What, Them Worry?

After one morning workout, Teixeira and Young were on their way to lunch when Tex took the time to bust Young's balls for not washing his hands before they ate. "Dude, you're not gonna wash up before you eat?" he asked. "You sick bastard." Young promptly did an about-face and headed for the washroom, smiling the whole way.

Point is, they have an uncanny collective talent to wade through all the bullshit and do their jobs. It's a professionalism cocktail with a twist of enjoyment. It's exactly the right attitude to have and carry with them into the season to continue with last year's winning ways. And, regardless of what most people are saying about them, I'm starting to believe that these kids could do just that--win this year.

"We get asked questions about all those things," Young said when quizzed on what was or wasn't a distraction for the team. "But we don't pay attention to any of them. They're really not issues for us. We're just trying to win and trying to have fun. We like playing together. That occupies most of our time. I mean, what's the difference? Even if we were worried about that stuff, we couldn't change it. It really doesn't bother us. We let everyone else deal with it if they want."

It took me awhile, but I'm starting to figure that out.

Editor's note: This is John Gonzalez's last column for the Dallas Observer--at least for a while. He's allegedly heading off to an alleged city called "Boston" for an alleged "job" with another publication. (He's done this before, but like a cat, he came back.) We'll miss him--again--though this time we're keeping his desk open and a Dallas apartment guide handy. We figure one New England winter should have him heading south in a hurry. Either that, or he'll be released on probation. Good luck, John.