Why Hillary Clinton has nothing to brag about after her win in Tuesday’s Florida primary.

And this from the most liberal weblog out there. Sooner or later, Democrats have to see that an Obama nomination virtually guarantees them a White House victory and a Hillary! nomination an inevitable disaster.

Oh, you think this post is a Florida primary post, do ya? Well, you couldn’t be more wrong, for there is far more important news coming out of the baseball world than whatever might have happened in Florida. Perhaps more on that another night. But tonight we’re talkin’ baseball winners and losers. First, the winners:

The New York Mets – landing Twins hurler Johan Santana gives them a very big #1 starter who will now propel the Mutts to the head of the National League class. Their spectacular collapse last year was primarily due to them lacking a true #1 stopper in the starting rotation. Now they have one. If only Willy Randolph could manage.

The Boston Red Sox – simply put, the Red Sox don’t need no stinkin’ Johan Santana. When you already have a set rotation of Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, and Jon Lester, and talented up-and-comers like Justin Masterson and Clay Buchholz refining their skills a mere hour away at AAA Pawtucket, one can argue that the Sox were only in the Santana sweepstakes to try and get the Yankees to give up their top prospects. And probably vice-versa.

Now the losers:

The New York Yankees – I think they made a BIG mistake not getting Santana. Sure they would have had to part with Philip Hughes and/or Ian Kennedy and a couple of other young ‘uns, but having Santana as a #1 and Chien-Ming Wang as a #2 would have put the Yanks very close, if not equal, to the Sox. Of course, the Yankees didn’t want to part with their top pitching prospects, but in the end, regardless of their potential upside, prospects is still all they are. Wang has still not proven to have the stuff to be a #1, but he would surely make a fine #2. Without Santana, the ‘Bombers may well end up with a decent starting rotation, but it can’t match Boston’s, which is something obtaining Santana would have done.

The Minnesota Twins – sure they got some decent prospects from the Mets, but everyone agrees they could have done better with either the Yankees’ or Red Sox’ offers during the winter meetings. Of course, I think they knew they had painted themselves in a bit of a corner by not waiting, and they did end up with a better deal than they would have if they had waited until the July trading deadline, when everyone would be offering pennies on the dollar for someone they knew the Twins couldn’t prevent from becoming a free agent next fall.

NESN viewers (male gender) – OK, so her questions were never the most insightful, but one can’t disagree that the news of Tina Cervasio leaving NESN means a serious loss of eye candy during the Red Sox broadcasts. Sure some would question her journalistic credentials. Me, I always liked her and looked forward to seeing what she’d be wearing on any given night. Call me a male chauvinist pig if you will, but would do you expect – I’m a guy, ain’t I?

A couple of news items worth mentioning tonight:

1) “S.F. green firm president killed skiing at Homewood resort“:

The president of a San Francisco green technology company was killed while skiing at the Homewood Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, authorities said today.

Tyler A. Palmer, 37, was found unresponsive at the base of a tree about 1:52 p.m. Sunday, the Placer County Sheriff’s Department said.

Skiers found Palmer on the Hobbit Land ski run, head-first in the well of a tree, a depression of loose snow around the trunk. Hobbit Land is a black diamond run, signifying it is for advanced skiers, according to the resort’s Web site.

Medics tried to revive Palmer, without success, and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:28 p.m.

The Sheriff’s Department said there was a light wind and snow was falling at the time of the incident. Palmer’s death appears to have been an accident, authorities said.

Now THAT’S what I call an unappreciative tree! (Hat tip: Free Republic)

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2) The New York chapter of the national Organization for Women (NOW) accuses MA senator Ted Kennedy of “ultimate betrayal” following his endorsement of IL senator Barack Obama for President:

Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

“And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one).

Pretty strange stuff, but what else would you expect from an organization who also believes that Hillary! is being “psychologically gang-banged” by her opponents. Meanwhile, their victimized candidate for President not only encourages her husband to do the dirty campaigning for her in South Carolina, but, after she gets swamped, leaves him to take the heat for her defeat. Now THERE’S a profile in courage for you. (Hat tip: NRO’s Corner blog)

Your erstwhile correspondent is back in the saddle again after several days of needing to simply put my head down and take care of things work-related. Not exactly what I wanted to do (and there’s no telling when this kind of thing will intrude on my blogging time again), but for now, suffice to say, I’m back.

The whole thing about blogging on a regular basis is that it can often be a difficult thing to do. Not necessarily time-consuming, since few things I post require most than a 1/2 or so to research and write. More than anything, it’s the constant battle between wanting to post something and feeling like you needto post something. There’s no question about it – there are days when the blog simply has to be fed, but fortunately those days don’t happen that often. I’ve often thought that if the pendulum starts to swing more towards the latter on a regular basis, I’ll just call it a day.

I appreciate the kind words I often get from those who make this blog a regular part of their daily Internet ritual, and I enjoy finding things that make people laugh, scratch their heads, or howl like wolves. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Because of the amount of hours I’m currently having to work, blogging will be light, if at all, over the next few days. Hang in there, I’m planning to be back next Monday.

Sure sure, up in the nawthin’ climes it’s still the dead of winter. But today I say the first mourning dove of the year trying to get a jump on his feathery mates workin’ on his mating call. Hang in there, it’s a sure sign that spring is soon to be on the way.

And if you don’t believe me, there’s always this. Heck, once you get beyond the Super Bowl, it’s less than two weeks before the pitchers and catchers start to report in Florida and Arizona.

Only three weeks to go until my Goodboys Vegas weekend, and I can’t wait. These 70-hour work weeks are getting crazy and I’m ready for some down time. So what’s awaiting us when we arrive?

* A slackening in the condo/casino building boom. $hit, I could have told them that last year, and I’m no economic genius. You gotta pay attention to the cycles.

* Glad I missed the Adult Entertainment Expo, although “Sin City” is the perfect place for it…

* But being able to attend this would have been cool.

* Looks like the Goodboys are gonna have to check out The Palazzo – the first new casino built on the Strip in three years.

* As for me, I’ll just be happy just knowing that the lovely Michelle (in my view, the most beautiful cocktail waitress in Vegas) and our favorite bartender Becky are both still at The Peppermill’s famous Fireside Lounge. If both of them are there, regardless of anything else, all will be right with the world. (FYI, the girl in this picture IS NOT the lovely Michelle. But you kinda get my drift…)

Congrats to the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, who now get to defrost and meet each other two weeks hence in the more tranquil confines of Glendale, Arizona in the Super Bowl. While I’m sure New England will go into this game favored by somewhere between (I guess) 10-15 points, it ought to be good, hard-played game – if their most recent matchup the last week of the NFL regular season is any measure.

What impressed me today more than anything is how New England’s offense can throw so many different schemes at you. Tom Brady did not have a good game today, but so what? Between Kevin Faulk and Laurence Maroney, all they had to do was toss out that three tight-end offense and off they went. Given Maroney’s gritty performances over the past several weeks, this year’s edition of the Pats might very rank as the most talented, multi-faceted team to ever play the game. The fact that they are but one step away from a undefeated and truly historical season would appear to bear that out.

As for the Giants, all the attention will be on Eli Manning, but I have to tell you, he doesn’t impress me so much. The offensive coaches have obviously simplified their schemes so as to keep him from having to think too much and risk turning the ball over like he did before November came around. With Tom Coughlin as their coach, you know the ‘Gints can play smash-mouth football on both sides of the line, but, even with the atrocious conditions they played in at Green Bay tonight, anyone would have to admit the Packers stunk offensively and were lucky the score stayed as close as it did to the end.

So it’s off to Glendale and two weeks of Super Bowl hype. The only good thing about it is knowing that once the Super Bowl is over, I’m off to Las Vegas with the Goodboys the following weekend. Now THAT’S something to look forward to!

For anyone that has every owned a pet and has had to do the hardest thing of saying goodbye to them after many years of love and companionship, here’s the last of a series of entries that NRO‘s John Derbyshire posted about the last days with his dog, Boris. Sure the posts are sad, but they are also touching and meaningful. Having had to let go of two cats and three rabbits in my adult life, you have to look at these things philosophically – you can’t avoid sadness in life, and the joys animals bring into our lives are well worth the pain and sadness it brings when it’s time to say goodbye.

So condolences to the Derbyshire family and a thank you to Boris; I’m sure their house feels a whole lot emptier tonight, but may there soon be another deserving young pup bringing new love and joy to it someday soon!

Tick…tick…tick…can’t you hear it? I certainly can.

And with my DirectTV MLB Extra Innings in HD subscription at the ready, I. Can’t. Wait.