09/12/06
Big Papi? Big Ego.
I figured I might as well open up my free, useless, nothing but a reason to rant about sports column with my favorite thing in the world: ripping the Boston Red Sox.
Unfortunately, on this momentous new opening of the frightening inner workings of my mind, I am disappointed. The one Red Sock I had a tiny bit of respect for is now proven to be just like the rest of ‘em. What a joke.
His comments upon the MVP award, and his unbelievably arrogant claims that only he should win the trophy, make him seem selfish, whiny, and spoiled. Somewhat like the rest of the “Red Sox Nation” and their incessant puling.
Never mind the blatant contradictions in his own words—he says playoff position should not matter in the MVP voting, but later goes on to say that if he had a vote, he would vote for either Jermaine Dye or Justin Morneau, depending on which team gets into the playoffs! And, for the moment, let us even forget that he rather strongly insults his own team, by claiming that Jeter hits in a great Yankee lineup, while Ortiz—the poor guy—has to deal with the Red Sox lineup around him (excuse me? Is this not the same “Big Papi” who had never hit twenty homers in a season before he saw all the fastballs that Manny Ramirez gives him by batting fourth? Yeah? Thought so). Beyond even these absurdities, he tells us he isn’t “worrying” about it. What? Huh? He is contradicting himself yet again.
No, even had he not offered all these signs of a deeply troubled intellect, the very fact that he is trying to convince people that he should win the award is unacceptable. It is completely lacking in class. Further, it is lacking in brains. Does he think he is going to sway anyone with this gibberish? If anything, voters will look at this sad attempt and refrain from voting for him.
Yet perhaps the best response possible to this garrish act of self centeredness was Jeter’s. Responding to Ortiz’s challenge to “do it in (Ortiz’s) lineup”, Jeter says:
"I don't have to do it in his lineup. I'm not thinking about winning the MVP. I'm just thinking about winning the division. No one's focus here is on individual awards. We've got something to play for."
After all, where was Ortiz when it was all on the line in the five game sweep? Jeter was at the forefront, winning games for his team. Ortiz was... well he was not helping his team win games, because they did not win any. As Jeter says, the Yankees still have something to play for, and that makes Jeter’s case all the more compelling.
Big Papi? Big Ego.
I figured I might as well open up my free, useless, nothing but a reason to rant about sports column with my favorite thing in the world: ripping the Boston Red Sox.
Unfortunately, on this momentous new opening of the frightening inner workings of my mind, I am disappointed. The one Red Sock I had a tiny bit of respect for is now proven to be just like the rest of ‘em. What a joke.
His comments upon the MVP award, and his unbelievably arrogant claims that only he should win the trophy, make him seem selfish, whiny, and spoiled. Somewhat like the rest of the “Red Sox Nation” and their incessant puling.
Never mind the blatant contradictions in his own words—he says playoff position should not matter in the MVP voting, but later goes on to say that if he had a vote, he would vote for either Jermaine Dye or Justin Morneau, depending on which team gets into the playoffs! And, for the moment, let us even forget that he rather strongly insults his own team, by claiming that Jeter hits in a great Yankee lineup, while Ortiz—the poor guy—has to deal with the Red Sox lineup around him (excuse me? Is this not the same “Big Papi” who had never hit twenty homers in a season before he saw all the fastballs that Manny Ramirez gives him by batting fourth? Yeah? Thought so). Beyond even these absurdities, he tells us he isn’t “worrying” about it. What? Huh? He is contradicting himself yet again.
No, even had he not offered all these signs of a deeply troubled intellect, the very fact that he is trying to convince people that he should win the award is unacceptable. It is completely lacking in class. Further, it is lacking in brains. Does he think he is going to sway anyone with this gibberish? If anything, voters will look at this sad attempt and refrain from voting for him.
Yet perhaps the best response possible to this garrish act of self centeredness was Jeter’s. Responding to Ortiz’s challenge to “do it in (Ortiz’s) lineup”, Jeter says:
"I don't have to do it in his lineup. I'm not thinking about winning the MVP. I'm just thinking about winning the division. No one's focus here is on individual awards. We've got something to play for."
After all, where was Ortiz when it was all on the line in the five game sweep? Jeter was at the forefront, winning games for his team. Ortiz was... well he was not helping his team win games, because they did not win any. As Jeter says, the Yankees still have something to play for, and that makes Jeter’s case all the more compelling.
Minor rants
Irony: You have to wonder if Ortiz is just... off... a bit due to his recent health problems. He also made that minor stink about the “hit” Ramirez had in the Yankee series which was ruled an error. One hit, guys? Is it that important? In an extreme case of irony, the play was ruled as an error on Jeter; did he make any attempt to have it changed to a hit? Of course not. Jeter has class, as well as meaningful games to focus on.
Obvious: Some commentators have remarked lately that the Twins, Yankees, White Sox and Tigers are playing somewhat mediocre baseball. How can anyone make this argument? Well because the records seem to signify as much. They are either below .500 or not far above it in recent stretches. Well why is this? Because they are playing each other! No matter how great they are, on the whole, their records will look pedestrian because they are tearing each other to pieces.
Speaking of which: Many complain that the All Star game should not decide home field advantage for the World Series. Maybe they are correct. But those who say the team with the best record should retain this advantage are nuts. Why on Earth should the Mets get home field advantage this year because they play in quadruple A? Should they be rewarded for playing teams that stink? The AL destroyed the NL in interleague play this year. Yet the Mets would most likely “earn” home field for the World Series because they get to play the Braves, Phillies, Nationals and Marlins on a regular basis. So, you say, why does the “best record” system work in other sports?
WHAT other sports? The only one of the “big three” that chooses on such a basis is the NBA. The NFL has a neutral location, which is probably as fair as it gets (yes, once again the NFL is worlds ahead of the other sports). The NBA also has much larger integration between the two conferences. And each team doesn’t play almost %50 of its games against its own division! It is bad enough that the Tigers or Yankees could be penalized for being in good divisions by not having as many wins as the A’s (unlikely, but possible). There is no way they should have to play the Mets four times in Shea just because the Mets get to play in a league where one team (ONE TEAM!) is ten games over .500
Yes, it was as dumb as it seemed: %5 of the people who know the Texans took Mario Williams with the first pick in this year’s NFL draft instead of Reggie Bush were confused. The other %95 were not, because there was and is only one explanation: the Houston Texans organization is idiotic. It turns out we were correct. Week 1 of the NFL season will be repeated often: Reggie Bush had 141 all purpose yards. Mario Williams had zero—count them again—zero sacks, and only two tackles. The Houston Texans’ leading rusher had 32 yards.
Federer: There is nothing one can say about Roger Federer anymore, so I have decided to simply make his name a new term. Anytime one needs to describe some unbelievably dominant, consistent, unflappable force in life, call it “federerish”. Not the easiest word to say, but could you possibly describe it better?
Irony: You have to wonder if Ortiz is just... off... a bit due to his recent health problems. He also made that minor stink about the “hit” Ramirez had in the Yankee series which was ruled an error. One hit, guys? Is it that important? In an extreme case of irony, the play was ruled as an error on Jeter; did he make any attempt to have it changed to a hit? Of course not. Jeter has class, as well as meaningful games to focus on.
Obvious: Some commentators have remarked lately that the Twins, Yankees, White Sox and Tigers are playing somewhat mediocre baseball. How can anyone make this argument? Well because the records seem to signify as much. They are either below .500 or not far above it in recent stretches. Well why is this? Because they are playing each other! No matter how great they are, on the whole, their records will look pedestrian because they are tearing each other to pieces.
Speaking of which: Many complain that the All Star game should not decide home field advantage for the World Series. Maybe they are correct. But those who say the team with the best record should retain this advantage are nuts. Why on Earth should the Mets get home field advantage this year because they play in quadruple A? Should they be rewarded for playing teams that stink? The AL destroyed the NL in interleague play this year. Yet the Mets would most likely “earn” home field for the World Series because they get to play the Braves, Phillies, Nationals and Marlins on a regular basis. So, you say, why does the “best record” system work in other sports?
WHAT other sports? The only one of the “big three” that chooses on such a basis is the NBA. The NFL has a neutral location, which is probably as fair as it gets (yes, once again the NFL is worlds ahead of the other sports). The NBA also has much larger integration between the two conferences. And each team doesn’t play almost %50 of its games against its own division! It is bad enough that the Tigers or Yankees could be penalized for being in good divisions by not having as many wins as the A’s (unlikely, but possible). There is no way they should have to play the Mets four times in Shea just because the Mets get to play in a league where one team (ONE TEAM!) is ten games over .500
Yes, it was as dumb as it seemed: %5 of the people who know the Texans took Mario Williams with the first pick in this year’s NFL draft instead of Reggie Bush were confused. The other %95 were not, because there was and is only one explanation: the Houston Texans organization is idiotic. It turns out we were correct. Week 1 of the NFL season will be repeated often: Reggie Bush had 141 all purpose yards. Mario Williams had zero—count them again—zero sacks, and only two tackles. The Houston Texans’ leading rusher had 32 yards.
Federer: There is nothing one can say about Roger Federer anymore, so I have decided to simply make his name a new term. Anytime one needs to describe some unbelievably dominant, consistent, unflappable force in life, call it “federerish”. Not the easiest word to say, but could you possibly describe it better?
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