A funny thing happened on the way to the disc golf course today...

Went out today with Marc to play some disc golf.  I am just getting into the sport and am not very good, but it is fun.  A chance to walk around outside and enjoy some fresh air.  Saw a few things that made me raise an eyebrow.  

1. At the gas station filling up, I saw someone get out of their car with an ipod playing.  Not playing in their car, as in plugged into the radio, but in their ears.  Distracting, but not as bad as...

2.  Someone texting on the highway.  I know that lots of states are starting to crack down on this, but it needs to be sped up.  This guy was on the HIGHWAY!  Going anywhere from seventy down to about fifty five.  Not safe.  

And the last thing....

3.  Pretty sure I saw a drug deal go down.  I consulted Marc and he said it sounded like it too.  I figured two Indians can figure out what a drug deal looks like, plus I've seen enough cop movies.  One guy standing on the corner and another one walking down the sidewalk and then they stop and talk for a little bit.  Then, a hand shake and walking away.  

Nice.  Drugs, music, and phoning all in one drive.  

oops.

Sooooo....I know that there are still one hundred and sixty one games left in the season, but last night did not build my confidence.  The Tigers lost.  Bad.  5-12.  I know that they were facing an excellent pitcher in Roy Hallady, but wow.  Verlander was a bit erratic, which is scary because he is the ace of the staff.  

It is a long season, and I will chalk this up to first game jitters.  But if they start off the season losing their first seven games like they did last year, I will have to re-evaluation my ninety win season prediction.  

Please prove me wrong guys.  Please.  

Opening Day post

Today is opening day for the majority of the MLB.  A lot of sports casters and sports achors are down on the Tigers.  They don't have faith in the bullpen.  Which is understandable.  The past two seasons, the middle relief pitchers have been shaky at best.  The worst decision the organization ever made was letting Chad Durbin go after the 2006 season.  He was consistent, and even became a starter during the season because of injuries.  And now?  He is in the bullpen for the Philadelphia Phillies and won a World Series with them last year.  

So not everyone is up on the Tigers this year, but I am.  They stayed below the radar this offseason with their acquisitions, which was smart.  Last year they made a huge move and only half of it paid off (congratulation to the Florida Marlins for dumping Dontrell Willis before anyone else knew he sucked).  They moved Nate Robertson (who apparently is pleased with the move) to the bullpen because he was awful last year.  I think this will be just like Durbin in the pen in 06.  If someone gets injured, they have a backup plan for the fifth starter.  Plus, he has the stuff to pitch in tight spots.  

The offense will be better without Gary Sheffield.  They now have a younger bat in the DH spot in Marcus Thames, who I still am not sold on.  He strikes out too often.  Sheffield was trying to do too much for himself.  He is one home run shy of five hundred, which isn't saying much.  This milestone has been eclipsed many times over and doesn't have the prestige it once did.  

In the end, I feel that my Detroit Tigers will end up with a ninety win season, but it won't be enough to make the playoffs.  For some reason, the Minnesota Twins find a way to win, or be in contention for, the Central Division every year.  And that is how it will end up.  The Twins, Tigers, Indians, Royals, and White Sox.  Top to bottom for the division.  

Would I like to see the Twins in second and the Tigers in first?  No, I would love it.     

GO TIGERS!  

Weekend trip recap

Curretly playing:  From Under the Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy

As posted earlier, Andrea and I took a trip out to Colorado Springs to see her brother.  It was nice to get out of Wichita, even if it was just for a few days.  We did a ton of walking, which was good.  I brought my hiking boots that I don't get to use often and broke them in a little bit.  The city is very nature oriented if you want it to be.  Wichita does have a ton of parks, but there isn't a lot to look at.  It's all flat.  This was the first time I had been to Colorado, and it was beautiful.  I can't remember seeing mountains ever.  When I was younger, our family took a road trip to California, but we went south through New Mexico and Arizona and skipped the mountainous states.  And I'm sure we saw mountains while we made the trip, but who pays attention to the geography at eight years old?  

Pike's Peak is right there in Colorado Springs.  And Adam told us that they have a city ordenance that prohibits buildings from being too tall so they don't block the view of the mountain from downtown.  Pretty neat idea.  I would most definately be distracted for a few weeks if I lived there.  I would always being looking up at it.  

The first day we were there, we went to the Garden of the Gods.  Rock formations and trees.  When the person who originally owned the land died, he placed in his will that this area could go to the state only if it were to remain free to the public.  How sweet is that?  They could make a killing off of this place, even if they charged a small fee (say, five dollars).  But no, it is free to walk around.  You can also get a permit to rock climb.  There are specific spots where you can and cannot, but still a great way to spend the day.  

The last big thing that we did while there was visit the Air Force Academy.  They have a well known building on the campus, the Cathedrail.  It was constructed in the early fifties when the academy was founded.  Every person, of every faith worships there.  Catholic, presbyterian, baptist, muslim, buddist, and so on.  That is one thing that is great about it.  It doesn't matter what religion you are, you use the same building.  There is something to be said about that.  Religious what?  Religious tolerance...

April? Really?

Currently playing:  Consolers of the Lonely by The Raconteurs (Jack White's other band)

Holy shit, it is the beginning of April!  Pretty much the first thought I had today when I woke up.  The past couple of years have had this feeling.  During the school years, it was the opposite.  The vacation months would fly and before you knew what was going on, you were back at school and looking forward to the next summer break.  

The first and last couple of months fly by now, leaving the middle months to drag on and on.  Maybe because the summer months are hotter than hell here and are painful to live through.  One bad thing about working in a cooler all day is walking outside when it is over one hundred degrees and the wind is coming out of a huge hair dryer.  Maybe because work is too chaotic to notice what day or month it is at the end of the year.  Or maybe, just maybe, it is all in my head.  Most def.  One thirty day month goes on just as long as the next one.  Just like hours in a day, they all go by sixty minutes at a time.  

There isn't some strange forty five minute hour or twenty day month out there (or......is there?).