Random Thoughts On A Sunday Morning Updated To 11-19

sabugo · January 5, 2014

Soccer, or football, is a foreign and strange, pointless and boring sport for most of the American people, much in the same way baseball is to us Europeans. Nevertheless, there is something I absolutley need to write about today.

It so happens that my dad worked for the biggest football club in Portugal, and one of the biggest in Europe, Sport Lisboa e Benfica, the 'Encarnados' or 'Reds' (sometimes I have to remind myself to hate the Red Sox just because they wear red). For 42 years my old man worked for the team, 32 of those as the football team doctor. He won many championships and cups during that period and I can only say that growing up I spent more time in the stadium (the old Estadio da Luz with a capacity for 120,000) than at home or school. At one point growing up I actually played for the the club's youth squads. In fact one very famous soccer played, Miguel Veloso - whose dad was the senior team captain, was cut from the team during preseason and I wasn't!

Which brings me to today, one of the saddest days I've had in quite some time.
Today I've lost a hero, an idol and a true example as a human being.

I woke up to the news that Eusébio, my country and club's most iconic figure had passed away at 71.
The man was an absolute force on the field, scoring more than 700 goals in his career. A great football player nowadays finishes a career with 250 to 300 goals scored.
Off the field he was loved by everyone due to his humble behaviour. He never tried to be the 'big man' unless it served a purpose, but I'll get to that soon.

He arrived in Portugal with 17 years old, coming from Mozambique which at the time was one of the portuguese colonies. He learned to play soccer with no shoes, on the streets of the Mafalala neighbourhood in the capital city Lourenço Marques (now Maputo). Benfica and our rivals, Sporting, had a quite interesting dispute as to who would sign this young phonom back in 1960. It was enough drama for a movie, involving kidnapping accusations and all!

After he got to pracitce with the team he turned to another young man who would also become a star and asked: 'Who's getting benched? I'm gonna have to play...'
He wasn't being cocky. He was that good and that confident. Once he was in, he never left.

During his career he was ofthen a target for vicious defenders and a victim of racism by those who woudln't accept defeat.
He suffered a number of knee injuries which today would have ended every professional athlete's career. He had 6 surgeries on his left ACL and MCL and 1 on his right.
Time and again he would take the field just days after such surgeries because the prize money for the team appearance was doubled whenever he was on the field, and he just wanted his teamates to make more money. They used to call him 'our extra allowance'. Can you imagine playing only days after major knee surgery? (in the 1960's no less!) Big man Eusébio, always looking out for the little ones.
As a kid I was hanging around my dad's office one time and Eusébio who was long retired was there too. I tell you, you didn't have to be a doctor or look at x-rays to see how messed up those knees were.

My dad also lived in Mozambique for a long time and he shared some of those memories with Eusébio. They had this connection going back to their days in Africa, which made me very proud. Whether it was food, places they visited and lived in or even how both never quite got used to say 'Maputo' and kept saying 'Lourenço Marques to this day.

Eusébio was the first football player in history to have signature cleats. The 'Puma King' were the first on the market, in the 1960's. Yeah, the man's nickname here in Portugal was 'King' in english and all. He was also referred as the 'Pantera Negra' or 'Black Panther', a nickname he earned during the 1966 World Cup in England. During that World Cup, Portugal was losing 0-3 vs. North Korea. Then Eusébio shows up, scores 4 goals, assists on the 5th and we win 5-3.

After retiring he was on the Benfica staff for many years as assistant coach or team embassador, as well as for the national team. Whenever Benfica had do travel to eastern bloc countries there were problems going through customs. During the cold war days, borders and customs were usually tough. That's when Eusébio would pose for photographs and chat up the man in charge. It was the difference between staying 6 hours filling unnecessary paperwork or 30 minutes of photos and autographs.

I've written a lot more than I originally intended and there is so much more to write...My wife is now staring at me because I said this would only take 5 minutes...

I'm sad, I really am.
It's not everyday you lose a hero.

Anybody notice my hersey number on the MVPMods team? Number 10. Guess where that came from!

**Yankee4Life** · January 6, 2014

I am very sorry to read about the loss of your soccer hero sabugo and after reading your post about him I am sorry that I never heard of Eusébio myself. The guy sounded to me like an unselfish superstar that put his team first at all times, something that is rare to see today.

R.I.P. Eusébio.

sabugo · January 6, 2014

Don't feel bad Y4L, in Europe hardly anybody ever heard of any baseball greats.

Eusébio was really someone apart. He would applaud goalkeepers when they made great saves and even pat them on the back after scoring, almost as if he were apologizing for making them look bad. Who would do something of that sort today?

The entire city of Lisbon said goodbye to him today. A lot of people came out to pay their respects and he got his wish with one last lap around the stadium where supporters of all clubs including our biggest rivals gave him one last applause. 'When I die, I would like one last lap around the stadium. This is where people really made me feel special and appreciated' he said.
His statue was draped in Benfica scarves and other clubs' as well. Someone fittingly put a crown on its head.

**Yankee4Life** · January 6, 2014

Don't feel bad Y4L, in Europe hardly anybody ever heard of any baseball greats.

That's understandable. When I was a kid growing up the only soccer player I heard of was Pele and I didn't give a damn about him either. I read a little bit about Eusébio today and I think U.S. fans were robbed because they didn't get to know him.

Eusébio was really someone apart. He would applaud goalkeepers when they made great saves and even pat them on the back after scoring, almost as if he were apologizing for making them look bad. Who would do something of that sort today?

Alex Rodriguez?

Just trying to make you laugh here.

sabugo · January 11, 2014

Much as I might dislike Selig and think in all fairness that MLB has had it out for A-Rod from the beginning...good riddance!

**Yankee4Life** · January 12, 2014

Updated to 1-12

...A McDonald’s restaurant in Elk Grove, California is being accused by the media for asking a group of what they are referring to as "intellectually disabled" adults to leave their place of business. As we all know by now when the media says you did something then of course you did it. What happened was this group of people, a special needs group, got into a food fight and it was disrupting the other customers who were there and if it were not for the fact that these people were mentally disabled this would have never been an issue because if it were any other group of people throwing their French Fries and McNuggets around it would have never made the news. It sure is easier to make McDonald's look like the bad guy instead of placing the blame on the people who were there supervising this particular group for their own failure in controlling the situation. And I don't know if saying "intellectually disabled" is entirely accurate in this case because half the kids in any high school across the country can be described in the same way.

...Last week was the twentieth anniversary of the attack on champion figure skater Nancy Kerrigan by the men hired by Tonya Harding's ex-husband. What a media circus that was. I saw a recent picture of Harding and just one look at her you can tell she's been putting in more time at the iHop instead of the rink in recent years.

...A Congressman named Eliot Engel from New York state is shaking his finger at Dennis Rodman for bringing some former NBA players to North Korea for that basketball game that was played last Wednesday in honor of Kim Jong Un's birthday. I've never heard of this guy before let alone knew he was a Congressman from my home state. Some of you may argue that I should know who my Congressman are that are supposed to represent me. Well, I don't. I'm lucky I know who our Governor is. I had no problem in what he was saying because I don't support anything that has to do with North Korea and I also wouldn't do anything to make Jong Un's birthday a special day but it was the timing of his speech that made no sense to me. It was not a well-kept secret about what Rodman was going to do and when he was going to do it but this politician waited until last Monday to let everyone know how he felt about it. He even dragged a mother and daughter who escaped North Korea at the press conference to help get his point across even further. If you ever needed an example of political grandstanding there you are. And that's reason #954 why I can not stand politics.

...The National Review, the conservative semimonthly magazine founded by William F. Buckley, Jr came out last week to applaud the state of Colorado for becoming the first state to make the "prudent choice" of legalizing recreational marijuana. Amazing. And all it took was a dozen or so free dime bags from some marijuana distributors in Colorado to change their minds.

...There's a new sick way some people are occupying themselves with that's called the 'Knockout Game' and it is slowly making its way across the country. The object of the game is that you try to sneak up on someone and knock them out with one punch. Police in Brooklyn, New York have arrested a man who was involved in seven knockout game attacks where each of the victims were women, including an elderly woman pushing a stroller and a mother walking with her daughter. Apparently they caught the guy before he turned professional where he then would do his knockouts in hospitals and retirement homes. This is not exactly a brand new game because in England years ago the same thing went on but it was called a "happy slap" over there. The media, as usual, is reporting this inaccurately. They're saying these are hate crimes because mostly young, black males are doing them and while that may be part of the reason why this is happening I think the real reason this is happening is for these people to get a quick, cheap thrill because most of the victims in these "games" are women who are in no position to defend themselves. One of these days someone is going to attack the wrong woman and it is going to end badly.

...Steven Seagal recently told a TV station that he is seriously considering running for governor of Arizona since he watched his friends Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger do the same thing. I don't know if this is what the voters there want but if Mexico ever decides to invade Arizona they had better stop and think twice about it.

...Last Monday night the Honey Boo Boo clan got themselves banged up a little as they were involved in a car crash which happened in their home state of Georgia. Daddy Boo Boo (or whatever his name is) was attempting to make a left hand turn when a truck driving in the opposite direction without lights on rammed into them. The truck that hit them was cited for speeding and nothing else. In Georgia you don't have to have your lights on when you are driving at night just as long as you carry along a few high powered flashlights just in case you are driving in the back roads or places like that. Aside from some bumps and bruises they came out of this incident without any major wounds and when Daddy Boo Boo learned that their Chevy Suburban SUV sustained only some minor damages he was upset because he had hoped it was unrepairable since he had intentions to haul it back to their home to put it in the front yard as a decoration piece because the other car they had there, a rusted forty-year-old Ford truck, was given to one of their relatives as a Christmas present and the yard looked bare without it. Before they allowed the SUV to be towed away from the scene the family insisted on cleaning out the vehicle that took them one hour because when the accident happened they dropped all their Cheetos and M&M's they had with them and they didn't want them to go to waste.

...I am sure that all of us has some kind of story to share as to how we dealt with the harsh weather we had last week and how we tried to keep warm. That is of course except for me. The cold had me completely whipped as I stayed inside the house hiding from it. It was so cold that it delayed the garbage pickup by one day so I had to drag everything down to the curb on Wednesday instead of Tuesday and for those ten minutes that was the longest I stayed outside. I threw out an old computer chair that was on its last legs -no pun intended- and within a half an hour someone snagged it. I don't know how they did it since it was frozen to the ground. About the only excitement I saw outside was when the UPS truck broke down right in front of my driveway and another truck had to come to transfer the packages from the truck that wouldn't start to the new one. One of the drivers came to my door and apologized again and again for blocking my driveway and hoped that I did not have to go anywhere because the truck that wouldn't start wasn't changing its mind any time soon. So I told the guy not to worry about anything and that I didn't plan on venturing outside until April.

...Staying inside or at very least staying where he was at awhile longer is what an escaped convict from Kentucky should have done. A man named Robert Vick (no relation to Michael) decided to do a runner from the Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington where he was serving a six-year sentence for burglary and criminal possession of a forged instrument. In other words he broke in somewhere and stole someone's credit cards with the intent of running up a tab. Anyways, he saw an opportunity and bolted from the place with the intention of distancing himself from the Bluegrass State as far as he could. Unfortunately he did this last week right in the middle of that cold spell we had and Kentucky, just like all the neighboring states around it got hit pretty bad. Vick did not have to worry about someone like Lt. Gerard hunting him down because the weather was all that it took to reel this guy back in. After running around awhile outside with wind chills readings at twenty below zero and unable to get warm Vick walked into the first place he saw open, a motel, and asked them to call the police so they can pick him up and bring him back to prison. It doesn't take a genius to see where he went wrong. Even if there wasn't that Antarctic air to deal with last week it still was winter time out there. It's still cold. Where the hell's he going? Wait until June and give it the old college try. He may not realize that there are homeless people out there who intentionally commit small crimes so they can be caught and put away so they can get out of the cold. And at the same time he did the opposite. There used to be a very good TV show some years back called Cold Case but this actually was one.

...I was flipping through the TV stations early last Friday morning and I saw this court TV show that I originally thought was like that Judge Judy show. I started watching it because all the defendants were yelling and flaying their arms around so I decided to stay right there to see what was getting them so hot and bothered. I ended up discovering that I was watching something entirely different called Paternity Court where people volunteer to go on to air their dirty laundry just to find out what guy they should sent a father's day card to. And all this time I had myself convinced that television could not get any worse.

...I was very happy to see that Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine make the Hall of Fame last week because I thought those two really deserved it while at the same time I didn't give a damn if Frank Thomas got in or not since I thought that people like Craig Biggio or Mike Piazza deserved it more. It was a shame that Maddux didn't get a unanimous vote in but realistically did anyone expect that to happen? The excuse all these years has been that since the baseball writers back in 1936 could not all agree to vote Babe Ruth in that somehow justifys that no one should get a unanimous vote. I don't know how many times I have heard this until finally I decided to do some reading about it and I'm glad I did. Ruth received 215 votes when he got in which was good for 95.1% of the votes, a percentage any player would gladly settle for but at the same time I really wanted to know who didn't vote for him and why. What I also found out was that Ty Cobb got a higher percentage of the votes (98.2%) because for some reason he got more votes than Ruth (222.) Arguments can be made as to who was the better of the two but I think both of them deserved not to be excluded by any of those voters back then. This is why it didn't surprise me that Maddux got left off a writers ballot by some goof named Ken Gurnick. His reason? He didn't want to vote for anyone that played in the PED era but that didn't stop him from voting for Jack Morris who was still kicking around the major leagues when guys like Canseco, McGwire and Sosa were playing. Only in his mind did this make sense. For seventy-eight years now there have been reasons as foolish as Gurnick's that have kept players out of the Hall of Fame and next year should be no different.

...For the very first time thanks to Jaxen, who ran what he called the "Cooperstown Consortium" I had the opportunity to cast my Hall of Fame ballot before the actual announcements came out last week. There was a group of twelve and the three players that got in were Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine (both unanimous votes) and Mike Piazza. You were able to vote for a maximum of ten players and besides voting for all three players that were elected I also gave the nod for guys such as Craig Biggio, Alan Trammel and Jack Morris. Sure there were only twelve people that voted in this but it was not hard to notice that there was more common sense displayed here than Ken Gurnick and Dan Le Batard showed in the voting that actually counted.

...Say what you want about Major League Baseball but they sure know how to make a Saturday afternoon in January interesting. Waiting for the verdict on Alex Rodriguez to be announced I had to admit that I had no idea what to expect since getting back on the field immediately was always a possibility for him or at the very least getting slapped with the same amount of games that Ryan Braun got. But a 162 game suspension? I never saw that coming. I don't feel bad for him and I don't think he got screwed here at all. He did all this to himself. The word is that he is going to try to fight the ruling in federal court but my feeling is that once he finds out how fruitless that will be he may not do that. Now I'm curious to see if he shows up for Spring Training next month because he still is allowed to do that. I hope he doesn't because that is one thing that any team doesn't need as they prepare for a season and that is a media distraction. They are already going to have enough of one every time Derek Jeter takes a step.

...I have to admit I am torn. As a baseball fan I am happy about this because he finally got his. But as a Yankee fan I don't know how happy I should be because he can still play third base very well and has a gun for an arm and every so often he remembers he can hit a little and I have no idea who is going to play third base this year because Kevin Youkilis is gone and is presently learning Japanese.

GoRedSox34 · January 12, 2014

According to baseball reference, Biggio was worth 64.9 wins and Piazza 59.2 wins in their careers. Thomas himself contributed 73.6 wins! Pretty impressive - he easily deserves his induction.

"But...but...he was a DH..."

**Yankee4Life** · January 19, 2014

Updated to 1-19

...The Super Bowl is two weeks from today and while organizers are busying themselves with last-minute tasks before the big day on February 2nd they are at the same time crossing their fingers for a mild day. They are also working behind the scenes with law enforcement officials to make sure all the scoring that day is on the field. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in New Jersey and state officials are concerned about the rise in prostitution that statistically increases during a Super Bowl or other large sporting event. Even without the Super Bowl being played there this is a constant problem in New Jersey and all these people are trying to do is not have every motel from the proximity of the stadium to Manhattan booked with call girls disguised as football fans. Now if any of you are planning on going there in two weeks to <wink> watch the game, that is your business. I wouldn't worry to much about them coming down hard on anyone because just as long as the Congressmen and the other higher-ups get their first choice before anyone else it should be fine.

...Strike another victory for whining people everywhere that have too much time on their hands. Because of their hard work and dedication in devoting their time to cry about something that doesn't affect them in any way, they have pressured the Cleveland Indians to replace their primary Chief Wahoo logo with the block letter "C" they introduced in recent seasons. The smiling Indian logo isn't being eliminated completely - it's just being downgraded so fans will see less of it overall. It's not a total victory for them because the Tribe's home uniform will continue to feature the logo on caps and jersey sleeves. All that means is that they still have more belly-aching to do. Even before this happened the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that the Jolly Roger one-eyed Pirate will no longer be used as their primary logo because of objections raised recently by Somali pirates. These days you got to be careful not to offend anybody.

...I find the Red Sox offensive and not just the name. What's my next step?

...One thing I forgot to say last week about the Rodriguez suspension that still has me mad one week later is the fact that David Ortiz did the same thing as Rodriguez but he got away with it simply because Alex Rodriguez is vilified by mostly everyone as a player and a person and Ortiz is not because he knows how to play the part of the oblivious and always grinning ballplayer extremely well. I'm not defending Rodriguez here. I'm just saying he should of had company.

...I think those James Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowell Sprint commercials are hilarious but then again I'm biased since I like anything James Earl Jones does.

...Many times I have gone to the movies with my wife and we have had to deal with people who were talking or laughing very loud, uncontrollable children and inconsiderate people who do not think twice about using their phone to talk or text or to do God knows what. It got so bad that we have not seen a movie in a long time. So with that in mind I am more than sympathetic to the guy last Monday who shot someone because the other man would not stop texting in the theater. I'm not saying I would go as far as shooting another person over something like this because I wouldn't. Understanding someone's frustration about the rudeness that some people display when they are using their phones in a public place is one thing, condoning shooting that same person for what he was doing is another. An argument escalated in the theater about the guy using his phone and it continued because the guy kept on texting and one word lead to another and the end result was someone was shot dead because of this. The first thing I thought of when I heard about this was why the hell did someone bring a gun with him in the movie theater? The only thing I bring into the movies is the candy I buy someplace else that I sneak in because I am not going to spend four dollars on a box of M&M's that the dollar store sells for a buck. Aside from the fact that someone was shot over something like this none of them got to see how the movie ended. :unknw:

...I don't know how believable this story is but I read about it and saw part of it on TV, so here goes. A Seattle woman ended up going to emergency because after having sex with her boyfriend she orgasmed and three hours later she still couldn't find the off switch. The hospital thought that she originally came there in labor but when they asked her what her level of pain was she replied "zero." Medication finally helped calm her down and she went home tired but happy and since that day has made her boyfriend sleep in the other room.

...The next time that they finally decide to take the chance and do it again all he has to do is stick a wedding ring on her finger and she'll never have one of these again.

...Are you kidding, Dept: I'm sure that the new Pope in Rome is doing a wonderful job. I mean the only guy to complain about him that I know of was Rush Limbaugh and he doesn't count. But I think maybe there must be something wrong with his hearing. Last week during a service in which he baptized thirty-two children some of them started crying and when one started they all did because even at that young of an age no one likes to be left out. The Pope was unfazed and said that children's voices, even when crying, make "the most beautiful choir of all." Now I know that this is a man of God and I am just myself but this just shows the enormous difference between us, not that we'd be mistaken for each other anyways. He hears a bunch of babies crying and calls it a choir. I hear the same thing and I run out of the room.

...A Chinese energy firm is planning to spend 1 billion yuan or 165 million U.S. dollars on a full-scale replica of the Titanic as the main attraction for a theme park that will be permanently docked on a river in the town of Sichuan. The firm already has the complete design drawings of the famous ship and work is expected to be completed in two years. The designers are planning on recreating the experience of what it felt like when the luxury liner collided with the iceberg so visitors can have a feel of what it was like for the actual passengers back in 1912 when that moment occurred. If this attraction proves to be successful the next thing this Chinese company plans to make is a replica of the Hindenburg so they can try to capture all the good times and laughs associated with that piece of history too.

...While most teams have been busy this off season trying to improve their rosters and prepare for the upcoming season the Chicago Cubs, as usual, have taken a different approach. They've been hard at work creating a mascot named Clark who will attempt to entertain fans between innings in order to distract them from what's going on out on the field with the Cubs. Believe it or not this is the second mascot the Cubs had because for a number of years beginning way back in 1916 they used to wheel out a live bear out on the field. Of course they could not get away with something like that today because they couldn't be sure if someone in the stands was packing and would suddenly decide to take aim at it. And then there's the opinion that this mascot is actually the third one used by the Cubs since Alfonso Soriano was constantly mistaken for one because all he ever did was stand in one place and wave.

...The food police are apparently not satisfied with coming up with new foods and drinks for people to avoid because now they are branching out into the animal kingdom. A zoo in southwest England is saying that bananas are bad for monkeys because of the high calorie and sugar content in them and because of that they have cut them off cold turkey and instead are providing them with leafy veggies and sprouts. Sounds like the monkeys really made out on that one. First they have to live in a zoo and now they have to deal with this. If there is ever a real life Planet of the Apes you'll know how it started.

...Finally there is something that I can say that Justin Bieber and I have both done and that's pelting a neighbor's house with eggs. In my case I was thirteen years old and I did it on dare during Halloween. It was only one egg and it hit the intended target, the screen door on the side of the house. Being the brave soul that I am as soon as that egg left my hand I took off running to our "hiding spot" which now that I look back on it made no sense at all because it was on top of a garage. And, like Bieber, I got caught. Someone with us cracked under pressure during interrogation and the next day I was handed some soap and water and had to clean the door and do one hour of community service which meant I had to rake the leaves in the front and back yards. After that hard labor I never threw another egg again.

...Ty Warner, the billionaire businessman who created those Beanie Babies that were so popular back in the 1990's was sentenced last Tuesday to two years of probation for not paying taxes on millions of dollars stashed in Swiss bank accounts. For those who are not fortunate to have billions of dollars to their name they'd be looking at some time in the clink but Warner won't be serving one day behind bars because the judge presiding the case was impressed with his charity work. That's why Wesley Snipes went to jail for the same thing. Snipes had money but not like this. Anyway, all I thought of was that it was people like my wife who used to buy and collect and categorize these damned things that helped him become a billionaire. Warner was very ashamed and sorry as he addressed the court. Of course he was. He was sorry he got caught.

...For traditional baseball fans like myself who dislike the designated hitter, interleague play and expanded playoffs (just to name three) the game that I grew up watching slipped away even further last week and I am very upset about it because I believe these changes have not helped the game at all. And now instant replay, which already had its foot in the door, is now being expanded beginning this season. Managers are going to get one challenge per game and if their challenge is upheld they get another one. This is going to look like a football game minus the helmets and pads. I said before this is going to make the Yankee - Red Sox games longer but I didn't realize how much expanded replay they were talking about because Tony Larussa, one of the chief SOB's of this new replay system said that "almost 90 percent of all potential calls are now reviewable." Great! These games are going to be so damn long now that I'll be able to watch them announce the starting lineups and then get ready for bed. I just don't get it. Why change something, why mess around with something that was so good in the first place? And do you know what really worries me? Whatever they are planning next.

...And if anyone is looking ahead and wondering if the Red Sox will lose any of their challenges they have in Fenway Park this year the answer to that is going to be no and hell no.

...Four teams that I could care less about will be playing in the AFC and NFC title games and I'm so excited about who is going to win that I just may watch five minutes of it and that will be all I will be able to stand. In the NFC I pick the 49ers and in the AFC I pick the Broncos. I'll tell you how I came to both of my conclusions. I didn't spend time reading about the strengths and weaknesses of each team and who is injured or not. I took a more scientific approach. I flipped a coin.

**Yankee4Life** · January 26, 2014

Updated to 1-26

...Dennis Rodman has checked into an undisclosed alcohol rehabilitation center in order to receive help for his long time struggle with alcoholism. The reason why it is undisclosed is because the place that has him told him he could only stay there if he kept quiet where he was because they wanted to continue having clients after he leaves. Rodman checked into the center upon his return from North Korea because his agent said that he was under a lot of pressure when he organized a basketball game there in honor of Kim Jong Un's birthday and that he had been doing a lot of excessive drinking because of it. That's pretty good. Travel halfway around the world to play in a basketball game to make some maniac happy, insinuate that the American being held captive there is there because of something he did and swear at an interviewer on live TV when being asked why he was there in the first place and when you come home hide out some place and blame it all on alcohol.

...Good news! Well, maybe. C.C. Sabathia signed with Roc Nation Sports, the sports agency started by Jay Z. He's the same agent that whispered sweet nothings in Robinson Cano's ears and got him a one-way ticket to Seattle. Sabathia has at least three years left on his contract so they can't do anything right now about getting him a new one. Not that he deserves it or anything. But it's my hope that Jay Z will be annoying all this time and the Yankees end up unloading Sabathia, who last year looked like he lost everything on the mound except weight.

...The Baseball Assistance Team have created a new award called the Commissioner Bud Selig Leadership Award which in all probability is an award given to Baseball executives who screw up the most during the season and the first recipient of this award was none other than Selig himself. This means that whomever wins this in the following years has impossible shoes to fill.

...Modell’s Sporting Goods gambled on the wrong AFC team to win last week as they printed up $500,000 worth of hats, t-shirts, novelties and pennants for men, women and children who wanted to celebrate the New England Patriots victory in the championship game and who at the same time would not mind overpaying for the privilege. Denver messed everything up for them by winning the game and all the memorabilia that was to be sold at three times it cost them to make it at was donated by Modell's to third world countries so if you really want one of these t-shirts you'll have to drive down to Mexico to get it.

...This is not an uncommon thing because something like this happens every year and every time I read about this it makes me think of a Toronto businessman many years ago. It was during the 1985 American League Championship Series between the Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals. The Blue Jays were having their way with the Royals as they took a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven series. Just one more win and the Jays would be on their way to their first World Series. It was at this moment in time that a Toronto man whose name I do not know quit his $100,000 a year job just so he can go into business selling Blue Jays championship memorabilia. Ask any Royals fan and they'll tell you that this guy made the wrong career choice because the Royals came back to win the series in seven games over Toronto and they had so much fun doing that that they spotted the Cardinals the same three games to one edge before storming back to win the 1985 World Series. I never knew what happened to this person or how much money he ended up losing or if he ended up getting his job back. I just know that he lost a bundle because no one would buy his Blue Jay "we're number one" styrofoam hands.

...A nun in Italy last week gave birth to a baby boy, news of which shocked the other nuns at the convent as well as the mother herself. Incredibly she did not know she was pregnant. Instead she just thought she was experiencing stomach pains that kept on contracting every few minutes or so for twenty straight hours. It is not sure who the father of the baby is but the day after the child was born Guiseppe the gardener abruptly quit and has not been seen since.

...For the movers and shakers in the Roman Catholic church what some of their people have done in the past seven days or so is something they'd just as soon forget. The pregnant nun story will eventually die down just like all sensational stories before it has but I think it's going to be harder for the public to let go of this one. One of the monsignors from the Vatican arrested last Tuesday for allegedly using his Vatican bank accounts to launder money. Police have accused him of transferring millions of euros in fictitious donations from offshore companies at the Vatican's Institute for Religious Works. I'm not sure how he did this because the only time I do any laundering it is in front of a washing machine but he somehow took money from the Vatican when no one was looking and in turn transferred it to real estate and assets in Italian bank accounts. How do you like that? And I bet all this time you thought the money gathered from the collection plate on Sundays ended up at the nearest casino.

...That's my Boy, Dept: An eighteen-year-old high school student was allowed to return to class last week after he was suspended by school officials because he got a job making pornographic movies just so he could help his mother pay bills. His mother reported that when the other students discovered what he was doing her son became a target of bullying and threats. It should be noted that none of the threats were made from members of the female student body. The mother went on to say that partly because of these threats the school expelled her son due to his "explicit lifestyle career." After all the dust was settled the suspension only stuck for four days and that was enough time to make one more movie because they are considering adding HBO and Showtime to their DirecTV package.

...For any of you who remember MarkB you may want to read this to see what is going on with him today. If you recall, Mark is from Glasgow, Scotland and he works in the computer field. He even had a job at Dell once before they downsized and got rid of people. This indirectly has something to do with what he is doing now. For the past few years he has been trying to find some steady employment in Glasgow but unfortunately the job situation there is not so good. There is a program that Scotland has that sends people that want to work to Australia for employment and after some delays in getting there Mark has been in Brisbane, Australia since December 2nd. It was a twenty-eight hour flight from Glasgow to Brisbane that included layovers and changing planes. (When he told me how long that took I promised myself not to complain about long the flight is to Hawaii the next time I go.) Anyways, he's there enjoying the Australian summer and watching some Australian Baseball League games because Brisbane is part of that league. He says the Australian fans are pretty knowledgeable about the game. The best part is that he already has a job. He is doing IT work at the hotel he is staying at and in return they are giving him a free room and a few hundred dollars a week. Mark was and is a very good guy and I am hoping that once he gets settled there and into a daily routine that he will come back here and say hi because these past few years have been crazy for him.

...What's the big fuss about Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman? He's just another loud mouthed, in-your-face, me-first football player. Ray Lewis was the same way just as there were others before Lewis and there's going to be others after Sherman. The only real news this guy will end up making is when we find out what crime he gets arrested for in the off season.

...After reading about the player representatives from the Major League Baseball Players Association overwhelmingly agreeing that Alex Rodriguez should be kicked out of their union it got me thinking and playing the "what if" game. These players are so upset at Rodriguez suing their union that they want nothing to do with him. Think about it for a second. Every single player rep wanted him out including the Yankee one and that guy might have to end up playing with him next year. And if he does come back in 2015 he's going to have to shake off more then the rust of not playing for a year because his entire body is going to be a magnet for baseballs. At least Barry Bonds had supporters. Rodriguez has nothing and that makes me also wonder if in his private moments that he thinks he went too far?

...I was thrilled to find out that the Yankees had signed Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka because of the many things that they needed, pitching was right up there. But after the excitement of this signing set in that's when I started worrying. The Yankees hadn't had very good luck with Japanese pitchers (Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa) and would this be the third lemon that they picked from the Japanese leagues? I hope not because he looks like he has a good arm but playing in Japan is different than playing here. This is an improved team from last year on paper but is it enough?

...Which brings me to Jonny Gomes of the Red Sox. There was a column about him in the New York Daily News which I'll go as far as giving you a link to it right here. This tabloid covers the Yankees very well year-round but you have to read the articles with your eyes wide open. If they could have stirred something up with this column the better for them although when you stop and think about it, Gomes was right. Maybe that's what bugged them in the first place. Gomes was not "particularly impressed" with the free agent signings that the Yankees have done this winter and went on to say that they still have “some questions.” Not exactly words to get worked up and bothered over and to be truthful here I agree with him. Gone are the days when I get all excited over some new free agent that comes to town with an impressive resume. The last time I believed that is when they signed Mark Teixeira. I don't need a reason to dislike something a Red Sox player says but make it a legitimate one.

...We've been busy, Dept: An attention-seeking family in South Carolina are seeking a new trial for a fourteen-year-old relative of theirs named George Stinney who was executed in 1944 for murdering two girls, ages nine and eleven. They are insisting he is innocent and while they can't bring him back, they want his name cleared. All I want to know is why now? Why the hell did they wait seventy years to try to get the courts to hear this again? If I seem apathetic about this it is because I am. Why now all of a sudden do they want this case tried? Why didn't they request this twenty years ago? Or forty years ago? With all the time that went by it couldn't have been bothering them that much. It's not like they had seventy years of sleepless nights over this. My guess is that this has a lot to do with the media and the desire to be on TV. Maybe they want to go on the Oprah Winfrey Network and have her hold their hands while they tell their story or go on some other talk show that's willing to give them the time of day. What a total waste of the courts time.

...The NFL should be on their knees right now thanking God that the Super Bowl was not scheduled to be played this Sunday because of that snowstorm last week that dumped fourteen inches of snow there last Tuesday and Wednesday. MetLife Stadium in New Jersey is buried right now, which is normal because it's wintertime and it's the east coast and when you factor those two things in together that is what you should expect. The NFL knew what they were getting into and they'll stubbornly play this game because they'll have no problem letting a stadium full of people freeze in a snowstorm rather than lose millions of dollars.

Jaxen · January 26, 2014

Jonny Gomes was on Tampa Bay's AA team in Orlando when I scored for them in 2002 and parts of '03. Used to shoot the breeze with some of those guys in the clubhouse after making the rounds of dropping off box scores. Nice to see ol' Hole in the Swing hasn't changed a bit.

sabugo · January 26, 2014

There's an award named after Selig? So next we'll have a 'best teamate' award named after A-Roid?

Corruption in the Vatican?? Oh my, how could that be...

I competed at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu European Championship last friday. It is the 2nd largest BJJ event in the World, and it is always held here in Portugal.
I won my first match vs a german guy and lost in the second vs. a finnish fighter. One more win and I would have gotten a medal. No worries though, living and learning, and I'll be back for more next year.

I also got to meet a lot of the elite fighters, since I work for an online BJJ Encyclopedia. There are some really remarkable stories behind some of those guys and of what they had to overcome. Some really great characters, which made my job a lot easier and that much more fun.

One of my teamates is currently suffering from cancer. One of the top fighters in Jiu-Jitsu is a brazilian named Lúcio "Lagarto", who beat cancer and then became world champion (kind like Lance Armstrong minus the doping part).
Lúcio actually agreed to record a message for my buddy, just minutes after becoming European Champion. That really made my day. My week in fact. It was a message from the heart, filled with positive energies and a good overall support message. Made me love Jiu-Jitsu a little bit more.

If some of you get confused, Brazil is not a part of Europe but this is an 'Open' Championship, as it is always the case with BJJ events.

Any of you get curious about my work, the site is called BJJ Heroes.

**Yankee4Life** · January 27, 2014

There's an award named after Selig? So next we'll have a 'best teamate' award named after A-Roid?

Very good. I wish I would have thought of that.

**Yankee4Life** · February 2, 2014

Updated to 2-2

...No matter how cold it is where you are keep this in mind while you look out your window at all the snow around you. It's February and that means spring training. Never have two words sounded so good together.

...But first things first. I think the sooner this Super Bowl is over with the quicker it will be that people will stop talking about it. Since I do not care about either team and since I also happen to think that Peyton Manning does not walk on water, I will be watching very little of this game. Let me put it another way for you. I'll be watching The Puppy Bowl longer than I'll be watching this game. But I will not leave you without one of my scientific predictions. I'm betting all my peanuts and popcorn on Seattle. Who is going to argue with a coin flip?

...You may want to think twice about watching the game because Madden NFL 25 is saying the Broncos are going to win which is good news for anyone who has placed a bet on them and for Papa John's franchises across the country.

...Carlos Zambrano's major league career was built on failure, temper tantrums and fist fights and that's why for me it was always funny to read about or see a news clip about his latest meltdown. I've almost put him out of my mind because he hasn't played in the majors since 2012 but last week during the Venezuelan Winter League championship series he showed that even without being in the major leagues he was still the same old Carlos. In the sixth inning one of Zambrano's hot dog teammates hit a long home run, the kind where you know when you hit it it's gone and the only question remaining is how far? Well, this guy was doing his best Alfonso Soriano imitation by standing at home plate admiring his work and the opposing pitcher did not like that one bit. The very next batter got hit in the ribs and the dugouts emptied and the only guy who ran out on the field looking for a fight was Zambrano as he was taking swings at anyone that was near him, teammates included. It was not one of his best fights because none of his wild swings made contact with anyone. Makes me almost wish that some team (except the Yankees) would give this guy a shot this year because with Rodriguez gone we need someone else to laugh at.

...I happened to notice one day last week the lady next door shoveling her driveway all by herself so I called my wife over to the window and I asked her if she thought if the woman was feeling ok. I had my fingers crossed hoping that she would blurt out what I wanted her to say and sure enough she did.
"How am I supposed to know that!" she replied. "Just look at her" I said to her, "she has to be delirious because she's outside shoveling and she didn't send her husband out to do it." The punch I got to the ribs was worth it.

...Speaking of her,well God love her but she can up with some crazy ideas every so often and it usually has something to do with me. She works as a medical secretary and because she has that job she has no problem giving me medical advice or diagnosing my latest ailment, both of which drive me nuts. It's no secret that my knees have seen better days so her latest suggestion to me is to try acupuncture. Sure I will. And right after that I'll head off to the zoo and put my hand in the mouth of a lion. I have heard some positive things about this procedure but I just can not picture myself in a room with someone who is going to put needles into me because I can not get past the fact that it's a needle and that means it's supposed to hurt.

...Not that it matters one way or the other to me but I don't understand why the Cleveland Indians are giving Jim Thome a statue at Progressive Field. I got nothing against him and I think he was one of the better players in the game and I always held my breath every time he was at-bat against the Yankees but why give this guy a statue now when they were going to build him one if he resigned with them after the 2002 season? Give him a day in his honor because I think he deserves that but nothing more than that. On a smaller scale you can compare it to the Yankees deciding to make a big fuss over Robinson Cano when he retires. That's not going to happen.

...The Red Sox (who else?) have reassigned popular sideline reporter Jenny Dell that worked for them on their NESN telecasts after they found out she was dating one of their players. Dell, a stunning brunette, has been dating Boston third baseman Will Middlebrooks for almost a year was canned when a photo of the pair was made public around New Year's Eve. Why it has to be their business as to who this girl decides to date should be entirely up to her. It's not like what she does has any bearing on the game at any time. Her job is to look hot and tell the viewers what the game time weather is and to let them know if someone is in or out of the lineup and at the end of the game interview the player who got the game-winning hit before runs off to the clubhouse. Maybe David Ortiz threw a fit when he found out she was with Middlebrooks because he wanted first dibs on her.

...The Yankees have someone similar in Meredith Marakovits, a gorgeous blonde who talks before and after all Yankee games, usually about nothing important. Watching her every day on the Yankee telecasts was the highpoint of the Yankee telecasts last year considering how well they played. And she got extra air time because she was the one who gave us up-to-the-minute updates on all the times Derek Jeter hurt his ankle, which meant she was on TV as much as Michael Kay.

...I don't want to get off on a rant here (with a nod to Dennis Miller, who made that phrase famous) but when I read about the twelve-year-old boy who was attacked and killed by a crocodile in Australia last week it just got me really mad because it all could have been avoidable. The incident happened in Australia's Northern Territory. Not being familiar with it I looked it up and I found out that it is the least populated area of Australia's eight major states and territories. There may not be a whole lot of people there but the crocodile population more than makes up for it. That being said I do not understand why four boys were allowed to go swimming in a water hole at a National Park when a eight to nine foot saltwater crocodile attacked the group. One boy fought off the crocodile after it had bitten his arm and then the animal turned his attention to the younger boy as the crocodile took a hold of him and swam off with him. This all boils down to one word: Why?? Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that the people that live around there would have a better knowledge of these extremely dangerous animals and have the common sense not to be in any area where they even might be?
People in that area have already been warned about swimming in that area because one year ago a teenager survived an attack from a sixteen-foot crocodile, so either these people have short memories or very thick skulls. What I don't understand is why these animals are protected in many parts of the world where instead they should be hunted and killed on a regular basis? And F*** that animal rights crap. Hundreds of people die each year because of these animals so their rights are out the window as far as I see it. Kill as many as you can and make leather handbags out of them. Maybe if that is done consistently for the next twenty years or so there won't be another grieving family out there somewhere mourning the loss of their child.

...Safest House on the Block, Dept: Police in Santa Ana, California arrested a schoolteacher last Wednesday after at least three hundred living and dead pythons were found in plastic bins inside his home. Along with the snakes, mice and rats were also found after neighbors complained of a rotten smell that was coming out of the house. The smell was so bad that not even Jehovah Witnesses would go there. The fifty-three-year-old teacher was arrested for neglect in the care of animals and refusing to use the boxes of Renuzit that his neighbors bought for him.

...Familiar readers of this thread have no doubt realized how resistant to change I am regarding any changes made in baseball. Interleague play, instant replay, expanded playoffs, you name it. Whatever Bud Selig approved idea that has been churned out of Baseball's executive offices I have immediately hated because I believe these things were done just for the sake of making a change and it always took something away from the game. But in the rare instances when they are not messing with the tradition of the game or thinking up new ways to squeeze another nickel out of the fans they spend some time looking into the safety of the game. Not a lot, but just enough to give the impression that they care. Last week they approved a new protective cap for pitchers that in theory is supposed to provide some head protection against line-shots off the bat. There has been too many pitchers over the past few years who have been hurt this way and if this can help a few of them then I am all for it. Whether the pitchers choose to wear this new cap is up to them but at least now they have an option. I can't argue with that.

...Despite repeated promises from Amanda Knox to the Italian judicial system that she will not kill anyone ever again, she was found guilty last Thursday along with her former boyfriend for the murder of Meredith Kercher, their twenty-one-year-old roommate. And to show how much they believed her the court sentenced her to 28 1/2 years in prison. It took the Italians awhile but they finally fit the punishment to the crime. As soon as the court made its ruling the first thing that was brought up was if she would be extradited to Italy. Even Knox herself wondered that too and expressed hope that the United States would refuse to do so if Italy should ask. She did seem very worried about the possibility of this happening and stated that they would have to catch her and pull her back kicking and screaming. I would not be surprised to find out sometime in the not so distant future that she ran off to Dubai, a country that has no extradition policy with this country.

...Knox should try look on the bright side. Now she can write another book.

...I've always been someone who has held open doors for other people, men and women alike. It's a nice thing to do and it's also a nice feeling when someone does it for you. That's why I do it. But I will tell you right now that one of my biggest pet peeves is when people don't thank you or acknowledge you in any way after you have done this. I usually don't say anything when this happens except stew on it for a few minutes and then go on with my day but last Friday at 7-11 was a case of one too many. I was going out of the store and this girl, who by my best guess was at least fourteen, was coming in. I held the door open for her and she made her grand entrance into the store without so much glancing at me. Before I walked completely out of the store I turned at yelled back at her "you're welcome!" in a loud voice. The store clerk, who was standing by the register and saw the entire thing, immediately started laughing uncontrollably. It was only after that that I got a response from her. "Oh yeah, thanks," she said. I should have never said a word.

**Yankee4Life** · February 9, 2014

Updated to 2-9

...It was reported that 111 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl and that figure gave this game the distinction of being the highest rated television show in history. All that means is that last Sunday night 111 million people had nothing else better to do. I've become a different sports fan since I have grown older. Years ago I would watch everything to see who was going to be the league champion. I even watched the NBA. But not now. I didn't watch a pitch in last year's World Series, which almost sounds sacrilegious coming from someone who is a big baseball fan. I don't even know how many games it took to decide it. I found other things to do. Same thing with last week's NFL Championship Game. I knew I would see all the commercials the next day on Youtube, so I didn't have to worry about watching it for that and the game was such a blowout that of all the 111 million souls that watched that game only 90,000 or so were glad of the outcome were all in Seattle. Outside of the state of Washington with the exception of Colorado no one cared. There must have been a lot of pizzas consumed all across the country that night because the only question that was on the majority of people's mind in the third quarter was how many points the Seahawks would win by.

...I was so happy to hear about that sixteen-year-old girl who went skydiving and fell 3,500 feet to the ground and miraculously is still among the living. This poor young girl suffered injuries to her liver, pelvis, spine, lower back, ribs and teeth. Good Lord. Almost half of the injuries she got from that fall I have myself and they were given to me without having to jump out of a plane. She is doing so well now that last week she started walking with assistance and her doctors are are hopeful for a complete recovery. She received skydiving lessons from her parents for her sixteenth birthday and I have a feeling that whatever she gets next year it is going to involve staying on the ground.

...In probably the most pointless bit of news coverage last week, Kim Kardashian went back to being a brunette after spending the past five months as a blonde. Brunettes across the country were upset when they heard this news because they figured they had her in their camp long enough. No word yet if this move was Kanye-approved.

...There's a strange thing that happens to me occasionally when I use the shoutbox in here. Sometimes when I finish writing the post that I want to send to it I get kicked completely out of my browser. It's almost like Firefox is telling me they didn't like my post. I'm just curious to know if the same thing has happened to others in here.

...Last week Dennis Rodman offered to take the place of Kenneth Bae, the American who is being held hostage in North Korea. Bae as you may or may not know is a Christian tour operator who was arrested there late in 2012 because North Korea said he imported "inflammatory" material into the country. In other words he was giving away bibles and religious pamphlets. By the way this is what bugs me about this the most. North Korea owns the distinction of being the country with the most severe persecution of Christians in the world. If you are a Christian in that country, there is a good chance you are in a prison camp right now. And that's where Bae ended up as he was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor. He should have known this before passing out the King James bible on street corners. This is the guy that Rodman says he will willingly trade places with. Without a doubt this is a magnanimous offer on Rodman's part but it was difficult to really take him seriously because he said this at a press conference at the rehabilitation facility that he is currently staying. It could be someone slipped him a few bottles of scotch before he met the press.

...If you have forty-five dollars burning a hole in your pocket and you happen to be hungry and in South Florida you can buy yourself a specialty pizza called the "Everglades Pizza" that features Burmese python meat on it. And if that isn't enough alligator sausage and frog legs are also included on the pizza. What a way to kill a pizza. Somehow it is fitting that an idea like this originated in Florida and what even makes less sense is that the guy who owns the pizza shop buys the snakes frozen from a wholesaler who imports farmed python from Vietnam. What the hell for? There's thousands of them in Florida right now. And my wife thinks I am crazy because I like anchovies on my pizza.

...I'm surprised with Spring Training in our sights now that players like Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz haven't been signed yet. I'd have at least thought that the Yankees would have given Jimenez a shot considering the stiffs they are going to be throwing out this year. A.J. Burnett is also without a contract but with him I understand why.

...Clay Aiken's career in recent years has been headed downward faster than an elevator that has broken loose from its cables. This probably explains why he announced that he will run for Congress in North Carolina as a Democrat as he attempts to unseat the Republican incumbent whom he says has been "changed" by being in Washington since she's been there. It's too early to tell if he actually has a chance in his political venture but if he really wants to be elected without breaking a sweat he should go to San Francisco.

...Oh come on. You laughed at that.

...Caught between a rock and a hard place Dept: For the past week or so residents of Central New York (which includes myself wether I like it or not) have received what has appeared to be a bit of clemency regarding the winter weather. We had over a week when it didn't snow at all and people were able to shovel clearer paths around their homes and lay salt down in every direction to reduce the ice build-up. Even the ice and snow accumulation on the roads disappeared and driving around town became a lot easier. That's how it was until last Wednesday arrived. Mother Nature must have noticed that we were beginning to get a little too comfortable and to fix that we were hit with thirteen inches of snow in a twenty-four hour period. For you guys who live in an area where the white stuff is not a yearly occurrence, thirteen inches of snow in one day is a lot and it causes problems. For example, where are you going to put all of it? We have a plow guy who comes by and does our driveway. We pay him a yearly fee and he comes by when needed. Well, I needed him last Wednesday and he was no where to be found. The weather was so bad that my wife got out of work almost two hours before she usually does and because the driveway was not plowed she got stuck. We're friends here so I can let you in on something. My wife is a terrible driver. I can safely say this because she doesn't read my stuff. But this time with her getting stuck it was not her fault. The only vehicle that could get up my driveway was a snow plow truck and the guy that is supposed to take care of mine was God knows where. So there I was at the end of my driveway taking turns trying to dig out the snow around the car and giving the car a push. Both tasks by the way I failed miserably. There was no way she was going to get up that driveway unless the snow started to melt or wait until April, whatever came first. That's when our luck changed. Well, sort of. While I was busy digging away and getting nowhere a snow plow driver was driving down the street and stopped at our house. He wasn't the guy who we pay to do our driveway but he said for twenty dollars he will plow our driveway for us. I told him I will let my wife know what he said and while I was walking to the car to tell her he knew that we were going to do it and so did I. My wife made a little fuss, mostly out of habit, and then agreed to have him plow the driveway.What else were we going to do? So after backing the car into the street we got our driveway plowed and her car made it up the driveway were it belonged. It took the guy only a few minutes to clear out all the snow. There went twenty dollars but then again what choice did I have?

...I never cared for Curt Schilling as a player or as a commentator on ESPN. And even after all this time I still believe his famous bloody sock was not really blood at all. No one's ever going to make me think otherwise. But then last week I read that he was diagnosed with cancer and any feeling that I had towards him in the past basically because he wore the uniforms of teams I disliked suddenly became very unimportant. We've lost too many people to this disease and Red Sox player or not, I am pulling for him every step of the way.

...D.J. Law, a high school football star from the state of Florida made news last week by signing with three schools on college football's national signing day. Ole Miss, Utah and East Mississippi Community College all received signatures from Law but it was unclear as to what school signed him first. This could end up being a moot point because his high school grades are nothing to look at, in fact they are down right terrible and if he wasn't a football player he would have a tough time getting into Kiddie Kollege.

...Not so fast, Dept: One of the things that I enjoy doing by myself every so often is going to Staples to walk around and look at the newest laptops and tablets for sale along with everything else they've got there. I think I've been down every single aisle in that store and I never get bored doing it. I know I'd have a lot more fun walking around at Best Buy but that store's too far from me so I go to Staples. Well, last Thursday I made one of my trips there and I picked up a few things, one of them being compressed air so I can keep my keyboard and mouse clean. When I was cashing out I was asked by the cashier to show my ID. I asked her what for and she told me no one under eighteen was allowed to purchase compressed air. After assuring her that I was over eighteen and proving it by letting her see my driver's license she told me that minors were not allowed to purchase the compressed air and when I asked her why she said she didn't know. And I still don't. When I got home I was going to google it but I got involved in something else and forgot to and then when I remembered to do it I realized that it really wasn't that important anyway. My guess is that someone under the age of eighteen did something with these cans of air that they shouldn't have and either harmed themselves or someone else. Whatever did happen the result is that we now are treated exactly the same as if we were buying a six pack of beer. Oh well, no big deal. Now if they start carding people for buying printer paper then we'll have problems.

...Alex Rodriguez raised the white flag last Friday afternoon after he dropped his lawsuits against Major League Baseball and the Players Union. No explanation was given for this and as I write this none has been provided although I suspect we may here something next week if not for any reason but to give him more media coverage. He even informed the Yankees that he was not going to show up for spring training but that's only because with all the time he has been spending at hearings and meetings with his lawyers he misplaced his glove and still can't find it. So, no working out in Tampa this year. My guess is that he woke up one day and realized how pointless this all was to let it drag on as long as it has been. Dropping these suits are the best things he has done in a long time. This was an expensive lesson for him. He loses twenty-five million dollars in salary for 2014 and about ten million dollars goes to his lawyers that did nothing but give him terrible legal advice. So now he goes home and accepts his punishment. He should have did this six months ago.

...Oh yeah, the Winter Olympics started. I don't care.

...Finally, R.I.P. to Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner.

angryrat · February 9, 2014

I enjoyed this read. This Super Bowl was a reminder of how good we have had it the last six or seven years. We have been treated to great games most of the last several bowls. Before that, there seemingly have been more clunkers than gems. It was quite an uneventful spectacle, I'd like to know how many of that 110,000,000 watched from start to finish. I myself moved on to other things by the 3rd quarter. It was on, but only as background ambiance while I played with the computer.

I've never had the issue you described in the Shoutbox, by the way. I'd first wonder if you have an Add-On that is conflicting with the Shout Box. Try disabling all of your Add-Ons and restart Firefox and see if you still have trouble. As someone who spends 40 hours a week troubleshooting troubleshooting for our clients, you'd be amazed at how many issues are Add-On/extension related. Helpful and useful as they can be, they are also troublesome little buggars.

I was unaware of the story about the girl falling 3,500 ft. I still am unsure if I believe that. It is quite literally, unbelievable.

**Yankee4Life** · February 9, 2014

I was unaware of the story about the girl falling 3,500 ft. I still am unsure if I believe that. It is quite literally, unbelievable.

Here's a story about the girl right here. She's a lucky girl and I hope she recovers quickly.

I've never had the issue you described in the Shoutbox, by the way. I'd first wonder if you have an Add-On that is conflicting with the Shout Box. Try disabling all of your Add-Ons and restart Firefox and see if you still have trouble. As someone who spends 40 hours a week troubleshooting troubleshooting for our clients, you'd be amazed at how many issues are Add-On/extension related. Helpful and useful as they can be, they are also troublesome little buggars.

Thanks, I'll try this.

**dennisjames71** · February 9, 2014

Yes, I get carded for this all of the time too. The reason is that the stuff in the can is not "air" in the traditional sense...it's a refrigerant liquid that's under pressure inside the can with a extremely low boiling point. When shaken, it becomes a propellant and can be inhaled in order to get "high" rather quickly. The bad news for the morons who do this, is that is also effectively kills numerous brain cells at the same time. I know Y4L...unbelievable. :facepalm:

...Not so fast, Dept: One of the things that I enjoy doing by myself every so often is going to Staples to walk around and look at the newest laptops and tablets for sale along with everything else they've got there. I think I've been down every single aisle in that store and I never get bored doing it. I know I'd have a lot more fun walking around at Best Buy but that store's too far from me so I go to Staples. Well, last Thursday I made one of my trips there and I picked up a few things, one of them being compressed air so I can keep my keyboard and mouse clean. When I was cashing out I was asked by the cashier to show my ID. I asked her what for and she told me no one under eighteen was allowed to purchase compressed air. After assuring her that I was over eighteen and proving it by letting her see my driver's license she told me that minors were not allowed to purchase the compressed air and when I asked her why she said she didn't know. And I still don't. When I got home I was going to google it but I got involved in something else and forgot to and then when I remembered to do it I realized that it really wasn't that important anyway. My guess is that someone under the age of eighteen did something with these cans of air that they shouldn't have and either harmed themselves or someone else. Whatever did happen the result is that we now are treated exactly the same as if we were buying a six pack of beer. Oh well, no big deal. Now if they start carding people for buying printer paper then we'll have problems.

**Yankee4Life** · February 10, 2014

Yes, I get carded for this all of the time too. The reason is that the stuff in the can is not "air" in the traditional sense...it's a refrigerant liquid that's under pressure inside the can with a extremely low boiling point. When shaken, it becomes a propellant and can be inhaled in order to get "high" rather quickly. The bad news for the morons who do this, is that is also effectively kills numerous brain cells at the same time. I know Y4L...unbelievable.

What the hell. I had no idea. What are these people going to think of next?

seanzarelli · February 10, 2014

- I once bought a pack of sharpies, and the cashier at Wal*Mart jokingly said, "Are you sure you are 18?" followed up by the lady behind me jokingly saying, "I don't think he issss." I proceeded to say I was 10 years older than that and the Wal*Mart cashier said I was old because she herself was only 19 :facepalm:

- It doesn't surprise me that the parachute accident happened in Texas.

- I too could care less about the Winter Olympics. Especially when the ESPN bottomline ruins results before they are on TV.

- Having food poisoning sucks. I felt like I was vomiting my insides out yesterday and think I was out of bed for about 1 hour the entire day. And most of that was standing over the toilet.

- I was one of the people that watched the Super Bowl all the way through. The person hosting it had 5 people back out of coming that day after they went through the trouble of preparing food and everything. I wasn't going to leave early.

- I've taken up the hobby of billiards. Me and my buddy usually go every Friday or Saturday night. We haven't been in 2 weeks, and probably won't go for another 2. I lead 2014 overall by 5 games. I hope the time off from playing doesn't effect my game any and let him catch up.

- Due to the ample amounts of free time I have at work, I purchased a Nintendo 3DS XL last week. I must say, it's a pretty cool little device. I can't usually play games in 3D for too long though before I start to get a headache.

- Valentine's Day is this Friday. Me and the wife aren't doing anything nor am I getting anything for her. I hate stupid "holidays" like that.

**Yankee4Life** · February 10, 2014

- I was one of the people that watched the Super Bowl all the way through. The person hosting it had 5 people back out of coming that day after they went through the trouble of preparing food and everything. I wasn't going to leave early.

Thank you for your post in here. I've always said that when others in here throw their two cents in it always is better than mine.

I understand why you stayed all the way to the end. I'm sure those people felt pretty bad when five people stiffed them that day. I bet they never host it again.

- Valentine's Day is this Friday. Me and the wife aren't doing anything nor am I getting anything for her. I hate stupid "holidays" like that.

I hate it as much as you do but I can't get away with getting anything for her.

seanzarelli · February 11, 2014

Thank you for your post in here. I've always said that when others in here throw their two cents in it always is better than mine.

I understand why you stayed all the way to the end. I'm sure those people felt pretty bad when five people stiffed them that day. I bet they never host it again.

I hate it as much as you do but I can't get away with getting anything for her.

For V-Day we have decided to take our daughter to see the Lego Movie.

**Yankee4Life** · February 16, 2014

Updated to 2-16

...Last weekend a new business opened up in Los Angeles called Dumb Starbucks Coffee that so far has become a hit with the people that have visited the new coffee house. Starbucks however is not happy about this especially after sending one of their spies to check the place out first hand. He then went back and reported that the coffee there was better than what Starbucks sold and it was also cheaper. What's more is that the employees were nicer too. Once Starbucks found this out they huffed and they puffed and informed Dumb Starbucks to cease and desist and to stop using their trademark and at the same time wanted to know where they got there coffee. What got them even more upset was when they learned that this was all just an elaborate parody set up by a comedian named Nathan Fielder. But they still wanted to know where he got his coffee.

...Gabby Giffords drove a car last week. This was her first time in three years after she was shot in the head in January of 2011. This amazing and inspiring even went skydiving before she did this. She's braver than I can ever dare to be and I don't mind admitting that. She's more of a hero to me than someone who wears a pinstriped uniform and makes millions of dollars a year.

...For about a week I must have seen five different articles a day that were written after Philip Seymour Hoffman died. I read some but bypassed most of them because I really wasn't that interested in it. I knew nothing about him except that he was an actor and from what I read a very good one. What got my attention the most is that he was born and raised in Fairport, New York, a small village that is about a fifteen minute drive from me. The only knowledge I have of drugs is what I read in the papers when a celebrity dies from them. John Belushi, Chris Farley, Whitney Houston. All I know about those people and the others like them was the end result. I've never been around drugs and don't plan on it either and my limited knowledge of heroin is that it is an addictive drug and that it killed Jim Morrison, one of my favorite singers. When I read that Hoffman was found with five empty heroin bags and about sixty-five more bags that were still unused I said to myself that this guy was playing Russian Roulette with all the bullets still in the gun. Sure I feel bad that a human being died. He was a man whose work entertained a lot of people but he could not stay away from that stuff. He'd of had a better chance of living if he decided to have his lunch on some train tracks instead of having all those heroin bags in his possession. What stood out from all those articles about Hoffman was something some lady said who recently lost her son in the same way Hoffman died. She wondered what made his death more important than her nineteen-year-old son. Good question.

...Even though you should pay attention to those flight safety videos when you are in your seat and about to take off, many people hardly pay attention or don't pay attention at all. The good people at Air New Zealand came up with a great idea to make stop what they were doing and pay attention. They hired Sports Illustrated models to act out all the safety procedures for the flight while wearing bikinis by a pool. There's nothing like someone like Chrissie Teigen showing you the proper way to fasten your seat belt. No way will this video or anything of its kind be shown on American flights because people are complaining about this already and saying that it is too "highly sexualized." In other words women that do not look like models are complaining about women that are models that are once again getting all the attention. They're right of course. Who'd watch the video and pay attention if it were Mama Boo-Boo in a bathing suit instructing you to stay in your seat and have your phone turned off?

...What a way to go, Dept: Last week a Pennsylvania couple drove into a garage and found a nice out of the way place to park and as soon as the coast was clear they warm each other up by removing their clothing if you get my meaning. Those parking garages in the winter time can be a pretty cold place so before they started they kept the engine on to keep the car warm and in the result of doing that they both died from carbon monoxide poisoning. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that these people were married but not to each other. I think when they wanted to 'rock each other's world' this isn't what they had in mind. It's no wonder that they didn't stay at a Holiday Inn. They weren't smart enough.

...Anyone that follows baseball does not need to be told about the wacked out salaries that are handed out to players that are not worth the money or deserving of it. Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton. You name it. But what the Phillies did last Wednesday showed a move made more out of desperation than a move made to improve the ball club. How else can you explain giving A.J. Burnett a one-year contract that will pay him sixteen million dollars? Burnett also happens to be thirty-seven years old and is coming off a losing season (10-11) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. And he gets sixteen million? All I can say about this can be summed up in one word. Why?? I wouldn't give this guy sixteen dollars to pitch for my team. Well, at least he's in the right city to be booed in.

...And still Ubaldo Jimenez does not have a home.

...Masahiro Tanaka started throwing down in Tampa last week a few days after his press conference in New York. From what I read he has a nice, easy delivery. It would be something if this guy lives up to his press clippings because the Yankees need something to go their way. And the first pitching coach that tries to alter his delivery or anything like that should be fired on the spot. Look how well all the tinkering did for Joba Chamberlain, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes the past few years. Those idiot coaches can cause more damage than an arm injury.

...Some guy in Japan was dressed as an iPhone and was planning on waiting outside his local Apple store just to get his hands on the iPhone 6, which has not yet been announced and if it does, will not be available for sale until later in the year. He got in line this early because when the iPhone 5 was released he was not the first person in Japan to get one and that almost made him want to jump off the nearest bridge. I've heard of people doing stunts like this before just to get attention. Six months before the last Star Wars movie was made two fans camped out in front of a movie theater so they can be the first ones in line when the movie came out. I've always wondered if they made it and who they think they were fooling. For six months they were going to sleep outside with a bathroom no where in sight? That's what I think happened with this Japanese guy. After going into the Apple store to ask an employee about information about the next iPhone and getting no information about it he quickly decided to pack it in and go home. Besides, those three iced teas he drank were starting to get to him.

...Storm Clouds a' Comin', Dept: One week ago today Michael Sam ,who is a star defensive end from Missouri, announced in a press conference that he was gay. Since he is eligible for the NFL Draft in April the NFL immediately issued a statement saying that they support Sam and several teams like the Giants, Packers, Patriots and Lions went as far as saying that if he ended up on their team he would be welcomed by them. You have to give them five stars for coming out and saying exactly what they were supposed to say because privately Michael Sam is going to be as welcome on any team like a breeze would be coming out of an outhouse. The PC police are going to be watching this close. They'll be waiting to see if his name slips in the draft. If it does it has to be intentional. They'll be watching to see what teams pass on him and when they do they'll be all over them. The team that drafts him will get the most attention. If this guy for some reason does not make the final roster to start the season it will be because he's gay. And if he does make the team and is traded or released at the end of the season it's because privately he was a distraction. It won't have anything to do with if he can play in the NFL or not. What's going to hurt him is the media circus surrounding him now because it's tough enough making the transition from the college game to the pros. We'll see.

...Among the other things that I get for my wife on Valentine's Day I always buy her a card and mail it to her. Little does she know after all these years when I pick the card out I have never read the inside of the card yet. All I do is turn it around to look at the price. I must be doing something right since she's loved every one of them.

...Even though you know it is coming and are preparing yourself for it, it is always hard to accept the news of the retirement of a ballplayer on your favorite team especially someone who has done so much to help them be winners. When you hear this news for the first time you almost put yourself in denial mode. Maybe he'll change his mind. That's what I said last year when Mariano Rivera had his press conference in spring training and that's what I said last Wednesday afternoon when I read that Derek Jeter said that he was retiring at the close of this season. But then I thought about it and it made me wonder if this decision was partly based on the current condition of his ankle. I remember just a few years back when he was asked about how long he wanted to keep playing he mentioned that he foreseen himself playing until he was forty-two. That was before the ankle injury. Last year the problems caused by the ankle never really went away and he had the entire off season to work on and strengthen it. Maybe he is still not 100% and since he never says anything when he's hurt, is not saying anything about it. That's how I see it and if it is true or not it is not going to change the fact that the face of the Yankees for all these years will be leaving soon.

...Also, get ready to open up your wallets so you can buy some official Derek Jeter retirement souvenirs and memorabilia. It'll be the same stuff you can buy right now but it'll be marked up 40%. And what's the over and under going to be for how many times a game Michael Kay will remind everyone that Jeter is retiring?

...I finally used some of the money that went towards my Amazon gift card that I received for Christmas and purchased a show called Amazing Stories. This was a show that was only on for two seasons in the mid-1980's and it was produced by Steven Spielberg and it had a lot of famous actors on each week like Sid Caesar, Loni Anderson and Dom Deluise and up-and-coming actors like Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland. I still don't know why it was only on for two seasons but if any of you remember this show it is still enjoyable to watch even to this day.

...We lost a lot of people last week. Shirley Temple, Sid Caesar, Ralph Waite and in baseball Jim Fregosi. R.I.P. to all of them.

pitchleague · February 16, 2014

Amazing Stories was an awesome show. I watched it every week. My favorite episode was "The Family Dog." It was animated and really pretty funny. I still remember it to this day.

There were other good episodes on that show. I heard that it only lasted 2 years because it cost too much to produce, but I could be wrong about that.

**Yankee4Life** · February 23, 2014

Updated to 2-23

...There is a football league called the Indoor Football League that has been in existence since 2008 although to be honest I have never heard of them. I have heard of the Arena Football League but as I learned these are two separate leagues. Anyhow, last week during an IFL game it was believed that for the first time ever a woman made an appearance in a men's professional game in a non-kicking position. Jennifer Welter, a 5-foot-2, 130 pound running back entered the game midway through the third quarter with her team a few yards away from paydirt. After given the handoff she ran a few steps to her left and before she was able to run into the end zone she ran into the defensive lineman for the other team and when that happened she immediately stopped running and got up close and personal with the artificial turf. That's what usually happens when you run into a lineman who is six-foot-four and weighs 245 pounds. Later on she was given two more chances in goal line situations but the results were the same. When the game was over the usual banter could be heard. Look what she did! That was impressive! She showed she can play a man's game! I don't buy any of this. The woman is 5'2" and 130 pounds. There are kids playing Pop Warner football who are bigger than her. She's got no business out on that field. And you can be damned sure that the three times she was tackled the player on the other team took it easy on her because if he would have went full force and leveled her she could have broke and arm or a leg and people would have come down on the guy for doing his job. She's also lucky she didn't run into a Ndamukong Suh copycat because he could have kicked her where she didn't want to be kicked.

...Already the Red Sox are getting lucky this season. Ryan Dempster informed them that he won't be playing at all this year due to health reasons and a desire to spend more time with his kids. Privately the Red Sox must be jumping for joy knowing that they got rid of him.

...Even though I have never listened to their music (80's rock bands are more my style) I have always thought that Lene Nystrom was absolutely beautiful. She's the lead singer of some Danish band I never heard of called Aqua.

...I don't know what's the matter with me because I can eat Hostess Ding Dongs but not Hostess Ho-Ho's even though they are both chocolate cake with creamy filling and therefore basically the same thing. But I won't eat a Ho-Ho. By the way don't bother. I already know there is something wrong with me.

...During an interview that A.J. Burnett gave last week he said that his family brought him to the Phillies because he only lives about an hour and a half from Citizen's Bank Park. I don't know if he should have said this because now the Phillie fans know who to blame.

...Am I a bad Yankee fan because I am not all broken up about Derek Jeter retiring?

...Things are so bad for the sales of the X Box One that stores such as Walmart and Target are giving away a free game worth fifty dollars with the purchase of one. Target's so desperate to get rid of them that if you don't want the fifty bucks to put towards a game they will give you a gift card for the same amount. On the flip side no such incentives are being given for the Playstation 4. That's simply because the stores can not keep them in stock. That's how well they are selling. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Microsoft employees have PS4's hidden in their basement.

...Did any of you hear about that guy in North Dakota who was going to the same Walmart for years and was exchanging pleasantries with a cashier there whom he thought in the back of his mind resembled him a little bit? The man was given up for adoption as a baby and had a brother and three sisters that he had never met. That is until he began searching for his birth family and he found out through medical information that the same Walmart cashier was one of his sisters. How do you like that? About a month ago I went into Walmart looking for a halfway decent pair of winter shoes. I looked around for about an hour and had no luck. This guy goes to Walmart and finds a sister.

...Jamie Coots, who up until last week was a Pentecostal pastor down in Kentucky who believed that a passage in the Bible suggested that poisonous snakebites will not harm believers as long as they are anointed by God died after receiving a poisonous snakebite during one of his sermons. Who the hell didn't see that coming? This religious practice is illegal in most states but it still goes on in the South, the same place where the Confederate flag is hung higher than the U.S. flag. The National Geographic channel aired a reality show called Snake Salvation which was about Coots and the handling of different poisonous snakes that he used in his sermons but that thing hit the crapper as soon as that snake decided to deviate from the script. Not to be outdone by a snake, NatGeo is going to air a tribute episode so people can understand Coots and his method of worship and to see that he died doing what he believed was his calling. And if it increases the ratings for that evening, even better. Had Coots lived his plans were to pass on the practice and his church to his son when it was time for him to retire. Now that those aspirations were changed his son plans on going into a more safer line of work like capturing and training alligators to do tricks.

...There should have been something put into the Bible that said "use your head" but maybe it was a good thing that they didn't because by now someone would have tried to put a nail in a wall by doing it that way.

...You know, now that I remember I can recall something just as dangerous that our priest did in our little Roman Catholic church that I went to as a boy. During mass the collection plate is usually passed around once and then the money is collected and brought up to the altar. On the rare occasions that the collection plate made a second trip, you could almost see some of the people gritting their teeth as they had to come up with another couple of bucks.

...I didn't realize how bad things were down in Venezuela until I read some articles and saw some news footage of a group of people there being injured during a political protest by members of the armed militias when they fired shots at the organizers. As they fired on the crowd one bullet hit a pretty Venezuelan girl named Genesis Carmona who was a model and also held the title of Miss Tourism 2013 for the central Venezuelan state of Carabobo. Talk about having a hard job, trying to get people to come to Venzuela. Of all the South American countries Venezuela is the most dangerous. Along with the high rate of random street violence that country has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Picture Detroit but only bigger. What those people were protesting was that they have no food. No food for themselves or to feed their babies. They want the basic necessities that we all take for granted. Out of milk? A trip to 7-11 will take care of that. When Venezuelans are out of milk they are out of luck. That's the real story going on down there. But in many of the articles that I read it seemed that the focus was on this poor young model that was gunned down instead of the reason why she was there with those others trying to improve the conditions of her country.

...Should have stayed in bed, Dept: Of all things to escape from an enclosure on an early Friday morning a little over a week ago in the Southern California community of Acton, a camel would probably be near the bottom of anyone's list. But since I spoiled the surprise I may as well tell you that it was a camel and the animal must have been pretty mad from being locked up because once he got out he ran after every human being it saw, including a seventy-two-year-old man who did all he could to get the hell out of its way. The camel bit him on the head, knocked him down and stepped on him and when the guy crawled under something to get away the camel tried to pull him out from under it because apparently he wasn't done with him yet. Eyewitnesses all agreed afterwards that the camel won by a T.K.O. The camel stopped trampling the old man when some other people came by to lend a hand and when the camel saw what they were about to do he went after them and they decided to get in their car and literally head for the hills. The trouble was they couldn't get far because the car keys were still in the house. The people were at a loss as to what to do until someone remembered that an Arab family lived two blocks away. After they got in touch with them and assured them that they weren't joking, the family came to where the camel was causing all the commotion and calmed it down and were able to tie it up in less than a minute. You got to have the touch. Before they had a chance to bring the camel home so the kids could ride it animal control officials arrived on the scene to cart the camel away. So much for good deeds.

...According to the World Clown Association, which is an organization that makes up the largest trade group for clowns, there is a shortage of people who are entering the clown profession these days. A statement like this leaves itself wide open to jokes and tempted as I am to make a few of them myself I am going to take the high road and try to offer some suggestions.

1. Every politician that loses in this November's political elections should serve four years as a clown since they were going to get laughed at anyway had they ended up winning.

2. The Palin family can help out with the clown shortage since they've been acting like them ever since they were introduced to the American public back in 2008.

3. I know of one ballplayer that now plays in Seattle who got a 240 million dollar contract in the off season that plays like one.

4. Come to think of it I know an entire team that is completely made up of clowns who plays their home games on Yawkey Way.

5. Bud Selig's retiring this year. Now he can go into a job that he was born to do.

...Speaking of clowns, David Ortiz threw one of his famous profanity-filled tirades that he is known for every time people around him do not readily agree with him and praise him unconditionally. Ortiz wants a one-year contract extension for the sole reason being that he wants it and that should be good enough for everyone. But there are some people who are telling him to put a lid on it and honor the final year of his contract and they are the same people that he's mad at and swearing at. Ortiz said he is tired of hearing people talk about his contract when he brings it up because when he talks about it he earns it, which is neither here nor there because no one said he didn't earn it. They just said to honor the one he had first but that's how it is when you only hear what you want to hear.

...North Korea has gobbled up another foreign missionary that was dumb enough to go to their country as part of a tour group. The victim this time was a seventy-five-year-old Australian man named John Short and he was caught with some Gospel tracts that were translated into Korean and they did not like that at all. That's a big no-no there because Christianity is as welcome in North Korea as a swarm of bees are at a picnic. But I got to ask what the hell was he thinking? I'm sure he knew before he got there that there was another guy (Kenneth Bae) that was being held there already for the same reasons that they ended up detaining him for. It doesn't matter how good his intentions were because these people are not wanted there and if they had sense at all they'd realize that themselves before they made up their mind to go there and get themselves into a situation where their governments have to jump in to try to get them out. Meanwhile before that happens Kenneth Bae has a new cellmate.

...Finally, spring training games start on Wednesday with four games on the slate. Here we go.

**laroquece** · February 24, 2014

Certainly things are not well in Venezuela right now, protests increase and every day more are injured, 13 deaths so far, killed either by the national guard who shoots at close range or by armed militia called Tupamaros, the protests continue every day without stopping, you know what is happening in Ukraine? we are going through the same.

We are fighting against a corrupt regime that does not care who murder people, even some governors loyal to the state are making calls to people to attack the defenseless protestants, if you would like to know more about what is happening, you can follow me on twitter @carlote34, you can see pictures of the fight that we maintain, even strong images of some students that this government has murdered.

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