As of Tuesday night, I was officially stamped "Employable," so that's pretty exciting. I'll be headed up to northern Michigan in two weeks, and won't leave there until I'm deemed "Unemployable," or until I find another sucker. It's really pretty exciting, I think.

There's an apartment (or, rather, a room in an apartment) and, from what I gather, a mattress, waiting for me when I get there - who says that minor league (check that, Independent) baseball offers no benefits? - so no need to find an apartment between now and then.

However, needs include:
- A new pair of shoes
- A visit to the eye doctor
- A visit to Wrigley Field (I'm targeting Thursday the 13th, against Cincinnati. I'm imagining a 500-level ticket and a scorecard.)

I guess that's it. So the next two weeks won't be that busy.

That leaves a maximum of six more days of temp employment left. I'm taking Opening Day off because I can, and leaving the following Tuesday, the 11th. Because I've not actually done anything in the last six days, I don't feel that bad about leaving. Awesome.

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Big weekend scheduled. Bob Pollard at Metro tonight. Nemo in Ann Arbor Saturday and Sunday. Wow. Awesome.

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About the last three mornings, I've woken up with VH1 on the television. This was by design. Each of those last three mornings, the Sheryl Crow-Sting single came on. As I'm writing this (or rather, just moments before I wrote this), I heard Sting's first vocal verse for the first time (I've flipped the channel each of the previous three times). God, it's awful. That's it.

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The little sis came out to trivia last night. We were victorious in the all-important fourth round. I think that means she's required to come in each of the next two weeks.

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You may recall Flax's badass "Greatest Songs Ever" tournament last summer. It was fun. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was the winner, which wasn't particularly surprising.

A Flax compatriot has started a Sebadoh-themed "Gimme Indie Rock" tournament, focusing on "indie"/"college"/"underground" stuff. Really, a pretty broad field, but it's more interesting. However, Pavement's "Range Life" is about to get knocked out in the first round, in favor of The Specials' "A Message To You Rudy," which is just embarrassing. Please fight the good fight on Malkmus' behalf here.

Also, I will ask you to stuff the ballot box when "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" and "I Am A Scientist" pop up. Might as well start now. Sigh.

Lots of things to cover, including something relatively close to "life news." But, first, sports crap. (A warning that this post is, officially, never-ending. Consider this an apology in advance.)

Basketball first.
I think it's pretty safe to say that this is the greatest NCAA Tournament in the history of the world, this despite the fact that this weekend's string of upsets took me completely out of the running in any NCAA tournament pools. I was right there for a bit but, alas, it was not to be.

Comments (mostly on UConn, it turns out):
Jim Calhoun pretty clearly did the worst coaching job of his career with this UConn team. There's no doubt in my mind that they're the most talented team in the country, and there was no reason that they didn't win each of their first four games by double figures; they were actually that much more talented than anybody else, I thought.

A lot of it falls on Rudy Gay and Josh Boone, their supposed top players. Neither plays with much in the way of intensity. Tough to win when your best players don't care.

Marcus Williams is an NBA star in the making, although I hope he plays another year of college ball. I doubt he will, though.

UConn's probably the best-paid team in the country. I can't imagine how else that crew could wind up in Storrs.

UConn's top two post players represent the opposite ends of the attractiveness spectrum. Josh Boone's nose is wider than his lips, making him odd-looking. Hilton Armstrong, meanwhile, is a fox. Long, lean, and a winning smile. I was real happy when he didn't tap in that final lay-in from Denham Brown. Would've sucked if it ended on an offensive goaltending.

Big Baby was caught dropping two f-bombs on CBS television yesterday, but that's cool; after all, he's Big Baby, and that's enough for me.

Big Baby also said the line of the century - twice: "We've got tapeworm. We still hungry, baby." How cool is that line?

Jay Bilas is a fantastic, fantastic game analyst.

Not unlike Winston Blake hitting his first three-pointer and continuing to chuck 'em (I think seven straight misses) as a freshman in the Big Ten-ACC challenge against FSU at Welsh-Ryan (I dreamed about shooting him that night), the worst thing that could happen to Texas on Saturday was Brad Buckman hitting his early three-point attempts. Took him away from the basket, got him shot happy. I think Texas might have been better than LSU, although I'm not sure; they'd've been better off with him dishing off and doing the dirty work.

I still don't buy Joakim Noah as NBA star. I buy LaMarcus Aldridge as potential star far less now than I did on Thursday night. If I were asked today, I'd still like the Bulls to spend the Knicks' pick on Noah, I guess. Mostly because of his hair. Shelden Williams sucks. Aldridge might be a wuss. I don't want an Italian named Andrea on the Bulls roster, even if he is "the next Dirk."

I no longer want the Bulls to trade Deng for a big guy, and then draft Morrison. Deng's a better pro now than Morrison ever will be. 13.6 points, 6.6 boards, 1.8 assists, and he's only now figuring things out. Get a legitimate post presence as center, let Tyson come off the bench and fly around like a madman, and the Bulls will be in the thick of things with their current backcourt combination. Turns out, Deng's the true star of the Gordon-Hinrich-Deng triumvirate.

Mark Few blew the Gonzaga-UCLA game, not Adam Morrison. The stall-ball tactic down the stretch was the wrong strategy which such a smooth-scoring team. Also, J.P. Batista is a bum.

I felt for Morrison when he cried on-court. I wanted to slap that bitch Redick, however, when he cried. Toughen up, slappy.

My brother tells me that George Mason University has the highest average pool score at facebook.com. Interesting, eh? I've never seen facebook.com, although I'm okay with that.

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The reason that I'm enjoying this NCAA Tournament so much is because it's the first time in almost a decade that I've been able to devote my full attention to it. A rundown:

2002-2005: At the stadium, always, designing our program and doing odd jobs
2001: Headed to Austin for TTV assignment
2000: Spring break in Ft. Lauderdale; Sports director stuff
1999: Houston
1998: High school senior - Nothing to do but watch hoops. I have no idea who was in the Final Four, but I was surely fully-absorbed.

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Now, I'll indulge myself by gloating about my Fantasy Baseball team. First time I've drafted in-person since 1998, as well. Online the previous eight years. The draft itself was surprisingly efficient, with 15 rounds of 12 teams completed in a tad more than two hours. I had three second-round picks, owing to trades of stiffs for draft picks while digging my own grave last August. (My team was terrible.)

I started with:
3B/OF Miguel Cabrera
LHP Johan Santana
OF Juan Pierre
as keepers.

We're a head-to-head league, with the most retarded scoring system in the world. Position players get OBP, HR, RBI, Runs, SBs, and Total Bases scored. Pitchers get Wins, Saves, ERA, and WHIP scored. (That's right, no strikeouts anywhere to be seen.) We start nine position players, three starting pitchers, two relief pitchers. Position players, due to the scoring system, are more important than the pitchers.

I continued with:
SS Michael Young, the (arguably) top SS, with the second pick of the day.

Then, three second-round picks:
1B Travis Hafner, who I don't completely buy but who is in the middle of what might be the best lineup in the AL
SP Roy Halladay, too good to pass up
CL Billy Wagner, because I think this is the year the free agency-built Mets make it back to the playoffs, mostly on the account of homegrown products Reyes and Wright

now, one pick per round the rest of the way:
C Joe Mauer - at this point, I had eight players on my roster while several other had four. That's an advantage
3B Troy Glaus, bumping Cabrera to the outfield
OF Coco Crisp, who may just be Damon-like this year (or better)
2B Rickie Weeks, power and speed threat
OF Brian Giles, whose power is down but who drew 100+ walks
CL Flasherino Gordon, closing for a strong (seems to me) Philly team
UT IF Bill Hall, who provided numbers better than Weeks last year and can back up at every infield position but first base
OF/1B Nick Swisher; I overdrafted him, but there's a bundle of potential there, and he backs up at two spots
SP Danny Haren, because I like the A's (and rounding out my starting lineup)
C Kenji Johijima, who was first discussed among "owners" in the fourth or fifth round; only a backup for me, and a good one
SP Jeff Weaver, who is great at times and makes a nice fill-in

I promise that this will be my only mention of fantasy baseball until at least Opening Day. But hopefully longer.

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I brought a fantastic and hilarious reference to the draft today, The Baseball Prospectus 2006 Handbook. A book of stat projections and player analysis, the meat of the book is a 40-man roster-by-40-man roster (actually, deeper than that, it turns out) rundown of every major league team, according to their 2005 teams.

A sampling of its player summaries, for Houston Astros reliever Chad Qualls:
"One of the class of pitchers that throws approximately one pitch - something that sinks - at three different velocities. This, in turn, causes hitters to beat the ball into the turf for dozens of 6-3 putouts, even after repeating to themselves the mantra "Make this bastard bring the ball up" 40 times during the walk from the on-deck circle to the batters' box. Qualls throws hard enough that even the occasional mistake isn't a complete cookie. He's likely to have a solid career as a setup guy, with the occasional year where three or four extra balls leafv the yard when he throws a spinner."

It also refers to young KC reliever Ambiorix Burgos as "challenging Bobby Jenks for the title of best young close in the division before long. Keep in mind, he's three years younger than Jenks and not shaped like a beer bottle."

And Reggie Sanders, now with KC: "Despite moving around, Sanders has played in the postseason in five of the last six years. Having signed a two-year deal, he will now get to spend the rest of his career seeing how the other half lives."

Yes, I think this stuff is hilarious.

Downside: Players are organized by 2005 roster, though stats projections are made for the 2006 team (where the move happened early enough - by February, I think. Pierre's projections are for the Cubs: .297/.348/102 runs/49-65 on stolen bases). This makes it cumbersome.

Upside: Everything else, it seems. A book that'll keep me up for hours at a time for the next few weeks. I strongly think that Pete Nemo would greatly enjoy it, perhaps not as much as me, but close. The rest of you? I don't know, you can borrow it if I see you in the near future.

I only bought the book because Amazon suggested it to me with the purchase of The Baseball America Prospect Handbook, which used to be my favorite baseball annual. (I've had - at one time - the previous five. Those dog-eared copies now reside at the old office. This is the first time its not been company-bought.)

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"Life things:" Apparently, my former boss talked really, really nicely about me to the people in Michigan. I'd place my chances at being there for the summer and at least a bit beyond at 92 percent. I'd hope to go the second weekend of April. I'd really like to see Silver Jews play on April 12 in Chicago, delaying my desired start date. Priorities, after all.

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What's embarrassing is that Harps' visit here this week has been dropped to sixth-billing. That's terrible, because he's much higher on my list than that. Our trivia game was strong, the company was good, and Ben had no allergic reactions that I recall. I doubt that three individuals have enjoyed their Chili's hamburgers as much as Jenny, Harps and myself did on Thursday night. Pretty good trip, and an efficient one.

I would have loved to have seen him again on Saturday but, alas, the Iksnesor-Gurs visit went far too well. Ik remained on his game, although we left his Japanese gifts at the bar. Goddamn you half-Japanese girls. You do it to me every time.

In a rare email exchange with Flax today, he wrote that "There are only a handful of artists on my 'Blind Buy Anything They Release' list these days, with a few having gotten the boot over the past few years." It should be noted that Blink-182 is among those, which is either good [he's done with them] or awful [he had them on his "Blind Buy Anything They Release" for a time - take off your pants and jacket, indeed!], depending on you perspective. So, it got me thinking about my list.

This list applies only to full-length albums - I generally only purchase an EP or a single if I'm absolutely floored by an album or, more likely, if I make an impulse buy while flipping through a record store. Being that I've only been at one record store that might stock singles and EPs (Dr. Wax - in January) in the past, oh, 37 months [it was February of 2003 when I was last in one, I'm 98 percent sure], I don't have many recent EPs or singles.

This list does not apply to "Odds n' Sods" collections, box sets, live releases, or any other crap a band might sell. I'm on full-length albums here. Also, in some circumstances, a band has reached the end of its leash, and a series of really bad reviews for a given album might dissuade me. I've italicized these artists.

Also, there are artists on the list on the basis of one great debut, or their most recent album being great. I guess they could theoretically earn their way off, but they're there for the time being.

So, the list consists of (along with consecutive albums of theirs I've purchased):
The Arcade Fire (1)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (2)
Bloc Party (1)
Neko Case (3)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (1)
The Clientele (2)
The Decemberists (3)
Dizzee Rascal (2 - I'm a sucker for hype, and grime)
The Flaming Lips (2)
Franz Ferdinand (2)
The Futureheads (1)
Grandaddy (3; I think their next one is also their last)
Interpol (2)
Jeff Mangum, or Neutral Milk Hotel belching on tape (3)
Modest Mouse (4)
The Mountain Goats (4 consecutive, 2 others)
The New Pornographers (3)
Carl "A.C." Newman (1)
Robert Pollard - solo full-lengths only, not just everything that he throws out there - I can't keep up
The Secret Machines (1)
The Shins (2)
Silver Jews (2)
Spoon (4)
The Streets (2)
The Strokes (3)
The Walkmen (2)
The White Stripes (4)
Wilco [but only things bearing the Wilco name - not all Jeff Tweedy projects; Italicized only because I tend to dislike Jeff Tweedy, and will dismiss Wilco if their work is trashed - Somehow, I don't expect that to ever happen] (6)
Wolf Parade (1)
XTC, if a new one ever exists (3 consecutive, I think)

Of these, at least six [Flaming Lips, Futureheads, Grandaddy, Secret Machines, Streets, Walkmen] have albums due out in the next three months or so. In addition, I think I'll be buying the next Fiery Furnaces album, a more conventional record than the most recent one. I think it's due in May.

Was there a point to this? Probably not. This leaves precious little room for exploration, although not really. It just means that I'm more selective with what bands I start anew - do more reading, perhaps more sampling, perhaps rely more on word-of-mouth.

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Flax wrote to me because he had an emusic.com subscription he had to use up before the free trial expired. I gave some GbV recommendations, and some other indie pop stuff. Plus The Exploding Hearts.

Me? I downloaded a full 100 songs in a 20-minute period two weeks ago.

What I downloaded, along with letter grades at this short length of exposure:
Antony and the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now - B+
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock and Roll - B+
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister - A-, but I knew that already
Belle and Sebastian - I'm Waking Up To Us EP - B, but I never feel satisfied from EPs
Neko Case - The Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - incomplete, but I really like "Margaret and Pauline," and I sense the rest of it is quite good
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies - A
dntel - "This Hill" - incomplete
dntel - "This is the Dream of Evan and Chan" - B+ ; groundbreaking when it came out, but it's really just another Postal Service song - a good Postal Service song, but a Postal Service song nonetheless
Jens Lekman - You're So Silent Jens - C+, but okay
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy - Incomplete, but seemingly really good
Saturday Looks Good to Me - This Night - B

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Maybe one of these days I'll write an interesting anecdote about my life, but my life consists of work, sitting on the couch, checking email, and going to sleep. Not necessarily bad things, just not interesting things. Maybe I should start making up outrageous stories. Or maybe I should continue writing about baseball, music, and add to that "Whatever Book I'm Currently Reading." In tonight's case, that book is the sports classic Veeck - As In Wreck, the autobiography of promotional genius Bill Veeck. It's so great that I fell asleep with it against my face last night. Yes!

I am really, really excited for baseball season to start. Yes, I'll devote another post to baseball. There have been far too many recently.

Several reasons for this:
1) "The Pat and Ron Show" which is, of course, the Chicago Cubs radio broadcast. I heard my first episode of the Pat and Ron Show today (a.k.a. "PatandRonPalooza"), a rainy Cubs-Rangers contest from Mesa.

It was filled with misinformation (Ron: "I've always wondered by Delucci doesn't play every day." Pat: "Let's check, Ronnie. He had 435 at-bats for Texas in 2005." Ron: "That's every day."), but in a good, exciting, Pat-and-Ron kind of way.

It included two fringe-fantastic stories about fielding in the rain, appropriate because it was a rainy day. Actually, that is, Pat's was about fielding in the rain, and Ron's was about not being able to throw. (Pat: "In high school, I was a shortstop. I headed out to handle the cutoff. And my relay throw...well, it hit a car in the parking lot on a bounce." Then, Ron: "When I was in Double-A, I thought I had a pretty good arm. In San Antonio, we were called the Missions. Pat: "Ball one." Ron: "So, by the summer, those kids would start gathering in those...whaddya call them...box seats." Pat: "Souvenirs?" Ron: "Yeah, souvenirs.")

Pat's so eloquent. The best. And they're great to listen to.

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2) On the other hand, on Tuesday's drive to Michigan, I was highly disappointed to find out that The Score wasn't carrying the Boers and Bernstein afternoon show, as they were airing White Sox spring training baseball.

Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton, a rookie in the "lead voice" spot and a total broadcasting rookie. It was painful, and yet I listened from 3 p.m., when I got in the car, until 5:35, when they went off the air. Then I got about a half-hour of Bernstein.

I've always liked Ed Farmer as the number two voice. He's got an odd, curt style - he tends to clip or swallow the final syllable of a sentence, and he's got odd mannerisms of reporting a player's stats ("His next home run will be number nine.") - and I thought he was a very good foil to John Rooney, one of the new greats in terms of being a true, true play-by-play man. A great describer of the action, a great rhythm, and a timely Harry Caray impression. He and Farmer had a great thing going, but Rooney couldn't pass up the Cardinals money.

Anyway, Farmer simply cannot handle being the lead voice, and Singleton is so inexperienced it's painful. (To wit: The day before their on-air debut right at the end of February, Farmer taught Singleton how to keep score.)

Now, you've got to give them time: Right now, Singleton's playing the "Hey Ed, do you know what email is? Ha!" card (he's under the age of 40, and out of pro ball for the first time in more than a decade), and Farmer's holding Singleton's hand at every turn ("Now Chris, as a hitter, what are you thinking here?"). But, still, Farmer will never be good enough to be a lead voice, and I think that the White Sox listening audience will suffer greatly. I'd say numbers, even for a team coming off a World Series championship and moving to a far better frequency, will be somewhat down this year.

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3) As part of an early birthday celebration (it's okay if you didn't remember; I'm pretty good about keeping it quiet), I got a pack of baseball cards from Gurs and Bullshot. Just one pack, and only ten cards (one a commemorative Barry Bonds card), but an impressive array of All-Stars and veterans, as well as a youngster with a limited future, a youngster with a strong future, and a Double-A pitching prospect in the Braves system (that is, "An outstanding future, until Mazzone took the money and ran").

Upon my return from the evening's events, The Boy played 20 Questions to determine which player's card I was holding.

The results:
1) Pedro Martinez, Mets: Six questions
2) Barry Zito, Athletics: Seven questions
3) Roger Clemens, Astros: Eight questions
4) Nomar Garciaparra, Dodgers: Nine questions
5) Ray King, Rockies (though questions were Cardinals-based): Ten questions
6) Nook Logan, Tigers: 18 questions
7) Esteban Loaiza, Athletics: 19 questions, with some help from yours truly (Me: "Why don't you ask about his nationality, rather than if it's a Hispanic name?" He: "Is he the all-time, single-season Mexican wins leader? [Laughs.]"
8) Zach Day, Rockies: Unsucessful, retiring after 18 questions
9) Chuck James, Braves, Double-A: Unsuccessful, retiring after 17 questions. The Boy had never heard of him.

Also, Gurs was the double Ultra Loser, which is pretty impressive.

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4) The World Baseball Classic is still awesome. I'm cheering for Cuba. I'll be taping it, then watching the post-9:15 portion of Monday's championship game. (Sadly, 24 takes precedence.) If stuff happens in the early innings, I'll watch them after the game's conclusion.

I will purchase a "Cuba: 2006 World Champions" t-shirt if they become available. Or perhaps a "Locker Room Cap."

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5) I'm officially down to one potential job option, and I had a really nice visit to Michigan midweek. Got to see a broadcasting pal of mine on the drive back, and spoke to another one after my stop, and I don't envy their current high-pressure "three weeks to Opening Day"-related stress. This job would get going in two to four weeks, it would seem, and I'll hear more at the end of the coming week.

Do I regret leaving my former position? At times, but not really. Am I surprised at the lack of job-finding success? More than a little.

I'm expecting that I'll get this job in Michigan, and I'm pretty sure that I'll take it if offered. But things can change, too, so we'll just play it by ear.

One thing I am definitely looking forward to is the chance to be a fan again. In the last few years, some of the "romanticism" of baseball was lost among the "jobby-ness" of it. I guess that's natural, but it's depressing at times. When the season got long last summer (and it got long), I had no "escape." What had been my escape for the first 20 years of my life was now the cause of my stress, and it was a sad, sad realization.

Well, this job would be a home games-only gig, bad for skill development, experience, and perhaps for future job prospects (who goes from a lead position to a number two job, after all?), but good for the head. I'd still work on the day of road games, but I wouldn't be traveling and I wouldn't be covering a game every single night. (Seriously, 14 off days over five months.) What this means is that I'd have the chance to follow the Cubs with some regularity, the chance to really concentrate on watching some ESPN baseball, and the chance to do a bit more studying of techniques and strategies for calling a game by tuning into the national radio feeds. In short, I'll be able to be a fan, and that's truly worth something.

Also, I'll try to get to Wrigley once during April, and probably to Comiskey as well. 500-level, scorecard on lap, pretty cool.

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I tend to feel pretty good about my NCAA Tournament picks in the Flax-pool. I've felt pretty good before, and I've never won. I've got my Final Four remaining (though only five of my Elite Eight, thanks to Kansas, Ohio State, and Michigan State; or, rather, thanks to Bradley, Georgetown, and George Mason), but I also lead with 12 of my Sweet Sixteen left.

I have UConn winning the title. The key will be the potential Texas-Duke game, as I've taken the 'Horns. I've got UConn over Texas in the title game, with Final Four losers UCLA and Villanova. I still feel good about those picks (although, for some reason, I was thinking I had taken UConn over Duke.)

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The week ahead could be busy.

Family birthday dinner on Tuesday, hopefully some high school friend hangout time on Wednesday, quality Harper time on Thursday, joined by Jenny (I hope) on Friday, (properly) scheduled Gurs-Iksnezor events on Saturday, and an in-person Fantasy Baseball Draft on Sunday, my first since high school. I've kept Cabrera, Santana, and Pierre, and I stockpiled two extra second-round picks in a late-season fire sale last year.

Woof.

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More importantly, the Rud family pool.

Rules
Entry fee (for the four "kids"): Two dollars
Entry fee (for the matriarch): Two dollars, since she began teaching again (before that, zero dollars)
Entry fee (for the patriarch): Ten dollars

Assignment of Teams
All four "kids" get three teams per regional. The two adults receive two teams per regional.
An individual automatically receives his alma mater, if said alma mater is participating in the tournament. In the case of a shared alma mater (i.e., Patriarch and The Boy and Notre Dame), a coin will be flipped, I think. However, due to Patriarch's DePaul affiliation and The Boy's Illinois affiliation, "fudging" may occur. This year, The eldest child was assigned Marquette, and The Boy received Illinois. Northwestern, Sarah Lawrence, Illinois State, and Notre Dame, oddly, did not affect the pool.

Payouts:
Loss in Elite Eight: $1 per team
Loss in Final Four: $2 per team
Loss in Championship Game: $4 per team
NCAA Champion: $8

I'll admit, I was some level of depressed after Monday's draw.

Just the seeds, and regions:
South: #16, #7, #10
East: #16, #11, #7
Midwest: #12, #7, #2
West: #12, #2, #15

Pretty unimpressive, by seeding, at least.

But I'm left with:
East: #11 George Mason vs. #7 Wichita State (both mine) - At least $1!
Midwest: #7 Georgetown vs. #3 Florida (not mine) - A reasonable shot
West: #2 UCLA vs. #3 Gonzaga (not mine) - A reasonable

Essentially, from a longshot for anything (imagine starting by drawing out the South and the East - ugh), to a reasonable shot of breaking even, and a great shot of making money. Go Bruins.

I believe Nemo placed his first NCAA Tournament bet at the age of four months. Mine was closer to about 48 months, but it's been a pretty good NCAA Tournament gambling run.

"...added great joy to ... seven minutes of my life!" -Nemo

"Apply voice impersonations ... for maximum effect!" -Nemo

"I am greatly looking forward to more installments!" -Nemo

"Very good, Andrew!" -Bullshot, although indirectly

"Did you guys realize that Diet Coke has twice the caffeine content of regular Coke?" -Sumo

What's the hubbub about? Find out for yourself!

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Let's talk World Baseball Classic. My dad says, "I think it's gaining steam," so I think it's okay for public consumption at this point.

First, I found this article incredibly fascinating. It was about how, basically, MLB Scouting Bureau services were technically available to all WBC participants, but how, essentially, the Scouting Bureau told nobody but Team USA. Of course, the article was published the morning of U.S.-Canada, so I guess it wasn't a whole lot of help.

Secondly, today's Japan-U.S. game was fantastic, although the U.S. won on a farce of a call. Or, rather, was helped by a bad call. After a Japanese sacrifice fly broke a 3-3 tie in the (I think) seventh inning, an appeal by the U.S. was denied. But U.S. manager Buck Martinez came out with the "If mom says no ask dad" theory and, amazingly, the home plate ump overruled the play, ruling the Japanese player out for leaving too soon. Remarkable. Saduharu Oh's Japanese boys weren't going to take the field after the call, but he convinced them to go play defense. In the bottom of the ninth, the U.S. won on a bases-loaded, two-out single from A-Rod. Secretly, I think a whole lot of the crowd wanted him to strike out again. They were ruthless on an inning-ending 'K' from the 250-Million Dollar Man in the bottom of the seventh. I wanted him to strike out, both to see extra innings, and to see A-Rod fail.

I really, really like the World Baseball Classic. I love college hoops, but the WBC is more intriguing to me, at this point. (This will change on Thursday.) I only wish the rules were closer to real, big-league baseball.

I also wish that they'd show the freakin' games. Monday's U.S.-Korea game is available only on a tape-delay basis (live on ESPN Deportes, but "three hours old" on ESPN2). You're telling me that ESPN's latest reality show or NIT coverage is more interesting than U.S.-Korea? Don't answer that.

Also, the schedule's a U.S.-slanted joke.

The U.S.'s qualifying pool also includes Mexico, Korea and Japan.
On the other end, it's Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba. It's safe to say that, after the U.S., the four best teams in the tournament reside in the other qualifying group. And, after the top two teams qualify through this Round Robin phase, the U.S. plays a member of it's own pool in a single-elimination knockout game. That is, the U.S. won't face a Latin American powerhouse until the final. The Dominican will have faced Venezuela three times by then, in all likelihood.

I'm a bit surprised that the WBC is selling this, only because of the controversy involving Cuba's entry into the event. Wouldn't the Cubans draw a profit of some sort from this? I'd think so.

But it looks a whole lot like the Cubs' "Team Cuba" road uniforms. Might be worth a purchase. Only twenty bucks, after all.

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I'm really looking forward to Opening Day, more this year than any time since, I think, 2001. (I was in Austin at that point, and was taping WGN-televised Cubs games and watching them at night. The Cubs went on their 11-game (?) winning streak that spring, before folding down the stretch. But it was a fun, fun season, until the Cubs decided to bring up Broadway Joe Borowski for a mid-August start against the Braves. The Human Sweat Machine was terrible. They also released Little Sarge that summer. Sigh.) It probably has to do with the fact that, in all likelihood, I won't be obsessively working when it comes around. However, in the (unlikely) event that I am working - in baseball - come Opening Day, I'll be pretty happy too.

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So, I'm completely done with any work I can do at my job, until my supervisor does some editing of the work I've already given her. She edits at a slow pace, which is understandable when you consider that I'm doing a project that had been on the backburner for about a year. So, with nothing to actually do at work, how do I occupy myself? By doing a lot of nothing, and then collecting a paycheck on Friday. It's a great, great, great system, friends.

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Lots of driving ahead this week, Mapquest says 670 miles. This will bring the yellow car up over 47,000, which seems like a pretty significant amount to me.

Second straight baseball-related post and, for that, I apologize.

The best thing I've heard in terms of reaction to Kirby Puckett's death came from Dan Bernstein, 670 AM afternoon host, who was near tears when a caller asked "Why do you guys get such joy in bringing down a dead man?" And a brief caller-to-hosts mini-shouting match ensued (I love sports talk...), with Bernstein and Terry Boers emphasizing that it is their obligation to address Puckett's shortcomings, particularly because they were such a part of his post-baseball existence. The only part, in fact.

And, after a solid 45 seconds of back-and-forth, Bernstein finally gets real loud and, sounding like he was tearing up, says, "He was a great player. He was an awful guy. And now he's dead. And it pains me to say that."

It doesn't come across as dramatic as I thought it was on paper or, in this case, on the screen. But it was well-said.

Puckett was a transcendent player, and one of the most enjoyable to watch ever. It would be real neat if he died in a tragic plane crash instead of contracting glaucoma, because then we would have avoided the downward spiral. I think the 1991 World Series was the most enjoyable ever, mostly because of Puckett.

I guess that's all I've got on that.

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My thoughts on Bonds aren't much more in-depth.

Here's what gets me:
I hate when people say, "You encouraged it. You could tell they were juiced, and yet you still flocked to the ballpark. You were supporting it, and this is what you deserve."

Here's the thing:
I'm quite dumb, or quite naive, anyway, and I didn't believe they were doing anything illegal. At this point, it's pretty apparent they were, but I just didn't even take accusations that seriously eight or nine years ago. I didn't, and it's too bad, I guess.

Another thing: In that magical summer of 1998, Ken Griffey was part of the chase. Ken Griffey is not and has never been on steroids. He just hasn't, and yet he was on the record pace until mid-August.

The home run explosion of the last decade has been a "perfect storm" of circumstances: 24 more "big league" pitchers due to expansion, tiny new ballparks, walls being moved in at others, maple bats, great young hitters outnumbering great young pitchers, improved legal supplements, and steroids. Steroids have been a factor, and the biggest factor, but several other things contributed to it.

Bonds. Not a Hall of Famer. Second straight post in which I've written it. Also, an awful dude.

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gurs has re-entered the blogosphere. Things are already interesting over there. Fish, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dr. Phil, rock music. Also, he has very impressive design skills, a fact borne out by the Kent Tekulve photo towards the right of the page. I've reserved linking for a bit - a provisional period - but I'd imagine he'll "earn" one eventually.

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Gosh, I don't know if I have anything else to write. Tailgated (burgers and veggies, not fish and/or chips) prior to a nice Cats win this past Saturday, showing those Gophs that Cats fans know how to get ready for some buckets. The plan for the rest of the night includes making chili, not for tonight, or even for this week, but for next Thursday and the NCAA Tournament opener. Wej called a week ago and said, "Hey, Rud, what are you doing for the first day of the NCAA tournament." And the plans have become, "You take the day off of work. I'll take the day off of work. And we'll gorge ourselves on chili, italian beef, beer and pizza." Should be a highlight.

Also, I've got an actual interview on Wednesday the 15th. This one is a solid lead, one I think I'll get. I also think I'll take it, thanks to Nemo's urging. But I've got to get it first.

Otherwise, it's underworking and getting overpaid, something I've gotten quite good at in the last week or so. Office productivity is down but, eh, it happens. I've gotten much better at emailing over the last three weeks.

Week seven of two, it should be noted, and I'll be gone for much of week eight.