Opening Day Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations while watching the Red Sox / Royals on Opening Day.

I guess nothing says Royals baseball like REO Speedwagon who came out to home plate sans walkers to sing the national anthem. Meanwhile thousands of people in Boston simultaneously say, "Oh my God! Those guys are still alive?"... When I was out in Vegas I checked the odds to win the Masters. I know Tiger has to be the favorite but I was surprised that he was listed at 6/5. Its as if Vegas expects him to win it. I mean if Tiger is 6/5 - shouldn't you be able to get the rest of the field for even money?... When Tony Pena Jr. hit that triple in the second I had a vision of his dad in the Yankee clubhouse jumping up and shouting "That's my boy!" Tony Pena Sr. is the first base coach for New York... I don't care what the NFL says - the real reason the pre-season game between the Patriots and Seahawks was canceled was because the NFL realized that they set themselves up to be a pawn in human rights issues that are bound to become huge news before the Olympics in Beijing. The downside outweighed the pluses that could have come from a game prior to the Olympics... With his fifth K today - Schilling tied Aaron Sele for 38th place on the all-time Red Sox list for strikeouts. This may be the only time Aaron Sele's name is linked with any accomplishment of Schilling's... OK - after 5 innings its 5-1 KC with Schilling only going 4 innings. Curt's career ERA at Kauffman Stadium is now 7.03. That sucks and there's no way to explain it... I really hope that Schilling doesn't bring up his contract situation when he blogs after the game because right now I think most Red Sox fans would admit that the front office was right to wait to see how he does this season (4 innings against the Royals on Opening Day?)... Tony Pena Sr. was probably out of the lockerroom and at dinner by the time his son hit his second triple against the Red Sox... Just saying but the over / under for today's game was 9.5 runs and if you said the final was going to be 7-1 - wouldn't you have bet that the Red Sox were the 7? That's why they play the games...