Baby, it's too damn cold outside

Some quick hits whilst sitting in a warm living room on a cold winter night.

1. First, me hates winter. Few things I can honestly use the word "hate" with, but winter is one of them. Near the top o' the chart in fact. I don't mind cold so much, as I work in freezers all day long. I do prefer the heat. I like running outside, hopping in the auto, rolling down the windows, and driving with a nice breeze in my hair. I like driving speed limit, and not inching along at ten miles per hour for fear of sliding into the cars around me. I love mowing the grass. I love waking up to sunshine. I see no real purpose for snow. None. There are many places on the planet that survive without seeing snow. So what's the point of it all?

2. Beckham is coming to America. It's good for the Los Angeles Galaxy, it's good for Major League Soccer, it's good for the MLS broadcast partners, it's good for the ticket sales, and it's good for soccer in America. Is he worth $250 million ($200 million of which comes from incentives/commission)? Yep. To get that dinero, he'll definitely have to earn it (and judging from season ticket sales after his signing league wide, he's earning it). Will he alone make soccer big in the States? Nope. But it's another positive step for MLS. MLS made many mistakes early on, but started righting the ship in 1999 when they hired Don Garber (who is THE best signing in MLS history, not Beckham). Since then, it's been baby steps to getting a soccer foothold here. That's a good thing. Try to leap too soon, and it all falls down. That's what the NASL did, and where are they now? Becks is one big step, and is a good one on the path to soccer being accepted in America as a big-time sport.

3. Manchester United again drop points on the same weekend as Chelsea. This is not a good thing. Far too often in the last month, Chelsea have dropped points and Man United has failed to capitalize. Saturday, the defending champions lost to Liverpool. United had the shot at going up by nine with a win, or seven with a tie. So what happens? They lose in stoppage time to Arsehole. Still a six point lead, but if United want to win the title in May, they need to get points when Chelsea fails to do so. I'm just worried that failing to get the points now will come back and haunt the Red Devils. Can't expect Chelsea to continue to throw points away.

4. Getting DirectTV on Wednesday. A couple of reasons for making the switch from cable (lifelong cable guy here), and one of them was the chance to finally get Setanta Sports. I've already got Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV, but have heard only rave reviews of Setanta. Time to see if it lives up to the hyperbole.

5. Hillary is going to run for Prez. My gens have a better shot at winning in 2008. I know she has a dream here, but time to be realistic. The right wing hates Hillary more than anybody ever. bin Laden would have a better shot at winning their votes. They will smear her ten times worse than Kerry, and it won't matter if it's (Beyond Belief) fact or fiction. Not to mention she's a woman, which I can't see any woman getting elected at this point in time. So she's already lost any chance at the right wing vote or the chauvenist vote. And there's no guarantee she'll get all that many liberal votes. I don't even see her winning the nomination of her party.

And really, does any of this matter right now? The freakin' primaries don't start for another year.

6. There is no number six.

7. I'm officially coining the term "Hedbergian" in honor of the late, great Mitch Hedberg. Yes, I like toast too.

That's all I got. The boy's in bed, the wife is in bath, and it's time for to rest these old bones for the night.

Be seeing you.