The Weak In Rock

You know what?  I hate Spring Training.  Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed going to Phoenix a couple of years ago to see some of my favorite players and teams in action in small ballparks and even getting to chat with a few of them.  What I hate is that Spring Training has been turned by MLB marketing folks into a kind of pre-season, like they have in the NFL.  People actually pay attention to who wins and loses in Spring Training now and most of the games are packed with spectators.

What’s baffling about this is that Spring Training games are not managed by coaches to win.  They’re managed to get a good look at as many players as they can, work out the kinks and get the big stars warmed up and limber (and hopefully not injured) in time for opening day.

So, I’ll be glad in a week or so when it’s over and we can get down to real baseball.  But one thing I do like about this last week of Spring Training is how the sports media suddenly start to pay attention to the greatest game in the universe.  You see some hilarious and brilliant stories.  So far my fave is this one about Roger Clemens’ rather questionable practice of rubbing his crotch with Icy Hot before he suits up.

I’ll wait for your brain to catch up with that one.

Uh huh.

No, I’m not kidding.

Roger Clemens rubs Icy Hot on his frank and beans before pitching a game.

The men in the audience can now run screaming from the room in horror.  I once put aftershave on my balls when I was a teenager.  I was in agony for an hour.  If I even accidentally got Icy Hot on my business I’d probably shoot myself.

So, what’s Roger’s logic here?  He doesn’t want to get comfortable when he’s pitching.  Alrighty then.  Ok.  Yup.  Roger, you’re a wingnut.

You know who is more of a wingnut?  Jake Peavey.  Peavey heard of Roger’s pre-game prep ritual and decided to try it.

Dooooooood!

Technorati Tags: Spring Training, MLB, NFL, Roger Clemens, Icy Hot, Jake Peavey

Baseball gets a bad rap for being a “boring” sport. If I had a dime for every golf-lover who told me baseball was boring, well, I’d have a heck of a lot of dimes, pal. I will always fondly remember the time I was sitting in Bongo Burger in Berkeley with a Giants game on one TV and an A’s game on the other and a child, a boy of probably 10 or 11, at another table whines to his mother, who is paying completely rapt attention to the Giants game and has probably made him sit there a bit too long, “I hate baseball. Baseball is boring.” To which the wisest mom in the land replied, “Only if you’re stupid.”

I could not agree more. Kids, particularly boys, these days tend to equate excitement with violence, or at least lots of constant running around. This is why so many of them love Football, a game I find about as interesting as watching a corpse rot. Baseball is typically rather bereft of violence. That is, unless you are Julian Tavarez.

Tavarez, who was released by the Cardinals and signed with the Red Sox, clocked Joey Gathright yesterday after Gathright spiked him sliding into home with Tavarez covering the plate. I remember when Tavarez was plying his trade as a reliever for the Giants a few years back. He was high on my list of professional athletes I never wanted to run into in a bar or a dark alley. The dude’s loco. This, of course, has made him an instant hit with Red Sox fans.

If he gets this wound up during Spring Training you just have to wonder how far into the season he has to go before going postal.

Technorati Tags: Bongo Burger, Giants, A’s, Julian Tavarez, Cardinals, Red Sox, Joey Gathright, Spring Training

So, this idea struck me that instead of just random mixes of songs to make up a Podcast playlist I’d share a snapshot of my favorite artists with the world.

Here’s the first installment - AC/DC.

Never has there been a greater hard rock band. Period. Do not argue this point with me. I will simply ignore you. Instead, dowload, listen and enjoy:

1. I Put The Finger On You
2. Little Lover
3. Problem Child
4. Gone Shootin’
5. High Voltage (live)
6. Let Me Put My Love Into You

And please folks, spare me your judgments about including Brian Johnson-era stuff here. I will not hear you.

Technorati Tags: Podcast, AC/DC