Yes we know! You got a weather balloon with your CitiBank points!

OK, I admit this is a very specific complaint… but I need to get it off my chest.
I love MLB.com and I watch a lot of the highlights of the day on there. And often times I will turn to the GameDay page and watch a bunch of clips in a row.

And they have ads inbetween the clips. And I’m OK with that. They need to pay the bills.

But here’s the problem. At least the last few weeks, they’ve been showing an ad for CitiBank Rewards points where a guy uses his rewards points to get a weather balloon.

So the ad has a little guitar riff and and announcer says “What can you do with CitiPoints?”
The main character starts to blow up a weather balloon with his racially balanced group of friends on top of a hill.

One asks “You got a weather balloon with points?” As if he didn’t know that. As if they just randomly drove up a hill with a gigantic airtank and equipment and he never asked “Where are we going.”

The main character says “Yes I did” and they let the balloon go. Now we don’t get to see the cool footage from the weather balloon. There’s a little note that says “See more at CitiBank.com.”

As if anyone is watching a commercial and thinks “Holy crap! Where can I see MORE commercials!”

“OK Sully,” you say. “It’s a lame commercial. But why are you getting worked up over it?”

Because they show the same commercial over and over again. And JUST that commercial. I’m trying to watch baseball highlights while my wife is watching Top Chef and some insane show with Ice T and his bonkers wife. And in between each great 20 second highlight I hear “You got a weather balloon with points!”

A great home run. “You got a weather balloon with points!”

The post game celebration. “You go a weather balloon with points!”

A tribute to a great retired ballplayer. “You got a weather balloon with points!”

Not to get all baseball on you, CitiBank… but mix up your pitches! If I hear “You got a weather balloon with points!” one more time I will… um… I guess do nothing.

My bank isn’t CitiBank. And I am going to continue to watch baseball highlights.

So I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that this guy got a weather balloon with points.

(Please tell me I am not the only person who is driven to insanity by the guy who got a weather balloon with points. E mail me at info@sullybaseball.com)

Why are Nick Swisher and Jonathan Papelbon taking a shower together?

Look, I know it is 2011 and what anyone does behind closed doors is their business.
And I think the whole “players should fraternize before or after a game” sentiment is a little dated.

But do I really want my closer in a shower with the right fielder of the Yankees?
I mean they are talking casually so they can hear each other so maybe they are just in a locker room.

Or maybe they are doing a Skype call.
The lighting shows that Papelbon is in the Heat Miser’s lair while Swisher is in the ice castle of Snow Miser.

I hope the next one they are in a jacuzzi together.

Can’t Evan Longoria afford a new cap?

Seriously… if he lost his hat, buy a new one! He signed a $17 million contract. Go on line and get a new one.

Why chase down that poor schmuck to a helicopter?

And why is some yahoo going to Rays games (and taking public transportation) getting on a private helicopter?

Sorry, but these things bother me.