Padre Pitching...and so much more

"Well an old man said to me
In a voice filled with pain
'Where you going young man?'...
He said 'Boy I was young once,
Yeah I was tough..."
--Old Man and Me, Hootie and the Blowfish

A well-deserved article on David Wells this morning on ESPN.com by Tim Kurkjian, discussing the value of the 41-year-old lefty's presence on this otherwise young staff. Brian Lawrence (28), Adam Eaton (26) and Jake Peavy (23) have benefited endlessly from the old man's wisdom and experience, and the Pads are still in playoff contention as a result of this staff's maturity. Wells himself has gone 10-7 with a 3.57 ERA and never walks anybody, which helps those numbers quite a bit. Lawrence has 13 wins and a 3.82 ERA and Peavy, who is definitely on the verge of becoming a pitching superstar, is 11-5 with a 2.33 ERA. I won't even get into the bullpen (okay, maybe I will), which boasts 35-save Trevor on the back end and Scott Linebrink (2.11 ERA) and Akinori Otsuka (2.12 ERA) in setup roles. As long as Nevin keeps pounding the ball, we'll be in the mix. We just have to find a way to beat the stinking Rockies. Aargh.
Unbelievable NFL opener last night. Wow. I watched the first quarter while finishing up some stuff at work and then caught the final two minutes after bible study. Those two teams could not be more evenly matched. Unfortunately for Indy, the mental block remains, and if the same sqauds meet again in the post-season, it will continue to be an intimidating matchup for Peyton & Co. Last year's co-MVP played a good game, but two HUGE mistakes cost his team that game. Throwing the early pick to Bruschi was big, but getting sacked on third down in the final minute and moving out of Vanderjagt's range was critical. He's on our show next week (along with Archie and Eli), so I suppose we can ask him how you can miss Willie McGinest flying into your face on a dead sprint (high-stepping and everything--Willie Mac is a stud).
Some recent show news that relates to the world of sports. Jason Sehorn was scheduled to guest host our show during the football season. He signed a contract and everything, had been in several times during the summer, and was supposed to make his debut on Tuesday. Didn't happen. Why? Yeah, he signed a free agent contract with those same Rams that he kept out of the NFC Championship Game last year, courtesy of his innocent bystander defense on Steve Smith. Needless to say, our boss was not happy with the situation. The next morning, however, how funny was it to get this on the sportswire, sent to everyone on the show just for fun:

BC-FBN--Rams-Sehorn,0111
Safety fails physical with Rams
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Safety Jason Sehorn failed his physical with the St. Louis Rams on Wednesday, nullifying the free-agent contract he signed the previous night.

Obviously there's more to the story, but the key ingredients have been spelled out. That's really sad. I hope Angie's able to console him. And I actually wonder if we'll take him back after he broke his contract. That's a bad move, bad karma obviously got him.
Reading some trade rumors on Insider yesterday got me thinking about my least favorite NBA players. Peja was rumor number one and he just might be my least favorite. Doug Christie is right up there, Turkoglu, I don't know. A lot of guys go on and off the list as they change teams (Karl Malone) or as their team ceases to be considered a threat to the Lakers (GP circa 2000). A guy that's been on the list since the mid-90's and never really left has now received a boost that has catapulted him into a firm first place position. To replace the departed Vlade Divac (off the list early 90's, strong on the list through the mid-90's and the last few years, now forced to be off since his signing with the Lake Show), the Kings signed free agent center Greg Ostertag from Utah. Wow. Ostertag and the Kings. It's a combination of evil powers that even Al Qaeda would be jealous of. Even though I probably won't be rooting for the Heat this year (maybe just a little bit), I can't wait for Shaq to roll through there--just twice during the season--and punk that guy. I hope Kobe throws down on his crew-cut dome on more than one occasion, and then they can cut away to C-Webb crying about it. Wow, it's the off-season and I'm still getting riled up about Lakers-Kings.
We're short-staffed today, with one dude taking a vacation with his girl to Hawaii and one dude who I honestly think just takes days off to play Madden (he told me on Tuesday that he spent approximately 11 hours playing with his roommate on Labor Day, yes, sunny, beautiful Labor Day), so it'll be another full load. I get very used to my meal schedule (every three hours), so when the workload becomes too impacted, those mealtimes shift far too much for my liking. Yesterday my 12:30 lunch happened at 2 and my 3:30 meal didn't take place until after 6. I suppose there are worse problems in this world.
My final note: A couple guys were talking at the gym today (not to me--my mp3 player makes it so I don't really socialize at the gym) about being successful. The conversation revolved almost exclusively around cars and money, which I suppose is standard fare. My thoughts on the ensuing drive to work (only about two minutes from 24-hour to the lot) revolved around that same term.
I live in a house I love with two dudes I get along with and totally enjoy hanging out with (when they're not in foreign countries). I get paid to do a job I'd do for free, basically in my dream field, and get to work with people I love to be around as well. I have two parents that are geographically close and who love me. I have great relationships with my two brothers and get to see one of them quite a bit (I'd see the other more often if the great Northwest didn't have such a strange hold on him). My friends are an amazing, caring, keep-me-accountable group, spead all over this great nation. I have an awesome bible study group and an incredible church.
I don't think I could ever be more successful than I am today. I guess it's just how the word is defined. Wow am I blessed.