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I have been pondering lately whether the Sox should blow up the team in the next 5 weeks and plan for the future or try to make a run this year.

Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome are both free agents at the end of the season and well it’s possible that one or both are back, I don’t see it. Dye has been a monster the last few years and probably has one more relatively big contract in him. Thome likely will take a pay cut wherever he goes (he has to stay in the AL) but hasn’t been great this year. Jose Contreras and Octavio Dotel are also free agents next year. Bobby Jenks is again due arbitration and should get a hefty raise. With the exception of Contreras and Thome, the other guys should be tradeable for something. And the way Jose is pitching lately, who knows.

The Sox minor league system is by no means deep and their young players don’t look great so far this season, but they have a lot of bodies lying around. Between Getz, Ramirez, Beckham, Fields, Brandon Allen and Dayan Viciendo, the Sox should have no trouble filling the 4 infield spots (assuming Thome is gone and Konerko moves to DH). Most of those guys can play multiple positions and this isn’t even factoring in Lillibridge or Nix as longshots. In the outfield you SHOULD get Quentin back, you have first rounder Jared Mitchell eventually and Jordan Danks. Plus Podsednik could come back for cheap and Brian Anderson can still field and his .341 OBP isn’t all that bad (only Thome and Pods are better).

Pitching-wise, Buehrle, Floyd and Danks appear to be locked in. Clayton Richard has shown signs of life, we haven’t seen Aaron Poreda start yet and DJ Carassco could factor in at some point. Bullpens are so unpredictable that there isn’t much to lose. Linebrink is locked in and untradeable. I think you could give Thorton a chance at closing if you trade Jenks. And Egbert or Jon Link could play a role down the road.

With all the payroll freed up, the Sox could make a splash in the offseason. If they go crazy they could get Jason Bay. Coco Crisp and Carl Crawford could be out there. Matt Holliday is almost guaranteed to be a free agent.

The biggest problem with this plan is that there is a pretty big hole in the middle of the lineup. If Fields had emerged as the 30 HR threat I thought he would, I would feel better. I don’t see the Sox getting Bay or Holliday. Crisp is more their speed and could be an option as the leadoff hitter.

The downside to all of this is that the Sox are only about 5 games out right now and trading all those pieces basically forfeits the season. Plus you are hoping that a lot of young players pan out. But if you could get any viable pieces in trading any of those guys, you could stay competetive. Kenny Williams is not the kind of guy to blow up the team though, so it’s all moot. I expect him to do something in the next 5 weeks though.

A few months ago my friend Chris had been telling me that I should start playing Call of Duty: World at War on XBOX Live with him. I had only played online a few times and that was almost 3 years ago when I had just gotten my XBOX and had the free 30 days to use. I only played NCAA Football and it just wasn’t fun to me so that was the end of that. But I had another 30 days to use, so I signed up and let’s just say I got hooked.

I remember playing online way back in high school. We used to dial-up to this one guy and play Command and Conquer. We didn’t do it many times but it was pretty fun to play against someone online. My friend and I would team up and strategize and see if we could outwit the other guy. I never did any online gaming after that until college.

My freshman year roomate was hugely into Counterstrike. I knew what Half-Life was but had never heard of Counterstrike. So he got me into trying it and I was hooked. We played on the LAN and even setup a server. There were always people on (it was engineering school!) so you could always get a game. Before long we were having LAN parties and even clans for each floor! (We were DK7, Dark Knights of 7). I know of at least 1 person who dropped out exclusively because of CS. After that got old, I played some Diablo 2 and that was pretty much the only game I played online until post-college.

After I got out of college and had a job, I got bored and so my friend (the same one who got me into CS) and decided to start playing Battlefield 2. We were into for a while but had trouble finding times to play together so it didn’t last all that long. Fast forward a few years to playing Call of Duty.

It was a pretty fun 6 weeks. I wasn’t playing everyday, but almost and I put some serious hours in on the weekends. It was totally fun and for a while I could see how fun an addicting it was. But once you make it to level 65 (the highest level initially) and go to Prestige Level 1 (basically starting back over from level 1) the novelty starts to wear off. I certainly had improved, but I don’t think that I can get a whole lot better without logging even more time playing. And that just isn’t worth it. Add to it the wanks online and it gets tiring.

There are silver linings though. I had a lot of fun playing with friends and I would love playing with friends anytime. If I had enough peeps I would try to get some private games together. I already have a spot in an Online dynasty for NCAA Football 2010. I would love to play some co-op HAWX or even co-op CoD:WaW. I think in moderation online gaming could be fun. If nothing else CoD got me to buy an XBOX live membership, so I no longer have any excuses.

I really don’t understand why there is so much complaining around the web about the iPhone upgrade pricing. Apparently if you have an iPhone 3G you can’t just upgrade to the 3G S for $199. People are all up in arms about this. But I don’t understand why.

The iPhone 3G was subsidized by AT&T which is why it was $199 instead of $399. The deal with this is that AT&T picks up the difference (granted it’s not a full $200, but it’s something). AT&T can do this because over the two year contract you signed they will make up the money. But if in a year in you buy another subsidized phone, then AT&T probably hasn’t made back their money from the first phone. Hence the reason that they won’t give you the subsidized price but will let you get one at full price.

The thing is this is always how mobile phone companies have worked. If you sign a contract, you get a deal on a phone, and you can’t get another deal on a phone until your contract is up. Apparently a lot of people are crying foul because last year you could get the 3G at the subsidized price even if you already had the original iPhone. But the reason for that is simply because the first iPhone wasn’t subsidized, so AT&T wasn’t losing out on any money.

So why are people so pissed? This is how phone companies make money. I agree that it’s disapointing, but anyone who says they are pissing off their “loyal” customers make me laugh. If you were so loyal you would honor your contract. Most of the iPhone customers weren’t even customers 2 years ago.

</end rant>

So what do the Cavs do now? LeBron James didn’t get his ring, despite many people thinking he would. Now the Cavs are in a tough spot. If they could have proved to LeBron that they would win with this group then James would be more likely to stay beyond next year. By not winning, the pressure is definitely on them to win next year.

Assuming Illguaskas and Varejao exercise their player options for next year, and they would be foolish not to considering the economy, the Cavs will have 10 players under contract at about $20M less than this season. Most of that is thanks to Wally Szcerbiak’s expiring contract. The Cavs are in a good spot in 2010 as well. With Ben Wallace coming off the books then, that alone should be enough to make up the additional salary to LeBron. So it would seem to me that they can afford a big name this year. The question is, who?

The first name that comes to mind is Chicago’s own Ben Gordon. Gordon is a scorer, plain and simple. But he is undersized, doesn’t play very good defense and isn’t great at getting to the hoop. Plus, one could argue that with Mo Williams, Delonte West and Daniel Gibson this isn’t the kind of guy that the Cavs need.

What if they went short(er) term, with someone like Rasheed Wallace? Wallace gives this team fire, experience, and he is what they were missing in defending someone like Dwight Howard. The biggest question about Wallace is, how much does he have left in the tank and how much would he cost? He clearly isn’t the guy that led the Pistons to the finals, but he doesn’t have to be the man in Detroit.

What about Lamar Odom? Bill Simmons loves to talk about how Odom wants to live at the beach so that doesn’t help. And if he can’t win as the third option in Los Angeles, can he win as the 2nd option in Cleveland?

Carlos Boozer also comes to mind. Those that remember his horrible breakup with the Cavs though, might think that isn’t possible. Boozer gives them a better offensive option than anyone else they have, but what about defense? Is Boozer good enough on defense to defend the elite low post guys?

Shawn Marion is a free agent this summer. But he basically plays the same position as James. He is a pretty good defensive player and gets points. But he really doesn’t seem to be the answer.

So what about someone via trade?

The craziest move would be to get Zach Randolph. Crazy on so many levels, and would also never happen. Let’s face is, the Clippers are taking Blake Griffin #1 and they would love to dump Randolph. Randolph has 2 years left and MIGHT be a better low post offensive player than anyone the Cavs have, but most importantly he is available.

Michael Redd could be available. The Bucks have been struggling and Redd has one year plus a player option left. Joe Johnson is a free agent next year and could leave Atlanta. If the Cavs do a sign and trade they could add him maybe?

But now, let’s get really crazy…There were Vince Carter rumors last year. Carter has two years plus a team option left. The Nets are going to have to sign Devin Harris to a big contract soon and with Brooke Lopez they have some younger players to build around. Carter gives the Cavs another star.

The bottom line is that the Cavs are in a tough spot. If they go after a big name with big money and LeBron walks anyway next year, they are stuck with a big contract. But if they don’t do something LeBron is going to bolt. I think Gordon, Boozer or Rasheed will be here next year.

Two weekends ago Heather and I took a mini-vacation to Wisconsin Dells. I found a deal on TravelZoo, and if you haven’t subscribed to their newsletter, I urge you to, their weekly top 20 deals are phenomenal. The deal was two nights in a suite, admission to the indoor water park, food and drinks include for $200 total. With tax and tips it ended up costing us $250 for the following:

• Two nights in a suite
• 5 meals + snacks: 4 times at the buffet
• Admission to the water park
• All the booze we (read: she) could handle

Not bad, considering that two nights in a hotel usually cost $200. It was at Chula Vista which is a relatively new resort that is kind of away from downtown Dells. We went to Ho-Chunk casino the first night we were there. It wasn’t bad. I resisted the urge to play Craps and just kept Heather company while she gave me $20 to play penny slots.

We spent all day Monday at the water park. I had never been to an indoor water park before so I didn’t know what to expect. It obviously isn’t spread out much since it’s indoors and therefore you have to walk pretty much straight up to get to the slides. That kind of annoying for someone of my stature. There were some logistical things I thought they did wrong that kind of made it a pain to start using slides of different types. There were basically 5 different slides to ride and three of them you could go down with another person. Heather and I definitely had more fun going down together but I wasn’t that into the water slides, just as Heather predicted. The good news is that because it was a Monday it was not crowded and we never had to wait in line to go down. It was still fun though.

If you have never been to Wisconsin Dells, it’s the so called “waterpark capital of the world.” The town basically consists of waterparks, amusement parks, candy shops, hotels, eateries and touristy gift shops. We decided to do the Wisconsin Ducks boat tour. The Ducks are these amphibous vehicles that have been recomissioned. They were used in WWII to deliver troops from island to island. This company owns like 50 of them and gives scenic tours of the Dells. I had seen them on the Travel channel and our friends had gone and told us to go. It was like $25 a person and my biggest beef was that there wasn’t enough like interesting information. The guy giving the tour was a college kid who made a lot of silly jokes and pointed out weird looking rocks and trees and made up stories about them. I figured there was plenty of interesting things he could have told us, oh well I guess.

It was a nice vacation and a good deal. I would go back. Chula Vista is worth it if you can get a deal.

So I couldn’t have been more excited when I heard the news of a Blink 182 reunion supported by Fall Out Boy and Weezer. Unfortunately as the details have emerged I have discovered that Weezer and Fall Out Boy won’t be on the tour at the same time.This was travesty #1.

It doesn’t totally shock me, because megatours like that don’t happen much at all anymore. There is too much politics and whatnot involved. What made me think that it was possible was because this tour isn’t really a promotional tour for any of them. Blink’s new album is just being recorded and likely won’t be released until after the tour. So they will play a couple of songs and likely tour again in the Spring. Fall Out Boy put out a new album in November and just finished the tour for that album. Weezer had a new album about a year ago and I don’t think they are that close to another one.

Part 2 of the travesty is the dates. The Chicago date conflicts with the wedding shower and doesn’t feature Weezer, but Fall Out Boy (who I just saw) instead. I could go to Milwaukee but there is still no Weezer. The closest Weezer date appears to be St. Louis in September. Unfortunately that is a Thursday night. The good news is that the Cardinals are in town then, so I could parlay it into seeing another baseball stadium as well.

All in all it appears to be a big letdown. I have never traveled specifically to see a concert so this would be a first for me. I will probably buy tickets for both Milwaukee and St. Louis and decide later.

Every once in a while a concert comes along that you just couldn’t believe was possible. My first real concert ever was Weezer and No Doubt, probably my two favorite bands at the time. That was likely topped by Blink 182, New Found Glory and Alkaline Trio. I could go on and on.

But we may have the all-time winner. Just announced today, the Blink 182 reunion tour will have openers Weezer and Fall Out Boy. For those of you scoring at home, those last two are easily my top two all-time favorite bands. Blink 182 probably doesn’t crack the top 5, but likely the top 10.

It will be hard to ever top this and I can’t wait. I am crossing my fingers like mad that it doesn’t conflict with any wedding activities.

With the recent revelations about the forthcoming A-Rod book about Alex Rodriguez’s habits with tipping at Hooters made me want to comment on the matter. Actually, it’s more to put it into perspective.

Let’s say A-Rod gets a bunch of his friends together, goes to Hooters and goes crazy and ends up with a $200 tab. Now I haven’t been to Hooters in year (honest) so I don’t know how feasible it is to spend that much, but let’s just say he did. Being the stand up guy that he is, he of course is picking up the tab for everyone. So when he leaves his 15%, the tip ends up being $30.

Now if you take $30 and figure out what percentage that is of his 2008 salary ($27 million if you are scoring at home) and take that same percentage and apply it to someone who has a $100,000 salary, do you know what it equals?

12 cents. And that is if you round up. 12 cents!!!

That means that $30 to A-Rod is the same as 12 cents to like your average engineer with like 10 years experience. Regardless of how much you make though, do you know anyone that make a stink about 12 cents? I have a quarter on my desk right now that I would throw out the window if someone dared me to.

Yet another reason, A-Rod is so amusing.

Earlier this week I was  given the opportunity to sit in the bleachers at Wrigley Field for the Cubs vs. Reds game. Despite being a diehard Sox fan I have been to Wrigley several times. I had never sat in the bleachers but was always led to believe that it was basically the Holy Grail of baseball experiences. It most certainly was not. Now I will concede that it was a cold, April, weeknight game and that undoubtedly had something to do with it, but I am positive that wouldn’t have made the entire difference.

Honestly, they are the worst kind of bleachers you can imagine. Your butt is literally on the same level as the feet of the person behind you. Not only does this lead to feet nailing you, but knees go right into the upper back. Someone actually tried to tell me that this was “part of the experience” which I say is nutty. We had discounted tickets, but even so, for $25 I think I want better. The view of the action from the bleachers is really not that much different than any other park. But there is a downside. Wrigley’s scoreboard in center field is limiting enough, but the ones down the lines are downright crappy. During the inning pitch count was shown instead of the score and inning and other than balls and strikes and the jersey number of the batter you don’t get anything else. Most of the rest of my complaints are things not restricted to the bleachers, but rather the entire park.

There were a couple of other things that irked me. I was definitely led to believe that the bleachers was where the true “blue collar” fans resided, the diehards who couldn’t afford better seats. I found that most people weren’t paying attention to the game, and the ones that did cheered at odd times. By far the strangest part of the night was when the people near us (in the left field bleachers) started chanting “right field sucks” at the right field bleachers. Now this I didn’t understand. Isn’t everyone there supposed to band together to root for their team? Instead they shout insults at eachother?

I suppose its safe to say that I crossed an item off of my imaginary sports bucket list, but this definitely won’t be one that I repeat.

Whenever someone tells me they are thinking about getting a Mac or, when they ask me what computer to buy and I say Mac, generally the response is “but they are so expensive!” Microsoft liked to hammer this point home recently in a series of TV ads. Can you buy a PC for cheaper than a Mac? Absolutely. But can you buy a new car for $6,000? Yes, but would you?

Recently I have been pounding it home to people that you get what you pay for. There is a reason those $400 notebooks at Best Buy are $400. My family has had first hand experience. My sister had a Dell in college that she constantly had problems with and after 4 years was basically unusable. My mom has a notebook (Toshiba maybe?) that was on the cheap side and has had a bunch of problems as well. Now, is this related to the person using it? Perhaps. I use my computers far more than they do, but maybe I take better care of them? I think that is negligible.

I recently stumbled upon this article that tries to “debunk” the Apple tax. They price out a comparable Dell (vs. a 24 inch iMac) and arrive at the conclusion that Dell is $1500 more. Now before your jaw drops, I think they cheated a bit. They spent $150 to upgrade to Vista Ultimate, $200 to get Photoshop (trying to say that iPhoto is a comparable product) and adding WiFi for $70 which most people buying desktops don’t need. The Dell also has 6 GB of RAM vs. 4 GB, 750 GB hard drive vs. 650 GB and a nicer video card. When it’s all said and done there is no way that it’s $1500 cheaper, but, it a minimum it’s a few hundred dollars more to get the Dell.

But if you want to make the argument of buying the $400 Dell notebook, I will make some other points for you. I bought the original MacBook the day it came out in May of 2006. I believe I paid $1099 for it before my company discount. It has been nearly three years and according to the fairly accurate Mac2Sell, my MacBook is worth $460. That is a lot of money 3 years later. I think you would struggle to get anything for a 3-year old $400 Dell notebook, if it’s even running. Then there is the Operating System. Apple is about to release their 3rd version of their OS since I bought that computer in 2006. Vista has since come out since then, but Windows 7 isn’t that close yet. Not to mention the fact that OS X costs $100 for a full version instead of $99 for a pain in the ass upgrade version.

When it’s all said and done, I understand that some people just flat out can’t afford a Mac, but anyone who can and still tries to play the “expensive” card is just uneducated.