I buried the lead.

If all the world's a stage, where does the audience sit?

The NCAA tournament continues, and I can't help but wonder what all the fuss is about. From the looks of the TV (which is after all, the final authority) they're playing to half-empty lower-level seating in Detroit. It makes me think that the tournament is the sports equivalent of the lottery. It's popular because people can wager on it, but they don't have to actually watch it to know if they win. All we need to do is check the scores and check our picks to know whether we have a chance to win.

It doesn't help that the games are being played in football stadiums, where the worst seat in the house is barely in the house. How many people who play bracket pools actually watch the games? If you buy a lottery ticket do you watch the drawing?

Speaking of sports (which I was), it's now more expensive to go to baseball games:

CHICAGO (AP) - It will cost a lot more to root, root, root for the home team this year. Major League Baseball’s average ticket price increased 10.9 percent this season to $25.40, the Team Marketing Report said Friday. That’s the steepest increase since a 12.9 rise in 2001. The World Series champion Red Sox, playing in the major leagues’ smallest ballpark, have the highest average at $48.80, up 10.1 percent.

Players are earning more money than ever. The average salary is over a million dollars. Stadiums (sorry - ballparks) have a limited number of seats and there are a limited number of games. Do the math. Soon, it will be impossible for a family to go to a baseball game without "the boss" giving them tickets. It's already happened in football, basketball and hockey. Baseball was the last holdout. I'll cherish my 17-game Phillies ticket plan until I can no longer afford the $27.50 per game plus parking, bridge toll and (egad) beer, which may be sooner than later.

Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is at it already. The rhetoric is hot and heavy, and it's barely April. We're seeing where the campaign is going. They're going to play the veteran war-hero angle. Predictable. His latest ad (I'm John McCain and I approved this message) says: "What must a president believe about us, about America?" Then, he provides the answer: "That she is worth protecting." Once again, as we were told in 2004, the Democrats (specifically Barack Obama) are unable of "protecting" America. It's old, but it worked once.

I will ask this question: How is the War in Iraq protecting America?

It's easy to see where these low-life's are going come the summer. They're going to play on McCain's POW War-hero persona which, while admirable, has nothing to do with whether or not a man (or woman) will make a good president. They'll play on our fears, which is how G.W. Bush got re-elected. God, how did we do that? They went to school on his nonsense and they will repeat the same rhetoric in 2008. It was good enough for the idiot son of our 41st President, and it will be good enough for John McCain.

It's up to Americans to realize what the Republicans will do (and have done) to win. Winning, to them is more important than the country's best interests. They're relentless, which is why I fear the vote in November. John McCain is a weasel of the first degree, and the more he pushes the more I will push back.

His latest ad is a clear indication of the fact that they believe Barack Obama will be the Democrat nominee for president. If that is the case, it says here is that Barack Obama must be elected president in order to save us from another four years of (quote) leadership from people who are neither interested in us or willing to help us make our lives better. Their only interest is in making their lives better. Watch this and don't say I didn't warn you...