This Is Getting Ridiculous

OK, so it's Monday evening. I turn on the television machine to see if there is anything that will serve as appropriate background noise while I go about my tasks.

I scroll down the programming guide and the listing for the MLB Network informs me that the Brewers/Mariners game is on. Now, the game was played that afternoon (I know because I saw the final score on the Yahoo MLB page), but who cares? It's baseball, and I'll watch it.  God knows I've watched older games.

So I turn my DirecTV crank to channel 213 and get ready for some baseball.  Alas, it was not to be.

Instead of a pleasurable, meaningless spring training game, I saw nothing but a blank screen -- and an on-screen message telling me that "This program is blacked out in your area."

Really, Major League Baseball?  As if the blackout restrictiosn aren't goofy enough -- now you're blacking out Brewers games that have already been played?

Perhaps Baron Budhausen is scared that we'll all stay home and watch the tape delayed game instead of hitching a lift from this guy for the roadie to Arizona:

At least Zito found a target he couldn't miss

I have to give credit to the Giants. While some of us might forget a silly incident from six months ago, Barry Zito can't let go. The Giants took offense to a victory celebration by Brewers players following a game winning homer by Prince Fielder in a September game last year. For revenge, Zito drilled Fielder in his first at bat today. In a spring training game. Yes, that is kind of chickenshit.

One other thing I noticed watching the replay. The vegetable truck sure made a lot of stops at the Fielder household this winter. He looks like he ate half of Central California. Is lard a vegetable now?