A Little of This and A Little of That.....

Time to clean out the Mental In-Box......

• At some point last month my "Baseball Hall of Fame" license plate holder succumbed to the freezing temperatures and snapped in two.  I was not going to bother replacing it until Marilyn hit upon the brilliant idea of getting a new one that would also serve as shameless self-promotion.  So yesterday when the Equinox hit the streets, the world saw this when they looked at the back of my car:

• Readership levels should soar, don't you think?
• One of the hot topics on the NBA front was an incident that occurred on Thursday night at the conclusion of the Oklahoma City - Denver game in Denver.  At the conclusion of the game, a last second win for Nuggets, a no-doubt over served Nuggets fan walked onto the court and confronted OKC's Russell Westbrook.  At that point, Westbrook did this:

• Westbrook out one hand on the guy's shoulder and lightly pushed him away.  An immediate uproar.  You can't put your hands on a fan, and Westbrook should be suspended.  Sorry, but I disagree.  Westbrook had every right to haul off an deck this dope after he walked onto the court.  If you disagree with me, I will offer you two words: Monica Seles.  If you don't understand that, go to the Google Machine and look it up.
• At the recommendation of a couple of friends, we began watching the series "Longmire" on Netflix.  It is a modern day western about a sheriff in present day Wyoming.  Good show.  We are about two-thirds of the way through Season One.  There are six seasons.  Guess what we will be doing over the next couple of weeks.

• Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow.  Not sure of our plan for the hours leading up to 6:30 kickoff.  Significant snow is forecast for tomorrow, so we probably won't venture out to a movie.  Maybe watch on one DVD, maybe take a nap.  Probably finish Season One of "Longmire". I know that I won't be watching any pre-game yuck fests featuring NBC talking heads and assorted ex-jocks.  That avoids pre-game burnout, and allows you to enjoy the game more.
• Just to restate....My call is for the Patriots to win, probably by 7 points or less.  Watch, but don't bet.
• In case you missed it, Pirates GM Neal Huntington went dumpster diving earlier this week and traded for a guy named Josh Smoker, a pitcher who had been DFA'd by the Mets.  This in the same week that fellow small market NL Central team Milwaukee went out and obtained Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain.  SMH, as the kids today might put it.
• It was also announced that former Bucco catcher Mike McKenry will replace the retired Kent Tekulve on the Pirates pre- and post-game shows on AT&T Sportsnet.  Good for The Fort, and best wishes to him.  I only wish that the Pirates explored the possibility of maybe putting Steve Blass and Bob Walk out to pasture, but I guess we'll have to continue putting up with their tired old patter for another year.
• Baseball news with a tangential Pirates connection was the news that pitcher Mark Appel was hanging up his cleats after having never pitched in the major leagues.  You will recall that the Pirates made Appel their number one draft pick several years ago, only to have Appel roll the dice, not sign with the team, and go back for another year of college ball.  (Think fo the cash that that saved Bob Nutting!)  It paid off for Appel for the next year he was drafted by Houston with the number one overall pick in the draft.  This just goes to show that scouting for major league baseball talent has to be the most inexact science in sport.
• Remember last year when, after Starling Marte got dinged with that 80 game PED suspension,  the Pirates season pretty much ended because it became apparent that the team had no "fourth outfielder"  who was capable to fill in while he was out?  Now that the team has salary dumped traded Andrew McCutchen, it is now apparent that the Pirates do not even have a THIRD outfielder who can step in and make you feel comfortable that he can give you 140-150 games as a capable major league outfielder.  Who do YOU think is going to be the everyday left fielder for this outfit?
• 2018 will mark the sixtieth season since I saw my first Pirate game, and I am right now having a hard time recalling if I ever felt less optimistic about the team going into a season.

Stay warm this weekend, folks, and enjoy the Super Bowl.