Only Little Birdies Say Cheep!

Woohoo! Yes!

They definitely surprised me, that's for sure. I really didn't expect them to pony up the money, especially $1.8 million to get the deal done. So I thrashed, ranted, raved, foamed at the mouth. And in the end, I was left with high blood pressure, some crapped-in pants, and a poo-eating grin on my face. (To be technical, I s'pose it was this morning.)

The strategy and evolution of the whole event is fascinating. From death's door, to stop and go, to today's miracle of life, it's been a roller coaster of emotion. Yet they came through.

There's no doubt that the Nationals had the most successful draft of any of the 30 major league teams, and that's just on paper. When you look at what their picks have done ALREADY, just 2 months after the draft, they're well on their way to building something special.

I've always had faith -- never doubted -- the ability of the scouting department to identify these guys. The track records of Brown and Rizzo are among the best of any in baseball, and they have ultra-high reputations in the industry, as you can tell from reading others' praise of them.

I've just always been cynical about ownership's willingness to properly fund the process. But they did. And they deserve credit, too. They lived up to their promise -- indeed, the obligation -- and put their money where their mouth is. They haven't always done it, at least from how it appears on the outside, but for now, they did. And they deserve our thanks. (I suppose I should avoid the weasel word there, and say they deserve MY thanks. They do.)

BEWARE: NAVEL GAZING IN THESE PARTS:

Now as far as you jerks (said lovingly!) and your comments in the last entry... yeah, you're right. I'm a cynical SOB who flies off the handle and makes inappropriate rants. But that's what this blog is. It's me being an overly emotional fanboy and reacting to things as they happen. Sure, I could wait til the end of the day, all the news is in, and provide a deep, probing, stimulating essay about how wonderful everything is, or you could just wait a day or two and pick up Tom Boswell's next column. (He's a much better writer than me anyway).

But that's not what I do. I read. I react. I write. Then when I get proven wrong (repeatedly!), I revise. Yeah, I ripped the hell out of them once Svrulga reported that they were holding off because of internal politics. But, really, if that was the reason they hesitated, they deserved it. And there's likely not too many of you who weren't pissed off, just wanting them to get the damn thing done (as the bulk of the comments to that post attest).

Would I be better off waiting til the full story was in? If I was a reporter or a columnist, sure. I'm not. I'm a fan with a keyboard and a job that's especially slow this week (Thanks, Congress!) who reads and reacts and rants with too many words.

Do I say stupid things from time to time (read: every day). Yep. Am I apologetic for what I say? Sometimes; even I think I can cross the line from cynicism to causticity from time to time. But that's what you get here.

Anyway... I've seen enough of my belly button now. (I think I need to get that mole checked out though).

Thanks, Stan!

I hope you enjoy the fruit basket. You won't need to use an intern as a test taster this time!