My opinion on several things going on with the Padres these days...

End of the Jerry and Ted Era

Is it sad when something that's been around forever and ever ends? Sure. I guess so.

Would anybody have noticed that it ended if it hadn't been announced? Maybe a couple of people.

The fact of the matter is most people watch the games on television. Do I like the radio broadcast? Yeah, sure. Is it perfect? No. Am I kidding myself into believing that Jerry and Ted is somehow an institution and the best broadcast team in the history of ever? Of course not.

I'm one who listens to a lot of games on the radio. I like Jerry's voice. I've never been a fan of Ted's. He's either whispering or yelling way too loudly. Their banter is OK.

Consider this: The single most appealing part of broadcasts with Jerry and Ted is the 5 minutes they take to literally not talk about the baseball game they're calling and quiz a senior citizen about what he did that day.

Think about that and then ask yourself why you haven't called your grandparents in a while.

All good things come to an end. Just let it end. Be sad for a few minutes and then later take a second to notice that you haven't listened to a game on the radio in 7 years.

"How is Dick Enberg younger than Jerry Coleman? Enberg's 75! Coleman's 85! It's the same!"

I also don't understand people who don't get that Dick Enberg at 75 is younger than Jerry Coleman at 85. Enberg is an older dude, sure, but 10 years is 10 years. I'm 33. Am I the same guy that I was at 23? Is the 23 year old Dex the same guy at 13? It's a WORLD of difference.

At the very least, if the two guys end up having comparable career lengths, Dick Enberg will be around for another 10 years.

In another ten years, Jerry Coleman will be NINETY-FIVE.

Who's offended at telling an 85 year old guy to take a break? I hate to be so blunt about it, but I'm not going around relying on octogenarians to watch things that are moving and describe them quickly to me in an accurate fashion.

Jake Peavy on Adrian Gonzalez

Jake Peavy says stuff about the Padres that apparently shows that he hasn't paid much attention to the club other than to remember that Adrian Gonzalez is the best player we have.

Is it annoying? Sure. Is it anything to hate the guy over? Probably not. At least not by itself.

Let's not forget that this is a guy who faked eye exams so that he wouldn't have to... wear glasses... I guess.

He didn't want to look like a nerd. There's really no other reason for faking an eye exam when part of your business is being able to pitch a ball sixty feet, six inches into a zone that's about a foot and a half wide and maybe a couple feet tall.

All I'm saying is I wouldn't trust this guy to do my taxes or to tutor kids studying up for their SATs or to really say anything that I should take so seriously as to get angry about.

And for those of you defending him, I get it. You like the guy, a lot. He's charming in his dopey way. Just don't forget that this dopey guy that did so many great things for your ball club that one time 3 years ago is actively trying to take away the best player on your team. So ummmm.... Why are you trying so hard to get people to see his point of view?

Everybody else on Adrian Gonzalez

If you've read this far, you probably have figured to yourself that I don't know much of what I'm talking about. So you'll excuse me for this, but why is everybody in such a rush to "sign" Adrian Gonzalez? Don't we have that guy under contract for a while? What good would it do anybody to "sign" him to a long term deal now?

Do we somehow save money? No.

Do we somehow increase his trade value? No.

Are we under all kinds of pressure to get a deal done? Only if accomplishing something within a two year time frame makes you nervous. I guess this means you SDSU sophomores are justified in your jitters.

Roughly speaking, the best test for identifying high value players is to check if you're paying less for his services than it would cost for you to go out an buy similar services in the open market. At this point, Adrian Gonzalez is VERY valuable. Signing him takes away that value.

Lower Beer Prices. Lower Parking Prices.

I don't drink beer at the ballpark and I don't park my car in pay lots. I have to walk a bit further to get to the ballpark and I have to stay sober for 3 1/2 hours or so, but the money stays in my pocket.

And one general blog announcement for those of you who've read this far...

Gaslamp Ball Meetups

We've been getting suggestions from a bunch of different directions to have at least one and maybe multiple Gaslamp Ball Nights. Our own goal for these would be to all sit in some section together for a game to mingle and meet. We'd also like to have a special guest or three come sit/visit with us. Alternatively, we've held Pizza Feeds before to get together and watch games at some fine eatery. Another option that's been presented to us would be to work something out with another SB Nation blog and (kindly) host some of their readers at our little shindig.

If you have thoughts on this, please let us know either in the comments or via email. We'd like to get something going.