SBG doesn't really have one major topic to write about tonight. He does however, have a couple of minor topics to write about. SBG's feeling a little acerbic tonight, as he is wont to do.

Item #1 -- Deion Sanders
SBG heard on the radio today that Deion Sanders, who was openly critical of Randy Moss just a week or two ago was talking positively about the possibility of Moss being traded to Baltimore. SBG hasn't seen anything in print, and he heard it from Mike Morris on KFAN, so take it with a grain of salt. But, supposedly, Neon said that if Moss came to Baltimore, he and Ray Lewis could counsel Moss about his behavior both on and off the field. In other news, the fox has volunteered to guard the henhouse.

Item #2 -- Mark Stein
A while back, SBG criticized the ESPN.COM writer for his ridiculous article on Kobe Bryant. This week? Different topic, same level of ridiculousness. SBG mentioned in 10 topics, 50 words on Friday that he and Drew (and Moss for that matter) think that Carmelo Anthony is not going to be an elite player. Let's go further. SBG thinks that 'Melo is going to flame out in a big way. Last season, J.B. Bickerstaff, former Timberwolves radio color guy (remember, SBG watches the games with the radio on) said what SBG saw. 'Melo is selfish and immature. Meanwhile, the national media, hungry for a Bron-Bron/Melo rivalry played him up big time. This season, the national media has quieted on that quite a bit. Rumblings about 'Melo's play and some of his off-court antics have cooled his star significantly. Apparently, Stein didn't get the memo. He writes that it is because of injuries that he's not going to make the all-star game. Yeah right.

Update: Idiot Stein is at it again. He picks Nowitski over KG for the all-star team. His justification? Team success! That's right, he's penalizing KG for the failures of his selfish teammates! SBG told you this guy has no love for KG. Actually, that's a little broad, as Stein uses that "team success" criteria consistently as a tie breaker. But, let's be honest. Who's a better player, Irk (no "D") Nowitski or KG?

Item #3 -- Stan the Man Sighting
That's right friends! There was a Stan the Man sighting tonight! When SBG left work, he ran into Stan the Man on the street. Cardinals talk ensued. Stan's optimistic about 2005! SBG would expect nothing less! SBG complained about the Jacque Jones signing and the lack of a good offer to Santana. Stan said SBG should be writing about Anthony Reyes, a Cardinal farmhand who will "be in the rotation by the end of the year." SBG'll have to look him up! SBG better be careful, however, as he already has too much non-Twins stuff on his page for some people's tastes. Oh, well!

Item #4 -- SBG in the News!
That's right, SBG will be in the news very shortly! Well, not the main stream media, but check out Seth Speaks. SBG was interviewed by Mr. Seth and hopefully his interview will be posted soon! And, hopefully, it won't be like SBG's interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune last fall, all of which ended up on the cutting room floor! SBG is counting on you, Seth! Look for Seth's contributions on this handsomely colored page in the near future!

Update: Seth has his interview of SBG on his site! Thanks Seth! And, yes, SBG did know that Michael Lewis wrote Moneyball! If you want to read another good, but dated, book, pick up Lewis' Liars' Poker, which is Lewis' first hand account of bond trading in the '80s. A fascinating read and also a good way to understand Lewis' perspective in writing Moneyball.

Item #5 -- SBG, the Website
Speaking of which, if you can determine exactly why the background color of this page is what it is (Moss, be quiet), SBG will give you your own personal shout out! Another shout out to the person who correctly identifies the origin of SBG's nom de plume. This will require some thought, so SBG thinks that Haplo doesn't have a chance.

Item #6 -- Pepper!
That's right, Friday's coming, and along with that is SBG's regular feature, 10 topics, 50 words, in which SBG and guests tackle 10 topics in 50 words or less! SBG has decided that 10 topics, 50 words is kind of a mundane name, so come back on Friday for newly renamed Pepper!, starring SBG and (hopefully) Moss.

Item #7 -- Doug Mientkiewicz to Mets
When the Mets lost out on the Carlos Delgado deal, they traded a minor leaguer (ironically enough, with a bad wrist) and cash to Boston for Doug M. Doug, ever delusional, said, "There's things [sic] that I bring to the table that [Delgado] doesn't."

Item #8 -- Twins Chatter
The boys over at Twins Chatter have gotten back on the old horse and started generating columns again. If you haven't, go on over and check them out. Ryan from Twins Chatter wrote an interesting manifesto on blogging the other day. The fact is, blogging is a lot of work for not a whole lot of reward. Sometimes, Lucy gets a little impatient. She wants to know why Mr. SBG is writing instead of watching TV with her or whatever. SBG can understand that she doesn't understand.

SBG does enjoy it however. Most of the people that SBG has met, either in person or online have been very supportive and helpful. Guys like Seth, Aaron, the guys at Twins Chatter, and Twins Geek sent a few of their readers this way when there was no one before. Without those guys, SBG would be writing to Butch and the Mayor exclusively. One of the great things about blogging is when you write something and somebody else sees it and says, I like that and links to your site. All of a sudden, you see readers coming from places you don't know about. And you find out that someone else liked your stuff. For example, SBG was getting some hits from some site over at the U of M. It seems that the Greet Machine liked a comment on my site and sent people over. SBG found another blogger there who writes great stuff on the stadium issues in Minnesota.

Any hoo, just know that it's hard work. And there's not a lot of reward. But, until it becomes too much, SBG'll plunk out a few hundred words a night to entertain the millions of people a day who read this site. Okay, thousands. Hundreds? Tens? Hey, a shout out to SBG's nanoaudience!