Gang,

Here's some interesting and amusing reading from Bill Simmons of ESPN.com.

Chris




Interesting article. Rose
--- Joshua Milner <joshuamilner@...> wrote:

> To: red_sox_chat@yahoogroups.com,
> redsoxnation@yahoogroups.com,
> newredsoxnation@yahoogroups.com
> From: Joshua Milner <joshuamilner@...>
> Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 11:29:37 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: [redsoxnation] From ESPN's Bill Simmons
>
> STATE OF EMERGENCY IN THE NATION
> By Bill Simmons
> Page 2
>
> After Robert Redford's character wins a grueling
> California senate race in "The Candidate," he
> mutters one of the famous last lines in movie
> history:
>
>
>
>
>
> "What do we do now?"
>
> Aren't we all forgetting something? The Red Sox won
> it all last year.
> Perfect ending to a great movie. And during this
> 2005 Red Sox season, I found myself repeating those
> same five words again and again. What do we do now?
> What happens after a championship season that can't
> possibly be topped? What happens when your identity
> gets stripped away, when you get the chance to start
> from scratch? What happens after you've been
> released from the sports fan's version of purgatory?
> For the love of God, what do we do now?
>
>
>
>
>
> This isn't just an ordinary sports hangover. Only
> three major professional leagues hand out trophies
> every year. (Note: I refuse to include the NHL
> anymore, not after last year's mindless lockout, and
> not when there's a reasonable chance that next
> year's playoffs could be televised exclusively on
> the Game Show Network or MTV2. So there.) These
> three leagues feature 92 teams in 38 different
> cities/regions, some of whom have endured title
> droughts of 25 years (Philly), 26 years (Seattle)
> and infinity years (New Orleans, Utah, San Diego,
> Sacramento, Buffalo). So when you're fortunate
> enough to witness a title season, realistically, you
> shouldn't complain about anything for five years (my
> old Five-Year Grace Period rule). When a World
> Series title doubles as a region-wide exorcism -- as
> was the case with the overdue Red Sox -- you could
> argue that the period doubles to 10.
>
>
>
>
> At the same time, decades of heartbreak programmed
> Sox fans to question every decision, assume the
> worst and never take anything for granted ? the same
> way you could condition a dog to flinch by
> repeatedly whacking him in the head. Certain
> realities will never change. Many Sox fans assume
> they know more than the current manager, that they
> could run the front office better than the current
> GM. Many Sox fans will always be afraid of the
> Yankees, regardless of what happened last October.
> And many Sox fans are conditioned to devoting their
> summers to a star-crossed, ultimately disappointing
> baseball team. With that last variable suddenly
> removed from our lives, it feels like winning the
> lottery and not having to worry about money anymore.
> You simply lose all perspective.
>
>
>
>
> Do we long for the old days? Of course not. You
> can't imagine how good it feels to watch a Fox
> broadcast of a Yankees-Sox game without the
> obligatory 320 Babe Ruth references, or flip through
> the Globe during a losing streak without reading a
> generic Curse column. In my office, I framed two
> newspapers from last October -- one from the Herald
> right after Game 7 of the Yankees series, one from
> the Globe after the World Series sweep -- and find
> myself glancing at them at least once a day. I'm not
> even kidding. Did it really happen? It happened,
> right? Next Tuesday, Major League Baseball releases
> a 12-DVD set featuring every unedited game of the
> 2004 ALCS and World Series; not only is mine on
> order from Amazon, I'm more interested in
> re-watching those last eight games over any live
> games this month.
>
>
>
>
> There's a reason for this: Quite simply, I miss last
> year's team.
>
>
>
>
> When the Celtics won their last title in 1986, that
> same group battled a staggering number of injuries
> the following season and somehow came within two
> games of repeating. To this day, they remain my
> favorite Boston team. When the Patriots won in 2002,
> they fought to a deceiving 9-7 record the following
> season -- in a weird way, they overachieved because
> all seven losses were legitimate, and they could
> have blown another four or five -- eventually
> leading to a 34-4 stretch and two more titles. In
> each case, the team preserved its core (Bird,
> McHale, Parish, DJ and Ainge for the Celtics, Brady,
> Brown, Seymour, Vinatieri, Bruschi, Law and McGinest
> for the Patriots) while defending its title. And
> that's why I felt attached to both of those teams,
> incredibly so. Each team would have done anything to
> protect its territory ? and we knew it. That's the
> difference between a good champion and a great one.
>
>
>
>
> The Red Sox went a different route. Honestly, I
> would have been fine with bringing back last year's
> nucleus, even if that meant four more years of the
> Derek Lowe Face and "Who's Your Daddy?" chants. I
> also would have been fine with moving forward, as
> long as last winter's moves made sense. For
> instance, we gave up a Human Standing Ovation
> (Roberts, who wanted to play every day -- like they
> couldn't have found him 350-400 ABs?) for three
> stiffs (including a career head case who admittedly
> staged a dugout argument to get traded two weeks
> ago). We also paid $40 million for a "29-year-old"
> All-Star shortstop who appears to be between 34 and
> 37 years old (no lie). Two other free agent targets
> (Pavano and Beltre) turned out to be Grade-A busts
> on other teams, continuing the bizarre ritual of GM
> Theo Epstein's getting bailed out of dubious
> offseason moves (Contreras, Vazquez and the
> A-Rod/Manny/Nomar/Ordonez quagmire) because other
> teams squashed his plans.
>
> More than once Theo has been bailed out of bad
> contracts by other teams.
> Here's the point: The Red Sox tried to have it both
> ways. And you can't create a "Let's not dwell on
> past achievements, we need to build the best team
> possible and keep moving forward" mind-set, then
> give ninth, tenth, fifteenth and twentieth chances
> to Bellhorn, Foulke, Embree and third base coach
> Dale Sveum (who would have spawned a potential riot
> at Kenmore Square in any other season). Were we
> moving on from last year or clinging to last year?
> If we're clinging to last year, why not keep Cabrera
> and Roberts (two of the most beloved players from
> that team), and why wait until the last second to
> sign Pedro (only the most significant pitcher in the
> history of the franchise)? And if we're moving
> forward, how could Embree keep getting chances in
> close games, how could a clearly-injured Foulke keep
> getting thrown out to the wolves, how could Sveum
> keep his job when he's clearly incompetent, and how
> could somebody slumping as painfully as Bellhorn
> possibly keep playing every day?
>
>
>
>
>
> (An actual e-mail from Vermont reader Devin Q. two
> weeks ago: "What about a reality-TV show titled 'I
> struck out Mark Bellhorn'? You gather random,
> unsuspecting people from the street to see if they
> can strike out Bellhorn from a major league mound.
> As a bonus, anyone who strikes him out gets $10,000
> and can then attempt to better him in the field as
> well for added humiliation. The pilot episode would
> feature a 90-year-old grandmother with two
> artificial hips whiffing Bellhorn with 40 mph
> heaters, followed by Jerry Remy showing up Bellhorn
> in the field.")
>
>
>
>
> Again, I'm not complaining ? just pointing this
> stuff out. Only one game has upset me all season
> (more on that in a second). In fact, three groups of
> Red Sox fans emerged after The Impossible last
> October, and I'm firmly entrenched in Group No.1
> (the easygoing group). Here's the complete list:
>
>
>
>
> Group No. 1: Dutifully serving the Grace Period,
> secretly wondering what the hell to do when you're
> not allowed to get mad at your own baseball team
>
>
>
>
> That's me. October 27th turned me into ? I mean, I'm
> not even sure what happened to me. I still watch
> every game, only they don't feel like life-or-death
> anymore. I only care about beating the Yankees --
> nobody else bothers me or worries me. I keep
> catching myself in these "Whoops, I can't think that
> way anymore, we won the World Series" moments, like
> when I noticed this week that the prospect Theo
> needlessly threw into the Nomar trade last summer
> (Matt Murton) is suddenly hitting like .845 for the
> Cubs. Ready to break out the Bob Lobel Memorial "Why
> can't we get guys like that?" bitter comment over
> coffee, I remembered something: Without that trade,
> we wouldn't have won the World Series last year.
>
>
>
>
> (Just remember, we won last year. We won last year.
> We won last year ? )
>
>
>
>
> During any other year, I would have written at least
> five columns complaining about this particular team
> (and we haven't even hit the trading deadline yet).
> Only Damon, Ortiz and Varitek have been consistently
> good since April. The bullpen has been so
> staggeringly incompetent, I keep expecting them to
> sign Rudi Stein and Nuke LaLoosh for the stretch
> run. The manager went from "no matter what happens,
> we can't second-guess him" status to "has anyone
> ever fired the manager from a World Series champ the
> following season?" status in the span of four
> months. Two beloved players from last year's team
> (Pedro and Roberts) have thrived in new cities,
> while Boston's winter imports have been a B-minus at
> best. One 2004 stalwart (Embree) was waived this
> week, with Bellhorn joining him soon (hopefully).
>
> Curt may have helped Terry get a job, but there are
> days everyone wonders how he keeps it.
> Even though they're 10 games over .500 -- just like
> last year's group at the same point in the season --
> it's impossible to imagine them competing in October
> without 2-3 more major moves to upgrade the bullpen
> and the bottom of the order. And I'm OK with that.
> Even thinking about a second title makes me feel
> ungrateful, like the Baseball Gods could say, "Get a
> load of this jerk!" So I'm quietly supporting them ?
> almost like one of those upbeat Little League
> parents who's afraid to upset any of the kids.
>
>
>
>
>
> Group No. 2: Claiming to serve the Grace Period but
> falling off the wagon every few games, and only
> because they can't help it
>
>
>
>
> This group includes my father, who flipped out when
> Francona allowed Alex Cora to bat with the bases
> loaded against the Yankees on Sunday night -- with
> John Olerud wasting away on the bench -- leading to
> the inevitable rally-killing 5-2-3 double play.
> Indeed, Francona has been the ultimate challenge for
> grizzled Sox fans like my Dad, the ones who believed
> that Tito was overmatched until he improbably caught
> fire over the last two weeks in 2004, almost like a
> hot craps player who couldn't stop throwing 6s, 8s
> and 9s. Did that make him a good craps player or
> someone who's fortunate enough to enjoy one hot
> streak? Most evidence points toward the latter.
>
>
>
>
> "I don't care if we won the World Series last year,"
> Dad moaned afterward. "Francona has been TERRIBLE.
> Make sure you put that in your next Red Sox column.
> He's cost us at least eight games this season, and
> he cost us 10 last season. We won the title in spite
> of him."
>
>
>
>
> Now ?
>
>
>
>
> That's coming from the same guy who was screamed,
> "It happened in my lifetime! It happened in my
> lifetime!" eight months ago and drove the "I don't
> care what happens, everything else is gravy"
> bandwagon as recently as April. Now he's practically
> ready to take Francona out with a BB gun from the
> Monster seats. And why? Because it's in his blood.
> You can't stop living and dying with a team just
> because something good happened to it. Dad toiled
> for too many years with this franchise -- 38 years
> and counting, actually. Throw in the intolerable New
> England weather -- which plays a bigger factor than
> one would think, by the way, and only because seven
> straight freezing, snow-ridden months immediately
> followed by oppressive humidity could turn anyone
> into a borderline serial killer -- and I can't blame
> him (or anyone else) for occasionally complaining
> about this year's team. As long as it's within
> reason.
>
>
>
>
> (Just remember, we won last year. We won last year.
> We won last year ? )
>
>
>
>
> Group No. 3: Moving forward and treating 2005 like
> any other baseball season ? even if it means ripping
> certain players and sounding as miserable as they
> did during any other season
>
>
>
>
> I will never understand these people. For instance,
> how could anyone boo Foulke? How? Could you really
> complain that he struggled this season, or that he
> didn't get knee surgery in time, or that he made
> that innocuous Burger King joke last month about the
> fans? After all, this was the same guy who pitched
> in seven of the last eight playoff wins, throwing 12
> innings and 184 pitches over an 11-day span
> (including 50 in a do-or-die Game 4 against the
> Yankees). There's no way they could have won the
> World Series without him. If anything, there's a
> decent chance his body could have given out because
> of those innings last October. And some fans forgot
> this?
>
>
>
>
> Same with Schilling, the World Series hero who took
> a mild beating from certain media members and Sox
> fans for his availability and candor (with everyone
> careful not to openly bash him, for obvious
> reasons). It's always interesting how this works --
> athletes like Tiger and Pete Sampras get lambasted
> because they never say anything interesting, and
> athletes like Schilling get lambasted because they
> won't shut up. The lesson, as always: You can't win.
> But driving around New England last week, listening
> to certain WEEI callers complain that Schilling
> pushed for the closer role (temporarily replacing
> Foulke) because he was an attention hog, or because
> he knew it was yet another thing that would augment
> his Hall of Fame resume ? it was sickening,
> actually. I'd like to believe that most Sox fans
> fall into Groups 1 and 2, but there are enough Group
> 3s out there to make me wonder if some people back
> home are just destined to be unhappy.
>
>
>
>
> (Just remember, we won last year. We won last year.
> We won last year ? )
>
>
>
>
> Then again, nobody sums up the 2004/2005 differences
> like Schilling, who heroically (and dangerously)
> pitched on a bum ankle last October and hasn't been
> the same since. His controversial transition to
> closer inadvertently spawned the most exciting
> moment of this season: No. 38 jogging in for the
> ninth on Thursday, trying to protect a tie game
> against the Yankees. Other than Opening Day, this
> was the hottest ticket of the year at Fenway, and
> only for this reason. Everyone wanted to see
> Schilling save the day. Everyone wanted to feel like
> we felt last year again. Other than Damon's Christ
> impersonation, Manny's weekly brainfarts and the
> ongoing brilliance of David Ortiz -- who has emerged
> into one of the more memorable clutch athletes in
> the history of Boston sports, but that's a whole
> other column -- there hasn't been much of a
> connection between 2005 and 2004. Different team,
> different season, different everything.
>
> Before you rip Schilling, just remember what
> happened last October.
> Last Thursday night, for the first time all season,
> it honestly felt like we were defending the title. I
> happened to be sitting in Section 29 during the
> ninth inning, watching a gimpy Schilling emerge from
> the right field bullpen -- only missing fireworks
> and some sort of WWE-style smoke explosion -- then
> screaming and slamming my hands together along with
> everyone else. Looking back, that had to rank among
> the most electric regular season moments in the
> history of Fenway. It was like watching a sports
> movie. It really was.
>
>
>
>
>
> Of course, Schilling ended up getting shellacked.
>
>
>
>
> Batting first in the ninth, Sheffield kept fouling
> off splitters and sliders as we stood and cheered,
> awaiting a third strike that never came. Finally,
> Sheffield crushed a hanging spitter against the
> Monster -- SPLUNK! -- and just as we were coming to
> grips with Schilling's possible mortality, A-Rod
> obliterated another splitter over the yellow line in
> left-center; 8-6, Yankees. Now it was dead silent in
> the park -- I'm talking cemetery-level silent --
> save for scattered Yankee fans whooping it up. We
> watched Sheffield ambling toward third base, his
> right arm clenched defiantly in the air. We watched
> the Yankees jump to the top step of their dugout,
> shouting out encouragement and pretending they liked
> A-Rod. We watched Schilling shake his head and stomp
> around the mound, a shell of himself. And when A-Rod
> touched home plate, we watched him violently slap
> hands with Sheffield, so loud you could actually
> hear the smack from 200 feet away.
>
>
>
>
> "It's over," I muttered to my buddy Sully. "We
> officially have no bullpen. The season is over."
>
>
>
>
> Normally Sully (one of my more optimistic friends)
> would have come up with something like, "Come on,
> we're still in first place" or "Come on, you can't
> expect Schilling to become Mo Rivera in five
> minutes."
>
>
>
>
> Not this time.
>
>
>
>
> "It's over," Sully agreed.
>
>
>
>
> Were we overreacting? Absolutely. (For the record,
> Schilling looked fantastic two nights ago against
> Tampa.) But you had to be there last Thursday -- had
> to feel the crest of hope that coincided with
> Schilling's entrance, had to feel the park deflate
> after those two bombs. For four straight months, we
> had been searching for signs that this year's team
> resembled last year's team. We're still looking.
> That's the thing about miracles. They don't come
> around very often.
>
>
>
>
> The question remains ? what do we do now? Well, we
> hope things turn around. We hope that Manny, Schill,
> Timlin, Wake, Damon and Big Papi emerge as Boston's
> championship nucleus for the next few years, much
> like what the Patriots have with Brady, McGinest and
> everyone else. We hope for some bullpen help before
> the deadline. We hope to outlast the Yankees for the
> division crown. We hope for a little magic in
> October. We hope for a chance to defend The
> Impossible.
>
>
>
>
> And if this season doesn't work out? There's always
> the 12-DVD set of the 2004 playoffs.
>
>
>
>
> (Just remember, we won last year. We won last year.
> We won last year ? )
>
>
>
>
> Bill Simmons is a columnist for Page 2 and ESPN The
> Magazine. His Sports Guy's World site is updated
> every day Monday through Friday.
>
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> Josh Milner
> joshuamilner@...
>