Are you listening David Stern?

I'm sure the Los Anaheim Angels think differently, but I absolutely love the fact that baseball doesn't waste any time in playing their play-off games. I was shocked to see yesterday that game 5 of the Angels-Bastards series was Monday night, just one day after a late game in New York.

I thought to myself, there's no way they will makes these teams fly out of New York, certainly after midnight, go all the way to Los Anaheim and play right away the next day. Well, they did and even though Bartolo couldn't go, (check out my rhymes, that last phrase may have been good enough to get me cred on 8 Mile), the Angels pulled it out AND we got to see Sheffield collide with a guy named Bubba, something I thought never occurred outside of Gary's personal life.

So what did the Angels win? Another late flight to Chicago, where the ALCS starts tonight! This is great, no off days, no waiting. The NBA should take notes, after going to the NFL Playoff schedule the last two years having teams play about once a week. Word out of New York is that this year the NBA might actually split the games up by halves, the first half will be played on Tuesday, the second half on Thursday. That way we get TWO pre- and post-game shows, as well as two half-halftimes between quarters, which all means more ad dollars.

One thing the NBA should not adopt, the champagne and beer celebration after every stage of the play-offs, including division and wild-card clinching victories. (Especially for those Angelitos, who have a game tomorrow!) For whoever wins the World Series, it will be their fourth such celebration in just over a month. Doesn't it get tired at that point? I know I wouldn't want to celebrate New Year's every Saturday in January.

Maybe if the White Sox win the World Series Tim Raines can call on some of his old contacts to really up the ante for their celebration. Wouldn't it be great if the victorious Pale Hose walked in to their clubhouse to find that, instead of champagne, the Rock had delivered an 8lb. rock of cocaine? I want to see Bud Selig, with two inches of frost on his suit jacket, hand over the trophy to Ozzie Guillen who is sporting a milk mustache of his own. Of course this will all be commemorated with the official 2005 World Series Champion Clubhouse Sno-Globe.

I'd buy it.