This should put a smile on your face.

There are a few reasons to be down today. It's Monday, that means back to work. It is cold outside and it is going to snow/rain/sleet/freezing mess again today. You might be feeling a little under the weather, you might have to work a night shift tonight or perhaps your infant son all of a sudden doesn't like naps and would rather you just walk him around the house all day long.

Whatever might be wrong today -- I have something to make you feel better. Yep, it's opening day. The Twins host the Angels tonight at the Metrodome and all is finally right with the world again.

It was -- and still is -- a long winter. But summer is almost here. Let's hope the Twins can hold the Angels to less than 5 runs tonight. And let's hope whoever throws out the first pitch at the dome doesn't hear the boo birds like George Bush did last night in D.C.

Twins 7
Angels 4

The Twins are making news.

Joe Nathan signed a contract extension to stay with the Twins through 2011. We are more than a little surprised that the Twins would lock-up an elite closer like Nathan when they might not win more than 70 games this year, but we love the idea that Joe is still going to be the guy to shut down games in the new stadium.

In other Twins news – Carlos Gomez will hit leadoff and start the season as your everyday centerfielder. We find this to be even more shocking than the Nathan extension. Gomez is raw and is going to have a very hard time getting on base consistently this early in his career. Denard Span was probably a better short term answer, but the Twins no doubt felt a need to show they got something in return for Johan Santana and putting Gomez out in center allows then to – sort of – justify the trade.

Soaking up a long weekend.

We didn’t get to spend Easter weekend with the entire crew up in P-ville, but we did have a chance to spend a three-day weekend hanging out, watching basketball, napping, and kicking tail in MLB 2008 The Show on the play station.

As you can see, the boy isn’t even four months old yet and he’s rocking the controller better than his dad.

Where does the time go?

We appreciate all of the "are you okay?" "are you alive?" and "when are you going to update your blog?" questions we have gotten over the last week.

We apologize for not updating the site at least every other day. We will work on getting better. Right now we are focused on sleeping, feeding the boy 12-14 times a day, and trying to work at the "A" job... all the while enjoying what will no doubt be a wonderful first weekend of March Madness and the beginning of the end of spring training.

Hopefully we will have some updates over the next few days. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to look around.

Here's your Opening Day starter.

Being named the starting pitcher on Opening Day is a big honor. Livan Hernandez will most likely get that honor when the Twins open the season at the Dome against the Angels on March 31.

Brad Radke started every opener for the Twins from 1999-2005 and proved you don't need to break 85 mph on the radar gun to pitch on Opening Day (good news for Livan.) And of course Johan Santana started the season in 2006 and 2007.

We get Livan this year instead of one of the kids in the rotation. We would much rather see Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker, or even Boof Bonser pitch on Opening Day, just to give us some feeling of hope for the future.

The good news is, Livan has been the opening day starter for four other teams during his ten year major league career. The bad news is, this isn't 1999.

We still don't know where the Twins are going to end up this year, but we are guessing they will be closer to last place than they will be to first place in the AL Central. Starting Livan on Opening Day isn't the worst news, but it would have been nice to see one of the kids get a shot instead of a washed-up veteran who just happens to be the only guy who has been there before.

Maybe the Vikings can call Stalin Colinet?

It is time for the Vikings to panic. They currently have two defensive ends on the roster and with Jevon Kearse re-signing with the Titans yesterday, their only "real" option of getting a decent free-agent has disappeared.

So...either the Vikings go into their time machine and pick up some of the failures from yesteryear or they look seriously at drafting another DE in the first round. It can't get any worse than what they have done in previous years.

There are a couple of trade options wafting around on the internets, but the Vikings aren't going to find a way to trade for Julius Peppers or Jason Taylor.

So...it's on to the draft in April. One can only hope they can find a gem like Talance Sawyer or Stalin Colinet when they do.

Catching a day game during Spring Training.

Sure, that picture is from 2005 and it was taken when the gal and I were down in Florida to watch the Twins play a couple of spring training games in Fort Myers and Clearwater.

But, what do you want from us? It’s snowing in Cold Omaha as we write this and we are skipping out on work today to take care of the kid -- and since we are home, we will take in a little Twins spring training action.

The morning was going great until young Maxwell decided to poop everywhere. And, I mean everywhere….outside his diaper, on his Vikings outfit, on the bouncy seat, on his dad – everywhere. Just gave him a bath and he crashed in his swing right afterward. Knowing what I know about him, I should have a good 20 minutes of quiet time before he wakes up screaming looking for food.

We planned on live-blogging the game for all you people stuck at work, but since the Giant Poop of 11:30 a.m occurred, we are kind of off our game right now – we might be better off checking in with updates instead of trying to live blog the whole game. We will see how it goes. I will warn you right now -- I am writing this and posting it without checking for spelling or other errors because I don't have enough hands to do everything around here. So...here it goes.

Here are your lineups for today – the Twins are taking on the Evil Empire this afternoon:

TWINS
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Brendan Harris, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Delmon Young, RF
6. Brian Buscher, 3B
7. Jon Knott, DH
8. Garrett Jones, RF
9. Matt Tolbert, SS
Starting pitcher: RH Kevin Slowey.

YANKEES
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, DH
5. Jason Giambi, 1B
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF
Starting pitcher: RH Ian Kennedy.

First impression of the Yankees lineup is this: Why are they playing so many starters in the same game this early in spring training? Might be kind of cool to see how Kennedy pitches against the team that almost traded for him.

End of the 1st inning
We have no score, but two double plays so far in the game. Jason Giambi had a chance to do some damage with two guys on base, but he struck out looking on a ball that he would have mashed five years ago. Remember when Jason Giambi used to be a good hitter? Now he’s just a large, sweaty version of Nick Punto.

Rick Suttcliffe is announcing today, he has mispronounced Justin Morneau’s last name three different times so far – calling him Justin Mourn-yo. I don’t think he’s drunk yet, but you never know

Top of the 2nd inning
Delmon Young just CRUSHED a fastball to dead center field. Jesus – this kid is going to be a Superstar. He’s unreal. Ian Kennedy challenged him with a 3-1 fastball and Young hit it like a batting practice pitch. I am putting him on at least 25 HR’s this year.

New Yankees manager Joe Girardi is being interviewed by the guys on ESPN. The Eastern Sports Network is in full effect right now – they are doing everything but giving Girardi a happy ending. We get it, ESPN loves the Yankees and they love Joe Girardi. Either interview the guy like you would any other manager or go get a room – God I hate the Yankees.

End of the 2nd inning
Back to back doubles and two other hits put the Stinkees up 3-1. Kevin Slowey really doesn’t look too bad today – he’s got three strikeouts and the two doubles were hit hard, but at least he kept them in the park. I figure the Twins are going to have to win a lot of 6-5 games this year, so he’s almost doing enough right now.

The kid is waking up and he looks hungry. More later…

Top of the 3rd inning
Gardy is being interviewed by the douche bags on ESPN and he’s being a smart ass. The ESPN guys aren’t kissing his ass to the same degree that they kissed Girardi’s, but at least they are being cordial. Gardy would have a hard time being manager anywhere other than here in Cold Omaha – he just seems like one of us. He said he loves Delmon Young “he’s been nothing but fantastic since we got him…” I love to hear that.

I just realized something – Gardy is the kind of guy I played with back in my days as a member of the Roscoe Rangers baseball team. He’s kind of dumpy looking, has a tendency to act like a moron, drinks too much, and either has a shit-eating grin on his face or a scowl – there’s no in between with him. But at the end of the day, he kind of knows baseball and he seems like an okay guy. See…just like some of those Rangers!

Middle of the 3rd inning
The boy was stirring a few minutes ago, but he conked out again. I think all the pooping made him tired.

End of the 3rd inning
The Yanks got another run on a couple of hits and they now lead 4-1. The Twins could use some runs right now.

I totally got distracted over the last few minutes – I was on eBay bidding on a couple of bobble heads from the 1987 Twins World Champion Bobblehead set. The entire set is selling for nearly $500 right now, but I think I can piecemeal a set together for much less than that. So far I have the Tom Kelly and the Al Newman bobble heads for the cheap prices of just under $40. Not too shabby.

Middle of the 4th
The Twins can’t seem to get the ball out of the infield. Joba Chamberlain is in for the Yankees. He looks pretty good. Yankees still up 4-1.

Buddy the Pug has finally made an appearance. He’s been sleeping soundly on the couch since 7:30 this morning (it’s now 1:25 p.m.) and I think he is either hungry or he has to pee. Instead of causing any kind of fuss, he walked around the kitchen, sniffed his bowl of food, snubbed it, and then proceeded to the other couch in the living room and settled in for another nap. Ah…the life of a dog.

Top of the 6th inning
The Twins pulled within a run when Garrett Jones hit a bomb to right field. He crushed that thing. Max just ate and now he’s sitting in the bouncy seat again – let’s hope he doesn’t have to poop or if he does, he keeps it in the diaper this time.

Justin Mourn-yo was just interviewed by the ESPN crew – he still isn’t comfortable with the national limelight. He did mention his relationship with Torii Hunter and the fact that he takes blame for their troubled relationship early on in his Twins career. I like Morneau a lot and hope he does well this year. I know I know…that sounds like Sid.

Bottom of the 6th
Yanks up 4-3. I forgot to mention earlier that Alexi Casilla is playing some great defense today. He made a fantastic play in the hole at shortstop back in the 5th and he just caught a little line drive and then made a great throw for a double play. He’s not going to do much with his bat this year, but his speed and his defense might be enough to make him a starter at second base.

Bottom of the 7th inning
The twins scored to tie it at 4 – no idea how that happened but we are happy to see it.

I need to figure out who is doing the game on ESPN today – I know its Rick Suttcliffe and somebody else. Whoever that somebody else is just ripped on Pat Neshek’s delivery and he said he doesn’t understand how he can stay in the league with that throwing motion. Um…he’s actually in the league because of that motion, but…whatever.

Top of the 8th
It’s still 4-4 and another Twins hitter has been hit by a pitch. It’s the second guy to get plunked today – the first one came right after Garrett Jones hit a 500 foot homerun. Now things are getting a little testy.

The Twins just broke it open 6-4. Alejandro Machado hit a bases loaded single down the right field line. Hopefully this score holds up. You never want to get somebody hurt in spring training and you never want to tie. Machado just swiped third base after moving up on a sacrifice – this guy is playing likes it’s the 7th game of the World Series. Machado could stick as a utility infielder.

Top of the 9th
It is now 7-4 Twins and at this point we are all hoping for a couple of quick 1-2-3 half innings and we can move on with the rest of our day. We are missing the King of Queens on TBS right now and we aren’t at all happy about it. Young Maxwell is down for nap #3 of the day and Buddy the Pug hasn’t moved for two hours. He works hard and he needs his rest.

Bottom of the 9th
Big M little organ Ensberg is playing for the Yankees? I honestly had no idea. I remember a time when Ensberg was one of my top five favorite fantasy baseball players and now he's battling for a back-up infield spot with the Yankees. Too bad for him.

Shelly Duncan just went yard for the Stinkees -- 7-5 Twins. Shelly Duncan can hit the ball a long ways and he hits it hard. he won't get many at-bats this year but when he doesn't, he'll hit it over the fence a fair amount of the time.

It's a final -- Twins 7 and the Yankees 5. It's the first game we have watched from start to finish here at Cold Omaha headquarters. All in all it wasn't too bad. The Twins are going to have to win a lot of games like this in order to be competitive this year. Let's hope the offense holds up and the pitching doesn't get too overloaded.

No matter what, its great to have baseball back.

Might as well shut down the state of Wisconsin.

It’s finally over. Brett Favre is retiring. For real this time.

We can all agree that Brett Favre loved to play football. And nobody had fun the way Brett Favre had fun when Brett Favre played football. But now it’s over.

For us here at Cold Omaha, he will always be the guy who played quarterback for the team we hated. We loved watching him implode at the Metrodome and we hated when he beat us. He got way too much credit for the good throws and not nearly enough bashing for the interceptions during critical moments of big games.

We won’t be turning on ESPN for the next couple of days; we can’t stand to hear anymore about him, his great career, or his gun-slinger mentality. He had a good run and now its over. Thank goodness.

Let’s get Freaky.

Remember when the Vikings selected Daunte Culpepper with the 11th pick in the 1999 NFL draft? They could have and probably should have taken Jevon Kearse with that pick.

Now Kearse is a free-agent able to sign with any team – the Vikings have a weakness at defensive end. Even if it will cost more than they want to spend, we think they need to give the “Freak” a deal and get him in a Vikings uniform.

By the way, the Vikings also had the 29th pick in the first round that year and they selected Dimitrius Underwood at defensive end. Patrick Kerney went to the Falcons on the very next pick at #30 overall. Denny Green didn’t have a clue when it came to defensive lineman, did he?

We are really pleased with what the Vikings have done so far. We like the Madieu Williams signing to help beef up the secondary and we LOVE what Bernard Berrian can bring to the offense. Not real sure why you would let Tony Richardson leave in free agency only to bring in Thomas Tapeh in his spot, but whatever. So far so good for The Purple.