These Christmas Songs Are Really, Really Bad

When I first did this a year or so ago, it was as a Top 10 list. But through some exhaustive research (Google, YouTube, asking my wife who is sitting in a chair across the room from me) I came to the sad realization that there are way more than just 10 songs worthy of organizing in a worst to best least worst to most worst list. You could spend all day and night looking up horribly bad Christmas songs.

A couple pieces of criteria each of these songs had to meet: First, they had to be real...no home recordings of some guy sitting in front of a Casio keyboard making up songs about Lance Berkman or something. They all must be real, actual recordings of songs by actual musicians. (Well, in most cases. You'll see what I mean when I get to them). Secondly, they all have to be specific. None of this "I hate that song, period" type of rulings because that'd be too easy. You're not going to see anybody saying that "Ave Maria" is a bad songvanyway, but I think we can all undoubtedly agree that the Andrea Bocelli version of it is infinitely better than Lady Gaga (if that actually existed). And if you disagree with that, please shut down your computer and sit in the dark and feel bad for yourself right now.

So here are some bad songs.

Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
Controversial for some right off the bat. As a kid, I swear I thought this song was hilarious. The funniest thing ever. It still has a little bit of a special place in my heart thanks to some good old nostalgia, but as an adult it's kind of a dark song to think about. And, well, you just kind of feel bad for the family. And Grandma. Poor, poor Grandma. Rest in peace.

I'm Gettin' Nuttin' For Christmas - Stan Freberg
With the amount of atrocities the kid in this song has committed, it's a wonder how he didn't get sent off to a boarding school at some point in the lyrics. Really? So you broke a bat over another kid's head? I mean that's not just bad but you're probably looking at a jail sentence, kid. That's pretty violent. Is that even possible to break an entire bat over another person's head?

I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas - Gayla Peevey
Being the father of a little girl, the only thing keeping this song from being any more terrible is the cute little girl voice. But seriously, what a spoiled little brat.

John Denver - Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)
Um. Tense.

Dominic The Donkey - Lou Monte
So I'm not trying to mock or belittle any of my friends that are of Italian descent, but I have a question: Who green-lighted this song? No, really. I'd like to see the Behind The Music on Lou Monte so I can get the real story behind this truly, truly outstanding song. Other than to appease Italians, why did this song have to be written? Special thanks to "Nick The Pizza Guy" for creating such an epic music video as well.

FUN FACT!!

You may have heard that back in 2011, the song made a comeback thanks to satellite radio and ended up on the UK Singles chart in the United Kingdom. But did you know that while it was around, the song actually made it as high as #3 (!!!) on the chart? Well it did. Crazy brits.

Augie Rios - Donde Esta Santa Claus? 
Nothing says Christmas like an overly stereotypical sounding hispanic child throwing in Spanish words and bad pronunciations of words like "eees" instead of is, and "Creesmas" instead of Christmas. And renaming two of the reindeer "Pablo" and "Pedro". This was 1958, however, and stereotypes were all the rage.

Augie Rios - Ol' Fatso
Another gem by little Augie. Or, as it's called in parentheses, Ol' Fatso (Get Those Reindeer Off My Roof).

                                     


Any novelty recording of Jingle Cats, Jingle Dogs, Jingle Pigs, Birds, Monkeys, Hippopotamuses, Giraffes, Yaks, etc.
Why? Why do these songs have to happen?

Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful
I really had no idea this even existed. Again, why did this have to happen? Why did Dee Snider actually think covering this would be a good idea? There could not be a worse individual picked to sing a song like this save for maybe Marilyn Manson.

I Got Socks For Christmas by some person who I have no idea
Okay, so this song starts out innocently enough, aided by some kind of amusing, Sims looking, Taiwanese news cast imitating animation. It sounds a little similar to "I'm Gettin' Nuttin" as well. But soon thereafter it quickly disintegrates into something really weird. Of course you got socks for Christmas, kid. You wrote "poop smells" on the wall of your house. I'm surprised you didn't get anything worse.

The Wombles - Wombling Merry Christmas
I have no idea what's going on right now, you guys.

Alice Cooper - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
AHHHHHHHH!! SANTA, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!

The Go-Go's - Christmas With A Dalek
I don't watch Doctor Who so I have zero knowledge about who or what a dalek is. But the fact that there's a Christmas song about this thing does very little to make me want to start.

Donna Daniels - Christmastime In Singapore
We're not world travelers by any means, but I don't understand what makes Singapore so great that it deserves an entire Christmas song to be written about it unless perhaps she was singing about her hometown of Singapore, Michigan. Also if you can stomach through long enough, listen for the very odd completely different song change at the 2:25 mark. It completely threw me off.

And finally...

Kevin McLeod - Wrapping Paper

I don't know anymore. I just don't. 

6 Months In

Maddie has reached the halfway mark to a year old. Six months. It's been fun watching you grow, little girl.

Here's the highlight reel:

Here Maddie is right before turning 5 months old, getting fitted for her helmet to fight the dreaded brachycephaly, and all that implies. Her Mom and I were pretty upset and nervous about things at first; constantly worrying about the decision we had made to do this and what the effects of it would be, not to mention how she would handle having to wear a helmet pretty much all day and night. We did a lot of praying that we had made the right move.

But.....

Helmet? What helmet?

Maddie has at least another month to go in the helmet, and outside of a few minor adjustments needing to be made here and there has been doing great. Even the people who look at her, a girl baby, wearing girl baby clothes, with a helmet that has a bow affixed to it in one of a variety of colors and STILL think she's a boy don't even bother me. What a little trooper.Along with that, over the course of the last week, Maddie's first tooth has begun to make her presence known.

Tonight was actually our first real hardcore bout with teething. There's something about baby crying due to teething that's different than baby crying due to being hungry, or being over-tired, or anything of that nature. It's specific type of cry that's just unique in its own way. Something along the lines of, "OUCH MOM AND DAD THERE'S A FREAKING TOOTH POKING THROUGH MY GUMS AND IT HURTS AND WHY AREN'T EITHER OF YOU DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT I HATE YOU" kind of crying.

We've also fought through a couple of bouts of diaper rashes along with a nasty infection "down there" but have made it through them with flying colors. I'll spare you pictures of that. But did you know a dab of  Maalox works wonders clearing up diaper rashes? We didn't either. But it does.

Solid foods.

In the last month, we've began the transition over to solid foods. Here were are enjoying some bananas, mashed with oatmeal. This oatmeal has bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Sorry.

Maddie also had quite the busy baseball season, appearing in 9 games on the year and finishing with a respectable record of 6-3. Here she is with our friend Fred, who is the greatest usher in the history of ushering. Is ushering really an verb? The correct answer to that is yes, because this is my blog. 

One thing we quickly discovered with Maddie was that this kid LOVES being outdoors. So it's a good thing we don't play our home games in some domed, artificial lighting Tropicana Field looking crap stadium.

Anyway...a few things I've learned in the first 6 months of Maddie's life. Or more precisely, things I am continuing to learn in the first 6 months of her life.

• Be patient with her: She's a baby, you fool.

• Talk to your baby all the time. And we do. All. The. Time. About pretty much anything. From asking her how much she enjoys the toy she's playing with, to telling her what her poop looks like. Just the other day, I started telling Maddie about sabermetrics and why the designated hitter is necessary in baseball. She's going to have quite the interesting group of friends when she gets older. 

• You're going to worry about some weird things. Like the fact that she hasn't pooped enough. Or that she's pooped too much. Or is she eating enough? Or why hasn't she started crawling yet? And are we doing enough tummy time? Or what's going on with her hearing in one ear? Or why does she keep spitting up?

• Babies, man. Babies. Which leads me into my next point....

• It's a fact of life that sometimes babies are going to cry, and sometimes you're not going to be able to do a thing about it. Except for maybe, you know, also cry.

• Go with your gut. That's how you learn what it takes to be a parent. 

Above all else, this has been the most fun we've had in our lives. Through it all crying, the times up late at night (which there haven't been many of thankfully because this kid sleeps like a champ), the frustrations, the scary trips to specialists.....they're all worth it just to see that smile and hear that laugh. 

I'm sure I'll say a lot of these same things again when you turn one in another 6 months from now (oh my God). Thank you Madeline Kara, our little baby girl, for coming in to our lives. It's crazy to think that a little more than 6 months ago, I was trying to imagine what life would be like with this new little person taking up a huge part of it. 

And now....

 I can't imagine what life would be like without it. 

To Maddie

You came to us on April 30th of this year, a Tuesday afternoon to be exact. 

7 pounds, 9 ounces. Nice tan. Lots of hair. 

Now, I've always been a crier. Sometimes during sad moments in life, or an emotional moment in a movie, sometimes at sports. I'm a wuss like that.

But when we saw you for the first time, and I felt those familiar tears filling up in my eyes, it was so different and so real that I can't accurately describe it. 

Although you've only been with us a month, little by little we're learning something new about you almost every day.

Among the limited amount of things we've determined you enjoy so far...

A good swaddling. (Your Mom and Dad are working on that one still.)

Riding in your car seat. 

A good bath. 

Well, most of the time. 

But you're usually a pretty big fan of afterwards. 

And like most babies, you also like to cry a lot. 

I mean, a lot.

I mean, A LOT.

ALRIGHT ALREADY, WE GET IT.

OK, that's just not fair.

It's funny the things you make us worry about now that we are parents. Sure there's always going to be bills to pay, jobs to deal with, repairs to make around the house. Those are givens in life.

But instead of sports, it's worrying that you haven't pooped enough today.

Instead of the Rangers, it's your weight and whether you're gaining enough.

Instead of pretty much anything that once was fun to us, it's looking up and researching what your strollers' safety ratings are.

These are the times in which we live.

But aside from all that, we can't be more proud to be your parents. We'll always be there for you, no matter what. We'll always take care of you, no matter what.

And above all else....

We will always love you. 

Madeline's nursery

Whew.... What a freakin relief to have her nursery "done."  Everything had been hung and up for a couple of weeks, but I still had so many piles of stuff everywhere while I was procrastinating on figuring out how I wanted everything organized.  But today, one giant exhale.  It's done.  All of her clothes are washed, everything is put away, and the closet is actually relatively neat (although no photographic evidence.)

I envisioned the nursery to be shabby chic and girly without it being pink throw up.  (This is when I mention, so if baby # 2, (whenever that may be) is a boy, I can make some minor changes and have it work.  This is when John says "can we please get through Baby #1 before you start talking about #2??")  It really turned out as good, if not better than I had imagined.

Furniture: God bless Canton. The dresser and wardrobe were a steal.  Not to mention the wardrobe allows me to have so much more space available in the closet.  The swivel rocking chair was a $30 craigslist find.  I had originally planned on having it recovered, but like having one pop of pink in the room, and again - I can always change my mind and have it recovered later.  The side table was also a craigslist treasure--a table that is actually still sold at PB Kids, for 3x what we paid for it.  The crib - credits go to Yiayia and Papou for that.  Love the vintage Jenny Lind style, it's a perfect fit in the room.

Accessories: God bless Pinterest. I hacked the Shel Silverstein gallery from someone - thank you.  The curtains add just the right touch - thanks Oma and Opa!  The metal "M" - again, score 1 for Canton.  The big white frames with fabric - thank you random Pinterest-er.  The mobile and lampshade - product of a Pinterest-y crafty morning with Oma and Aunt Sally.  The crib bedding was definitely a custom splurge, but justified by the awesome deals we got on everything else, I didn't lose too much sleep over it :)

There are lots of thanks, but the 4 most important:
Barbs: Thank you for your handiness.  Thank you for coming over with your toolkits (yes, people, she has multiple), drilling and helping me make sure everything is level.  The room would definitely not be as precise without you.
Kiley & Sally:  Thank you for putting up with my 5 bajillion texts asking for advice.  I promise at some point, I will be able to make a decision without y'all's input.
John:  Thank you for (within reason) letting me have free reign.  And for pretending to care when I asked for your input.  I love you.

my attempt at the panoramic shot

The 4th Annual 12 Days Of Baseball Movie List

This year marks the fourth consecutive year of us doing this bit. It started as just that, a bit. And in many ways it still is.

But it's also become a ritual of sorts for us, another of the annual rites of passage each year when winter becomes spring: Flowers and plants bloom, pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, John and Mel watching a bunch of baseball movies in a row.

In fact, it's gotten so serious over the years that when I had originally balked a little over going through with it again this year (due to, um, other pressing issues) the reception from my wife was not well. But last night, while watching the odd television viewing combination of the US getting knocked out of the World Baseball Classic/The Bible/Shipping Wars, the 4th annual 12 days of baseball movies list was finally arranged and finalized.

Quick rehash of the premise: There's not really much to it, only that here are the 12 baseball movies we are going to watch, a la "12 Days Of Christmas" style. We are starting at a date 13 days before the start of Opening Day in MLB, and ending with the final movie on the evening before it. (Kind of ruins things that the Rangers open the season in Houston this year, but such is life.) It isn't necessarily in an order of favorites but more in an order of convenience (example: Mel works until 7 Mondays through Wednesdays, so we'd be less susceptible to watching The Ten Commandments on one of those nights and probably more likely to watch Hot Tub Time Machine or something).

Ok, here we go.

3/19 - The Bad News Bears (original)
Billy Bob Thornton did a good enough job during the remake of this, but I thought he came off less like how Morris Buttermaker should be portrayed and more like a version of Bad Santa, heavy drinking and having sex all the time. Give me Walter Matthau.

3/20 - The Sandlot
Come on, say it with me now.

FILM FUN FACT: There were actually two sequels to this movie to come out for some reason: The Sandlot 2, and The Sandlot 3 which was called The Sandlot: Heading Home. That one also starred former 90210 great Luke Perry playing an arrogant Dodgers superstar named Tommy "Santa" Santorelli who gets beaned in the head DURING BATTING PRACTICE and finds himself back in the sandlot he grew up playing baseball in during the 1970's. Seriously, how do you get beaned in the head during batting practice? Is everybody blindfolded?

The kid who played "Squints" in the first one is also in this again. Also apparently so is John Kruk. 

The other point I want to make about this is, I have never seen a movie starring a baseball player whose nickname is "Santa" to be anything other than an unmitigated disaster.

(Editor's note: I just realized how wrong looking that screencap from the part where Squints fakes drowning so he can kiss the lifeguard looks. Sorry. I feel bad about it but not bad enough to change it though.)

3/21 - Pride Of The Yankees
(Insert joke about how you thought John and Mel hated the Yankees.) FILM FUN FACT: As the story goes, the homerun that Babe Ruth hit for the kid in the hospital is said to have gone to center field. But when the ball is hit in the movie, its trajectory is towards right field yet the announcer says it's heading towards center field, so there is clearly no way the ball could have gone to center field and SO YEAH SUCK IT YANKEES!!

3/22 - Angels In The Outfield
Long before Joseph Gordon-Levitt was infiltrating the subconscious dreams within peoples dreams that are within peoples dreams that are within peoples dreams that are also within peoples dreams, he was starring in this. Needless to say he's come a long, long way. 

Mel and her two sisters all have this movie memorized verbatim. They could probably turn the movie on, close their eyes, mute it, and still recite all the dialogue from it word for word. I wasn't that way at first, but after four years of being married and 6 years of knowing her I'm almost the same way as well. 

I've also often thought this movie had the most fake named baseball players in it than any that I've ever seen. To name a few: Whitt Bass. Danny Hemmerling. Triscuitt Messmer. Really? Triscuitt?

Kit "Hit Or Die" Kesey. That's an interesting one, because he didn't die after he strikes out. I wonder what went wrong there. 

Ranch Wilder, and don't forget the two very generic and stereotypically named hispanic players on the team as well: Pablo Garcia and Jose Martinez. Can't leave them out. 

3/23 - Moneyball
A new entry to our list this year, I used to like this movie a lot more until the Rangers crapped all over themselves at the end of last season and allowed the A's to sweep them. I still like it, except now every time I see it a little part of me dies inside knowing what Oakland is capable of. 

3/24 - Baseball: The Tenth Inning
This is a little bit of a curveball (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! LOL LOL!!!!!!) since this a documentary and not a movie. But we'll allow it. 

3/25 - The Rookie
This movie is in the pantheon of movies that I stop down to watch when they're on television even though we already own them along with Animal House, Pure Country, and Major League to name a few. Also, the scene where Dennis Quaid finds out he's making the big leagues and calls home to tell his son Angus T. Jones still gets me every time. 

Plus we always love to watch this and point out the factual inaccuracies when Jimmy Morris shows up at the Ballpark In Arlington for the game and walks right in through the front gate. And NOBODY'S THERE! It's like 5 o'clock in the afternoon with a night game in a few hours and there's not a soul in sight! And not to mention the fact that he's warming up in the wrong bullpen! 

But I still love this movie.  

3/26 - Fever Pitch
What is with the mouth expression that Drew Barrymore is making in that picture? It's always bothered me. 

Anyway, this movie is significant because Jimmy Fallon most accurately represents how we both feel about sports. Also, I think during the first or second year I had Rangers season tickets, I too tried to organize a group of friends who would be interested in going to games with me and did everything but set up a big poster board in my bedroom. The only problem was I had no friends. And the Rangers were terrible. I guess it helps if the team is actually good. 

3/27 - A League Of Their Own
FILM FUN FACT (kinda): Does anybody remember the League Of Their Own TV series that ran on CBS in 1993? It didn't even make it through a full baseball season, lasting from April until only August. If it were to be on right now I know it would have at least two viewers. (Us.)

3/28 - Bull Durham
FILM FUN FACT: The above picture makes me crazy. 

3/29 - Field Of Dreams
Whereas the Kirk Gibson walkoff homerun off Dennis Eckersley in the 1988 World Series really thrust my baseball mind into motion, this movie really got my baseball movie watching mind going in that same fashion. And nothing has been the same since. 

Also, if you want to get my Dad to cry, show him this movie. It works every time. 

Also, I've always thought that the way Kevin Costner is standing in this movie poster looks really uncomfortable. 

3/30 - The Natural 
That soundtrack. Few things are greater than the soundtrack to this movie. It pretty much is single-handedly the reason why I went and made a sports playlist on iTunes one day a few years ago. Sure it's gotten gummed down with the likes of AC/DC, Rock and Roll Part II, and other arena rock songs you'd hear at sporting events over the years. But this is what got it all started. 

And on March 21st, 2009, we walked in to our wedding reception to it. At the Ballpark. After Chuck Morgan just announced our names as a newly married couple. 

Pretty. Freaking. Awesome. Still. 

Anyway, there you have it.

I think one of the most exciting parts about this annual yearly ritual of sorts is that soon we'll have another little branch of the family tree to share all of this with.

Screenings will be shown nightly at the Vittas residence unless otherwise noted, so if anybody would like to come and join us one night they are more than welcome to.

Just bring the popcorn.

Ruminations on the Oscars and other things

First and foremost, my lovely wife reminded me that as of today we are roughly T-minus two months and counting until Baby Vittas is scheduled to make her appearance. 

That. 

Is. 

Exciting.

Like, really exciting.

So, the Academy Awards were Sunday, and everybody was happy with that. 

I had a couple thoughts I would like to share even though I/we got tired and went to bed at approximately 9:45 on Sunday night. 

I'm not really what you would consider a film connoisseur or anything of that nature, so I can't really comment on any of the films that were nominated for Best Picture. In fact, of the ones nominated we only saw Les Misérables, which of course I thought was awesome, and I'm sure my Dad agrees. If you asked him I'm sure he'd tell you it was the greatest motion picture ever made. Right up there with, I don't know,  Field of Dreams. Or perhaps 1941. 

(By the way, still can't get over John Travolta butchering the name of the film during his time at the microphone. Stop it. Stop talking. Did your scientology Gods tell you to say it like that? Stop it right now.)

We also saw The Impossible, and it confuses me why it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture yet made me cry more than any movie I can ever remember seeing. Probably Mel too (although she may not want to admit it). 

I thought Seth MacFarlane did an above average job. Could he have been better or funnier? Sure, I guess so. But then we probably all could. 

The problem with hosting the Academy Awards is its become almost a hobby to watch the show and nitpick every little thing that's done, said, or sung instead of sitting there and enjoying the monologue and the rest of the show for the giant waste of time and beating that it usually is. You can blame Twitter  and the internet for that. 

Anne Hathaway won Best Actress for her role in Les Miz, which I thought was very deserving. She played her heart out in that movie. Her version of "I Dreamed A Dream" gets my vote as Biggest Guts Ripping Out Performance Of The Year. 

(Weird, sorry.)

And then we went to bed. Didn't really want to stay up until 11:00 at night. 

Incidentally, I was out walking the dog earlier and was listening to the Les Miz soundtrack when I came across what I consider to be among the greatest three minutes and fifty four seconds in movie soundtrack history. 

(Spoiler alert: If you haven't seen the movie, and don't want me to spoil things, don't click the next two links. Pretty much just stop reading now.)

It happens maybe 20 minutes into the film when Hugh Jackman sings "Valjean's Soliloquy." Again, just another gritty and heart-wrenching performance, this time by Hugh, who has a really good voice. Here, Valjean comes to grip with the fact that he's a thief and a horrible person and it's time to change. Very awesome. 

So listen to that, hear the way it ends, and then imagine it seamlessly transitioning (which I know will be hard because you'll probably get bogged down and have to fight through one of YouTube's commercials)...

Into this.

A big, dramatic, swooping scene going from the past into setting up the beginning of the rest of the story. 

Boy let me tell you, when we saw this and I heard those strings and that brass, that right there got me fired up for movie watching. I think I turned to Mel in the theater at TinselTown Grapevine and gave her one of those smiles and all-knowing nods the way we do right somebody hits a clutch three-run double (sports analogy). 

This isn't even mentioning the opening scene of the movie, which has another moment like that as well. 

That goes into "At The End Of The Day", which is an important song itself as well seeing as how it introduces everyone to Fantine and all her wheels-offedness. 

(Okay, you can start reading again).

Anyway, that's enough for now, so I think I'll take my crazy Gene Shalit costume off and wrap this thing up. 

Except I'm not really sure the proper way to end this. 

So. 

........

Um. 

Here's a very stereoptyical picture of a French person. 

Bye for now. 

The One Where I Talk About Josh Hamilton

Vent session commence.

Sometimes it's still hard to believe that this is Josh Hamilton as we know him now.

Not this Josh Hamilton anymore. 

Or this one. 

Or the one that was making Mel and I get misty-eyed seeing him be interviewed on the field after winning the pennant in 2010. 

Sure he still will be all those things in our memories, and those will last a lifetime. And we will pass them on to our daughter one day.

Still, the memory that stands out now is the one of him cutting up and making jokes about how the Rangers "should have put a ring on it" as far as the Rangers' efforts to re-sign him to a contract go. 

So with that said, let's be honest here for a moment. 

That little tidbit that came out today/yesterday about the notion that Arlington isn't a baseball town in and of itself is not really that big a deal to me. All he was doing was answering a question by giving his opinion. No one can, or should, fault the guy for that. Frankly, it's not really that far from the truth, the ENTIRE STATE isn't really a baseball first kind of place. It is, and probably always will be (unless something changes drastically) a football state. D/FW is a Cowboys town regardless of what some stupid poll shows. That's just the way it is. 

So I tend to agree with the fact that yes, Arlington probably isn't a baseball town. It would be cool if it was, but it's not. And yes, Rangers fans are probably a little spoiled by the last couple of years. 

So now that that's cleared up....

Let's take a look back at some of the things Josh Hamilton has had to deal with during the course of his career in Texas. Again, I preface all of this by saying without question that the man is absolutely entitled to his own opinions:

He's had demons come back into his life.

Twice.

He's gotten beaten up. 

And played a role in an incomprehensible tragedy.

And at no point, in my recollection, did fans abandon his side through any of that, yet the guy has the gall to bring up the fact, again, that he was booed a lot last season. 

My favorite comment of that link up above was this:

It’s just like last year, when I got booed after going 2-for-4 in a game, driving in a couple runs, and I struck out the other two times. 

Good. Grief. 

Again.

Please just shut up. 

Hey, you also played like crap for three months.

Hey, you also dropped that ball in Oakland. 

And hey, you also went 0 for 4 in the Wild Card game and saw a grand total of 2 pitches. (I think it was more like 8, but whatever.)

I guess what I'm getting at in all of this is: It is irresponsible and just plain ridiculous of the guy, even if he is just generalizing, to talk this way about the same fans who stood by his side through the trials and tribulations in his life during his five years here. 

Yes, Arlington may not be a baseball town in the same sense that New York, Boston, or Philadelphia are. It's not going to ever be until some World Series titles begin to accumulate here. 

And God help us all if the Cowboys win another Super Bowl before the Rangers win a title.

But here's what Deadspin had to say in regards to the points Josh is trying to make earlier today. 

First, that Rangers fans are bandwagoners and shouldn't have booed him when he struggled because he brought them a pair of pennants. Second, that any true baseball fan won't boo him when he returns in a division rival's uniform, because of the good times they had together. The accuracy of both of these statements is up for debate, but the point is now moot: the surest way to get booed is to publicly say you shouldn't be.

Yes.

There's going to be tough times this season in Arlington and there's a lot of question marks. But this is a better team in the long run without him on it. No question.

End vent session.