I'm Grumpy and Have Benn up Since 4:45 AM. So Let's Play "Off The Bench"

Please welcome your host, Wink Martindale!

Haysooz Cristo, what am I doing up at 4:45 on a Sunday morning? I could try to explain, but it's just not worth it. Hell's Bells, I would have preferred to be just getting to sleep than waking up.

I haven't had a fun Saturday night in a loooong time (not that going to sleep at 4:45 is my bag). See unlike others, I'm a fairly responsible parent with a conscience.

I said it. Bite me. Like the title says, I'm grumpy. Steal stuff from me and see how I take it. I can only be a nice guy for so long.

Plenty of praise and bitching about Yankee Stadium: The Next Generation. Cliff Corcoran did a fairly detailed look here. This is the second review that mentions the brusqueness of the security. If the various Paul Blarts are going to be this nasty, it will just get ugly.

Personally, every single person I spoke with the other night was friendly and approachable. Still we were checked each time we went into the bleachers. What? the bleachers?

I don't know a single freaking person who likes "YMCA." It's lame...painfully lame. The Yankees shouldn't be doing the YMCA - a cheesy bit that began in 1996. It was OK for a few years (most of us ignored it) but now it's just sad. I noticed that I didn't hear "Cotton Eye Joe" the other night, so there's hope.

Thanks to my friends in the blogosphere for promoting "The Press Box." Charles Costello and Nick Fox both did the honors.

Could you take an album and rejigger it to be a batting order? No? Well Joseph at River Ave. Blues did just that.

Looks like I won't be a part of the 2009 Hudson Valley Renegades. I'll spare you the editorializing. Sean Ford, my good friend and "voice" of the Gades for 10 years is also out. That's a pity considering he's truly one of the best. The whole thing is disappointing.

I suppose there's a slim chance that I could wind up doing something Gades-related this year but I wouldn't bet on it. They were such a godsend for me last year and I was hoping for that release again. Damn.

The good news is that my summer will be open to lots of things with Sean ("The Son").

More from River Ave. Blues about the demolition and selling of the old Stadium.

OK, that's enough for now. Michigan State and North Carolina advanced to Monday night's championship game. Whatever. I didn't find either game all that fascinating as I was packing and moving stuff around the house that I used to "own."