Here's the Scoop by Brian Sweeney

I’ve got this one covered
Although I don’t do that much sports reporting these days, I recently volunteered to attend a game.
“I’ll cover the team that wears the orange and black, if that’s OK,” I said to the assignment editor.
Then, I added an extra generous offer, “You don’t even need to pay me, just pick up my expenses.”
He nodded absently, not concerned with the mileage bill for what he assumed was a round-trip to Roxbury.

Here’s the drill
For many folks, just thinking about a trip to the dentist is nearly as painful as the actual deed. Almost.

Maybe that’s why a lot of people (I qualify) drag their feet a bit when it comes to scheduling dental visits.

It’s not like I need a Garmin to find my dentist’s office, but there’s some repair work that I have avoided. Until now. Teeth, like most body parts, have a tendency to wear out a bit, Unfortunately, too much wear and tear results in skipping the “regular” dentist and popping in to see the oral surgeon.

Setting the record straight
In the past few years, it seems like I have attended a lot of funerals. Experience tells me that I fit squarely into the group that remarks, “I hate these things.” Most people qualify for this category, I’m guessing.

I’m not playing!
Often when someone asks me what I “did” over the weekend, I have to give the question some serious thought before responding. The fact is, I like to think I do a lot of “stuff,” but I can’t always recall the specifics. It’s probably better that way.

However, there’s one I always know that I didn’t do — play Words with Friends. Or any other online game.

When is the next bus?
Baseball fans this week, especially the Red Sox faithful, are having a great time. It seems that loose-lipped new manager Bobby Valentine went on a radio show and sort of questioned the physical and emotional effort of one of the team’s longtime stars, Kevin Youkilis.

Weekend...time for work!
Like many Americans with a general Monday-Friday work schedule, I crave the weekends. Those two days are an opportunity to kick back — and haul around heavy stuff. Or chop up things. And, maybe set aside a bit of time for digging around a rock-hard hillside — all in anticipation of planting stuff. In other words: “fun.”

What are the odds?
Like millions of other folks across the country, I was glued to the TV set last Friday for the Mega Millions lottery drawing.

Moments after the winning numbers were selected, I excitedly raced around to compare the numbers I had just written down to the ones on the lottery tickets I had purchased. It didn’t take much searching around in my wallet to figure out a chilling reality — I had NO chance of winning. There were zero lottery tickets for me to check. None.

Transmission failure
Over the years, fax machines have occasionally been a topic in this column. I recall the early days of this technology when the equipment was quite expensive and it was more cost-effective to make a five-mile round-trip to send and receive faxes from a local business that offered such services. Today, I find it annoying to walk two steps across my office to grab a fax off my machine.

“Don’t these people know about e-mail?” I shout to no one in particular when a fax appears.

Imported foods...from up north
Even if you’ve never been there, or aren’t entirely certain where it’s located on the map, Greece has played an influential role in your life recently.

Who uses these words?
Even during a season like this year, without much snow or many frigid days, winter tends to drag on like a parental lecture.

For this reason, it’s good to have a hobby to help pass the long, chilly days and nights. Hobbies are something that I don’t have many of — unless you count napping on the couch. That’s one that I spend a fair amount of time at during winter and, I modestly state, I have extraordinary skills in this area.