Thursday, October 26, 2006
It's been all Tigers, all the time lately. If you're dying for my writing (er, I rather expect you aren't), you can get all the goodies over at Roar of the Tigers. I've been pretty sick lately, and between that and the Tigers and the art school (drawing dead beetles! visiting transgenic mice! designing book layouts!), I just haven't had the mental strength to update more than one website regularly. Sorry, BCRS. I humbly apologize to you.
So in case you missed it, I went to a World Series game. Game 2, to be exact, the one the Tigers won. There was nothing wrong with Kenny Rogers' hand from where we were sitting, I can tell you that much. The initial, exhausted, frozen-solid post about it is here, the more reasoned, sane, next-day post is here, and the photo album from it is here.
There's stuff going on in the Red Sox world-- Timlin appears to be resigned, for a discount; Tito is having more health problems; Papelbon's set to try starting; Manny's being Manny in the infantile whiny sense, as opposed to Manny being Manny in the infantile amusing sense; new coaches are being hired. It's just really hard to concentrate on all that when THE TIGERS ARE PLAYING WHEEEEE and the whole freakin' region is going insane.
And, of course, I can't even think about the Lions right now without wanting to break something. At least they LOOK like they want to win, these days. They're just completely incapable of doing so.
No matter what happens in the World Series, I'm not looking forward to the end of the baseball season. College football only lasts until around New Year's, and it's a long, barren stretch of time between that and the start of the Michigan baseball home season, which will be the first time I get to see baseball again. So I'm cherishing this Tigers run as much as I can while it's still going on, and when it's over I'll be able to turn my mind to this place again.Labels: baseball, MLB, random, World Series
1:50 PM
Monday, October 16, 2006
Shock! Awe! Amazement! Seriously, what?
The Lions, uh, won. Uh.
In the grand scheme of apocalyptic football happenings this is not even that far up there. There are probably those who would say that the Lions had to win at some point. The thing is, no they did not. There is no law in the NFL stating that any given team has to have at least one win on their record by the end of the season and the Lions are masters at finding ways to lose. The announcers on Sunday even referred to this in a roundabout way; they called it "Jon Kitna's disappointing 4th quarter numbers so far".
The players say that they care, and at the start of the season it certainly seemed like they cared more than they have in previous years, now that they are free from the soft, lip-tremblingly emo tyranny that apparently was Joey Harrington, but they were still FUNDAMENTALLY the Lions and, therefore, finding ways to lose.
Take last week. I was watching the game with my roommate's boyfriend, Derek. The Lions were lined up, I guess probably in the 4th quarter, and Derek says, "Watch, this one'll be intercepted." Lo and behold, Kitna throws an interception. We both groan, and Derek basks momentarily in his play-calling abilities. BUT WAIT. A flag! "Maybe it'll get overturned," Derek says, in that horrible state of mock-hopefulness in which all Lions fans must dwell in order to remain sane.
"Nah," I say. "Just you wait, it'll be offensive holding on us."
Lo and behold.
That's how bad the Lions are. It is getting so that fans can ACTUALLY PREDICT, play-by-play, ways in which they are going to conspire to lose the game.
So this game, this win, was a surprise. Not necessarily the fact that they were up early, or that they looked like a Real Football Team in the first few quarters. The shocking bit came from the fact that the Bills closed the gap to 3 points... and the Lions held on for the win. If there was one thing that the season thus far had taught us it was that this was impossible. Not just impossible, but unpossible, so impossible that it wasn't even a real word. "The Lions" and "holding onto a lead" were just incompatible ideas. They were oil and water. They were gametes from different species. They just did not go together.
But now the Lions have won a game, and they have won it despite the opposing team feinting in the direction of a late-game comeback. The gametes from different species have mixed and we have our mule. It may be sterile, but by god, it's alive and walking around and eating hay.
I don't know. The universe is a different place today. The Tigers are going to the World Series, Michigan is undefeated, and the Lions have won a game. The only thing I know for sure is, if you're the Buffalo Bills, you're feeling real shitty right about now.
Ah, and I guess I didn't post this, but I was of course at the Michigan/Michigan State game, and the photos from that are all right here. Highlights include shameless Zoltan photography, a cameo by Mike Wallace, and the return of the giant inflatable penis. Good times, good times.Labels: football, Lions, NFL, win
8:17 PM
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
It appears to be official: the Yankees are gearing up to have the worst offseason anyone could ever imagine.
They lost to the Tigers when everyone was predicting a Yankee victory in 3 or 4, all the brouhaha over Torre, the ARod thing is gonna be a mess for them, Sheffield's grumbling, the Boss is mad at anyone and everyone, Cashman has locked himself in the bathroom like that sorority girl in the MLB ad and they're just waiting for Tommy Lasorda to come by Yankee Stadium to coax him out before the place is demolished...
And, uh, there appears to be a report now that Cory Lidle flew his private airplane into a building in New York and is dead.
Um.
Wow.
This is, obviously, pretty horrible and, um, yeah, I don't really even have anything to say, I only just got back from class and my brother called to tell me and, wow. Um.
I mean, y'know, I took that photo of him up there just this past June and now he's dead? I can't even really process that.
Certain other teams have been keeping me fairly occupied lately, which, combined with work, is why it's been quiet over here, and yeah, we were quite wrapped up in some anti-Yankeeness of late. But now that the Tigers have sent them home it's becoming horribly apparent that Yankee fans are going to have a very hard time of it this winter. I mean, jeez. We like to see them beaten on the field of play, but at the end of the season we prefer that everyone goes home alive.
Assuming that Lidle's death is, uh, confirmed (we're still in the "initial reports" stage here), condolences to everyone; family, friends, teammates, fans. That's not worth much, of course, but there's not much else to say.Labels: baseball, Cory Lidle, in memory, MLB, Yankees
5:20 PM
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The jug is ours! The jug is ours!
You know, it's funny. I don't actually care much about Minnesota one way or the other. I mean I don't have any particular burning hatred for the state or the school. Certainly it's nothing like what I feel for Notre Dame or Michigan State or Ohio State.
But I REALLY want that jug. The team, eh, whatever, not a huge rivalry, but I WANT THAT LITTLE BROWN JUG. It was OURS to start with and it should REMAIN OURS. It was bad when we lost it last year in Ann Arbor and Laurence Maroney (now of the Patriots) planted their flag at our midfield. That was a bitter, bitter feeling. But worse yet was the loss of the Little Brown Jug, seeing the filthy Golden Gophers carting it away.
It's back in the hands of its rightful owners today.
And did Mike Timlin seriously blow a good game by Wake today? I can't even. Dude. WHY WON'T THIS SEASON END ALREADY? The agony is getting harsh.Labels: football, little brown jug, Michigan, NCAA, Wolverines
5:59 AM
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