A Red Sox State of Maine

This Just In

The Knicks suck.

Isiah Thomas is a disgrace to his team and his profession. I can't figure out how he still has a job.

And Kevin Garnett...is a fashion critic? Who knew?

He can sing, he can dance, but Sager's wearing ugly pants!

David Ortiz: Sportsman of the Year?

Tom Verducci thinks so, and has written a very nice, heartful tribute to our Big Papi in support of his receiving the highest honor Sports Illustrated can bestow. He says, in part:

But what defines Ortiz as a person, and as a sportsman, too, is how he cares about other people. In an age when great athletes tend to think ability not only sets them apart from others but also above them, Ortiz is remarkably grounded...Think of Ortiz as a role model not just for kids, but for other athletes. He gets it. He is an ambassador for his sport, an elite player who understands that with privilege comes responsibility, a supremely confident superstar with a social conscience.

The article will bring tears to your eyes, and remind us all that we're very, very lucky that David Ortiz represents us so well. We love you, Papi!

More Remembrance of Things Past

As the dust settles on another championship season, it occurs to me that I haven't heard anything about a World Series Trophy Tour through New England this time around. One of my best memories as a fan came in December of 2004. The trophy was making it's way through Maine in the middle of the month, and then-part owner Les Otten (a Maine ski resort owner), along with Doug Mirabelli, Mark Bellhorn, and Kevin Youkilis were the highlights of a parade that made it's way down Congress St. on Friday the 17th. It was ballbreakingly cold that day, and anyway I was ass deep in work (thank God I'm done with that job!), so I contented myself by watching it on the telly and basking in the consuming glow that had been the 2004 post season.

A few friends and I decided to go out for a little while after work that day, so we bundled up and headed for the Old Port, grabbing the big booth right next to the door at RiRa's on Commercial St. Lee Goldberg from Channel 6 was there as well, and I think they had a band playing '80s songs ("gonna take a lot to drag me awaaaaay from youuuu....there's nothin' that a hundred men or more could ever dooooo...") We were laughing and getting cozy with out drinks when all of a sudden the door opened next to us, a bunch of guys came in and I looked up and shouted, "Oh, my God! That's the World Series trophy!" Not everybody at the table was the psychotic fan that I am, but they all knew the Sox were world champions. We shouted the guys carrying the trophy over, touched it, ooh'd and aah'd over it, and started calling and texting everyone we knew to come down to the Old Port and check it out. From what I understand, it made the rounds to nearly every bar in downtown Portland that night. It was wonderful because it was just so completely unexpected, like finding a hundred-dollar bill in your jeans.

Oh, well. I guess now that we're grown ups and winning championships every few years, the thrill has worn off..Ha! Hardly. In honor of when it was all still fresh and new, I think maybe I'll just make reservations for RiRa's for the next few Friday evenings.

Joy to the World!

To all the seething Pats haters out there, the ones who hate the swagger, think the organization is hopelessly arrogant and are praying for lightning to hit the team bus, I'm going to give you a name to ponder while you stew:

Troy Brown.

Troy Brown, the longest-tenured Patriot and holder of the franchise reception record, was activated from the physically unable to perform list yesterday. Troy Brown, the ultimate role player and team guy, the wide receiver who won a championship playing half the year as a cornerback in 2004 (now, really-can you see the me-first Jerry Rice doing that?), and who saved the Pats' season from the backfield last year by stripping Marlon McCree of an interception in San Diego. Troy Brown, who came back to the Pats a couple seasons ago for significantly less money when the Saints were practically throwing themselves at him. Troy Brown, who by all accounts is a great guy and a class act, is back.

Now, c'mon. How can you hate a team that Troy Brown so obviously loves?

I can hear some of you muttering out there that yeah, the Pats don't deserve him, but it's also worth considering this: the Patriots were under no obligation to put him back on the roster. In fact, considering the embarrassment of riches at his position, you really couldn't blame the Pats had they decided to release him. But you know why they didn't? Because stoneman Belichick, like his mentor Parcells before him, has a deep and abiding affection for old pros who play the game right. Just ask Vinny Testeverde if you don't believe it. Troy Brown heads the list of the Belichick Ideal-smart, tough, versatile, and loyal. There are few of his kind left, and the Pats know it. Even if he doesn't play a snap the rest of the year, his presence is a huge emotional lift and who knows-with Rosevelt Colvin out for the season (ouch-man, that stinks)-perhaps we'll be seeing Troy suit up at linebacker soon.

There are names in my house that must be spoken with reverence. Among them, Bill Belichick. Tom Brady, for sure. Tedy Bruschi (another great guy Pats haters need to think hard about when trying to demonize the team). Richard Seymour. Mike Vrabel. Until recently, Adam Vinatieri (and again, after he takes off that butt ugly Colts uniform). And most certainly, Troy Brown. As revered as he is in these parts, though, he's staring at the short end of what has been a very long and productive career, and is a shoo-in for the Pats HOF when it opens. But fear not, Troy lovers! I see a new figure emerging from the field ready to step into the shoes, in the form of Wes Welker. Randy Moss or Donte Stallworth in the backfield? I don't think so. But somehow, I don't think Welker would even blink. The new Belichick Ideal, and now he'll have a few games to learn from the master.

Welcome back, friend. We've missed you, and I'm just so happy you're back! Now go suit up and get this done once more, for old times' sake. 

Sox Shorts

Are we finally seeing an end to the "greed is good" era, a mentality that has plagued this country since Ronald Reagan? Are people really beginning to get their arms around the idea that just maybe there is more to a person's worth than the size of his or her wallet?

Maybe, or maybe not. But it's easy to think that maybe the tide has turned a little when you look at what the two World Series participants did with some of their post season money. The Colorado Rockies voted a full share-$233,505-to the widow of Mike Coolbaugh, a Rockies' minor league coach who was killed after being hit by a foul ball during a game last summer. The Red Sox voted full or partial shares, along with cash awards, to many of their off-the-field help, including coaches, trainers, etc.  "That’s life-changing money for guys that are our families - clubhouse guys, guys that work around the ballpark, that’s money that will change their lives forever," Curt Schilling remarked. Of course, Schilling made thirteen million last year. Manny made twenty. Any of them could have given their whole measly three hundred thousand share to the supporting cast and not missed it, but Rome wasn't built in a day, folks. Maybe next year, and the year after, some other socially-minded athletes (and there have to be some) will look at these gestures and take the next step: we can't spend all the money we have now, man. Let's take a stand and donate our shares to a cause that can truly be life-changing, and not just for one widow and some clubhouse guys. In fact, here on this blog, I'll challenge next year's World Series participants to do just that...live simply, so others may simply live.

Yeah, right. That'll happen. But one can dream.

More good news on the Red Sox front! Dr. Charles Steinberg, the man who-along with Larry Lucchino-managed to turn the Boston Red Sox from a mere baseball team with a devoted but generally regional following into a global phenomenon, is leaving to take a marketing director position with the Dodgers. I say it's good news because while I truly appreciate the amount of effort this group has put into fielding a winning team every year, there are things about them I like significantly less, and the seemingly never-ending quest to put the Red Sox logo on everything from toothpaste to Nascar is one of those things. That, along with the unstated mission to dumb down the fanbase by at least 25 IQ points-case in point, the insipid "Red Sox Nation" presidency campaign that we were subjected to nearly the entire season, and certainly through at least an inning and a half of game broadcasts (has Remy shut up about this yet?) Upcoming next for the easily mind-controlled? "Christmas at Fenway," where you get the opportunity to go to the park in the middle of the winter so you can buy tickets. I'm completely serious, folks. And not even good tickets. I love the Red Sox, but the organizational transformation from baseball team to circus sideshow where the game is secondary and it's all about the hoopla is less than impressive to me. Yes, I like the winning, but sometimes I yearn for a simpler time...

Still, I shouldn't complain. This team is printing money, and without the ability to compete monetarily there would be no 2007 championship and no hope for any in the future. That's just the way the game is played these days.

Reminiscing

Not much going on until the winter meetings, and they don't start until the 3rd. I'm not used to this much November after Thanksgiving! There were talks that the Sox were looking at Kerry Wood for the bullpen, but he's resigned with the Cubs. No word on Cabrera and Santana, the Big Two currently being dangled by their respective teams. So while we're waiting, a look back at one of the nicer moments at Fenway this year, which only goes to show that Red Sox Nation has a lot of heart!

btw, you also missed a Sox fix if you weren't watching the Pats' game Sunday night (and shame on you if you weren't!) Tito was down on the sidelines, Schilling up in a luxury box wearing a Patriots' jersey and, of course, waving to the cameras. Brought a tear to my eye, and made me very, very lonely for my Sox.

An (Almost) Upset

"You're not going to be able to play your best game each and every week. But the thing that's positive, the thing that's encouraging is that we were able to pull it out despite not playing particularly well."-Rodney Harrison after the game, in which the Pats won 31-28

Anybody need another reason why "60 minutes" is the mantra of the Patriots this year? Because sometimes, you need every minute. Even when you're the big, bad NE Patriots.

Yikes. That was close, and ugly. Closer and uglier than it should have been against a bad Eagles team, for sure. Kind of reminded me of Hillary Clinton a few weeks ago-clear frontrunner, steamrolling all over everybody-then gets tripped up by a dumb question at a debate. It looks bad, but in the end all that's lost is a little pride. I don't think we'll be seeing any 3-TD spreads anymore (well, except against the Jets, maybe). A.J. Feeley had a great game, almost playing the part of spoiler ala '85 Marino, shredding a Pats' secondary that couldn't cover anybody but still managed to make the big plays when it counted-at least Asante Samuel did. And for all the yapping that the Eagles played Brady perfectly, remember that once again a bullshit interference call negated a big play, this time a TD pass to Moss. Final score should have been 38-28. I'm trying not to get paranoid, but the NFL seems determined to end the perfect run on bad reffing.

Best part of the night? Wes Welker dropping the vapid Andrea Kremer like a hot potato at the behest of Belichick. Yeah, it was close, and-sorry! Gotta go! Coach is calling!

So, they survivied the scare with all that's important-the win. But it's going to be a loooong session of practice this week, I'm betting.

COWARD!!!!!! Part Deux

In the Globe just a few minutes ago:

The Philadelphia Eagles announced today that QB Donovan McNabb has been downgraded to out for Sunday night's game against the New England Patriots. The Eagles will have A.J. Feeley making his first start at quarterback since Dec. 26, 2004.

Yeah, you saw that one coming a mile away, didn't you? McNabb, like the rest of his useless Eagles team, was all mouth after Spygate broke earlier in the year. "Maybe we can get our rings back," were his exact words, conveniently forgetting it was his physical breakdown and lousy clock management that ultimately led to the Eagles' demise in Jacksonville. Now? Unspecified "ankle and thumb" injuries, sustained last week during the Miami game, will sideline the has-been for the primetime show against the Pats this Sunday. Yeah, right. My guess is that the pussy QB wannabe a) doesn't want to be out on the field during his team's biggest embarrassment of the year, and b) doesn't want to get nailed to the turf (well, any worse than he has been all year, anyway). Vrabel, Harrison, Bruschi...they'd all have a bead on him, and remember this is a pathetic offensive line that allowed McNabb to be sacked twelve times by the Giants during Week 5. Like Clemens before him, McNabb is pure, unadulterated wus. I have absolutely no respect for him now. C'mon, hotshot. You got something to say? Say it on the field. Take it like a man...but NOOOOOO, instead you'll be cowering behind a clipboard with a bad "thumb" and "ankle" (I guess he thinks if he fakes two injuries, it's more believable? I had a friend who used to do that whenever he called out sick from work. "I've been puking all night AND my car died!"), letting A.J. Feeley take the brunt of what is rightfully his. What a punkass, cowardly loser.

(Speaking of Feeley, he'd better be watching his back himself Sunday. Feeley is a guy with whom the Pats also have a score to settle, albeit a less dramatic one. As you may recall, A.J. was the starting QB for the Dolphins during a 2004 MNF game when the Pats took a halftime lead and turned it into an ugly loss, one of only two of the season that year.)

In case you haven't heard-and I don't see how that's possible-the Pats, at last check, were 22.5 point favorites against the Eagles at home this week. It appears that Vegas can't make the spread big enough to stop people from betting lots of money on another Patriots victory, and this is beginning to grate on the neanderthal Philly fans to no end. Witness this charming little ditty from some douchebag Philly blogger:

Cheap shots and late hits aplenty are the order of the day. Now's the time to do it. The Patriots are practically begging for it. All it takes is one psychotic defensive back with nothing to lose delivering a forearm shiver under the face mask of Dante Stallworth, or a soon-to-be-waived lineman chop-blocking Rodney Harrison. If you don't think Tom Brady's ACL will be the biggest open target since Jeremy Piven in Smoking Aces, you are sorely mistaken.

Yeah, that's nice. Just capital. Then the asshat tries to justify it as "satire." No, dude, Dickens and Swift wrote satire. You just write an embarrassingly bad blog. But my favorite part? Right after Mr. Whiny Pants suggests that the Eagles start the practice squad, he adds, "Alright, the final score might be 100-6, New England, but how much satisfaction could they derive from what was in essence a Varsity-vs.-J.V. smack-down?"

Pffft. I hate to tell you, guy, but that's the Pats vs the first team Eagles this year anyway, even WITH McNabb lined up.

Besides, the whole "Pats are evil" thing is just getting beat down and sad. The tide is actually beginning to turn in favor of the Patriots, just as, I suspect, was the plan all along. Lots of writers-from national columnists to local bloggers-are beginning to tell the thin-skinned non-NE fans to just freakin' chill, people. The Patriots are not the Khmer Rouge in tight pants. Bill Belichick does not eat freshly killed puppies for breakfast. They are not doing anything your team wouldn't do in similar circumstances, and there's no doubt they've created a buzz around the league the likes of which has never been seen before. Love 'em or hate 'em-and you know which side I line up on-you can't deny they're simply a thing of beauty to watch; and if you're still fuming about them "running up the score," I'm just going to laugh and tell you to relax and enjoy the show.

I mean, really. Whining about the Patriots is just so October.

On the Mound for the Sox...Supernatural?

A quiet day after the foodfest. Man, isn't Thanksgiving the best holiday ever? Mark Felger on FSNE last night summed it up nicely: "It's the best holiday because I don't have to buy presents for anybody, there's no religion, none of that crap. I get to eat and hang out and watch football."

At the risk of sounding a tad hypocritical, amen, my friend. Now on to Christmas. I would personally like to thank our culture for secularizing the holiday to the point where it is now completely unrecognizable to any solemn, practicing Christian (except for the occasion outraged evangelical holding up a sign that says'"Merry CHRISTmas-NOT Happy Holidays!") It makes it much easier for those of us who think the whole savior-born-in-a-manger story is utter nonsense to enjoy the presents and the week off.

No big holiday announcements from the Sox this year, ala 2003, the year young Theo travelled out to the Valley of the Sun for his turkey dinner and returned with the beginnings of a legend-ripped right out from under George Steinbrenner's nose. With the positional players set, it's time to turn attention elsewhere. Are there any big splashes left to be made by the Sox? Well, there's talk that Johan Santana, in a contract year, is being shopped by the Twins, and that the Red Sox will surely kick those tires. How could you not even look? The price would be steep, though-several A-list prospects plus the cost of what it would take to sign him (rumor has it he's looking for 20/7). Now, I freely admit I would have shipped off Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester for Miguel Cabrera without blinking, but I'm less enthusiastic about doing it for Santana. I might consider one of them, but not both. The trade for Cabrera was essentially a straight-up one-a young unproven stud for a young proven stud, plus a maybe-third starter-with tons of upside for the Sox in terms of monetary cost. Santana is four years older and that contract would be a huge albatross by the time it was over. But still it would be really cool to be able to see him doing this on the mound at Fenway, wouldn't it?

Wouldn't that be awesome? Then we could replace that lame 8th inning "Sweet Caroline" with "Evil Ways", and this could be the victory song:

I can feel it in my bones
No man stands alone.
Sister, Brother,
From all the same seed

Everything is comin' our way
Everything is comin' our way
Everything is comin' our way.

That's it. I'm donating my salary to the "Sign Santana" fund!

From the RSFF

I saw this over there and it pretty much made my day...thought you'd probably enjoy it, too.

You fools are suddenly having doubts about next year because it's going to be pretty much the same team?

I am a Cleveland Indians fan, and do you fools know how bad we would like to sign a guy like Mike Lowell? Now you peasants are bickering that he's too old. You're all wishing Theo didn't sign Schilling. I would take Curt Schilling over our resident choke Cup Cake Sabathia anyday. As a matter of fact, since you fools are so worried about young players, how about we start a petition demanding a trade between our clubs. You give us Mike Lowell and Curt Schilling, and you can take Jhonny Peralta, Casey Blake, two prospects, and C.C Sabathia.

Your team just won a freakin world series people. Shut up.

Of course, there's a lot of generalization in them thar words, but a lot of insight too. Actually, it reminds me of a classic line from my favorite poet...

"O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us"-Robert Burns, "Ode to a Louse"

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!