Fair Weather Fanhood: A Manifesto

Just a fair warning to all: this is a long one. Relentlessly long. You may wanna try to print it out & read it somewhere more comfortable than a swivel chair. Then again, it might empty your ink cartridge. Ehhh, do whatever you want.

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Allow me to go ahead & get the griping out of the way early: the weather STINKS here in Florida right now. It's positively disheartening. I know I shouldn't complain. I don't guess it does any good to complain... except making me feel better. So, just so we're clear on this matter, I don't like the hot weather right now. Not one bit. Not at all.

I guess the other side of this coin is that we're the first to get the warmth of spring. That is pleasant. But it also means an oppressively endless summer. Starting in May and running through June, July, August, September, and now 12 days into October, it's still summer weather here in Panama City, FL.

"So what? Big deal? You should be happy you don't have to shovel snow." Let me explain a little bit of what this is like for you, the non-Floridian.

I walk my dog every day. I'm a good, loving master, and my dog loves me for it. If you don't know, I'm a big man. Not small. I tend to perspire, like many big men. Okay, let's just keep this simple: I fill up a t-shirt with sweat every day. Every day there is a slim ring around the shirt-tail that is dry because it's the one part of the shirt not sticking to my sweat-soaked body. It is every bit as awful & disgusting as it sounds. And THIS every stinkin' day. Especially days where the heat index rises into the high 90's. Or over 100, like it did at least twice last week.

It became a source of humor for one of my golf buddies the other day. He caught me a mile into my route last week, and he stopped to turn his truck around, roll down his window, point at my shirt, guffaw, and think of every wisecrack he could in the 30 seconds he had to make fun of me.

It was humiliating. I will crush him the next time we hit the links.

What's more, the grass hasn't stopped growing here. And unless you've mowed Florida grass, you probably don't grasp how relentless this creature is. And I've been an outstanding yard manager this year. I'm not bragging; I'm just saying that it was a banner year because I put a lot of effort into it. I didn't neglect my lawn. Mowed it every week.

And I'm still mowing! It's not over! I want it to be over! Why can't it be over?! It's supposed to be over! It's October; it's supposed to be COOL. The grass should stop growing so fast by now. But it hasn't been that way.

Plus, when it gets down to it, I'm just selfish. I feel entitled. I don't know why, but I feel like October is my month. I want to walk outside to my truck & have there not be any humidity in the air. I'd like to not be scrambling to click on the A/C as quickly as I can. In fact, I'd like to roll down the window & fill my nostrils with the crisp air of a cool, fall day. Gosh. Just typing that makes me yearn even more. And that is supposed to happen in October. Why hasn't that happened yet here in October?

"Okay! We get it. It's hot in Florida & you hate it." Sorry. So what am I getting at?

Fair weather. I love fair weather. Who doesn't? Who isn't a fan of a crisp fall day?? Nobody, that's who. I want to declare this openly & loudly: I'm a fan of fair weather.

"STOP! What are you REALLY getting at?"

Well, not only am I a fan of fair weather, but I'm also a fair weather fan. There. I said it. I root harder for winners than I do for losers. But at least I'm honest about it. Seriously: who in their right mind roots harder for losers than they do for winners? Nobody, that's who! Nobody "in their right mind" that is. Nuts & weirdies root hard for losers. And I'm not gonna be one of those nuts or weirdies.

The season's over & we can call it now: the Red Sox royally sucked this season. The only reason they won the Wildcard is because the Rangers collapsed quicker than Boston could. They suffered through injuries (Wakefield, Dice-K, Lowell, etc.) & underperforming seasons (Ortiz, Pedroia, Bay, Varitek, etc.) across the board. Bottom line: they didn't have it this season. It wasn't close.

But you know what was even more disappointing? It didn't seem like they cared. How quick was that Red Sox dugout cleared out after the game was over? I saw Jason Bay give what looked like a cursory, token "blank stare out to the field watching the other team celebrate." That's about it. I'm not the only one who noticed this. I'm almost certain that it's this that motivated The Sports Guy to say this after the Game 2 loss: "If you're expecting me to throw remotes, punch walls & go for 2-hour dog walks for this lifeless '09 Sox team, think again."

Because this group didn't care. Not like those Angels cared; that much was very plain. And certainly not like the fans cared. My Lord... Red Sox fans sell out games & buy merchandise at a rate that would juice the economy if it happened in the cities of the other 29 MLB teams. If any fanbase has ever loved their team & blindly rooted for laundry, it is Red Sox fans. But, as the movie line goes, did the Red Sox love them back? I say no.

I've been having this on-going conversation with some Braves fans, too. The Braves have this new General Manager who is tarnishing the once good name of the Atlanta franchise. He's offending Hall of Famers left and right. He's botching deals, as he did last offseason with Rafael Furcal. He over-spent to nab Derek Lowe because he mis-read the market, thought there would be better pitching available, and panicked to bring in the best remaining option. Mark my words (Dan!): given more time, Frank Wren is going to run the Braves into the ground.

Little do Braves fans recognize this, though. Oh, the die-hards are convinced that next year is their year. As hard as I've tried to convince them of their GM's folly -- of his poor record doing business, of his strange signings -- they're convinced that Wren out-paces every other GM in baseball. Really. And they've invested their hopes & dreams into this guy who is leading them off a cliff.

So since when is rooting for those teams a measure of someone's devotion? Sounds sick to me. Pouring your care into a careless team. Investing your hopes in a hopeless franchise. It is folly I say.

Just ask a Green Bay Packers fan. Ask them what it's like to love a player like a son, only to see him rip your heart in the most careless, disloyal way imaginable. What's that like? Thankfully we were enlightened, courtesy Bill Simmons:

Question: I am 19 years old. I have been a fan of Favre and the Packers since the third grade. I grew up thinking Favre could do no wrong. As a mature 17-year-old, I cried the day he retired from the Packers. I was tolerant of the Jets experiment -- even have the jersey to prove it. But what am I supposed to do now? Tonight I watched my childhood hero stomp all over the team and the fans he represented for 16 years. I found myself cursing him for the very same reasons I used to love him. The phony TD celebrations, the smug smiles, the way he hams it up with his new teammates and his new fans. I don't know how to handle it. I started this e-mail thinking I had something to say about all of this, but I just feel lost. I don't know what to think anymore ... I'm just lost.
--Drew, Bloomington, Ind.

Simmons: And that's the part of Monday's game that got lost. Every Packers fan felt like how a dutiful wife would feel if she stuck with her husband through thick and thin, watched him become a success, then got dumped for a younger trophy wife who also happened to be her archnemesis. Favre failed in the same way Roger Clemens failed when he signed with the Blue Jays in 1997 -- his problems with management affected his feelings toward his old franchise, and he did a piss-poor job of letting his old fan base know that he still cared about it. I have written about this before, but I turned on Clemens during his Toronto news conference when he simply refused to acknowledge Boston fans beyond a few generic words. It hurt. I took it personally and decided he was an opportunistic, disloyal, dishonest scumbag from that moment on. And as it turned out, he was.

In Favre's case, his lack of empathy for Packers fans has been really alarming. I know he plays with his heart on his sleeve. I know he's a "kid out there" and "having a ball out there" and all the crap. And maybe he's not a brain surgeon, but he's smart enough to understand what he meant to Packers fans and the state of Wisconsin, which means he had to understand how it went over after he (A) signed with an NFC North team two months ago; (B) dialed up the finger-pointing and fist-pumping during Monday's Pack-Vikes game so egregiously that even his biggest fan fron Green Bay couldn't defend him; and (C) gave that self-satisfied postgame interview in which he never said anything like, "I just wanted to say hi to everyone back in Wisconsin and tell them that this was as strange for me as it probably was for you, but I want you to know that it was just one game -- a game that I wanted to win because I'm a competitor and I love my teammates, but still, none of this changes the fact that I love you guys and I always will." That's it. That's all he had to say to Michele Tafoya after the game.

He didn't say it.

And believe me, I've been there as a fan. It's unforgivable. Especially when you're under 30 and don't realize that many of your "heroes" are people who don't deserve that level of worship, or any worship, for that matter. They just play sports well. They don't care about you. They care about themselves and that's it. If this realization hits you at the wrong time in your life, it can be hard. (I know it was hard for me. I took the Clemens thing personally, as witnessed by the fact that I once wrote a column wondering if he was the Antichrist.) So if the Packers fans want to play along, so to speak, then they can't cheer Favre on Nov. 1. He set the stakes. He made it clear that he's moved on with his new team and cut all ties to the old one. That means you need to go to Lambeau and boo the living hell out of him. Make him miserable. Rattle him. Flummox him. Do everything you can to get the better of him for three hours. This man does not belong to you anymore, and maybe, he never did.

Wow. Truth is sobering, isn't it?

You know what, let's call it: Hosea was a SICK man. There's a reason that his is an awkward story to tell in Church. Marrying a prostitute? Expecting her to remain as faithful & pure as he was? That's like Favre fanhood to the extreme. Which, I mean, for Hosea, is just unimaginable the amount of grief & pain & sorrow he had to wrestle with so often. ONLY God is capable of executing that kind of love and faithfulness. Not us. And that's the point of the book. It's right there in chapter 11 verse 9:

I will not carry out my fierce anger,
       nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
       For I am God, and not man—
       the Holy One among you.
       I will not come in wrath

Only God can do that. I mean, it'd drive a man insane to love to that degree of passion & have it not returned.

In fact, in terms of Scriptures that are a model, I default to Psalms 22 on this one. That Psalm where David just opens up on God without any pretense: "My God My God, why have you forsaken me?" It's like he's saying, "Hey Father... this situation I'm in right now -- this is really awful. I'd like to tell you how very awful I think it is." And David goes on to describe his plight in detail. He wrestles with ideas like God's faithfulness, and his own worthiness, and several other similar worries that we all have anxiety over when we're in the midst of trial.

But you know what: if David were being measured by the people who measure fanhood in 21st century America, the man after God's own heart would be only a fair-weather follower.

And I say that's rubbish. David was wallowing in his pessimism, but at least he was taking it to the right place. David was keeping it real, but he wasn't quitting God. He wasn't going down to some Baal or Molek to offer his worship there. He was taking it to God & dumping the full load with HIM: in all it's gritty, unpolished glory.

And here's the point I want to stress to a certain doubter of my fanhood: I'm not putting pinstripes on over here. Just because I can spot an apathetic loser when I see one doesn't mean that I'm leaving Red Sox Nation. I'm staying true to my team. But in doing that, I'm not losing the ability to stay true to myself.

I want to offer as a model of honorable fair weather fanhood my cousin Jason. I have to admit: I'm biased. I love this guy. He's one of my favorite people in the world to spend time around. And that for lots of reasons that I'll spare you from me listing here.

One of the greatest things about Jay, though, is his passion. It comes through so clear on the golf course. When he hits a bad shot, it kills him. Every time. And when he's squared off trying to compete against his brother Barry, it kills him double. Jason is a passionate guy.

This passion comes out in funny ways as it relates to his beloved Crimson Tide, too. I'll never forget the referees running out of the stadium -- running right by he & I -- at the tail end of the 1997 'Bama/Mississippi State game. Alabama had been conquered that day, and Jason wasn't in a good mood. So he taunted those referees. And don't worry: Jason's Mormon, he kept it clean. He just let them know that they SUCKED on that day. ;) And if you ask him about it today, he will work himself into just as much of a frenzy as he was in at that moment.

Oh, and there's also the time where he almost picked a fight after a win. It was October 2nd, 1999. Alabama had just defeated the #3 Florida Gators. IN the Swamp, where the Gators hadn't lost a game in 5 whole years. It was a high moment in all our lives. We felt like kings walking back across campus in our crimson polo shirts. That is, until someone dared taunt the kings. Some drunk guy started heckling us with, "You guys suck! You don't even know what top 5 is!!" Well, Jason isn't the type to turn the other cheek at that. "Hey loser!!... We just beat you IN YOUR OWN HOUSE!" Well, this drunk guy kept following us. And Jason kept not backing down. Until finally we've walked up to this guy's fraternity house, and Jason is standing out on the front lawn red-faced yelling at this clown. He was just about to follow the guy into his FRATERNITY HOUSE. We literally grabbed him to pull him out of that spot & back to my apartment.

I hope you'll believe me when I tell you that Jay is a passionate man. And so, just like his errant shots on the golf course, it kills him a little inside each time Alabama loses. And having a decade like Alabama had from 1997-2007, with 2 separate probations and 3 losing seasons, it was almost enough to crush his spirit.

But Jason figured it out toward the end of the Tide's decade of futility. Whenever 'Bama played, he just went to play golf. I couldn't believe it! This guy who loves Alabama football more than I've ever loved anything in my life. I gave him a hard time about it. How could he do it? Well, for one thing, he taped all the games. And he had a simple rule. When he got home, he'd ask his wife who won. If Alabama won, he'd watch the tape. If Alabama lost, the tape was tossed.

Lots of tapes were tossed.

But Jason made a simple realization about life that I hope each one of you will adopt: He was too passionate to put up with mediocrity. His heart was too big, his love was too strong, and the object of his affection was too small for him to continue down the path of experiencing one heart-wrenching loss after another. So he made that simple calculation: "It's not worth it."

And danged if he's not right! Sports isn't worth it. Sports is never worth it. That is, not when the "it" is putting up with rampant mediocrity & disappointment.

It's as Solomon wrote in Proverbs 4:23 -- "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the wellspring of life." I don't know why we subject our hearts to so much anguish over such trivial matters. It reminds me of how C.S. Lewis famously put it:

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

You know what I recommend to Florida State fans right now? Go play golf! Go savor the good things in life. Seek out fair weather wherever it may be found in your life. If in the Noles won, then fire up that DVR and enjoy the show. If they lost, then forget about it. It's JUST football.

Why is that so hard for people to say? "It's just football." "It's just baseball." I'm convinced that it's hard because we wrap our sense of self-worth & personal pride in our sports tribe of choice. So that when the tribe succeeds, it's like we succeed. But when the tribe fails, it's just as if we failed.

And, to me, that's sickening. It's just revolting. Because when your fanhood becomes THAT, it's tantamount to idol worship. And so we then begin to measure someone's virtue -- someone's loyalty -- by their mindless, automaton-like sense of devotion to a sports team? How poor a measure is that!

I've got an idea: How about we try measuring people's virtue & loyalty by things that really matter? Like how well they love their wives. Or how well they raise their kids. Or how healthy they grow their puppies? Or how green they keep their lawns? Even over months & months of oppressive heat!

(That's right: it's all about me here)

I'm not saying just to go root for winners. Definitely don't do that. That's not fanhood. That's being a front-runner. No, don't be like the louses that I grew up with who were fans of the Seminoles, Cowboys, and Bulls. Please. Don't go changing teams.

But here's what I am saying: choose to go enjoy the good weather wherever good weather may be found. That's what I'm doing. It's a High Tide in Alabama. That's why you have to put up with my obnoxious "Power 12" rankings every week. Because I am as into that as President Obama is into being on the TV!! A baseball playoffs commercial on TBS? Really, Mr. President?

So may you enjoy the good weather wherever that good weather may be found. It'll do your heart some good to enjoy the crisp purity of refreshing air in some other slice of life. Because too much of the rest of life is bad weather. Why put up with it in your hobbies & recreation? I mean, there are more important things in life than a sports franchise that deserve that from you which is precious above all else: your devotion & your loyalty. So may you find fair weather spaces in your life to invest your heart where it's safe & where it's rewarded.

And, while we're at it, may the good Lord bless me with some cool Fall air. Please?

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Vince Vaughn captures my sentiments, and probably those of just about every Red Sox fan, right now following the 4-game molestation at the hands of the Yanks...



... minus the vulgar mouth, of course. (g) Except for the rest of Red Sox nation: they're mouths are probably much more colorful & coarse.

So baseball season is over me now. I'm gonna throw myself into 'Bama practice reports. I've only played 3 rounds of golf this year, so it's probably time to hit the links with a vengeance. And I'll probably be avoiding Yankee fans as I fill out my foursome.

But I'll be back after September. I love the playoffs too much. And I suspect that there'll be plenty of Yankee-hating to indulge in.

Auburn Hired WHO???

So Auburn fired a guy who had beaten Alabama six straight seasons, led Auburn to the best season in the history of their football program, and STILL has a career winning record (that's right: Tommy Tuberville is 4-3...) against Nick Saban...

... to hire a guy who has won 5 football games in the last 2 seasons & is coming off of a 10-game losing streak???

Awesome!!

Here are my favorite thread titles from an Auburn Football bulletin board in meltdown mode:

• We dumped a GOOD coach after a five-win season for a guy who has five wins in his ENTIRE CAREER?!
• Well done. We hired a proven loser.
• This isn’t a homerun. This is hitting into a triple play.
• This is a real kick in the crotch
• We needed a big splash. We got a fart in the tub
• Dear Baby Jesus: Let Chizik lie on his resume
• We've been Matt Millen'd. We are the Detroit Lions of the NCAA
• So this is what it felt like to be an Auburn fan 30-40 years ago???
• Bama fans will be at an airport cheering again

Does it get any better than this? The Red Sox are establishing a dynasty, while the Yankees are throwing ridiculous contracts at risky arms. And the Alabama Crimson Tide have the newest hot program on the block, while Auburn is doing everything in their power to deconstruct their own. I'm not sure life could get any better right now in terms of fanhood.

And we'll see you Saturday Night!!

Rays 7
Sox 8

A big thanks to ALL the Sox... to J.D. Drew for the big hits, to Big Papi for coming back to life, to Masterson for getting a scoreless 9th when it could have slipped away, to the MVP "Destroia" Pedroia for that big double play, and to that big sweaty Jew Youkilis for scoring the winning run.

I love baseball.

Rays and Red Sox in the ALCS

Hey Tampa Bay...

YOU'RE NEXT!!


Man! What a great game tonight! Playoff baseball is just the best.

I can't wait for this ALCS to start this Friday night. I'm not sure I've been this excited about a single playoff series since the 2004 ALCS. This is going to be WAR!

Be a Man, Manny

As a fellow Red Sox fan like Bill Simmons (ESPN's "The Sports Guy"), I too rooted on Manny Ramirez. I loved him when he was funny. But I also hated him when his jokes weren't so funny. I wrote a couple months ago that with the way Manny disrespected his team-mates, the fans, and the game, I hoped he fell flat on his face in L.A. & went the way of Nomar.

In his really, really ridiculously long article that will headline ESPN.com this weekend, Simmons argued that Manny shouldn't take the blame. He had put up great numbers, he was still putting up great numbers, he was going to put up great numbers -- what wasn't there to love? And any culpability for a poor attitude, lack of hustle, faking injuries & ducking games, intentional strikeouts, and being a bad team-mate in general should be laid at the doorstep of Manny's agent, Scott Boras. I personally think Simmons overstates his case. But did he have good reason to do so?

The Sports Guy stops just short of overtly alleging the existence of a cabal between the Red Sox front office, the Boston print media, the Boston sports talk machine, ESPN analyst Peter Gammons, and -- The Great Satan himself -- Scott Boras. He essentially assassinates Gammons in terms of him having any journalistic integrity or objective voice of his own anymore.

Not to mention that he takes swipes at current Red Sox GM Theo Epstein's integrity in holding Manny to a standard he himself allegedly did not keep. He compares Epstein not being re-signed & let go at the end of the '05 season to Manny quitting on his team mid-season for no apparent reason. I'm not sure how solid those comparisons are.

And, on top of all that, The Sports Guy even makes veiled accusations of racism. There is a long-standing history of sports racism in Boston (with both the Celtics and the Red Sox). Simmons patently implies the Red Sox front office of preserving this long-time Boston sports pastime of sorts by referring to the current product on the field as "lily-white" & akin to looking like a prep school athletics squad.

My first reaction was that Simmons must not be a Sox fan anymore. I mean, seriously: the guy never writes about them anymore. He spills endless amounts of ink over football lines and on baskeball; but he barely acknowledges baseball anymore. And when he FINALLY decides to grace us with his thoughts on baseball by talking about the Manny divorce, he basically slanders his favorite team? One of my major gut reactions was that Simmons just needs to go buy a Dodger blue #99 jersey & make it official. If it's Manny you're loyal to, then be up front about it. But don't claim Red Sox fanhood if you're not into it anymore.

I'll give Simmons credit where he deserves it, though. He doesn't throw darts without hitting a few targets.

The strongest part of Simmons' article is probably his critique of the widely-loved Peter Gammons. It is indeed puzzling that Gammons never once blamed Boras, but only spoke noble words of him. Even I recognized it to be pretty clear (in my write-up two months ago) that it felt like Gammons was the mouth-piece for the Red Sox administrative arm. For Gammons to not even say a single ill word about Boras, though -- a man universally recognized in baseball circles as the media's version of the protector of the integrity of the game -- is really bad. Even Curt Schilling fingered the obvious villain when interviewed at the trade deadline:

On Scott Boras’s involvement:

“I think absolutely he’s absolutely had a hand in this … I think he absolutely has a piece of this. Scott Boras stands to make zero dollars if the Red Sox pick up Manny’s options the next two years. Manny’s not 1- years from retirement, he’s maybe four obviously, that’s where he’s at. So does Scott Boras want to get a two year-deal for Manny or a four-year deal for Manny? At the end of the day it falls on the player because Manny’s an adult… I can’t fathom Scott hasn’t had some… you read his comments, he just has no ability to answer a question short, tactfully, and straightforward. It’s a 12 paragraph way to say 19 syllable words that you just can’t figure out what the hell he’s saying.”

There does appear to be an attempt by the Red Sox front office to control spin & to establish relationships that are ultimately beneficial for their own self-preservation & advancement. Think about who benefits. Gammons gets first dibs at any scoop coming out of the Red Sox front office, not to mention other probable fringe benefits at Fenway Park when watching his self-disclosed favorite team. The Red Sox watch Boras drive up prices on all the mid- & low-market franchises -- a development that plays into their hands with their massive fan base and, thus, money pool. On top of that, though, the Red Sox help establish a gentler view of Boras & a kind relationship with an agent who is vilified everywhere else in order to perhaps receive favorable treatment with Boras' long list of clients (cough, cough -- J.D. Drew). And, of course, Boras gets paid.

This article by Simmons even brought back fresh to my memory an interview I remember seeing Theo doing four years ago after the Red Sox re-signed Varitek but had let Pedro go. Varitek is, of course, represented by Boras. When Theo was asked about Boras' cut-throat, blood-sucking reputation, he succinctly & directly responded, "Well, Scott always gets top dollar for his clients." I remember being shocked by that answer. It was sort of a relentlessly positive way of looking at a really, really awful person in terms of what a scourge he is on baseball in general. I like the way Simmons referred to him: "one of the worst human beings in America who hasn't actually committed a crime."

I want to make this clear: I detest Scott Boras. He himself is a huge reason why a baseball game is so expensive to go watch in person right now. He encourages and openly fosters disloyalty to the "home team" (he basically fundamentally opposes one of the first principles from the National Anthem of Baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"), which completely spits in the face of baseball fans everywhere. And he does all this to increase his own bottom line.

And you know what else, my Republican readers? I want to say to you that this is what unchecked free market enterprise produces. So everytime you praise Republicans for their common sense and demean Democrats for how "wrong" they are, I want you to remember that you are giving a tacit endorsement to the reckless & utterly insensitive greed of The Great Satan himself.

And as I wag my finger on that point, I can't help but be almost completely ashamed of my Red Sox fanhood now. I've been a fan for a long time. I don't know if these revelations will change that overnight. But the Red Sox look more & more like the Yankees at every turn. It's disillusioning, to be sure.

Back to Simmons, though... one thing I think that he completely overlooks is the fact that it wasn't a guarantee that Manny was not going to quit on this team that was defending a title. Manny had already done just that when he sat out for five weeks at the end of the '06 season for some mysterious, probably non-existent injury. Manny could have shut himself down for as long as he wanted. He didn't care. And if the '08 Red Sox were going to make a run at defending their title, it was clear that Manny wasn't going to be a part of that effort. It was clear enough that he had other selfish interests in mind, and Manny's not one to juggle more than one task at a time.

At the end of the day, though, the man who is speaking the most truth here is Curt Schilling. (Why is it always the jerks & the blow-hards? Canseco was the truth-teller on steroids. Now it's Schilling on Manny.) He was absolutely correct when he said, "At the end of the day it falls on the player because Manny’s an adult." Simmons can call Manny an "idiot savant" all he wants, and portray him as the ignorant puppet in Boras' puppet-master scheme. But Manny ultimately chose this path when he chose Boras & acted out like a petulant child. I don't see God absolving everyone, both sheep & goats, on Judgment Day just because that Satan was one persuasive cat. That's just not how it works -- at least not in my worldview.

Manny made his bed. Now he's lying in it. And I'm still hoping that it has some uncomfortable lumps so that Manny will go the way of Nomar. My hope is still that Manny falls on his face to the extent that whenever a future athlete thinks of acting out and being selfish, he will think of the cautionary tale that is Manny Ramirez.

The Rays Will Fall

Friday night, Mike Lowell returned to the lineup by smacking a homer in his first at bat. Josh Beckett returned to pitch 5 innings and, for the first time this season, look like Josh Beckett. And the Sox are now just 2.5 games behind the Rays in the AL East.

Hope is alive! I suspect that this will be a fun month of baseball in that division. I should have probably written it here, but I guess I didn't quite have the coconuts to go so far out on a limb in public. But here's an E-mail I wrote this past weekend to my buddy Jordan, who's a regular reader here & can vouch that this E-mail is true & accurate:

Subject: Calling a Top‏
From: Philip Cunningham III
Sent: Sun 8/31/08 9:46 PM
To: Jordan Powell

Alright, here it is. August 31st. Rays have a 5.5 game lead on the Red Sox in the East. They play all but 10 of their remaining games on the road.

* This will be the largest lead they keep on the Sox from hear on out.
* The Red Sox will come back & overtake them to win the East.

I'm putting it out there. In stone. Or, at least to the extent that E-mail can be considered stone...

Philip III

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us."
Romans 8:18

Where Do Dead People Go?

I don't just not know where the angels sleep. I also don't know what happens to a soul when someone dies. I do however wonder and let my mind wander about what happens.

There are sort of two major views from Scripture. The first view is that people go to a place of pre-judged Judgment. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 16 about the Rich Man and Lazarus. The Rich Man is in "Hades" (not necessarily Hell), whereas Lazarus is in "Paradise" (not necessarily Heaven). And all of this is taking place in a timeline that pre-dates the Day of Judgment.

The second view is that the dead simply sleep. Paul seems to use that language in his letters quite often. Check out 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV):

¹³Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Lots of references to sleep in there. There are other places where Paul also talks about sleep, or "rest."

It's sort of an interesting debate. I like what I heard F. LaGard Smith say about it once. It's a debate where people can tend to get impassioned about their view. And usually you don't reach resolution if you encounter someone who doesn't share your view. And no matter what view you hold, whatever actually happens is going to happen irregardless of whatever we so passionately think or believe.

I've wondered about this debate in only an intellectual sense before. But now I have more of an emotional investment in the topic. Because now I wonder where my Mom is.

If she's in a place of pre-judged judgment, then she might be able to see what's going on. It certainly seems like the Rich Man had an awareness that his brothers still needed to repent.

If this is true, then it's sort of like when you're playing that game "Mafia." If you've ever played, if you get killed or voted out, you still get to watch what happens even though you can't participate. If you get killed or voted out early (as often happens to me), it's fun to have other people join the club & to watch their reaction to finding out who the mafia really is. Usually it is some level of shock or just a matter of fact nod in a way of thinking, "I knew it..."

I wonder if Mom is in Paradise with a front-row seat of everything that's going on. Rooting me on when I succeed; hoping desperately for me to do better when I fail. If so, she'll have so much to share with me whenever I get to speak with her again.

But, if Mom is merely asleep, then she doesn't see anything that's going on. She's at rest. I could imagine spending the first few hours of the next life with her anxiously asking me, "What happened? How did it all go without me?" And I will try to fill her in on the more salient details of my life. I could imagine us spending the next few years together with me occasionally bringing up stories that I just hadn't gotten around to telling her yet, trying to fill in the blanks & share important parts of my life with her.

I can even imagine that scenario happening with people who have already died. I could imagine Ben Franklin waking up & wanting to know, "That little 'America' experiment of our's... how did it all turn out?" I could imagine long suffering Red Sox fans -- the poor souls who died before October 2004 -- waking up eagerly wanting to know, "How did it all end? Did we ever stick it to the Yankees?" And gleefully being able to fill them in -- telling the story of the 2004 ALCS with ALL the giddy details, including Dave Roberts' steal, Curt Schilling's bloody sock, and the emergence of a legend we now call "Big Papi."

But I don't know which scenario is true. Either way it'll be fun. Either way, in between all the time we spend worshiping God, I imagine that we will gregariously enjoy regaling one another with stories from the days of yore.

Sports Haiku's

A long time ago, while I was an undergraduate student at Harding University, the University of Florida had a football coach named Ron Zook. He was so hated that some Gator alumnus started a web site called FireRonZook.com. My room-mate & I took much glee in the haiku's that were printed there about Ron Zook. Sadly, the web site has gone away, and I can't find those haiku's anymore. I just remember that one of the haiku's started with the line "Sucky Sucky Coach."

So, I thought I would bring back the very merry genre known as the sports haiku. Enjoy...

About the horrific former Texas Ranger pitcher Chan Ho Park
By Texas Ranger fan, Jordan Powell

Painful memories return
Park throws large beach ball to plate
The Ho has to go

Sucky Sucky Arm
If curve not dive into dirt
Ball flies over stands


About Brett Favre...

Bribing Brett to sit
Packer fans scratch their cheese-heads
Stay healthy, Aaron


About my beloved Crimson Tide...

Seniors really stink
but the Freshman really good
We will be lousy


About the hated Auburn Tigers...

Silly new offense
Can't recruit with the big boys
Tommy's end is near


Found on the Red Sox forum "The Sons of Sam Horn"

Jeter, anus-face
Jeter, Jeter, anus-face
Jeter, anus-face


About Manny Ramirez...

Way too much drama
More money for his mama
Hate like Osama

I hate Scott Boras
Pours honey in Manny's ear
Hope for small pay-day


About Joba Chamberlain...

A new Yank to hate
He's more homely than Babe Ruth
They like 'em ugly

My Comprehensive Manny Entry

I have little doubt that Peter Gammons has been a mouthpiece in public for the Red Sox Front Office's views. And he's really summed it up well from my perspective, too. So, that said, here's Gammons this week on Manny:

How & Why Manny Was Acting Out

Why He Had to Go

And other various sundry thoughts...


I'll remember the good times with Manny. 2004 World Series MVP. Helping to take us to the promised land twice. The potent Manny/Papi connection in the lineup.

But in the meantime, I'll be rooting for Manny to fall flat on his face Nomar-style. His level of selfishness represents to me everything that is evil & wicked. I want Manny to ultimately wish he would have hung around to get his $40 million from the Red Sox. I want this to be a lesson to every future would-be free agent who thinks they can throw a fit to get their way & get top dollar. So that when a future athlete thinks of acting out and being selfish, he will think of the cautionary tale that is Manny Ramirez.

So, right now? I guess you could say that I think as highly of Manny as Johnny Cash did of San Quentin. However, like I pretend the Yankee years never happened with my boy-hood hero Wade Boggs, one day I'll try to forget the bad times & fondly remember "Manny being Manny."

Manny Being Manny

His latest adventures out of left field. This was from Friday night.



Also, there are some disturbing rumors that Manny purposely left his bat on his shoulder & struck out in a critical situation vs. Mariano Rivera earlier this month. I remember watching that at bat & being totally amazed that Manny didn't swing. And now it makes total sense.

The Red Sox can tolerate Manny being clownish & incompetent in left field -- clearly we have already stomached it for this long. But if he goes into pouty & surly Manny mode, it won't be much longer for him in Boston. He will go the way of Nomar.

A Red Sox Fan's Worst Nightmare

It is a sad reality that winning sports franchises attract bandwagon fans. Perhaps nowhere has this despicable phenomenon been realized more this decade than with the over-indulgent lust for the now-media-darling Boston Red Sox.

Whenever I hear people complain about the ridiculous amount of Sox love in the media, at the theaters, or in the All-Star voting (come to think of it... actually, Jordan, I think its just you...), I don't have much sympathy. Because, you see, we Red Sox fans climbed an extreme incline to get to where we are today. We paid a steep price. You see, for those of us who didn't just hop on the bandwagon within the last four years -- before the momentous comeback for the ages against the Yankees & the fulfilling sweep against the Cardinals in the Series -- people forget what we were.

We were Red Sox fans.

It was ugly, even though it had its redeeming charm. It was shameful, even though there was some perverted element of honor. It was utterly heartbreaking to be teased, tormented, and trampled upon in the horrific fashion that seemingly only the Red Sox could script. I'm not sure I can offer enough hyperbole to make this point ring true. It was brutal. It was masochistic. It was like passionately rooting to take a sucker punch to the gut.

And that is why my worst nightmare for this coming October would be to see the Red Sox make it to the World Series to face the Chicago Cubs.

Here's the deal. Our franchises had at one point been linked as both being star-crossed. But the meta-narrative wasn't really the same. The Red Sox would come tantalizingly close to glory, only they would quite magnificently snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Cubs, on the other hand, just lost all the time & never gave their fans any hope at all.

So is it better to have loved & lost than to have never loved at all???

Not according to an old college chum of mine named Eric, who (being a life-long Cubs fan) stated definitively that the Cubs' 2003 NLCS Bartman-induced epic collapse was much worse & much more heart-breaking than having never really come close to glory before.

And it got even worse for Cubs fans after that '03 debacle. They watched the Red Sox leave their class of "lovable losers" after the '04 World Series victory -- their first in 86 years. Not only that, but they watched their crosstown rival Chicago White Sox exorcise their own demons by winning the 2005 World Series -- their first in 88 years. And that wasn't the end of it. In 2006, they watched their hated division-rival St. Louis Cardinals come out of nowhere to win their franchise's 10th World Championship. Sadly the bleeding didn't even stop there, because in 2007 the former fraternal Boston Red Sox took a step toward dynasty-hood by winning their 2nd World Series in 4 years.

Honestly, the worst kind of torture is watching everyone else around you be blessed when you're not. Right? Always the bridesmaid; never the bride... that kind of deal. David writes about it in Psalms 22:2-6 -- "Come on, God... You're enthroned as 'The Praise of Israel' ... I've heard about these other Godly people who obeyed you and were blessed! Why not me? Why do I have to run for my life from Saul when I'm trying to do the right thing here?!" That's the gist of David's complaint anyway. And its one of the saddest that there is.

So that is why when I read some so-called "Sox fan" (no doubt a bandwagon-jumping dullard) write on a message board that their dream World Series this year was Sox/Cubs, I almost came unglued. I was so offended that I felt the need to write this diatribe about it. ("Stuff White People Like" entry STILL funny!) Either that person is a sadist, or (more likely) he doesn't understand the grief a Red Sox-induced World Series loss for the Cubs would feel like for long suffering Chicago fans.

Obviously, it would not be pleasant for Red Sox fans if Boston lost a World Series. There is little redeeming value in losing that way. But it would be almost equally joyless to defeat the Cubs to win it all. Because true Red Sox fans know that such a victory would make the transformation complete. We would then BE the New York Yankees: a franchise & fanbase that delighted in trampling less worthy franchises underfoot for the sake of some kind of baseball manifest destiny.

The hype is already there. It is 2008 -- precisely 100 years since the last Cubs World Championship. The Cubs are in first place in their division, and they just traded for an ace pitcher who could take them to the promised land. Poor Cubs fans are already getting set up for the heartbreak to end all heartbreaks.

Please God don't let this happen. Don't let the Cubs & the Red Sox both make the World Series this year. I can't take the pain...

Should the Braves Trade Tex for Youk?

I found a wonderful blog while reading Peter Gammons on ESPN in the offseason. It is called Firebrand of the American League. It is a Red Sox blog with several authors, and Gammons says that even Red Sox brass pay attention to it & read it.

Well, I wonder what they think about this latest entry -- Should the Red Sox trade Kevin Youkilis for Mark Teixeira?

As a sports bigamist -- I am a fan of both the Red Sox AND Braves -- I am all about this trade. Since Firebrand has already addressed the Red Sox side, I'll briefly address why this makes sense for the Braves.

• The Utility Value of Kevin Youkilis -- Youk can play first base, third base, and outfield. The Braves can immediately plug him in at first. Given the balky health of aging Chipper Jones, manager Bobby Cox could easily slide him over to the other corner infield position.

• The OBP Value of Kevin Youkilis -- the Braves have struggled to find lead-off and #2 hitters for their lineup since the decline/departure of Marcus Giles and Rafael Furcal. Youk could hit in either of these spots and get on base for the big sticks to drive him in.

• Building for the Future -- This is Glavine's last hurrah. Smoltz may be done, too. Mike Hampton can't get healthy. Chipper doesn't have much left. 2008 was going to be the year where the Braves put everything in to making one last run with many of the older pieces. Its not gonna happen. Let me be clear about that: given all the bad injury luck this season, that one last run for the Braves is not gonna happen. Take Youk. Take young ace prospect Michael Bowden. It was exciting while it lasted with Tex, but its time to look to the future.

Get it done!

A Special Night at the Ballpark

Tonight, a young Red Sox pitcher threw a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.

And that sentence really says so little.

In June of 2006, after a rash of injuries to the Red Sox starting pitching staff, rookie pitcher Jon Lester made his major league debut. The 22 year-old was a sensation. A couple of months later, Lester had to miss a start because of soreness in his back. It was originally thought that his ailment was related to a car crash he had been involved in a week earlier. But as further tests were done, Lester was diagnosed with a form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Cancer.

Jon Lester moved back home & underwent chemotherapy treatments. And by December 5th, 2006, he was pronounced cancer-free.

He resumed baseball-related activities by Spring Training of '07, but the Red Sox organization wanted him to take it slow. So Lester pitched in the minors for several months, regaining his strength & velocity. And by July 23rd, he returned to start a major league game against the Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field.

I remember watching that game on ESPN. We had just moved my Mom down to Florida, and the game was on, and I told Mom how that young kid had licked cancer & was now back to full strength. The ESPN cameras found his parents in the seats, and it was evident that it was a big night for them. With tears in their eyes, they passionately rooted on their son as he got the win that night. I'll never forget the image of his mother pumping her fist with tear-filled eyes as he finished off his final inning of that game.

Jon Lester made it through the rest of that '07 season in rocky fashion. He didn't pitch poorly, but he wasn't yet making the kind of progress folks expect a 2nd year player to make. He really just wasn't back to full strength.

But October came around. The Red Sox won a draining 7-game ALCS to advance to the World Series, and almost immediately had to face the Colorado Rockies. After the Red Sox won the first three games, their top four starting pitchers were all a little too taxed to pitch Game Four. So Manager Terry Francona gave the ball to Jon Lester. And all he did was go out and win the clinching game of the World Series, less than a year removed from battling cancer.

Still, he had help in those games. He only pitched 6 innings (18 total outs) against the Indians in his return, and 5 and 2/3 innings (17 outs) in the World Series clincher.

But tonight was different. Jon Lester pitched all 9 innings & recorded 27 outs. He face 30 different batters, and not one of them could get a hit against him. Jon Lester was center-stage, and tonight he was the strongest man on Earth. He threw 130 pitches -- about 30 more pitches than the average starter throws on any given night. And even to the very end, Lester was throwing heat. His fastball was clocking in at about 95 MPH.

For Red Sox fans, it was a fun night. But for people who have been touched by cancer, and especially Jon Lester and his family, tonight was a special night at the ballpark.

A Manny of the People

Manny catches a fly ball, high fives a Sox fan in the OF stands, and then throws the ball back in to double up the runner on first base.


I never can make up my mind about this guy. But I love this play. It is just a game, after all, and the guy was just having fun.

Whiny Homer Announcers

The downside to expansion teams in baseball over the last 15 years is that I get to see less & less Braves baseball here in Florida. Braves used to be on "WTBS" every night back in the day. Now the MLB has contracted games out to Fox Sports Net, I only get to watch the Braves on TV whenever they are the Fox or ESPN game of the week.

The upside, however, is that I get to watch 19 Red Sox games per year. By virtue of playing the Tampa Bay Rays 19 times every season, I get to see those games on my local FSN affiliate. The Rays are playing in Boston this weekend, so I've enjoyed watching the games on TV.

There is a downside even to this, however. I have to listen to the poor souls who have the unenviable task of announcing all 162 Rays games every year. And it really shows. Bob Uecker, a.k.a. "Harry Doyle," made it funny in the movie "Major League." But these guys are clearly depressed. And it becomes evident when they start talking about the "privileged" Red Sox.

"Boy, how can these guys lay off pitches THAT close??"

They whine about every bad call, and the production crew show endless replays of it. Today, Ray Eric Hinskie had a double land in fair territory that the umps called foul, and these announcers won't let it go. In fact, they have some commercial sponsor that sponsors the "[So-and-So Company] Call of the Game." That just gave these whiners another excuse to wring their hands over that missed call again.

Kevin Youkilis especially draws the ire of these announcers. If there's a borderline pitch, and Youk doesn't swing at it, and the Ump calls it a ball, it drives them nuts. "Well, its never a strike if KEVIN YOUKILIS doesn't swing at it, apparently." "[Chuckle Chuckle]," goes the color man.

By the way... it is now the top of the 8th inning. (I'm totally not making this up.) And the FSN production team just showed the "Infiniti Unbelievable Play of the Game." And they showed a replay of Hinskie's fair ball that the umps called foul.

Its not that I'm angry that these Rays announcers are so sour & jaded. Its that I pity them. Let go of the bitterness & hate, guys!

Mi Amor

And even as I wander
I’m keeping you in sight
You’re a candle in the window
On a cold, dark winter’s night
And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might

And I can’t fight this feeling anymore!

Uh oh. What's going on here? Has your beloved blog writer found himself smitten with a female?

Not quite. Although, Valentine's Day was involved...

On February 14th, pitchers & catchers reported to spring training this month. It is the Groundhog Day for baseball fans everywhere. It means that baseball is coming back. When the rain & cold weather would wither my soul away to nothing, a crack of warmth creeps in when I remind myself that the boys of summer are right around the corner.

I love baseball. I love the sounds and the smells. I love the simplicity & complexity. I love playing fantasy baseball, and I love watching baseball when there's nothing on the line. But I especially love it when something is on the line.

I love watching Josh Beckett carve up a line-up. I love watching Jose Reyes stretch a double into a triple. I love the drama of a late-inning nail-biter. I love watching David Ortiz step to plate in those kinds of games. I love Big Papi's pre-hitting routine of spitting on a glove and slapping his hands together.

I just love baseball.

There is something elemental about the game. Maybe it's just because it was the first sport I ever really fell in love with. But it's a great game on so many levels. Despite all the hullabaloo over performance enhancing drugs, the game is good. It is uncomplicated; it makes sense. While there are a lot of things in this world that confuse me, baseball is a comforting constant to return to. And existentially, it represents so much of who we are -- where we've been, who we are, and what we are becoming.

I welcome you back, America's pastime. I look forward to our next few months together.

My New-Found Imperialistic Fanhood

When you grow up as a sports fan, your team is always "the good guys." Its usually a case where you root for a regional team that all your buddies/family root for as well. And so, given that sphere of influence, subjectivity tends to reign in sports conversations. You grow up having heated discussions on the school bus about how the rival team is evil. And you overhear older family members chatting about how our team is filled with the good guys who champion the cause of "good," whatever that is in the world of sports.

This was true for me, at least.

I grew up a fan of Alabama Football and, in MLB, the Atlanta Braves (like every other kid in the deep south) and Boston Red Sox (randomly grew into being a big Wade Boggs fan... I like to pretend the Yankee years never happened). Yes, I realize that being a fan of two MLB teams makes me a sports bigamist. I came about it honestly though, so don't lump me in with the rest of those soul-less scoundrels of my generation who grew up fans of Florida State, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Chicago Bulls.

I'm embracing the hate with my new mentor

Well, now I'm an adult, and my favorite sports franchises are no longer the good guys. I root for the bad guys now. At least that's what the media keeps telling me.

This wasn't necessarily true 5 years ago. Alabama had just done the right thing and fired Head Coach Mike Price for his reckless decision to sleep with a stripper while on a recruiting trip. And the Boston Red Sox were like that guy Trent talks about in Swingers: "the PG-13 guy that everybody's REALLY hoping makes it happen." Except they couldn't make it happen, losing to the Yankees once again.

But now, in 2008, I root for the Evil Empires. In the 4 years since the 2003 ALCS failure, the Red Sox have won 2 World Series titles. And because Americans everywhere jumped on the bandwagon & embraced Red Sox fever after the '04 ALCS comeback, profiteers seized the opportunity to flood the culture with everything "Red Sox". ESPN inundated sports fans with nothing but talk of "the Yanks & the SAWX," as ESPN's Michael Wilbon is accustomed to saying. There was even a movie. Used to be that Red Sox fans framed their rivalry with the Yankees like a Star Wars movie: Steinbrenner was the Emperor, various characters were Darth Vader, and the highlight clips of the Yankees' inevitable march through the postseason could be played to John Williams' "Imperial March" musical theme. That sentiment has completely reversed now, though, with the Red Sox on top.

Nick Saban photographed in his iron lung pajama's

My Crimson Tide has the same hated, "imperialistic" feel. Alabama's head coach is now Nick Satan, the representation of everything that is wrong with coaches in contemporary society. Apparently, upward mobility was abolished in America. Who knew? Be on alert, readers: if you take a job that is more personally gratifying and that pays more, you too could be vilified.

You can't watch a Dolphins or Alabama football game without laboriously listening to a conversation between a wanna-be Keith Jackson broadcaster & some has-been coach/player color analyst that concerns either (1) Saban's now false statement to the media in his final days in Miami, or (2) Nick Saban's 4 million dollar per year contract. And it is BEYOND clear that the two individuals engaging in said conversation either (1) are offended that Coach Saban lied to a fellow media member ("Solidarity, Brother!") or (2) are simply jealous.

Nevertheless, it is what it is. So since Satan is our head coach, I've heard it all. We cheat on the field, break the rules on the recruiting trail, have no sense of cultural perspective (e.g. the Saban 9/11 & Pear Harbor remarks), are a win at all costs people, have no soul, etc. Nobody likes us.

Emperor Belichick

And since I don't particularly have a favorite NFL team (I typically root for the team that has the most prominent former Alabama player), I've acquired a taste for the New England Patriots. Talk about a guy who looks like Emperor Palpatine! Bill Belichick is a dead-ringer for that guy! You could probably fairly criticize me for being a front-runner here. But I like them because I feel like I'm rooting for Nick Saban's big brother in coaching (FYI: Nick Saban was once an assistant coach under Bill Belichick). They're cheaters. They have no class. They have the poster-boy of me-first sports prima donna's: Randy Moss. What is there NOT to hate here? And yet, I enjoy watching them & rooting for them.

I'm slowly learning to appreciate this turn of events, though. Rooting for the "nasty boys" of the sports world is kinda fun. My guys are now kind of like that other guy Trent talks about in Swingers: "like that guy in the Rated R movie -- the guy you're not sure whether or not you like yet. You're not sure where he's coming from." There's even a slight psychological advantage in terms of the other team being intimidated, whether that takes the form of Saban's blitz schemes, Josh Beckett's fastball, or that lethal Brady/Moss connection.

Heck, even my country is looking more & more imperialistic. "It is useless to resist, Iraqi citizens..."

I say long live the Empires.

The Good Life

• I love Pedro Martinez. He won 2 Cy Young's & helped bring a World Series to Boston. And in his prime, it was amazing to see a pitcher so small with such amazing velocity & life on his fastball. And that is part of the luster: he's so small, but he's like one of those tiny dogs who will stand up to any other big dog on the block. On the former Curse of the Bambino, Pedro said, "Wake up the, Bambino. I'll drill him in the ass!." And that was his attitude toward every opponent. Tonight he returned to Fenway, and Boston's past & future were on display. "Petey" got lit up, lasting only 3 innings. But young fireballer Josh Beckett controlled this game. The thing I love about him is that the bigger the moment is, the more he rises to the occassion. To him, this wasn't gonna be Pedro's night. This was gonna be the night the baton was passed. Just like Yankees have to "earn their stripes," I'd say that Beckett "earned his Socks" tonight.


• Church was freaking awesome tonight. Some of the guys in class are really starting to take the sexual purity thing seriously. I can tell by their reactions that some of the others haven't caught the purity fever yet, and hopefully they are seeing the excitement & hope as expressed by the guys who have caught on. And the more excited they get, the more excited C.I. & I get. After class, some of the fellowship was just really uplifting. I'm gonna start walking down the wing with the Kid's Classes more often, because all those kids still love me from VBS. I love getting their hugs & giving them back. Then I talked to F.M., my "Christian pot-smoking" buddy. We both love to read theology & reflect on some of the deeper elements of faith. And a lot of those kinds of conversations we imagine sound like the conversations people have when smoking doobies, even though neither of us have ever tried an illegal substance. Next Wednesday, we're gonna meet together and talk about some of the things we've been reading. I'm stoked about that.


• Had a little natural high this afternoon. I got together with another brother in Christ today & we spent just over 4 hours putting together a Bible Class & hob-nobbing about life. There's nothing like Christian friends, I'm telling you. I'm excited because I ran into another brother before Bible Class, and between this brother & the one I spent time with this afternoon we're gonna start a little brotherhood fellowship group. Call it accountability. Call it prayer partners. I call it my band of brothers.

Red Sox have won 11 in a row. My spirituality is on a little high. I've got my band of brothers. Life is good.

Random Baseball Thoughts

Just Watched:
The Hills Have Eyess
Rating:
2 Stars

If you've seen the commercials, you know that this movie looks FREAKY. Not just scary ... freaky. After watching, I was disappointed. Over half the deaths happen in a matter of minutes, are not drawn out, and are disturbingly brutal. You may say, "It's a horror movie, what do you expect?" But in the midst of this scene, a woman is raped, an infant is tortured, and a pregnant woman is shot in the stomach. I found it distasteful. The movie then becomes predictable, and the people I watched it with got bored & we entertained ourselves by making our own "Mystery Science Theater 3000"-like commentary.

All in all, if you want to waste $4 and 2 hours, go out & rent The Hills Have Eyes.

Here's some of my random thoughts on baseball:

• Red Sox Red Hot. After being swept by the Minnesota Twins, the Red Sox have won 7 in a row. Manny's got his swing going, the front office is having Yankee-like luck in filling the holes in the pitching rotation, and the defense is the best in the bigs (99.1% pct.). And I love their pitching youth movement with Jon Papelbon (future starter), Manny Delcarmen (bullpen), Jon Lester (starter), and Craig Hansen (future closer). And when you consider that there is also a 26 year-old World Series MVP (Josh Beckett) in the mix, and the Sox look to have some of the best young arms in the majors. Theo Epstein over-rated? I don't think so.


• Braves Not. Atlanta won tonight, gracefully snapping a 10 game losing streak. They have lost 18 of their last 21. It's sad to see this run come to an end like this. Three names are being tossed around as trade bait: John Smoltz, Andruw Jones, & Chipper Jones. The most attractive of these names is probably Smoltz, given his postseason record & that he's got the cheapest contract among these guys. Unless they get A-level pitching prospect or a proven young starter (e.g. Ervin Santana) in return, this would be a huge mistake. Smoltz has an $8 million option for 2007, which is a great deal for a pitcher of Smoltz's caliber. Andruw or Chipper would make more sense. Andruw makes 17% of Atlanta's payroll. However, there is no forseeable replacement. That's why I'd like to see the Braves move Chipper. He's aging, has a hard time staying healthy, makes just less than Andruw, and has a young backup who could produce almost as well as he does in Wilson Betemit. I'm guessing that none of the three gets moved, however, and that the Braves work to overhaul their bullpen & come back strong in '07.


• Marlins vs. Yankees payroll. An interesting matchup this weekend in the Bronx. New York puts their $210 million payroll (largest in the bigs) up against Florida's $17 million payroll (smallest in the bigs). Yanks won the opener, 6-5.


• All-Star Voting. Something needs to be done about our All-Star Voting system. Of the 8 starters on the AL team, 6 of the current voting leaders are Red Sox or Yankees. And it's close to 7 of 8, with Johnny Damon almost in the top 3 OF vote-getters. Jason Varitek is floundering as Joe Mauer leads the league in hitting, but it looks like 'Tek will start the big game. Chone Figgins has 26 steals & Ty Wigginton has 13 homeruns, but it looks like Robinson Cano and Mark Loretta will battle it out for starter. Come on, people -- variety is the spice of life.


• Ozzie-fest. Other than his frequent use of profanity, I love Ozzie Guillen. I love that he is totally anti-PC. And if anyone deserved being called a "fag," it is Jay Mariotti. Lots of folks are hating on Ozzie lately, but I wish they wouldn't. We criticize atheletes & sports personalities when they reveal too little of themselves & their feelings (e.g. A-Rod), and then we criticize them when they reveal too much (e.g. Ozzie, Curt Schilling, et. al.). I love the guys who speak their mind -- a breath of anti-PC air!


• Gammons pimping the Mobile ESPN phone. A friend of mine recently recommended that ESPN Baseball personality Peter Gammons should be Baseball's Commissioner. Often, I'd agree. But lately, my least favorite commerical on television involves Gammons. I hate how ESPN has been hawking their ESPN Mobile cell phone & service at nearly every commercial break. And now, they have Gammons pimping the product. Apparently, even he has a price.