Are you there Andy Oliver? It's me, Tigers fan.

As much as I have loved Phil Coke ever since he came over to Detroit in the Curtis Granderson trade, he is not a starting pitcher.  Even when he was pitching in New York, there was something about him that I just enjoyed.  It's his energy.  Coming out of the bullpen, that is what a team needs in the middle of the game.  Someone to come out and bring in energy.  But that's all he is.  A reliever who can pitch two or three strong innings and give way to a set up man and then the closer.  And that is what I saw tonight against the lowly Seattle Mariners (sorry Lauren, it's true).  He pitched well enough for four innings and then BOOM!  Implosion, party of one. 

I don't know if Andy Oliver is ready for the Show, but if he is the next big thing for the Tigers organization, why not?  Have him be the fifth starter and learn.  I know that Coke is a veteran and can handle the pressure of being in the spotlight, but a starting pitcher he is not. 

So far this season, the bats have woken up and can keep the Tigs in the game, but having a couple of starting pitchers that are shaky (Brad Penny and Rick Porcello I'm looking your way too) puts more pressure on the other pitchers and the batters. 

Futbol!

I found myself watching a soccer match on ESPN2 the other day.  It wasn't the World Cup, it wasn't the MLS, it was a European match.  There are way too many leagues across the pond to keep track of unless you are hardcore about soccer.  It was just fun to watch.

I have watched some MLS games every once in a great while and it wasn't anything great to watch.  It was entertaining, yes, but compared to the games that are played in Europe, it was nothing.  And why?  It's because of the atmosphere.  During an MLS game, there is not ninety minutes of loud continuous cheering from the stands.  And by cheering, I mean chanting.  Watching the European games, the fans (absolute definition of fanatics) stand for the entire match.  They have chants and songs of which are a ton better than the vuvuzelas that plagued the World Cup.  Just thinking of those noise makers sends shivers down my spine.  And when a goal is scored?  Holy shit, the cheers can shake the walls.  It's engrossing.  It's addictive.  It's what sports should be.  True dedication by the fans at the game for the entire game.  Think of all the sporting events you have gone to.  Are you on your feet for the entire time?  No.  It's a lot of sitting and sporadic standing up or jumping up and cheering.

I don't think this kind of fandom will ever catch on here in the U.S.  The fans here are not that dedicated.  Even the biggest fan of the best team will not stand for an entire game.  I wouldn't do it.  I wouldn't stand for an entire baseball game or a hockey game.  It's not ingrained in our sports watching.  We sit around, we drink beer, and swear at the officials.





At least sports fans got that last one right.  

But...you promised

The one thing that has baffled me since I have been old enough to be interested in politics (so, around twenty five or so) is how upset people get when politicians do not fulfill campaign promises.  It's not one political party or the other.  It's all of them.  Republicans, democrats, libertarians, tea party (douche bags), communists, socialists, nihilists.  From the uberconservatives all the way to the far left tree hugging hippies.  Whomever.  It's all of them.  This is a blanket call out on all politicians.  They're the high school boyfriend that promises to bring a condom to the prom after party but 'forgets' to and tries to convince you that it's okay.  Just as long as he pulls out.  Crude analogy, but pretty hilarious.  

If there is one reason to not trust any politician, this is it.  And it's not like they don't try to make some of their promises stick, it's just that everyone expects them to keep all of their campaign promises, which is pretty much impossible.  Especially as divided as the country is today.  The political parties argue in spite of themselves.  They do not have the interest of the people in mind.  All they care about is arguing the opposite point of the other party.

As long as we the sheep people go along with the thoughts that the politicians have our best interests in mind, we will continue to vote for whomever has the best promises.  Or whomever hides behind the flag more.  America!  Fuck yeah!  Grimace all you want, you know it's true.  I will concede that it is difficult to pass legislation through the government when all they do is battle each other. 

But if we can get signs that there is some progress, or at the very least, some efforts to fulfill these promises, you will keep you supporters.  However, if you completely screw the pooch and do not make an effort to get something done, even the smallest promise, you will be cleaning out your desk.  The people are fickle.









That's democracy for you.  And you can thank yourselves, politicians.  You made everyone hate you by being useless.  

Take your ham and shove it!

One of the nice things about not being close to family around the holidays is the fact that a big meal is not really needed.  During Christmas, we have family in town so we do get to have a big holiday meal, which is great, but there is a ton of effort that goes into it.  Plus, it takes most of the day to cook the food.  On the holidays when no family is in town, we have a few options. 

Our friends K & M are usually around town and we can have a meal with them, and we do.  And it's great.  It's nice to have them and we refer to them from time to time as our 'Wichita family' especially when it comes to the holidays. 

The other option is to find something to cook just for ourselves.  This is what we are doing this year.  I went out and bought some nice rib eye steaks and despite the fact that it's a little cloudy and windy outside, the grill will be on and the meat will sizzle with greatness. 



Enjoy the day everyone! 

Anniversary trip

I proposed to A that on our five year anniversary (which is next year) that we take a vacation somewhere.  Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Boston, New York, Chicago, wherever.  I thought that if we started to think of it now, we can start saving now and not have to worry about having to pay for stuff if we do go through with this idea.  Vacations are expensive. 

We haven't really had a vacation since we got married.  We went down to St. Thomas with our families and it was glorious.  When we do leave the state of Kansas, it is always to visit family.  These vacations are always great just because we live so far away from everyone and we only see them about two or three times a year.  However, we haven't taken a trip for ourselves to go to a new city to explore.  I always love going home and seeing our families, but I haven't ever been to Boston or New York.  I want to visit Independence Hall in Philadelphia.  I want to find old Yankee Stadium and take a piss on it (no, not really [or do I?]) or at least flip it off.  I want to get an authentic Chicago deep dish pizza and visit the Friendly Confines, I want to see a politician in a strip club in D.C. taking in the lunch buffet. 

We don't have kids right now (nor do we plan to have any in the near future) and right now is the best time to take these kinds of trips.  All we have to worry about is the cat, and she self sustains.  We have over a year to think about this, and a lot can change in that year.  Moving, jobs, etc.  This will be in the back of my mind for the next year or so until it comes to fulfillment.  

The ten pound challenge

While making the transition from winter clothes to spring and summer clothes, A collected a box of items that were just a little too tight to fit into.  I asked her about the box and she said it's full of clothes that she wants to keep, but needs to lose about ten pounds.  We then joked a little bit about a ten pound box and went into the whole 'yeah, we really do need to start exercising and losing weight' discussion.  I then started to think about some clothes that are in the closet and dresser and came up with a mental ten pound box of my own.  We're getting old, our metabolism is starting to slow, beer tastes good, exercising sucks.  Whatever excuse you want to make for yourself, the fact is the majority of us out there can afford to lose ten pounds. 

One reason why I thought of this was because I couldn't sleep last night.  I tossed and turned just about every hour.  I would fall asleep for a little bit, wake up, and then turn over and fall back asleep.  Repeat this process for five hours and you have my evening.  During one of my moments of being awake, this thought came to me, why not set a goal of losing ten pounds to fit into these clothes that we have held onto?

I know that when I got my physical this year, one of the things my doctor stressed, other than getting a colonoscopy next year, was losing weight.  He wasn't exactly friendly about it, in fact, he came off rather dick-ish about it.  At any rate, over the past five years (or since I've been living in Kansas, is there a corelation, who knows) I've put on about fifteen pounds.  I guess you never really think of it when it's just four pounds here, or two pounds there, but the shit adds up.

So here is the plan.  Lose ten pounds.  That's it.  Through exercise, smart eating, and portion control (something I apparently have a problem with according to A).  The toughest part will be exercising.  I do not enjoy it.  I don't understand people that do enjoy it, but alas, that's just part of the game.

Early season observations

From what I've seen so far this season, some teams in the AL Central are making progress and some are struggling.  The teams that are struggling are making me smile too.  It's great when anything from Chicago doesn't do well. 

Cleveland Indians: 

• Their fast start has given some hope, but I don't think it'll last.
• The first thing to come around when a team restructures, like the Indians have been doing so for the past six years, it starts with the batting order.  They have some young talent in their catcher of the future Carlos Santana and some veteran leaders in Grady 'my knees continue to fall apart' Sizemore and Travis Hafner has come back from the dead
• The pitching staff still doesn't have that one true ace that can pitch well enough to stop a losing streak.  
• It's a marathon season and I can see them fading away close to the All Star break

Kansas City Royals:

• Another fast start to the season, but it'll last longer than Cleveland's.
• Their pitching staff is young and hungry and the bullpen is throwing lights out so far
• The real future is still three and four years away, but the players that are in KC right now can keep them out of the basement of the division.
• This is another team that doesn't have that true ace to help start a winning streak or stop a losing streak.  
• The true test will be the first losing streak.  This team is young and it will be interesting to see what happens when the loses start to come, because they will.  

Detroit Tigers:

• After a slow start, Detroit has put together a nice little winning streak to get back to .500 baseball
• The first team in the AL Central standings to have a true ace and another strong pitcher to back him up.  A great one-two punch that starts winning streaks
• The lineup will produce runs in the middle of the order.  The top of the order is young and learning and the bottom from seven to nine can kill a rally inning real quick.
• The weak spot is the bullpen and the back half of the rotation.  The middle relief will be up and down all season and will be the cause for a lot of late inning losses and close games.

Chicago White Sox

• Focusing mostly on their offense this off season, their bullpen has been imploding all two weeks of the season.
• Ozzie is pissed at the bullpen, which makes me smile, just because I hate Chicago.  I want him to throw a tirade and get fired because it just needs to happen.  
• Their bats and starting rotation will keep them in games, but the bullpen will remain an issue.
• Right the ship in the bullpen and this team will start to win games in bunches and contend the rest of the year.

Minnesota Twins

• In a very unfamiliar spot right now bringing up the rear of the division.
• Everything that can go wrong with their team (offense, defense, pitching, injuries) has gone wrong.
• I don't know what to make of the Twins so far just because they don't have issues like this.  Ever.  In the past, if their bats aren't going, their pitching keeps them in games and vice versa.
• Because it is such a long season, and they have a great managerial team, they'll pull out of this funk and continue up the ranks of the division.

The division is ass backwards right now, but it's nice to let the basement dwellers come up and check out the top every once in a while.  By the midway point of the season, it'll be back to normal.  

What makes my world go 'round

I'm currently watching a baseball game involving two teams (Boston and Tampa Bay) that I don't really care about. So why is this important? Because it's part of the three greatest parts of living in America. Baseball, beer, and brats. What more could one ask for?

It's not a close game, but it's fun to relax in the best way I know how. By watching sports and getting a little drunk.

Missing the mrs. or missing the mrs?

This weekend, I hung out with several friends that all knew A was out of town, but were unsure of how long she was gone.  We went out to dinner and for the first time in quite a long time I was the fifth wheel.  It was two couples (eventually a third couple met up with us) and me.  And of course, I had to deal with the 'when does your wife come home?' question.  I've been barraged with this question ever since I got home a couple of weeks ago.  It got me thinking while I was out tonight drinking a few beers and watching some baseball.  Where does the line between dependence and independence lie in each relationship? 

One of the greatest things about the relationship I have with my wife is the independence we have from each other.  Not since high school have we been the couple that needed to be with each other twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.  And even then, we had the same friends, so it wasn't like we ran in different crowds.  In the past year, she has gone home for longer periods of time than I have because she hasn't been working.  We have both developed a little more independence because of that.  At least at home, she can help get her parents with house updates with stripping wall paper and painting random rooms.  Outside of that, there will be nights when people from work will get a hold of me and want to go out to the bar.  I'll say yes the majority of the time because it's nice to hang out with friends (and let's face it, I like to drink), but I always make it a point to see if she wants to go out.  There will be nights when she says yes and nights that she says no.  Regardless of what she decides, I'm out the door when the time comes.  A little bit of a dick move sometimes, but it shows that neither of us have the need to be with each other every minute of every day.  She hasn't ever looked at me and said, 'I'm not going and neither are you.'.  There will be nights when she just flat out does not want to go and I will get the response, 'no, and have a good time.'.  What more could a husband ask for?  And when she does come out, she is involved with the conversations throughout the night, so it isn't like she sits in the corner brooding.

Every relationship needs to have that kind of separation and independence, and I'm sure that most do.  To counter that, I'm sure there are relationships where both parties do not feel comfortable being out without their significant other.  Those are not fulfilling relationships.  It's one thing to say 'I don't feel like going out, but thanks' to people that invite you out for a beer or four and it's another thing to say 'We don't feel like going out, but thanks.'  That's not a healthy independent relationship.  That's co-dependency.

You want to test out where your relationship is?  Gather up some people at work or some friends you know will be wanting to go hang out for a couple of hours, but do it when you know your significant other won't be in the mood to go out of the house.  If they say something along the lines of, 'I don't feel like it and I think you should stay home too.' you may want to have a deep conversation with that person.  It is one thing to be in a couple (whether you are married or in a non-married relationship) and it's another thing to be one person.  Find that line where you know it's okay to go out and play cards with the guys, or go out to a bar with co-workers on a Friday (or a Tuesday) after a long week at the office.  That is where the relationship lies.  I don't want to say that you want to treat it like a trust game, but you need to treat it like as a relationship game.  I think a great relationship depends on independence from each other, but still knowing that if you want to, it's okay to turn the phones off and hang out for the evening with each other.

The excuse of 'my husband (or wife) doesn't feel like going out so we are going to pass.' is absolute bullshit.  The exception to that rule is if early work is involved.  And by early I mean early.  Like four in the morning early.  This weekend, I went out to hang with friends on Friday night and Saturday night.  Both nights, I was up until at least one in the morning and went to work before eight.  I'm getting to the point where I have to pay for it just because I'm getting old, but it was great to know I can still do it.  Both nights were great and I would not hesitate to do it again.  And I know that A would have been up for both nights.  It wasn't like I was up hitting the strip clubs with a bunch of guys, we were out drinking beer and socializing.  It was fun and laid back.

So it has been nice to have the run of the apartment and be able to do whatever and go wherever I want, but come Tuesday, it will be nice to have my wife back in town.  To have these past two weeks alone and independent from anyone it's allowed me to cut loose a little.  Drink at home a little more, eat dinner whenever and wherever.  And to know that I can do that whenever I want is great just because we have that relationship that has the flexibility to go out and do our own thing if need be.






And it's also nice that she will always be around for the 'I don't want to do anything but stay at home' evenings or weekends too.  

Weather worries

As the thoughts of winter and the lack of snow disappear in the minds of Kansans, their attention is brought upwards.  It is spring time, or as I like to call it 'that time of the year when my mother worries'.  It's storm season or at least the beginning of it.  We had severe weather advisories last night.  It was hot and humid all day and then the temperature dropped and of course the weather radios were going crazy with thoughts of thunder storms and possible tornadoes.  It's too early for tornadoes though. 

I love the warm weather because that means shorts and tee shirts.  If I love one thing as the summer months approach, it's shorts.  It's a nice departure from the winter months when it's nothing but pants.  I quote the one and only Homer J.  'Don't you hate pants?'

So don't worry quite yet mom.  Tornado season isn't for another month or so.  And it only lasts for two months after that. 

Out of doors.

After reading this article, I want to move to a more outdoor friendly area.  I'm not going to get crazy and start wandering around the Amazon or the Artic Circle, but getting out to nature and camping has always been a fun thing for me, especially in my adult life.  Last summer, I took a weekend trip to Elk City and camped for a couple of days and went on a hike on their one trail.  It was hot as hell, I got into a little poison ivy when I went off the trail to check out the views of the lake from a small cliff (not the brightest idea I have ever had, but I would do it again.  The view was phenomenal even by Kansas standards), but at the end of it all, it was great.  It may have been because it was close to one hundred degrees at mid day or that it was a small nature trail, but I didn't come across anyone.  Very secluded.  I got up to the top of the trail and there was peace and quiet.  Far from the noises of the city and traffic.  Far from the daily distractions of cell phones, work, and the internet.  It was everything that camping should be about. 

Sitting amongst the rocks and trees and the little critters roaming about, I wondered if this is what the ultimate goal of the trip was.  I wanted to go camping that summer just to do it.  To get use out of the tent and sleeping bag and play with fire and cook over that open flame.  But was there something in my deep conscience that drove me to find this campground with a trail?  All I know was when I got back into town at the end of the weekend I was in a different state of mind.  Very serene.  Can the outdoors have that affect on people?  I think so.

Camping with friends is always a great experience.  Sitting around and drinking and talking and all that fun stuff can bring you closer.  That is one kind of camping.  The other kind is just going by yourself.  Just getting out there and let everything else slip away.  It can bring out the best in you.  It allows you to sit back and think.  At least it did for me.  

All alone

While it is nice to live with someone, especially someone you love, a break is welcomed when it comes.  Are there benefits to it or is time alone all that I need?  Who knows.  All I know is that I enjoy having the place to myself, but also am aware the downside to it as well.  It all depends on how long the time alone is.  I got back down to Wichita on the night of the twenty eighth and A is coming back here on the twelfth.  Essentially, it's two weeks.  One of the longer stretches of her staying up there to help her parents take care of some interior house projects and just all around hanging out.  Normally it's in the seven to ten day area for her staying there, so what's a few more days?  Here's some pros and cons to being here alone.

Pros:

• I don't have to wear pants if I don't want to.  Won't even lie about, I've already not worn pants quite a bit since getting back down here.  
• The t.v. switches from just a couple of channels.  Mainly ESPN, ESPN2, history channel, Fox Sports Kansas City, weather channel.  
• One dinner lasts about a week.  I made goulash Tuesday night and just ate the last of it for dinner tonight.  
• Dinner is whenever and whatever.  We don't have a specific dinner time, but generally it's around six thirty or so.  Right now?  It could be at five.  Or nine.  Last night I ate at ten o'clock because that's when I got hungry. 
• Playing records.  While A was employed, I would get home a couple of hours before she would and every once in a while would throw a record on the player just to listen to the clicks and cracks of the old LPs.  I got to do that again this week and it's been nice. 
• Contemplation time.  Not having someone to talk to on hand sucks a little bit, it allows for time to just think.  I'll be growing my full beard back for my friend's wedding this summer because I'm in it and don't want to be 'that guy' in the wedding pictures when he looks back at them twenty or thirty years from now.  So, after the wedding, I've determined to grow my beard out a little bit.  Not as much as a couple of years ago, but a little bit fuller.  I love having facial hair. 

Cons:

• Less dishes means more actual dish cleaning.  It takes quite a while to pile up enough dishes to run the dishwasher and not feel bad about running a half empty one. 
• Feeding the cat.
• Lack of human contact.  Work doesn't really count no matter how many people you work with or talk to.  
• Days off are boring.  I didn't work this weekend and the days drug on a little bit. 
• Grocery shopping.  Ugh.  I tried my best to avoid the frozen section because I don't want to be that guy that relies on frozen foods while my wife is away.  How lame and stereotypical is that?  Although I did buy one frozen pizza.  It was BBQ chicken and it was delicious.  
• My liver.  I've been drinking a little more than usual the past couple of days.  Mayhaps not so good.

In the end, it's all good.  It's something that I would never really want to nor have had to do.  I have never lived alone.  Our second year in college, we wised up and moved out of the dorms at CMU and rented an apartment.  It was cheaper and we didn't have to deal with all the bullshit that dorms come with.  We did have to deal with all the bullshit that college apartment complexes came with, but that's just how it went.