Thanks to all of your prayers, Mrs. Claus got a new liver and two kidneys. She is in recovery and doing as well as expected. To celebrate, I am going back to ranting and raving ... okie dokie?

I think I will take a break of sorts from entirely sports subjects and bitch about other things. I am irritated with XM Radio. First of all, I thought it was suppose to be commercial free. XM Radio skirts around the issue by having "sponsors." What the hell is the difference?

Their sponsors irritate me even further. One example is Lennox Financing. If you have ever heard the ads, you would agree. He is the moron that ends all of his commercials saying "it's" the biggest no brainer in the history of Earth. Here is what he proposes. Lennox wants to "manage" your home mortgage. Whenever the find a better rate, of better terms, they help you refinance your loan. SO you always have the best rate. However, you NEVER pay off your home, because you are constantly starting over with 30 years to go. However, he makes a hefty profit. It's the biggest no brainer in the history of Earth to avoid him.

Another ad that drives me nuts on XM is the one for Tronnix Country. This helpful company finances your new laptop regardless of your horrific credit history. You brand new $400 laptop costs you only $29.95 per week for a total of $1557.40. Is that a hefty interest rate or what?

I can top those two bozos however. The ads for Lifelock. Lifelock is that wonderful company that for some ridiculous amount guarantees that your credit is safe. There ad starts out with a wife sying this to her husband ... "Honey, I can't believe it, someone just got ahold of all of our credit and we are wiped out." The husband replies, "Don't worry, I signed us up for LifeLock and they will spend up to a million dollars to fix our credit." Does anyone else see the problem here. The have LifeLock and someone got into their credit history and wiped them out. So, what the hell was LifeLock doing?

I feel the need to mention at least a few things about sports that are on my mind. The first is that sports talk show hosts are discussing that in late game situations, umpires should have the ability to not call fouls that might change the outcome of the game regardless of whether there really was a foul or not. One example that they game is that on the last play of a football game, a "hail Mary" pass in thrown in the end zone. All of the offensive and defensive players run into each other and the ball falls incomplete. They feel that no pass interference should be called. Horse shit. If you allow umpires and referees that interpret the rules and decide when to call or not call them, how do you keep them from deciding the game for or against the team they like. Call the game the correct way. I am tired of umpires in baseball games having their own strike zones also. Seems like every umpire has a different zone ...

Lastly, for today. Ball park food. Why does a terrible hot dog cost $8.00 at a game and a good hot dog and a soda costs $2.25 at CostCo.? I think I will do an article on all of the food available at different parks. I would love to hear from people regarding how much it costs to eat at different stadiums. Oh yeah, did I mention lately that I hate Barry Bonds?