Thoughts joys and rants on Friday.

4 days off, 3 days of work, and then a 3 day weekend? Good deal! Actually my medical insurance premium went up since I got my bill, so there's a little less green to cover the blue of BlueCross.

I have a wedding on Monday (I know that doesn't happen often) out west in Mt. Morris. This will make a total of 2 weddings that I have attended in my life where I actually knew what a wedding was. And since it's in Mt. Morris, I'm going to have to find a way to drive 20 minutes south to Dixon (Ronald Reagan's home) and visit the White House to get some fried chicken and onion rings, the best fried chicken and onion rings in the world. Of course I'm driving someone, so it'll take a little maneuvering, since I don't have the freedom to go wherever I want. Maybe I'll get there, we'll see.

I'm hoping Vince and Stephanie do well together. I'm not as optimistic about it as I was about the last one I went to 2 summers ago. But they've been together a long time, and I just hope they are ready to take this kind of a step.

Now on to the aggravation department. My softball team is 1-3 and we lost our last game 19-0. That was 3 weeks ago now. To make matters worse, the team I played with for 3 years in the co-ed league that I fell out with is a perfect 6-0. 6 and 0! Without me leading off and playing left field! It really makes me want to vomit. It just does.

And now I'm hearing from the Knicks' 3 rookies, Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, and David Lee. They're whining about things are much better under Isiah Thomas as coach then they were when Larry Brown was there. Listen I understand Brown criticized players too openly, he never defined roles, and was flat out miserable while he was coaching in New York.

But who are these guys to know what a great NBA coach is? You're having fun under Isiah because he lets you run up and down the court? The preseason hasn't even begun yet guys! Win some games and then tell me how much better things are with Larry Brown gone. And let's see how Isiah manages to juggle a roster made up mainly of shoot-first guards, and soft, passive front-court players. Granted, things couldn't get much worse than they were last year with 23 wins and 59 losses. But can they get better with Isiah Thomas coaching you? That's my question for Mr. Frye, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Robinson.

Mets take 3 of 4 from Pittsburgh. Now it's Florida for 4. And tonight it's Lima Time! I thought we were done with him after he stunk up New York the last time he was here. But the big news is their young phenom, Mike Pelfrey pitches Saturday and I hope he pitches the second game so I can see it. I'll be in downtown Chicago on Saturday afternoon watching Moving Out, the musical with a lot of Billy Joel songs in it. I'll let you know how that goes later.

And then comes the All-Star break and 3 games in Chicago against the Drubbies. I can't wait.
Fresh meat for New York to chew up...