It's that time!

Since Lynn has threatened to unsubscribe, I figured it was time to put an update here.

Did I learn anything new at school today? No.

What have I been up to? Not much.

It's all the same conversation, just 20 or 30 years later...

We did go to a Tigers game on Sunday. Lynn ended up with an extra ticket and managed to talk me into making the trek over. I told her that since I was the guest, she'd be paying for all my food and souvenirs. Well, I got food and souvenirs, but I ended up paying for them. I managed to gulp down a Hebrew National hot dog, a SuperPretzel, a bag of cinnamon almonds, a Mountain Dew and a bottle of water and picked up a nice hat and jersey too.

Picking out a jersey for a sport you don't care much about is difficult. I'm familiar with some of the names (enough to say yes/no about whether they're on the team), but as for whether they're "good" or not, I'd be stumped. Questioned about whether they're "cool," I'd also be stumped.




I went with the safe choice -- Jim Leyland, the manager. There's a guy that I can respect! Sneaking out of the dugout in the middle of a game to get a few drags on a cigarette, and SERIOUSLY downplaying suggestions about the volume of his habit. The story I'd read about him the other day was about reporters speculating that he had a 7 pack a day habit. He tells 'em it's more like a pack-and-a-half, and that he doesn't even smoke the whole thing, so it's really just a pack.

For non-smokers' reference, that is a tell-tale sign of a serious smoker! Anyone that plays the "I don't smoke the whole thing" card KNOWS he's smoking way more than is "socially acceptable."

At least from the interviews I've seen, he seems like an old-school hard ass that doesn't take much crap from his players (or the reporters). Leyland it is!

First, a quote from a story about a charity auction winner who gets to be "co-manager" with Leyland for a game:

Leyland was joined in the dugout yesterday by a businessman who'd paid $10,000 to be the Tigers' honorary manager. The man came without cigarettes, to which Leyland said, "He'll be smoking by the third inning. You want to be the real Jim Leyland, you better bring a carton of Marlboros."

And finally, from the Jim Leyland Facts website:

• Jim Leyland is Chuck Norris' Tiger.


• The last time Jim Leyland said something optimistic, half the world died of the plague.


• Jim Leyland once got out of a bases loaded jam with a paper clip, a blow torch, and a rookie reliever called up from AAA Evansville.


• Jim Leyland's calendar goes from March 31st to April 2nd because nobody fools Jim Leyland.


• Jim Leyland tells the sun if it is a day game, or a night game.

It was a nice day, apart from the 30-or-so minutes of rain.