I Love a Parade

I just needed a few days to let it all sink in. Where was I at 11:40 ET on Wednesday night? Watching the game with my dad. I went over to my folks’ place and told them I’d tape the game, so they could go to bed, and if the Sox were winning I’d wake them up in the ninth. Well, once again my Dad’s spider-sense goes off and he wanders downstairs in the eighth, rubbing his eyes and asking me what the score was. When Keith Foulke stabbed that one hopper from Edgar Renteria, I shot out of my chair and covered my mouth with both hands. “My God,” I thought, “we’re going to do it.” Foulke flipped the ball to Menk…Mienk…the first baseman, and that was it. An 86-year odyssey completed. The Red Sox storm the field and do the dogpile celebration as my dad and I hi-five.

“You were right,” my dad tells me. He’d been so beaten down by years and years of Red Sox failure I don’t know if he ever allowed himself to really believe. Well, now he can.

A few notes from Cloud Nine:

--I can’t imagine being a Cardinals fan right now. You follow a team for seven or so months and they roll over everyone, finish with the best record in baseball, and ride into the World Series after two huge home wins over Houston. Then they completely don’t show up on the biggest stage in the world. One in the final two games at Busch Stadium, are you kidding me? The Sox pitching, hitting, and baserunning was all superior to St. Louis, and while the Cardinals played the field better, that didn’t end up mattering at all. Red Bird Nation sums it all up nicely.

--Kind of surprised Manny won the MVP, but there were so many candidates I’m not sure who should have won. Maybe split it three ways among Schilling, Pedro, and Lowe. At least with Manny we got the classic “I think you make your own destination” quote. I wish I was a high school senior so I could put that in my yearbook.

--I’m guessing we’ve seen the last of Pedro and Lowe in Red Sox uniforms. Pedro was the best pitcher I ever saw in a Red Sox uniform, period. As for Derek, well, it wasn’t always fun, but at least it ended well. I’m going to predict Pedro ends up in San Francisco while Lowe goes home to Detroit. Vaya con Dios, boys.

--How do Cubs fans feel right now? Are they happy? Sad? Both? If the Cubs won the World Series this year, personally, it would have eaten me alive.

--I think the Sox winning was good for baseball. Now we have some new storylines instead of the same old same old. What happens to the Sox now? How do the Yankees respond? Can the Cubs shake their World Series drought?

--Hey, Roger Clemens, you suck. Have another donut, you fat pig.

--I the past three years I’ve seen two Super Bowl wins and a World Series. In my lifetime I’ve also seen several NBA Titles (coming of age near the end of Larry Bird’s peak). The only thing missing is a Stanley Cup, but I don’t give a shit about hockey.

This year alone, I’ve seen a Super Bowl and World Series win, plus Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit winning their first WWE Titles. Quite a year.

Today's Bill Simmons column mentions a certain Sons of Sam Horn message board thread (found here) describing who the Red Sox should win the World Series for...lots of people mentioned deceased relatives, former players, long gone friends, things of that nature. Now, roughly 1:30 before the first pitch of Game 4, I figure I'd chime in:

--Win it for my grandfather, John Kucharski, born in 1918 (seriously) and passed away last year without having ever seen the Red Sox win the World Series. I'm told I take after him as a fan, namely telling and cursing at the TV a lot. He still is and will forever be missed.

--Win it for my dad, so beaten down by years of Red Sox failure. He's seen every awful Red Sox event of the past 56 years and he still roots for the team, even if he can be a little gun shy about it.

--Win it for my mom, who, despite yelling "Don't spit" at the TV whenever a ballplayer spits, still cracks me up when we watch games together.

--Win it for all the Sox fans I went to Holy Cross with, who had to put up with a phalanx of insufferable Yankee fans.

--Lastly, win it for all the Sox who never made it to the Promised Land.

So, time for a catnap and Game 4.

And now, once more, with feeling...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Correction from yesterday. I said the Pats were the only unbeaten team in the NFL. I meant to say the AFC, as the Philadelphia Eagles are also 6-0. My apologies to all the Eagles, except Terrell Owens, who I hear has B.O.

(Couldn't you see T.O. getting a Right Guard endorsement out of that? Like he sees the sign and starts crying, then the announcer tells him to start his day with Right Guard? I should be in advertising.)

John Peel, mythic British DJ, passed away due to a heart attack last night at the age of 65. Peel was a figure on the BBC for 37, known for pushing a wide variety of music and also for his famous "Peel Sessions," live sessions recorded in studio by hundreds of bands. Others will say more about Peel better than I ever could, but I always respected him as someone who championed music he loved, trends be damned. He will be missed.

The BBC's page on Peel can be found here.

Time for a quick catnap, then it's another late night for the World Series. And...wait for it...here it comes...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi. How you doing?

My God, the Red Sox are up 2-0 in the World Series after another mythic Curt Schilling outing. Right now, I’m cautiously optimistic (remember, the ’86 Sox were also up 2-0). Now the series shifts to St. Louis, where we have several distinct disadvantages, namely:

1. St. Louis is unbeaten at home in the playoffs
2. The Red Sox bat much worse on the road
3. No DH rule in the National League, which means David Ortiz has to play first. And this is a team that had eight errors in the first two games.

Then again, we’ve got momentum, and we’ve outplayed St. Louis in every facet except defense. We need a big performance from Pedro tomorrow. He’s been adequate his last few starts, not great, but enough to keep us in the game. We’re going to need much more—namely a time machine to retrieve the Pedro circa 98-99. We could lose all three games in St. Louis, or we could end the series there. I guess we’ll see.

I fell asleep during the second half of the Pats game yesterday and woke up to see the Pats kneeling down to end the game. Oops. The good news is the score was the same when I fell asleep, 13-7, so I didn’t miss much. I was impressed by the Jets—I thought they would get exposed, but they hung tough. Could be a tough rematch down the road. Still, the Pats are 6-0 and the only undefeated team in the NFL. Good times.

I haven’t watched SNL regularly in twelve years, but I saw the clip of Ashlee Simpson doing an Irish jig (!) and walking off stage when the sound guy played the wrong song for her to lip synch to. Then she blamed her band at the end, which makes me want to unleash the dreaded “c” word. Talk about hanging someone out to dry. Her band should go on “E” and say “[Bleep] this, Ashlee can’t sing and has to lip synch.”

First all, big ups to Jon Muggs, as cool a Yankee fan as you’ll meet. I feel for you, bro.

"They're a walking disaster. They act like they're tough, how they care so much about winning, but it's all a front. They're just a bunch of characters." - Gary Sheffield

To invert a quote from the Wolf in Pulp Fiction, there’s a difference between being a character and having character.

(By the way, Sheffield denies ever making that quote. But after his insane Sports Illustrated feature, I don’t think he earns the benefit of the doubt)

I remember coming into work after Game 7 of the ALCS last year. The whole office was like a funeral parlor—no one really spoke, everyone just looked down at their shoes all day. My Work Buddy Johnny, who hates the Red Sox, didn’t dare say a word to me. He knew I would snap and disembowel him, leaving body parts strewn across the Mass Pike.

What a difference a year makes.

Everyone’s giddy in work. People talking about the game, smiling. I just keep laughing and shaking my head. The Red Sox are in the World Series. And we beat the Yankees to get there. It was also the greatest comeback in MLB history. You can’t write stories like this, folks.

Just a crazy game last night. I went over to my folks to watch it, so I could tape the game and any postgame extracurriculars (my dad has to get up at 5 for work, so staying up to midnight or later isn’t an option). I remember being up 8-1 and thinking “Oh God, please end.” The game probably looked like a breeze unless you were a Red Sox fan. Then you were waiting for a collapse that never came.

My dad actually wandered downstairs during the ninth, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the lights. “How we doing?” he asked. “We still winning?” We watched the last inning and high fived afterwards.

I really can’t imagine what Yankee fans are thinking. Everyone seemingly hates A-Rod now. You know heads are going to roll in the offseason (I wouldn’t be surprised if we never see Kevin Brown again—I don’t mean pitching for the Yankees, I mean he disappears for good). Steinbrenner will go after everyone—Johnson, Beltran, maybe even Pedro. Here’s a story I yanked from a messageboard from someone in NY.

“This morning while I was on the # 4 train which passes Yankee Stadium, the whole train was SILENT when it passed the stadium. Then one guy started pounding on the train door saying NO THIS CAN'T BE TRUE, THE ASSHOLES DIDN'T WIN!!! Noone stopped him either we were all silent until the stadium was out of view.”

I don’t want to think about the World Series now. I’m still exhausted from this series. I think we all need some time to decompress. I don’t want to think about who we’re going to play, or starting rotations, or the terrifying thought of David Ortiz having to play first base in NL games. That’s all for later. Let’s savor the moment for now.

I got two words for ya...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi. How you doing?

Picture this: you meet your arch rivals in the playoffs. You lose Game 1 because your ace injured his ankle and is doubtful for the rest of the series. Your #2 pitcher, who has been going nuts the past few weeks, pitches a good game, but you lose again and are down 0-2. You come home and get absolutely hammered in game #3, 19-6. Fans are catatonic. You're down 4-3 in the ninth inning against the greatest playoff reliever ever. What would you bet you force a game seven?

I don't know how to feel right now. I really don't.

Can we win? We've got the momentum. Yankee fans proved tonight they can be taken out of a game. D-Lowe looked pretty good in game 4. If Kevin Brown starts I can't see him lasting long.

Sawks have a lot of baggage, but we can't worry about that. Just take it one inning at a time. We can win.

Boy, I don't see me being very productive at work tomorrow.

I’m tired. But it’s a good tired.

Yes, I was up at 1:23 AM when David Ortiz cranked a 2 run jack off of Paul Quantril to beat the Yankees in a five hour, 12 inning marathon.

The Sawks went up in the bottom of the ninth down 4-3 and facing the terrifying Mariano Rivera, the Sox managed to scrape out a run when Dave Roberts stole second (swear to God, it felt like the ending of Major League) and Bill Mueller singled him in. The bullpen fended off the Yanks for three more innings before the Ortiz smash.

Now Pedro pitches today at 5 in what could be his last start in a Sox uniform. If we survive, we get Schilling wearing Kuribo’s Boot in Game 6 and I guess Wakefield in Game 7. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

But make no mistake—anything less than beating the Yankees is a failure. Just because we won’t get swept, or bring the series back to New York, that means nothing. Gotta win. Can they? It’s possible. And stranger things have happened (just don't ask me when).

In non-baseball news, I hit the $5.50 DVD bin at Wal-Mart this Saturday. I saw a lot of Tom Selleck, which should tell you something about the quality of the selection. Still, got some good deals, namely Hot Shots and Hot Shots Part Deux. I also got Still Crazy, which is the story of a British rock band that reunites after 20 years or so. Kind of like a kinder, gentler This Is Spinal Tap. Very underrated movie.

That’s all I got. Thank God the game is on at 5 tonight—I can’t take a lot more of these late nighters. As always, Gooooo Sooooooooox.

You want to know how my week was? I developed an eye twitch after Game 1 of the ALDS. I'm not joking.

Things do look bad, with our ace seemingly done for the year and our #2 pitcher losing his mind. But I'm not ready to quit yet. Brandon, er, Bronson Arroyo will pitch game 3 at Fenway. Not only will the home crowd make a huge difference, but you forget, Arroyo had a better performance than either Schilling or Pedro against the Angels (granted, he pitched at home, but still). I think he and Wakefield can win, especially if the bats come alive (which they usually do at home). If the game is canceled tonight, which it looks like it wil be, then Pedro can pitch game 5 at Fenway with full rest. Then maybe Derek Lowe can throw at Yankee stadium, and I've heard rumblings Nike is creating a special boot for Curt to use in game 7.

Am I pissing in the wind? Possibly. But I still believe.

Speaking of the Yankees, I actually saw a Yankee fan pull the "woe is me" routine because lots of people root against the Yankees. Golly, you think that's offset by the fact that they've won a hundred or so titles the past century. Unreal. Converesly, no one likes Red Sox fans and we never win. That's quite a combo package.

Did I mention the main antagonist of my sitcom pilot was an obnoxious Yankees fan? Oops, sorry to be redundant.

And if the Sox do get knocked out, I throw my support fully behind the Cardinals. Seems like a good town and the players seem like OK people (no Milton Bradleys, anyway). If it's a Yankees/Astros world series, and I have to choose between the Yankees or Roger Clemens, well, it won't be pretty.

So it’s come to this: You knew it would. It was inevitable. A rematch of last year’s ALCS, that was my second most crushing moment as a sports fan (you get three guesses for #1, and the first two don’t count).

Am I glad to be facing the Yankees? I am. I certainly wasn’t in the “if we win the World Series and didn’t beat the Yankees, it doesn’t count” camp. But if we beat the Yanks and win the World Series, it will certainly be sweeter. Of course, if we lose, it’ll be beyond devastating. The highs could be higher, but the lows could be lower.

But I think we’ll win. All the pieces seem to be in place. Starting pitching, bullpen (despite the performance on Friday), defense, certainly hitting, and chemistry. It’s all there. Now or never.

I posted a while back I thought the Red Sox would win the World Series. And I kept believing (except for a two game stretch against Seattle and Tampa Bay where they didn’t score a run, and I had my mandatory Sox fan meltdown and thought they wouldn’t make the playoffs). Now we’re eight wins away.

And did I mention the Patriots broke the record for most consecutive wins with their 19th straight yesterday? I must be in sports fan nirvana.

I finished Friday Night Lights this weekend. Highly recommended, both as a sports book and social commentary. The best parts are absolutely riveting, especially how they decided which two of three teams would make the playoffs. The last chapter is off the charts. Excellent book, but not my favorite sports book ever (that goes to A Good Walk Spoiled).

I finally broke down and bought Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled album. I usually try to avoid hyped bands like this, but I saw three videos on MTV2 and thought “wow, these are all catchy.” It’s good, especially “Take Me Out.”

I’m out ‘til later in the week. Now go read my old college roommate’s critique of Leprechaun In The Hood (It's the one by Bill C. titled "An Important Movie").

This is my fiftieth post to the blog. Yay.

Ray Traylor, better known as the Big Bossman in the WWF, passed away on 9/22 at the age of 42, reportedly from a heart attack. He was definitely one of my faves as a young (well, younger) wrestling fan. Traylor was a former prison guard in Cobb County, GA, and carried that occupation over to the wrestling ring, where he would wrestle in a policeman's uniform and beat his opponent with a nightstick post-match. He was a big fat redneck, but the man could move around in the ring. I even liked him when he was a bad guy, so imagine my delight when he became a good guy (when he wouldn't accept a bribe from Ted Dibiase). I remember excitedly calling my friend with the news, like I just watched the moon landing or something.

My three favorite wrestlers from that time frame (late 80's/early 90's) were the Bossman, Mr. Perfect, and Eartquake. Bossman and Perfect are both dead, and Earthquake was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Depressing.

Onto to other news...

Nothing on the Bravo contest yet.

The NY Times is reporting Craig Kilborn's replacement may be Michael Ian Black, formerly of the State and those VH-1 flashback specials. I think of all the people in the world I want to punch in the face, Michael Ian Black takes spots #1-7. I just cannot stand that smary "I'm being soooo ironic" brand of humor that isn't funny at all. I have to imagine ever his staunchest supporter would get tired of a straight hour of his shenanigans.

The Pats won their 18th straight game against Buffalo yesterday, 31-17. Not the champs' best efforts, but Buffalo had a hard time playing with all the gunshots in their feet. How do you jump offsides during a field goal try? How?

I'm reading Friday Night Lights now. Excellent book, if not a little depressing. I'm curious how the movie will be, but I can't help but feel I'm going to end up a little disappointed.

One last note:

Go Red Sox!