Couple of things
- In the bang-your-head-against-the-wall news, Perry Bugg doesn't care if you actually have water to, you know, drink, saying it would be better to let him water the yards he maintains. Yeah buddy, with only six weeks of water left in the Bear Creek Reservoir, that's a great idea. Here's another one ... until he recognizes there are more people in the world than just him, no one use Perry Bugg for their landscaping needs.
- Yes Tim, please tell me again how more painful it is to be an Orioles fan. Because this terrific, yet oddly not surprising, implosion is a joy to experience.
- Though I'm glad to see the subcommittee recommended easing the restrictions on sales near churches and schools, this is going to be an interesting discussion when it comes before the full commission. Ultimately it will pass, and I believe it should, but it's going to bring folks out of the woodwork to oppose it (for dubious reasons mind you).
- Even more questions about the Glenn Tax and its impact on local communities.
- First off David Ingle, thanks for letting us know you were being sarcastic. We're all so dense, we never would have gotten that. Second, I never buy into this 'wasted police resources' issue. Simply because law enforcement is pursuing another lead doesn't mean they're still not focused on the other investigations and tasks at hand.
- Yes Tim, please tell me again how more painful it is to be an Orioles fan. Because this terrific, yet oddly not surprising, implosion is a joy to experience.
- Though I'm glad to see the subcommittee recommended easing the restrictions on sales near churches and schools, this is going to be an interesting discussion when it comes before the full commission. Ultimately it will pass, and I believe it should, but it's going to bring folks out of the woodwork to oppose it (for dubious reasons mind you).
- Even more questions about the Glenn Tax and its impact on local communities.
- First off David Ingle, thanks for letting us know you were being sarcastic. We're all so dense, we never would have gotten that. Second, I never buy into this 'wasted police resources' issue. Simply because law enforcement is pursuing another lead doesn't mean they're still not focused on the other investigations and tasks at hand.
posted by Jmac at 7:01 AM
10 Comments:
The implosion is a little easier to take, just a little, when you expect it to happen all season even as you lead the major leagues for 5 consecutive months.
I'm weirdly detached from it. I mean, I think the Red Sox will make the playoffs but, even with a 12-game lead a little more than a month ago, I honestly never expected them to win the division.
I don't know if that's depressing or comforting. Either way, for some odd reason I'd rather than win the division than the whole thing.
Excuse me if I don't extend my pity to fans who have had to "suffer" through a season in which they knew their team would ABSOLUTELY make the playoffs in July and instead offer my consolation to my fellow Orioles fans who:
1) knew that the season (just like every other season for the past DECADE) was over in Spring Training
2) watched the Orioles give up 30 RUNS to a last place team
3) watched the Orioles get no-hit by a pitcher making his second career start
4) watched the Orioles close out the season going 6-22 (and still counting!)
So yes Red Sox fans - I can unequivocally say that it is FAR worse to be an Orioles fan....enjoy the playoffs...AGAIN!
Hell, I'm not taking it for granted that we'll even make the playoffs, at this point.
Being a cellar dweller sucks, to be sure. I can't argue. But watching the annual catastrophic fall collapse gets old real fast, too.
I still get the shakes when I think about the 2003 ALCS and Grady Little...
I like the Red Sox, but you guys lost the sympathy vote when you finally won the World Series. I'm still rooting for you guys to hang on, but mostly because of my hatred for the Yankees. I'm hoping for a Cubs WS win this year.
"Annual catastrophic fall"?!?!?! This ain't 1978, the Red Sox are not the "lovable losers" anymore - they won the World Series just 3 years ago! The "curse" is over - you guys are America's Team...you win ALL the time, you spend WAY more than everyone else, you get every player you want, you are talked about incessantly by every major media outlet, etc, etc, etc.
I guarantee you that no fan of the Orioles, Royals, D-Rays, Astros, Brewers, Pirates, Reds, Nationals, Rangers, Mariners, Athletics and on and on and on feels sorry for you guys in the least...trust me - you haven't experienced pain until your favorite team in your favorite sport has only been relevant for 4 of the almost 30 years you've been alive (and one of those happened when you were five years old!).
And don't worry - according to Baseball Prospectus' "Playoff Odds" report which was updated just hours ago - the Red Sox have a 99.98338% chance of making the playoffs (it's true - look it up: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php). The O's chances as of February 15th, 2007 when pitchers and catchers reported: 0.0%
Anyway - didn't mean to jump all over you but I'm passionate about this subject...I grew up in Maryland with too many classmates that abandoned the Orioles for greener Boston-filled pastures...it left me with a sour taste in my mouth for all things Red Sox.
And I'm pretty sure Jmac just posted that to get me all riled up. All that being said... GO YANKEES!!!!
I would have thought the more newsworthy item today would be Andy Herod actually saying something that makes sense - to wit, that it is ridiculous that the drinking age is 21.
"Annual catastrophic fall"?!?!?! This ain't 1978, the Red Sox are not the "lovable losers" anymore - they won the World Series just 3 years ago!
But those are two different things. No one is arguing that the Red Sox are 'loved' any more. Fine. Love us or hate us, I really don't care, and I'm not looking for any sympathy.
The point is there has almost always been an annual collapse for Boston, save 2004 - aka 'The Greatest Year in History' - and you can't argue that.
The past two years alone have seen Boston completely implode down the stretch, each time surrendering a once-thought insurmountable division lead to the Yankees (I know they still lead the American League East by 1.5 games, but, seriously, raise your hand if you think the Red Sox will hold on to that ...).
2004 was awesome, and I hope something miraculous happens and 2007 is just like it, but that doesn't mean you completely wipe out the heartbreak of previous years ... or, in Boston's case apparently, that you actually quit doing that.
I guess my beef is that for me, someone who would give their best friend's pinky toe just to BE in the playoffs - it's hard for me to consider it a "catastrophic fall" or a "collapse" when you are still winning the wild card - they just didn't win the division, they're still in the playoffs.
Trust me - it is far...FAR more painful to never have even sniffed the playoffs than make it every year and lose most of the time.
And you know - yeah, you do wipe out the pain and frustration of all those other losing years once you win the World Series, otherwise what's the point of winning one? You should look back with fond recollections on those trying times, now made all the sweeter after winning the big one just three short years ago. If the O's do the unthinkable in the not-too-distant future and win the World Series, trust me, I won't be dwelling on the "Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff, Ryan Kohlmeier, Jason Grimsley, Rafael Palmeiro 2.0" years - I'll be buying up every magazine, hat, t-shirt and program with my beloved team celebrating on the pitcher's mound and laughing about ever having seen Danys Baez, Jay Gibbons, and Rodrigo Lopez wearing the black and orange.
Last year we went from a massive lead in the division to not even making the playoffs at all. This year we haven't made the playoffs yet, and we still might not since Detroit could take the wild card if we give up the division. If for 2 years in a row we spent long stretches leading the major leagues and even longer stretches leading the division by double digits, and both years we collapse and miss the playoffs...well, I'm not sure if it's worse than not even being in contention but I'm still going to want to throw up for about 4 weeks straight.
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