5 bullet-point rumblings before Opening Day 2012

Seattle - In seven days, baseball fans can finally stop paying attention to meaningless games featuring players with jersey numbers in between 60 and 90.

Spring is in full swing, and spring training is almost over.

I'm in rival AL West territory at the moment, typing this blog from my hotel room at the Red Lion in Seattle. SocialTech 2012, a social media/marketing conference, brought me to Washington this weekend. First time to visit the Emerald City. It rained every day I was here, to no one's surprise, but I was impressed with the abundance of fresh/quality food I tasted on this trip (more on that later).

For now, here are five bullet-point rumblings as we prepare for Opening Day 2012:

Top 5 Rangers storylines I anticipate for 2012

Sometimes, the heartbreak of coming within one strike (twice) of winning the World Series overshadows the incredible run the Texas Rangers have put together the past two seasons.

The Rangers - a team that before 2010 had never won a postseason series - enter Spring Training as the two-time defending American League champions. They return every key player, minus starting pitcher C.J. Wilson, to a team that went 96-66 last season, the best regular season in franchise history. In 2010, Texas went 90-72 before making a World Series run.

Yu-Phoria: Darvish Dazzles in Debut

It's funny to think how much anticipation surrounded a rather meaningless spring training baseball game on Wednesday.

Such was the case for the first MLB appearance of Yu Darvish, whom the Rangers signed over the offseason for six years and $60 million (on top of a $51.7 million negotiating fee).



Survey said? So far, so good.

My list of the top 10 local Dallas rock songs

When I think about my favorite part of the summer, attending baseball games at Rangers Ballpark tops my list. Not far behind, though, is supporting local Dallas rock music.

I've had the pleasure of attending a ton of shows over the years. I'll always enjoy the memories of a summer night filled with the sounds of non-commercial rock music in the friendly confines of places such as Curtain Club, House of Blues and Club Clearview, to name a few.

Since I live in Kansas City, it's difficult to keep up with the local Dallas music scene as much as I'd like. However, in my 10 or so years of hearing bands with Dallas ties, these are my 10 favorite songs:

Happy Super Bowl Sunday

Happy Super Bowl Sunday from the Gametime in Arlington blog. Super Bowl XLVI is set to take place in a little less than five hours between the Giants and Patriots.

My prediction: Giants 27, Patriots 24.

Sad story: Josh Hamilton suffers second relapse (A reaction)

When "Josh Hamilton" became a trending topic on Twitter a few days ago, my mind started wandering. Did he and the Texas Rangers work out a new contract before Spring Training, per his preference? Did he get hurt in a freak accident and tear an ACL or something?

Unfortunately, it was worse.

Hamilton suffered his second relapse with alcohol in the past three years when he went out to Sherlock's in Dallas on Monday, Jan. 30.