15 mins that shook the world

The most important half time talk ever....

2005 redux

After watching Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, it was time to revisit the other top sporting moment of my life...

Necessary Inconvenience

Most of us commute to work in some form or another. I alternate taking the Tube (the subway for North Americans) and cycling. For years I endured a relatively long train journey on overground train into London, with its inevitable issues and complete lack of punctuality.

As seasoned commuters will testify, delays will and do happen, but the worst thing is being kept in the dark. Nothing makes you feel more insignificant than waiting forever without no information whatsoever why you are waiting, or some generic "sorry for the delay" - when you "know" they're not really sorry.

For many years, from the early Yawkey days through the Clemens "led" 80s, the Red Sox had a more than tension filled relationship both within the team and externally with fans and the local media. As much as we love Yawkey way, the man the street is named after was a bigot and a drunkard who surrounded himself with similar people. Fans had to endure the smallest and second oldest stadium in the country, with horrible facilities. For many years fans were treated with a sense of "you should be honoured that we let you come to Fenway".

Clearly this has changed significantly since the Henry group took ownership, and the restorations they have done to Fenway in some aspects are nothing short of remarkable considering the limitations a 97 year old stadium would create on any attempts of modernisation.

The Henry group also immediately changed the relationship with the local fan base and media. Led by former VP of Public Affairs Dr. Charles Steinberg, who became Theo Epstein's mentor when TE began in baseball as an intern with the Baltimore Orioles (and who bizarrely also was the Orioles team dentist), led the Red Sox on a blitzkrieg of public relations and with a few notable exceptions in the press, generally turned a very tension filled relationship with the surrounding elements in Boston into a much more amiable situation.

Steinberg and the Henry group broke the ice with several former players alienated by the Yawkey trust and improved relations with fans both outside and inside the now continuously improving Fenway Park.

With John Henry even being on Twitter, one could possibly even go so far to say that no other franchise in sports is so accessible to the fans as the Sox.

So why did my recent trip to Boston leave a little to be desired?

As the Girl and I travelled up through Connecticut on the Amtrak, the forecast was somewhat unclear. Rain was peltering the train windows, but the weathermen and women told us that it should clear up by the evening in the New England area.

Once in Boston, we eagerly made our way first to Cask & Flagon for some reminiscing, and then wandered to the Yawkey Way Store (for some "necessary" merchandise), the premium beer vendor (for a Smithwick's) and the Grille (for a sausage with peppers and onion) before taking our seats in the rightfield bleachers. There was a mist

in the air, but with every possible offering to the weather gods, the game did in fact start on time.....and lasted for a total of 0 innings...

Jon Lester fired a fastball...at the backstop in anger after having the game delayed 3 batters into the top of the first.

The big screen above the outfield bleachers posted a non-specific statement about "inclement weather" and we were "entertained" by a soundless tv image of first the Rangers game (until they were rained out) and then a Seattle game (I think).

At this point I was still so happy about being at Fenway I wasn't too worried. Hey, it was Friday evening, I was with the Girl, I had a Sam Adams in my hand and we were wandering around the concourse (and later another trip to the Yawkey Way Store) waiting for the rain to subside.

But it didn't....

So we then waited for the inevitable official announcement of the cancellation of the game, thinking that they would add a day game to the Saturday's scheduled evening game, thus allowing us to re-use our tickets.

But they didn't....

Still the same non-descript message on the big screen, now displaying to only a handful of brave souls still in their seats (all but two under the grand stand roof).

After a 1h45min delay, the announcement came just before 10pm that the game was off. And re-scheduled for noon on Sunday. Precisely 2 hours after my flight back to the UK was scheduled to take off. Grumbling about "why-didn't-they-call-it-earlier-so-they-could-play-tomorrow" we wandered off to C&F again for some food and some more beer.

Still, it was Friday evening in the Fens, I was with the Girl, I had a Sam Adams in my hand, so I'd certainly had worse days.

We still had another chance to go the Saturday game, and my inside tip allowed me to get face value grandstand tickets behind the Red Sox dugout at face value, but we had to take a $100 loss on re-selling the now Sunday game tickets - oh, well.

Saturday was miserable and grey, and we spent most of it strolling around Back Bay eating and drinking, looking forward to Joshua take the mound and stem his recent generosity with the longball. After beginning the evening at C&F again, we took our seats in section 20 and as the earlier torrential downpour had diminished to a fine mist, we felt confident that the game would start on time.

But it didn't....

Despite any rain whatsoever, with the tarp still on the field 15 mins before supposed game start, we all knew what was coming.

"We apologise, but the start of the game has been delayed due to inclement weather in the area. We thank you for your patience."

So, we sat around, fiddling our thumbs in the clear evening sky for 90 mins, when the grounds team suddenly came out to prepare the field.....just as the rain actually started again.

So the tarp went back on for 10mins. And then back off again.

And then we were kindly informed that the game would start 40 mins later, at 9.15pm, 2 hours and 5 mins behind schedule.

Finally....

And then we had glorious baseball at last. Beckett pounded the Rays batters with fastballs and confounded them with kneebuckling curves, allowing 1 hit in the first 4 innings. Once the Red Sox bats chased Rays' starter out of the game while batting around the order and scoring 8 runs in the third, this game was over either way. Youk hit a monster homer over left centre in the 4th before the game was put on delay yet again after 5 innings and 2 hours of baseball just before 11pm, and was ultimately called a complete 5 inning game just under an hour later.

So why am I a bit miffed? Sure, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that paying $250 for 2 hours of baseball over two nights (and probably another $100 or so spent at the stadium) was annoying.

But ultimately rain happens. As Nuke Laloosh once said:

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.

What could have made the evening more endurable would have been a more detailed stream of information from the Management instead of the generic non-info we got - especially when we sat for more than 90mins looking at a rain free sky before the game started. Add those 90 mins to the playing time and we easily would have had a complete 9 inning game. Although I don't want to be a cynic, a part of me struggles with the notion that for every minute the fans stay at the stadium before leaving once the game is called or cancelled, the Sox and concession owners make another small fortune on $7.85 beers and $6.50 sausages.

As we all know in our private lives; communication is key. The Red Sox should have known better in their communication, and on this occasion they failed. I don't think they are returning to the days of treating the fans as a necessary inconvenience, but they need to up their game if they want to continue with their streak of sold out games.

And buy a better weatherforecasting system than Meteorlogix.

The way it was meant to be...

$10 box seats.

$4 beers.

$20 caps.

Constant promotions and competitions involving the audience and especially engaging the kids.

And several former (and hopeful to be future) major leaguers.

That's the way baseball really should be played and enjoyed. Players hustling every ball as they know this might be the last chance they have to get to the majors. Fans being able to take their family to the game on a regular basis without a need for a lottery win.

An evening at Long Island Ducks Citibank field is...well, I can't find a more eloquent word than "fun". Estimated by Hall of Fame catcher and Red Sox heartbreaker Gary Carter, who is trying to make it to the show as a manager now by taking on the LI Ducks in the independent Atlantic League, as equivalent to AA minor league ball, the Ducks are looking for their 2nd championship since the creation of the team 10 years ago.

Whilst some teams such as the Newark Bears focus on former Major Leaguers such as former Red Sox Keith Foulke and Carl "CHB" Everett, the Ducks roster consists mainly of former players from minor league affiliates, including several LI locals.

Peanuts, base hits, beer and a mascot called Quacker Jack. It's simply brilliant entertainment for your buck.

City of Fatherly Love

I so want to believe that I would have the composure to do what this guy did at last night's Phillies game... (apologies for the commercial before the clip - courtesy of ESPN)

Truly a display of good parenting :)

Perspective

I could be writing about the horrible sweep by the Yankees or that the Red Sox for a moment even lost the lead in the wild card standings.

I could write about the torn feelings of admiring Smoltz pitching a gem in a Cardinals outfit while I reminisce about his 8+ ERA for the Red Sox.

I could follow up on my short and impulsive posts about the recent beaning frenzy, especially after the Porcello-Youkilis fracas.

Or I could write about the complete disbelief that follows watching Usain Bolt run any sprint distance. (Please God, make him be clean. I would stop watching athletics forever if it turns out he's juiced too.).

Ultimately though, money aside, those are all....well, games. Whilst in many cases it feels like life or death, it's not.

For Greg Montalbano(above, picture by Boston Globe) baseball went from being the more or less sole focus of his life and the dream to one day pitch in the Majors for his beloved Red Sox to something much less important. As a freshman at Northeastern University, where Montalbano had enrolled after pitching for St John's High in Shrewsbury, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996, but battled through his illness, and in his last two years at NU was voted on to the All-American team. With the Red Sox A affiliate in Sarasota, he proved the Red Sox right for picking him in the 5th round of the '99 draft by tearing through the minor league levels.

Unfortunately, tumors were constantly tearing through his body too. He in the end lost count on how many times he'd had surgery to remove benign and malign tumors, at least 16 or 17 times in ten years.

After shoulder problems prevented him from taking the step up to Triple A in 2002, a combination of arm problems and yet another bout of tumor removal made him lose almost 2 years of baseball, although he did team up with another well known left handed cancer survivor

in the Red Sox Gulf Coast team in 2004; Jon Lester.

When he finally got a reprieve and became healthy in 2005, the Red Sox released him after spring training. As horrible as that is to write (and read), we all know, as did Greg, that baseball is a business, and after 5 years the Red Sox had to go down another route.

Greg took another path too. Now back to full strength, he dominated, nay crushed, the opposition in the Can Am Independent League, at one point going 35 1/2 innings without giving up a run in July 2006, posting an 0.86 ERA that had the major league scouts calling once again.

Sadly, this is not a Hollywood movie where a Tom Berenger on his last knees gets a final chance in the show and makes the most of it. On his way to the stadium for his scheduled start, Greg got the call he feared the most; the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute telling him his cancer had returned....again.

"I am a tumor machine," he says. "I make tumors. I have no idea why."

An great article by Stan Grossfield in the Boston Globe in October 2008 highlighted Greg's personal fight for me, and I've been following him on the net since.

Greg left baseball to focus on the next step of his life, using his engineering degree from NU and working incessantly for the Jimmy Fund, raising awareness and money for cancer research and treatment.

Even a sterile medium as the internet was able to portray Greg to me, and no doubt to other readers, as a truly great person. The kind that we see too rarely in life, but when we do they leave a permanent mark.

Often death "sanitises" the picture of a person, making him seem better, nicer and friendlier than he or she might actually have been in real life. However, in Greg's case, without ever having the privilige of meeting him, I don't doubt for a second that he truly was as good a person as the testimonials portray him to be.

The cancer took its final toll on Greg on August 23rd 2009, 13 years after his first diagnosis, but I suspect Greg still managed to leave this world a winner.

Greg lived every single moment and accomplished more in his 32 years than most do in their entire life.

His sister Kristen described Greg as a person who never allowed his incredibly persistent illness to get the better of him emotionally.

Hopefully our donations to the Jimmy Fund can some day allow another person beat cancer and take the field at Fenway.

Greg Montalbano was laid to rest the day after what would have been his 32nd birthday, accompanied by more than 1400 people at his wake and a standing room only 400 at the ceremony. I'll leave the final words of this post to his sister Kristen.

"Happy birthday, Greg. Your life was far too short, but you pitched a perfect game."

Karma

Have to wonder what Rick Porcello is thinking now, sitting in the visitors' clubhouse at Fenway, watching Jason Bay tattoo a ball over the green monster, tying the game.

Toot, toot. Karma bus stop for Porcello.

Beantown

I know Porcello's young, but that was just f**king stupid. I just wish Youkilis would actually have given him a nice right hook.

Welcome to the big leagues dumbass.

Fountain of youth?

Naturally after my post about David Ortiz's seemingly unstoppable slide into retirement he made me, and all other doubters, eat our words.

After batting like a broken old man/drunken circus clown/[insert your own adjective here], he promptly turned his game back on. After his slow .230(avg)/.290(obp)/.623(ops) start in April he virtually fell off the cliff with a .143/.278/.590 May.

I started writing my original post in early June, but by the time I actually posted it BP had already hit the (no doubt incredibly hard to find) ON switch.

His .320/.409/1.062 June is almost on par with one of his career best years in 2007 when he batted an astoningishly .332/.445/1.066. (In 2006 he hit his career high 54 HR, but had lower overall numbers).

After hitting his first home run on May 20th, he hit 7 in June and so far in July has hit 2, including a 3 run blast against Oakland last night.

Getting out of a prolonged slump can be incredibly frustrating, especially when you're at a level of a Major Leaguer. As just an observer (albeit an above average such), Ortiz hasn't changed his stance, his kick or his swing plane. He doesn't look like he's lost weight or gotten fitter, yet his hands move oh so much faster than 6 weeks ago.

Being completely unable to catch up to a 91 mph fastball in May has turned into putting a 94 MPH heater into the stands in June.

It's not the first time I say it on these pages, and most likely not the last.

Mea culpa, David. Welcome back

Age...

When we're young, we can't wait to get older. Every birthday is celebrated with passion and gusto. Every birthday means we're another year closer to driving/graduating/leaving home/drinking/[fill in your desire].....

At some point we reach equilibrium, when we're pretty much the age we'd like to stay at - we're young and active enough to be able to do everything we want to do, yet mature and wise enough to realise the folly in some of the potential endeavours. For me, I suspect that age was around 33-34 years of age. I was fit, I was well educated and I made a comfortable salary.

If we believe the birth records, David Ortiz is 33 years of age. Yet for all of spring, he looked like a man who suddenly either forgot everything he ever knew about swinging a bat, or like the flick of a switch suddenly had his body, in a Duran like moment, just say: "No mas."

Ortiz could not buy a basehit for weeks. He looked like a very old man playing a young mans game.Bill Simmons looked at all of the obvious issues regarding Big Papi's extensive slump, but ultimately focused on age. And reminded us about a very important lesson:

Everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn't end.

David Ortiz, at least until his recent 10-15 game potential recovery (I'm not counting my chickens just yet), seemed truly like a man who age had caught up with. At 33, playing 162 games per year is draining. If you're actually 36, it's probably even more so.

I tore my hamstring last year, at the age of 36, ironically when turning out of the batters box whilst trying to beat out a ground ball whilst playing for my Sunday amateur team.

A year later with tons of therapy and about 200 miles of running to strengthen the leg, I still feel it....a lot. Granted, I don't have access to the daily physio facilities a professional athlete has, but age has certainly caught up a little with me.

I carry a few extra pounds still, but stamina wise I'm probably the fittest I've been for 15+ years. I run and cycle more than 50 miles per week, I eat relatively healthy and I'm running a half marathon later this year and hopefully a marathon next year.

Still.

I feel my age much more than just a few years ago.

Is there a specific cut off point? Or is it, probably much more likely, a combination of factors? If so, what are they? If a professional athlete, making $13m per year, with access to every trainer, nutritionist, coach and fitness professional in the world yet still can't stop the aging process, what hope do we mortals have.

Still.

I don't care. I will run my half marathon, I will run my marathon next year, and if the powers that be allow me to, I will regain that six pack sometime this year.

So what if it still hurts when I turn out of the batters box to beat the throw, or when I try to steal 2nd.

2 weeks already?

Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan chronicled in their book "Faithful" , the Red Sox simply do not play well on the West Coast. Ever.

Well....

A quick look at Baseball-reference.com show that's not entirely the case. Since '99, going into this season, the Sox have a road record against the A's and the Halos of 40...and 40. As in .500.

Ironically King and O'Nan wrote that the Sox never win on the West Coast in 2005. Which was in fact the first year since 99 that the Red Sox didn't have an overall winning record in California.

From 2000 through 2004, had a 24-15 record in CA, but since then only a 12-21 record. Why is this?

Still, the opening 3-6 record in 2009 shouldn't be the cause of too much concern. Clearly, with the exception of Youk and Wake, the rest of the team is playing very much below expectations, and most of them should improve (and some, including Lowell, have shown that they are).

However, what is more a cause for concern is Big Papi. I watched 2 of the West Coast games, and every time he comes up to bat, my first thought is:

There's no way that wrist is 100 %

He looks uncomfortable in the batter's box, his swing looks noticably slower and pitchers clearly have his number right now. Bay and Drew have the potential to make up some of the power numbers, and Youk is on a mission to steal the MVP title from his team mate, but if BP remains a shadow of his former self, then with the loss of Mannyland, this team will struggle with power.

I've been wrong with predictions before, so but I'll be watching with a sligly baited breath....

However, with the punching bag otherwise known as the Orioles coming to town, I suspect the Red Sox will be substantially closer to .500 by the end of the series.

Aural memories....

I'm a music nut.

There's no other way to describe it.

After getting my first radio and cassette player (remember those?!?) at an early age, my life has been surrounded by music. More or less every significant event or time period in my life can be connected to certain songs, albums or artists.

Junior High? My metal phase, mainly Iron Maiden (The Power Slave and Somewhere in Time albums) and Van Halen. Albums on heavy rotation were 1984, 5150 and the aforementioned IM records.

High School? My guitar was my life in junior high and early high school and I listened more to guitarists than bands, so Eddie Van Halen, Clapton and Steve Lukather featured frequently. I moved after my first year in high school and making new friends expanded my musical genres, and I was introduce to The Cure and Depeche Mode, and later the first ventures into dance music - which also coincided with the beginning of regular concert going. Albums included Staring at the Sea, Violator, Fahrenheit and Lettin' Off Steam.

In college? More of The Cure, and got introduced to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Barenaked Ladies, D:A:D and Manic Street Preachers. This was also the period when I started DJing, both at clubs and on the radio, so my music taste became even more eclectic; discovering more house music, R'n'B, hiphop and soul. A Tribe Called Quest, De-La-Soul, Guru, KLF, NWA/Ice Cube and Snoop/Dr.Dre did many turns on the turntables. Most of my income was spent on records, and I had now amassed a substantial collection. Influential albums; Gold Against The Soul, Gordon, Blood Sugar Sex Magic and The White Room.

Emigrating? Moving from Sweden to the UK ironically made me embrace Swedish music to a greater extent as well as some new British discoveries. Eric Gadd and Blacknuss represented Sweden, whilst Fat Boy Slim and to an extent Oasis represented Britain. I also reacquainted myself with Aerosmith and Beastie Boys, and a certain Marshall Mathers came on the scene. Albums included Allstars, 2001, What's the Story?, You've Come A Long Way Baby, Nine Lives and Floating.

Often I'd go through more bands than clothes. Whenever I'd discover a new band, I HAD to get all the records the artist had ever released, and I'd listen exclusively for a few weeks or months until I found the next one. Some artists stuck, others were laid by the wayside.

Somewhat bizarrely, on a trip to India I spotted a video on an Indian music channel by John Mayer, and his music has played a big part in my recent life. His Continuum album came out days after discovering the events that lead to my divorce, but luckily I can now listen to the album without my first thoughts going back to that time period.

In the last eight to ten years my taste has returned a little bit to the more guitar oriented genres, and artists frequently played on my iPod(s) include Linkin Park, Lostprophets and probably my all time favourite - the Foo Fighters.

I've over the years been to more concerts in my life than I can remember, but I sadly never got to see Van Halen with their original line-up. Despite that I did manage to many of the bands I listened to more frequently, including this (at least in Europe) somewhat unknown band that my Canadian dorm-mate introduced me to in 1992 - Barenaked Ladies. All good things must come to an end, but it's still sad to find out that one of the lead singers, Steven Page, went down a path in his life that ultimately ended with him leaving the band. At least I managed to see the original line-up several times, including a very memorable New Years Eve in Phoenix, AZ.

Ah well, time to go to work, so it's Paramore and Prodigy on the iPod...

And over to Todd...

I recently joined a sportsbloggers group on LinkedIn and found this gem today. This is the kind of writing I aspire to produce.....still working on it. As many things in the post ring true for me in several levels, I wanted to share this...

Todd Civin writes:

It was the night of my first race. The Derry five miler. The most I'd ever run at work is 45 phone poles, or about three miles. "What's an extra two?" I thought. That was until I passed the three-mile mark.

Read his full post here.

Thank you Curt

For 2004 alone we should be grateful, but there are so many more things worth mentioning...some other time.

Thank you again #38.

Nice week

After a solid purge (and getting a ladder to the storage space in the loft), most of my belongings are now more or less arranged in a somewhat orderly fashion in my room.

Which is good.

Liverpool also beat Real Madrid 4-1, ManUtd 4-0 and Aston Villa 5-0.

Which is also good. (Which is an understatement!)

London also displayed itself to the fullest last week with glorious sun most of the week and mid teens temperature. My relatively short relocation has opened up new venues and my recent run through Richmond Park passing a herd of deer completely oblivious to people taking pictures and running past them. (Although the picture below was not taken by me...sadly)


Truly an oasis in the midst of metropolitan hustle. I was (relatively easily) convinced to sign up for a half marathon later in the year, so my training has now started in earnest. Which should no doubt help me in many other ways, including getting from 1st to 2nd base a fair bit faster.

Sometimes life is good, despite its challenges.

Materialistic madness

What you sow you shall reap. What goes in must come out. Etc. Etc.

So how come I'm so bloody surprised about the amount of stuff I have? How can I be shocked that my belongings (sans furniture) required almost 30 moving boxes? Which I now have to try to fit into a 100 sq ft room....

Not. Going. To. Happen.

I'm sitting here, trying to see the actual floor in between the masses of just....well....stuff.

So the next weeks will be spent weeding and sorting and filtering. Not used in the last year? Gone.

Things to do:

1. Hang up pictures. (Might seem like a strange priority, but you'd be surprised how much space pictures take on the floor. )
2. Sort and put away clothes. (Note: Try to avoid having a non-functioning washing machine for 2 weeks before moving house. Result is all your clothes in big blue IKEA bags.)
3. Pack up one more box of books and put into storage. (Surprising stat no. 47: Books take up space. And when you've had 10+ years in a large house, with plenty of bookshelves, restricting your large collection to 1 bookcabinet is not an easy task. )
4. Sort out parking permit.
   
5. Try to fit everything into the kitchen cabinets. (Clearly some weeding out needed here too.)
6. Go for a run. (This will actually be item no.1. October might seem far away, but so is 13 miles through London on foot. In 2 hours hopefully. Running programme starts in earnest today.)

Thank god I've got nothing to do then. At least I've got just about 3 weeks until the season starts in glorious HD.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy

Or should the title of this post be "What Goes Around Comes Around"? Or perhaps "The wheels on the Karma Bus goes round and round".

Imagine the sorrow and sadness I felt after reading that even the Dallas Cowboys - the mecca that is the gathering of the maladjusted and the miscontent - have cut overall nice guy Terrell Owens.

So what's that T.O? 17 teams that have thrown your sorry ass out on the street? I cannot even imagine how you can ever have survived playing with such clearly inferior quarterbacks such as Steve Young, Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo. Poor you...

Don't let the door slam you on the way out.

Fan...wait for it...aticism

So, most of my posts have been about one love - sports.

As we twiddle our thumbs waiting for the first pitch thrown in anger, I thought I'd orate a smidgen about another passion, both personally and professionally - television.

See, I get paid to watch TV...to simplify things a little bit. Yes, I know "we" (as in society) should not watch too much TV, and when given the choice of a nice day outside and or vegetating on the couch, I'm often the first one out the door. I play sports, I love to hike and enjoy fresh air walking around.

Still, I will not deny that I watch a fair bit of television, both professionally and personally. However, I'm quite selective about what I watch. I refuse to watch anything "reality" based - in my opinion it peaked with The Real World: San Francisco. Since then, a bunch of has-beens or never-will-be's trying to be the most outrageous person on tv just to get famous enough to be invited to turn on the Christmas lights in Oldham. Super.

Give me a properly scripted, well cast drama or comedy show any day. Over the years I've watched glimpses of more shows than I can remember, and followed a (not) suprisingly vast amount of shows.

Sooner or later though most show "jump the shark". Rarely does a series maintain the writing and energy produced in earlier seasons. Every now and then comes along the exception that drags you in. Now even the shows that fail to jump the shark have their ups and downs, but in today's TV market the leash is much, much shorter and many shows are cancelled long before they fulfil their promise.

Other shows seem to spend a weekly waiting game to see if they get renewed for another half season. Gone are the days of Cheers and Mash, both series that performed below average at launch before going on to run very succesfully for more than a decade.

Currently worth spending 45 mins on:

• Life - Damian Lewis of 'Band of Brothers' fame stars as a falsely imprisoned LAPD officer who is exonerated and returns to LAPD with a goldbadge, untold million$ and an urge to find out who framed him. All while in a Zen like frame of mind.
  
• How I Met Your Mother - A story told in flashbacks of how a group of 20-somethings live in NYC. It would be too much of a cop out to call it Friends for the next generation - plus this show is funnier.
• Entourage - Sex and the City for men. The city is LA. The sex is with a star actor, his hanger-ons and friends with countless number of starlets and wannabes. An HBO production, so not a PC dialogue in sight.

Now I'm off to see OC Ska...and then pack for my move this weekend. Joy and pain all rolled into one.

.....and we're back

After the annual January baseball holidays, we're now back to our previously scheduled entertainment.

For the Sox, truck day happened while I was on vacation in DC, and all teams have now reported to spring training. The Sox are enjoying a very quiet camp, whilst further up the gulf coast the Yankees turmoil continues day by day.

Despite spending more money than Iceland's national debt, the Yankees are far from a sure thing. Without a doubt, the rotation has improved - how could it not when they added the #1 and #2 pitchers available on the market? However, as good as Burnett's stuff is, he only seems to be able to get through a full season when he's in a contract year.....which he won't be for another 4 years....

And whilst the Yankees offense will be formidable, their defense still leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, Teixeira will be a huge upgrade at 1st from previous seasons, but the other side of the infield is not getting younger or better. In fact, Baseball Prospectus article at ESPN highlights the defensive liability that Derek Jeter has become. (You have to be an ESPN Insider to read the full article.)

While there are arguments over the accuracy and effectiveness of different contemporary defensive metrics, they are nearly unanimous on The Captain's limitations. Clay Davenport's new play-by-play metric that debuts in this year's edition of the Baseball Prospectus annual says Jeter's work with leather cost the Yankees 18 runs in 2007, and another 12 in 2008. John Dewan's plus/minus system from the Bill James Handbook rates Jeter the worst shortstop in total plus/minus of the last three years. On a scouting level, as strong-armed as he is, his range afield has become an obvious issue, just as it did for Cal Ripken in his mid-30s.

Will the Yankees front office have the brass balls, and the ability, to convince Jeter that CF is a great position for him? I for one hope that they don't, because that would indeed make the Yankees better....

The first ST games start this week, and then we have the WBC to look forward to in March.

Bring it on.

In all it's green, green glory

Our highest quality HD feed streams at 3Mbps and is a 720p resolution.

How sweet will that be???

Hot Stove pt. MMIX: A Prince among men

With "Mr.Yankee" now off the books it seems as the Red Sox are midway through Plan B.

After acquiring Brad Penny, the Sox have as I mentioned now struck deals with Rocco Baldelli, John Smoltz and as of yesterday former Dodger closer Takashi Saito and a one year deal with Mark Kotsay, giving the roster plenty of quality depth in the rotation, bull pen, situational relief and on defense.

Kotsay gives the Red Sox insurance in the OF if Baldelli, as suspected, will not be playing on an everyday basis should one of the starting outfielders go down with injury, and his versatility will also give the Sox adequate backup at 1B.

Smoltz should be back by May/June, and gives the Red Sox the option to keep Masterson in the bullpen and possibly trade one of their prospects for a catcher and/or a bigger bat.

The latest rumour involves yet another Scott Boras client (he must be the Yankees of the agent world), Milwuakee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. Although substantially weaker in defense at 1B, he does rake a big bat, and would allow the Red Sox to move Youk to third and trade Lowell.

I admire and respect Mike Lowell, and part of me would be annoyed after yet another player accepting a deal with a "home town discount" and then being traded (see: Arroyo, Bronson), but sadly it is indeed a business nowadays, and it is risky to rely upon the performance of a 35 year old 3B coming of hip surgery.

Still, my hat's off to Lowell for the way he played through pain during the ALDS in 2008. If the Red Sox somehow can keep him, it would warm the cockles of my heart.

Smoke clearing

As we all know what happened with Mr. Angels/Rangers/Braves, it's time to take another look at the line-up:

As it stands now, after last nights pleasing news, Red Sox would open in April with this:

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. LF Jason Bay
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. RF JD Drew
8. SS Jed Lowrie
9. C Josh Bard

RH Josh Beckett
LH Jon Lester
RH Daisuke Matsusaka
RH Brad Penny
RH Tim Wakefield
(RH John Smoltz)

CL Jonathan Papelbon
SU Hideki Okajima
SU Ramon Ramirez
MR Manny Delcarmen
MR Javier Lopez
MR Justin Masterson
LR David Aardsma

Bench:
OF Rocco Baldelli
IF Julio Lugo
1B Jeff Bailey

With the signing of Baldelli, the Red Sox have found their 4th outfielder and potentially a power bat if the doctors can indeed improve his rediagnosed medical condition to allow him to get 350-400 AB per season.

John Smoltz also gives the front office a lot more flexibility with their prospects, and Buchholz seems to be trade bait for a new bat (potentially a C). Apart from he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned-but-we're-all-laughing-our-asses-of-at-his-non-existant-market, there are no top tier big bats on the free market, which means that if the Red Sox will add one, then they will have to trade.

Some rumours (or perhaps wishful thinking) have mentioned Joe Mauer, but I suspect that he is untouchable, even if we throw Buchholz and other top line prospect. I get the impression that the front office rates Michael Bowden higher, thus making Clay tradeable. However, with Epstein and co thinking long term, they know that most likely there is a power bat available from the minors towards the end of 09 or early 2010 in the shape of Lars Anderson, 1B extraordinaire, who has been tearing up A and AA, and will probably start 2009 in Portland before moving up to Pawtucket in the late spring/early summer.

Obviously a blockbuster deal with the Rangers for Josh Hamilton and Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Teagarden/Ramirez for Ellsbury, Buchholz and perhaps Daniel Bard might be difficult, as neither of the Rangers players have any large contracts the Red Sox could take on. Still, it would make the Red Sox lineup a feared one, with better back end rotation, defense and bullpen than the Yankees:

1. 2B Dustin Pedroia
2. RF JD Drew
3. DH David Ortiz
4. CF Josh Hamilton
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. LF Jason Bay
8. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
9. SS Jed Lowrie

Looks good to me :)

New Year, New Hope

A new year always brings a sense of a clean slate and a brighter and more focused, albeit sometimes short-lived, outlook on life and its possibilities. Many of us enter each new year with new personal goals and/or milestones ahead of us:

This is the year I will take charge of my fitness/finances/career/personal life (fill in your own noun), etc.

It’s no coincidence that January is the month with by far the most new membership applications to UK fitness clubs, as people look to the New Year as a year with limitless possibilities. Once past the Winter Solstice, every day is just that fraction little bit brighter and longer, and we take charge of our lives to avoid yet another Van Wilder year (although without the glorious parties), stuck in Punxatawney in an eternal winter.

We exercise more, we tighten our purse strings, we search for that next wonderful career opportunity, and if we don’t have someone, that special person to have in our lives. Whilst January is often a cold and dark month, it also allows us to look at the year as a fresh new canvas to paint the next chapter in our lives…of course hopefully a better one than Isaac did…


A new year also brings new hope to many sports fans.

This is the year that my team will finally win the championship.

Glorious are the days of the ignorance and hope. As Thomas Grey wrote many years ago:

Where ignorance is bliss, / ‘Tis folly to be wise.

Most fans (possibly excluding Royals fans) can spend the early winter months (and longer if you’re an NFL fan) dreaming that this is the year. The MLB and the NFL , with its salary cap (NFL) and revenue sharing (both), means that even small market teams are able to go on extended chases for the title if everything falls into place.

Since the introduction of the Free Agency in the NFL in 1992, the Super Bowl has seen 11 different champions, with only Dallas, Denver and New England winning more than once during the 16 Super Bowls of that era. The MLB is a little bit more skewed due to the salary luxury tax and not a fixed cap, but even the World Series has seen 9 different winners since the 1994 strike year, with only the Yankees, Marlins and the Red Sox winning more than once during that period.

Still, despite the Yankees fielding an infield earning more ($80.5m) per year than half of teams paid their entire roster in 2008 (1B: Teixera, $22m/year, 2B: Cano, $9m, SS: Jeter, $22m, 3B: Rodriguez, $27.5m), baseball is one of the sports where money isn’t the sole determining factor. Witness Tampa Bay’s total payroll of $43m in 2008 not preventing them from winning the AL East, beating the Yankees $201m and the Red Sox $138m rosters.

So, despite the unusually cold start to 2009 here in the UK, and the Yankees single-handedly trying to solve the credit crunch by purchasing every single player, winter will eventually lead to spring, and with that we all have hope for a better year than the last one, regardless of the challenges we face. We face the new year looking forward to a long overdue reform in world leadership, and a better future. 2009 can be the year we achieve that next great career jump, it can be the year we greet our svelte mirror-image in the morning, and 2009 can be the year.

To steal the catch phrase of 2008:

This is the year.

off topic....

During the "hot stove" months, there is only so much one can write about baseball.

Sure, I can write about my beloved 49ers, who after half a decade of futility which pushed them off the screens here in the UK I now can see in almost HD glory each weekend through NFL.com's HD Gamepass.

Sadly, a sharper TV image does not equate to a sharper pass defense or a more accurate journeyman QB. Thankfully Gamepass did not include a HD shot of Mike Singletary's pantsless display.

However, despite a win yesterday, 2008 is truly yet another transport journey to a top 10 draft pick. Alas, I do not think this will change until the Niners get an owner who actually knows enough about football to own a team, but conversely realises he knows too little to meddle in everyday runnings of the actual team. (Hi Al Davis and John York). Although it now seems abandoned to an extent, you can still visit www.dumpyork.com for some more musings on this topic.

So, with no baseball, no football and nothing really to write about the premiership right now apart from another weekend of poor referreeing (ok, so the 'Pool will be top after tonights game!), what can I write about?

The frustrations of international migration? The fact that it seems near impossible for a highly educated career driven person to move to another continent?

Alas, as I don't want to ruin any chances in the future, I'll keep my frustrations inside whilst I wait for a more sports oriented topic to come around.

US State Dept, please find my application among the other millions...

Dream Team

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. 1B Mark Teixera
5. 3B Kevin Youkilis
6. RF JD Drew
7. LF Jason Bay
8. SS Jed Lowrie
9. C Jason Varitek

RH Josh Beckett
LH Jon Lester
RH Daisuke Matsusaka
RH Jake Peavy
RH Tim Wakefield


CL Jonathan Papelbon
SU Hideki Okajima
SU Ramon Ramirez
MR Manny Delcarmen
MR Javier Lopez
LR/Spot Starter Justin Masterson
LR David Aardsma

Bench:
OF Rocco Baldelli
C Jarrod Saltalamaccia
IF Julio Lugo
1B Jeff Bailey

On can dream, can't we?

If you can't stand the heat....

For those who follow international rugby, the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, are well known for their pre game ritual.

They perform a Haka, a maori war dance, before the kick-off of every game. Whilst I find it very entertaining, nobody in their right mind can refute the fact that part of the ritual is to intimidate the opposition.

So why is it now that the All Blacks throw their toys out of the pram when an opposing team very classily refuse to be intimidated by their gamesmanship?

My blood pressure was pretty high but then I regained my composure. I was a bit upset about it.

This quote comes from the All Black's centre Ma'a Nonu, who got his panties in a bunch when the Welsh team decided to form a line and stare down the war dancing Kiwis.

But it was really hard. The haka is a war dance. If you're going to stand there like that then in the past people would have charged, but it's a rugby match and you can't do that.

Ehh...really??

So one team is allowed 2 mins of choreographed intimidation, but the other team forming a single line and staring back is outrageous?

Honestly Nonu, wake up and smell what you're shovelling. I enjoy the Haka as much as anyone, but if you do gamesmanship, then you better be prepared for getting some your way.

These mean Welsh are not playing fair when they're not being intimidated by our war dance...

To quote an OC girl....

Oh, puh-leeze

The little engine that could

For the second time in three years we have the previous years ROY become the MVP the following season.

After gargantuan Ryan Howard did it in the NL for the Phillies, the somewhat more vertically challenged Dustin Pedroia did it for the Red Sox.

And yes, the vote should have probably been closer, and yes, Joe Mauer was also a very valid choice, but I will not argue with the voters....for once.

Dustin Pedroia plays with a chip much larger than his shoulder. His size has always been an argument thrown in by perhaps less knowledgable pundits, and yet everytime he's confounded his critics by outperforming expectations.

Yes, he only hit 9 HRs in 2008, but he also led the league in doubles and his clutch hitting was on occasion superb.

Whilst Youk and Mourneau had v good years, I suspect part of the issue is that we simply don't expect that much offensively neither from a catcher or a second baseman.

This year we had two standout 2B, Chase Utley and D-Ped, which shows that the game is continually evolving.

Now we just wait for the recession busting contract coming to a tv screen near you.

9 figures? Honestly?

MLB Idol

After a short break, we return to the regular programme schedule....

With the actual awards based on merit; Silver Slugger and Cy Young, out of the way we now head on to the popularity contest that is the MVP.

To clarify for the uninformed, the MVP should be by definition be given to a player, who in comparison with his team mates has stood out across the MLB as the Most Valuable Player, i.e the team would not have been anywhere near where they ended up without said player. Also, it is not supposed to include post season feats, regardless what a bitter Albert Pujols said in 2006 when he lead the Cards to the playoffs but still lost out to Phillies' Ryan Howard who was spending October on the couch.

I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP - Pujols, November 2006

"You have to consider everything. You have to put all the numbers together" - Pujols, November 2008

Way to turn the coat Albert. Now, don't get me wrong. Based on the context that only regular season feats playing part in the decision, both choices were correct. Pujols is a maginificent player, and his .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs was head and shoulders above anyone else on the Cardinals and he carried, on a dodgy elbow, the team for most of the season.

However, it still raises issues about how the selection process is made. Just consider these figures for a second:

AB H HR BA OPS SB
546 173 50 .317 1.091 5

AB H HR BA OPS SB
550 165 39 .300 .963 11

Here's a hint - the second line, clearly inferior to the first one was awarded the AL MVP in 1995. The first line belongs to the Indians' former slugger Albert Belle, generally considered among sportswriters (as in the people voting for the MVP) as one of the surliest jack-asses in baseball. The second line belongs to Mo Vaughn, an mountain of a man (towards the end of his career a completely immobile mountain of a man) and a very genial man in dealing with the press.

Buster Olney of ESPN once wrote about Albert Belle:

It was a taken in baseball circles that Albert Belle was nuts... The Indians billed him $10,000 a year for the damage he caused in clubhouses on the road and at home, and tolerated his behavior only because he was an awesome slugger... He slurped coffee constantly and seemed to be on a perpetual caffeinated frenzy. Few escaped his anger: on some days he would destroy the postgame buffet...launching plates into the shower... after one poor at-bat against Boston, he retreated to the visitor's clubhouse and took a bat to teammate Kenny Lofton's boombox. Belle preferred to have the clubhouse cold, below 60 degrees, and when one chilly teammate turned up the heat, Belle walked over, turned down the thermostat, and smashed it with his bat. His nickname, thereafter, was "Mr. Freeze."

When Belle retired, the NY Daily News' Bill Madden wrote:

Sorry, there'll be no words of sympathy here for Albert Belle. He was a surly jerk before he got hurt and now he's a hurt surly jerk....He was no credit to the game. Belle's boorish behavior should be remembered by every member of the Baseball Writers' Association when it comes time to consider him for the Hall of Fame.

Hold on for a second...shouldn't the MVP be given to the best player, not the most friendly good player? NY Times writer Robert Lipsyte agreed:

Madden is basically saying, 'He was not nice to me, so let's screw him.' Sportswriters anoint heroes in basically the same way you have crushes in junior high school... you've got someone like Albert Belle, who is somehow basically ungrateful for this enormous opportunity to play this game. If he's going to appear to us as a surly asshole, then we'll cover him that way. And then, of course, he's not gonna talk to us anymore—it's self-fulfilling.

This is one of the two fundamental flaws in the voting process. It simply becomes a popularity contest. In 1947 the Red Sox splendid splinter Ted Williams, who was no friend of the 4th Republic, lost to the friendly Hollywood Yankee Joe DiMaggio, despite Williams winning the Triple Crown.

Williams numbers; .343, 32 home runs and 125 RBIs were far superior to DiMaggio's .315 with 20 home runs and 97 RBI, but one writer left Williams off the ballot completely after a clash with Williams, thus allowing DiMaggio to win the MVP by one point.

The second issue normally affects the top teams. A team cannot win 90+ games by having just one great player. Therefore teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees sometimes lose out on MVPs because other players "splinter" the vote.

This year it seems the 4 front runners for the AL MVP come from two teams; Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis from the Red Sox and Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer from the Twins. An outsider with a considerable shot is Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, who of course set a new single season record with 62 saves (but in the process lowered his strike outs to a career low 77 since becoming the closer in 2002 and had a not too impressive 2.24 ERA).

The announcement is made later today. Now we wait.