A strange noise; counting my teams

By now, you're all at least a little familiar with the layout of our place. I'm in the computer room (duh), which sits in the middle of the apartment. As I sit, the bedroom is behind me, the kitchen and living room in front of me (were it not for those pesky walls).

It's past midnight, and my wife is having a hard time falling asleep. Usually, she's settled comfortably in her nightly trip to Dreamland. She's got the TV on, tuned to some cheesy old sitcom.

Every so often, I can hear the laugh track. It sounds so distant.

And I can't help but feel like I'm in some sort of TV show myself. We've all seen the cliched shot where Character A sits alone in a room with the TV on nearby. Character A is distracted, perhaps even upset or depressed. Yet the laugh track rolls on.

I'm worried about my wife. Worried that she won't get enough sleep, worried that she won't get any sleep, worried that it'll adversely affect her day tomorrow. I don't want that for her. I want each day to be a joy - or as much of a joy as it can be - and I know a lack of sleep will prevent that from happening. She, much more than me, needs her sleep.

Don't worry, she says, it happens sometimes. You can't do anything, she says a minute later, so there's no reason for you to worry.

But I do. She's my wife. I'm supposed to worry - even as the laugh track plays on.

I'm glad someone's carefree.

-- TEAM TALLY: I covered the Washington Nationals' opener on Monday, writing a column from a 9-2 loss to the Florida Marlins. It means little in the grand scheme of things for the Nats - only that they're 0-1 - but it meant a little more to me.

It meant that I've now seen, in person, every team in the National League East. The Marlins had eluded me for some time; I had plenty of chances to see them when they came to Philly, and had even better chances since 2005, when they came to D.C., too.

For reasons I don't quite understand, I keep a mental tally of these sorts of things. (I guess it's a bigger deal for us small-fry sportswriters.) So, for posterity, I'll give you my complete list of teams I've actually seen in person, either as a fan or while working - NFL and MLB teams only, since those are the sports I cover primarily.

MLB
National League: Atlanta, Florida, New York, Philadelphia, Washington (East); Cincinnati, Houston, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, St. Louis (Central); Arizona, Colorado, San Diego, San Francisco (West).

American League: Baltimore, Boston, New York, Toronto (East); Chicago, Cleveland, Kansas City, Minnesota (Central); Oakland, Seattle (West).

NFL
NFC: Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, Washington (East); Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota (North); Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay (South); Arizona, Seattle, St. Louis (West).

AFC: New England, New York (East); Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee (South); San Diego (West).