• Don’t try to bring that weak (stuff) in my house!

    It looks like today is the big day… the day James Baker and the Senior Singers release their album of Middle East greatest hits. After having the war up on the lift for a few months, it looks like Jimmy and the boys are going to recommend rotating the tires and driving home – eventually, at some time yet to be determined. Now that’s a bold move.

    Speaking of weak (and shifting gears to issues near and dear to my palate) I won’t say other people’s coffee is weak, but after going through my wife’s bounty of fine gift grind, a merely mortal cup of joe tastes like someone rinsed whole beans in a colander and saved the run-off. On the other hand, my wife has suggested that my customary cup is capable of felling any earth-born land mammal (and there are some pretty big ones out there). It looks like I’m doomed to custom brew for the rest of my days. No more mass produced coffee for me!

    Just one more reason it ain’t easy being me.

  • A new day in Tampa Bay?

    This entry isn’t terribly timely. It’s another entry I’ve been kicking around for awhile, in my spare moments.

    There’s a persistent rumor floating around that we have a professional sports franchise in this area that plays football. Alas, this rumor is wholly unsubstantiated.

    But I didn’t start this entry to talk football. I wanted to talk off-season baseball… during this time when hope for our other professional franchise springs eternal (if not exclusively). What is the reason for hope this year? It springs partially out of a sense of “due-ness.” Even the Cubs have occasional years over .500. Even if every Rays baseball decision was made with a coin flip, they’d be bound to luck their way into a winner once every ten years or so, wouldn’t they? Sadly, for a few years every decision was made with a pinch rather than a flip, but I won’t go there now; except to say that they Rays may be showing some signs of a renewed willingness to spend (if only a little). The new owners said they wouldn’t (and couldn’t) spend with the big market teams, but they did promise to spend (some) money wisely. Under the previous owner this was code for bottom line spending… as in, “what would my wallet do?” This year we’ve been greeted with the news that the Rays won a bid to retain the services of a promising Japanese player. Under the previous owner, news of the Rays winning a bidding competition with other MLB franchises would have caused a spike in the price of shares in Philips Electronics. Now, the Rays have won the rights to sign decent Japanese players in two consecutive years. This isn’t the kind of news that makes national headlines, but it gives me a little hope.

    In other news, the Rays placed a few minor leaguers on their 40 man roster. Among them was their mercurial prospect… le enfant terrible… Elijah Dukes. In case you are unaware, this is a guy who many say would have been in the majors two years ago… possibly on his way to stardom… if he didn’t have a “can’t miss” temper to go along with his “sure-thing” talent. Fairly or not, this is the guy who has been accused of being the catalyst for the miss-stepsof a couple other Rays’ prospects’: namely B.J. Upton and Delmon Young (of bat throwing fame). Let’s hope he can keep the temper in check. The last thing a perennial loser needs is a cancer in the clubhouse. That’s assuming he makes the team out of spring training, or gets a call-up. My guess is he’s got too much talent not to get a crack at the team.

  • Shaken, not stirred

    I am disappointed in Beth’s school. A week ago we were filling out a permission slip for Beth to go on a field trip. A trip to Ruth Eckerd Hall is routine around these parts, so I thought nothing of it. However, when I signed the slip waiving any potential claims of liability against the school I had no idea Beth was going to be exposed to the Damn Yankees. No, I’m not talking about the theatrical production… I’m speaking in a literal sense. You see the kids were given a goody bag… in the shape and form of an Adidas branded, New York Stinking Yankees warm up bag. Adding insult to injury, the bag was filled with Yankee doo-dads and whatnots. Naturally, I was appalled.

    Do you have any idea what kind of harm can come to a child’s impressionable mind, painting the Yankee’s in a favorable light… at this age? Think of us poor, unsuspecting parents… as far as we know our children are out having a harmless education experience… right up until they come back Yankee fans. As far as I’m concerned, such an egregious act of treachery is tantamount to contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

    I was almost upset enough to write a letter to the school board, but cooler heads prevailed. Instead, my wife and I had a sit down with Beth to explain the Yankees to her, to let her know that it’s O.K. sometimes to just say “no.”