I was in Gatlinburg, TN for a family wedding over the weekend. No internet. No Comcast SportsNet. No nothing. On the first weekend of spring training! Some family members have all the nerve. On a positive note, Gatlinburg is one hell of a town. If you’re going to be stuck in Tennessee for a wedding in February, request it be held in Gatlinburg.

So, I came back to roughly 1700 unread articles in my Google Reader. Here were some of the more interesting items from the first few days of spring training:

Beerleaguer opines on the report that Pedro Feliz is behind on his rehab from back surgery.

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JC Romero spoke to the media, and no one covered it in more detail than Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, formerly of the Inqy. Speaking of The Inquirer, did I miss an announcement, or is the Inquirer still patching together the Phillies beat with the likes of Frank Fitzpatrick among others? Lame.

Speaking of Todd Zolecki’s new home on MLB.com, he also had a great breakdown of quotes from Adam Eaton regarding his (lack of a) future with the Phillies. My favorite part: “On his absence from the World Series parade: ‘I think if I was invited I probably would have shown up.’” Ouch. I guess had he accepted his Clearwater assignment instead of heading back to the Pacific Northwest, he may have been at the parade. Where he would have been booed.

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Jamie Moyer minced no words regarding former teammate Alex Rodriguez’s admitted use of performance enhancing drugs.

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Phillies historian Rich Westcott plays the role of the wet blanket by pointing out how the previous 5 pennant winning Phillies performed the following year. Rich catches some flak in the comments for being a killjoy, but let’s be honest: the odds are against a Phillies repeat, though that hardly dampens my enthusiasm for this season.

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I really dislike the notion that Rich Dubee is already predisposed to give the Number 5 spot to the underwhelming Kyle Kendrick. Hey Rich, how about giving the other guys a shot before making it sound like Kendrick will need to blow his arm out in order to not claim the last starter role? Kendrick has in no way earned this vote of confidence. Kendrick showed himself to be one dimensional down the stretch in 2008, and his last 10 starts were painful to watch, as he went 3-4 with a 7.75 ERA. The 3 wins were thanks to 30, yes, 30 runs scored by the Phillies.

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USA Today catches up with Pat Burrell at his first spring training outside of Clearwater. Best of luck to Pat the Bat in 2009.

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The Fightins are doing a good job of covering the stupid shit that the Mets say. The Mets have an uncanny ability, much like the Dallas Cowboys, of attracting large numbers of nincompoops to their roster. Here’s to another year of shutting up the Mets and their fans.