Philly Fanatics?

Actually, in response to K.L.'s statement that "no one actually celebrates," that brings up my biggest dilemma when deciding who to root for in the World Series. Maybe it's just me, but when i think about who to support, I don't just think about the teams and the players, but also the fan bases--which one needs/deserves it more?

And this is where I ran into crippling indecision. Philly fans are notoriously mean and obnoxious, so my first inclination was to root for the Rays and their docile, harmless fan base. But then I wondered--are Philly fans really meaner than supporters of any team with a huge fan base that really cares--Red Sox, Yankees, etc.? Do I really believe that there aren't Red Sox fans that are just as terrible as Philly fans? Didn't Sox fans make fun of Jorge Posada's kid's craniosynostosis at Fenway? Does it get more horrible than that?

And on the flipside--are Rays fans really the better choice? Wouldn't I rather reward a passionate and long-suffering fan base than a few Floridians who picked up a couple of Rays hats when their team was hot at the All-Star break and think that Rocco Baldelli is some sort of adult film star? Let's be utilitarian about this--when it comes to rewarding actual fan bases, a Philly win would make more fans happier (this doesn't apply, of course, when you factor in the fact that most neutral parties seemed to support the Rays).

For all these reasons, I settled on the Phillies. Also, I really, really hate B.J. Upton.

phils win world series

no one actually celebrates.

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well, i guess my picks were better than theirs. woohoo?

kobe hurts knee, k.c.r. pukes

but he's okay! kobe, that is. no confirmation on k.c.r.

injuries aside, what will the reigning nba mvp bring to the court this year? until the 2008 finals, it seemed that kobe had finally figured out how to feed his teammates while taking over at the right times. but as game 6 dragged on, bryant looked like the kobe of old, utterly unable to do anything as the celtics ran away with it all.

oh, and lamar odom seems to be on the trade block. these lakers may still be good, but they're far from a shoo-in as repeat western conference champs.

one thing's for sure: things are going to get mighty interesting once bynum is back in as the go-to big man.

why do people keep hiring ty willingham?

apparently, ty willingham's job is not so secure.

no shit, sherlock.

the real question is, why do teams keep hiring him in the first place? okay, he won one pac-10 title with stanford, taking them to to rose bowl in 1999, and he had 10 wins in his first season with the fighting irish. but he hasn't had a winning season since 2002 and has been to one bowl game since then, a loss with notre dame in the insight bowl.

maybe he's just a nice guy. or maybe the fact that he could take a piss-poor team like stanford and turn the cardinal into a contender speaks to his strength as a coach. but if we go by the record, this guy is a capital-L loser. Loser.

guess investment banks aren't the only ones having a hard time getting rid of the deadweight.

when sports news just doesn't make sense

one of the top stories on espn.com earlier today: tom brady underwent a second procedure on his left knee to clear out an infection.

go ahead. ooooooh and aaaaaaah.

i mean, is this really news? it must be, given that espn ran a similar story about peyton manning just a week or so ago. perhaps that is more relevant, given that peyton is still playing this season. but does it really matter whether tom brady underwent one or two knee surgeries to take a break from eating chocolate strawberries with gisele? unless that surgery magically cured him and he is ready to put matt cassel back on the bench where he belongs, this really isn't news.

guess espn.com is trying to become more like cnn.com - a provider of irrelevant news, that is. ah well, there's always real newspapers.

Red Sox Love Has Driven Me Insane

Still breathing.

That's the thought that flashed through my mind as I lay on the hardwood floor, moments after collapsing in a heap in front of the TV screen and moments before regaining my full cognitive functions.

I'm still breathing. This game didn't kill me.

It was tense as the Red Sox closed in on the Tampa Bay Rays, and was it ever fun. As the improbable turned into the impossible and then into the ridiculous, as J.D. Drew's ninth-inning liner screamed through the enchanted Fenway air, as 7-0 improbably, impossibly, 

ridiculously, turned into 8-7...it was fun.

The second thought that occurred to me, after I confirmed that I was still alive, was that my team was still breathing as well. I had seen it shocked back to life by a series of question marks--Dustin Pedroia and his postseason slump, J.D. Drew and his ailing back, David Ortiz and his bum wrist, Justin Masterson and his rookie jitters. If all those roadblocks to postseason success could be forgotten in two-and-a-third innings, then why shouldn't Josh Beckett return to form against James Shields in Saturday's Game 6, and why shouldn't Jon Lester bounce back if there should be a Game 7? This is Boston. Why not?

Momentum, of course, is a tricky thing, and, thinking realistically, there are plenty of reasons why the rest of the series may not go as unbelievably well. But no matter what happens on Saturday night, Thursday's miracle had irreversible consequences. It reignited the passion and hunger of Red Sox fans, who, like Patriots fans before them, had become bloated and complacent with too much mundane success. Thanks to Thursday's insanity, Red Sox fans care again, as much as they did in 2004, and that's no small feat, considering Pats fans never cared again as much as they did in 2001.

In some ways, victory in baseball is just a synonym for delaying the inevitable. Even if the Red Sox are as successful as it is possible to be, even if they never lose again, their season will still end at some point. But that's why the effects of Thursday's win were so important. I had taken October baseball for granted, but after staring death in the face, I'm just happy to have the chance to see one more game, to watch my team taste the postseason at least one more time. After Thursday, I appreciate what I've got. And if James Shields thinks he can take that away from me, well, I'd love to see him try.

monday night sports digest

three-day weekend = bonus sports.

to the devil with it. so tampa bay drops the evil part of its name and suddenly can't be stopped? my predictions are still within reason, but the rays are making baseball fans scratch the back of their heads in confusion. you have to feel for lester, though - not only does he have the pressure of red sox nation upon him, but he's also fighting for all those cancer survivors that consider him their hero.

phillies keep thumpin'. for all the talk about the weakness of the NL, LA and philadelphia are certainly putting on an offensive show. while kuroda silenced the phillies' bats in game 3, victorino and stairs put some juice behind the ball in the come-from-behind victory tonight. a victor-in-y, perhaps? nah, guess not.

no mo' romo. go figure: of all the things he could have hurt, tony romo goes and breaks his pinkie - and now he's out for a month. now dallas isn't even in position to take advantage of the suddenly beatable new york football giants. if the nfc east looked invincible two weeks ago, it's just another division again come tuesday morning. but hey, new york, at least the market's back on track!

year of the serbian. djokovic and ivanovic are pretty sweet, but jelena is proving that she is the serbian you don't want to mess with. ousting zvonareva in the final of the kremlin cup, jankovic won her third title in three weeks and solidified her spot as the no. 1 player in the world. she may not be a (singles) grand slam champion, but she is by far one of the most competitive women on the circuit.

a hockey tragedy. unfortunately, this digest ends on a sad note. new york rangers prospect alexei cherepanov, 19, died of an apparent heart attack towards the end of a game in the continental hockey league. authorities are currently investigating whether adequate medical care was available at the rink, and one can only hope that this terrible occurrence leads pro sports franchises around the country to reexamine their emergency preparations to ensure that such health-related occurrences can be avoided in the future.