Bird, Magic, Parish, Kareem, McHale, Rambis
no
Pierce, Garnett, Allen - Kobe?
Seems sort of off, but.. it doesn't matter because:
the second greatest rivalry in sports is returning to the center stage.
My inner schoolgirl is all aglow that she'll once again here the chant of her childhood:
BEAT LA!
The madness begins Thursday June 5. Somewhere Red is smiling.
For the unschooled: watch and learn:
I can kind of understand a little segment on Best Yankee Stadium moments happening throughout the season.. but to show the Aaron Boone homerun vs. the Red Sox during a Red Sox game?!?!?
um, no. Not acceptable. Not appropriate.
There have to be a couple of Yankee Stadium moments not including the Red Sox that could have been chosen, don't you think?
Fox: biased in news, biased in sports...
Bill Buckner was cheered today at Fenway Park. And if you had asked me the probability of that happening in Oct. 1986, I would have said absolute zero... below absolute zero. See he was blamed for the devestating loss of all our hopes and dreams, though it wasn't really his fault (hello Calvin Schiraldi & Bob Stanley).
Truth is the second the ball left Edgar Rentaria's bat bouncing back to Keith Foulke, the mortal wound caused by Buckner healed in my heart.
However, how fitting is it, that I'm sitting in a conference room in NYC this morning, hours before being aware that Buckner would throw out the first pitch at the Red Sox home opener (thus completing the recovery for both him and the fans) that I look up on the wall and literally gasp. There on one wall, where art is displayed on other walls, is a framed photo of Buckner watching the ball roll away. I'm talking a 16 x 20 photo here... People in the room stare at me. I jump up and point at it and exclaim: I can't believe this is here on the wall. Don't you know you have guests from Boston? People continue to stare. Not all of these people are even from New York or even care about baseball (hard to believe, but they exist). Someone actually asks: what is that a photo of? One of the more traumatic moments of my life, that's all! People are really staring at me now. At least there were no Yankee fans in the room.
Later, when the email begins circulating that it will be Buckner throwing the first pitch, someone will turn to me and say: that guy whose picture you were sitting under? How appropriate. Indeed.
not only that but:
BUCKNER!
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/
MOTHERFUCKER!!!
Am I really looking at the following score:
Kansas 40
UNC 14
with 4:35 left in the first half?
My level of shock rivals almost anything I've seen in college hoops in my whole life. I have enjoyed watching UNC all year long, though I despise the ACC with the passion of a thousand suns, just to watch the game played so well. And now this... completely dominated by Kansas. Do you know how excited I was to watch this game?
Billy Packer announced this game was over when it was 36 to 12.
Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball. ~Pete Hamill
It's Opening Day!
The NCAA Tournament is still a ways from being complete, which hardly seems right...
It's light out at 7pm in March, which hardly seems right...
Don, Jerry and the Boys are several time zones away, which hardly seems right...
It's 6:04am and I'm up and tuned in, which definitely doesn't seem right...
and yet, something is very, very right:
Baseball has returned, and that is very, very good.
Every team that scratched and clawed it's way in the NCAA tournament as a #16 seed must believe that it can be the very first 16 seed to take down a #1 seed. Every single one.
And that is the first item on my list of things that makes the tournament great.
So I'm getting ready...
There was a palpable mass on Mr. Clemen's right buttock.
Oh my goodness, is Mr. Clemens getting his ass kicked.
** Update **
Picture the scene in my office today: rows of cubes filled with people wearing headphones. Listening to NPR? No. Listening to soothing classical music while thinking big thoughts about work? No. It's Clemens hearing time!
Periodic giggles and gaffs escape from the cubes as the hearings wear on. Pauses to pull out the earphones followed by: did you hear that? Did he really just say that? Does he think anyone is believing this. When he said his wife had been injected in his house "without his knowledge", well, that just about brought the house down. Did he just try and blame his wife for Pettite's testimony? And the whole inviting the Nanny to his house.. hello witness tampering. What was he thinking? Almost as amusing was the question posed to Clemens: what uniform will you wear to the hall? To which he responded: I didn't hear the question. Am I the only one who noticed him constantly licking his lips? oh.. check it out: licking you lips repetitively is a body language tell that you're a big fat liar.
Roger must really believe that there isn't any physical evidence and he just ride on a he said he said routine.. either that or he's a fucking retard. He did go from Boston to Toronto and then to the Yankees. Clearly, his logic is flawed.
I just responded to a text message from my friend, the Giants fan:
Isn't this the first championship of any kind in NY this century? We have 5.
Then I thought: wait..I'm reminding myself of someone. Who is it? Who is it.
OMG... I sound like a Yankee fan. Their answer to everything is "26 championships". Oh, this is SO not good.
** update **
I'm incorrect... I've repressed all memory that the Yankees won in 2000. The entertaining thing is my NY friend is a Mets fan, so he didn't bring it up, either. hee hee.
Resolution-ers beware!
The Super Bowl represents the No. 1 at-home party event of the year.
$55 million is expected to be spent on food for The Big Game. (After spending an estimated ten million man-hours (give or take a couple of seconds) preparing all that grub, Americans are expected to consume the lot within approximately fifteen minutes, well before the first touchdown is scored.)
Super Bowl Sunday marks the day on which Americans chow the second-greatest amount of food.
Americans will eat 30 million pounds of snacks on game day.
Here's the breakdown:
* 11.3 million pounds of potato chips;
* 8.5 million pounds of tortilla chips;
* 4.1 million pounds of pretzels;
* 3.8 million pounds of popcorn;
* 2.7 million pounds of nuts.
The average armchair quarterback will consume 1,200 calories and 50 grams of fat. (yeah, that is what some of us should eat ALL DAY)
Time to burn all that off: 4 hours walking around a football field or 1 hour 45 minutes of running
Here's the thing.. if you're a Patriots fan, ignore all of the above. Do you really think that in the rest of your life you're going to see a 19-0 season? The greatest football accomplishment of any of our lives?? Burn it off next week. Everyone else: moderation is the the key!
Sources:
Associated Content
WTOP
Uncommon Wealth of Success in Boston for Big Three Teams
No city, let alone Boston, has ever fielded a threesome in the most popular national team sports as dominant as the current Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics. The closest — fittingly — was New York from 1969 through 1970, when the Jets won Super Bowl III, the Mets won the 1969 World Series and the Knicks won the 1970 basketball title. But New York had multiple baseball and football teams, which Boston does not. That inspired Carl Morris, a statistics professor across the Charles River at Harvard, to calculate the chances of a monofranchised city having the three best teams in one year: about 1 in 29,000.
“I’m not sure if people here realize how unlikely this thing really is,” Morris said. “No city is ever going to see anything like this again.”
Anyone know the odds of being down 0-3, losing in bottom of the 9th in Game 4 of the ALCS, with one of the greatest closers in the history of the game on the mound, then having a guy who used 'Cowboy Up' as a motivational phrase in New England work a walk, then see a bench player who'd only been with the team since the trade deadline come in to run and completely rattle said closer with his big lead, then make the steal of all of New England's lifetime. Then this team tied the game, won in 12 innings and again in 14 innings the next night, followed by 2 more wins in the dreaded Yankee Stadium. Then on to a 4 game sweep of the World Series vs. their WS nemesis (see 1946, 1967), the St. Louis Cardinals (a team that won 105 games that year!)
I think we know EXACTLY how unlikely our current good fortunes are. 86 years, the 1985 Super Bowl (and it's shuffle) and 22 years since Larry's & Co. last great ride... we know. And not city appreciates our current fortunes more.
Thank you Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, New England Patriots and even you Boston Bruins and New England Revolution. Go forth and prosper.
Related:
Parade for Pats is issue in vote:
A Super Bowl win for the New England Patriots on Sunday would set up a big-league conflict between politics and sports in a city that is obsessed with both: The victory parade would have to be on Super Tuesday, when Massachusetts votes with 21 other states in critical Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.
Yup, this is my home.
There I was... happily working out on the elliptical machine when I look at the clock on the gym wall: 9:45am.
9:45am. Wait. It's 1/26
It's 1/26 9:45am.
HOLY SHIT! 15 minutes until the Virtual Waiting Room!!!
I dash out, no shower, no nothing... race home like a fiend. Fortunately, I live 3 minutes from the gym (well, not fortunately.. if I didn't live 3 min. from the gym I'd probably never go, but I digress).
So here I sit, sweating and disgusting and endlessly in the virutal waiting room. And those sneaky Red Sox seem to have changed their code so you can't open multiple browsers at once (at least not with Firefox. And I can't get IE to work with Vista - a frustration I'll save for a another post). Damn it.
OH.. I got in. Then white page. WHITE PAGE. What does that mean??? I have to start over.
I'm doomed. I can tell.
God Damn Jeremiah Rivers. I know your Dad is at the helm of the team with the best record (by far) in the NBA.. ahem, the Boston Celtics, but that doesn't mean I have to like you! Disturbing Jonny Flynn from making that final shot (though it went half way into the bucket before cruelly bouncing out) to allow Syracuse to beat Georgetown has placed you in the number one position on my shit list.
Other than that: what a game! I've got such a basketball team crush on Syracuse right now. I KNOW they lost... but you've got to understand: they only have 8 scholarship players right now, none with much college experience to speak of. I thought the Villanova game on Sat. was key for them. They were home at the dome - they needed to win it to build confidence for the challenging schedule ahead. Instead... they lost. And 2 days later to come out and play Georgetown (#9) at Georgetown into overtime and only lose in the last seconds. I love this team... They got heart. I'll be watching this one again thanks to Tivo.
18-0. 1 to go...
(boston.com photo)
I just googled that phrase and there are a ton of results, so this post may have no originality.
I feel you can gain a sense of a person from their past behavior. Let's look at Roger's past behavior for some clues as to whether he is or is not A BIG FAT LIAR:
Roger on 60 Minutes: I've trained hard my entire career.
Reality: not in 1993-1996: he could have been a candidate on the Biggest Loser during those years.
Roger in 1996: I want to pitch some where closer to home (home = Houston)
In 1996 Roger signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. For those of you without maps (I hear it's a growing epidemic, such as): Toronto is pretty friggin' far from Houston
Roger in 1996: I want to pitch where I can win a championship
Roger went to the Blue Jays, a mediocre team at best at the time. The Blue Jays had offered him more money than the Yankees, a team that went on to win 4 out of the next 5 World Series (and yes, it pains me to type that sentence).
Roger in 2003: I'm retiring
In 2004: Roger pitched for Houston
Roger in 2004: I'm retiring
In 2005: Roger pitched for Houston
Roger in 2005: I'm retiring
in 2006: Roger pitched for Houston (half a season)
Roger on pitching in Houston: I want to pitch close to home
In 2007: Roger spent the spring negotiating with the Yankees, Red Sox to pony up crazy money for half a season, selling himself to the highest bidder Yankees (and then there was the ridiculous stunt in from the owners box. Spare me, please)
Roger on 60 Minutes last Sunday:
WALLACE You’re retiring? Period.
CLEMENS Probably.
WALLACE Not for sure, but—
CLEMENS I would say, yeah. If I sit here and tell you right now, I would say yes.
WALLACE You’re not going to pitch again?
CLEMENS You’ll never see me pitch again.
TRACK: BUT HE HAS RETIRED THREE TIMES BEFORE AND HE TOLD US HE COULD UN-RETIRE AGAIN.
And maybe most egregious of all:
Roger at his press conference Monday: I don’t give a rat’s a@# about the Hall of Fame
OH please. That is the entire reason you are so lawyered up and taping phone conversations.
So do I believe Roger: every time I've ever believe Roger, he's broken my heart. So, as Drew Barrymore said in Fever Pitch: I just got so hurt. Really hurt. And sometimes.. when that happens- something inside just shuts off. So no, I don't believe Roger.
Republicans: McCain wins NH The Mac is back, indeed (and his speech was not that bad). Mitt is 0-2 and I couldn't be more pleased.
Democrats: Clinton and Obama, too close to call. Considering the Obamamania of the last 5 days, isn't being this close really a win for Hillary?
** Update ** Hillary wins and it looks like the ladies put her over the top.
p.s. can you tell one of my new years resolutions is to blog again rather than just think: I should blog this, and then not bother.
- Roger Clemens on 60 Minutes last night.
Not sure why he's talking up his taking Vioxx, but...
One thing I noticed in the interview was that I never heard him say he didn't used steroids. I heard him say Brian McNamee didn't inject him with steroids. And all Mike Wallace's questions were based on the injections, not the use. Perhaps a semantic point, but it made me go: hmmm...
It's going to be a barnburner:
2 Boston Killers: Roga Clemens and Whitey henchman, John Martorano and Musharraf will be blaming Benazir Bhutto for her own death.
I can't wait.
And I'm also eagerly anticipating Clemens' testimony before Congress, should he decide to appear. Unless he really, really never did anything, he's fucked. If he appears, he's under oath. If he doesn't appear, he looks he's hiding something. Tee hee heee.. I'm sick, sick girl because I enjoy this so much.
is Buffalo Tom. Well Buffalo Tom and Tom Brady perhaps.
Buffalo Tom makes me so happy. If you could have seen my shit eating ear to ear grin watching them last night at TT's.. you would know I speak the truth. How amused was I by Bill Janovitz's 'This Old House' t-shirt? SO amused. Only to become more amused he announced, after he and Tom were about ready to go, but Chris was nowhere to be seen: um, we need a bass player. Uber amused! And then they played Mineral and Sodajerk (my secret dream is that they will let me sing that with them one day. If you're reading this, Buffalo Tom, I've got moves! The vocal range of a frog, but I've got moves) and my current favorite, Thrown (a song I listen to each day as I travel to work because it puts me in a calm, zen like place. I need this to face my day in the office). It was an outstanding outing.
In the background, prior to BT hitting the stage, the Pat's game is on tv. For long stretches of the game, it was a tad nerve wracking. My friend says to me: well, they have to lose sometime. To which I replied: actually, they don't. Look at this score. Tom Brady won't be having this! Just then a pass bounces out of Randy Moss' hands. Yikes. But all is redeemed on the very next, almost identical play and the Patriots continue their historical ride.
I know I had a few beers, but did I hallucinate an ad for John McCain with Curt Schilling after the game?
Sorry I got so wrapped up in the craziness that I didn't have time to say Happy Holidays to you all! So HAPPY HOLIDAYS..
And can you believe that a US Senator got involved in the broadcasting of a football game? The man knows his way to his constituents hearts. And now the Patriots game - you know that tiny, unimportant, potentially history making game - will now be available nationwide and on 3 networks simultaneously in the Boston area. Wee.... what else can New England sports fans possibly expect under their trees this year?
p.s. those of you who were planning to watch Goodnight, and Goodluck on CBS, you're pre-empted.. but if you haven't seen it, get yourself to the video store pronto.
Because it gives me the perfect excuse to stay inside and watch my all time favorite baseball game is on ESPN Classic right now: Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.
But Amy, you may ask, what about when they won the World Series, that isn't your favorite game? No. They aren't in the World Series without Game 4. If they had lost Game 4, it would have been a humiliating, jump off the Tobin depressing sweep, which coupled with Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS would have sent me into a devestating downward spiral, forcing me on to serious depression medication. Instead, Game 4 turned it all around. They COULD NOT LOSE after Game 4. Dave Roberts, Bill Mueller and David Ortiz's heroics would not be wasted. I can't wait until they get to the 9th inning... to hear Al Leiter say about Dave Roberts: he's going. Yes, he is.
Less than 3 months til pitchers and catchers report. Less than 3 months!
I had forgotten how much...
The biggest thing I learned at the big 3 day corporate offsite (yes, held in December) is:
The biggest value of being chained to the old Crackberry is the ability to get up to the minute updates from the outside world on the state of Satana trade. So nothing was actually resolved... the combination of not knowing and deadly boring presentations might have killed me.
I will give you this quote from Bill Simmons note to his younger self:
I'll shoot you another e-mail next week to prepare you for what happened in Boston sports since 1982. Here's a hint: the Red Sox turned the tables on the Yankees; Pat Patriot and the Garden were brutally murdered; the Celtics have cheerleaders; Fenway Park has Monster seats; the Patriots evolved into the most successful and despised football team of the decade, there was an eight-week stretch of Sports Illustrateds this fall in which a Boston team appeared on the cover six times; and a guy behind the counter in a hardware store noticed your Boston shirt last week and said, "I hate Boston, you guys win everything."
and that would be college hoops. There are no other sports outside of baseball and college hoops for me.
And I AM FIRED UP. I've got my Real Women Wear Orange shirt on.. and 3 freshman are rocking my world in their win over St. Joe's, like it hasn't been rocked since a young man named Carmelo Anthony debuted in Madison Sq. Garden for the Orangemen 5 years ago (where has the time gone?).
Rick Jackson
Johnny Flynn
Donte Greene (don't compare him to to Melo - there is only 1 Melo)
welcome to the fray!
Add these to my boys Devendorf and Paul Harris (played with Johnny Flynn in high school - hello!) and I'm ecstatic.
Last time a Syracuse team started 2 freshmen they won the national championship... just sayin'. I still miss Gmac...
Our road to avenge the tournament snub last year has begun.. 2-0.
heal up Andy Rautins...
The first spring training game...
To hold me over (for today at least), I dug up Bill Mueller's walkoff homerun from 7/24/04.
boston.com photo
Seriously... I'm going on record, right here, right now. If ARod is signed by the Boston Red Sox, I am boycotting the 2008 season. I can NOT watch that purple lipped, low class, snake desigrate the majesty that is Fenway Park. Seriously, you can not expect to have that low life clown on a team with the likes of Varitek... it's just insulting.
as the entire office stands completely mesmerized watching Papelbon dance - in a kilt - at Rolling Rally II...
The kid needs a reality show: Being Jonathan Papelbon. Come on Fox.. you know you want to!
Where RSCSD is the medical term for Red Sox Caused Sleep Deprivation...
I'm so tired. I can barely keep my eyes open.
Looks like I need a new hat...
Seriously.. I am beside myself. I have no words to describe this. Am I going to wake up and find I'm back in Kansas? Because if you had told me in 2000 that Syracuse would win a hoops national championship and the Red Sox would trade Nomah Garciaparra, win not one, but 2 World Series' - both sweeps - (one after being down 3-0 the Yankees in the ALCS and the second would feature a Game 4 cancer survivor as the winning pitcher and the winning RBI would come from Bobby Kielty), I would have laughed so hard, you would have to scrape me off the floor. Yeah, I would have replied: and Bush is going to beat Kerry in the election.. and then get re-elected because he'll be able to whip the nation into a fearful jelly like state.. which he could do because 2 planes flew into the World Trade Center and 2 others hit the Pentagon and a field in PA.
Yeah, right...
All of these things would have been outside the realm of possibilities (as is, as of this writing anyway, Josh Beckett doing the riverdance. Just say no, Josh!), but they happened. What will happen next?
Sign World Series MVP Mike Lowell immediately!!!
How fucking dare he make the announcement that he'll opt out of his Yankee contract before the end of the World Series... so he'll be the story, not the series.
ARod and Scott Boras know no shame, but I guess we knew that already.
Sign Lowell!!!
thanks Jacoby Ellsbury...
And thanks to my co-worker, John, for the shots this evening. I feel no stress about this game!
comes down to 1 series. And one series begins with 1 game.
All I have to say is:
despite the fact he went to a sub-standard (read non-Big East school).
Mostly for his snarky sense of humor and knowledge of Boston sports only the native New Englander can appreciate.
Exactly how the Sox Drew it up
The $14 Million Grand Slam.Here's the thing: Unless you watched J.D. Drew for the entire 2007 season, you can't possibly comprehend how astounding this was.
EXACTLY!
So believe me when I tell you this ... from the time Drew walked up to home plate to the time that ball landed in the center-field stands, I never even considered the possibility of a grand slam.
I was SO convinced he would strike out - with 2 outs and bases loaded - in an ELIMINATION game, that I walked out of the room and didn't even see it, except on replay. And even on replay, my hand involuntarily covered my agape mouth in amazement.
But I'm dwelling on the past.... less than 24 hours from now, Mr. Beckett takes the hill at Fenway Park in Game 1 of the World Series. I'm giddy!
Life is too good! Two World Series appearances in 3 years... I couldn't dare to dream of such a thing.
I really, really enjoyed this game. It was good, tight, entertaining, and then... awesome. There are few sweeter sounds than 35,000 people singing Dirty Water. Well, maybe Joe Buck repeating quite a few times that Boston outscored Cleveland 30-5 in the last 3 games. Though what is more frightening: hearing an announcer in a game 7 say "Boston is leaving their starting pitcher in" when there is someone named Grady at the plate OR pondering what will come out of Manny's mouth in the post game interview OR what dance will Papelbon perform, and will he be wearing pants?
How is that champagne tasting now, Ryan Garko?
So bring on the Rockies.... let me give you some stats.
The Red Sox have:
9 players who've played in a total of 15 World Series', earning 12 World Series rings. Mike Timlin has gone to the World Series 3 times. He has never been on the losing side.
3 World Series MVPs
The Rockies have:
Todd Helton
But man, does that mile high atmosphere scare me. It snowed there already!
i guess by now you can take a hunch
and find that i am the baby of the bunch
'but that's okay i still keep in stride
For every time I said or emailed:
JD Drew is the devil
JD Drew is on the Yankee payroll
JD Drew is blind
JD Drew should be fired
JD Drew is no Trot Nixon
JD Drew needs to go
JD Drew: Scott Boras' revenge
JD Drew is taking years off of my life
JD Drew: why is in the GAME?
Oh.. and Cleveland: welcome to Fenway Park. Fun place when the Nation gets fired up, isn't it? Selling World Series t-shirts before Game 6? Not so fast, buddies. You shouldn't have gone and woken up the sleeping giant. Didn't Trot tell you all of this?
And just for fun...
The sparkplug bats 8th in place of the dud. The pitcher with the highest post season winning percentage is on the mound.
Oh.. it's on.
1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
9. Julio Lugo, SS
SP - Curt Schilling
Eric Gagne can NOT pitch in Boston and he needs to go. What was he doing in the GAME? I am available to pitch. I could do better. Where is Julian?
Last week while the debate was raging in Red Sox Nation: did we want to face the Indians or the Yankees? Does winning mean less if we don't go through the Yankees? I got into a big debate with a co-worker about this. My opinion: 2004 makes going through the Yankees unnecessary, but I'm not really sure I want to face the Indians. Being a native New Englander, I'm genetically unable to route for the Yankees, but I thought: if they could win against the Indians, their pitching rotation (such that it is - ha) would a mess, as well as ancient... but as I told my co-worker: really, really, really:
I just don't want to face Trot
Trot.. the ultimate Dirt Dog.
Trot.. with the shut out ending home run vs. Clemens in 2000
Trot.. with the heroics against Oakland in '03
Trot.. with his casual walk away from the camera man after the Game 7 of the '04 ALCS, saying: I've got to be with my fans and running across the Yankee field arm raised, as My Way plays in the background. (haven't seen it? it's on the extras of the 12 DVD Collectors Edition 2004 playoffs set - it's one of my favorite parts. The other one includes Joe Buck yelling: back to Foulke...)
Trot... who hit another beautiful home run against Clemens last week
Trot... who should still be our #7
Waaaaa........
I still love you, Trot
See you in Knat-ville... where we'll make our triumphant recovery.