Random Thoughts On A Sunday Morning Updated To 11-19

[GoRedSox34]

Griffey cleats are in, baseball is here.

[Kccitystar]

Griffey cleats are in, baseball is here.

*shoes*

OK these are fresh. I like the way they look.

...so baseball season begins tonight with Texas facing off against the new-look Astros. I am super pumped.

...my Fantasy Baseball team is going to be a monster this season...starting by keeping my guys Posey and Trout, and letting Pujols (shocker) walk and starting my team from scratch with just these two monsters. I am hoping I can pick up Paul Goldschmidt, who is primed for a breakout year, and Desmond Jennings who is relatively healthy.

...I'm still dealing with financial problems, but I have two job interviews this week, so I'm excited, but as usual, expect the worst, hope for the best.

[Yankee4Life]

...I'm still dealing with financial problems, but I have two job interviews this week, so I'm excited, but as usual, expect the worst, hope for the best.

I'm pulling for you KC. Good luck.

[MrDudleyDoWright]

I guess this doesn't qualify as Sunday Morning thoughts, more like after thoughts really. Don't know if that makes any sense...lol.

Well.....

--- Baseball starts on the 1st. Will the Mets make it a joke to lose on Opening Day, or troll us by winning, then putting out a subpar effort, the rest of the way?

--- The Astros beat the Rangers....handily? Wait, no. Someone wake me up please, this can't be REAL.

--- I just put a new episode of my show on my page. The show still hasn't hit it stride yet.......I'm almost there

--- Nothing in sports seems to be giving me any joy for some reason. The Mets have this overbearing uncertainty. The New York Rangers can't seem to score goals and get timely wins when needed and the Jets.....pfft....they just flat out suck. Sports is almost ruined for me...

--- I'm still a little upset about the WBC loss Puerto Rico endured from DR. Being Puerto Rican, this means a lot to me. At least I was able to drown it out by playing the WBC Caribe mod. Video games > reality (sometimes)

That's it for now. It's nothing interesting really, just random thoughts.

[wrigleyville33]

I guess this doesn't qualify as Sunday Morning thoughts, more like after thoughts really. Don't know if that makes any sense...lol.

Well.....

--- Baseball starts on the 1st. Will the Mets make it a joke to lose on Opening Day, or troll us by winning, then putting out a subpar effort, the rest of the way?

--- The Astros beat the Rangers....handily? Wait, no. Someone wake me up please, this can't be REAL.

--- I just put a new episode of my show on my page. The show still hasn't hit it stride yet.......I'm almost there

--- Nothing in sports seems to be giving me any joy for some reason. The Mets have this overbearing uncertainty. The New York Rangers can't seem to score goals and get timely wins when needed and the Jets.....pfft....they just flat out suck. Sports is almost ruined for me...

--- I'm still a little upset about the WBC loss Puerto Rico endured from DR. Being Puerto Rican, this means a lot to me. At least I was able to drown it out by playing the WBC Caribe mod. Video games > reality (sometimes)

That's it for now. It's nothing interesting really, just random thoughts.

JL,

I think we'll both be trolled by our teams regardless of how our teams play on opening day.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 4-7

...It's been one week now that baseball has returned to our everyday lives and when it returns every year at this time it overshadows everything else that's going on. What did we see last week? The Astros with an impressive win in their first ever American League game. A kid down in Washington hitting home runs in his first two at-bats of the season. Bryce Harper and the Nationals are expected to go far this year. Out in Los Angeles the Dodgers and Giants were scoreless going into the bottom of the eighth when Clayton Kershaw decided it was time to show everyone he could swing the bat. So he did by hitting his first career home run to lead the Dodgers to a 4 - 0 win. All that and more on Opening Day. How can anyone not be a fan of this great game?

...As I said a week ago this weeks random thoughts were going to be late because I would be out of town but I didn't realize how late this would be. The blame must be laid on the beds that are at my in-laws house because they are the cheapest and most uncomfortable beds money can buy and I will swear to that under oath and my back will gladly do the same. As soon as we got home the car got unloaded and the dogs were let out and right now I can not remember how I got up the stairs and into my bed.

...When we were down there we were introduced to a baby pit bull that my wife's nephew gave to his ten-year-old son. It's a beautiful looking dog who's only a few months old and she sleeps a lot and is very playful. I have no idea how this dog will be when she gets older but it will be tough on her because she is owned by that ten-year-old kid, who, to put it as gracefully as I can, is an idiot. I may exaggerate at times but in this instance I am not.

...So Y4L tell us what did you do all day Saturday when you were there? Did you go any place and see anything interesting? Let's see...I went to get the paper Saturday morning and at a red light I saw someone filling their truck up with gas. On my way back I saw two people walking on the sidewalk having a conversation and just before I pulled into the driveway the next door neighbor of my in-laws got in here car and drove off somewhere. After that rash of activity things grounded to a halt rather quickly and the remainder of the day went without incident.

...We went out to breakfast this morning at a local diner and I swear these people that own the place must be related to the town's health inspector because they were more concerned about giving you a greasy meal than a clean fork.

...Maybe that's why I felt so sick driving home, who knows? All I know was nothing was going to stop me from leaving.

...I never paid much attention to team payrolls but when I read that the Yankees set a record for baseball's highest opening-day payroll at $230 million it just made me wonder how the Steinbrenner family really feels about this in their private moments when microphones are not in front of them because if they admit it or not they aren't getting their money's worth.

...Lindsay Lohan said on her Twitter account last Monday that she was pregnant and it made a bit of a stir until she came out the next day to announce that it was nothing but an April Fool's joke. Of course it was. Think about it. Who'd touch her?

...Speaking about April Fools, did you hear about the one that Scope mouthwash pulled? They said that they were coming out with a new bacon-flavored mouthwash which turned out to be nothing but an elaborate prank on their part. My wife fell for it hook, line and sinker.

...A group of children went on an Easter egg hunt at a zoo in Seattle when it turned violent because of a bunch of over zealous mothers. During the hunt one mother pushed a child aside as he was going after some of the eggs because she noticed her own kid was going after the same ones. That's when all hell broke loose and the two mothers started fighting and it got so bad that they had to be separated three or four times. Both of these women must have been hell on their local playgrounds when they were kids and their behavior at the zoo this day showed that they haven't grown up much since then. There was no word on who won the fight but one of the women left the zoo with a bloody nose, a few eggs and one embarrassed kid. Look at the bright side here. This incident did not involve a shooting and no one died. Considering what goes on these days these women showed unbelievable restraint and civility.

...A San Jose,California man just could not wait to get inside his local Wal-Mart last week so he drove his car through the front doors and crashed his vehicle into a beer display, injuring a few dozen innocent cans of beer in the process. He then jumped out of his car and started attacking people before being subdued and arrested by police. The guy must have tried to do a return and it didn't work out so well.

...They could have had a lot more injuries here but they only had three cashiers on staff for the thirty checkout lanes they have.

...In order for the Yankees to get Robinson Cano to sign another contract with them they will have to deal with rap star Jay-Z instead of Scott Boras, who Cano fired last Tuesday. My first reaction when I heard this was that either Boras can't carry a tune to save his life or Cano must be dumber than I thought he was. Probably a combination of the two. I'm in the minority here because I'm in favor of the Yankees dealing this guy to someone for prospects before the trading deadline. Cano doesn't drive in runs when you really need them and he dogs it too many times during the season to ignore. The feeling here is that the contract this guy wants is like what the Yankees gave to Alex Rodriguez and we all know how well that's turning out. For the Yankees to commit 200 million or more dollars towards this guy would be a terrible mistake but anyone who is familiar with the Yankees knows that this is exactly what they'll do.

...Look on the bright side here. Had Jay-Z declined to be his agent Cano's second choice could have been Justin Bieber.

...Samoa Air, the official airline of the Pacific island nation of Samoa is adopting a pay-as-you-weigh pricing plan in order for their customers to fly from now on. Your weight and the weight of your luggage will determine the price of your ticket. Since more than 80% of Samoans age fifteen and older are considered obese this airline is going to be making a fortune. Good idea or not, this policy is never going to make here in the U.S. because the first time someone thinks they were made to feel bad because of their weight they'll sue the airline.

...I have to admit I would be curious to see how much they'd have to charge Honey Boo Boo's family to fly.

...Cheers to the Raiders for cleaning house this off season. There's probably going to be a few more lean years but at least there seems to be a plan in place now. Getting rid of Carson Palmer was another good move because I didn't understand why they traded for him in the first place.

...Let me see if I got this right. You get a bunch of celebrities that apparently have nothing else to do and have them jump in a pool and that's a TV show? How long did it take for someone to think of the idea for Splash, between bites of a sandwich? I actually watched this show because Miss Alabama Katherine Webb was on it and she knows how to accentuate the positive when wearing a bathing suit if you get what I'm saying.

... Last week Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson jokingly told North Korea that if they really feel that they have to bomb something they should bomb Foxboro, Massachusetts, which is where the New England Patriots play. Since he said it on twitter a lot of people took him serious because as we all know everything said there is always well thought out in advance and there is never a hint of irony or humor in anything posted there. You see, that's why I am not on twitter and have no plans to be because I would have told North Korea when they were done blasting Foxboro to go to Fenway Park next and if they didn't know where it was I'd send them directions.

...You see? I post that on twitter there would be an uproar. In here people ignore it. Just as it should be.

...Have a wonderful and safe week.

[sabugo]

I'm just praying that the rumours are true and that somehow the Yankees can get out A-Roid's contract.

Watching Youkilis celebrate that triple play yesterday was something odd. I mean, THIS guy is THAT happy FOR the Yankees??? Looking at his current batting average and level of enthusiasm I wonder why I ever took Joba's side when they were feuding. Let's just hope he doesn't hurt himself soon.

Oh, Phil Hughes just gave up a HR. But that's not random, it's just expected.

I had so low expectations for this team that I'm actually excited for their current record. It's been fun so far. I'm sure it will go downhill soon.

People in Samoa aren't obese. They're just huge. Check 60 Minutes' piece about Football and the Samoans. They're not fat, they're robust.

And just now Cervelli tags out Mclouth at the plate. I liked him before, but with each day that passes I'm becoming a real fan of Cervelli. He really is better than he was before. At least so far.

Just had two Americans training with us this week. Couldn't be farther from the 'ugly american' stereotype.

Oh, and by the way, they live in Afghanistan, still found a way to keep training and still took the time to come to my little town, in my little country, to our little Gym and take the time to learn from us, share experiences and in general be great people. Amen to that.

Hafner HR just now. He's not injured yet...

[Yankee4Life]

Watching Youkilis celebrate that triple play yesterday was something odd. I mean, THIS guy is THAT happy FOR the Yankees??? Looking at his current batting average and level of enthusiasm I wonder why I ever took Joba's side when they were feuding. Let's just hope he doesn't hurt himself soon.

I feel the same way. I hope he keeps it up. People like that are needed on a team.

I had so low expectations for this team that I'm actually excited for their current record. It's been fun so far. I'm sure it will go downhill soon.

Yeah, it's nice to see this team actually give a damn about things and I don't care when the multi-millionaires get back.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 4-14

...It has been less than two months since the announcement of the Playstation 4 and last week Sony finally answered the all-important question that was on everyone's mind and that was how much is this going to set you back for? The answer? Plenty. The price of the base model will be $799 and if you want the premium model you'll have to pay $899. Sony, in all seriousness, called the prices for both models "reasonable." It is doubtful that anyone in the general public would call the asking price for this new system reasonable. Highway robbery would be more like it.

...When Jay-Z and his wife Beyonce went to Cuba last week, two Republican members of Congress asked the Treasury Department if they had permission to go and it was discovered that they did get approval to travel there via a "cultural visit." When you have money like these two have you can pay off the Treasury Department so you can go to Cuba to celebrate your fifth wedding anniversary. What is cultural about a wedding anniversary?

...Wait until Jay-Z finds out those Cuban cigars he picked up won't clear Customs.

...Every time I see a picture of Donald Trump he looks as if someone just stole his last cupcake.

...The nicest thing about watching the Yankees - Indians series last week in Cleveland was seeing Nick Swisher in a Cleveland uniform.

...The best way to stop a winning streak? Send Phil Hughes out on the mound.

...You hear about that college team that scored thirty runs in one game last Wednesday? That's about two weeks worth of work for the Houston Astros.

...The next time that Zach Greinke hits someone with a pitch and they decide to have an unscheduled meeting at the mound to smooth things out he should remember when the other guy is getting ready to knock that smug look off of his face not to lead with his shoulder because if he hadn't done that he may not be missing the next couple of months with a broken collarbone.

...Alex Rodriguez has apparently found something to occupy his time during all the lonely hours he's been putting in rehabilitating his hip as he has begun dating a young twenty-four year old Dominican Republic girl. This is not the same girl that he was tossing baseballs to during the A.L.C.S. last year because that girl kept the baseballs and returned his phone number. The thirteen year age difference between A-Rod and his current significant other apparently does not seem to bother the girl's family at all since it was her father that picked up Rodriguez from the airport in a limousine and drove him to his hotel. This is the kind of service you give to a man who is interested in your daughter and who also happens to make twenty-nine million dollars a year.

...One more thing. If Alex Rodriguez did or did not send someone to buy documents from the anti-aging clinic in Florida for the sole purpose of destroying them it really does not matter. This guy's reputation is so tarnished now that no one would put it past him if he did and no one would believe him if he hadn't.

...When you pay a guy like Jose Reyes ten million dollars a year it would be understood by everyone if you automatically assumed that he knew how to properly slide into second base.

...In another attempt to reverse the "curse" that Cubs fans believe has been held over their team, someone in an unmarked truck dropped off a package containing a severed goat's head at Wrigley Field last week addressed to Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts. If this guy really wanted to help the Cubs he would have kept the goat's head and dropped off a couple of pitchers instead.

...After reading last week that Alice Cooper once rejected Raquel Welch, who to put it mildly wanted to be rather chummy with him, I have decided that Cooper must be one of the strongest or the dumbest men around.

...A circus elephant was shot during a drive-by shooting in Mississippi last week for unknown reasons. It's an elephant for crying out loud. They had to do a drive-by for that? They could have just walked. I mean where's he going?

...Why would anyone want to steal the President's teleprompter? What use would you get out of it because chances are you aren't going to be using to give any speeches. I'm sure by now the thief knows this for himself and if he doesn't he's getting seven years in federal prison to think about it.

...I can not name one song this guy sings and the few times that I have heard him sing on TV it took me less than two seconds to hit the mute button but what Kid Rock is doing for his fans for his upcoming Summer tour is impressive. Each ticket sold will only cost fans twenty dollars apiece and that is for anywhere in the building. Also, prices will be lowered on other items such as beer and t-shirts. Maybe his music isn't for me but that's not important. I'm sure his fans are really going to love this.

...In contrast, the price for a center floor seat right in front of the stage to see Paul McCartney costs $2,500. I don't even want to guess what a T-shirt would cost.

...To the surprise of no one that has purchased a game from them in the past few years, Electronic Arts has been named the worst company in America for the second year in a row. The games that have been churned out in the past few years show a complete lack of imagination because it seems that they are just going through the motions when they're making them since the concern seems to be more about the release date of the game instead of the content of it. And yet despite all of this EA still takes in millions of dollars each year. It just shows how stupid the American consumer is.

...Bad news for fans of Windows XP. In April of 2014 Microsoft is going to officially retire the XP operating system which to date is their most popular version of Windows ever. This means in one year's time they will no longer be issuing security patches and updates for XP and if hackers find new ways to break into this operating system, Microsoft will do nothing to stop them. As if Microsoft has ever stopped anyone from from getting into their system before. Too bad the plug couldn't be pulled on Microsoft instead of XP .

...I'm going to hate this. I have an XP laptop where I can play a lot of games on it that I can't play on Vista or Windows 7 like High Heat 2003 and 2004 plus many other fun games that play better on there then on my other computers. This has nothing to do with not wanting to support XP anymore. They just want you to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 and I don't believe anyone should be forced to do that.

...Too many deaths last week. Margaret Thatcher, one of the strongest women in world history, died at the age of 87. Like her politics or not she said what she believed and did what she thought was right. This is in direct contrast of most politicians today who say just about anything and do just about nothing. Roger Ebert, who was a well-respected film critic, died of cancer at the age of 70. I really didn't read his reviews (or anyone else's for that matter) before I went to a movie because I liked to form my own opinion of it but after I was finished seeing the film that is when I read Ebert. And last Monday Annette Funicello, one of the original members of the 1950's TV show The Mickey Mouse Club died at the age of 70 from complications due to multiple sclerosis. She had to be a pretty strong woman because she dealt with this disease for the last twenty-five years of her life. Do yourself a favor and check out some early-1960's photos of her. This woman was stunning. R.I.P. all.

[wudl83]

"...It has been less than two months since the announcement of the Playstation 4 and last week Sony finally answered the all-important question that was on everyone's mind and that was how much is this going to set you back for? The answer? Plenty. The price of the base model will be $799 and if you want the premium model you'll have to pay $899. Sony, in all seriousness, called the prices for both models "reasonable." It is doubtful that anyone in the general public would call the asking price for this new system reasonable. Highway robbery would be more like it."

Where is this from?

[Yankee4Life]

"...It has been less than two months since the announcement of the Playstation 4 and last week Sony finally answered the all-important question that was on everyone's mind and that was how much is this going to set you back for? The answer? Plenty. The price of the base model will be $799 and if you want the premium model you'll have to pay $899. Sony, in all seriousness, called the prices for both models "reasonable." It is doubtful that anyone in the general public would call the asking price for this new system reasonable. Highway robbery would be more like it."

Where is this from?

I read it last week from an article on CNN. This does sound like an awfully high asking price doesn't it? It's my hope that the time people can start buying this for Christmas this year that they'll change their mind and lower it. This is too much.

[sabugo]

Nick Swisher in Cleveland...yeah, I love that one too. Can't think of a better punishment for him.

Maybe he could lure Hughes to go there as well. How hard is it to see that he, at best, belongs in the bullpen? Give Phelps a chance, don't stuck him in between roles like they did with Joba.

That team who got 30 runs scored agains also broke some other record of the same kind in basketball. It's safe to say that athletics are definitely not a priority at that school.

A part of me thinks that Jose Reyes was really trying to hurt himself. Don't know why, but I can't shake that thought.

Who shoots an elephant in a drive-by?!?! Really...

I'm sick of all the A-Roid stories. And hating him takes too much of my precious time. From now I'm just going to ignore him and focus my hatred elephant-shooters.

Greinke could benefit from a couple of BJJ lessons...If he could only stop being such a ***** I'd give him some for free.

Microsoft and EA are two companies who clearly do not have the consumer's best interests in their minds. It's all money money money. And people keep giving it to them. And sony is going down the same path with this PS4 pricing. Oh well, my PS2 still works fine and I still have fun with it...

[wudl83]

I read it last week from an article on CNN. This does sound like an awfully high asking price doesn't it? It's my hope that the time people can start buying this for Christmas this year that they'll change their mind and lower it. This is too much.

This price would be ridiculous.

But I thought it was an April fool hoax? :D

[Yankee4Life]

This price would be ridiculous.

But I thought it was an April fool hoax?

I saw this literally a few days ago.it wasn't an April Fools joke.

[DJEagles]

Been awhile since I've done this, so here I go:

Heading to see "42" tonight, on Jackie Robinson Day, no less. My wife is going with me, and shockingly enough, she is looking forward to seeing it. I can't wait, because it has been a long time, since I've seen a baseball movie in theatres.

The Blue Jays are doing nothing to show me they are a playoff caliber team. They look no better then last year, and I am getting sick and tired of excuses being made for them by the fan base.

Poor Jose Reyes, but that's what you get when you trade for a talented, yet injury-prone shortstop.

I half expected we would all be nuked by North Korea by now. Good to see that hasn't happened yet. LOL.

Not much else is going on, nice to spring here in earnest. Was a long, boring winter.

[wudl83]

I saw this literally a few days ago.it wasn't an April Fools joke.

If they really do this, I can only do one thing. And that is laughing!

[Jim825]

Heading to see "42" tonight, on Jackie Robinson Day, no less. My wife is going with me, and shockingly enough, she is looking forward to seeing it. I can't wait, because it has been a long time, since I've seen a baseball movie in theatres.

Had today off (Patriot's Day here in Massachusetts), so my wife and I went to see "Olympus Has Fallen". Before our movie, there was a preview for "42". I wanted to see it as soon as I saw the first trailer last month, but my wife had no interest in seeing "another baseball movie." When the preview was over, my wife looked at me and said, "That looks really good. We should see that." I explained to her that it was the movie that I had been talking about and she said that learning more about what Robinson had to go through when he made it to the majors seemed interesting.

It looks like I'll get to see the movie after all and I won't have to see it alone. :)

[GoRedSox34]

Today's 11:05 AM game between the Rays and Red Sox at Fenway was awesome. It was a unique experience to be inside the ballpark watching warmups at 9:30 AM.

[DJEagles]

42 is an amazing movie. My wife and I saw it Monday night, and she loved it. I found Harrison Ford a bit jarring, because it looked like him, and he almost seemed like he was playing an exagerated version of Rickey. Overall though, an amazing movie and baseball experience. Loved it.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 4-21

...A Maine man who lived in seclusion for twenty-seven years alone in the woods was finally arrested by authorities last week because he stole provisions from other people to survive. After his arrest his bail was set at $5,000 but it had to be increased to $250,000 by the police to "prevent the exploitation" of him from others. They may have a point. Since the time his original bail was set he has had offers from a stranger to pay his bail. Another person wanted more information about him to write a song about him. One person wanted to provide housing for him when he made bail and a publishing company has hired an author to write a book about him. Only in America. But the strangest thing that came out of all this was a woman who expressed interest in marrying him. Isn't that nice? That just proves the old saying that says there is someone for everyone but who knows? Maybe marriage was the reason this guy headed for the hills in the first place.

...The last time I watched this much CNN was just a few months back when the shootings at Sandy Hill took place. The only thing that I previously knew about the Boston Marathon is that it's the oldest one in the world and that runners must be qualified to run the race. That leaves me out. The only race I run is the occasional one to a certain room in my house when I drink too much coffee. But like in Connecticut in December I was glued to my set for all of last week and the way the city of Boston came together and looked out for each other during this time was impressive. I just hope that the nineteen year old kid they have in custody does not die because I'd like to hear his reasons for doing this. Why do this to a country that let you in to live and go to school? Why target these runners and the crowd who cheered them on? How does it feel to be responsible for the death of an eight-year-old boy? Yes, I want you to live. I want to hear what you have to say.

...Classy, classy move by the New York Yankees during Tuesday night's game at the Stadium when they hosted the Diamondbacks. Just one day after the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the Yanks held a moment of silence for the city of Boston and they played the Neil Diamond song Sweet Caroline at the end of the third inning, a song that is a fan favorite at Fenway Park. It wasn't about the game right now or about rivalries. It was about people. And it was about an eight-year-old kid, a young student from China and a twenty-year-old woman who all should be alive today and all the other people who were injured by this.

...I am the first one to point out that I criticize the Red Sox for anything and everything but yesterday with the way they paid respect to everyone affected by these bombings was first class. From that huge flag by the Green Monster, to the crowd singing the National Anthem and Neil Diamond himself coming out in the 8th inning to sing Sweet Caroline. I only had one question and that was why did they let David Ortiz represent the Red Sox and talk to the fans? I would think that Dustin Pedroia would have been a better choice because Pedroia would have had the common sense not to drop the "F" bomb while addressing the crowd. Never mind that there were little kids listening to you today. You got your own set of rules.

...If it wasn't for what happened in Boston I would have said that the worst thing that happened last week was finding out that Derek Jeter had another slight crack in his ankle and will not be coming back until after the All-Star Game but since those bombings did take place it makes it so much easier for me to put this kind of news in perspective. Seeing this guy come back to the Yankees and play every day would be great but in the back of my mind I have to wonder how he's going to do it when they say he'll need another few more months to be ready to play when the six months he had during the off season were not enough?

...Great news for Cubs fans - I think. The Cubs and the city of Chicago have agreed on details of a $500 million dollar makeover for 99-year-old Wrigley Field that will include a new video screen that will be three times as large as the one currently atop the centerfield bleachers and the night games will increase from thirty to forty games a year, which is nearly half of the games played at Wrigley each season. What I am questioning about this is something that Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said about these changes. He said that by doing this it will boost business and he hinted that it would make the team competitive again. How? It would be interesting to see the new changes that Wrigley Field is going to have but all the talk about the team being more competitive because of it is just nonsense. Ask the Miami Marlin fans how that all worked out for them.

...One more thing and this is something that Cub fans in here would know a lot more about than I do. Wrigley's going to be 100 years old next year. Do they really want to sink that much money into a ballpark that may have to be replaced in thirty years or less? And if you are someone that thinks thirty years seems like forever that just means you are too young to know the truth.

...You know how you could tell that the two players who trashed the hotel room in Indianapolis by throwing garbage around the room and desecrating the bathroom were not NFL players yet ? Guns weren't involved.

...Last Monday afternoon I took my wife to see 42. I was really surprised that she enjoyed the movie as much as I did since she's not really into baseball history because as far as she is concerned baseball never began until Derek Jeter started playing. I won't go into detail about the movie since it just came out and maybe a lot of you haven't had the opportunity to see it yet but I think I can say this one thing without taking anything away from the movie. The filmmakers brought to life long gone ballparks such as Ebbets Field, Crosley Field, Forbes Field and Shibe Park like they were still around and hosting baseball games today. Besides the story of Jackie Robinson and what he went through and what it must have been like for him, seeing these ballparks alive again was a treat. I'll be buying this movie once it's released on blu-ray just to see this one a few more times.

...That same day out in Los Angeles Carl Crawford wore a pair of Jackie Robinson shoes that Nike gave him and after the game the league called his agent to let him know that Crawford can not wear either the blue or white special edition Nike shoes any more in a game or else he would be fined for doing so. It makes sense if you think about it. Crawford did this little tribute all by himself and Bud Selig had nothing to do with it. Selig would have approved of it had he had the opportunity to host a press conference and bluster on for ten minutes about it. But since Selig didn't get this chance to get his face in front of the cameras again Crawford's tribute to Robinson never really had a chance.

...The NHL has scheduled six outdoor games next year for their 2013-14 slate, presumably because they know they'll be having a full season of hockey next year. Oddly, the first outdoor game will be held in Los Angeles when the Kings host the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium. I just want to know two things here. What happens when the day the game is supposed to be played the weather plays a trick on them and it's warmer than they expected? How can they keep the ice in skating condition for the entire game? And finally why did Los Angeles get an outdoor game anyway? That makes about as much sense as holding a golf or tennis tournament out in the snow back east. Why didn't cold-weather hockey towns like Montreal, Toronto, Minnesota or Boston get a chance to have one of these?

...What is it with Florida? Between the Burmese Pythons, the alligators and the sinkholes, now they are being invaded by giant African land snails. These things have shells that have pointy edges that are sharp enough to blow out the tires of cars that happen to run over them so even if you kill one they'll still have the last word. They are about as big as rats and they can multiply as fast as trailer park tenants. The state Agriculture Department Officials believe that some of these snails attached themselves to luggage to get into the country while others were carried into the country as pets and then released. What's good enough for the pythons down there is good enough for the snails. I can't wait to see what Florida is going to do next.

...Amanda Knox is accusing an Italian prison guard of inappropriate behavior during her four year stay behind bars in her new book that is scheduled to be released in the upcoming weeks. The question that comes to mind initially is why did she wait until now to disclose this? This girl has no credibility at all and sad to say this just sounds like a publicity ploy to sell more books since Knox knows there's no way to prove anything she's saying. She's about as trustworthy Casey Anthony.

...If this book sells well as they are expecting it to be there are preliminary plans in place to call her next book How to Get Away with Murder for Dummies.

...Two Chinese tourists visiting Johannesburg, South Africa last week had an encounter with an elephant that they'd rather soon forget. While driving their rented Hyundai early last Monday morning they drove a little bit too close to one who did not want to be bothered and the elephant proceeded to overturn the vehicle, injuring both tourists and crushing the car. Park officials do not know what caused the animal to be this aggressive but there's an outside chance that he may have learned about one of his own being shot last week in America and was just waiting for the first humans he saw to settle scores with. This last part of course is pure speculation on my part but who knows?

...I wonder if Hyundai's 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty covers damage like this?

...Rap star Ray J, who made Kim Kardashian an instant star when he made a sex tape of her a few years back, recorded a song recently called "I Hit It First" in which he described that he was the "first one" to bang Kardashian. Who's this guy kidding? He didn't hit it first. He just videotaped it first. That woman gets more hits than a website.

...Now if he really wanted to be a stickler for detail he would have named the song As far as I know I Hit it First because she was in her mid-twenties when this tape was made. Now had he known her when she was say, ten years old, the title of the song may be correct.

...I dislike interleague play as it is but I hate the way it is being done this year.

...I really don't care if Alex Rodriguez goes down for his part in this Miami Biogenesis mess just as long as Ryan Braun goes with him.

...A girl from Croatia found a message in a bottle last Tuesday that a Canadian man threw into the sea back in 1985. When the message was read they found it was from a man named Jonathan who sent the encapsulated message to a woman named Mary telling her that she was "a really great person" and that he hoped that they could "keep in correspondence." Taking nothing away from Mary because I have no reason to doubt that she is a great person but she must not have been a keeper because if she was this guy would have picked up a phone to keep a correspondence with her instead letting her know how he felt by doing it this way.

...There is a rumor going around that Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows 8 called Windows Blue that will make this latest version of Windows work more like old-fashioned versions of Windows where users can start their PC's in desktop mode. If this is true this alone can help the sales of this much-maligned OS a lot more than a bunch of commercials with people break dancing around a table ever would.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 4-28

...I debated with myself all week whether or not I should post this opinion in here but after thinking it over I decided that well, it's just one person's opinion and that's all anyone should take out of it. In my life I have never had any interactions with Muslims. Growing up around me there were Italians, Germans, Jews, Polish, Negro, etc. We never had a Muslim family to talk to and get to know. Same for going to school. Not one. Of course I went to Catholic schools so that probably had something to do with it. My point is that since I did not know any I did not have any feelings towards them, good or bad. That all changed in September of 2001 when Osama and his merry men attacked our country and killed thousands of people and changed our way of living forever. Because of these people literally scores of new regulations have been put into place by our government all in the name of "national security" and the worst being the TSA, an organization that I consider to be a modern Gestapo. After these attacks I found out enough about Muslims than I ever cared to know. These people are followers of a religion that is supposed to be all about peace so either a large group of them must not have got that message or maybe they really don't mean it after all. For the past twelve years these people are directly responsible for making our every day lives more inconvenient. If for example I want to take a bus trip to Toronto to see a Blue Jay game I got to come up with $140 for a passport. More money out of everyone's pocket all because of these people. So for twelve years we adjust and get used to things. Now this happens at the Boston Marathon where two men, once again Muslims, make and execute a plan to make two explosions go off at the finish line that injured many people and killed three. We have had enough violence in this country that do not involve Muslims but when these people decide to jump in you can be sure it's going to be pretty bad and explosions will be involved. I have no respect for them any longer and I don't want to try to understand them because I'm past that point now. I am angry at what they have done to this country and concerned about what the next nut wants to do. When I hear the word Muslim I brace myself for bad news. These people are to terrorism as a ringmaster is without a circus. You can't have one without the other. Show me one time when these people have done something that was actually peaceful. A religion that preaches peace to the most violent people in the world is bound to fail. And it has. I have no use for them.

...Again this is just an opinion, just one of my random thoughts for this week. I'm afraid you may think I am generalizing all Muslims into the same group but that's not the case. I am sure the most of the people that follow the Muslim faith are not like this at all and it takes a small percentage to give the entire group a bad name. But the fact remains that we have been hit pretty bad on our home soil two times now in a dozen years. And that's two times too many.

...Ok, on to something else. Anything really.

...There's been a lot of surprises this first month of the season hasn't there? Up in Toronto you have a Blue Jay team struggling despite being the writer's favorites to win the A.L. East this year because they picked up every good player the Marlins had on their roster with the exception of Giancarlo Stanton...The Dodgers are in fifth place much to the delight of every National League fan outside of Los Angeles and the worst part for them is that they're in trouble. One of their top pitchers is out for the year with Tommy John surgery and the other is out for the next few months with a broken collarbone... The Washington Nationals are playing around .500 ball. They're another team that was handed the division before the season started. It's like people forgot about the Braves... Playing at that same .500 clip would have been good for the Yankees, at least if anyone paid attention to how they were supposed to play, but they are holding their own and I'm actually having more fun watching them play this year without all those multi-millionaires in the lineup...If Josh Hamilton and the Angels were a .500 team that would actually be an improvement for them...The Red Sox are in first place and I don't know if they are for real or not but for now they are playing like a first place team...Of course there are some things that are not surprises either like the Astros in dead last in the A.L. West but at least they can say they are not the worst team in baseball because the Marlins are still in business and losing at an alarming pace.

...But really, I have to wonder, are these surprises at all? This is the game itself. Every single year the media gets ahead of the game by predicting and going into detail what they they think is going to happen, who's going to win, who's going to lose and predictions are made for the World Series before Opening Day even gets here. And we eat it up every year. I'm waiting for the day when they're doing their World Series picks when someone from the MLB Network or ESPN admits on camera that they have no idea who is going to win because the games have to be played and to win it involves skill, talent, a minimum amount of injuries and a dash of good fortune. These predictions are not worth the time it takes to read them. This is why baseball surprises you every year. It gets rid of all the pre-season hype and replaces it with the reality of a 162 game season. I wouldn't have it any other way.

...Former Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson was taken to a Los Angeles area hospital after suffering injuries from a car accident after she attempted once again to operate a motor vehicle while chewing gum at the same time. The vehicle's air bag deployed properly but the implants in her chest did not, leaving her bruised and battered but not worse for wear. This by the way was the first rear-ender that Wilkerson was involved in that had anything to do with being behind the wheel of a car.

...If I were running Yahoo or Google I would do anything in my power to hire Dylan Bradbury as my spokesman. This guy can literally find anything on the internet. Tell him for example that you recall a story of a guy driving through some glass doors at a mall before stopping his car right in the middle of a Dairy Queen he can tell you with a couple of clicks of his mouse where this happened, when this happened, what kind of car it was and what the guy had for breakfast. All in less than a minute.

...I think Heidi Watney is a great addition to the MLB Network. My problem is I can't concentrate on what she's saying because I'm always looking at her legs.

...I'd rather sit and watch paint dry than watch the NFL draft.

...Taking nothing away from Gwyneth Paltrow but when People Magazine named her the "World's Most Beautiful Woman" in their last issue of their magazine I had to guess that they must not get out very much or they were paid handsomely to do so. It's as though they have never heard of Kate Upton before.

...Remember Tara Reid? I have to ask because since the American Pie movies ended all she's mostly done is empty liquor bottles at an alarming rate. Usually the only time you hear about her is when there are articles about botched-up plastic surgeries or celebrities who aren't aging well. Last weekend she was thrown out of a store in Los Angeles when she got into an argument with an employee because she was not given a discount for the items she wanted to buy since her idea for a discount was to get everything for free based on her star status which by the way is as shriveled up as a raisin. If she's that hard up for money maybe she can join Splash next season.

...There was a little incident at our house one week ago that stayed on my mind for most of the week. One of our dogs brought in an injured baby rabbit and placed it on the rug in our living room. I was upstairs at the time when this happened. All at once I hear a scream coming from downstairs because now my wife sees what is in the house and she yells for me to come and do something. I did not know what to do because this little animal was slightly bleeding and wasn't really moving that much. I remembered that there was an all night animal hospital so I gave them a call and explained to them what happened but incredibly they said they could not take the rabbit in because it lived out in the wild and they would not change their position even after I explained again the condition of it. But they did give me the number of some volunteers who take these animals in to care for them. Getting through to these people was another thing but finally after five numbers that we tried we got in touch with someone and he told us to bring the rabbit to him. Unfortunately this guy lived a half mile's drive from us in a little town called Churchville, New York and I am not familiar with that place at all. All I know about Churchville is that it has a golf course and some cows and after driving there last Sunday night I learned a third thing and that was there was not one streetlight to help somebody out when they're driving. Hell, I would have been happy for a floodlight or a flashlight. Finally we get to the wildlife station and we dropped off the rabbit and we went back home. We were given a card to call to inquire about the animal the next day but my wife was too afraid to call so last Tuesday she told me to do it and when I called I was informed that the bunny didn't make it. She didn't take that news too well and I have to admit that I tried to take it in stride but I just could not get that image of that small animal bleeding out of my mind and me not being able to help. The eyes on that rabbit is what stayed with me the most. There was more fear in it than pain.

...An airline named Virgin America launched a new service that allows passengers to interact with other people that happen to catch their eye by sending them drinks, snacks or even meals and if all goes well with that you can follow up with a text message. This sounded pretty good to me so I explained to my wife that the next time we take a flight we should use this airline to take advantage of this so I can send drinks to our stewardess in order for her to pay more attention to us and she replied that if I was going to be sending drinks then she'd be sending a couple of well placed kicks to my knee. And just like that another one of my brilliant ideas was shot down. Just as well though because this airline doesn't even operate out Upstate New York.

...Microsoft has let everyone know that May 21st is the date they are going to let everyone know about their next console system and what to expect from it. One rumor that has had the most life for some gamers is that you won't be able to play this new X-box unless you are online and that you won't be able to play old (Xbox 360 and original) games on it. If this proves to be true Microsoft will be doing the Playstation 4 a huge service.

...Have you ever noticed that when someone wants to ask you a "quick question" that it's never quick?

...The other day I got to wondering about the new Red Sox savior Jackie Bradley Jr and how he was making out and then when I looked him up I saw he was already demoted to the minors. That didn't take long at all.

...Listening to Derek Jeter during his press conference last Thursday I couldn't decide if he was trying more to convince himself or the media that he would be coming back to play after the All-Star break.

[Jaxen]

As to you first point, I heard someone say not long after the Boston Marathon massacre that the Muslim world views the jihadists the same way the Christians in this country view the Westboro Baptist Church. Sounds about right.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 5-5

...Today is Cinco de Mayo day, a day in which I was amazed to find out originated in the Mexican-American communities of the Southwest and Western United States and not in Mexico as I originally thought after all these years. This celebration features highlights of the Mexican culture with plenty of music, dancing, food and a huge emphasis on alcoholic beverages. Since this popular holiday happened to fall on a Sunday this year some people decided to have a Cuatro de Mayo yesterday because someone happened to remember that there were a few truckloads of untouched and unconsumed beer last year and they didn't want that to happen two years in a row.

...Tim Tebow was released by the New York Jets last week which was no surprise to anyone and least of all to Tebow himself. He never got his uniform dirty all year except for the time when a teammate ran past him and splashed mud on his cleats. Aside from that he had the best seats in the house as the Jets went 6 - 10 on the year. Tebow shouldn't feel that bad about getting his release from this team. It's like getting fired from McDonald's. You know you're out of a job but it wasn't that much of a job to begin with.

...The rosters of two entire high school baseball teams in New Jersey were ejected in a recent game that lead to one arrest and the possibility of both teams having to forfeit their next two games by default. It all started with a botched squeeze play and the runner on third base being caught in no man's land coming down the line trying to score. Seeing that the squeeze didn't work out as planned the runner attempted to score by knocking the ball out of the catcher's hand. The catcher, it seemed, felt differently about the situation and after he picked himself up off the ground he let the base runner know how bad of an idea he thought this was by punching him in the head as many times as he was able to before being separated. That's when all hell broke loose and before long they discovered they couldn't continue the game anymore because there were no eligible players left to play. While the fight was going on a father of one of the players must have had ants in his pants watching all this because he jumped up out of his seat in the grandstand and got into fight with a kid from the opposing team. He was charged with assault, which is the price you pay when you punch a kid in front of many witnesses. And all this happened in New Jersey. Should this surprise anyone?

...A woman named Judy Clarke has been named to the defense team of the surviving brother who was responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings. She's supposed to be very good at her job because she was able to win life sentences instead of the death penalty for clients like the Unabomber and Jared Loughner, the person responsible for the shootings in Arizona that injured Gabrielle Giffords. Now that I think about it maybe this woman is too good at her job. And while I'm at it since when does this nineteen year old terrorist get his own defense team? This kid has four lawyers right now and you never know later on they could add more. I'd just like to know where the hell it's written that if you can't afford a lawyer four will be appointed for you?

...And I don't have to tell you who's going to be picking up the tab for all these billable hours these lawyers are going to build up.

...Three men visiting Saudi Arabia last week got their visit cut short when they were out one day walking around and were stopped by police and were informed that they were "too handsome" and would have to leave the country because they feared women might fall for them. That's the big difference between men and women in Saudi Arabia. If they think a man's too handsome they deport him. If a woman's too beautiful they just kill them.

...On the plus side, those guys now have the best pickup line ever.

...Exactly one week ago a twenty-four year old man attacked a choir in a New Mexico Catholic Church with a knife as soon as mass was over for the day. Four choir members were stabbed but fortunately none of the injuries were serious. Regular members of the church had no idea who he was but he's now facing numerous felony charges for his actions. Rumor has it though that the man was getting more and more frustrated with the choir as the mass went along after they kept on refusing to play his song requests.

...I understand that there are times when your temper gets the best of you but you should always be aware of where you are before you decide to start or finish something and when you are 23,000 feet up Mount Everest that is no place to do either. I'm talking of course about a fight last week between three European climbers and some local guides that were hired to help them get to the top of the mountain. Now I am not a professional climber in any stretch of the imagination unless you consider going from my cellar up to the second floor of my house climbing, but a general rule of thumb would not to be upsetting the guides that are with you because they still have to get you up there and more importantly back down to the ground.

...Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts talked publicly last Wednesday about the possibility of the Cubs leaving Wrigley Field in case there is opposition for the new 6,000-square-foot video screen that he is planning on installing in left field. This is Ricketts' way of telling the owners of the rooftop bleachers across the street from Wrigley that if his plans for this screen, which is part of his $500 million park renovation is blocked, he will have no recourse but to move the team. Good for him. The rooftop businesses believe they have a say in the proposed upgrades because they have a contract with the Cubs in which they share 17 percent of their revenue with them but if they threaten legal action and by chance win they'll end up having great seats to a ballpark that will from now on be host to high school games.

...Tampa's David Price got into a little spat last week with home plate umpire Tom Hallion during a Rays game last week when he said the umpire swore at him as he was walking off the mound. Hallion naturally denied it and called Price a liar and Price responded on twitter that Hallion was "a coward." After careful consideration that must have taken all of ten minutes, Major League Baseball decided to fine Hallion, Price and two of his teammates one thousand dollars apiece. By fining everyone they figured they got the right guy, whoever he is.

...I miss the days when the umpires were there to call the game and not be part of it. Umpires like Doug Harvey, Steve Palermo, and Lou DiMuro for example were never like this. They just called the game and got more respect than some of these umpires these days will ever deserve.

...For the rest of his career every time Stephen Strasburg sneezes they are going to have an ambulance waiting and ready to take him to the hospital.

...Thank you New York Knicks for beating the Celtics in six games after taking a 3 - 0 lead in that series. Had they lost that we'd never hear the end of it.

...Curtis Granderson seems to be having a devil of a time up at the plate this year even though he has not had that many at-bats. He recently was hit with a pitch in his upper right arm in an extended spring training game the other day but it wasn't enough to have him taken out of the game. Granderson is still recovering from breaking his right forearm during his first plate appearance of the spring back in late February and is anxious to get back to the Yankees because no one on the team has been able to strike out as consistently as him.

...Well, at least he's got the most votes for moron-of-the-year Dept: A thirty-year-old New Hampshire man lost $2,600--his life savings--when he tried to win an Xbox Kinect at a carnival. Originally he went through $300 in a matter of minutes trying to win the item and when he came up empty he went home to get $2,300 more and before long that was gone too and worst of all he still did not have his Xbox Kinect. Since I am not an owner of the latest console systems I was not sure what exactly an Xbox Kinect was and most of all how much it cost. Every where I looked, Target, Walmart and Best Buy they all have it for around $100 so I was not sure why this guy didn't just go there and get it because if he would have done it like that he'd have never gone through the $300 let alone $2,600. Naturally when the following day rolled around and after thinking about what he did he called the police to accuse the carnival of swindling him. Anyone who's ever been to a carnival or a fair knows damn well going in the odds are stacked against you and when you spend this much money to win a one hundred dollar item you have more problems than a drained bank account.

...A Washington, D.C. Councilmember with one eye on votes and the other on media attention is planning on introducing a resolution to make the NFL Redskins change their name. If you are saying to yourself that this is not the first time you've heard of this you'd be right. This subject always seems to come up every so often after someone remembers the Redskins are still called the Redskins and then they protest loud enough to get a politician involved, which brings us to where we are now. With all the problems they have in Washington right now telling a football team to change their name should be the very least of what to spend time on. If I were Redskins owner Daniel Snyder the next time he is bothered with this name change talk he should say yes, I'll be happy to change the team's name. How does the Los Angeles Redskins sound to you?

...One of the biggest problems this country has is it is filled with people just waiting to be offended and they go out of their way to make sure they are.

...Because of the recent 1941 mod that just came out I dusted off my copy of Robert W. Creamer's book on baseball in 1941. I really don't need a reason to read a baseball book--once I even read a book on the Red Sox' Impossible Dream season of 1967 if you can believe that. Reading this book brought some of the lesser known characters of the 1941 season to life for me. He explained how a bench player by the name of Alf Anderson for the Pittsburgh Pirates threw a huge roadblock in the way of the Dodgers chase for the pennant that year. (Anderson, a .215 hitter on the year hit a triple to beat the Dodgers in a late September game. This made Dodger manager Leo Durocher furious since this was Anderson's second triple of the year.) Anderson's a guy that you'd never look at twice in the mod but that was his moment in the spotlight for his brief career. It was a great book to go along with a great mod.

...The Smithsonian Museum had a press conference last week when they announced the findings of dismemberment and cannibalization of a fourteen-year-old British girl in Jamestown, Virginia back in 1609. They went on to say that this was done by the other settlers there who were beyond the point of starvation. You really got to feel for this poor girl, dead these four hundred plus years now and you would have to wonder how her life would have been had there been a Pizza Hut around that made deliveries.

...Naturally I needed no further convincing to believe that Clay Buchholz is doctoring the ball. He's guilty. :D

[Jim825]

It's like getting fired from McDonald's. You know you're out of a job but it wasn't that much of a job to begin with.

Careful.... All 3 of my daughters currently work at McDonald's to help pay for college and my wife was an accountant for McDonald's when I met her.

[Yankee4Life]

Careful.... All 3 of my daughters currently work at McDonald's to help pay for college and my wife was an accountant for McDonald's when I met her.

Did I say McDonald's?? I meant Burger King. Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant! :D