Tossing batting practice…like a dumb redneck closer who’s mouthed off a few too many times for my own good, before watching it implode in one fell swoop…

Well yesterday sucked on a level that I can’t remember in a long time….I guess I’ll just have to remember October 2004 when I went to game 2 of the World Series, and the Pats beat the Jets, in the words of Chris Farley: “That….was…..AWESOME!!!!”

Here's a better thought...Remember when the Yankees DIDN'T celebrate winning A playoff series?

A day like Sunday definitely sucks twice as much living in a different region. NOBODY feels bad for you, or offers sympathy. I even had a friggen Orioles fan send me a taunting text message.
However, this is Atlanta for you: In a bar with the Sunday Ticket, and the Falcons score a Touchdown Sunday, and only ONE person in the entire bar cheers.
I think the one guy cheering had something to do with BCS margin of victory points.

I know this sounds like sour grapes, but I’ve thought about this for a while (save for that Johnny Damon homer in the Bronx in August off Bard) but the Patriot thing to do with Papelbon right now is trade him this winter/
He’ll certainly get a decent return, and while it wont be the popular move getting value for him before wouldn’t be the worst thing to do.
Why not bring back Wagner as the closer, while also allowing Daniel Bard to be the 8th inning guy/closer if Wags has to pitch on consecutive nights? It’s more like a closer by Duo, as opposed to committee or quorum.

Or maybe Papelbon is just taking the Mariano Rivera career path, totally botch a save situation that costs your team a series only to bounce back as the dominant closer in the game.
If we ever get up 3-0 in a series though I implore you Tito, use someone else.

Is Big Papi going to have to legally change his name to “Ortiz Strikesout” during the winter?

It’s probably still too early to do a postmortem on this year’s sox team, but in the land of instant information I’m going to attempt a brief autopsy from a fan’s perspective.
Having watched this team daily from a long distance all season, I have to say this was the most unlikable Sox team since 2001.
The players definitely had a 25 guys 25 cabs feel to it, only further solidified by the piece in the Globe about alleged team leader Kevin Youkilis last week.
This team never really jelled, despite Victor Martinez’s best efforts, and never really seemed like they liked playing with each other.
Maybe I missed a few things being a thousand miles away all season, but I never found a connection to these guys, it was definitely the laundry that kept me interested all season long.
As I’ve said before, I’d root for Satan if he ever left the Yankees and signed with the Sox.

They never seemed to respond to adversity, something that was a staple of Red Sox teams of this decade, it seems like a disapointing way to end the most wildly sucessful decade in team history.

It was a shame to blow a chance with such good young pitching in its prime, but in the end, this was a flawed team from the start, who struggled to hit competent American League pitching all season long. The Orioles didn’t show up to play in October, and thus the Sox were shown to be what they were, a team who could hit in Fenway, but struggled on the road.

Bill Parcells used to say you are what your record says you are, and I always believed that to be true. Until this year.
The sox probably weren’t a playoff team in most years, but the fact that the Central was brutal, Texas fell off the map in September, and Tampa packed in the season around the trade deadline, all contributed to the Sox entering the postseason by default.
And much like 2005 when a similar occurrence happened the Sox went out listlessly.
It will say they were a 95 win team, but I think if you watched enough games (I think I logged 130ish, hey I was lonely and broke in Deliverance) you'd agree.

If nothing else came of this week I’m glad someone on the sox feels the same way about Youk as I do, I just wish he had gone on the record, so I could by him a beer.

I’d like to be encouraged by the hope that the owners usually go balls to the wall after a bitter disappointment like this, but the free agent market is beyond brutal. So unless there’s a voodoo practicing Cuban looking for religious freedom, or a reliever who spent this summer in the California Penal League, or Willie Mays Hayes out there I don’t know about I’d be very weary of a turnaround year.

I want to analyze the Pats game more, but honestly, I think the words of Ron Burgundy, “that escalated really quickly.”
The combination of alcohol, my buddy the Falcons fan, and the fact the Pats never really looked in danger until the final five minutes left me not watching intensely.

However, I think we can safely say the absence of Fred Taylor hurt. The defense is still good, but not great. And lastly Brady is going to continue to play like Scott Secules every time the Patriots play in the throwback unis.

I don’t care what the fine is, the Patriots should refuse to play in those AFL throwbacks the rest of the year.
I mean sure they look cool, but there is nothing in the history of the franchise worth celebrating that hasn’t happened in the last 10 years, and they play like S*^! everytime they wear them.

In the end, I’ll chalk this one up to the fact we just never play well in Denver, I mean if it weren’t for a purposeful safety and a fluke poor KO return, the Patriots would still be winless in Denver since Nixon was president the first time.

I understand there are a lot of great things about Albert Pujols, but I don’t think the term “high motor” will ever be used to describe him. His hustle down the line makes Manny look like Jacoby Ellsbury when he grounds out. However if Manny moved like that he’d be an affront to the game and every pundit would rail him.

It was good to hear Don Orsillo on a national broadcast, he’s gone from Sox Appeal promos to George Lopez show promos, I’m not sure if that’s a promotion or not. Give him credit he voices each one with an aplomb that makes me think he believes in them.

Mike Lowell has become the white Jim Rice, at least in regards to his ability to hit into double plays. I root for popups and strikeouts when he comes up with a runner on.

Im glad the series is over so I don’t have to endure anymore Bobby Abreu at-bats. Yeah Theo we had no use for a guy who wears out pitching and is seemingly always on base last offseason, great f’in call.