Well the weekend is upon us, which means I work 11-8 on a gorgeous Saturday. Gorgeous yet cold — I think the high is forecast somewhere in the 50s. It is definitely good to see the weather make a nice rebound after two straight days of rain in which we got 6-9 inches over the span of 36 hours.

What really amazes me about this place (Springfield in general) is the number of people that tried to drive through flooded roads after every single news outlet, radio station and blog in town was screaming for people not to. I don’t know what possesses people to think they can drive through a flooded road, but I can honestly say I have no sympathy for people who get stuck after they’ve been warned. Stupid is as stupid does and KY3 even had a report on Tuesday about a guy who tried driving a minivan through standing water on a road. Got his van up and running again but at what cost? Having his story told for about 200,000 people to potentially see, shake their heads collectively and call the guy “Idiot” all at the same time.

The point being, don’t drive through flooded roads. There, I said it too. Because some roads around here are STILL flooded. Like Hwy 60 in Rogersville.

So how about that NCAA Tournament? After a first day that included Belmont nearly pulling off the upset of Duke, every higher seed in Tampa fell yesterday. Western Kentucky beat Drake on a 3 at the buzzer in OT, San Diego beat UConn on a jumper with 1 second left in OT, Siena pummeled Vanderbilt, and Villanova shocked Clemson. All of the winners I just mentioned were seeded 10 or lower. Thank God for upsets.

Only things I’m not happy about are Oregon squandering a 13-point lead in losing to Mississippi State by 10 (then again I can’t be ultra-disappointed because they would have gotten smashed by Memphis tomorrow), and Gonzaga letting Stephen Curry walk all over them in a 82-76 loss. That leaves Washington State as the sole team I have my wholehearted support behind, and they’re in decent shape if they can play defense like they did against Winthrop in the second half.

Of course, the NCAA Tournament only serves as a foreboding sign that basketball season is almost over. That means, cue up BASEBALL SEASON.

And what a baseball season it is to look forward to. Everyone around here is crazy about the St. Louis Cardinals, but I say Cardinals Shmardinals. Go Seattle Mariners!!! We’ve made a few key additions, especially a couple pitchers (Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva) that should help us at least replicate the 88 wins we had last year. Our only true competition in the AL West will be the Angels because Texas perennially sucks and Oakland is rebuilding. I look forward to taking a trip up to Kansas City in July to watch my Mariners beat up the hapless Royals.

Locally, we have the Springfield Cardinals to cheer on and I like heading out to Hammons Field to catch the games. Top notch ballclub who really do what they can for the fans to keep them interested and involved with the team. In fact they’re hosting the STL Cardinals for a couple exhibition games that have, needless to say, been long sold out. I think I might be headed to a few Springfield games this year — the fan experience for AA Springfield is a lot better than it was for the AAA Beavers when I lived in Portland.

Enough about sports…I’m outta here.

Oh, and one last thing everyone, enough about Vincent David Jericho already. Please.