the WBC....oh and freaks

(if you don't care about baseball or my thoughts on it, and I'm assuming that's most of you, skip to the end)

ok...I'm sold on the World Baseball Classic. wasn't sure what to make of it at first...like many fans (especially hopeless Cubs fans) I was only concerned about what it might mean for the Cubs spring training
...and the nasty image of Derek Lee limping off the field after hitting his 17 RBI in the 7th inning of a 30-1 USA lead over Kerzmekistan (jk...they're not really fielding a team, if I didn't make that country up anyway)

but after watching some of the first round, and currently watching the second round right now, I have no idea why I was so hesitant.
my reasons for it falling in love:

1. watching not very thought of teams like Puerto Rico and Korea kicking Japan's and the Dominican Republic's asses...

2. this will sound treasonous and I was pissed at the time but how cool was it watching Canada (thats right...CANADA!) beating the USA in our own yard....a team with maybe 3 major leaguers, the best being a Pirate, beat basically an MLB All-Star team....the US had to actually worry about not advancing b/c of it....very cool

3. the party-like scene with the Game 7 like feel that alot of these games are taking...unfortunately not the ones with the USA crowds though...proving that the rest of the world loves our National Pastime more than Americans do...fucking NFL

4. watching meaningful baseball in March...though this particular March it didn't help me

5. actually rooting for Jeter and A-Rod as they step to the plate for Team USA...WEIRD!!!

6. George Steinbrenner hates it!!!

LONG LIVE THE WBC!!!! only thing missing is an English team...couldn't they just use a cricket team

*for a better written, more thoughtful article on the coolness that is the WBC read Eric Neel's column on ESPN.com


ok...no more on that..

flipping channels this weekend (yeah yeah I know, why the hell were you watching tv and not writing) I saw 2 more signs of the Apocalypse...

one of those wacky religious channels that normally shows the cute little Nun who's shilling St. Peter bobblehead dolls was instead showing a teen "news" show called the Knights of St. Michael...
when I tuned in there were a line of people in their teens and 20s who each were taking a vow to defend God and to fight His enemies
...they used the phrase God's Army atleast 20 times in the few mins I couldn't tear my eyes away
then they switched to the "news" portion (nevermind it had all the production of a junior high homeroom news show...WPJS for you P-burgers
this where they covered stories about their fellow "knights" around the US who were fighting God's enemies...they started with a story about two teens who started their own pro-life group in MI
this is where I couldn't watch anymore!!
scary, scary shit....thought it was a joke
now despite my lack of faith and my sarcasm, I can respect people for their religious beliefs...but wow, there's a line here
and these fundamentalists have no idea where the line ever was
I wonder where they might get this stuff (I almost linked the White House website here...but I don't need a visit from the FBI tonight)

the other thing I was flipping was a show on MTV called "Date my Mom" where some slutty teen tried to hook up her even sluttier mom with what appeared to be teenage guys...
then mom and daughter talked about how one guy was drooling over Mom's tits and how it was so adorable

I'm not even sure which of these channels scared me the most!!!

(jesus...make me stop...this could have all been thesis sentences)