Tonight Headed to a St. Paul establishment for the annual baseball writer's meeting/pizza slurping/pretend we're getting something done meeting. This means I'm heading to one of La Velle E. Neal III Esq.'s favorite nightspots _ with La Velle E. Neal III Esq. This means I may be in for a long and dangerous night. So here's the deal...if you haven't heard from me by tomorrow morning, alert the authorities, then erase everything on my hard drive. Actually, now that I think about it, erase everything on my hard drive, then alert the authorities. Thanks. ------------------------------- Tonight II I am very fond of Charlie Manual and I think he's done a wonderful job of running the Phillies, but there is no excuse for failing to have someone ready to cover third when you have a shift on. Not that giving one more base to Johnny Damon determined the outcome of the game, but that was not good. I'm hoping the Phillies will at least send the series back to New York. I don't like the Yankees, but I do like watching them play. In fact, they are confirming my long-held theory that for all of the complaining about payroll disparity in baseball, it's good that the Yankees are competitive every year. Just look at the TV ratings. When the Yankees are in the postseason, the ratings are much higher than when we have, say, Cardinals-Tigers. Sorry, but that's the deal.
We can say the Twins making the Series is good for baseball, but a Yankees-Other Big Market Team World Series is what's really good for baseball. -------------------------------- Tonight III Why am I so excited about this Timberwolves' season? I expect them to win 18-22 games. That's if they stay healthy. And yet I'm fascinated by how it will all play out. I think that's why I like the NBA _ it's so volatile. One key injury can be devastating, and the emergence of one star can transform a franchise in one year. -------------------------------- Faithful reader A faithful reader sent in this story, entitled Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers -``When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and **empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.. 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand. One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked..' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend." --------------------------------------------------------- I'm not sure what that story means, but they had me at ``two beers." ---------------------------------------------------------