An Open Letter to the Boston Red Sox

Dear Socks,

Thank you for beating the Yankees today.  However strong your desire to relish this victory may be, I must implore you to stay the course and remain focused.

I live in New York City now.  I have been called an "asshole" and a guy with "a lot of balls" on the sidewalk as recently as last week for daring to wear a Red Sox hat and stand quietly [Note: the difference between "big balls" and "a lot of balls" is substantial].  I even got made fun of by a Mets fan once--which is crap.  On the whole, the city's disdain for the Red Sox is best described as a smug apathy.  You like the Red Sox?  Good luck with that.  However, the antagonism is ratcheted up quite a bit when the Sox are in town to play the Yanks.

As a Sox fan for my entire life (I vaguely remember Dave Henderson in 1990 and I definitely saw Mo Vaughn play in Pawtucket), I beg you to make a good showing in the Bronx this weekend.  Tonight was a great start, but at a bare minimum, please don't lose the next three games.  You need to at least win one more.  It is very hard to be a transplant and face the public after your hometown archrivals dismantle your team (like they did this time last year).

Just saying "Yeah, well... 2004" doesn't cut it anymore.  The Yankees are the defending champions and I have to take the heat if you dudes can't split this series.  I'm six stops away from Yankee Stadium and I don't want to be cussed out in Spanish when I'm just running out for a donut.

Love always,
Me

Anecdote from a Killer Sports Weekend, and Links

Boston Globe photo collage

At Fenway, Tampa Bay's Pat Burrell stepped out of the batter's box as the stadium erupted in cheers [when] the Celtics took the win. "I didn't know if there was a big fight going on or did somebody run on the field," Burrell said. "Definitely, it was time to get out of the box. Then as soon as I thought about it, I said, 'Oh, it's probably hockey.' The home plate umpire said, 'I think it's basketball.'" (Source: The Boston Globe)

It was a ginormous weekend in Boston sports. Last night, the Bruins staved off elimination with a tremendously played 4-0 win at home against Carolina to force a Game 6. Shortly thereafter, a back-and-forth Celtics/Magic game came to a TV-movie finish as Glen "Big Baby" Davis sunk a long jump shot at the buzzer for a stunning 95-94 victory. As if ordained by fate, the Red Sox almost immediately picked up the slack in the eighth inning. Jason Bay provided what proved to be the winning RBI (it's what he does), and the Sox survived another rough 9th inning to beat Tampa (who have just owned them of late), 4-3. Looking back now, I'm a little disappointed that the Patriots didn't manage to find a way to win something yesterday.

HAPPY LINK FUN TIME!

Coffee may have a multitude of health benefits, according to new research. Apparently, much of the prior research on coffee drinkers failed to seperate the effects of smoking from the effects of coffee drinking, as there was (formerly) a high correlation in users between the two. Just bringing this news to you gives me the jitters. (Source: The Boston Globe)

Fantastic, free instrumental number called "B Minor" by Badman Records artist Lanterna. Reminds me a bit of U2 and some of Radiohead's Bends-era stuff, but just a little bit. As far as music goes, this is pretty accessible. I'm not a big fan of instrumentals but this one is pretty great. (Source: Amazon mp3)

Wordsmith.org's Word of the Day today is dissimulate, which is a verb meaning to "disguise one's intentions". I feel that dissimulate would make for an interesting comparison to obfuscate, but I'm a nerd so... there's that. (Source: A Word A Day)

My friend Todd is in animation school. Although he updates less frequently than I do, due to probably having far more of a social life, check out his blog! I'm biased of course, but I think his stuff is pretty entertaining.

Finally, someecards.com has been providing me with uncomfortable laughs and tweaks of shame for a solid year now. If you're not hip, inform yourself.

There you go. Go get some sunshine, losers.

Weekends and odds

A few notes from the week, as I sit by the fire watching my alma mater's hockey team try to knock off Boston College again.

Item! The Red Sox have resigned Jason Varitek after one of the sadder chapters of Sox history in the past decade. A player who only a couple of years ago was named captain and rewarded with a large contract was suddenly holding out for more respect. Even after being instrumental in securing a second World Series (a second Red Sox World Series!) and the face of the franchise for the better part of the decade, the local nine were ready to start fresh. On the flip side, we're talking about a 37-year-old catcher who hit .220 last year. Offensive production from a catcher is gravy, but .220 is abnormally low for any catcher, nevermind a well-paid one. Further complicating matters, the market had shriveled up and any initially interested suitors had long since moved on. Notoriously dickish agent Scott Boras isn't the most cuddly dude at the negotiation table. Varitek actually loses $6 million this year by not accepting arbitration eight weeks ago. While the media is cautiously touting this deal as a "good thing for both sides" (Tony Massarotti, NESN, on as I'm writing this), I'm merely relieved that the whole issue is ending but cannot shake the icky feeling of bad blood between player and team. My take? Neither side looks too good these days.

Item! Sometime between coming up with my brilliantly clever title and researching V-tek's batting average from last year (my guess was .187... sorry Jason), the skating Friars split a 2-2 decision at Schneider Arena against their Hockey East pseudo-rivals Boston College Eagles. The freshmen look pretty good. I'm thrilled to see them go minute-for-minute with the defending national champions, even if they couldn't seem to score on any power plays. There was a lack of focus immediately after scoring, however, that led to penalties being called on both occasions and, in the second case, allowed the Eagles to score the tying goal. Still, a tie against the #11 Eagles is a moral victory for PC, and it's fun to see your college and your friends on TV. The pep band sounded excellent tonight as usual. Eh, no one reading this cares. I'll move on.

Item! An observation on the Celtics: As someone who works with children, I've been struck by how quickly the kids of today have taken to wearing Celtics gear. At first, I figured this was just bandwagoning on the part of the parents. None of these kids gave a crap about the Celtics two or three years ago. How many Kenny Andersen jerseys did you see back then? Vitaly Potapenko t-shirts? Remember kids looking to score FleetCenter tickets to check out Raef LaFrentz in person? Then I realized something. The kids of today are the same as the kids of the Bird and Russell eras, who grew up when the Celtics were awesome. They will remember and cherish these years for the rest of their lives. I grew up when pretty much all Boston sports teams were terrible most of the time.

That's actually all I've got tonight, I'm exhausted. Though there isn't much competition, this easily qualifies as my lamest post to date. Better stuff to follow, I'm sure.