Thoughts while lounging by the pool on a warm night amidst the awful realization the summer is not only here, but, here to stay (at least for the next 5 1/2 months)..

* How about the Red Sox taking five of six from the Bronx Bombers over the past two weekends? One can gloss over the numbers all you want, but the fact is, if things remain this way for the next few weeks, the Yankees won’t have much of a bullpen to call upon for the rest of the season. Their starting pitching is in tatters, and there’s no way anyone can rightly expect their offense to carry the load over a long season. The awful truth is, the Yankees are an old team, have no starting rotation they can count on, and a bullpen on the verge of collapse. Could be a long summer in the Bronx…

* On the other side of the coin, Hideki Okajima and the Sox’ bullpen seem better than advertised. Not only has Okajima proved more than capable of being a solid set-up man for uber-closer Jonathan Papelbon, but he’s got the Yankees number. Until events prove otherwise, this is no insignificant development, as the Yankees have to know that, between Okajima and Papelbon, the usual nine-inning affair has just shrunk to seven innings max when it comes to being able to do damage against the Sox’ pitching staff.

* It’s often said that Democrats have never met a tax they didn’t like. To that end, good to see the wealthy, ambulance-chasing trial lawyer show his true stripes. You watch, the rest of the Dems Presidential candidates will now be tripping over one another in the weeks ahead with their own tax increase plans. When it comes to promoting class warfare, no one does it better than the Democrats. What a bunch of freakin’ hypocrites…

* The untimely death of Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock (a one-time Red Sox farmhand, BTW) should be a message to us all that our hold on this life is a very tenuous one, indeed. All you can do is live for today and slog through the best you can…

* …Just recalling fondly the good old days when television commercials were all about cars and dining out. Now, all you get is drug manufacturers pushing everything from erectile dysfunction to Sally Field and her osteoporosis commercials – not to mention, of couse, the obligatory sleep aid advertisements. Frankly, it’s enough to send me rushing to my medicine cabinet for a couple of Bayer…

* Congrats to Scott Verplank for winning a golf tournament he’s always wanted to win. I’m sure at this stage in his career, he’ll take any victory he can, but to win an event associated with one of his heroes must be sweet, indeed.

* Seems the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mayor Ray Nagin are back in the Lower Ninth Ward still bitching about President Bush and the federal government’s so-called lack of response following the post-Katrina floods of nearly two years ago. Look, I understand that many people called the Lower Ninth their home, but it makes no sense to even think of restoring that area of New Orleans to what it once was. Let’s face it, it wasn’t great to begin with, and there are far better areas of the city to consider investing in. Of course, Jesse the Fraud never turns down an opportunity to play the race card – especially when it involves the mayor of “Chocolate City”. What a couple of asses…