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.