Monday, October 25, 2004
Like a scene out of Captain Planet, the Red Sox outfielders raise their gloves as one as they walk off the field at the end of tonight's (last night's, according to the clock, but since when have college students ever counted days by midnights?) victory over the Cardinals. I imagine them shouting out, "Kapler! Muscle Power! Damon! Hair Power! Nixon! Mysterious White Hat Power! Red Sox Outfielders-- GO!" And then maybe there's a 'schZOOM' noise, and a flash of red light, and something cartoonishly impressive happens, but you know.
We won two at home. We won two games of the Freaking World Series. I really can't say much about this, because, personally speaking, I'm still getting over the fact that we came from 3 down to the Yankees and won it all. How did we do that? We were three outs away from being completely eliminated. And now we've won 6 games in a row in the postseason. It defies all logic and reason. Never have I been happier that we have a team of 'idiots', because you know that if they had been thinking about how many games they were down, they never would be where they are right now.
Also, if someone can explain to me how we can make 8 errors in two games and still win both of them, I would very much like to know. Manny needs to get his act together. I thought two errors on one guy last night was painful, but tonight Billy Mueller somehow managed to make 3 all on his own, which I think ties the record for most errors by one player in a playoffs game. Ouch, Mueller, ouch. He hit reasonably well, though, and we did win, but this is something that needs to be addressed if we want to have a chance in St. Louis.
I am exceedingly nervous about the upcoming games. I am not at all looking forward to watching our pitchers flail around with a bat at the plate, and I am even less likely to enjoy the sight of David Ortiz at first base. Urgh. It's making me vaguely ill just to think about it. The fact that we could have Doug Mientkiewicz at first (SO. FREAKING. GOOD.) and we're getting to see Ortiz in there (SO. UNLIKELY. TO MAKE. ANY GOOD PLAYS.) is truly upsetting. I realize that we really can't afford to lose Ortiz's mammoth bat, especially on the road, but that doesn't make it any easier to stomach.
I also have no idea what we're going to do with Millar, who usually plays first base... are we sticking him on the bench? Or are we putting him in the outfield? Because seeing Millar rolling around in the dirt after missing a ball is painful enough at first, and I imagine it would be substantially worse to see him lumbering around in the outfield. Don't get me wrong, I love Millar, he's a funny guy and this team wouldn't have half it's personality if he wasn't around, but that just makes his misdemeanors on defense that much more agonizing to watch.
Schilling, however... ah, Schilling. Will we ever stop loving this guy? Bleeding through his sock again, although this time it looked like it was a bit less blood. Hah, as though that makes a difference. He had cleverly figured that someone would be zooming in on his ankle at least a few times during the game, so he had written on his shoe 'K ALS', a reference to the charity he supports, which is trying to research/aid those afflicted by Lou Gehrig's disease (also known as ALS). During the postgame interviews he admitted that he had not thought he would be able to pitch when he got up during the morning, and that a nerve had been caught up with the stitches (!!), but when he got to the park he and the doctors dealt with it, and he was able to go out there tonight. He went 6 innings, one run, which wasn't earned.
*doffs cap*
Last night's heroes: Mark Bellhorn and Keith Foulke. Tonight's heroes: Curt Schilling and Orlando Cabrera. Maybe throw Foulke in there again. I honestly have no idea how Foulke is still pitching like he is... accurately, with strike-a-licious results, and night after night after night. I'd doff my cap again, but I already took it off. We're up 2-0 in the World Series. Someone pinch me, I'm dreaming. I actually might be at this point, I just finished a huge drawing with markers, and room is certainly filled with enough fumes to induce hallucinations.
Oh, yeah, and in case you didn't notice, a little something else happened this weekend. A little something called 'football'. A little something called 'every single one of the Feline Anarchist's teams won this weekend'.
The first image on the left there is Willie McGinest and Richard Seymour making a tackle on a Jet in today's 13-7 Patriots victory. This means that the Pats have now won 21 in a row, and finally have the official NFL record for most wins in a row (the NFL only recognizes regular season wins, and the 21 is including postseason wins). The Patriots, going into this game were 5-0. The Jets, going into this game, were 5-0. New York was slavering for a Jets win, as they viewed this game as potential payback for the Red Sox commanding defeat of the Yankees. Let us all take a moment of silence, in honor of the now dead past glories of New York.
*moment*
Thank you, that was lovely. I wasn't sure if the Pats game was going to be on here, but to my delight it was. I went out to dinner with Leslie at halftime, sadly resigned to missing the rest of the game in favor of real food and Leslie's company. We ended up going to Good Time Charlie's, and, joy of joys, they had TVs! They were all showing the Packers/Cowboys game, but I asked a waiter if he could switch the TV nearest to me to the Pats game, and he obligingly did. Leslie was very nice about restricting herself to amused shakes of the head when I made suppressed squeals of glee during the game. The food was pretty good too.
The second image from the left is Sam Madison and Sammy Knight leaping about in joy, a sight not often seen this season. The Dolphins today beat the Rams, 31-14. Yes, you heard right. A Dolphins victory. This game was not on here, so I don't really have anything to say about it, except that I switched into my Miami Dolphins sweatshirt once I'd heard in a moment of pure glee. I may wear the Marino jersey tomorrow, simply because I finally can do so without feeling like a complete and utter loser.
The third image is Reggie Swinton, doing a backflip (!). You may or may not recall Braylon Edwards doing a backflip a couple of games ago when the Wolverines won. Is this a Michigan victory signal or something? Never have I seen such a state for victorious football backflips. The Lions beat the Giants 28-13. Once again, our defense showed up big. Very big. The much-vaunted Kurt Warner was rendered largely harmless. Tiki Barber gave us a few (OK, quite a few) scares, but in the end it didn't matter. Because, as opposed to last Sunday, Joey Harrington gave us a solid performance. We scored early, and that might have been our saving grace, but the game looked pretty good all around to me.
The last picture? That, my friends, is Michael Hart. Michigan beat a very tough Purdue team at Purdue on Saturday, 16-14, leaving us undefeated in the Big 10. Michael Hart rushed for over 200 yards. This is the second game in a row that he's rushed for over 200 yards. He's a little guy, at only 5'9 (at least, that's what the roster says. I think he might be shorter than that). Guess what else he is? I'll give you a hint: our starting quarterback, Chad Henne, also is one.
That's right. They're both true freshmen.
If that doesn't give you shivers, I don't know what will. Barring injuries, these guys are going to be around the entire time I'm here. We have some mighty fine football to look forward to here in Ann Arbor.
Anyhow, it's now nearly 3 am, and I have to be out of the dorm by 8 tomorrow. I still have some drawing homework to finish up. So I will depart, shaking with glee. Every. Single. One. Of my. Teams. Won. Every. Single. Game. That they played. This. Weekend. Happy? You have no idea.
edit: A couple of things I can't believe I forgot to mention. And yes, for those who are wondering, I am indeed awake, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to go to drawing in a few minutes, on almost exactly two hours' sleep. Ah ha! Ha ha ha ha ha college you rock.
Let us be honest here-- who among us did not squeal in childish glee (or not so childish; I'm looking at you, ladies) when Jason Varitek made a particularly enthusiastic slide onto base and split the back of his pants open, and then proceeded to play the rest of the game with the same pants on. Mon capitaine, did you not notice a gentle breeze 'round your backbits? I know it's been said before, but I love Varitek. I love this team.
And hey, I know a lot of the readers of this thing are either Patriots fans or Lions fans (or even, god forbid, Dolphins fans). What will you all do with yourselves now that you've all started winnings (and Dolphins, I'm using the phrase loosely here)? If you're on the lookout for a team that is sure to guarantee plenty of heart attacks, why not set your sights on the Jacksonville Jaguars? The last 4 games that they've won have all been won by points gotten within the last 45 seconds of the game. Holy cats. I'm not sure how this is something that you can consistently do, but the Jags are apparently doing it. Insane.
That was all, I must now run to drawing, as it's nearly 8 in the am. *staggers off*
2:55 AM
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