I happened to see Pope John Paul II lying in state this a.m. I was a bit surprised that we were able to see him on TV, but I didn't like the setup. They had him on a tilt and with his hat on, he looked like he was a missile that was about to be fired. And when you have Aaron Brown describing the proceedings, well, the Pope may just get up and walk away.



RIP, Pope JP2

Today is Opening Day for baseball and trust me when I tell ya, I think the Indians are gonna contend. Not for the whole thing, but they can make a run at the division title. Here's why:

The Royals are bad. Detroit is improved. The White Sox dumped a lot of power. The Twins had to let go of some core players for the first time in a while.

But the main thing the Tribe has this year is depth. Both on the pitching staff and the bench. Yeah, I know they are doing it on the cheap and we have Casey Blake in the outfield, but it's a solid bunch.

Starting Pitching: C.C. is OK. A healthy (key word is healthy) Millwood is an improvement. I like Cliff Lee and he should be fine. Not sold on a repeat from Westbrook. A fifth starter is a fifth starter.

Bullpen: A veteran bunch. A healthy Wickman would be tremendous. Veteran setup men: Howry, Riske, Rhodes, Sauerbeck. Not bad.

Position Players: Hafner and Martinez are very good. Aaron Boone makes me more comfortable than Casey Blake. Belliard turns the DP very well, and I think a decent-hitting Peralta would be OK at short. Sizemore and Ludwick should be an OK platoon. Not a big fan of Coco Crisp, but he's improved his offense each of the last three years, but I may have a better arm than him. And you just know the ball will find Casey Blake in rightfield, you just know it. Bench of Cora and Hernandez gives Wedge more flexibility than he's had, now let's see him earn those contract extensions.

Meal of Links

Jessica Alba because, well, she's Jessica Alba.

The surfer girl who lost her arm to a shark has a line of fragrances coming out? How does this happen? And didn't this guy invent "The Beach"? "C'mon, smell my arm."



Has anyone seen the trailer for "Kung Fu Hustle"? I swear it's the voice of Harry Kalas. You know Harry, the voice of the Phillies, who does the NFL Films stuff for HBO. He talks in a very deliberate manner, but I think it's sped up for this trailer and I think it's funny.

Exercise Yard

Had a good fantasy day as the Nick Zito-trained, Jerry Bailey-ridden High Fly won the Fla. Derby. Old School Stables, with that sweep, is now 1,339 out of 24,163. Thistledown opens this weekend (the "real" Opening Day).

Showtime had boxing on last night and could only come up with the unification of the Cruiserweight belts as its main event. Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck gave Wayne "Big Truck" Braithwaite a "pneu creve". Entertaining fight, but meant absolutely nothing except for family and friends. And it was in Worcester, Mass, of all places.

Visitor

None, it's Opening Day Sunday.