Cards/Pads - Game 1

I won't re-hash what others have said ad nauseaum ('ad nauseaum' means 'to sickness', you illiterate bastard). However, some news and notes on the first day of the playoffs:

- Think the Twins are wallowing in their own piss right now? Santana hadn't lost a game at home in almost 2 years. So much for that. Big Hurt puts a BIG HURT on the Twin Cities' hopes.

- The Padres are, on paper, the better team than the Cardinals. Especially where pitching is concerned. San Diego sports the best team ERA in the NL. Their starters are deeper, their bullpen is lights out, and their lineup does just enough to win. In fact, the only area where the Cardinals are noticeably better is.........in day games! Cardinals were 37-19 during the regular year under the sun. So I'm sure the Padres front office is REALLY pleased that both home games are being played in the afternoon. I'll bet John Moores isn't sending David Hill, president of Fox Sports, any Christmas cards this year.

- And while we're on the subject, here's the prime time game for the first 4 nights of baseball playoffs:

Tonight: Yankees /Tigers. Wed: Yankees/Tigers. Thurs: Mets/Dodgers. Fri: Yankees/Tigers. See a trend here?

This is why I hate all teams with 'New York' in them. I even include 'New Jersey' teams in this, since Northern NJ is New York's septic tank/garbage dump/drug source. I understand they are the biggest media market in the country, but they aren't the ONLY city with a sports team! Most of the 280 million Americans NOT living in or near the 5 boroughs couldn't give 2 shits about NY sports. Every fucking year come playoff time Fox Sports executives sit together in a little room, and decide how they're going to get the most NY exposure on the tube in prime time. Every year.

Normally this bias means that you'll only see 1 NL playoff game in prime time during the Division Series, at least until the Yankees either advance or are eliminated. Don't believe me? Check the broadcast times for all NLDS games played the past 3 years. I dare you.

This year is especially bad since both NY franchises are in the playoffs. To make it even more sickening, they both enter the playoffs with the best record in their respective leagues, so Fox can JUSTIFY the NY love-fest. Fox probably had to have the board room at the sports division fumigated and re-painted, because there was so much semen smeared on all the walls. So we're to be subjected to the Yankees/Mets hit parade until we go insane. Here's hoping they both make an early exit. Perfect world: Padres (or Cards) play the Dodgers, in the NLCS; Tigers play Twins (or A's) in the ALCS. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Hill.

- Nice to see LaRussa came to his senses and is having Weaver (4-1 on road) start game 2, with Suppan (7-1 at home) starting game 3. I don't think Weaver is a better pitcher than Suppan - quite the opposite. But if we're playing the numbers game as a starting point for giving the team the best chance of advancing, this rotation is a no-brainer.

- Nice to see LaRussa then planted his newly senses-restored head firmly up his ass by having Marquis on the active roster for the NLDS instead of Reyes. He trusts Reyes to start the last game of the season on short rest, but not to pitch in the playoffs? Decided to go with all that experience, that 'knows how to handle pressure' quality Marquis brings to the table? Did LaRussa have his mind wiped after Sunday's game? Because Marquis certainly used all that experience to good effect when his team needed him in September (0-4, ERA 8.46). So we reward medocrity? Brilliant. If Marquis throws even ONE PITCH in a close game during this series, I'm wearing a Padres jersey to every sporting event I attend, or every game I play in, for the rest of this calendar year. I play softball 4 nights a week, so you see this is no idle threat. LaRussa. What a Jackass.