Monday, April 4th was the first ‘tease day’ of the summer warmth to come. It was 65 degrees out, the Tigers won their opener, the Red Sox lost theirs the night before to the Yanks and I didn’t care—it was a beautiful day!

Here are some thoughts that drift thru an old guy’s mind:

–When the heck did they make “Home Alone III” and how do you possibly shoot it without McCauley Culkin? Oh, he’s 42 years old? I guess that’s how.

–Did Scarlett Johanssen really need the money so badly that she agreed to appear in the aforementioned dog?

–Old pal Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline says that UD is one of ten teams who did not make the Big Dance this year but will in 2006:

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/8358699

As Stan Laurel used to say “I certainly hope so, Ollie”…uhhh, BG.

–Do you think mayhaps the Red Sox have gotten into Yankee closer Mariano Rivera’s head just a little bit, after he blew his 4th save in a row against them?

–Guess who got one of the biggest ovations at the Sox’ home opener vs. the Spankees? Yup, Mariano Rivera.

–Is that 8th grader from Kettering named Ryan Siggins any relation to former Flyer Joe Siggins? Joe was the first in the long line of players from Alter to fill the Dayton pipeline back in the mid ‘70s, soon to be followed by Jim Paxson, Jack Zimmerman, Steve Smith, Andy Meyer and many others.

–I was wrong. My dream car didn’t sell for $70K…

http://www.rmauctions.com/events/catalogcar.cfm?scode=am05&tmpNumber=061

…it fetched $96,800!

–I ended up tied for 8th out of 167 prognosticators in this year’s Hooper Dooper NCAA pool, which is held annually amongst Detroit advertising folks. I actually came in 3rd in 1984, thanks to an unexpectedly strong showing by a certain Marianist institution from southern Ohio that we all know and love. I didn’t win any money this year, but everyone in the ad biz got to see my name near the top of the list, which might help sell a few network radio ads.

–If I hear Dukie V say of a team that “they play with passion” one more time, I’m gonna retch. They all play with passion, Dick; otherwise, they wouldn’t be out there!

–Hard to believe, but it has been 5 years since Greg Bilotta and Joe Lombardi suckered—errr—talked me into writing my very first “From the Swamp” for the old FlyerHoops.com.

–According to the Oakland Press, not only does BG still address Tom Izzo as ‘Coach’ he also continues to refer to MSU as ‘us’ and ‘we’…let’s face it, some bonds are just too strong to ever be broken.

–The YS and her U of M Club Softball team had a fun time in their first-ever tournament last weekend hosted by future A-10 member UNC-Charlotte:

● Caitlin threw a no-hitter in the team’s first-ever victory over the UNC Tar Heels.
● The YS followed that up with a 2-0 complete game shut out of Navy, the defending National Club Softball Champions.
● The Wolverines beat the living crap out of Xavier, 16-0. That was fun. Unfortunately, I left my “Xavier Girls Are Ugly” t-shirt at home.
● Michigan ended up finishing in 2nd, losing to Clemson 2-0 in the final. No, OP wasn’t there.

And yes, Mrs. Swampy, the ES and I were there to watch all 7 games and soak up the North Carolina sun.

That’s it “From the Swamp”.