Brett's new diet

A couple weeks ago, I suggested that Brett Myers should share his weight-loss secrets with the world. I thought it would be funny for us, and a way for young Brett to supplement his income in case the downtrodden economy forces him to accept a pay cut next year.

But he's giving away his tips for free:

"Making smarter choices while you drink beer," the righthander said after his first start of the spring yesterday. "Instead of pizza, eat salad. Play for the tie, you know."

Myers, who described his weight as "beer-thirty" hasn't convinced Rich Dubee that this new healthy lifestyle will stick:

"I've seen him come in in good shape before and not maintain it," Dubee said. "It's about consistency with Brett. Be the same guy every day, stay away from the roller coaster, from the way he prepares to the way he executes."

Regardless, Brett is already feeling the difference:

Myers laughed off a question about whether he felt any differently physically due to weight loss.

"I felt really fat out there," he said. "I was having a problem getting the ball to the outer half of the plate because my belly was in the way."

Now we just need to get him in a sweatsuit in front of a mountain or stream to teach us yoga exercises.

Game day: Or maybe Brett lost his weight playing a lot of basketball. On Sunday, I went to my first basketball game since I was a kid when I saw a contest featuring the Harlem Wizards. {I was a big Duke fan for a while and never realized at the time how much they are universally detested. I saw them lose to Temple at the Spectrum in 1996.}

Christine and I watched St. Joe's beat St. Bonaventure 72-63 at the Palestra. I enjoyed it even though I'm a bit naive to basketball (I had to ask Christine if they play quarters or halves in college). Christine enjoyed it too - especially watching the hawk mascot. {He never stopped flapping his wings!} We both liked Bryant Irwin, who seemed like the least talented guy who got any minutes for St. Joe's. No one passed him the ball. Give him some time, he's just a freshman.

FNG: The acronym is homage to a former colleague. NG stands for New Guy, you can figure out the first letter. The Philadelphia Inquirer's FNG Phillies beat writer is Andy Martino. He introduced himself Sunday:

My job is to aggressively dig up news and deliver it to readers in a fair and objective way; in other words, I work for you, so if you ever have questions, complaints, compliments or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to email or comment.

Well, Andy, we here at SoxandPhils always like Todd Zolecki, but there is one thing he kept us hanging on. I cite SoxandPhils from July 11, 2008:

After Shane Victorino tripled in the 8th to tie the game at five, Jimmy Rollins kept waving a bottle of baby oil at him from the dugout. I can't wait to hear the explanation of that one.

I never got an answer, even after e-mailing Zolecki. Maybe the new guy can dig out the truth on this one.