Oh and by the way...

Twins win a nail-biter at Arlington.

Loved Sosa's strikeout with two gone in the bottom of the ninth. I don't care if you're Babe Ruth on HGH--you do not jack one to dead-center on Johan Santana and maintain enough karma/luck to pull any pinch-hit heroics a day later with Joe Nathan on the mound. You can't catch lightning in a bottle twice, or something like that...

Another strong pair of innings for Matt Guerrier. More proof that God has shown mercy on the Minnesota Twins by smiting down Jesse Crain--the only way to keep Gardy from practically asking Jesse to give up game-changing hits. The Lord is truly good to us, as His vicious plague of arm-injuries has passed over our four most reliable options out of the pen.

I have to say, the Rangers' broadcast team provided the most pleasant, enjoyable experience I've had watching away games on MLB tv. Certainly a cut above these chodes

My Most-wanted players list? Here's two right-handed batters that would adequately fill big holes in our lineup

• Willy Mo Pena--Power bat from Boston. His suspect defense is of no concern to the Twins who need some pop out of the DH spot. Plus, he could complete the Karma cycle that began when we let David Ortiz slip through our fingers. Consider the symmetry: Papi was a left-hander power hitter who struggled to find consistency for the Twins and blossomed in Boston. Willy Mo is a right-handed power hitter who has struggled to find consistency in Cincinatti and Boston. Could he develop away from the spotlight and within the domed confines of the HHHMD? I say it's worth a shot, but then again, I am a symmetry whore.
  

• Edwin Encarnacion--An everyday 3b that has fallen prey to the fickle whims of Cincinatti manager, Jerry Larron. Edwin was recently demoted to AAA, citing a lack of effort that seems to stem from a disagreement about his failure to run out a pop-fly. (He was recalled this week after batting .419 during his brief stint at Louisville.) Give him a locker next to Torii and I imagine he might catch the Twins spirit. Stick him at 3b and you can let Nick Punto return to the utility role to which he is more suited (Nicky will still get plenty of playing time with Bartlett and Castillo struggling to be on the field at the same time). Edwin has proven that he can hit at the major league level, and we've developed a trading relationship with Cincinatti over the last year or two, so this would probably be a relatively easy deal to figure out.

Tonight's Lost season finale

Holy crap.

Initial thoughts (sure to develop/change over the next NINE MONTHS WITHOUT A NEW EPISODE):

• Should we prepare for just flash-forwards for the next three seasons? I could never complain about such perfect symmetry.

• Whose funeral was it? (Locke, Sawyer, Ben?) Who did Kate have to get back home to? (Sawyer, a parole officer, her son?)

• The Jack beating-up-Ben, Hurley van-rescue, Sayid neck-breaking, Sawyer continuing-his-killing-spree, scene was easily the best five minutes in Lost history.

• Charlie, whose drug problems always seemed to keep him from becoming a true fan-darling, cemented his legacy of awesomeness with his desperate attempts to warn his friends of impending disaster. Kudos to Charlie Pace for his Bondian attitude in the face of torture, his faith in Desmond's vision, and his redemption through selflessness. And nice acting, Dominic Monaghan--way to save the best for last.
  

Thanks for all the sass...

In case you can't tell by the time lapsed between posts and the wildly shifting content, this blog is in its "formative stage". Now that I'm working from home, I hope to be able to have more time to dedicate to making this into something fun for me and others. One writer that has been and will continue to be an inspiration to me is Anne Ursu (aka Batgirl), the creator of the greatest Twins blog of all-time.

A few months ago, Batgirl gave birth to "Dashiell J. Batbaby", her "miracle premie". Understandably, the rigors of motherhood have limited her writing this season, though in quantity alone, I must say. Today she announced her retirement from blogging. "I simply do not have time to do this blog well," she explains, "and there is no point in doing it any other way." Of course, many of us loyal readers wouldn't mind her doing it in some other way--any other way--but we appreciate her commitment to the high standard of quality that she has set over the last three years.

Whether she was reenacting key plays in Legovision, awarding the coveted "Boyfriend of the Day" award, or simply skewering the Twins for their "ass-battery", her writing was always entertaining, topical, and completely unpretentious--everything a blog should be. I'll always remember the Twins' amazing surge to the 2006 division title, and how Batgirl's hilarious, spot-on postings provided the perfect commentary to those memorable few months. If my blog ever were to become half of what Batgirl's was, I would consider it an astounding success. For then, I'd be half-way to blogging perfection.

Could it be?

Just read this at MLB.com

WE WANT FAT MATT!

I sold my limbs for rock and roll...

Two days of playing Guitar Hero 2 and here's the growing list of injuries:

1. General shoulder/back pain
2. Sharp pain in my left arch
3. Swelling and aching in my left knuckles
4. Bruising, discoloration, and tenderness on my left palm below my index finger
5. Weakness and a lack of coordination in my right hand
6. Pain in left wrist, forearm, and elbow
7. Strained, blurry vision, random eye-watering

Let's see if I'll stop before I end up like this guy.

Also, check out this sweet Guitar Hero image.

BYU vs. NAIA Team in Disguise: Episode 6

The price of actually having a good football team again: the games are all boring. Watching CSU's anemic offense get shut down by BYU's new "Neither Bend nor Break" defense was like watching me and my roommates trying to talk to girls: Our perseverance is admirable--cute, even--but in the end, you have to question if we even think it's worth the effort. It doesn't help that every other team in the conference seems to be competing more for last place than for first. Seriously, this could be the worst year for the MWC in its history. No team in the Mountain West has beat a single team currently ranked in the top 25, with BYU's home win over Tulsa remaining the conference's marquee non-conference win. Mountain West teams have managed to lose to such powerhouses as UTEP, Portland State, and Div 1-AA Cal-Poly. As it is, BYU's magic number for clinching the conference is 2, but a win next week against Wyoming will seal the deal. And don't get me wrong: I am as glad as anyone to see the Cougars back on top of the conference. Let's just make sure we don't make a Mountain out of what's really a molehill.

- The Cougars cracked the AP rankings this week at #25

- The basketball season opened with a bang this Thursday with the Y's exhibition victory over Brock University of Ontario, thanks to the Brock Badgers shooting 6-37 from behind the arc. This year's new battle cry? VUK!!!!!!!!!

Worst Episode Ever

Just a few thoughts on the WORST EPISODE EVER:

1. Eko is dead. Come on, who wanted this? As soon as I heard that someone was going to die before the end of the "fall season," I immediately hoped it would be Charlie. But no, it was Eko, probably the best, least developed character on the show. And the worst part is that the show didn't offer any sort of closure on his life before snuffing it out, totally shaking my feeling that the island was somehow helping these people work their shiz out. My sister Lauren is wearing all black to school today to mourn.

2. I hate the new characters, and everyone I have spoken to feels the same. And then they have them say crap about how they want to be "included" for a change. Note to Lost-maker people: We were willing to suspend our belief. Bringing them into it and trying to explain why they weren't involved doesn't fix the whole problem with there being so many useless people on the island that are completely uninvolved in the plot; it just accentuates it and keeps us from ignoring it. If you're not even going to use Rose, Bernard, Claire, or Rousseau, don't give us any crappy new people that we want to die.

3. Juliet is a lying biznatch. Both her and Benry know that Jack won't be able to "accidentally" chop up his spine, with his whole Messiah complex thing. Benry was telling the truth when he said that he wants Jack to want to help him. If they get him on the table and Jack ends up not being able to kill the dude, then he'll be choosing, for himself, that he wants him to live. It's just another trick to try and break his spirit.

4. That dude with the eye patch? That's messed up. And the part where that new stupid witch character tells them to check the tvs, and John says, "Well, I'm feeling stupid" is the worst single moment in the history of the show.

5. What's up with all the missing bodies? I've always wondered what exactly was the deal with Jack's dad. So far, both the missing bodies have appeared to their loved ones. Is the smoke monster possessing them to test the castaways? Or is he just trying to kill them (remember how Jack almost died when he followed his dad off the cliff)? The crazy guy in Hurley's head almost made him kill himself (but he was never on the island). Also, how in the heck does the smoke monster work? Magnets?

6. Are the lost creators trying to get all the minorities off the show?

7. "He said we're next." Isn't that kind of a lame thing to say right before you die? Did John just make it up? Or did he derive it from something more eloquent that Eko said? Was he just trying to warn his friends about the smoke monster's methodical serial plot? Maybe he told John to finish the church--or was he kind of done with penitence?

8. Desmond was lame in this one. Why didn't he foresee Eko's death and save him? Maybe he's racist too.

9. I will not watch this gay "Daybreak" show. Also, The Nine sucks big time.

10. I fear the worst: the writers have added so much intrigue to create episodial dramatic effect that they have lost control over the beastly web of connections and intricate revelations necessary to resolve all of the questions they've raised. The show will eventually slip into chaos and be canceled because no one will be able to handle it.