The Roundup

I really don't know what to do with myself on Canada Day anymore. In past years it was automatic: dump some vodka in a Big Gulp pail and go for a walk along the river in Sarnia's Centennial Park. Even if the group started out small we'd always run into a few people we hadn't seen in years, talk shit about the best theoretical way to smuggle weed into the US (I always thought using a catapult at one of the narrower stretchs of the St. Clair River in the dead of night was a winning idea), watch the fireworks, then head over to Ups and Downs for beers in the dankness that shrouds Front Street after dark.

I don't particularly miss or even like Sarnia and those days of doing what Jay K. so aptly calls "shameful things" are clearly in the rearview mirror for this guy. Before I start singing CPK by Unwritten Law (the unofficial anthem of summertime about a decade ago), let me just say that this was all just a rambling, roundabout way of me saying that I did indeed stay home and watch the game last night.

Now, I've already told you that I'm taking a que sera, sera approach on the rest of this year and won't really be taking it hard when things don't turn out right. Losses suck, but what can you do? Beltre did his best Vlad impression by taking Carlson deep off an outside eye-high fastball and Downs is usually more than solid (he hadn't given up a run since April before Sexson homered off him last night), so I won't pick apart Cito's decision(s) to leave lefties in to face righty sluggers. (If you still want to, it's kind of a no brainer).

The Oracle too is succumbing to the melancholy it seems. Is anyone still angry enough to tear JP a new one during the phone-in tonight at 8:30?

Making lemons into lemonade: Adam Lind, 3 for 4 with 3 RBI. The big hit, the 4th inning double, came off lefty starter Cornelius Roland-Smith, Esquire. Platoon guy? Fuck that shit.

Word is that Shaun Marcum won't be back until July 21, but there's really no reason to rush him back taking the big picture into account. I think we've all learned that he is a very special talent and needs to be treated as such.

There are people out there who are vehemently opposed to AJ Burnett for a plethora of reasons: he's immature, he's always hurt, he hasn't lived up to his contract, etc. None of those things--debatable as they are--have concerned me too much and I found his comments in the Globe on West Coast Jays fans absolutely hilarious:

SEATTLE — The Blue Jays fans at Safeco Field here might just be louder than Blue Jays fans at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Surely that's a premise Blue Jays starter A.J. Burnett could agree with, right?

“It depends on what day it is and what they're giving away,” said Burnett, who mocked the silence at home gatherings last month. “No, I'm just kidding. It just sounds that way because they're outnumbering the [local] people here. The guys in Toronto get to see us every day, so maybe the fact that these fans only get to come down once a year and see us, they're in full effect.”

Shine on you crazy diamond. Some of us will miss you next month.

Here's Uncle Dick's halfway point report card for the Jays. What the...? This thing is totally uncontroversial?

-- Johnny Was