Friday at 4:57, the Marketing department shut down, thus beginning my three-day weekend o’ fun!  As you undoubtedly know, Opening Day of the baseball season is this Monday, and it has evolved into a ritual of sorts for me to drop everything and, for one day, focus only on the most glorious day of the year.

Friday evening, Lauren and I met Jaime and Christian at Figilio for Happy Hour.  I wolfed down two orders of $3 mini burgers and quenched my thrist with a pair of frosty brews.  Lauren and I originally had plans to see the new movie Adventureland, which is based on the games department of an amusement park, clearly right up my alley.  I even went and purchased tickets early.  But we came back to the apartment and got to chatting with the Berglund-Husebys and opted to skip the movie.  So, I walked back to the theater and scalped my tickets!  I got almost all of my money back.  It was a wise decision to skip as I was snoozing on the couch shortly after 11.

Today Lauren and I went down to Wisteria Design to check on wedding flowers.  As you know, I have very particular tastes when it comes to our floral arrangements.  The guy we talked with was extremely helpful and basically, whatever he suggested we just went along with.  Much better than the first appointment we had a month ago when we sat down to chat with some dude at Minneapolis Floral who said nothing.  Suggested nothing. Just sat there and waited for us to tell him what we wanted.  We don’t know crap about flowers!  Today’s florist was much better.

The rest of today is pretty much up in the air.  Ideas that have been thrown around including meeting the Husebys again, taking in a Swarm game with Patrick, or continuing our Best Picture project with 1959’s Ben-Hur. We also need to do some cleaning and laundry.

Tomorrow is wide open as well, except for late afternoon when a group of us take in the Timberwolves/Nuggets game.  Look for us on TV–we’ll be the people in the stands.  C.M. tells me tickets can be had for as little as $4 to see the pitiful Wolves attempt to finish with the league’s worst record.

Then Monday will be my big day.  Lauren has to work, but I will be at home taking a vacation day, catching the early games.  I believe ESPN has the Red Sox/Rays at noon and the Yankees/Orioles at 3, or something like that.  WGN has the White Sox/Royals at 1.  I have a few good options.  Then whenever Lauren gets home and the Rosoks arrive, we’ll all head down to the Metrodome for the Twins/Mariners game at 7.

You may have already seen my 2009 MLB Predictions over at RyanGlanzer.com, but I thought I’d take a moment to share some more in-depth predictions.

AL East

  1. Rays – 96-66
  2. Yankees – 94-68
  3. Red Sox – 92-70
  4. Orioles – 71-91
  5. Blue Jays – 69-93

AL Central

  1. Indians – 89-73
  2. Twins – 88-74
  3. Royals – 82-80
  4. White Sox – 79-83
  5. Tigers – 77-85

AL West

  1. Athletics – 88-74
  2. Angels – 84-78
  3. Mariners – 79-83
  4. Rangers 70-92

NL East

  1. Phillies – 90-72
  2. Mets – 84-78
  3. Marlins – 81-81
  4. Braves – 80-82
  5. Nationals – 60-102

NL Central

  1. Cubs – 93-69
  2. Brewers – 92-70
  3. Astros – 82-80
  4. Cardinals – 80-82
  5. Reds – 78-84
  6. Pirates – 71-91

NL West

  1. Diamondbacks – 95-67
  2. Dodgers – 93-69
  3. Giants – 79-83
  4. Rockies – 73-89
  5. Padres – 61-101

ALDS
Indians def. Yankees, 3-1
Rays def. Athletics, 3-2

NLDS
Diamondbacks def. Phillies, 3-2
Cubs def. Dodgers, 3-0

ALCS
Indians def. Rays, 4-0

NLCS
Cubs def. Diamondbacks, 4-2

World Series
Indians def. Cubs, 4-3

AL MVP Voting

  1. Grady Sizemore, CLE
  2. Justin Morneau, MIN
  3. Alexei Ramirez, CHW
  4. Mark Teixiera, NYY
  5. Kevin Youkilis, BOS
  6. Matt Holliday, OAK
  7. Miguel Cabrera, DET
  8. Vladimir Guerrero, LAA
  9. Josh Hamilton, TEX
  10. Carlos Gomez, MIN

NL MVP

  1. Lance Berkman, HOU
  2. Hanley Ramirez, FLA
  3. Albert Pujols, STL
  4. Chipper Jones, ATL
  5. Ryan Howard, PHI
  6. Jimmy Rollins, PHI
  7. Milton Bradley, CHC
  8. Ryan Braun, MIL
  9. Prince Fielder, MIL
  10. Corey Hart, MIL

AL Cy Young

  1. Gavin Floyd, CHW
  2. Roy Halladay, TOR
  3. Joe Nathan, MIN
  4. Daisuke Matsuzaka, BOS
  5. CC Sabathia, NYY

NL Cy Young

  1. Edinson Volquez, CIN
  2. Ryan Dempster, CHC
  3. Johan Santana, NYM
  4. Tim Lincecum, SF
  5. Brad Lidge, PHI

AL Rookie of the Year
Travis Snider, TOR

NL Rookie of the Year
Cameron Maybin, FLA

AL Manager
Ron Gardenhire, MIN

NL Manager
Lou Piniella, CHC