Tek

Photocredit: ErinCox Photomanipulation: Jaid

Guess what I did while I wasn't sleeping last night???

Stephen King Sports Center

by bsap11 @ "Surviving Grady"

33

Wild Things

Congratulations Boston Red Sox. I love saying that at the end of the season. It's either Wild Card or Groovy Banner, it's ALL good!
12 years* 6 months ago the Sox opened in Japan against the Athletics. I thought then, that it was unfair to both teams to have to break camp early and play on a different planet. I felt like someone had stacked the deck against the Red Sox. With that kind of start {and the injuries} and the sensitivity that Dice K has to travel, I figured we, the Nation, had a good excuse if they failed to make the playoffs. The really weird thing is that I wasn't that worried. Truly, we own the wild card. It's a given. It's ours {if we go one step beyond, we get the groovy banner} It's a habit. You know, like Arod choking.I have been teased by a friend, all year about the DEVIL Rays. "Hey! When are they gonna die?? You said they would fold! What? Sox can't beat the Ray of sunshine??" ** The DEVIL Rays surprised me. But thanks to them, I can't even respect what they have accomplished as a team this season. Had they just played and talked about what a great feeling it is to be out of the cellar... Nope, what they had to do was get all uppity. Cocky. Smug. They beat us at the Trop and then played "Sweet Caroline" while the Sox Faithful filed out of that vile, sorry excuse for a ball park. They brought a knife to a fist fight. So, it comes down to one game. Am I worried? Nope. "We" played all season, hurt, tired, distracted and stayed in second place through it all.*** The DEVIL Rays season was an aberration. A cosmic mistake. For those of you following "Fringe"... a butterfly effect. I'm not worried. One game or another, we still playing in October. "Excuse me, Mr. Jeter? Can I carry that golf bag for you?"I really can't help but wonder, what if:

• Papi didn't hurt his wrist.
• Mike didn't hurt his hip.
• Tek didn't mess with his swing and slump.
• Drew didn't hurt his back.
• Buchholtz didn't implode
• Oki didn't lose his pitch location
• Lugo didn't tear his quad... stop laughing!
• Schilling didn't hurt his shoulder.
• Colon didn't hurt his back during interleague play... {and lose his everlovingmind in the process}
• Ellsbury didn't doubt himself out of identifying pitches.
• Timlin didn't cut his finger and hurt his knee after that
• Coco didn't cut his hair****
• Everybody didn't get the flu... and strep throat... and the flu again.
• Manny had just been Manny and not listened to "Boris the Spider".

So much happened this season and the Red Sox just owned 2nd place. It blows my mind. Really, What if ???? Can you imagine? What ever happens, I'm proud of the Red Sox, everyone of them. The 9 on the field, the band in the Pirate Ship. The Dudes on the bench, always ready. The skipper, the owners, the mascot, the beer guys... everyone of them. Excellent work. You guys did enough to get a us a few more games before summer is officially over.*****


* It sure feels like it was 12 years ago! It has been a very long season.
** My ex friend survived his initial injuries and my court ordered house arrest would have ended on Monday, however... police say they know for a fact that my house was the last place he was seen alive... I might need some help with bail...
*** Second is the new first ;-)
****He has forgotten the bible school story of Sampson!
*****Last day of summer is in Novenbah! Fascist calandar

R.I.P. "Keef"

Still miss you... 30 years later

Keith John Moon

August 23 1946 - September 7 1978

I Live For This!

Erin got up before the sun this morning and send me this picture of Jason Varitek. Looks like my voodoo doll is working. It's a rare treat to open your mailbox and see Tek in his familiar and endearing squat on second base. The side of the base that he is perched on says "I Live For This" Far out... so do I! Thank you Erin. I'm still smiling.
PS... click on the picture for a life size version.

Blackout

I missed the whole series against Baltimore. You know, the one where Tek hit a couple of homers and real nifty double? Uh-huh, that one. I was blacked out. Before you begin to wonder about just how much beer I was enjoying, let me be clear. MLB.COM blacked me out. Why? Because I live close enough to Baltimore to purchase a ticket and put my fanny in a seat. I went to Map quest and fed it the start and end info, this is what it spit out: Estimated Time: 8.0 hours 15 minutes Estimated Distance: 488.87 miles. I currently reside in North {Sweet} Carolina {Ba-Ba-Ba} tho, not by choice*. In fact, I live close enough to South Carolina, I could spit at it, and sometimes do. So, counting NC, Va, and driving through {i.e. all the way around!} D.C. Camden Yards is like 3 States away! 8 hours and 15 minutes, does not include, potty and fuel stops, food stops, detours, road {de}construction and all the the other crap that goes with 8 hour car trips. What it also does not take into consideration is THE TRIP BACK! THE TIME IT TAKES TO PLAY THE GAME AND THE FACT THAT I WILL HAVE TO DO IT 3 DAYS IN A ROW!!! I pay for Internet service, I pay to "watch every game, every day, everywhere" {that's what they say} in fine print it says "subject to black out". I understand that there is money to be made by having fans come out to the park. I understand that stations like FOX and ESPN want exclusivity rights to broadcast games. I'm OK with that. I'm not OK with being blacked out of nearly every game played on the East Coast. Oh yeah, you read that right. The teams I am blacked out for: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Washington DC and Atlanta. That is nearly every team on the Eastern Seaboard. The good news is, all of them but Baltimore are National League and they don't count until October. Here is how it works. MLB.TV takes my money and I get to watch my beloved Red Sox games on a small computer screen. Sometimes, the games are on ESPN, Fox or one of the Big 3 Networks. That is a BONUS! Yeah!! Sox on the big screen! Never mind the irony**

I'm still paying to watch online but it's OK, it's on the TV!! Only sometimes, FOX, ESPN, etc, buys the right to broadcast the game, but they don't air it. Or, they do, just not in my area. This falls under "regional broadcast". So, the last 3 days the Red Sox played in Baltimore and I {got to see preseason football, eeew} could not see it online OR on the TV because I live within driving distance to Camden Yards. :~)

Let's review: I'm paying {through the nose} for cable, Internet service and MLB.COM. I did NOT see the whole Baltimore series that I paid for twice because I was blacked out. Blacked out because Baltimore is within driving distance from where I live. Here, I'll draw you a picture:
Oh yeah, I'm pissed. Wouldn't you be?
*I'm not incarcerated or anything. I can leave when ever I want. It's just that we do, what we do, for those we love. Love brought me here. It could be worse.

** I have a pretty big TV, I have a fairly small monitor. 90% of my visual entertainment is baseball online, 10% is Lost, Grey's and CSI {and soon Fringe} on the television. Please note that all of these shows are on Thursday. WTF is up with that???