The Monday Musings- Minnesota Style

So I'm back in Minnesota, hopefully for good, and I have to say, it's great to be back. I really love this place. Will I be saying that in February when I'm freezing my ass off and there's no end of winter in sight? Quite possibly not, but for now, it's good to be back. A few things I've noticed since my return late last week...

...While it's fan-freaking-tastic to have real sports again (and by real sports I mean not hockey and the CFL), I had forgotten that nobody, and I mean NOBODY, beats a dead horse like E!SPN beats a dead horse. In fact I believe it should be their slogan. That or "ESPN: Soap Operas for Men." From Barry Bonds to Michael Vick and now Brett Favre, they really know how to tell a story from every possible angle- and keep telling it until you want to punch them in the face. Seriously Jer and I were enjoying a delicious Fuddruckers lunch today, and "SportsCenter" was on. Now I use the term Sportscenter loosely, because the entire show, for the half hour or so we were there eating, was about Favre. The whole damn thing. My goodness gracious, how is that necessary? I mean usually I LOVE this time of year because it's training camp and you get to see how everybody looks in camp and what the new storylines are and all of that? But right now it's all Favre, all the time, and I'm just sick of it. Would it be cool/weird/amazing for Favre to end up in Purple? Yep, it would, but I don't need to hear about the possibility, or how all of this effects Aaron Rodgers psyche, at every waking moment. I gotta be honest at first I was a little sad when I found out La Casa de Jer didn't have cable, but after watching a half hour of E!SPN, I'm now grateful.

...If you don't know me at all, you need to know one thing: I love eating out. Probably too much. If I could afford it (which I definitely can't), I would eat out for pretty much every meal. There's just so many good options (all of which are pretty much vegetable free) out there and so little time! The one I missed the most was Chipotle, hands down! And yes, I've eaten there 3 times already in the four days I've been back, and honestly, I'd go back again tonight for dinner. Chicken burrito with rice, black beans, corn salsa, cheese, sour cream- BAM! HEAVEN! Oh yeah and don't forget the Tobasco Chipotle on each and every bite. Just incredible. I also really enjoy Perkins for either the Chicken Tendermelt or the Bacon benedict. There are many, many more good places to eat in the Twin Cities, and I will do my best to visit each and every one of them.

...It's nice to be back in a city in a pennant race. Being a Mariners fan, I haven't gotten to experience that in a long time, and even then, I don't live in Seattle so it's not the same. Two springs ago the Vancouver Canucks made a rare playoff appearance, and Vancity was absolutely electric. While the Minnesota Twins aren't in the playoffs just yet, it's been fun to see them all over the news and radio, and there's Twins gear all over the place. Not too hard to cheer for a team like that, especially since they finally cut Livan Hernandez and brought up Francisco Liriano. Of course they should have done that three weeks ago, but the point is, it's done.

...The trade deadline passed before it could have happened, but I was going to make a suggestion to Twins GM Terry Ryan that he should deal one of his 19,000 pitching prospects to the LA Dodgers for 3B Andy Laroche. In his short time in the pros his numbers have been awful, but he was a super prospect not too long ago, and I think he just needed a change of scenery. He would have been a great fit for the Twins and would have cost them next to nothing. Unfortunately, he got dealt to Pittsburgh in the Manny trade, so that idea's out. But seriously, they need to do something about the Hot Corner, because trying to sign the Mike Lamb's of the world every year (or Tony Batista) just ain't cutting it.