My Job Sucks

I'm in the middle of another 20 straight days of working...which has me quite depressed.  Nice to get into the springtime and nice weather by being couped up in a dingy building for 1/3 of your day.   So, I cannot be atuned to this blog as I wish to be.  With the work....plus a ton of family commitments that I may or may not get to enjoy with my wife.....plus the bad mood that follows me as I exit my place of employment....to the malaise I feel in the post Super Bowl/March Madness seasons....I'm just out of it.

I do have my Home Run Derby I am a part of....and my team is dead last at this moment.  Manny Ramirez finally hit a few out the other day....and Jason Lane along with Pat Burrell have been carrying my team.  But I haven't had the Chris Shelton, Jim Thome or Albert Pujols type start from anyone as my opponents have.  The guy that leads our league has Albert Pujols [11 HRs], Morgan Ensberg [8] and Carlos Lee [8].  Eikes!

The NFL Draft is upcoming....which is cause for a bit of excitement.  Well, as a Skins fan...the draft isn't as exciting.  No first rounder...which is fine.  But the NFL Draft plays like the Presidential Election Day coverage by CNN.  A bunch of chatter filling up space as results take so long to come in.  I mean, c'mon!  The NFL and it's teams have poked, prodded and tested these guys to the upmost limits....and still need a full 15 minutes to figure out who to take.  If every team takes their alloted 15 minutes, the first round of the NFL Draft would take 8 hours. 

Speaking of drafts, I wish every professional league draft would do what the NHL Draft does and have the teams come up and announce their picks.  They bring up the jersey with the dude's name already stitched on the back.  The faces of the franchise stand up there to welcome their newest investment into the league. 

By the way, get rid of the MVP award.  It's dumb...and subjective.  If Billy has a car that has great gas mileage, that's pretty valuable.  But, Janet has an SUV, and that's good for lugging her kids and groceries....and that's pretty valuable.  But Steve's car has a better resale value....so that's pretty valuable.  But Bubba has a truck to haul equiptment....so that's pretty valuable.

All I am saying is that each MVP candidate is valuable to his team in his own way.  So deciding between Kobe's value to the Lakers, Nash's value to the Suns, LeBron's value to the Cavaliers, Billups value to the Pistons and Dirk's value to the Mavericks is just so tough.  Just as it would to consider Paul Pierce's value to the Celtics....or Allen Iverson's value to the Sixers. 

Scrap it.  Do like the NCAA does and just have a "Player of the Year" award.  Sure, the same ol' chaps would be up for that.....and the debate just as heated....but judging who had the better individual season serves better merit than who has the most value to his team. 

I mean, I can make a case that Tracy McGrady is the NBA's MVP this year. 

                       

By the way, it's nice to see the Clippers back in the playoffs.  Think back 13 years ago in the NBA playoffs [the last time the Clips won a playoff game]. 

The Clips games were at the LA Sports Arena.  Charlotte was in their first playoff series, as the Hornets.  The Bulls ended their first 3-peat by defeating the Suns.  There were no NBA teams in New Orleans, Memphis or Toronto.  Washington was still the Bullets.  LeBron James was in elementary school. 

Now think back 30 years....the last time the Clippers won a playoff series.  They were the Buffalo Braves then.  They won a best-of-three series over the Sixers.  There were 18 teams in the NBA....not the 30 there are now.  The Jazz were in New Orleans and the Kings in Kansas City.  LeBron James wasn't born yet.  Neither was Kobe Bryant. 

Oh, and LaVar Arrington.....bring it on!  I love those athletes that feel they were wronged by an organization and sign in the division to try to settle it on the field.  While I certainly wouldn't call Arrington a bust in Washington....he certainly wasn't worth all what he thinks he was worth.  As a Redskin, he was a spot starter and wasn't on the field as much as the highest paid Skin should've been.  The defense was good without him....and now with his huge cap number off the books....our offense can be good too. 

And baseball is getting back in shape.  Atop the standings now?  Red Sox, White Sox, Angels, Mets, Astros and Giants.  And it isn't even the end of April yet....but the Pirates and Royals are nearly mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.  Ah, the MLB standings are right again.