In my head, not a Hitchcock movie or U2 song.

Bleargh.

I hate sinus things.

One of my posts went pow. Kerblooey. Zipbang.

It is gone.

It was odd to start with, since the name of the page and the name of the post had nothing in common. But now it’s gone which is even odder.

Perhaps it left to visit someone else’s blog.

I got a 91.7. I think I need to read a book!

Very America-centric, so you furriners can take it for laughs but don’t be frustrated if you don’t do well.

(At least, it was morning when I wrote it.)

Well, the Indians aren’t getting off to a great start, though some of the troubles are troublesome and some are just shruggable.

Fausto Carmona’s third start was beset by walks, but that doesn’t really strike me as a danger sign just yet. He was getting a lot of movement on the ball and didn’t always know where it was going, but that seemed almost a function of being hyper–perhaps after signing his nice multi-year deal.

CC is on the other side. I still suspect his issues are between his ears–perhaps after not signing his nice multi-year deal. CC strikes me as a pitcher who likes stability. He simply has a tendency to get wound up and start overthrowing (see last year’s playoffs). But he has the ability to turn it around.

Unlike Paul Byrd. I can’t think of a more charming player. Listen to him sometime when he has a microphone and you’ll be charmed. But has he lost the feel for the ball? Not being able to spot your pitches when you have the type of stuff Paul Byrd has is a much bigger deal than not being able to spot your pitches when you have Carmona’s stuff. And getting off to a bad start is a much worse sign for a Byrd than for a Sabathia. I’m very concerned.

I’ve always really liked Jake Westbrook and hope he can continue pitching this well. He finished up 2007 very strong and has started 2008 similarly. I think he must have been injured last year long before it became public.

Franklin Gutierrez swings wildly at pitches when he gets into a 3-ball count. He gets franxious to get a hit. Take a walk, Frankie. We’ll still think you’re macho.

I was delighted that Andy Marte got the opportunity to start yesterday, but not delighted at all to see him pulled late for a pinch hitter with the bases loaded. How is he supposed to improve when he isn’t given the opportunity? Bah!

The Detroit Tigers still look shaky, though I figure a few of the Indians’ starters could snap any offense out of their doldrums.

Are the White Sox as good as their good but not stellar record? I tend to doubt it. I suspect this is a .500 team wearing a .600 team’s nightshirt.

I haven’t followed the NL at all so far, despite my good intentions. It’s easier for me to watch baseball when my team is winning, making the little news breaks fun instead of grueling.

I will write my next couple of poems (I hope) for NaPo but stop reading for a couple of days. Trying to read hundreds a day is making me very confused.

A friend sent me an email that someone had done a review of pseudophakia.

I don’t know the reviewer, but the review itself is extraordinarily kind. It is here.

Despite my new goal of pursuing publication more assiduously, I’m still prone to writing things that no one would ever want to publish. Massive blank verse monstrosities. Sonnet sequences that can’t stand alone as individual sonnets.

I’m feeling very grim and angry at myself, which probably isn’t the best attitude one can take.

A guy introduced John McCain at a rally saying “You can have your Tiger Woods. We have John McCain.”

What the hell does that mean?

I haven’t written what I wanted, and I haven’t been able to comment and read as much as I’d like and I’m just over 25% done and I’m really frustrated and mean as a snake. A mean snake.

The season is a week old, and there are already a ton of interesting stories.

The Indians: 3-3 though they should be 2-4. Three good pitching outings, one each from Carmona, Westbrook, and Lee (surprise!). Three bad outings, one from Byrd (no surprise) and two from Sabathia (no real surprise, either). I think CC made a bad choice in not signing over the off-season. He seems to be a player whose emotions can get the better of him, and then he starts over-throwning and over-thinking. I do like him, though, even if he’s leaving after this season and hope he can pull it around. I don’t hold money against these players. I still root for Jim Thome, no matter that the other people in the stands are booing.

I hoped the offense would get off to a hot start to try to avoid pressing, but it was not to be. Hafner still looks like the Hafner from last year, though my brain keeps reminding me that a small sample size is still a small sample size. Victor getting hurt again on opening day means a whole lotta scrambling attempting to find a lineup.

I hate platoons. I’ll probably be saying that a lot this year, but I hate ’em. And the LF platoon of Michaels and Dellucci is just silly. Yesterday, both started against a righty, which means management thinks Michaels can hit righties, which means that what the hell is Dellucci doing on the team? Bah. I’d like to see Francisco given an honest chance to win that job.

STO is running some of the most obnoxious commercials in the history of TV. That “American and proooooud of it” guy? That obnoxious little kid screaming about baseball? Yuck and yuck.

Matt Underwood seems a bit subdued this year, but Rick Manning is saying some of the stupidest crap I’ve ever heard from baseball announcers. The claim that “It doesn’t matter how you pitch but when you pitch” doesn’t make “ERA overrated,” you idiot. It makes won/loss records overrated. Nitwit.

The Tigers: What in the world is going on with the Tigers? Before the season started, I wondered about the health of the team. They are a bit elderly. But their problems don’t seem to be health related right now. They are pressing, trying to do too much.

The Red Sox: Is it too much to hope that they crash and burn this year? Probably.

The Yankees: Ditto.

The Reds: Reds fans better hope Dusty Baker gets hit by a bus before he can ruin those young arms.

The Mets: Santana is an exceptional pitcher, but he does have vulnerabilities. I hope the Mets fans and management didn’t overlook them.

The White Sox: Die, AJ! DIE!

The Royals: I’d love to see this team finish 2nd in the ALC. Behind Cleveland, of course.

The Braves: I’m not a Braves fan, but I am a John Smoltz fan and have been for *gulp* nearly 20 years. Before their success in the 90s, I was pulling for the Braves. Soon, I’ll probably be able to pull for them again.