Cicada Invasion 2007

When it rains, it fucking pours.


Not only have I been battling a hellacious cold for the past few days, but I also have to do it in the midst of Mother Nature's most disgusting past-time: the 17 year reunion of the Midwestern cicadas.



While these little buggers usually wouldn't bother me, the very thought of MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of them flying around really makes my stomach turn. I can remember back in 1990 when these fuckers came out of the ground (which, in its own right, is an extremely creepy way to come back to the surface) and wreaked havoc on young trees and smaller insects everywhere. Seventeen years later I decide to move to a condo across the street from a forest preserve and now work in an office surrounded by 20 acres of trees.

Anyone that knows me can testify that I am a huge fan of horror films. However, if everything that the experts say is true, we are all in for one hell of an invasion.

Curt, Curt, Curt....

I'm not sure what is worse: 1) Publicly speaking out against another player in your "fraternity" about his presumed illegal activity before you are completely cleared of the same assumption; or 2) Keeping your name in the news by means other than your performance on the field.

Curt Schilling, possibly one of the best pitchers of our common era, has recently been involved in at least two seperate compelling news stories over the past few weeks. On one hand we have a "conspiracy theory" regarding the blood on his famous sock from the World Series of three years ago (is it blood or is it paint? Who cares?), and now we have Narc Schilling preaching his opinion about Barry Bonds' evident steroid use. The latter offense here is probably the most interesting when taking into account the fact that Schilling was brought before Congress to defend himself against the exact same allegation... and chose to dance around the issue as opposed to voicing his opinion when it counted.

To make matters worse, Schilling then retracts his statements about Bonds and offers a public apology (via his blog, 38pitches.com):

"The only perfect human to walk the face of the earth died a few thousand years ago, that much I know. I am far from perfect and make more than my share of mistakes, which is something I have no problem with because that’s part of being human. However when my mistakes adversely affect other peoples lives, that’s a big deal. It was a callous, wreckless and irresponsible thing to say, and for that I apologize to Barry, Barry’s family, Barry’s friends and the Giants organization, my teammates and the Red Sox organization as well as anyone else that may have been offended by the comments I made."

Something tells me that Barry's family and friends couldn't give a shit less about what a white pitcher from Boston has to say regarding his personal business. Instead, Curt, this appears to be more of a "cover-my-ass-so-I-can-save-any-fans-I-still-have" publicity move by an aging pitcher on a team that no longer needs you.