The Tooth Fairy screwed me
Well, that is what I always thought when I went to school the next day and found out I got fifty cents, while other kids were getting Lincolns dropped under their pillows. Money, even at that time, was relative and I hated the Tooth Fairy.

Similar thinking is what seems to be holding up Albert Pujos and the Cardinals from making a deal to keep Albert in St. Louis, as the self-imposed deadline of noon Wednesday came and went with no deal.

The situation really isn't about what Pujos is worth or even what he is going to produce, it's all about what everyone else is making. He reportedly rejected the Cardinals last offer because, while it did put him among the top 10 players' salaries, it was not in the top five annual salaries. Again, the other kids got more for their chiclets.

Of course Albert is chasing the school's rich kid in Alex Rodriguez who got a 10-year $275 million contract in 2007 from the Yankees and is making around $594,000 per hit compared to Albert's current 237-grand.

Could this be Albert's last year in St. Louis? Maybe so. Different parents have different price ranges when it comes to teeth, just like teams do with players, and it is hard to tell sometimes just how far they will go to be competitive with the others folks on the block.

Will Albert will cave in for the home town discount? I doubt it. Just like I didn't know two quarters was a crap deal for an incisor until I got to school, he knows now what other guys are raking in. If nothing else that will make him feel like he is getting shorted, no matter how much money is really laid on the table.

There is just something about us as people that makes us feel good about what we have right up until the point we see our neighbor with something better.

Well that about does it for all the Dale Jr. conspiracy theories out there...or does it?
Wednesday Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the Daytona 500 pole on Sunday, wrecked during practice and will now be forced to start the Super Bowl of racing from the back of the field in his back up car.

Since winning the pole for the 10th anniversary of his father's Daytona 500 death, talk of the pole's legitimacy have become hearsay more common than talk of who is french kissing at a sixth-grade lunch table. With Jr. now starting from the back, one would think those rumors might cease, however.......

We've seen Ferris Buller's Day Off and we know there are two ways to produce a convincing fake story. You either produce a very common, believable, story or you go the exact opposite direction. You get a manikin, some tapes of fake snoring sounds, and rig it up so it looks like you are on your death bed. You go so over the top, no one will ever think you had the guts to make such a tale up.

Could NASCAR be going the second route here? Could they be putting together such an amazing storyline for their Most Popular Driver that no one would ever think they had the guts to claim they made it up? Are they that desperate to see the guy who has notched only three wins since 2005 ride the emotions of his late father's death to victory lane?

I'm not saying they did or would however, be honest with yourself. It would make for a heck of a story.