Gracias Venezuela, Gracias

Thank you little Venezuelan baseball guys for plowing through Mexico today to take first place in Pool D of the 2007 Little League World Series. More importantly, your win left Chinese Taipei alone in second in that pool, allowing them to transfer to the next round. Without a third Venezuela win, there would have been a 3 way tie for first, and Taipei would likely have gone home.

You may be asking yourself, why does Pat care? Well, let me tell you. I have Chinese Taipei in the House of Cues LLWS pool. $20 a team, 16 teams - that's $320 up for grabs, and let me tell you, with a wedding on the horizon, every penny helps.

Next up? A tough Japanese team at 5:00 on Thursday in the International Semi-final. Japan has some serious little Ichiro wannabe's, most of whom can hit better than me (not that that's much of an accomplishment).