Jeff: I'm In a Glass Case of Emotion!

Wait, wait let me say something...WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Yeah it's been an emotional week so excuse me if I get a little weepy during this post. Dan, a good friend of the site (as well as most of our tens of readers), is a proud new papa! Dan, I'm so happy for you and Megan for the entry of Elijah Daniel Porta into the world. We'll be praying for the three of you that things go welll, and that one day he'll be able to grow an epic beard like his dad. Actually judging by the hair on his head he could have one by kindergarten.

Tonight the emotions continued as I watched the series finale of the OC, capping the best 3 year run of any cheesy teen drama ever! EVER I say! What will I do without Sandy Cohen in my life? What about Seth Cohen? Or Taylor...ok I don't even know Taylor's last name, but she will be missed! I blame Jer, Dan, and Sam for starting me on this a few years ago when I lived in the Dakotas and had nothing else to do. Wait I still don't have anything to do...ok getting emotional again.

What else? Busy but not busy time in sports right now with only hoops going (or if you live in Canada only hockey going. Seriously it's insane here. Just insane. It's hockey everyday all day.). NBA trade deadline flatlined with no big deals, which reminds me for like the 15th year in a row not to get excited next year when it rolls around because again nothing big will happen. I have a feeling I'll be having this chat with myself for a 16th time next year.

I'm excited for March Madness but I can't even begin to comment on it because I've seriously seen about 4 games this year. Florida should win the whole thing but probably won't, and of course I'll anxiously fill out a bracket only to watch it go down in flames by the end of the first weekend.

Still a lot of NFL and baseball talk going on too. (By the way it's an unofficial mwsr rule to only refer to the NFL as the NFL instead of calling it "The National Football League" like everybody else does. We like to be different here. But then again you already knew that) Has it REALLY come to this as a Vikings fan? I'm getting excited that David Carr could possibly be our QB for 2007? Or Byron Leftwich? Jeff Garcia? Why not Doug Flutie? Ok so probably not Doug Flutie, but I wouldn't rule anybody out as the Vikes QB for 2007, especially with Chilly's potential to continue recycling old Eagles quarterbacks. If he tries to bring Rodney Pete, Ron Jaworski or one of the Detmer brothers to training camp, seriously, I will LOSE IT! (I was about to make a "The Champ" joke until I realized Jer is the only one who would get it. Nevermind then)

Oh, and we're all in agreement that the Vikes DO NOT want Brady Quinn in the draft right? Right? Not only is he overrated (I was compiling a Troy Smith vs Brady Quinn comparison, which I thankfully didn't get around to completing. Still Quinn's numbers vs good competition were not pretty. I'll dig those up as we get closer to the draft) but when the Purple and the Pack play Fox announcers would blab about Quinn's sister being married to Packer AJ Hawk and then they would show her not-so-hotness wearing a half Vikes-half Pack jersey and then the earth would explode because I'm pretty certain that the melding of those 2 jerseys would cause an end to the world. Especially with her wearing it. So in summation let's not draft Brady Quinn ok? Good.

Have I mentioned I'm really excited for baseball? Good article in the Strib today (or maybe it was yesterday? Is there a worse constructed site than the Strib's?) about Jason Kubel's rehab from yet another injury. It's probably easier to list what body parts the guy hasn't hurt than what he has, but once again the Little Engine That Could is counting on him to hit. And really how he and every other batter not named Mauer or Morneau hits thie year is an important story. As unsettled as the rotation is behind Johan, with baseball's best bullpen, I'm confident they'll piece together 5-6 good innings most night from their starters. What's going to the real key for this team in a division with a LOT of firepower (good gracious have you SEEN the lineups the Tribe, Sox and Tiggers are rolling out there this year?) is getting offense from their whole lineup. What did Ozzie Guillen call them? The Piranhas? If you know anything about statistics (I somehow passed a college-level stats class but don't pretend to know much) you've heard of regression to the mean. I believe Mauer and Morneau are capable of repeating their 2006 stats, but what about the other guys? You hope Cuddyer, Barlett and Hunter will be close to their career years of last season, especially with Torii Hunter playing for his last big contract (altho if he hits .278 with 31 HR's again, I'd, well, Jer make something up. I'd be willing to do just about anything if Hunter hits those marks again because I'm positive it won't happen. Somebody make a bet and I'll take it). But Nick Punto, a career .260 hitter hits .290 and was way above his career SLG and OBP numbers, and Luis Castillo is entering his 30's and his greatest asset, his legs, are starting to go, so you'll be lucky to get a .296/.358/.370 out of him again. And you're looking to fill the rest of the lineup with some combo of Kubel, Rondell White, Jeff Cirillo, and Lew "taking-the-beloved-overrated-Minnesota-athlete-torch from-Wally-Szczerbiak" Ford. I'm not saying it can't be done because this IS the LLTC after all, but it's something to keep an eye on.

Well I'm spent. Have a good weekend everybody.