Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

Sports notes:

:: Michelle Kwan is once again the World Champion!

I remember the first time I ever heard of Kwan, way back in 1994 when she was forced onto the scene in the wake of the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan debacle. I remember watching her and thinking, "Wow, she's going to be pretty good." And has she ever been pretty good! I don't know if she'll still be around for the 2006 Winter Games, but I hope she is, and I hope that she finally puts it all together and gets the Olympic gold medal that's eluded her. (I also hope she doesn't do anything goofy like try to go without the services of a coach when 2006 rolls around. I'm convinced that's what did her in last year, because she simply didn't have her usual polish.)

:: It's Opening Day for Major League Baseball. I'm not going to attempt to pick a World Series champion, because I'm not entirely up-to-speed on the offseason player moves and whatnot. My team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, are apparently in the middle-stages of their rebuilding efforts, and some publications say they could be a surprise this year. They're still prone to making goofy decisions, their farm-system is still a bit on the lean side, and they're still a small-market team in a sport that seems totally unwilling to come up with some kind of revenue-sharing. If things break their way, they could have a pretty decent year, and maybe Brian Giles will finally be recognized for the player that he really is. He's the best-kept secret in baseball.