My thoughts on the new baseball season at Trolley Dodger: “Open sesame!”

Does anyone else feel like this has been a frickin’ long off-season? Never mind the extra week of Spring Training thanks to the WBC (which was again a very cool experience), it feels like the end of the World Series was a really long time ago.

Continued…

Next time you starting wishing your favorite team’s horrible owners would “disappear” for reals, thank your lucky stars you aren’t among the fans of Manchester City. Their ownership makes the owners of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (for example) look like your favorite babysitters from childhood.

Of course, he’s spending money, which puts him one up on the Devil Rays.

Via The Offside, “Arrest Warrant issued for Manchester City Owner”—

Thaksin Shinawatra is known to football fans as the guy who bought Manchester City earlier this year and who has opened his extensive wallet to lure Sven-Goran Eriksson and a bunch of new players. In the non-football world, he is known as the guy who used to be the prime minister of Thailand until he was overthrown in a peaceful military coup last September.

These two worlds might collide if Shinawatra is forced to go back to Thailand where he is charged with corruption. This could lead to him having to relinquish his assets in the UK, including his shares of Manchester City.

You might surmise from the surname, and you’d be correct, that today is a special day for yours truly. As fellow Irishman Vin Scully said prior to this morning’s first televised Dodger spring training game, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all, especially if it applies.” :)

The Dodgers are wearing their traditional green uniforms and caps to commemorate the day, and have added green bases as well. There’s a long history of celebrating March 17th at Dodgertown, which you can read about on Walter O’Malley’s official website, in the feature “St. Patrick’s Day Parties A Legend At Dodgertown”

I have a Guinness waiting in the fridge for later. This should be an especially tasty treat — it’ll be a celebratory drink, of course, but I also haven’t had a beer since before the bike accident, not wanting to get too interactive with the Vicodin. A beer and the first Dodger game on TV for the year — Brilliant! :)

There was an interesting story over on Slashfood a couple of days ago about how drinking habits in Ireland are changing to incorporate more wines and other fermentations, with a corresponding decline in Guinness sales. “Wine, instead of Guinness, for St. Patrick’s in Ireland”

Guinness sales are booming elsewhere in the world, so nothing to worry about for next St. Patrick’s Day. :)

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