary, and will be able to make his own mental “leap of faith” when it comes to choosing a QB. Just two more notes:

1) In addition to chemistry with the coach, a QB needs chemistry with his receivers. Both Joey Galloway and the newly added TE Jeramy Stevens are Scorpios (both originally from Seattle…can you believe it?!). Scorpios get along famously with both Virgo and Pisces…both should have no problems hooking up for big gains.

2) Although he said he will retire rather then play for Tampa, Jake “the Snake” Plummer is still listed on the Bucs depth chart and roster as of this date. Jake is a Sagittarius…exuberant, enthusiastic, confident. I won’t be too surprised if Gruden somehow gets Jake to play for the Bucs, nor will I be extremely shocked if Jake convinces the coach to let him start the season. But I would be extremely shaken if Plummer finished the season as the starter, and I would not put money on the Snake taking the Bucs into the play-offs this season!

Quarterback Controversies

Brett Favre has been in the news all week regarding stuff he said, stuff he retracted, blowing off mini-camp, deciding to go to mini-camp. Back & forth, back & forth…you’d think the guy was a Libra or something.

He is.

However, all these things are non-issues (and pretty much non-news). Favre will play for the Pack and, God-willing, finish out his career in Green Bay. Everyone has to vent now and then (one of the reasons for starting a blog), and things get blown out of proportion by the media when you are a high-profile athlete celebrity…especially during the off-season.

Libras get a bad rap for being wishy-washy at times. In the past, I have referred to them as the Big Waffles of the zodiac. These days, I have much more respect for the Scales and their capabilities. And I’m not just talking about their ability to carry on two sides of a conversation with no help from other people.

(fun party trick with your Libra friends: start arguing one side of an issue, and get them to play devil’s advocate, then switch to agreement with your Libra pal and watch them take apart their own point just to provide balance…hours of entertainment!)

No…I’m talking about their GREAT CREATIVE INTELLECT and their NEED FOR HARMONY.

These traits are what make Libra such stellar leaders. Libra is one of the four CARDINAL, leadership signs of the zodiac (along with Aries, Cancer, and Capricorn). These are the signs of the self-starter, the initiators of action. Of course, they all have a different motivation for their leadership:

- Aries has the need to experience new things, to blaze a path, to explore
- Cancer has the need to nurture the young, and protect the family/tribe
- Capricorn has the need to establish something of lasting value, a solid legacy

Libra’s need is to promote harmony and balance, and their great strength is their intellectual creativity. This is the sign of the diplomat, as “balance” is often achieved through effective communication and the ability to express ideas from multiple points of view, helping to build consensus (or at least compromise) from many disparate perspectives.

Hoo-boy! That’s a mouthful.

But Libra would probably call that a “fair” assessment. Team-building is the name of the game for Libra’s…they aren’t just the ultimate team player, they practically invented the idea of getting everyone involved and sharing the ball!

But doesn’t a leader need to sometimes make hard decisions, take a single stand and stick to it? Doesn’t a leader have to sometimes take the lone path in order to set an example for others?

Sure…and as with any sign, Libra has challenges that need to be met in order to reach its full potential. But the Libra that has grown and evolved knows (with that great intellect) that effective leadership requires a balance between consensus-building and independence. They need to cultivate both in themselves in order to have INNER harmony. When in doubt, Libras may err on the side of “trying to please everyone,” but with experience they find that real harmony sometimes requires a bit of disgruntlement in some folks.

Choices can be tough for Libras, though. Like: do I create harmony in my family (by showing up for a child’s school event) or do I create harmony in my workplace (by showing up for mini-camp). Sometimes, one choice is mutually exclusive of another and this can lead to a terrible agony in the Libra as the individual goes through profound mental gymnastics to try to justify the “right” decision. For example:

Do I let down my team or do I let down my family? (aaarggh!)
o If I fail to show up as a leader and example, it makes the team harder to harmonize.
o If I get special treatment, this can be perceived as being “un-fair” or un-balanced, disrupting team harmony.
o If I disrupt the harmony of my team, we won’t play to our full potential.
o If we don’t play to our full potential, it will disappoint the city and our fans.
o If people are upset, I will be upset.
o When I am upset, I cannot act in my fullest potential as a player, as a leader, or as a husband/father for my family.
o I don’t want to have a whole season of disrupting harmony in my family (caused by my own upset), so I should not let down my team.

So then the Libra picks team over family, still feels the dis-harmony from his home life, disrupting performance on the field and leading to future upsets!

I’m not saying this is how Mr. Favre’s particular thinking went (for all I know, financial/contractual obligations play a larger part of his inner “harmony-meter”). But I am attempting to illustrate how the Libra personality can suffer for its own “big brain” and “need for harmony,” and that it is this that sometimes leads to the “Waffle Effect” (putting off decisions in order to put off the agony).

The more experienced Libras have learned that:

- all choices made lead to consequences (good and bad)
- the sooner one makes a choice, the sooner one can deal with the consequences (attempting to create balance and harmony in the new situation)

Now I know I’ve previously posted that there is more to a person’s astrological inclinations than just their Sun sign; so why am I harping on about Libra this and that? Well (here’s a switcheroo, just for the Libras out there!), in general, the sign and placement of a person’s Sun is the most important part of his or her birth chart.

The Sun is the basic expression of a person’s ego and identity.

The Sun colors everything in the chart, adding extra dimension to every other inclination, tendency.

The Sun is the person most people get to know, once they get past the first impression/acquaintance stage of first meeting someone.

But aside from all that, Mr. Favre is a pretty big Libra. Although I can’t do a full chart for him (I don’t know his time of birth), I can say that in addition to the Sun, Brett has the Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, and Uranus all in the sign of Libra. Having 5 of 10 planets (including both luminaries) in Air signs and 6 of 10 in Cardinal signs, the “final signature” of Mr. Favre’s chart is indeed Libra.

Hmmm…the other thing I wanted to talk about was the Bucs, but I’ll save that for another post.

Damn You blogcarnival.com!

Unfortunately, it appears I misread the submission guidelines and the blogcarnival deadline was May 15th. So my whole Moon-theme post is out the window. Ah, well.

The next astrology carnival has the theme of Jupiter Square Uranus.

Um…did I mention Babe Zaharias’s Uranus in Capricorn is square her Jupiter (within six degrees)? Hmmm…appears I didn’t address it in the blog. Well, maybe next month.

Greatest All-Around Athlete of the 20th Century

Originally, this was going to piece an analysis of Jim Thorpe, especially regarding Mars as it relates to his chart. However, I then got it into my head to submit a post to the astrology carnival on blogcarnival.com so I had to switch my subject from a Gemini to a Cancer (the theme this month was “the Moon”). Instead of looking at the greatest all-around male athlete, I’ll be discussing the greatest all-around female athlete.

Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias

We’ll just call her Babe Zaharias…it’s easier.

The Babe (so nicknamed after hitting five home runs in a single ball game) was, like Thorpe, both a multiple Olympic gold medalist in track and field and a professional athlete. She played both basketball and baseball and was reportedly excellent in tennis, diving, roller-skating, and bowling. However, her greatest mark was made as a professional golfer, a profession she dominated until her death at the young age of 45. She was the first female golfer to play in the men’s PGA (beginning in 1935), and the last woman to do so until Annika Sorenstam in 2003. At one point, she won 17 amateur titles in a row, a feat that has never been duplicated. By 1950 she had won every golf title available.

I managed to find a horoscope on-line for the Babe including both the time and place of birth. Unfortunately, it used the year 1914 as her birth year, and per the Babe’s baptismal certificate and tombstone, her actual year of birth was 1911…a fairly significant difference.

Mrs. Zaharias (her married name) was indeed a Sun-sign Cancer, and had the Moon in Cancer as well (conjunct the Sun within two degrees). That’s about as Cancer as they come. For the non-astrologers out there: Cancer, the sign of the Crab, is ruled by that other great luminary of the night sky: the Moon. Of the planets an astrologer reviews when analyzing a chart the Moon is on a pretty equal footing with the Sun…while the Sun represents the ego and identity of a person, the Moon represents “what lies beneath,” the subconscious and emotional life of a person. The Sun is the Father and Yang; the Moon is the Mother and Yin. Since the Babe’s Sun is in Cancer, the dispositor (the planet that governs, controls, and colors) is the Moon…and the Moon is in its own sign, Cancer. And it is conjunct the Sun. With this kind of lay-out we are looking at a person with a powerful ego-identity, linked and in synch with her subconscious-emotional identity. Pretty heady stuff considering that emotions are what we use to power pretty much everything we do…they're generally what gets us out of bed in the morning.

Add to this the fact that the Sun and Moon are both in the 10th house and the Sun is conjunct Pluto…well, this is an identity that is going to explode with volcanic force into the world and make a mark that everyone recognizes.

“Before I was in my teens I knew exactly what I wanted to be: I wanted to be the best athlete that ever lived.”
- Babe Zaharias


So here is a soul with a tendency or inclination towards greatness in the world (it doesn’t hurt that Jupiter in Scorpio trines her Sun and Moon…this just makes confidence...and obssessiveness!...come naturally). Now some of the non-astrologers reading this blog may be wondering what the Cancer-type personality is all about.

It’s the money, honey.

Well all right, that’s not literally true (though Cancer LaDainian Tomlinson’s recent refusal to appear on the new Madden NFL game was certainly attributed to the appearance fee and not to any “Madden Curse”). But Cancer IS about security. Cancer is the Mom of the zodiac, and Mom needs to be able to build a nice secure nest to raise and pamper (not spoil!) her children. Security is important for this, and money makes Cancers (and most folks) feel more secure.

Cancers are also sensitive, emotional creatures. There is a good reason for their sign being the Crab…they need a hard, cold shell to protect all that soft, sensitive meat inside them. Cancers are big softies, but they are easily hurt (emotionally speaking), so they protect themselves. Again security (“protection”) is important.

On the other hand, Cancer’s basic nature is not to cower and skulk…they are a cardinal leadership sign. This is the sign of the Matriarch (mom, again) and they motivate and assemble their “family members” through their high-powered emotional energy, generally willing and able to do what’s best and necessary for their “tribe.” I add the quotes to emphasize that Cancer’s protective aura doesn’t just extend to blood relations; Cancer will mother whomever she adopts into her community circle.

Babe Zaharias co-founded the LPGA.

So why the heck would she ever decide to make a lifetime out of athletic achievement? Why not just settle down as a “real” mom and raise a family? This is a woman that didn’t live to see the 1960’s, after all.

Certainly we can’t say for sure what motivated the Babe without actually discussing things with her. Being born in 1911, she would have lived through and probably remembered the Suffrage movement and women gaining the right to vote in 1920. Who can say what influence her own mother was for the young Mildred? I don’t have that information available to me.

I can say that her Mars was in the sign of Aries…the Babe was a born fighter. If she had been born earlier she may well have been a Suffragette herself; having seen the culmination of the movement, she instead applied her energies to other competitive arenas.

In addition, her Mars is trine to Venus in Leo. The placement of Venus represents a person’s essential needs…what they feel they need to do, and what they will feel compelled to do, either constructively or destructively. The Babe’s placement of Venus in Leo gives an inclination to express one’s own personal creativity, to shine like a star. For some folks this might appear as a need to seek attention or gratify their own ego, and it’s possible the Babe had a touch of this in her. Being in trine to her Mars means the two went hand-in-hand together…her competitive desires gave her a channel to express herself, and her way of expressing herself gave her an arena for her competitive desires. Couple that with her emotional attachment to being “the Greatest,” and what do you get?

“You know when there's a star, like in show business, the star has her name in lights on the marquee! Right? And the star gets the money because the people come to see the star, right? Well, I'm the star, and all of you are in the chorus.”
- Babe Zaharias


Mrs. Zaharias also had Uranus in the 5th house…the section of a horoscope that governs creative expression. Whatever her particular type of creative expression, it would be unique, disquieting, and explosive.

Okay, okay…lest I leave you with the impression that all one needs to succeed is having a big head, let me bring this one back to earth. The essential need to shine, the desire to compete, and emotional attachment to recognition and achievement (10th house Pluto) could all have been met more easily then by striving to become the world’s greatest athlete. Mildred could have landed a rich husband and competed with the other country club wives for who could throw the most outrageous or extravagant dinner parties, for example. She probably would have been quite good at it.

But the Babe had some heavy issues relating to exploring boundaries, especially those of her own inner resources (Saturn in Taurus in the 9th conjunct her North Node). Learning to discipline herself wouldn’t have been easy (Saturn square to that Leo Venus…a hard aspect and one that can suck the fun out of the glory). But it was necessary for her soul.

“The formula for success is simple: practice and concentration then more practice and more concentration.”
- Babe Zaharias


Her parents did emigrate from Norway to the U.S. and she may well have got some of the “adventurous-explorer” temperament from them. Again, it’s difficult to guess without having an actual sit down with Mrs. Zaharias.

Anyway, one last point as I wrap this up. The Babe came to golf late in life…not that 24 is too old to learn to golf (I’m over 30 and just swung my first club a couple years ago!). But this is a woman that had already made marks in track & field, basketball, and baseball...heck, she once pitched an exhibition game for the Cardinals! Why would she pick up a completely new sport, practice to the point of excellence, and then go pro?

It’s got to be the money, honey.

If she were in her prime today, she’d probably be in the WNBA. This is a woman who received All-American status in basketball, who is reported to have taken a job as a secretary just so she could play on an “industrial team” in competitions organized by the Amateur Athletic Union (this is at the age of 19, mind you, and she did type 86 words per minute before word processors). But there was no real pro basketball for women of the time; just the chance to earn chump change in the occasional exhibition.

And baseball? The short-lived All-American Girls Professional Baseball League wasn’t founded till 1943. By that time, the Babe was 32 and had already won her first Western Open in golf (1940); having just earned back her amateur status in 1942 and having already started making a name for herself in golf, there was no going backwards.

Golf gave the Babe a way to both achieve recognition and to earn the financial security so important to the Cancer personality. It is estimated she was receiving a six-figure income in her later years, including endorsements and appearance fees. When asked about the possibility of retiring in 1950, she said:

“As long as I am improving I will go on, and besides, there’s too much money in this business to quit.”

The more security a Cancer has, the more they feel the freedom to express themselves emotionally, and they do have so much to express. From articles written after her death, it appears that her attitude and demeanor changed greatly as she became the top player of the golf circuit, becoming considerably more relaxed and sociable, even with rivals, and she was actively encouraging to younger female golfers.

From wikipedia:
Charles McGrath of the New York Times wrote of Zaharias, "Except perhaps for Arnold Palmer, no golfer has ever been more beloved by the gallery."

Who doesn’t love a big mom?

Mars, Mars, Mars…All You Need Is Mars

I know it’s been said before, but one more time:

There’s no such thing as a perfect sign for an athlete or pro-sports player.

There have been athletes born at all times of the year, with their Sun located in any of the twelve different signs. This is important to note, as some folks might read their own horoscope and say, ‘Hey, I’m supposed to be an accountant, not a ball player!’ Athletes have been members of every sign, and sign is no guarantee of sporting ability or even of a particular position. Let’s take a look at some of the greatest football running backs of the NFL:

Tony Dorsett (Aries)
Emmitt Smith (Taurus)
Jim Thorpe (Gemini)
Barry Sanders (Cancer)
Walter Payton (Leo, of course)
Shaun Alexander (Virgo)
Priest Holmes (Libra)
Bronko Nagurski (Scorpio)
Bo Jackson (Sagittarius)
Steve Van Buren (Capricorn)
Jim Brown (Aquarius)
Marshall Faulk (Pisces)


[I know there are plenty of other premier running backs…I was just trying to find one for each sign. For those that are curious Gale Sayers and Marion Motley are both Gemini, Eric Dickerson is a Virgo, both Terrell Davis and Larry Johnson are Scorpios, and LaDainian Tomlinson is a Cancer just like O.J. Simpson. Took me a while to find a Sagittarius, and I almost went with MY favorite fullback of all time, Mike Alstott, but I figured most folks outside of Florida wouldn’t give him credit as a “premier back”]

ANYWAY…you can find pro sport players of every sign in every position of every pro-sport. Just because a person is an Aries doesn’t make them a natural athlete, any more than being born a Leo makes a person a natural superstar (though Aries people may feel like warrior-athletes and Leo folks may feel like movie stars).

There are, however, some indications in a person’s horoscope that could be seen to symbolize athletic ability. The planet that would traditionally rule athletic endeavors would be MARS, the red-warrior planet, and traditional astrologers would look for a prominent Mars to indicate athletic achievement.

So what’s a “prominent Mars?” Well, that can vary from chart to chart and from astrologer to astrologer. Mars in a sign of its own rulership (Aries and Scorpio traditionally) or one conjunct one of the four angles of a chart (especially the Ascendant or Mid-heaven angles) would be considered fairly strong. Likewise, a heavily aspected Mars (that is, one that makes tight angles with other planets) or a Mars that is aspected by the Sun or some of the “heavy hitter” planets (Saturn, Uranus, Pluto) might also be considered prominent.


A French psychologist and statistician by the name of Michel Gauquelin (interesting side note: born November 13th, he shares both my birthday and my interest in psychology and statistics!) conducted some fairly interesting research with regard to astrology. Originally attempting to show that astrology had no basis in scientific fact, he found that professional athletes had a higher proportion of Mars located in what astrologers consider to be the 4th quadrant of the zodiac (that is houses 10, 11, and 12) and also the 9th house (the house immediately preceding the Mid-heaven and the 4th quadrant). He called this the “Mars Effect” and while it has been disputed and debated, it’s interesting to consider. Some astrologers thing of the 4th quadrant as a person’s “objective view of self;” that is, how they feel they show up in the world. It would only make sense that a person with Mars in the 4th quadrant considers themselves a type of competitor in the world (whether professionally or by identity).

Of course, Mars isn’t just the martial spirit in a person. These days it’s often interpreted as a person’s WILL…as in both willpower and desire. Mars is the planet that shows what “turns us on,” though not necessarily in a lusty way. It is what piques our interest and what gives us energy. It also describes how we get angry or frustrated (usually when our desires aren’t met) and also how we vent our anger and frustration. While a prominent Mars might show a professional athlete, it can also show a person with anger management issues.

You can call Mars the Testosterone Planet, I guess.

Now of course, I mean that figuratively speaking. Female athletes may have a prominent Mars even while they fail to have prominent testosterone. Let’s take a look at one.

Tennis champion Venus Williams has Mars in the 12th house. Certainly this falls into the area of Gauquelin’s “Mars Effect” but it’s not really conjunct the Ascendant (how we project ourselves into the world) nor even close to the 10th house (showing the role we play in society). Mars is in the sign of Virgo, which some astrologers might interpret to mean she’s an overly critical person…getting her kicks off nagging people or over-analyzing stuff. Her Sun sign is Gemini in the 9th…that’s a powerful, inquisitive intellect, and quite possibly a “talky” person. Is there anything here to indicate Venus would grow up to be the world’s #1 tennis player?

Sure.

Ms. Williams has her Mars conjunct Saturn…the heavy, foreboding planet of discipline and restraint. Having Saturn conjunct Mars is almost like putting Mars into Capricorn…this is a person with the natural ability to discipline and hone her willpower and desire. Virgo is also the sign of the blacksmith, the craftsman…the whole point of Virgo’s analyzing tendency is to REFINE itself, perfecting itself as the perfect tool of service. Saturn lends a hand here.

Because Mars is in Virgo, its dispositor (a fancy word for the planet that governs, controls, and colors it) is MERCURY, the planet of the mind, the hand, logic, and communication. And Ms. Williams has the planet Mercury located in the 10th house almost conjunct to the Mid-heaven. The Mid-Heaven is the angle that shows the highest point of the sky on the day we were born…the place where the Sun will reach “High Noon,” so to speak. It shows our highest aspiration and how we hope to eventually show up in society. The 10th house in fact shows where we do show up in society, consciously or not. Having the dispositor of Mars in the 10th house can be an indication that her disciplined willpower and drive is something for which Ms. Williams will be known and recognized.

As an aside: Mercury is also the dispositor of Venus’s Sun. This can certainly indicate some public recognition, as the Sun represents a person’s most basic identity.

As far as aspects go, Mars is conjunct Saturn (already mentioned), approaching near sextile with both Mercury and the Mid-heaven, and likewise approaching near sextile with the explosive planet Uranus. Sextile aspects are within 60 degrees of each other and they excite and give energy to the planet in aspect. Mars thus excites and gives energy to its own dispositor (Mercury) feeding it a good supply of energy. Likewise Uranus (the planet that rules lightning and electricity) feeds energy and excitement to Mars. Good thing Saturn’s sitting on Mars; it helps channel all that energy into something constructive!

Basically, Ms. Williams is an incredibly powerful, intelligent, and driven individual. She is also exceptionally independent, even though she can show up as a social person and harmonizer (i.e. promoting teamwork and cooperation). She can easily leave others behind simply because of her own intensity and discipline…but since this is an astrology-sports blog, we won’t get into her personal life here.

Next Up: A Mars Analysis of Jim Thorpe

Rabid Mariners Fan? Not Yet!

Well, we grabbed a reuben tonight from the 74th Street Ale House in Seattle, and had the pleasure of watching the Seattle Mariners spank the Angels 11-3. Tasty food and fun, fun, fun.

A couple things I should explain as a lifelong resident of Seattle, only slightly older than both the Seahawks and the Mariners:

Seattle enjoys its sports, but for most folks sports aren’t the “be all and end all” of the world. I mean, there’s just a lot going on out here in the Pacific Northwest besides pro sports. There are sports fans, though few I’d qualify as the truly “rabid” type seen in other cities.

Now the Mariners are an interesting outfit. Forget the changes in ownership, stadium and player controversies, and up and down seasons. Here’s the skinny: for most of their existence, the Mariners haven’t been worth squat.

I met my first “lifelong Mariners fan” when I was in college (circa 1993) and I’ll tell you, I was pretty blown away. First thing you have to understand is that this a team that didn’t register its first winning record till 1991...that’s about 20 years of less than .500 seasons. Pretty tough to get excited about a team like that.

Sure, as a child I had the plastic blue M’s helmet and my family would go to a ball game or two every season (in the King Dome no less). Heck, my dad was even a baseball player himself (well, softball at least) when I was growing up. And both my brother and I did the Little League thing.

But there are extremely few Seattleites (at least those living here since the 1970’s) that would profess to have much faith in the Mariners. That’s not really what they’re here for.

Some folks (especially recent transplants to Seattle) may disagree with me on this, but I can speak from a bit of authority on this one: at least in Seattle, baseball is a pastime. Not truly a competitive sport, and certainly not much to get worked up about.

Safeco Field is a beautiful stadium, and a damn sight better than the old King Dome. I’ve seen both soccer matches and Mariners games in it, and I can tell you there are few places I’d rather hang out on a sunny day with a group of friends drinking beer and eating hot dogs. We chew the fat, we yell at the refs and players, we belt out the National Anthem and Take Me Out when the 7th inning stretch rolls around. We laugh and recline in the gorgeous Seattle weather (July through August is the warmest, beautiful time of year one could ask for). But are we counting on a Mariners win? Not hardly.

So it’s always fun to watch our players play well. Ichiro is a phenomenon and will probably end up with a street named after him, just like Edgar Martinez, should he finish out his career in Seattle. Young Felix was a little shaky tonight coming off his injury, but he’s still shaping up into a heck of an Ace. And of course, it’s fun to hum along with Raul Ibanez every time he takes the plate.

But take the Mariners seriously? With all the funny and gimmicky TV commercials they do? And with the way they’ve collapsed over and over again as the season continues?

Last season, they ended with the same record as the Oakland A’s...except the Mariners lost every game they played against the A’s and the A’s won. That’s ridiculous. Even a split would have put them both square in the middle of the pack. Instead, the mediocre Athletics went on to get whipped in the post season.

When Piniella skippered the M’s, we had a fairly competitive team...but Piniella has long since gotten out of Dodge so to speak, and the M’s despite their heavy talent, have failed to pull it together. The team has simply not had the same composure since Piniella left in 2002.

But all this is the ranting of your average Seattle sports fan...let’s talk astrology.

Sports teams, just like people, have horoscopes...birth charts that is...based on the date and time they were established. Even cities an countries do; most astrologers concede the United States of America to be a Cancer with a Gemini Ascendant based on the date and signing of the Declaration of Independence, for example.

However, determining the “birth date” of a professional sports organization is a tricky think. Is it the date that the franchise is awarded to a city by a league commissioner? Or the date and place of the team’s first game (regular or pre-season)?

I prefer to consider the date and time that a team’s name is chosen. Until a team is named, it is simply an abstract concept...kind of like an unborn child waiting to draw breath. You know the potential is there, but it’s not until you choose a name that you can begin getting a sense of the thing’s potentiatlity.

An example: according to wikipedia, the Seattle Seahawks’ name was announced on June 17, 1975. I was consider this to be the proper date of birth for the Seahawks team, when the team was first presented to the fans and citizens of the city that birthed it. ‘Course I don’t know the time of the team’s announcement, so it’s pretty difficult for me to rectify the team’s Ascendant sign, but I can see that while being a Gemini sign, the Seahawks final signature (for the location of its planets) is Cardinal Air...what might otherwise be called “Libra.” The Seahawks, as I will be addressing in depth later, is a team that relies on harmony more than anything else...the team needs to get along and function as a team. More than some teams in the NFL, the Seahawks don’t do especially well with grandstanders or superstars. But again, I digress.

Tonight, we are talking about the Seattle Mariners, and unfortunately, I have no idea what date the team’s name was announced, let alone what time. Lots of on-line articles have the date of the M’s first game, but that’s not really what I want, and I’ll probably have to do some research at the local library to figure out the Mariner’s proper “date of birth.”

Still, I can definitely tell the date of birth for the city of SEATTLE, which might go a little way to explaining our relationship to pro-sports (and everything else, actually):

November 13, 1851

The founding of the city is generally dated to the date of arrival of the Denny party on Alki Point (there is even a landmark in Alki showing where the party landed and stating the date of the city’s foundation).

This makes the city of Seattle a SCORPIO. As such, the folks here have a tendency to be a little closed/distrustful of new experiences, including sports teams, until they’ve proven themselves...so to speak. A true Scorpio pitfall; we resist being transformed into something new (though possibly exciting) until it actually happens. Then, of course, we can’t get enough of it. This includes being transformed into sports fans. This can be seen fairly easily with the city’s relationship to the Seahawks (more on this in a later post), but it may be a bit tougher to discern with the M’s.

See, the M’s haven’t really proven themselves yet. Oh, they came close to converting folks to True Believers in 1995, but they failed to follow-up the next year. Or the year after. Or the year after that By the time 2001 came around we were just happy to have a little (Scorpionic) revenge at the expense of Alex Rodriguez, but the disappointment wasn’t nearly as great. As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you...” but Scorpios don’t get fooled a second time if they can help it.

So for many of us long-time residents of the city, the Mariners simply take the role of a pleasant Spring-Summer pastime...lazing around a luxurious ballpark while watching an athletic ballet un-fold is about all we can expect out of the M’s. And that’s just fine. It’s nice to see they’re over .500 this year, and it’s immense fun to watch them kick ass on the Yankees or the Angels or the Athletics...all those teams that seem to come back and bite us in September. But Scorpios can be shy and skeptical, and it’s going to take a lot more proving by the M’s to make some of us into believers, let alone “rabid fans.”

Then again, maybe I’m only speaking of myself. Coincidentally, I happen to share the same November 13th birthday as the city in which I live.

Some Things You Should Know About Astrology

So my last post was supposed to be one of those “pillar articles” that every good blog is supposed to have if it intends to entice a healthy readership to it. But as this is my first blog, I’m still a bit new to this whole idea, and as such I admit I may have fallen a little short. So this post is intended to pick up where the last one left off and specifically address astrology.

As stated previously, most people in the U.S.A. can tell you what “SIGN” they are, astrologically speaking. Fewer people can tell you what the hell a sign actually is.

When a person says “I am a LEO” or “My sign is CAPRICORN” they are saying that the SUN was in this particular constellation at the time of their birth. There are twelve such constellations, or “signs,” used in Western astrology (this is the astrology that comes from the ancient Egyptians by way of Greece). In order, they are:

ARIES
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITARRIUS
CAPRICORN
ACQUARIUS
PISCES

Now, when a person wants to find out what “sign” they are, they look at a picture of the sky on their day of birth. This is particular type of horoscope called a NATAL CHART (“natal” just means “birth”). The sun appears to travel around the twelve “Signs of the Zodiac” throughout the year, lingering in each sign for about 30 days, and each sign is about a month long.

When looking at a natal chart, an astrologer looks at the placement of the SUN as the main indication of a person’s tendencies. However, the MOON and the other planets of the solar system are also examined to determine tendencies in various areas of a person’s personality.

That means that in addition to having a “Sun Sign,” you also have a “Moon Sign,” a “Mars Sign,” a “Saturn Sign,” etc. Pretty far out, huh?

A lot of people blow off astrology for one or more of the following reasons:

1) they don’t know anything about it (they’ve never heard/read about it, in other words)
2) their horoscope in the newspaper is never, or very rarely accurate
3) they say that “any of the signs could apply to them,” not just one sign
4) they say that they are nothing like the description of their sign
5) astrology isn’t “scientific” enough for them

Ignorance is, of course, excusable...a person always has a chance to learn something new in their lives, and the fact that they don’t know anything about astrology or are ill-informed is fine and dandy. I am ignorant of the rules for lacrosse, even though there was a lacrosse team in my high school but that doesn’t mean I’m not still a nice person.

As far as reasons #3 and #4 it’s quite possible that certain parts of a “sign” don’t fit a person because of other planets in a person’s chart...also, that more than one sign first the person for the same reason. A person with Mars conjunct Jupiter conjunct the Ascendant in Aries in the 1st house will generally NOT be a quiet, restrained person, even if they have a Cancer or Capricorn Sun sign. They may even say they see much more of the Aries or Sagittarius (or Gemini “talky”) personality in themselves...especially if they have a Mercury in Sagittarius (for the Capricorn) or Leo (for the Cancer). Throw Venus on top of Mercury and you have a pretty extroverted socialite. But the Cancer or Capricorn Sun will still color their motivations for their behavior.

As far as the newspaper goes...well, I never bother reading the newspaper horoscopes. And not because I “do my own” or something. First off, I use astrology to predict overall tendencies, areas to focus, areas to “work on,” etc. I’m not attempting to predict the future for myself or others. Secondly (and most importantly), newspaper horoscopes are based on only one thing: a person’s Sun Sign. Now the sign of a person’s Sun IS very important in the description of a person’s personality...it colors everything about a person. However, the newspaper horoscope does not take into account the other planets in the chart. Thirdly, when casting a horoscope for predictive purposes, an astrologer is looking at how the planets in the sky interact with a person’s chart within a handful of degrees of a 360 degree circle. Since the newspaper astrologer doesn’t know a person’s exact sun sign degree (they can’t know unless they have the exact time, date, and place of birth) the predictions aren’t going to be accurate more than 16% of the time (using a three degree range)...and again, this fails to take into account anything else in a person’s natal chart.

Finally, reading a newspaper prediction, or even getting a computer-generated reading is not the same as actually consulting with an astrologer...it leaves the Art aspect out of the art and science of astrology, completely disregarding YOU...your past and present life circumstances. Free will, remember?

So anyway...we’ve got twelve Signs representing basic archetypes of human personality. ALL TWELVE SIGNS ARE PRESENT in every person, but different signs are emphasized. We have a total of 8 planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, PLUTO), two “luminaries” (Sun and Moon), and a few scattered comets and asteroids, all of which mean something ALL OF WHICH ARE PRESENT in every person’s chart. We divide the chart into twelve houses, each representing a different arena of life and corresponding in large part to the twelve signs of the zodiac.

You take all those components and mix ‘em up based on the time you were born and they tell us about a person’s tendencies. Not what they do, necessarily, but what they’re prone to doing...like the way a person raised eating junk food or watching a lot of TV may be prone to doing the same later in life.

OKAY, GREAT...so that is the basic overview of astrology for those non-astrologers interested in this blog. Comments and questions are appreciated, as they’ll give me a way to sort thing out in my own mind.

OH...and before anyone asks: there doesn’t seem to be any particular SUN SIGN that correlates with a career in professional sports. Pro-sports players can (and have had) the Sun located in all 12 signs of the zodiac in every sport, so far as I have found. Strange, though that there DO appear to be prevalence based on team/sport/region. For example, I was checking the astrology of team’s in the 2006 World Cup and I found some very interesting trends...where one team had many of one particular sign and few of a different sign, for example (perhaps I’ll talk more about the ’06 Cup later, and about team chemistry in a later blog installment. Stay tuned, soccer fans!).

Why Astrology And Sports

I realize I may have left some folks out in the dark regarding the whole astrology aspect of this blog. In other words, it may be time to give a brief introduction to what astrology is all about, for those non-astrologers reading the ol’ Astro-Blog.

I read somewhere recently (wish I could remember where, so that I could cite the source) that showed while a large percentage of folks could tell you what their birth sign is, a relatively small percentage actually believed in astrology. Actually, I think it was an astronomy web site disputing astrology and (in part) Gauquelin’s “Mars Effect.”

Anyhoo, astrology (which has been around a bit longer than astronomy) is the study of the effects of “the heavens” (that is to say, the placement of planets and certain stars within the constellations we see in the night’s sky). It is both an art and a science...the science part has to do with the calculations and pre-determined definitions and rulerships, the art comes from the interpretation of those things as a whole.

In ancient times, interpretations were often much more literal, using empirical interpretations, attempting to codify astrology as more science than art. However, whenever dealing with human beings in possession of free will, one has to allow some leeway and modification to take place; without that leeway, you’re likely to miss the boat with your interpretation.

These days (and for me personally), astrology is great ant predicting tendencies in behavior...just as a person born Jewish has different predilections from a person born Irish-Catholic, or as a person raised on a farm in China has different tastes from a person growing up in a Chicago project. Astrology is great at showing tendencies, strengths, and challenges in a person’s temperament and psyche...but how a person uses those is greatly a matter of free will and personal evolution.

Pop psychology, I guess you could call it...or new age psycho-analysis. Whatever, I find it to be an excellent tool for personal understanding and self-growth, and pretty useful at understanding the hows and whys of others...though of course you can get a feel for someone by learning they are a loving parent, workaholic, or perpetual bachelor, too. The nice thing about studying astrology is that it can give you clues to understanding how to go about meeting those challenges in yourself and helping you find your own strengths.

‘Know thyself,’ said Socrates...wise words for everyone. Astrology is one more way to help know yourself.

SO GREAT...what does astrology have to do with sports.

Honestly, I don’t know...quite possibly it doesn’t mean much at all. While some folks might use it to predict wins and losses (just as financial astrologers use it predict stock market trends), my purpose in analyzing sports, teams, and players is to simply refine my understanding of astrology. Plus it’s fun, like doing a sudoku or crossword puzzle!

Is it a waste of time?

Well, maybe. It’s as much a waste of time as watching sports and blogging in general.

But watching sports can be an interesting diversion, a bonding experience with family and friends, and an exploration of “civic pride.” And writing blogs can be a good writing exercise, especially when paying attention to one’s syntax, spelling, and thematic structure.

I guess...maybe those are just half-hearted attempts at justifying an obvious waste of time, when I could be setting out to make the world a better place!

Again, speaking from my own personal experience, I’ve found the study of astrology to have improved my life; it’s made me more self-aware, and more understanding of the quirks and foibles of others. This is a good thing. If I can turn others onto astrology and help them along their own path of self-actualization, then I will have accomplished “a good thing” and made the world a slightly better place in my own way.

And while lots of folks may not be “believers” in astrology right now, there are tons of folks that do follow pro-sports...so I guess my Astro-Sports blog is a way to make the whole astrology thing palatable to folks who might not otherwise be interested.

Of course, it’s only useful to folks who want to follow a blog that intends to move all about the sports stratosphere. Do people really read blogs about sports? I guess I follow a couple on espn.com...at least I did last year when I played “fantasy football” for the first time!

Anyway: I’m going to write this thing for as long as I can stomach it. If folks want to ask questions relating to astrology and sports, I am happy to do my best to answer. I welcome comments and questions on ANY of my postings.

And again, thank you for reading.

The Most Dominant Athlete of the 20th Century IS...

Had a debate with my buddy JB the other day (okay, okay…his name is “Jon,” thank you very much) about who was the most dominant pro athlete of his particular sport. Now honestly, this is about the silliest conversation to have for several reasons:

a) Comparing one athlete to another in two different sports is the original “apples to oranges” hypothesis. There’s no translation of baseline stats between sports (RBI versus TD Passes?!).
b) “Favorite sports” lend too much bias (I like football, Jon’s a hoopster).
c) “Favorite teams” lend too much bias (I’m from Seattle, Jon’s originally from the Midwest).
d) Similar to Reason A, you can’t compare two players of the same sport if they play different positions…say a goalie versus a mid-fielder versus a forward in soccer. This is the unstoppable force versus the immovable object.
e) Even considering players of similar or the same position in the same sport is ridiculous, because we’re talking TEAM SPORTS here. Who can say that a particular star player would have done as well with a different supporting cast? Would Emmitt Smith have had the same success without Aikman and Irvin on offense? How about without Daryl “Moose” Johnston blocking for him?

However, we were feeling feisty and testosterous (I don’t remember if beer was involved, but quite possibly) and things got ugly…basically arguing between Joe Montana and Michael Jordan.

Like I said…a seriously silly conversation.

Anyhoo, while I have decided that it is crazy to do so, I still think it’s an interesting conversation comparing “great ones” to each other and discussing the how and why and reason for calling a player The Best or the most dominant of their particular profession. Intellectually stimulating, so to speak.

And after reviewing Jordan’s stats on wikipedia, I can totally see the domination of Mr. Jordan in his basketball profession. Interesting, though, that he is named only the #2 Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century by the Associated Press…#1 went to Babe Ruth, and really, whose going to argue that?

Well…perhaps a certain hockey player by the name of Wayne Gretzky.

See…a crazy, silly thing to argue over. Definitely not worth getting too riled up. But stimulating discussion all the same. Especially interesting to compare the astrological signs of these folks:

Michael Jordan – Aquarius (February 17)
Babe Ruth – Aquarius (February 2)
Wayne Gretzky – Aquarius (January 26)

Joe Montana is a Gemini…though George Seifert was an Aquarius (all right, all right…that is really immaterial!).

Why is Aquarian such a hot sign for stand-out players (just looking at the Big 3 listed above)? I have often referred to Aquarius as the “flakey crust” of the Zodiac…a very, very over-simplification and gross exaggeration of Aquarians’ foibles, I admit.

First off, Aquarius is the genius of the signs…and by genius I’m referring to the crazy mad scientist type genius, like Aquarian Thomas Edison. Actually, much more like Nikola Tesla, but we’ll forgo that comparison since Tesla was a Cancer. GENIUS (as I was saying) in they draw inspiration directly from out of nowhere, like lightning out of a clear sky…the figurative “bolt from the blue” that makes one shout “Eureka!” They are innovators, drawing knowledge from a variety of eclectic sources and organizing it into a new, authentic expression.

“Authentic” is a useful word to describe the Aquarius…they often show up as eccentric or unique individuals because of their basic drive to be authentic that colors everything they do. Sometimes, this desire for authenticity can alienate them from others…they fail to connect with others, being so detached.

But especially in today’s world of pro sports, detachment isn’t too bad a thing. Constant scrutiny by fans and the media can drive some players to the point of distraction. The detached Aquarius has the ability to rise above their own ego, to get out of the way of themselves…a useful trick when threatened with the media circus surrounding championship events.

Of course, out “great ones” have to have other factors in their horoscopes that keep them focused on the goal…otherwise they run the danger of becoming too detached…i.e. the “flaky pastry” I mentioned earlier. Still, I wonder if the Great Bambino was shaken much emotionally by his trade to the Yankees…it certainly didn’t stop him from collecting championships.

Finally, Aquarians are organizing, fixed signs. They may very well have their own method of organizing things (eccentric and authentic, remember?), but part of what allows them to express genius is their ability to organize their ducks in a row…to get those positive and negative ions lined up such that they can experience the lightning bolt. They make it look so easy. Their “weirdness” simply pays dividends. Certainly, some of Gretzky’s school chums may have thought him peculiar for the amount he practiced, but he may have been “detached” enough that it didn’t phase him too much. And the results certainly speak for themselves.

One other thing about the fixed signs (like Aquarius, Leo, and Scorpio) is their ability to step into a leadership role, precisely because of their organizing ability. While Leo is like a sun around which planets rotate, and Scorpio controls everything through sheer force of will, Aquarians bring order out of chaos…an especially useful ability in the professional arena of team sport. So many high-paid, alpha mentalities and conflicting egos…who better to organize these sometimes motley crews into championship teams? The guy who’s out there being his authentic self, displaying genius, and staying detached and above the fray, that’s who.

Jordan, Gretzky, and Ruth…certainly they showed some explosive Aquarius power in their fields of play. They’ve also showed their eccentricities. Too bad I can’t throw Montana in there with ‘em…or can I? You know what? He’s not ALL Gemini.

According to astrolmass.com, Montana was born at 3:25pm in New Eagle, PA. He doesn’t have a single planet in Aquarius…heck, he doesn’t even have Mars in the 1st or 10th houses (it’s in Pisces in the 5th).

But Mr. Montana does have Uranus (ruler of Aquarius) conjunct his Moon (being within one degree). This is the equivalent of saying Joe has an Aquarian Moon, someone who is able to authentically and detachedly express himself emotionally (among other things). Uranus is nearly conjunct with his Midheaven (the highest point in his chart), coloring his aspirations and his role in society with Aquarian values as well (if only the need to break out of the mold and be a unique authentic individual…like a small, wiry QB in the NFL or something).

Mr. Montana also has both Jupiter and Pluto in the 11th house, the traditional house of Aquarius. They are also conjunct within 1 degree, giving volcanic, transformative power to Joe’s “lucky planet,” the place where he feels most confident and expansive. Joe’s lucky Jupiter is in Leo in the 11th…basically, whenever he has a chance to express himself in the limelight, especially in an Aquarian fashion, he’s going to excel. For example, in a World Championship game or something…though only when he can act cool and detached, organizing chaos, etc. He may show some Aquarian genius in these types of situation…or he might turn into a big flake, who knows?

Anyway, that’s enough for now; I better give my “overly expansive planet” (Jupiter in Aquarius) a rest! Ha!

This is Weaver's 2nd Game since the Royals?!

So did I mention I’ve been in Hawaii the last 10 days?

All right, all right…I feel like a serious heel. Weaver already pitched (Saturday) and seems to have done a fine job against the Yankees…well, before giving up 5 runs in the 5th. Still, the M’s played him on the road and played him for five innings again today, which is pretty much what I hoped for.

I was talking with my local bartender this afternoon (an ex-pitcher and baseball fan) and he also excuses the recent ineptitude of Weaver; however, not based on any astrological reasons. He chalks it up to strike zone differences between the NL and AL, and says it generally takes a year for a pitcher to adapt to the new league. So why’d we offer Weaver a one year contract for $8+ million?

I guess that’s why I’m an astrologer and not a GM.

Regardless, Weaver is not in for smooth sailing. Uranus is pretty much in direct opposition to Jeff’s Venus, and Pluto is square to Mars and quite possibly Mercury. This is a time of testing for Mr. Weaver. Not only does he need to make sure he continues to be authentic (including accepting what responsibility is his for his pitching problems) he also needs to use the lessons of this time to transform his own abilities. Quitting is not going to stop the transformative process…it’ll just transfer the same struggle to a different arena.

I wish him the best of luck!

(oh, yeah…and in the future I’ll make sure to do a bit more research before blogging off the top of my head)

Jeff "The Weave" Weaver

And here I thought I was going to run out of blog-worthy topics…

A couple weeks ago, my friend JB (yes, we share the same initials) and I were sitting at the Wing Master watching the most disgusting sports display since…well, since the Seahawks home loss to the 49ers last year (the first home game I have ever left early, it was that gross). I am speaking of course of Jeff Weaver’s last outing for the Seattle Mariners in which “the Weave” was hammered for six runs before he could get the 2nd out of the 1st inning.

My God, it was terrible to behold.

So, after recovering from the shock and horror of it all (and the media coverage, gotta’ have that), I later had some time to think about the whole Weave situation. I called JB up on the phone (this is about 8 or 9pm, May 1st) and said: the M’s need to play Weaver again. They need to START him again. And they should commit to having him pitch at least 5 innings, no matter how bad it gets. ALSO, they need to do it on the road, not in Seattle.

JB (the other JB) did not share my sentiments.

Here’s what the hell I’m thinking:

First off, Weaver still has some pride…otherwise he wouldn’t be playing in the ML. Really, nobody at this level is that bad…he’s just hit a bad slide. However, I am not saying “play him ‘cause he’s due.” He may get shellacked again.

But here’s the second thing…whether you give up six runs or 15, you’re going to lose. FINE. It’s not like you don’t have a hundred more games in the season. This isn’t the NFL where one loss can finish your season (ah…the NFL).

Weaver needs a chance to “pitch through” his slump…at least get to the point where he can throw a decent five or six innings and keep us in the game. He doesn’t need to be an ace (despite the ridiculous salary)…he needs to be competent professional starting pitcher. That’s it. The Mariners are showing this year that they can win with a little competence despite the dearth of heavy hitters. Just beating the A’s a couple times is a marked improvement over last season.

So astrologically, how does Weaver stand?

That’s a toughie. Mr. Weaver’s birthday is August 22nd, what some might call “on the cusp” between Leo and Virgo. This of course is bunk…in astrology you are either one sign or another. Unfortunately, without knowing his exact time of birth, we can’t say for sure which sign his Sun is in, nor his Moon (it traveled between Cancer and Leo) the day he was born.

What we do know is that he may have a lot of both in Leo and Virgo in him. Certainly, his Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all in Virgo and his Saturn is in Leo. Chances are that if his Sun is in Virgo, his Moon will be in Leo. And while we don’t know his Ascendant (that would require the time of birth), he certainly shows up with a golden, leonine mane framing his face. If Gauquelin’s “Mars Effect” holds accurate, Jeff’s Mars may very well be in the 1st house (as a pro sports player), giving him a good chance at a Leo rising sign.

So what does that mean to have so much Leo and Virgo in you?

Well for one thing, it makes you pretty darn self-critical. Leo wants to look good (and doesn’t want to look bad) and Virgo wants to analyze (translation: criticize) everything, including himself. This is an intelligent, deep individual with a flair for the dramatic…and one who’s more likely to puncture his own ego before someone else gets the chance to do it for him.

The M’s need to show a little faith in the Weave, because he himself may be on the verge of losing complete faith in himself. Leo wants to be the best at something…we (Seattle) do not want Weaver to be the best, biggest joke in the Major Leagues! We don’t want him to be the best at pointing out his own flaws, self-sabotaging and self-destructing!

We’d much prefer Weaver to be the biggest comeback of the season…as he was last year in winning the final Series game for the Cards. The Virgo mind can be likened to a forge…it is the sign of the blacksmith, the craftsman, who refines himself first and foremost. This is the reason for the critiquing and analyzing. Their major pitfall is getting TOO wrapped up in the details (analyzing for the sake of analysis). At some point they need to take that leap of faith that leads them to “perfect enough for right now.”

The M’s can help Weaver make this leap by putting their faith in him. Give him the chance to pitch through the BS going on in his own mind. He’s not washed up yet. But he needs a chance to find his groove again…to get back to being a decent, competent, professional starter. In other words, “perfect enough for right now.”

Today’s game against the Tigers is a great arena for it. If he was playing in Seattle, he’d have to deal with an unruly crowd, devastating for the Leo’s ego and simply fueling the criticizing fire of Virgo’s forge. However, Detroit is the team against which he had his greatest glory (Game 5 of last year’s World Series), and his mind knows this is someone he can beat.

Hopefully, the M’s will see it my way.