...the defibrillator of this shit!

How about a ramblings post? Sound good? Great! Herrrrrre we go...

--The cruise was good times. However, I never realized how much it costs to casually sip on beers over the course of a week on a cruise ship. Holy crap.

--This Spring Training trip is going to be sick. I know that there are people out there (Goods? Sambuca? Anyone?) that have some concerns about dropping bills on this trip, but it is only for two full days--how much could you possibly spend (wait, don't answer that...)? And can you put a price on something as special as *cue the violins* time spent between friends?

--How is everyone feeling about Husker basketball? I would say that tonight should be a pretty solid gauge on how they are. Playing a less-than-solid Oklahoma team in Norman (with their starting center out, no less!) should be a more than winnable game. I would say it should be considered a pretty big disappointment if they don't pull this one out.

--Speaking of college basketball, guess who has won 11 in a row and are starting to get a true inside-outside game rolling, a the while shutting jokers down on defense? That's right! It's YOUR University of Kentucky Wildcats! Their 38 point victory at South Carolina (handing them their worst home loss since 1915) helped me become excited about college basketball for basically the first time this season. I say this because I know you all care.

--Some albums I have picked up lately that I simply cannot get enough of:

-The Hold Steady, "Boys & Girls In America"
-Gil Scott-Heron, "Pieces of a Man"
-The Stone Roses, "Second Coming"
-Darondo, "Let My People Go"
-Prince, "The Hits/The B-Sides" Discs 1&2
-Strange Fruit Project, "The Healing"
-Ohmega Watts, "The Find"

--The pictures attached are from a hot clothing and apparel site called UNDRCRWN. Fresh looking gear with a great sports/pop culture mind behind them. Good lookin out.

--24 is fucking awesome. How I slept on this show for 5 seasons is beyond me...can someone hand me a late pass?

--The Office this week might have been my favorite one ever, except for perhaps the one that Dwight accepts his Salesman of the Year award. When Jim slaps Dwight walking into that sales call...wow. Tear-inducing comedy, my friends.

--Just in case you didn't know, the Chicago Bears will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

--Mark Prior had the nerve to go to arbitration and actually ASK FOR A RAISE from last year! Dude made $3.6M with a one-win, 7 ERA season and asked for $3.8. Prior and the Cubs are only about $400K away from each other, but it will be interesting if this will be resolved, because the Cubs just don't seem all that interested with putting up with his shit again this year. And I'm not either. I still stand by my statement that, when healthy, he is easily one of the top 5 pitchers in baseball. But he is a baby, and I, for one am officially sick of it.

--Carlos Zambrano asked for a raise, too. Considering he is, in fact, one of the top 5 pitchers in baseball, it is warranted. I am scrrred of what his new contract is going to look like next season (or, hopefully, right before Spring Training is over). I've got a feeling that Big Z is going to be the highest-paid pitcher in baseball. We're talking a 8-year, $150M contract range. But if Zito gets what he got, Z certainly deserves more.

--One last item on the cruise...the one and only Fox game that was not shown on the ship was--you guessed it--the Nebraska game. I still have barely even seen highlights. All I know is you are pretty damned committed to your team when you and your brother-in-law sit in a bar, drinking Batman and Superman squeeze bottles with eight ounces of rum that was smuggled onto the ship in a Listerine bottle watching ESPN solely for the purpose of watching the ticker for the entire duration of the game. The one cool thing that happened during all of this is some really old dude sat down next to us and we started chatting. Turns out the guy was drafted by and played for the Cubs, and was eventually traded to the Dodgers and played with Jackie Robinson. He also played craps at a $125 a bet rate. Good dude.