No shoes, no shirt, no problems

I'm not going to say that I'm glad the Red Sox aren't in the playoffs, but there is something to be said for being able to sit down with a couple of beers and watch Barry Zito and Johan Santana duel it out in Game 1 of the ALDS. No pressure, no worries, just the promise of some good baseball. The game is at a very European-fan-friendly 1pm ET, and if that's not enough good news for the day, I can follow that up at 4pm ET with Chris Carpenter vs. Jake Peavy.

I haven't yet decided on a team to root for in the playoffs. Come October, I'm pretty much fed up with the sight of teams from the American League, so when looking for a team to root for, I tend to gravitate towards the NL. This year the Red Sox (West) connections make San Diego and Los Angeles the leading candidates, but who knows? Maybe I'll surprise myself and fall for the Mets or the Tigers. And that's the great thing about being in this situation - you can root for who the hell you want, and nobody's going to point a finger. After six months of being a partisan, you can just sit back and enjoy the game of baseball.

7pm CET. Bring it on.