To continue the religious theme around here, it was Christmas in March at the Arneson house today. The FedEx Santa delivered my favorite package: season tickets.

I get to play Santa for the people I share the tickets with later, but first, I have to open the package to see what they look like, and feel them in my hands. This is when the baseball season truly becomes tangible.

It appears the A's are sticking with the "A's Brand" marketing scheme they used last year. The ticket booklet declares on the cover: "INSIDE: this book contains up to 6 months of pure bliss."

The tickets are very cleverly designed. Instead of just having pictures of players as they had in the past, now they have given the tickets some extra utility. Some tickets have coupons, some have silly lists like a "Dot Racing Wager Card" and a Pre-Game Checklist ("foam finger", "emergency backup foam finger"...) and some have games, like a word search, and a mad lib.

But this one really cracked me up:

 
No wonder Eric Byrnes hasn't been traded yet...