Phillies: Here They Come To Save The Day

It's been a long, tough winter. Budget crises at every level of government, not to mention in millions of households. The absurd path to something resembling health-care reform. The Pope and his church continuing to minimize the importance of doing something about the child molesters in their ranks. The earthquake in Haiti. The horror that is this season's American Idol. A slut named Tiger Woods. "From Paris With Love."

And in more "important" areas locally, a pro football team that ended the 2009 season in heinous fashion and looks to spend 2010 falling fast into mediocrity, a pro basketball team that fell fast from mediocrity into incompetence (but no one cares anyway) and a pro hockey team that was touted as a championship contender, only to fall into a desperate fight to barely make the playoffs so they can be first-round cannon fodder. Speaking of stuff falling, let's not forget Snowpocaplypse, Snowmageddon and Snowverkill.

Enough bad news. Winter, like Donovan McNabb, is gone. Spring has sprung. You can tell because the Phanatic (as you can tell by the photo above, taken on Wednesday) has gone red for a week. The Phillies are back! The 2010 season starts Monday at 1 pm in Washington, with Roy Halladay making his Phils debut. Halladay! Celebrate! Now we've got Roy Halladay...and it's time to celebrate...okay, no more channeling my inner Madonna.

Some Haiti Telethon Thoughts

I was watching the Hope For Haiti Now telethon earlier tonight. I certainly encourage everyone to do what they can to aid the victims of the devastating earthquake. Even a small donation will help. There are many worthy organizations accepting donations. (Just beware of the scams.) However, I just can't help being a bit cynical about a couple of things.

So many TV networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, MTV, even the MLB Network (but not Fox News Channel, unsurprisingly) -- aired the show tonight. And yet...this is a Friday night. The telethon in January 2005 to aid the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami was held on a Saturday night. Two shows raising money for victims of Hurricane Katrina were both held on Friday nights. The telethon held after the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place on a Friday night. I wonder, would the networks be so willing to give up their airtime on a Thursday or a Sunday, instead of on nights when ratings are so low because most people go out instead of sitting home glued to the TV?

Many celebrities took time to appear tonight -- to perform, speak, even take calls from people donating by phone. Many have made donations of their own. And yet...how much more good could be done if wealthy celebrities toned down their lavish lifestyles a little? The parties, the vacations, the ownership of multiple properties, and on and on...Beyonce and Jay-Z paid $1,200.00, plus a $500.00 tip (I admit, this part of the story is pretty cool -- that's around a 40 percent tip) for lunch at a New York City restaurant. One thousand, seven hundred dollars. For lunch!

For that matter, I can't help but wonder how many celebs show up because they truly care, and how many are looking for good publicity. I guess we'll never really know, but wouldn't it be interesting to hear reports about Celebrity XYZ saying "no" to the telethon because they weren't getting paid, or that the agent for some "reality" TV performer kept hounding the producers to get their client on the show?

As for the show itself, while the situation in Haiti is terrible and desperate, why did most of the performances have to be so solemn and mournful? I would have enjoyed the show more if there was a little more uptempo music, something that would maybe inspire some hopeful feelings. They kept saying how you can download the performances on iTunes. Honestly, based on the music alone, I wouldn't want most of them.

One more thing, this one about one of tonight's performers -- and I'm no longer being cynical, just a little shallow: John Legend is pretty.