2004 sounds a lot better than 1918!

It's that time of the year again when we start to become enamored with the comings and goings of all baseball teams hopes and dreams. My Boston Red Sox have great reasons to be optimistic with one of the best rotations in the majors (Tigers rotation is pretty nasty) and some new stars out in the field (J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo), but their remains some serious questions.

Will Dustin Pedroia meet up to the hype or crumble like last season .191 batting average?





Who will close the door for the Sox this year? Joel Pinero? Not since Rheal Cormier did we have a guy in the bullpen with a girl's name. Just hope he doesn't throw like Johnny Traitor Damon. I think Hansen is the answer, but he has to prove himself.

How will the starting pitching hold up? They could be the best in the majors or they could be going for broke. Beckett had a whooping season where he gave up dingers like the ghost of John "Wayback" Wasdin had taken over his body. Wakefield is getting older by the second, and could qualify for social security checks by the end of the season. He's still got a nasty whiffle ball, but he needs to be held in check and not overused. Schill is Schill. He'll always give us his best, still I don't know what it will take for him to return to dominating stature.

Still we have to build on optimism. This is our year. Tito said it best yesterday.



"I think we have reason to be optimistic," said manager Terry Francona. "Everybody is optimistic this time of year. If you're not, [something's wrong]. We have a legitimate reason to be optimistic. We have some things that should go right. And if they do, it should be exciting."

So lets build upon that optimism and the fact that we have Japanese pitcher with a Gyro pitch, a pretty good defensive team, a DH that is more clutch than Jerry West in a game of HORSE, and a manager that can bind all the lunancy together to win it all. Remember 2004!

Where have you gone numero Ocho???

As I finished watching the Super Bowl it began to hit me. The football season was over. What do I do now???

I must wash myself clean from the last season which will be hard to do right away. I think the next few weeks I will be going through heavy withdrawals. It's like I need something to supplimate that fix I got every weekend, and it's not coming until March. That's right. March Madness can't come soon enough. No one in their right mind is going to get me to watch hockey. Is it even on t.v. ? I mean you can watch people sell books on tv or catch endless hours of Canadian Parliament, but you can't get a hockey game unless you have the Outdoor Network.

As for the NBA, it's so useless to watch until they get into the playoffs. Almost every team makes it to the playoffs which provides me with countless ways to describe the meaninglessness of playing a freaking 82 game season. They should pull names out of a lottery machine much like we used to do when playing Super Techmo Bowl tournaments. Then the teams would start the playoffs after a two string of practices. I mean really do you want to watch the Celtics play the Raptors tomorrow or see if those two crazy brothers on Prison Break will escape for the 100th time from the Police, FBI, CIA, and every other law enforcement agency tracking them down? I've got to hand it to Fox, they really know how to kill a show by dragging it out beyond it's means (see My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, 24, X-Files, Joe Millionaire, American Idol). Somebody told me the other day that American Idol is still the number 1 rated show in the US. I'm pretty sure I'd rather watch back to back minor league hockey games on cable access with no graphics and no commentating, than watch American Idol. Did I ever mentioned they tried to kick me out of hotel in Memphis after Hurricane Katrina. Rotten Bastardos.

It's time for me to move on for the next month and fulfill all those things I promised my wife I would finish in August. You know those things that make you a useful husband. Payback for months of weekends without a mention of the word work, and me explaining to her how the game trumps anything I should be doing otherwise. I almost decided to start watching NFL Europe just extend the season in order to back out of the weekend work. I just can't watch games in half-empty stadiums (uhhmm Atlanta/Detroit) with players I thought were good 10 years ago.

Super Bowl Birthday

If you know me by now or have atleast read a few of my entries you probably have heard of my distaste for Super Bowl parties. Mostly because the parties are filled with people only interested in commercials or talking with someone during the game that they work with 5 days out of the week. Did you see the one with the monkeys? Oh there so funny. What's worse I'll be sitting there watching the game and some guy will ask the most ridiculous question that no one wants to warrant an answer too. Like, "Hey, doesn't Dikta still coach the Bears?" or "Peyton Manning, is he related to Archie Manning at all?"

What I dislike most about the Super Bowl parties is the since the NFL went to the extra week off the Super Bowl used to be on or around the last weekend in January, now it's the first week in February. Recently either on my birthday or around my b-day. Once you get older, birthdays are celebrated like a tax return. Something that has to be done, but it's not always a pleasant experience.

This year I am celebrating my birthday with a fictional Saints Super Bowl party. I'm going to pretend that it's the Saints playing the Colts. Every time the Bears make a good play, I'll scream "Way to go Saints!" It's going to be so much fun. In between my Abita Ambers I'll cram a piece of Randazoo's king cake down, and maybe save room for my big birthday present... A mock Saints Super Bowl ring. It looks more like a ring pop, but it'll suffice for the day. To all those out there that love Super Bowl parties, have fun because I know that I will from the comfort of my home resting in the lazyboy.