Tough day for my buddy John

We went to a wake for John's mom today. She lived a good long life but that doesn't make it any easier on her husband, her boys and her grandchildren.

It's hard when you lose a loved one.

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The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 4-1 in regulation last night.

I gotta tell you, those guys played like their jobs depended on it. I don't know what their coach told them after the embarrassing way they played against the Islanders the other day but whatever it was, it worked.

Their passing was sharp, their shots on goal were on target and they looked like they were really enjoying themselves.

Oh, and they kept their penalty minutes to eight minutes which, for them, is miraculous. Back in October, they were regularly racking up twenty minutes of penalty time.

They are back at it again tonight (which is never good for them), taking on the Oilers. Puck drops at 7:30pm.

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The Red Sox beat the Rays 7-4 this afternoon but things took a bad turn for them today. Giolito, the guy they signed during the off season to be their star pitcher, was diagnosed with a pitching arm problem. And when I say "problem", I mean he might need season-ending surgery.

I'm not entirely sure what they will do if it turns out he isn't available but they have to do something. If Breslow were to pick up a phone and call me for advice, I would remind him that there are a couple of decent pitchers still on the free-agent market...

So anyways, the Red Sox will play the Twins tomorrow and it looks like I will once again be listening to the game by streaming WEEI AM on Alexa.

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Here's another entry in the "I get the best spam" list:

Apparently I have to verify my Spectrum immediately...

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Dinner is turkey and various fixin's. If the tryptophan doesn't put me to sleep, I'll watch hockey.

Here are some links:

• If you ever wanted something loud and smelly living in your back yard, look no further.



• Key line in this story: "This is the kind of stuff that causes people to consider changing lines of work and leaving countries."



• Presenting the worlds laziest creature.



• Maybe they have a large fly infestation.



• If you are planning a trip to Vegas, take care to protect the boys.



• In a few days, there will be a story about a Russian admiral falling out of a window and suffering from sudden death syndrome.

It was a good game

It sounded like the Red Sox and Tigers played a pretty game of baseball. The Red Sox lost 2-1 but hey, it's spring training. They are suppossed to lose occasionally while they try new things out and get used to each other.

Rafaela was a single away from the cycle with a home run, a double and a triple. If he can maintain his consistency, he'll probably have a spot on the roster. Unfortunately, that means Refsnyder might be DFAd because with Rafaela, Durran, O'Neill and Abreu looking like they will be on the team, he's kinda the odd man out.

Tomorrow they play the Rays and it looks like NESN will be carrying the game.

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My wife has dragged me into the 21st century and we now have one of those unlimited cell phone plans.

Two of my children are still on my cell plan because, well, it's cheaper for us to carry them than it is for them to get their own. Prior to today, we had a hard cap on data that was being regularly exceeded.

After some cajoling on her part, and with some help from our youngest, they convinced me that I was being an old codger (which I am). I dropped the old plan, that we've had for the last 15 years, and got a new one.

So now I no longer have to worry about exceeding some arbitrary limit.

Data for everybody!

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The Supreme Court has issued an opinion that says,

States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency.

Trump will now appear on all state ballots.

Get ready for the gloating, bragging and posturing to get ramped up to eleven.

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We have a nice corned beef, along with some potatoes and carrots, that have been in the slow cooker all day. I decided to pass on cabbage.

While I enjoy that, and watch the Bruins play the Maple Leafs, you can enjoy these:

• Olbermann is the only one who thinks Olbermann is relevant and intelligent.



• Another reason I don't fly commercial.



• Wait until all those people find out that their very expensive non-existent electric flying car has a range of about 100 miles.



• The Big Butt is about to take off.



• Ladies and gentlemen, I give you "Serpula Alicecooperi".
  (His real name is Vincent Furnier)

They played some pretty crappy hockey

I'm not entirely sure who those guys in the Bruins uniforms were but there is no way they were the players I've been watching all season.

They couldn't pass the puck, they couldn't shoot the puck and they certainly couldn't skate.

I watched the Bruins chase the Islander all around the rink and it almost looked like the Islanders were looking over their shoulder, laughing.

In case I'm not being clear, the Bruins sucked last night and the Islanders beat the crap out of them, winning the game 5-1.

They play the Maple Leafs tomorrow and I'm really hoping they play like they normally do.

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In other sports, the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 3-1 this afternoon.

It was a good game and like I said yesterday, I'm feeling pretty good about this team. They seem to be having fun and that means they like each other. As long as they like each other, they will play hard for each other.

If they play hard, they will win.

Oh, and I heard from Walt. They are in the same seats at Jet Blue Park they were in last year so every time the camera swings towards where they are, I look for them.

So far, no joy but it's fun to try and spot someone I know.

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I'm watching the rain delayed PGA Cognizant tournament and trying to figure out what would make a good dinner.

Here are some links you might find interesting:

• Oh crap. Powell is going to testify before congress. There goes my retirement account...



• Some people shouldn't be allowed to drive.



• They got some interesting laws in Vermont. And by "interesting", I mean stupid.



• Um, Okay...



• I always thought the "D" in DUI stood for Driving?



• Man, they got world records for everything.

A double win

The Red Sox split squad beat the Nationals 4-2 and they also beat the Rays 3-2. NESN carried the Nationals game

I gotta be honest with you, I'm feeling pretty good about this team. I just hope they are ready to go in 26 days

On March 28^th, they travel to Seattle to open the season against the Mariners. They will play a four-game series there and then fly to Oakland to play the Athletics and finally to Los Angeles to play the Angels.

That's a pretty tough way to start the season, not only for them but for me as well. Those games start way too late for me so I'm hoping NESN does the Sox-In-2 thing they usually do and I'll be able to watch the game the next morning. Also, there are a couple of games over that stretch that will be day games. I'll be able to watch those games.

Their home opener will be on April 9^th against the Orioles and that is when baseball will be played while I'm still awake.

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Time to get ready to watch some hockey.

Before I go, I want to leave you with a picture of Rory McIlroy trying to hit his golf ball out of a pond:

Whenever I see a professional golfer in this kind of situation, I feel better about my golf ability.

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Enjoy these links:

• This doesn't sound good.



• Spirit Aerosystems is a contractor that supplies Boeing with most of its defective equipment.



• People need to stop giving away grenades.



• No, I was not at Woodstock. Aside from the fact that I don't like crowds, I was also only 11 years old and far more interested in playing baseball than listening to music.



• Listen up everyone: Tipping At The Strip Club Is An Important Part Of The Employee-Customer Relationship.



• Attention wanna-be criminals: Cameras are tiny and they are everywhere. If you think you aren't going to get caught, you are wrong.

Suddenly it's March

The Red Sox lost to the Twins today 5-2. They had a 2-1 lead right up until some guy hit a grand slam off Giolito, driving in four runs.

I listened to Flemming fawn over Castiglione, repeatedly calling him "Hall of Famer Joe Castiglione".

And when I say repeatedly, I mean every time he said something to Castiglione, he prefaced his remark with that line.

Tomorrow they play another split squad set of games with home game against the Nationals carried by NESN.

At least I hope it's carried by NESN and it's not NESN carrying the Nationals feed again. Those guys sucked.

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Guess who won in regulation last night! The Bruins did!

The first period ended with the Bruins up 3-0 and playing like they meant it.

The second period ended with the Bruins up 4-3 and playing like they were about to blow the game.

With five minutes left in the third period, the score was tied 4-4 when Bruins took a 5-4 lead. Two minutes later, they lost a player to a very stupid two minute minor penalty. I believe it was "lifing an opponents stick" or something meaningless like that.

And so, with three minutes left in the game, the Bruins had 4 men on the ice and the Golden Knights had six when they pulled their goalie. It looked pretty bleak for the Bruins and I fully expected regulation to end in a tie but the Bruins held them off and won.

Their next game is tomorrow against the Islanders. Puck drops at 7:30pm.

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It's late.

Here are a few links:

• It's the City of Brotherly Love.



• India - They're as dumb as Americans.



• People should be requiired to pass a simple common-sense test before they are allowed to become parents.