It's Been a Week...

Back from the brief yet celebratory hiatus from the world of blogosphere. Easter has come and gone, along with it my Mother (visiting my wife and I for the first time) and the 13+ hours spent at church during the Easter weekend. Ah, the joys of being Catholic.

Maybe I'm been avoiding this world of blogging, too. Yep. I'm pretty sure I have. You see, I heavily associate my blog with baseball. Rightly so, I think - I write mostly about cards, the Brewers, and the occasional rock-throwing session down at the lanes (which reminds me, this Dude threw a 179 on Saturday, a personal best!). Which also reminds me of something I thought of while researching my TBL card fest entries...The Dude is never shown actually bowling during the entire movie. Sure, when he is revealing the Walter and Donnie the atrocities brought upon him by the rug pissers, he is standing someone close to the ball return, and throughout the movie he is shown carrying a bag which I assume contains a bowling ball, I don't recall him physically hurling one down the lane. Perhaps this has been a well known fact about the movie, and I just never took notice. I tend to do that at times. I just found out yesterday my wife has brown hair.

Anyhow, back to baseball and my avoidance of the blog. I have come to a realization recently, and last night's disgustingly pitiful 6-1 Brewers loss at the hands of the Cincy Reds have only cemented this feeling in my heart: the Brewers aren't nearly as good as I thought they were. I am quite sure a lot of you have been saying this, or thinking this, over the past offseason. Here is how I have come to said conclusion.

1. We made the playoffs last year largely due to the efforts of a one CC Sabathia. In half a season he garnered just 2 less wins than the team leader, Ben Sheets - who pitched nearly the whole season.
2. The offseason tends to become a pair of "beer goggles", and the more beer you have (the longer the winter goes on) the better she (the team) looks. And that's a no dog shitter.
3. I thought Yovani Gallardo was going to dominate now that he's healthy. Wrong. Two outings, 11.2 innings pitched, 9 earned runs, 6 walks, 2 HRs. ERA: 6.94
4. Jeff Suppan is still bad. The Brewers call it "aiming" pitches, I call it going to Italian Chef culinary school in the offseason: serves up nothing but meatballs, now.
5. Prince Fielder still can't hit with men on base. Empty bases? He'll hit 50 homers again.
6. Our shortstop and catcher have a combined .251 average. Combined.
7. Our most consistent pitcher over the past 3 years (12 wins/year)? Dave Bush. FML.

Yes, we are only 8 games into the season. Yes, I have watched all 8 games and I know that the rust is still there, guys are still getting the kinks out. But last year I made excuses for the team that in all rights never should have made the playoffs - we "earned" the Wild Card spot because the Mets, once again, were unable to close out the season. The season is still very young, though, and who knows what will happen. I guess my lone comfort is knowing just that - it's a young season. The Seattle Mariners are are in 1st place in the AL West, the team that last year was the first team in MLB history to lose over 100 games with a payroll of over $100 million. So I guess anything can happen, and one team's early struggles in no way defines how the season will turn out.

Listen to me, I sound like an Indians fan.