And so it begins...

Last night the two baseball teams I follow the closest, my beloved Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox, with whom I am increasingly less and less enamored of, took the field for the opening game of the Mayor's Cup, the annual Twins-Red Sox spring training title. NESN aired the game last night, so I was able to watch the Twins win 5-2.

But man, the rotating announcers NESN had last night in Jerry Remy's absence did not want to talk about the game at hand unless the Red Sox were at bat. I was being a passive fan, simultaneously solving some crosswords and generally surfing the internet while the game was going on. I figured if someone got a big hit or scored, they'd announce it and I'd look up from whatever I was engrossed at the moment. But somehow, not enough fuss was made in the bottom of the 2nd because suddenly I looked up and the Twins were ahead 3-0. And the announcers were talking about Pedro Martinez. What?!

I know it's spring training and it doesn't "count" and that this was a broadcast for Red Sox fans, but come on. The Twins scored three runs and the announcers were instead talking about a guy who hasn't played for the Sox in nearly five years. It's that kind of arrogance and narcissism throughout "Red Sox Nation" that makes them the second most hated team in baseball (behind the Yankees, of course).

More baseball plans

Come April, besides two Twins games at Fenway, I'll be upping my visited stadiums list two notches with two Southern California games. Anand got boxed seats to a Padres-Giants game from his department. Having never sat in boxed seats at a Major League game (minor league, yes), I convinced him that not only was it a good time for me to visit, but that we should also drive 90 miles that Saturday to see another game in another stadium and another league: Angels vs. Red Sox.

I might actually root against the Sox though... I haven't decided. Boston fans have soured me a little on their team. Also, Wally made some excellent points which I agree with in a comment and a blog post. I have an I-agree-but-I-still-like-this-sport-because... response formulating in my head which one day I will get to. Probably around the time I do my Mystery Hunt write-up.

TTC: The Movie!

Okay, perhaps it's not TTC: The Movie!, but via Harvey, Michel Gondry is writing a time travel movie to take place at MIT... which has to be better than the musical.

This leads me to a Mystery Hunt story (and one day I will make a list of my favorite puzzles from this year, I swear). On Friday afternoon, shortly after Zoz arrived, Michelle Oshima and a guy I didn't recognize came into our hunt HQ looking for Zoz. This mystery man asked me, Anand, Robbie, and (someone else -- Jamie?) if we were freshmen. All of us being more than a few years out, we laughed and explained that no, we were alums. "Eh," the mystery man said, "You are all just sperm to me."

He then took Zoz and fled the scene. "Who was that?" I asked.

"You don't know?" Anand answered, "That was Michel Gondry."