This Is Boston, Not LA

As I sit in sunny Long Beach, waiting for my car to be delivered, here are a few things that I'll miss about home:

-Stump Trivia at Joe Sent Me. The Tuesday ritual. It took a while, but it was finally a place for me where people knew who the hell I was when I came in. What I liked to drink. What I liked to eat. Cute, familiar waitresses. The best trivia jockey in the biz. And many well played games by the team. I wish we had kept track of the winnings over the years.

-Sports. The stereotype is that Californians don't really have to care all that much about professional sports because there's so much to do all the time. Why bother rooting for a team that could crush your spirits when you could just go to the beach? Then again, lax interest in baseball around here means that I could get bleacher tickets on the day of the game for probably $10.

I'll also miss WEEI, obnoxious warts and all. It was the loud background chatter to my day.

One other thing: I'm not looking forward to getting up at 10:00 am on Sundays to watch the Pats play.

-The seasons. Man, I'll miss the seasons. I won't miss the torrential rain that's been coming down on New England this past week, but I'm gonna miss the fall, when the air is cool and crisp and you can smell the leaves for the last time. I'm gonna miss the winter and the cold, cold air. The beginning of spring -- what Massachusetts has of it -- when baseball starts and the sky is sunny and blue. Out here in California the weather is great 90% of the time. I find that a little boring.

-Dunkin Donuts.

-The Bull & Finch. Ah, what a place. Remember that time when Norm sat there and drank beer? Or when Woody was dumb or Sam was charmingly incorrigible? Oh wait, I hate Cheers.

-Most of all, I'll miss my very excellent friends and my terrific family. Stay well guys, and I'll see you all in September. Until then, Qapla'.

Good riddance / 'Ted Sarandis' = 'Satan is redd'

Ted Sarandis is finally off the WEEI airwaves. Gone is the moralizing, his strange, creepy optimism and enthusiasm, and the college sports force feeding. He seemed to treat his show like a bully pulpit -- there was no actual discussion. Callers would have to grovel and kow tow to get any air time, or Ted would rudely speak over them and then summarily dismiss the contrarian by hanging up -- no opposing view points on his show.

He also didn't do his homework. Ted seemed to make up stats if they suited his argument or make vague generalizations without any basis. I remember one instance earlier in the season when the Oakland A's pounded the Sox 13-6. Immediately after the game, Ted tried to absolve the Sox pitching staff by claiming the A's were a great offensive team, despite the fact they ranked near the bottom of the league (at the time) in runs scored, batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage. I'd like to think that anybody who called up to point out his error was yelled at and hung up on.

What I'll miss are the occasional gems of his lunacy -- his flat and halting monotone delivery suddenly erupting into bombast when provoked.

"I'm not gonna talk to a jerk like you!!!"

"I don't get what's going on in your brain."

It's the end of an era (thank God).

John Havlicek...of the Patriots???

I love Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti, the Pats veteran radio announcing crew, but they're slowly descending into John Madden/Pat Summerall/Tim McCarver territory. It's barely into the second half of the game against the Chargers, and Santos has already called Mike Vrabel 'Steve' three times, while Cappelletti noted that Pats coach 'John Havlicek' was pacing down the sideline. Havlicek...Belichick...similar, I know. But c'mon guys, this is your own team!