While CNN stoked the fire for a Bush/Chavez showdown, I hung out at the U.S. embassy all afternoon, waiting for Ozzie and his entourage to finally show up.

As tensions run high in Argentina, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield pointed out that Venezuela and the United States share a common hatred of the infield fly rule - a bilateral agreement that A.J. Pierzynski is the luckiest batter in all of history. In the end, we share the same human passion.

Tryants and imperialists on one end. "A negative force in the region" on the other.

"Beisbol y Amistad - Compartiendo Nuestra Pasion," the banner read today, with the image of two flags - American and Venezuelan - waving on baseball bats.

"At the very least sports unites the U.S. and Venezuela," Ozzie said today. "I'll leave politics to the politicans."

A U.S. marine from Chi-town's South Side, assigned to the embassy, handed Ozzie a Beisbol y Amistad T-shirt. "Don't say we never give anything away for free," the Ambassador quipped, which sounded a lot funnier in Spanish.

I know this sounds chezy and overblown and cliche and all that...but as a baseball fan it truly was a hopeful, optimistic event to attend, in the midst of all the craziness blowing up around us.

My ex-girlfriend used to always ask why I took baseball so damn seriously, and I would always try to stumble through some general explanation. But after today I'll never again have that problem.

Oh, and I stood about three feet away from Guillen and thee World Series mother-effing trophy, bitches, getting squashed and sandwiched by rabid Venezuelan reporters in the process. I asked him if he knows his plans for next season yet. "Todavia no se." That's right: Me and Ozzie are on speaking terms. We're officially best friends.