of pitchers and catchers

it's that time of year again. when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. fortunately, the sporting gods have spared us and minimized the downtime between the super bowl and the first pitch. this spares the sports fan from having to stomach more than ten days of that travesty called the 'national basketball association.' phew.

my sports radar is alive and chirping. and only an intense three-week period of college hoopage in march can distract me from the national pasttime between now and late october. will the sox repeat? will john smoltz regain his starting touch? will the giants dugout eschew sunflower seeds in favor of prune juice and depends? will johnny damon ever cut his hair again?

but, for me, the big question is this: which stadium is next? with only a dozen or so remaining, i'm making steady progress. past highlights include milwaukee, the steel city, the los angeles angels of anaheim, and wrigley.

you heard it here first: kansas city is the odds-on favorite for 2005.