Blogger's block is a bitch.

So many excuses, so little time. It's not like I didn't have thoughts on the Yankees and their off-season moves (although the return of the Blueshirts and the rise of a certain Golden Boy have taken up a good majority of my sports-related brain waves this winter). It's just that, well, I really didn't feel like writing. What can I say? I got lazy. And when there are those that are so much more eloquent that I covering the hot stove, I just didn't feel the need to add my measly 2¢ here.

I'm a bad blogger. I'm sorry.

But, the Opening Day is almost here. I renewed my ticket plan and I will once again be recapping the games that I attend. I got a new job with a lovely 1 hour commute each way. Luckily my new boss is a big Yankee fan as well so we're going to work out a flexible schedule for game days. He even gave me this lovely Yankees travel bag that a customer sent to us today.

That bag will come in handy for my 2 road trips this summer. One is to Washington and the other is to, uh, well, Washington. The DC trip is part of my annual "Take my Dad and Aunt to a Yankee game for Father's Day/her birthday because I can't think of anything to buy them and when I ask them what they want they say that they don't want anything" game. We'll be going to the Saturday and Sunday games. The Seattle game is just a happy coincidence. We learned last summer that my cousin, who lives in Washington State, would be getting married in August of '06. And, well, whaddaya know, the boys just happen to be out there the week of the wedding. It would be nice to go to all 3 games, but with the new job I can't take that many days off. So, we're going to the Thursday game.

Just a few thoughts on the WBC. First off, I'm glad the Yankees came back relatively unscathed (I'm not too worried about Damon at this point). And while I would've liked to have seen the US get into the finals, I'm not heart broken about it, nor am I surprised by it. Our guys just weren't ready. They weren't in game shape. And they were playing against teams that were. Guys that have been playing during the winter. But, we've seen some exciting baseball, especially in the second round. The players seem to be having fun. The fans are great, especially in Puerto Rico.

And speaking of Puerto Rico, I am so happy that Bernie got this opportunity to represent his home country, in his home country. His mom even got to see him play for the first time since the 2000 World Series. He's a hero there. His beard may be getting grey, and he may not have the skills he once did, but Bernie is still The Man there, just like he is in the Bronx. There were "Bern-nie Ber-nie" chants, just like in the Bronx. There was the respect and admiration of his teammates, just like in the Bronx. (Yadier Molina said "It was a dream come true for me to play with him") And while Bernie didn't really put up the numbers to satisfy some people (I love ya Steve;-) he did have some key hits in the first round. And the optimist in me wants to believe that Bernie can feed off of those moments and put together a solid year at the plate. It's foolish to have high expectations of what The Man will do this year, but it's not foolish to have hope. Besides, ain't no sense worryin' about a season that hasn't even started yet.