November, December, January, Feb...

What is a baseball fan supposed to do with themselves over the course of a Winter offseason? Here in Houston options may be limited. The Texans are 4-5 coming out of their bye-week, but who is really paying attention to a team that regularly has their backside handed to them and has never posted a winning season. Admittedly, I am. Their poor showing over the last couple of years has started to catch my eye and there's no better time to hop on the bandwagon then when a team is at rock-bottom.

The Rockets ended last night against the Lakers with a 6-3 record. That might look nice on paper, but the supporting cast still can't seem to shoot the ball worth a damn and the defense looks like it left with Van Gundy. McGrady is out for at least a week (but who really knows) after suffering some nerve damage in his elbow. I'm not sure this is going to keep me sane the end of February.

The beginning of the baseball offseason is always a two-sided coin. After 162 games and a frustrating season it's nice to have a break from a team who can't seem to score any runs. People always seem to be a little more optimistic about their teams chances (unless you are the Royals or Pirates) because moves made during the offseason by a savvy GM can turn a team around. Unfortunately, a person can only read/sit through some of the same tired offseason speculation (read: insert Boras clients whoring themselves around) before they feel like a pigeon streaking across homeplate dodging a Randy Johnson fastball. So now is the time for all baseball fans to cross their fingers, hope for a few solid offseason signings, and board themselves in their basement to try and avoid all of the fawning over the Yankees by the four letter network.

So, if you're stuck in the Winter offseason doldrums, let me suggest finding yourself a beautiful woman who loves baseball and whiskey (right?!?) as much as you do to help get you through some of these cold, lonely offseason nights. Ridiculous sunglasses - not included. Unless your name is Nicole, in which case, "Hi!".