I know that travelling is supposed to be about escaping life's normal routines and all, but I'll admit it...I've sorta (ok, completely) put my trip on hold for the last couple of days so I could follow the Red Sox/Yankees series.
I arrived in Chiang Mai a couple of days ago and I had a nice plan all laid out about what to do/where to go...but then the Sox won game 4...so I had to see what happened in game 5...which led directly to me waking up a couple of hours earlier today to get some play by play for game 6 (thanks justin). And well, pretty much my only goal for today is to find a sports bar that's gonna play tomorrow's game live (at 7am). If this were an English Premire League game (that's soccer, by the way) it wouldn't be a problem...but baseball's another story...That's cool. I'm fully prepared to sit in an empty sports bar and drink alone.
I know Red Sox nation (of which I think most Cubs fans are honorary members) will be cheering with me.
Sorry to totally change the direction of this blog for a post (or two) but man, this is so much more than just a playoff series...I will now proceed to heavily quote Bill Simmons:
I don't know how he did it. There was nothing different about his situation from Game 1, other than the O.J. sock, the sutures and the hands of God (his words, not mine). The Red Sox made a big deal about this "emergency boot" from Reebok, a device that would stabilize Schilling's damaged ankle tendon, but I'm starting to wonder if they bought that device on eBay from Sidd Finch and the Easter Bunny. Schilling didn't even wear it. This was about heart. This was about coming through when it mattered most. This was about choosing to pitch for a tortured franchise, promising that things would be different, and then perservering only because you gave your word.
Schilling is bordering on becoming a diety if they can win this thing...Can't say enough good things about him, so I won't try.
In my three decades of following Boston sports, my favorite underrated performance belongs to Kevin McHale, who limped around on a broken foot for two straight months in the 1987 playoffs. The doctors explained the risks to him: If he kept playing, there was a chance his foot would never be the same. He would never get the same lift again. That's what they told him. He didn't care. They were the defending champs. They needed him. So he played.
Sometimes you pass a point where history becomes a factor -- like with the Patriots three years ago, when the diehards kept waiting for the Other Shoe to drop, and we were waiting and waiting, and suddenly Vinatieri's final kick split the uprights, the most liberating feeling you can imagine. That's the thing about baggage as a sports fan -- you can shed this stuff. You just need a few breaks.
Exactly...whether they win or not...they're not the Red Sox of old. If they were, they would have lost Game 4 or 5. It's that simple.
These weren't just baseball games. They were life experiences. They broke you down in sections. They made you question God, the meaning of life, whether sports should possibly mean this much. On Sunday night, I stewed in my seat vowing never to raise my kids as Sox fans. On Monday night, I skipped out of Fenway wondering if any other team could possibly mean this much to a group of people.
The Buckner-Armbrister flashback play in Game 6 clearly exposed A-Rod as a liar and cheater of the highest order -- the kind who would turn over an "R" in Scrabble and pretend it's a blank letter.
It's an interesting thing about A-rod...all the talent in the world, all the money in the world, wife, kids, etc...and yet, during game 6 it all became so clear. He is a cheater of the highest order. Tragic.
Good luck with that. There's GOT to be some webcast of the game somewhere, I mean come on, this is more intense than the World Series itself.
Posted by: Rummel | 20 October 2004 at 00:36
no luck finding a bar yet...but I've heard there's a chance of a re-brodcast later in the day...and for a change, it should be amazingly easy for me to avoid hearing about the outcome beforehand :)
(insert 5 mins for me doing a little googling on MLB webcasts)
Sweet!!! A whole baseball game in 18 minutes. Had to drop about 800 baht to sign up (ok, i paid in USD) but so far, so good...complete with sound and everything! (connection's only mildly shaky).
http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/video/daily.jsp
note: i just found out that "This blog does not allow HTML comments." Well it should dammit! Who's running the show here?!
update: video is more than mildly shaky...borderline unwatchable...i can download the whole game, but 600MB isn't too friendly of a download size (hint to the MLB web guys...if you don't have a fast enough connection to watch streamed video do you think you'll have a fast enough connection to download a 600MB file? Couldn't you just offer the condensed version as a download??) Might have to settle for the WEEI broadcast:
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/video/ibn.jsp
11 hrs and counting till game 7!!!
note to myself (if not self, please ignore) weak effort searching for a bar. stupid internet (and credit card payments) for making things too easy. could have found a cool place/cool people if I had put in a little more effort. next time?
Posted by: adam | 20 October 2004 at 06:31
When a single ballgame can keep me, (ME!!!) riveted for 5+ hours you know there's magic in the air. Anxious as I was to leave Jason, Matt and their all day long sports vigils behind, I find myself drawn back night after night to watch the Sox/Yankees series.
At first it was morbid curiosity I admit (among the most pernicious and recurrent characteristics of under-employment), but the series quickly became an addiction and now that the initiative has shifted, I'm the one making calls and organizing trips to the bar based precariously upon my one thin year of Boston living followed by some previously vague sense of "oh, wouldn't another W for the Bean would be nice" fandom. My great fear is that, should Boston win and I feel overjoyed; the gods of sports justice would have no choice but to smite me down for prior transgressions (e.g. piggybacking on the Pat’s win as an excuse to riot with BC kids) and other such bouts of brief and largely fair-weather fandom; so that the righteous leaping hearts of the 10,000 Bostonian octogenarians (who most certainly WILL perish following a game 7 win) shall not beat their last ecstatic moments in a revelry besmirched by the temporary loyalty of this baseball adverse Detroiter. My fate aside, let us all, in our prayers and superstitious incantations tonight, remember the brave souls at Shriner’s, Tuft’s, Beth Israel and Mass General who are even now girding themselves for the inevitable onslaught.
Posted by: Karrer | 20 October 2004 at 14:58
I feel a horrible crushing weight of guilt for having deprived you of bonding with Thai Sox fans. Allow me to make it up by buying you a pint when you come back state-side.
Just out of curiosity, what is the Thai Sox fan population?
Posted by: Rummel | 20 October 2004 at 17:24
population of Thai-Soxville...2
permanent residents...0
current visitors...2
(if you count the guy next to me, trying to eavesdrop on the internet broadcast)
Posted by: adam | 20 October 2004 at 23:19
wow...3 hrs listening to the webcast, 1 hr reading all the post-game news, 15 printed pages to read during lunch...all for only 170 baht (4 bucks) That'd normally buy me, what...half a frapaccino at Starbucks?
post game comments...considering i missed the grand slam due to messing with the webcast, the game wasn't that exciting (not including the Pedro-experiment). Which doesn't mean that it isn't AMAZING, just that it hasn't really sunk in yet...
webcast comments...major headache, but still so nice to have the audio working from the 3rd-4th inning on. the video was non-existent, it started with a frame every 5-10 seconds, then it would freeze completely (taking the audio with it) and then sometimes it would return, sometimes it wouldn't...made me go slightly mad (as justin can attest to). Audio eventually returned with no video...but by then the game was already over :) Looking forward to watching the highlights when the bandwidth won't be so taxed.
one last question...I'm afraid to ask it, but I have to...is the curse over? i thought it was on them winning the world series, not just beating the Yankees...right? So although the Russians are beaten, then still have to get past Finland...
update: results from Sports Nation regarding the 'curse' question, etc:
1) Has the Curse been lifted?
65.5% No, it's not over until they win the World Series
34.5% Yes, the Sox beat the Yankees in the postseason
-Damn.
2) What is the greatest collapse in sports history?
79.2% Yankees, 2004 ALCS
4.9% Red Sox, 1978 AL East
4.8% Houston Oilers, 1992 AFC Wild Card
-Sweet reversal.
3) What was the most inspirational postseason performance?
55.9% Curt Schilling, Game 6 of 2004 ALCS (ankle)
20.0% Michael Jordan, Game 5 of 1997 NBA Finals (flu)
9.8% Willis Reed, Game 7 of 1970 NBA Finals (knee)
-I think there should be a three way tie on this one.
Posted by: adam | 21 October 2004 at 00:29
A little bit of trivia for you. The red sox player who hit the grand slam was an accountant who quit his job to be a baseball player. Hmmmm
Posted by: Dad | 22 October 2004 at 17:50
you know what they say, it's never too late for a career change...you just gotta work on hitting the curve ball (and growing a mane of hair).
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20041002/i/r4155680823.jpg
Posted by: adam | 23 October 2004 at 00:23