Neck and Redneck

After enabling more missiles in one inning than Raytheon did during the Cold War, you'd think Doug Davis'd be the one with a stiff neck, but alas, ace Brandon Webb is the hurler so afflicted.

"I really don't have full range of motion, so I haven't been able to throw my pens...Hopefully we'll be able to play some catch before too long."

Before too long? A cheerful "real soon" from the affable Kentuckian would've helped our morning joe go down better.

"It actually feels a bit better today", he said. "After a few days, it hadn't gotten a whole lot better. We've been getting some treatment, seeing if it will loosen up."

This is beginning to sound like a royal pain in the neck for baseball's sinkerball king. The good news, if any, is that his recovery time should be accelerated by the fact he's sixteen years younger than Randy Johnson, a middle aged man easing his way back into the workforce following hospitalization.   

********************************************************************************

My son's junior high class is Peoria bound as I write, on a prepaid class trip to the ballpark. Their seats, more accurately their bony rears, will sizzle on some grassy baked berm, where today's skin damage index approaches 96'. He's got a hat, and hopefully they'll find some shade, if it's not too crowded. People thought I was kidding, going off about the bad weather this time of year, but this is what burns me up about the new Cactus League.

Clearly, they cant control the weather - and stupid Dad should've applied sunscreen to junior while he was eating his morning Cheerios - but ten years ago, this little incident wouldn't have happened. The school wouldn't have prepaid tickets, because you could typically walk up to the box office at gametime and have a decent shot at some shade seats. Those are mostly season tickets now. Even more likely, free from the burden of prepaying, the school could have simply rescheduled their outing after perusing today's forecast. Harder to do when you've shelled out bucks, money you wont get refunded because the game, such as it is, will be played. Not quite the same as a rainout.

More like a burnout.

Tonight, the busy boy and I will attend the Suns - Pistons game, courtesy of his thoughtful mother's Christmas gift. The tickets cost a little more, but it'll be worth it to experience a fiercely contested game featuring one of the NBA's most exciting teams in a generation.

We'll be burning up.

In the shade.

***************************************************************

Update 5:50 pm:

The official temp topped out at 99.

The boy doesnt appear to be badly burned, however he confirmed that his class was unable to procure shaded seats and relayed that the best five minutes of the game were when a sliver of shade from a nearby electrical pole provided a brief respite to him and his mates. He doesnt remember the score or who won, only that the game was "hot" and "boring". We're off to the Purple Palace. Shazzzzaammm!