10/28/04: At least it's over

Well, as Cap C theorized yesterday, the Cardinals either threw the series or just plain gave up.  What a disgrace.  One of the worst world series in recent memory, and it didn't have to be this way. The talent level wasn't as lopsided as the score. The Cards had no aura, no moxie, no attitude,  And the Red Sox came in with guns blazing and balls hanging out. It was like they bullied the Cards right off the field.  The Cardinals didn't lead once in the entire series. That's almost as chumpish as the way the Yanks went out.

Anyway, the Cardinals are a bunch of losers. Same goes for their fans.  It takes a hell of a lot to get those fuckers out of their seats.  Just a depressing scene all the way around.  I said it before and it remains true. The entire complexion of the Yankees-Sox rivalry has been permanently changed.  Yes, we still have like 26 WS wins to their three or four or whatever it is, but if we rely on that to combat their taunts we are suckers.  The dynamic of the rivalry was based on the fact that we always won and they never did.  Now they have beaten us in the most humiliating fashion imaginable en route to the championship.  We are going to hear about this, and we deserve it.  It's going to be 86 years worth of younger brother rage exploding in our face every time we face them.  I am not looking forward to it.

I watched most of the Yankee series with my in-laws out on Southern California, and they aren't huge baseball fans.  I guess that's why Fox's coverage didn't drive me nuts.  The constant fan cutaways were actually kind of nice then, because it gave the in-laws something interesting to look at and I didn't feel so guilty for monopolizing the TV. It bothered me the way they wouldn't cut to the CF camera until the pitcher was in mid-delivery, but I was generally OK with watching the games.  Even McCarver kept it in his pants for the most part.  Now I am home watching alone and the coverage is driving me nuts.  They are just killing us with all the cutesy crowd shots.  It's baseball for people who don't watch baseball.  That's fine for those people, but it ruins it for baseball fans. Whatever, the series sucked anyway.  I will credit McCarver for being subdued and somewhat informative.

It's interesting that going into the offseason, the WORLD CHAMPION Red Sox are going to have a lot of personnel decisions to make:  Pedro, Lowe, Varitek, Cabrera, etc.  I am sure they won't sign all these guys. I have always felt that when you win the whole thing, you have an obligation to hang onto the main guys who brought you there. I know that's not the way a GM should think -- he's got to be cold and clinical and put together an even better team without any emotional considerations whatsoever. That's why fans don't make personnel decisions, I guess.  But ever since the 1998 NBA Champion Bulls just let Jordan, Pippen and Jackson leave, I have been disgusted with the way championship teams get torn apart.  The Bulls were so desperate to get started on their rebuilding effort they forgot just how hard it is to assemble a championship team -- like the one they had sitting in their lap. It's 6 years later, and they're still rebuilding.

One thing that impressed me about these Red Sox -- they got a little something out of just about everybody.  Every guy on that roster deserves some credit.  A true champion.  Oh, and Schilling.  I guess he backed up his big mouth. Well done.

By the way, if you just started rooting for the Red Sox in the last two months or so, you have no right to enjoy this.  The people who have waited for years deserve this all to themselves

Gas face goes to Fox again, along with Jimmy Fallon -- what was up with the shot of Jimmy Fallon making out with a chick on the field immediately after the series ended?  Every Red Sox fan who's waited decades to see this and taped the game for his kids now has to deal with Fallon being one of the first five shots they have of the on-field celebration.  How insulting -- it's like if the Knicks won the whole thing and then they cut to a shot of Billy Baldwin smooching somebody.  Only times about 80.

Congratulations to the Sox and their long-suffering fans.  This must feel good.

I hope they never win again.

I sucked it up and got a cool phone from Sprint.  There was a $150 rebate and they gave me a 5% discount on my monthly bill for the length of the contract, which will work out to another $75 bucks or so, so it ain't a terrible deal.  The phone is teeny and potent, like Nelson de la Rosa.  There was another one I wanted, but it wasn't quite as teeny.  It was blue, though.  Nice dark blue. I'm not totally sure how I feel about this new phone.  There are a few annoying things about it, most notably the fact that "Immigrant Song" is no longer an available ringtone.   How dare they eliminate that song.  It was my personal theme music for the last two years. Crap.

So yesterday's google image search game may need a little refining, although Chris S. had it figured out with the limited info we gave.  Here are some basic ground rules:
1. The image must appear on the first three results pages for the search in question.  I may trim that to one page if nobody gets any answers right.
2. There must be something visible in the image that makes it a logical result for that particular search.
3. You can just guess shit if you want, or you can check your guesses on google before submitting them. 
4. The first one to get three correct answers (starting with the next one, sorry Chris) will receive a used copy of Steve Martin's reasonably charming 2000 novella Shopgirl, shipping and handling included.

Get started with the picture above right.  Hint: you may need a little knowledge to go with the visual to solve this one.  This game may be so stupid that it doesn't last long enough to declare a winner..