Most Un-American Thing To Ever Happen to Me

What are you rubbing it in? Screw you kid.

This'll be brief, because I'm still in shock...

As you know (maybe you don't, maybe you don't read my blog every day, in which case I ask, why?), I went to the dentist yesterday. Nothing drastic, just getting a filling replaced, pretty standard stuff, wasn't painful, was in and out in like 25 minutes. Great, right?

WRONG. So, so, so wrong. After my dental insurance happily picked up the overpriced cost of my work and I unhappily paid my co-pay (biggest scams going), I stood around the receptionists desk for a second. I wasn't sure why at the time, I just felt like something was missing.  The receptionist looked up and assured me I was all set, so I snapped out of it, made a joke about it still being early and not being awake, and went on my way. 

Went I got to my car, it hit me. Those bastards didn't give me a free toothbrush! Unbe-fucking-lievable.  

I was stunned. I sat in the parking lot in a stupor for about 5 minutes. I drove to Dunks. I ordered, got to the window, and tried to take my food without paying. The guy said something like, "mornings, right?" "No," I told him. "I just left the dentist without receiving a free toothbrush, can you believe that?" This man appeared to be Iranian or something along those lines and I don't think he quite understood the implications of what I just said, he half smiled and motioned for me to pay him again. But this cannot be overlooked.

That is easily the most un-American thing to have ever happened to me, and basically, I have no re-course. I can't go back there and demand a toothbrush, that's ridiculous, plus they're like $3.00, I'm not so cheap that I have to grovel for tooth care products. But I still feel gilted. I mean things have happened before, once in a while someone at a BBQ will give you a burger with no cheese on it, I've been told to sit down at playoff games before, I've been to Dr's offices that for some reason don't have subscriptions to Highlights magazine because, "we're not a pediatricians office, sir." Whatever. That stuff was small potatoes compared to this.

Look, everyone hates the dentist, but more or less I'm fine with making small talk with everyone in reception, I'm fine with you taking a pick-ax to my teeth, I'm not fine with paying the co-pay but I deal with it, and I'm fine with that drill you're sticking in my mouth...But I'm only fine with all that if the pay off is a free toothbrush at the end of the day...without that, the whole thing seems so worthless. 

Now if you'll excuse me, for the first time in my life I have to go figure out where they sell toothbrushes.

Red Sox Fans Pulse Check: Break Up the Sox!

Bat Flips and Hand Gestures to God, That's What Cody Ross Does

Honestly, I've been hesitant to write this in the past week. It seems like every time I strike and opinion one way or the other and hit publish the team decides to swing wildly back the other way. I write they suck, they start winning, I write they're cruising right along, they start going down in flames, I write how their pitching staff sucks, their starting pitchers rip off 5 straight wins and 6 of their last 7. It's like I'm the key to this whole crazy thing (don't believe me? click the tag below for Red Sox Fans Pulse check and check the published date against the sox schedule and results on espn, its been uncanny). 

And part of me just wanted to keep my mouth shut this time, but I couldn't. I'm your leader. You guys depend on me. It's not like there's an over abundance of Red Sox related analysis and opinions out there on the internet, its basically me and a bunch of other hacks, so here we go...

The pitching is back, baby! Over a 5 game span Buch (a minor miracle), Doubront, Bard, Lester, and Beckett  all picked up W's.  And none of them have been cheap either, Lester and Beckett combining for 16 innings of one run ball at one point. All the while the bullpen has been its usual dependable self (honestly, two weeks into the season, who would have imagined that sentence making any sense at all?) 

It's squelched the ridiculous Aaron Freaking Cook talks, and it's kept the Daisuke buzz at a manageable level (for the few out there asking about him...you remember how much he sucked, right? the 120 pitch 5 inning starts? The silly 6 walks, 3 hits lines he threw out there? Lets not let revisionist history prevail here). 

Things are kind of rolling right along right now, its pretty nice actually. I'm just deathly afraid of rocking the boat and causing yet another turn around with one of my blogs, so a few things I'm concerned about:

The pitching staff, still.  Yes they've been great as of late, but it's going to take a few more turns through the rotation before I buy into it. Seeing Lester step up like an Ace was fantastic. Watching Beckett bounce back and throw the defiant game that I was looking for (albeit a start to late to salvage his reputation) was excellent...but it's got to continue. It starts with those two guys, if you're getting consistent efforts from them, everyone else falls into line. You can eat a bad start here or there from the young guys at the back of the rotation, and if Buch continues to falter, you can take him out back and shoot him. It'll be ok. 

The lineup worries me long term. Yes they're second or third in the league in runs...they've been fantastic so far. No knocks there. My only concern is how long the smoke and mirrors show can go on. Look at that lineup...Outside the catcher, which was going to be a platoon anyway, out of the remaining 8, there are three guys that you would have penciled in as starters at the end of last year. Pedroia, Gonzalez, and Papi. That's it. Yes, Aviles is a regular, but he won his job in the middle of spring training, if you want to count him, go ahead, but its on a technicality. 

That means you have 4-5 guys playing significant time due to injuries, who otherwise wouldn't have seen much time, or in some cases, wouldn't have even been in the majors. That's concerning long term. How long can these guys keep producing above expectations? How long can they do a reasonable job replacing Youk, Crawford, and Ellsbury? Right now, things look great...but I'm still knocking on wood and crossing my fingers and toes that they can keep this up. 

It's still very much a team of question marks until some of injured guys get back into the swing of the lineup. When you look at it that way, two games under .500 isn't so bad. Or at least that's what I tell myself, they're just treading water till these guys come back, so far, they haven't drowned.

Small Town Newspaper Shares Real Feelings on Highschool Softball Coach

This is why there's still a place in my heart for small local news papers. Sure, I don't read them all the time, maybe not even once a week, but when I do, I always hope for something like this. Old news stories, recycled and dragged out local story lines, an over abundance of local ad's and weekly deals on honey hams, and then the payoff. Some hilarious editorial oversight that makes the whole thing worth it...Like a lazy high school softball coach who couldn't keep track of his teams stats, which is a bullshit. 

Curt Schillings Check to Rhode Island Bounces

Boston - More turmoil at Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios video-game company. Rhode Island officials disclosed this evening that the company attempted to pay a missed loan payment this evening, but had insufficient funds to cover the $1.12 million check. The firm has failed to pay its employees this week, state officials said. 

Look, I know Curt's not the guy sitting in an office typing out checks to the state of Rhode Island, ok? That's obviously not his day to day duty...but at the same time, when you're the face of the company, I'm sure you get a heads up when the company is about to cut a $1.12 million dollar check. And I'm sure it must register in your head, without even looking at the books, "hey, isn't that the same amount we just sat down with state officials to discuss yesterday because we don't have enough cash to pay them back?" 

And once that goes off in your head the next logical step would be to call that paper pusher on the phone, the one who is responsible for typing out that check and say, "hey, can you make sure we have enough cash to cover that." 

 Boom, whole thing would have been avoided. Yea, you'd still be welching on that $1.1 mill you owe, but at least you wouldn't suffer the embarrasment of having your check hung up in the State's Clerks office with your picture and a caption that says "Cash only." Next thing you now you'll be training chickens for cock-fighting in order to pay off the bounced checks at your local bodega...not a good look Schill.

 I mean, even I know that if I'm going to live on the edge and pay Comcast late whenever I please, I'd better make sure the check clears...it's bill dodging 101.