Texas v. Red Sox - 05-12-06

Boy, the weather forecast looks like this could be a total-series washout. Not what we need to continue the momentum from last night's hard-fought comeback win. At this rate, by the time Clement pitches again, Matsui's wrist could be healed :unsure:

From what I've heard they've got a slight chance tonight, virtually no chance tomorrow and Sunday looks grim. Both teams have an off day next time Texas comes to town so my guess is they'll do whatever they can to get at least one of these games in and between a doubleheader and the offday play the other two then.

Joe -- do you not know how to add a signature or are you on some sort of bizarre personal strike against them?

I know how. Haven't bothered to do it yet. Want to contemplate my options and get it right.

Joe, that would be gruesome.:ph43r: If I am reading the schedule correctly and that scenario occurs, it would lead to a string of over 30 days in a row without a break, including 2 interleague stretches. At that point in the season (June), can't the MLBPA put their foot down and say "No way?" I realize Texas doesn't come in here again. I seem to remember when we were in the middle of that horrific stretch last year with the makeup, it was only allowed because we were so close to the end of the season.

What do you think?

I believe the limit is 18 consecutive days without a break. The MLBPA can certainly put their foot down though in situations like that they usually concede the issue.

I think a lot depends on this weekend. If they can play two this weekend I think they just do a double dip next time around and they're set. Things get hinky if they only play one or, God forbid, none, this weekend. If anyone has tickets to tonight's game, I would get ready to get wet because my guess is that they are going to do anything they can to get the game in. :P

Yeah, my first experience with the clickable smiley wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped.

Joe, your hesitation in setting up a sig is not 'bizarre.' You hold out until you're ready.

I see that underneath the smilies you can click on a link for 'BB Code Help.' I think that's an excellent idea, and look forward to the implementation of the The Chimp Code Help function.

Joe, trust me on this, it's all about the ninjas. :ph43r: :ph43r: :ph43r:

More than worth effort.

Just did a quick check, the hour by hour forecast shows no less than a 70% chance of rain between 4PM tonight and 4PM tomorrow at Fenway. :angry:

I'd just like to point out that I made the first ninja post on this board, and therefore declare myself the Founding Father of the Ninja Revolution. Spirit of '06!

...studying for my American Revolution final is warping my brain. Thank god this is the last final.

Oh, yeah, Red Sox. Here's hoping they play a game at some point. God knows, though - what crap weather we have coming.

Rev -- will we be seeing less of you once school ends. You from Boston area or out of state? You're a junior, right?

I thought I was the young member of the board at age 23 and one year out of college. Congrats Rev, I feel mature now.

If the Sox don't play at least two games this weekend, I may go on a killing spree. I can't stand a Friday/Saturday/Sunday without a game.

If they do play tonight, I hope the Red Sox are a little more fired up for the Rangers than you guys are. We had around 40 posts for the Yankees-Sox by this time the past few days.

This just proves major league baseball -- and any sport, for that matter -- needs a team to hate. it's good for business. :rolleyes: :D :lol: :ph43r:

Just barely on topic: I just heard my first rancid taste of the Colin Cowherd show on ESPN radio. Far from upset, I actually was enormously amused. His point was that Yankees-Red Sox was the only thing that had a right to call itself a rivalry. Army-Navy? No (high-level high school football). Harvard-Yale? No (same). He actually said he was a huge college football fan but had no idea Auburn and Alabama had a big rivalry called the Iron Bowl. The oldest rivalry in the country (Minnesota-somebody) didn't matter. Cardinals-Cubs, which I think was his jumping-off point, didn't matter, because it didn't "move the ratings."

Does he really think the whole country cares about Sox-Yankees? To the exclusion of anything else? I think it's far more likely they're sick of us. We might be more fun to watch, for the same reason Carolina-Duke is: We're loaded, every year. The history adds a lot for us, but not as much for the rest of the country. If my team's ALDS game is at 10 a.m. local time so ESPN can put Yankees-Sox in prime time, I'd be pissed. (Although that's just a hypothetical for emphasis; I know the two can't play in an ALDS.)

I think the ratings bear out that the Yankees-Sox have some wide appeal. It may be that there are just so many fans of those particular franchises, but ESPN doesn't keep putting something in prime time because it doesn't get ratings.


That said, it's appalling to me that they spend so much time on that rather than giving a more broadbased view of the sport.

Joe - are you saying it's appalling that ESPN always puts on the Sox-Yanks anytime they have the opportunity instead of other games more often? If that is what you are saying, I couldn't agree with you more. Although, for a Sox fan in Los Angeles without the package, it's great.

It's like TNT (or TBS) and NBA. I am not a huge fan of the NBA but would love to see a Celtics game here and there. They have what, 24 weeks of games they telecast and it seems that every week it is Spurs, Heat, Lakers and whatever good teams they put out there. But it's all ratings driven. Like MNF too. When the Pats sucked, we were never on. Then we are good and we average 3 appearances a season between MNF and SNF. Money talks. Sucks for the little guys. But what can you do?

Exactly Scott. It's a big part of my issue with ESPN. As a true sports network they should show all facets of the sports they cover. I'm not saying they shouldn't show 3 or 4 Sox-Yankee games, but I don't think they need to cover 10-12 of them. Why not show Tigers-A's or some other game that would be of interest to people in other places?

Obviously, the answer is $$$. I wonder how much less the ratings are, and how much less the ad buy is, for a game of two "lesser" teams than Sox-Yankees.

Yep. And the fact that ESPN breaks scheduling JUST to put the Sox/Yanks on to me is crazy. Can the ratings be THAT good? They Sunday night baseball. They have Wednesday night baseball. Since when do they have Tuesday and Thursday night baseball? I just don't understand that.

The Sox/Yanks series is truly the only real rivalry left that I can think of. But it is being overplayed like a good song on the radio now. You love it at first but eventually, you just start to hate it unless you are a diehard fan. Us diehards, still love it but the rest of America and beyond is just annoyed and oversaturated with it.

I don't think people, outside of Pittsburgh and Indy, disliked the Pats much at all after 2001,2003 and 2004. But when those stupid TV commercials started running with the Pats ALL the time, people really started to dislike them. They started seeing them too much. Despite the general likability of the team, a distaste was growing. You can't eat the same hamburger everyday, all day. It just gets old.

I wish they didn't do what they did after 2003 with this series. ESPN saw blood and felt like they had to completely do everything they can to exploit this series. Well, they have. To the point that they have almost turned the series into a cartoon. I hate it (what ESPN has done, not the series).

Didn't really know where to put this because I don't want to just keep starting Topics but this is worth a listen...Rick Sutcliffe at his best. You can first read what I am talking about here if you haven't already:

Sutcliffe Apologizes For Behavior During Broadcast - ESPN

Then listen to good 'ole Sut here.

Click Here to Listen

He was PLASTERED! Maybe if he an Joe Morgon drink on air, the ESPN telecasts would be really entertaining?

:rolleyes: scott: you should have been around for the celtics in their heyday. they were on every sunday, which was the only national game we got every week in the 1960s. my greatest sports memory ever is getting home from church (maybe) and turning on the tv at 1 p.m. to see wilt and russ getting ready for the opening tap. it has never gotten any better than that for me and the nba. not even jordan and bird could come close.

the celts were on all the time during the next two decades as well. tv networks go with the winners, wherever they may be. the way ainge is going right now, the celts could make a national tv appearance in 2009. :rolleyes:

Terry, love the new sig. How did you get to be a Yankee fan in RI? I grew up in a household with one of those :angry: , my brother became a Yankee fan and I obviously am the Red Sox fanatic. Family gatherings are real fun in baseball season.

T(L)N, I will always maintain that I am a classic sports fan caught in a modern sports fans body. I long for the older (although, for me, older is the 80s) days of the NBA. It was a game of skills and teamwork...now it is a game of skillz and individuals. I definitely wish I could've lived in the time of watching Wilt vs. Russell. I am very jealous of you for that fact. And the fact that you appreciate the Bird era a lot more than me I would assume, as I was born only 2 years prior to his entering the league.

Scott - I think we all have a tendnency to idealize the athletes of our youth. It's one of the reasons I think people are so upset about Barry Bonds right now. The sportswriters who are covering it today are folks who grew up idolizing (and idealizing) Henry Aaron.

Conversely, when McGwire/Sosa were chasing Maris, they were chasing someone who was never elevated in that same way.

This isn't to say there aren't many many many reasons to loathe Barry Bonds, but I do think it is part of the dynamic.

That said, I think the 80s were an interesting time in sports. Not sure why it is, but MLB was almost at a perfect historical average in that time, the NBA had a rebirth thanks to TV and the NHL featured arguably its greatest player and greatest team.

However, I think in 30 years people could look back at the 2000s and see athletes/teams like Albert Pujols, the San Antonio Spurs, the Detroit Pistons, Alexander Ovechkin, Tom Brady and wonder what happened to those days. It is my opinion that every era has it's sources of wonder and amazement and every era has its sources of shame and disgust.

Sorry, got on a bit of a roll there. Moving on...

ESPN has a huge East Coast bias and always has.

it's been a good 10 years since I lived back East and I can tell you Scott is right.
most people in other cities are sick of Red Sox-Yankees.
and they're sick of ESPN and Fox shoving it down their throats.

there are a bunch of good rivalries (A's-Angels, Dodgers-Giants, Cubs-Cards) that hardly get any national play.
and they probably never will.

Jill: I was born in Pittsburgh, moved to Philly suburbn when I was five. My dad was a big Pirates fan who hated the Dodgers. I was 8 years old in 1955 and saw my dad rooting for the Yankees against the Dodgers in the World Series. The Yankees lost and I was hooked because I had seen Mickey Mantle for the first time and because like most kids I followed what my dad was doing very closely.

The next year, Mickey won the Triple Crown and I saw most of the games on free TV from WPIX in New York, which we could barely bring in on our rabbitt-ears antenna (with tin foil wrapped around for greater reception). I was hooked. My dad was perplexed. In 1960, we rooted against each other and his Pirates won. It was the one World Series championship the Pirates won during his lifetime. Many years later, I was so glad the Pirates won because I realized what it must have meant to him.

I moved to Rhode Island in 1982, right into the heart of enemy territory. I have a great view of the best rivalry in sports at the current moment. The trick is to keep quiet, never gloat, and appreciate players on both sides.

Joe, you're right on about different eras. Carly Simon said it best in a song: "These are the good old days." B)

Terry: Good stuff. Boy it was tough to follow an out-of-market team in those days. I can just see the rabbit ears. Glad the Pirates won for your dad; kind of like all the Sox fans in 2004 saying "Now I can die in peace" after the Sox won the WS.

And you are not alone, there are plenty of Yankees fans here in RI :ph43r:

Terry, I enjoy reading your posts far and away more than anyone on the site (with no offense toward anyone else, of course), but I just have to ask?

What is the deal with you and the smilies? It's borderline creepy!

Craig: Not sure. I just click on whatever strikes my fancy. I may be latently happy and not know it.

I thought there might be more of a reaction to Sutcliffe. I guess I was wrong. I found it funny.

I heard it yesterday, Scott... nothing personal.
I like the "apology" today though..... typical corporate BS.
one of my rules of life: anyone reading his "apology" off a sheet of paper isn't really sorry.

anyway, looks like tonite's game is in serious jeopardy:

RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH SATURDAY
NIGHT...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS TO 6 OR 7 INCHES POSSIBLE
ACROSS NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS AND THE MONADNOCKS OF SOUTHERN NEW
HAMPSHIRE. THIS HEAVY RAIN WILL BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR URBAN AS
AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING. STILL MORE HEAVY RAIN MAY FALL LATER IN
THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR FLOODING
IN NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE
TO BECOME VERY SERIOUS.

Regardless Terry, please keep the posts coming. Extremely insightful stuff.

I can tell you it isn't raining in Burlington, about 10 miles outside of Boston.

It's amazing the amount of cigar & ciagarette smoke that would hover above the court in those old NBA arenas. As everybody knows, Red would light up when the game was in hand. Talk about high drama, those Warrior/76ers vs. Celtics tilts were always tightly fought. Philly had the old arena at 57 & Market and later Convention Hall(on Penn's campus) as their home courts. I don't think the pro teams ever used the Palestra, but I could be wrong about that. Just so many great, great games between those to old ancient rivals.

I believe Bill Russell and Clevelands Otto Graham played in ten straight championship games.

joe: i think sox will try to play tonight if only because tomorrow looks impossible and sunday not much better. it's not raining in pawtucket, either. well, light rain. they're going to play for same reason.

mike: you're right about the smoke. fans smoked in their seats. red lit up. it was crazy. the haze just hung over the courts like it was the back room of a political convention. heinsohn was probably smoking during timeouts. players definitely smoked at halftime. "smoke 'em if you got 'em." that's an old military command.

i hear the european leagues are still like that for the veteran euros. one of our pawtucket kids played in italy last year and saw players drinking wine before, during and after the games.

and then of course there is the truly legendary chris herren, now playing in iran, and liking it! :( :(

WHOA? TN, you can't just throw out Herron's name on this site without more info and/or links. I was a huge Herron fan, use to stay up watching his Fresno games, I really thought he could be a decent backup, a Howard Eisley type in the NBA.

I covered the Durfee/New Bedford Turkey Game a few years back, actually two straight years and Mike Herron, who actually won two state titles to Chris's zero, was the sideline reporter for the local Fall River TV station. Kind of a weird nut, but seemed nice enough.

Did those charges get dropped, for driving into the DD with the heroin. I always rooted for the kid to get his head on straight, he was a treat to watch in high school. A year behind me, saw him play two or three times in the 1993 tourney, including a great game with Braintree.

Also a HUGE fan of Fall River Dreams by Bill Reynolds of the Pro Jo. I've read it twice.

Sheriff: Benny doesn't know if the charges were dropped or not. The Herrens are both legendary around Fall River. Mike does a nightly talk show on a Fall River radio station.

Tina C. is interviewing Fluto Shinzawa. What, are the interns who answer the phones not available or something?

Chimp -- What does Fluto look like? Never seen or heard him before and we only get the games down here, no pre or postgame. He's young, right? That was kind of a strange hire by Sully.