TRADE
Did you hear about this Randy Johnson trade? Here are the parameters, and let me just say - I am shocked.

Yankees get:
- Randy Johnson (from Diamondbacks)

Dodgers get:
- Eric Duncan (Yankee prospect)
- Dioner Navarro (Yankee prospect)
- Javier Vasquez (Yankee)

Diamondbacks get:
- Shawn Green (from Dodgers)
- Yhency Brazoban (from Dodgers)
- Brad Penny (From Dodgers)

Ummm the Dodgers got FLEECED! What the hell is going on here? The Dodgers give up a major league, top of the rotation starter, a premium setup man that makes the minimum salary, and an established first baseman/right fielder. What do they get? A proven major-league pitcher who is young (but makes a lot of money and had a bad season last year - still, I like Vazquez), and two of the Yankees' overhyped prospects. That's it?? Unbelievable. Clearly the Yankees and Diamondbacks came away as the winners in this. The Diamondbacks especially. They get rid of a 41-year old pitcher who did not want to play for them anyway (although he was the best pitcher in the National League last year), and they get three proven, all-star caliber major leaguers in return. Nice job.

Baseball Salaries
Boras is a shrewd guy, and I hope GMs aren't fooled by him...again. It's pretty clear that HUGE salaries for star players don't work. AROD? Had to be traded. Even Manny Ramirez, who played like an MVP last season (the season after he was put on irrevocable waivers) is trying to be traded. Why is that? Too much money put on one guy reduces flexibility. I hope Jim Hendry realizes this and doesn't give in to Boras' demands for Carlos Beltran. Players are so ignorant of all the business aspects. Beltran says he wants all negotiations to go through his agent. Doesn't he see how that hurts him? If he does end up with a 10 year, 200 mil deal, it won't be with the team he wants to play for. It'll be for the Yankees.

God and the founding fathers
Saw something on Fox News last night, a little town hall type thing where they were debating about whether or not the founding fathers intended the USA to be Christian or if God belonged in it. First of all, the thing was obviously being held in Texas or Missouri or some other evagelist stronghold. My lord what fucking baised audience.

On the other hand, who fucking cares? Are you telling me that a person that is an Atheist or Muslim isn't as "good" an American as a Christian? Please. That's just ridiculous. Who cares what they said? The way these god-zealots are reading it is that this should be a christian country because they believed in God. Come on people, how dumb can you get?

Some woman was saying how, in her school, students were forced to study Islam and even pray to Mecca and dress in Muslim attire. Which I think is dumb. What the hell are they doing teaching that shit in a school? But the reaction of the crowd to this was disturbing: you would have thought they were teaching their kids how to crash planes into buildings and to burn American flags. 9/11 is making the USA even dumber than it was because of this ignorant, misplaced patriotism.

It never ends.

Cubs
So they have Nomar and Walker up the middle now. Blanco is the backup instead of Bako. What's left? Figuring out if Sosa will stay or not. And a left fielder. My opinion? Save money, use your system. Try Jason DuBois in left, with Hollandsworth backing up, or even give Kelton a shot. Go to spring training with those three vying for the spot. If you trade Sosa get Floyd back. But if you ABSOLUTELY MUST go out and get an outfielder, don't go nuts, sign JD Drew. Simple. Left handed power hitter that will hit .300 and have an OBP over .400. We need that. Plus he's got a cannon of an arm. That's if you MUST.

DFW
Here is a great review of David Foster Wallace's last book, Oblivion.

Baseball Salaries
Here are two players and their average numbers over the past fours seasons in the major leagues, take a good look at them:

Player A: -Player B:
AVG .300 - .288
HR 25 - 29
OBP .411 -.366
R 109 -111
RBI 100 -103
2B 45 -32
SB 32 -37
BB 112 -72

Assists 10 -12
Errors 6 -6

Granted, player A may be one of the biggest bargains out there at 10.6 million dollars, but take a look at those numbers. Who is better? That depends. My opinion? I'd rather have Player A, even though he is 30 and player B is 27. Why? Because Player B will cost you twice as much. That's right, for around the same performance (A having a slight edge), player B's agent wants twice the money. Salaries are already out of control and if someone actually pays that - they're dumb (go yankees!).

I'm sick of all this Beltran crap (he's player B), yes he's the best free agent out there today (umm, isn't Pedro Martinez, the greatest pitcher we've ever witnessed besides Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux out there too) position player-wise, but that doesn't mean he's the greatest player in the world. Lets be serious for a minute. This is all getting out of control again and I thought that it was correcting itself. Last year the salaries were down (they didn't increase) and it seems that now teams are ready to get stupid again. Idiots. Beane (Oakland's GM) said that he could win it all if he had twice the payroll he has. Of course he could, he's a smart GM, not a rich one.

Anyway, the whole point was to show that Beltran - while great - isn't that great. He is no ARod or Babe Ruth or Willie Mays or any of that crap, he isn't even a Bobby Abreu (player A).

More
I just read a piece I wrote in July that I had totally forgotten about. It was a dream I apparently had and it involved vampires. The reason I mention it is because it clicked in my head that vampires are like Christians - at least the ones that always (eventually) get to the point of trying to convert you to the "true faith." Think about it for a second. Like robots hell bent on converting you into one of them. I like that analogy.

Confederacy of Dunces
I just finished reading A Confederacy of Dunces, and I must say, what an awesome book. The story behind the book is so intriguing and tragic, but the book stands on its own - it's just that good. Not only is it well written, hilarious, and charming, but this book is the antecedent to the greatest television comedy of all time: Seinfeld. I can't imagine that Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld never read this book. And if they hadn't, they should. What are the similarities? Well, just think of Kramer and why it is that he's funny. I don't really have the answer, but that character has something that draws us in and makes us laugh. Ignatius Reilly is a similar character in that way. But the real connection is the way that everything in this book is connected. If Toole mentions something in the book - pay attention - it is important and you will see him tie it in at some point down the line. I was watching the Seinfeld special last week and it was one of the earlier episodes, the one where Kramer hits golf balls into the ocean and George pretends to be a Marine Biologist and attempts to save a stranded whale. Seinfeld was saying that they were asking themselves if it was possible to connect the two storylines. Could they make the stranded whale be sick because of a golf ball that Kramer had hit? Should they do it? They realized they should and then Seinfeld said something to the effect of "After we did that, the whole thing exploded." I paid close attention to that line because I was reading the book at the time and had noticed that element in Toole's book. It seems that that episode was a turning point as to how the show evolved. Think about it, that's one of the things that makes Seinfeld (the show) so funny: everything is connected. By the end everything has been tied together in a way that makes us laugh. Even the last episode, recall Newman's constant threats of "getting Seinfeld" and exacting his revenge throughout the life of the show - well he finally got it, along with all the other characters.

Anyway, go read the book, it'll go by fast, you'll laugh, and you can say you read a Pulitzer Prize winning book.

AMEN
I just saw one of those late night preachers on TV and found myself cheering him on. Hold on now, it's not what you think. I have not found the light...yet. Turns out he was lambasting Christians for saying they are christians and then not behaving like a proper Christian. Which is the way I feel about it too. He quoted the bible left and right showing how drinking keeps people out of heaven (unless it's "holy" drinking - in church), how nudity and profanity in TV and movies is out of control, etc. He was genuinely pissed off. He a "billion" muslims don't drink, a "billion" hindus don't drink, but that Christians thought it was OK. THen he spat out a ton of verses from the Bible to show how God said they were committing sins. It was great. I also get pissed off like that about people who call themselves religious but don't actually act on it. I totally agree with this guy. I mean look at the way religion works: it is supposed to be THE most important thing in your life. Not family, not health, not your country, but God. Most "religious" people (here I include anyone that isn't an atheist or agnostic or nothing at all) claim they are something they don't practice in real life. Of course it's the best of both worlds because in your mind you're afterlife is covered - all the while you enjoy the earthly life. My solution? Dump religion out with your trash - what good does it serve you?

Of course I hate preaching, and so the guy did kind of annoy me, but I didn't get a sense that he was trying to convert anyone, which is what really annoys me. He was speaking to Christians, and I think that's A-OK.

It also got me thinking of how crazy it is that so many people base everything they believe in on a book that is so old. On a book they claim contains "the word of God." Come on! I was watching the beginning of Shrek today and something about the whole charm of fairy tales reminded me of the Bible. Imagine people believing that Santa is for real. Well, I guess it's ok until they grow out of it, which people should realize. Then again, I stopped believing until around I was 15. I wanted to make sure those gifts kept on coming. If I was willing to believe in that crap at age fifteen for some measly presents, I guess I can see why it's so hard for some people to snap out of religion - the supposed stakes are much higher.

Bulls
Well, they finally won.