Random Thoughts

I just got through a three day weekend during which I vegged a lot, so I apologize for the lame topics this week. 1. Is there any place to feel more self-conscious than in the gym? You walk in and you’re surrounded by a bunch of hardbody, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mr. Olympia wannabes who look like they can bench press you, meanwhile it’s all you can do not to huff and puff lifting 20 pounds over your head. Obviously, I need to work out more. 2.Why is that in all the debate about whether or not Larry Bowa should be fired, and over whose fault it is that the Phils stink, why is it that today is the first day I heard a writer publicly criticize Bowa’s strategy, er, lack thereof? I heard Dick Jerardi bring it up on today’s edition of Daily News Live. I have yet to see this in print in either the Inquirer or Daily News, despite it being plain as day that Bowa is over his head as a manager. Yes, the players need to shut up and play. Yes, they need to be less thin-skinned. But why is that no one has mentioned that there are hard-ass managers out there -- Lou Piniella, Buck Showalter -- who actually know how to win? Bowa is a blowhard who has won nothing. Can one of our esteemed baseball writers speak to that?