I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted here. But, for once, I have good reasons! 1) I got a new job! I'm finally putting my degree to use as I'm now a reporter for the Tribune newspapers in Snohomish County. I just started last Monday, so it's very exciting and is keeping me very busy. As a side note, it was awesome to find out that the reporter I’m replacing is almost as obsessed as I am with USSMariner. 2) Cheryl and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary on Sunday. So, needless to say, it's been an eventful week for me. I've got some post ideas that I've been kicking around, that I'll get to soon, but here are a few random things that I've been thinking about lately...

1) How freaking awesome is it that the M’s are on the verge of re-signing Ichiro? A lot of people rag on Ichiro and fill column space or bar conversations with stupid, straw-man arguments. He’s not a leader, he doesn’t talk to the media, he doesn’t hit for enough power, he’s only concerned with his own stats, he doesn’t dive for balls, blah blah blah. And, I’ll admit, I’ve felt a little frustration from time to time while watching Ichiro over the past seven seasons. But, I’ve put all that behind me and come to the realization that he is what he is — and he’s just awesome. Sure, $20 million per season is an awful lot for any player, especially for a player’s 34-38-year-old seasons. But, Ichiro is such a unique player. He’s had exceptional health and I think that even if he loses a step or two, he has the bat control and the skills to continue doing what he’s been doing. He’s also unique in the fact that he brings so much to the team off the field, and that has to be considered. To top it all off, he goes 3-for-3 in the All Star game, with the first inside-the-park HR in All-Star game history. Icing on the cake. Ichiro’s the face of this franchise and I’m so excited that he’s going to be a Mariner for at least another five seasons. Cooperstown is calling.

2) Adam Jones will be in Seattle soon! Boo yeah! Serioulsy…could this day get any better for M’s fans?

3) If you have Comcast, MLB Extra Innings is having a free preview week. According to the message I got, "Simply tune to channels 457-470 from July 12th through July 18th to see your favorite out-of-market baseball teams in action." They’re also offering the Extra Innings package for the second-half of the season for $99.

4) I love Matt Mangini. He's tearing up the Northwest League, hitting .354/.452/.508 and probably won't be in Everett too much longer. Luckily, I was able to see him hit his second professional home run on Saturday. A pitcher I really like on the Aquasox this season is Ryan Moorer, out of Maryland.

5) I don’t mean to brag, I don’t mean to boast, but…did you notice how close my All-Star break standings prediction was? One game off for the Angels, the M’s and the A’s. The Rangers got a little hotter than I anticipated, but still…as Larry David would say, “Pretty, pretty good!”

6) Sean Green-as-a-sidearmer update: 18.1 IP, 19 H, 18 K, 6 BB, 1.96 ERA. Ah yeah!

7) Cheryl got me “The Bigs” for our Wii as an anniversary present. It’s pretty sweet and I’ll have a more detailed review up soon, but you should check it out if you’re into baseball video games.