This might be Lara's problem.

Well Gabbers, I made a few realizations today. 1) I'm getting a bit too old for my liking, but I still try to lift weights like a kid. As I may not have shared yet, I've been accepted to student teach this fall. I've also gotten a hold of the football program at the school and have been given a position with the team. We started having work-outs for the guys. From what I've seen of them, they're nice kids. A few even remember that I've subbed a class they've had. 

Still, I've been trying to go to as many of the workouts as I can. Today was a lower body day. I was too late to lift with the guys yesterday, but I got into it today. I started doing squats. I didn't even put much weight up, but I did a set of ten and could really feel it. At this point, I may need to tell you that I haven't worked out regularly in a few years. Of course, I didn't stop. I continued and even showed some of the o-lineman and a middle linebacker how to do a lower squat. (You start in a squatted position, go farther down and only come up to the squatted position.) So, I can already feel it in my legs and it's only been 5 hours. This is not a good personal sign.

2) I have taken B-Dub's advice and have decided to name my one playoff team that I will be rooting for. As much as I know it might make Beeze happy to hear me say the New York Rangers, I've decided to go with the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes beat the Predators on Monday 4-1 in their series. These guys play tough. They don't really have any names on the roster that jump out at me other than Shane Doan and he's like 35. They do have a good amount of Checks on their team, so it represents my heritage well. Also, our good friend Harvey is really pulling for them to win it while he wonders how much longer they'll be in town.

Most importantly, I can feel for a team and a city that are facing an uncertain future. I'm from a family that suffered watching the Art Modell pack up the Browns and move to Baltimore in the night. The players hadn't even had a chance to recover from any champagne hangovers when the NHL announced that the league had reached a tentative deal to sell the team on Monday and the story began to circulate Tuesday. 

The group in talks to acquire the team is lead by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison. The plus side here is that Jamison was in charge of an out of place hockey team. That team now averages roughly 5,000 more fans a night than the Coyotes. If Jamison can make a deal with the city of Glendale, it appears he'd like to keep the team in Arizona. So, Jamison gets a team that reached the Western Conference finals. Glendale gets to keep its team; a team the city has invested roughly $25 mil the last few season to keep afloat. Harvey gets to keep his team. That said, true to B-Dub's rules, I will be rooting for the Wings to kick the crap out of the Coyotes each and every time they meet next season.

So, I missed the Kentucky Derby this year. It really slipped my mind. This year had great things. An unlikely winner with a fun name, tradition, granduer...murder? A 48-year-old Guatemalan stable worker was found dead after the race. Oddly enough, his body was found a few stables from I'll Have Another. All signs point to foul play. Few leads have been found, but i know what these guys need...

I'm not a Yankee fan. I will admit that I was for one season, 1996, when they won their first title in some time and Cecil Fielder belted a crucial RBI to help get them there. What followed sickened me to my core and I am now among the ranks of Yankee Haters. Still, everyone can see that Mariano Rivera transcended the Yankees. He's an all-time great. That said, it'd be an awful shame for him to miss out on what was rumored to be his last season due to a freak accident while catching some shagged balls. Here's hoping he can come back next season and retire on his own terms.

Another guy who could be an all-time great has just managed to hit his first home run. Albert Pujols hit his first HR since heading west and ended one of the worst starts of his career. The odd thing to me is how many slow starts Albert has been having lately. I'm willing to chaulk some up to the uncertainties he's been facing in his contracts and pushing himself too hard to prove his worth. Still, Albert is not a young guy and I do hope this doesn't become a trend.

Well, that's it for this week. I need some icy-hot or something. Thanks for stopping by and reading. I leave you as always with your word of the week.

Kentucky Derby, noun