WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE

I've been a fantasy baseball baby. We have the coolest league and as my son says "One of the longest consecutive leagues in the country." But we always have a disagreement.

The rest of the owners and me. I've lobbied cajoled, begged for years to announce our keepers two weeks in advance of the draft. It totally messes me up when I'm trying to prepare strategy and a list of players in the order I want to draft them, when I don't know who is being protected by the other owners.

This year at the Winter pre-draft meeting, it was decided that one week in advance of the draft. owners would have to declare their protected players. Thus, at 5:00 CDT today, everyone had to list their players. No changes can take place except in the case of injury.

So what did I (the baby) do. I waited until the last owner posted his list before I revealed who I was protecting. I showed them, huh? Don't give me two weeks and I'll make you pay. So I won, right?

Nope. I feel like the man in the picture. Open mouth/insert thumb. It's never fun to win like that. So I still want my two weeks, but if I only get one, I'll not wait till last next year.

RIDING PIGGYBACK

I wonder where the expression comes from? Why would the rider be on the back of the pig? Is it because the heavier one is doing the work? Maybe that's it, and it like a lot of things is, just too easy.

I wonder how long this rider lasted? My guess would be just about as long as that pig ate whatever he was chowing down on.

I never rode a pig or tried to catch a greased pig. I never kissed a pig, but I've seen it done for charity.

I've never taken a pig to market or much cared for pig tails. I don't even know what a pig in a poke is. I never understood people keeping pet pigs in their houses though I've heard of a few who did. One was Luke Perry or Matthew Perry or Perry Mason or Mason Dixon. Ok, it's run out. Anyway, that guy who played a high school kid on 90210. He had a receding hairline and looked 30 easy. But he was supposed to be this big high school heartthrob. All I know is at MTV high a girl by the name of Rebecca Lane had an id issued to her in 1990 with 90210. I thought that was really cool.

Ok, from piggy back to 90210. I guess I'm done with stream-of-conscience. I never liked that when writers did that anyway(s). But I like word association. And, you know what? I think I'd have liked that pig ride.

I JUST KNEW MY BLOG YESTERDAY WAS INCOMPLETE

I just never would have thought it would be Tony LaRussa who embarrassed the Cardinals. Sure enough, yesterday he was arrested for a DUI in Florida. Now, I know he has rights and to let the legal process play itself out, but it's a black eye on one of the greatest all-time franchises in any sport.

I've read all about the arrest and will spare my loyal reader(s) the details as reported. And I'm sure there'll be many, many more articles and tv analyzers beat this story to death. And, don't get me wrong, (or as Pastor Wagner of SBC says,"Please don't hear what I'm not saying,") it is a serious act. It's disappointing.

But those of faith know things happen for a reason. God's reason. Maybe Tony received a wake up call. Maybe his arrest will save others. Either from drinking and driving or being the victim of someone drinking and driving. It's all part of the great mystery that will be revealed to us someday. But it's no mystery that drinking and driving is stupid. And a heck of a lot worse than eating meat.

NOW THOSE ARE SOME NICE LOOKING TATTOOS!!!

I don't have any. Probably never will. No, I'm certain I never will. I'm way too afraid of needles. I even had a crown put on my lower left bicuspid once without getting it deadened. Notice I said Once. Since then, I've had a few more added (most, thanks to a yard stick tucked under my chin when I walked quickly through a door opening that wasn't 36" wide), but they've been good and deadened. But anyway(s), no too's for me.

But if I did, these wouldn't be bad. I mean when do the Cardinals ever embarrass? No one would laugh at you with one of those. On the other hand, there are a few that might bring laughter.

One of my golf buddies wore a Tampa Bay Devil Ray hat once to play golf. It was a freebie, of course. But it brought out questions and some hoots. Similarly, I've seen curious looks when another buddy of mine used to wear his Montreal Expos hat out in public. In Southern Illinois.

Oh well, at least Nellie and Alex never got tattoos bearing those two teams. (See, I spared Cub fans and Red Sox fans in this blog.) But it seems incomplete.

PALMER IS THE MAN

Of course he got killed off in last season's tv show 24. But sometimes it seems that's the way we like our Presidents.

Except Clinton. Bill, that is. Can you imagine him as First... er Gentleman? I thought his wife stretched to the modicum First Lady, but c'mon.

Maybe she'll only be the Veep. Then I don't know what to call Bill. Bubba, I guess, but I never did think that filled the bill(pun).

Obama? Is that his first or last name? I get them mixed up. Obama Barek. An American President? Barek Obama? What happened to names like Abraham and John and Paul and George and Ringo? Ok, I got a little carried away.

Only McCain on the Republican side sound much better. President Rudy? Mitt? But then the Bard, with a solid sounding name, told us what's in a name? So it shouldn't matter.

But David Palmer sounds presidential. The others don't.

"START YOUR ENGINES"

The MTV Race Track was just off Fairfield Road. They raced stock rather than midgets. It was there that I was introduced to the Snowcone Lady.

Probably everybody knew the Snowcone Lady, Mrs. Walls. Her little stand off Old Fairfield Road was an institution for decades in the King City. The best shaved ice anywhere with a ton of flavors including rainbow for those who either couldn't decide or couldn't resist a ton of flavors.

More than once did I wear some of the juice home. My favorite throughout the years was strawberry though for awhile I blue eagled it or vanillaed it. Mrs. Walls was especially fond of her Summersville kids, but she liked just about everyone.

She retired and passed away not long afterwards if I recall. Somedays the Southern Illinois humidity would nearly get the best of her out in that stand, but she seemed to take the heat well. Maybe because she had a lot of ice in there. Like lots of locals, she was an institution.

"YEP, I'VE TASTED 'EM"

Well, not from a can. Once while taking a tour of the Motorola Factory in Tianjin, China, we were served a lunch that offered chicken feet. And I tried them. Didn't care for them.

But I didn't care a lot for the food we ate in Japan and Korea either. Or as I've said before, no one does Chinese like America.

In fact when it comes to Cantonese, I can't even take the American kind. I blame it on the Jockey Club in Hong Kong where we had a special meal prepared for us during the Moon Festival. It was to honor some historic trade agreement between the two countries. But the food was so bad. I would have traded the whole meal for a can of chicken feet. Well, maybe not.

But I would have traded it for kimchi in South Korea. Or maybe the chrysanthemums in grape sauce we had as an appetizer in Japan. Most definitely, I would have traded any three Asian meals for one meal at P. F. Changs.