A great day

Spring training begins for nine teams with the words "pitchers & catchers report."

The Dodgers report on Friday. Their first spring game is on March 2.

Opening day is April 1.

Today should be a national holiday.

(Sigh) Hopefully I'll have a different reason to get excited about February 14 next year...

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Heroes vs. 24

I've been a huge fan of "24" ever since it premiered in 2001 and I think Jack Bauer is the greatest character on TV.

Like last year, this season started in January with no repeats until the finale in May. I love the concept and obviously a lot of other people do, too. Otherwise, other shows wouldn't be copying the uninterrupted season concept. ("Lost" and "Prison Break" are the two that come to mind, even though they do uninterrupted half-seasons.) What the scheduling tweak did was get me to watch another show at 9:00 on Mondays during the fall.

I started watching "Heroes" and was hooked almost immediately. Unfortunately, with the return of "24" I now have two shows on at the same time. I've sided with Jack Bauer and am watching "24" at 9:00 and taping (no, not TiVo-ing) "Heroes" so that I can watch it at 10:00.

Now "Heroes" pretty much bores me. I don't know if it's because I'm watching it immediately after the most exciting hour on television, but it doesn't seem like anything happens during an episode of "Heroes." Jack Bauer can diffuse a bomb, kill a hundred terrorists, and torture his brother in the time it takes Hiro to get locked in a storage closet.

So far, "Heroes" is beating "24" in the ratings, but not by much. I'm curious as to how long that lasts. If too many weeks go by with nothing happening on "Heroes," I can't imagine people will keep watching. I may even stop taping it.

All fall, "Heroes" hyped its catchphrase to get people to watch. "Save the cheerleader, save the world." Well, the cheerleader's safe. She's been safe for a while. Now Jack Bauer is saving the world for a sixth time.

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More SoCal driving insanity

A few months ago, I was surprised to see a "student driver" car doing at least 90 on I-10. Today topped that.

I was on the onramp to I-10 by my apartment. The onramp is metered with a stoplight to control traffic flow, so you're stuck waiting for a few seconds before the light changes to green and two cars are allowed to go.

Waiting for my light to change, I look over at the three people in the car next to me and I see the driver smoking a pipe... not the tobacco kind. I could smell the pot from my car.

I may sound naive, but I didn't expect to see someone smoke while driving. Yet there she was, out for a drive with her friends at two in the afternoon and she couldn't wait until she got where she was going to get high. Usually when people are stoned, they aren't in that much of a hurry to get anywhere...

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Woohoo!!!

I've gotta say I was a little nervous before the game started. When I heard it was going to be rainy, I thought the Bears would have an advantage since they play outdoors in the cold, while the Colts play in a dome. The opening kickoff, missed extra point, and missed field goal didn't help alleviate my concerns.

But in the end, things were good as Peyton Manning and the Colts won the game 29-17. And honestly, it wasn't that close. Based on the stats, the Colts absolutely dominated the game. They just couldn't get the ball in the end zone as often as they should've.

Either way, the good guys won. Go Colts!

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UT/Florida... Super Bowl style!

In case you hadn't heard, the Super Bowl is tomorrow between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. People have been talking about the fact that it is Indiana vs. Illinois for Mid-west bragging rights. Also making some news have been Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, the first two black head coaches in the Super Bowl.

I've been looking at this a little differently. This game gives us the opportunity to bring up one of the best rivalries in college football: Tennessee and Florida. There is one Vol in the Super Bowl: Indy's quarterback, Peyton Manning. There are four Gators, all of whom play for Chicago, including QB Rex Grossman.

In case you have any doubts... I'm rooting for the Colts. A huge part of it is because of Peyton Manning, but a lot of it is because I'm sick of the Gators, especially now that they've won the basketball and football national championships. I don't want my Florida friends to have anything else to brag about!

Go Vols! Go Peyton! Go Colts!!!

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