Flotsam and Jetsam – Alabama Edition

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations from the great state of Alabama.

When I travel, I’m conscious of my “New England” accent. I don’t think about it when I go to the West Coast because so many people out there are from New England originally. I also don’t think about it in Las Vegas because my mind is usually otherwise occupied. When I travel to Washington, DC or to the mid-West – I’m very conscious about trying to pronouncing my “R”’s (ordering a “be-ear” instead of a “be-ahh”). When I go to the South or to Texas (is Texas part of the South?) – I pronounce my “R’’s and speak slower. This isn’t a slight on the folks from the South – it’s just that they talk slower and find it hard to understand fast talking Yankees… I put the over/under on the number of times that Gary Sheffield graces the back cover of the NY Post complaining about his contract at 25… I’m a big believer in vitamin C to help ward off colds. I always try to drink orange juice or cranberry juice when I travel. My 14-ounce bottle of OJ this morning had 180% of my recommended daily allowance of vitamin C but that’s not what I found interesting. When I checked the label – it said that the oranges used came either from Florida or from Brazil. That’s the first time I saw anything about oranges from Brazil… While waiting to make my connection flight out of BWI – I heard an announcement that said only ticketed passengers are allowed in the gate areas and that no knives or scythes are allowed on the planes. Scythes? Is it harvest season or something? That’s the first time I ever heard scythes mentioned in relation to airport security. Maybe my ears were playing tricks on me… The more I think of it – the more I think that unless some team loses a second baseman to injury in spring training then Tony Graffanino will be traded to Seattle. Just a hunch on my part but remember where you heard it first (Peter Gammons got famous by throwing things like this up against the wall)… Two more names I’m considering for my fantasy baseball teams are “the dipsomaniacs” and “Beds of Glorious Lard”.