I did our taxes the other day. For a variety of reasons, none of them good, we owed more taxes this year than we had anticipated. A lot more. I immediately appreciated what Winston Churchill said about poker: “The only way to really learn the game is to play for more than you could afford to lose.”

Much to my surprise, the IRS declined my offer to go double or nothing on our taxes in a game of five-card stud.

Instead, we have a plan that should put us back on firm financial footing by the end of President Obama’s second term – Sasha Obama’s second term, that is.

But personal financial ruin is no excuse not to turn one’s attention to baseball in the spring. And it was with a lighter wallet but more weighty expectations that the baseball fan who is my wife and I turned out for the 2009 Seattle Mariner’s Opening Day at Safeco Field.

It was a chilly day for a baseball game. Actually, it would have been a chilly day for a dog sled race.

By the seventh inning, the Mariners Store could have been doing a land-sale business in personal propane heaters and thermal underwear. I couldn’t decide whether to drink my coffee or pour it in my lap.

Despite the recession and the growing number of people out of work, there still appears to be plenty of people with very disposable incomes around based solely on the number of $8 stadium beers being purchased by fans near our seats.

To save a little money, we sat in less expensive seats this year. I won’t tell you exactly where they were located, but we had a much better chance of getting hit by Safeco’s movable roof than we did of getting hit by a foul ball.

One of the things I like to do at baseball games is check out my fellow fans and see if I can discern any new and emerging fashion trends because, as everyone who knows me can attest, I am nothing if not a fashion trend-setter.

It’s hard to glean much about new clothing trends in an icy stadium where nearly everyone within eyeshot is wearing hooded sweatshirts and down parkas, but I think I was able to detect an interesting new hairstyle among a small but obviously edgy segment of Mariners fans. I’ll call it the Reverse Mullet.

The original mullet, of course, was one of the first haircuts to make an actual statement – “all business up front, all party in the rear.” The Reverse Mullet features a close cropping of the back of the head with longish bangs combed over the eyes in front. It’s what you might expect if you crossed Boy George with Sinead O’Connor and dipped the result in a tank of hair gel by its feet before sliding it into baggy jeans and a Motley Crue T-shirt.

It’s undeniably a distinctive look, particularly when accessorized with a fetching backwards vintage Mariners baseball cap. I think I’ll wait to see if the look catches on before I ask Chuck at the barbershop to give me one.

The Mariners, by the way, won their opening home game and looked pretty good in doing so. I am confidently predicting a significant improvement over their 101 losses last year. Before you rely on my advice and put your house payment on the Mariners to win the World Series, keep in mind that I am also confidently predicting the return of the leisure suit.

After thawing out from the victorious opening-day festivities and devising a plan to pay our taxes, I felt a lot better about the world. There are those who say that wisdom and pain are the twin pillars of life, the two forces that define us as a species and shape our existence.

Finding the right balance between the two can be a challenge, particularly since wisdom can be a master of disguises and pain is usually an unwelcome visitor even when it’s standing on your porch with its arm-around wisdom.

If you’re a Mariner fan like me, you are only too familiar with pain. Let this be our year of wisdom.