And then there was one.

1918. A number used to taunt and ridicule Red Sox fans for years, by Yankee fans who were enjoying their 26 championships they would pile up over the 86 years that Sox fans waited. All that was solved through a most improbable comeback that defied the baseball gods and a swift sweep of the Cardinals, a series in which St. Louis would not spend a single inning with the lead. The Red Sox ghosts and goats are now forgiven and forgotten.

1917. An even more daunting number, remembered by the south-side of Chicago, long proclaimed the lesser of the two Chicago teams. Not since Shoeless Joe and the Blacksox Scandal, immortalized in Hollywood in 8 Men Out and Field of Dreams, had the White Sox even seen a World Series grace the south-side. All of that was solved as the White Sox won in yet another curse ending sweep, allowing the Black Sox to rest in peace once and for all.

1908. Ah, yes, 1908...a number that still has yet to be erased. A number belonging to the other side of Chicago. The pathetic Chicago Cubs. I have realized that this team has nothing respectable about them, other than their decrepid, quaint field that still refrains from playing too many night games per year.

Even the Cubs curse is pathetic compared to the Red and White Sox. The Curse of the Billy Goat. As the story goes, William Sianis, a Greek immigrant who owned a nearby tavern (the now-famous Billy Goat Tavern), had two $7.20 box seat tickets to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers and decided to bring his pet goat, Murphy, with him. Sianis and the goat were allowed into Wrigley Field and even paraded about on the playing field before the game before ushers intervened. They were led off the field. After a heated argument, both Sianis and the goat were permitted to stay in the stadium occupying the box seat for which he had tickets. However, before the game was over, Sianis and the goat were ejected from the stadium at the command of Cubs owner Philip Knight Wrigley due to the animal's objectionable odor. Sianis was outraged at the ejection and allegedly placed a curse upon the Cubs that they would never win another pennant or play in a World Series at Wrigley Field again.

That's it. An arbitrary ejection because some moron brought his pet goat to a baseball game is blamed for 97 years of crappy baseball. I can only imagine how many drunken idiots are ejected from places like Miller Park in Milwaukee or Tropicana Field in Tampa who curse the team, but you don't hear of any goofy legends being concocted to explain why the team sucks.

Whats worse is the curse doesn't even compare to the substance of the White and Red Sox. White Sox had a major scandal in which a team threw a championship for money, enough to curse any major league team. The Red Sox traded arguably the greatest player to ever play the game, Babe Ruth. Enough said. The Cubs threw out an immigrant. Not even an American fan.

What's worse is the fact that they blamed yet another fan in 2004 for playing a foul ball. Poor Steve Bartman. How can Cubs fans blame Bartman for that treacherous error committed by Alex Gonzalez that truly gave the game away to the Marlins.

Cubs fans should see no end in sight. They have a "marquee" pitching staff that can't even make through a half-season without getting hurt. They have suspect hitting that relies on players like Derek Lee to explode onto the scene, no garauntees and unpredictable at best.

The only solution I can see for the Cubs would be to trade Nomar Garciaparra. It worked for the Red Sox, so why not? Truthfully though, I would love to see this number stretch to 130 years or so. Cause I don't care about the Cubs. They used to be the team I'd lean on when the Sox blew it, but now the Sox are big time, both colors. The Cubs have been left behind, the red-headed stepchild of the group, the lame duck, the loser in Darwin's theory of evolution.

And good riddance. Someone has to be the loser.

Happy Trails Ozzie Guillen!

Thanks for the quote Ozzie, now leave. Seriously.

Thank God the White Sox won the World Series. No more smack talking from Ozzie Guillen, hopefully forever. Go on Ozzie, leave on top, get out of baseball and jump on a raft back to the D.R.. No one likes you, nor cares about you. Keep your word and get the hell of of dodge.

The White Sox got lucky as hell. Thats the bottom line. I've never seen a team get so many second chances from umpires in one postseason in my life. These guys aren't a perennial World Series team, they are a one and done, wait 88 more years.

Was anyone else annoyed to see Frank Thomas celebrating like he actually helped his team? To me, that was the equivalent of if Nomar had been jumping up and down in the Cubs clubhouse after Boston won last year. Frank, you spent the majority of the year on the DL and weren't even on the playoff roster. You haven't put up a good year in 3 years, go jump on the raft with Ozzie and disappear.

After watching Vinny fumble the ball 3 times in 4 possessions on Monday, I can safely say that the New York Jets are going to get a pretty good draft pick this year. I would love to give the Falcons all the credit in the world for beating a broken team, but they didn't do anything. 3 fumbles=17-0 very quickly. The Jets beat themselves, period. Mike Vick had the worst game of his career throwing 3 INT and gathering a 16.0 passer rating.

Yes, the Falcons are a rushing team, but find me a team that has won or even reached the Super Bowl with the 29th ranked passing game in the NFL. If Vick ever played a game like that against likely AFC Championship opponent Philadelphia, the Falcons would lose by a catastrophic margin. The Eagles shut down an unstoppable LT against the Chargers this past Sunday, which gives plenty of reason to think that Philly can stop Dunn.

Theo Epstein and Larry Lucchino are at a standstill in negotiations for Theo's new contract. Give him the money Sox, you know you have it and the guy brought a championship to Boston. He's due for a raise.

Go BC tonight, knock off the seemingly unstoppable Hokies. Another Thursday night, prime-time game for VT, another 3+ hours of hearing comparisons between Mike Vick and Marcus Vick. Are there any other players on the field?

Quote of the week: "There's two things here: the bad news is, you have to cover me. The good news is you can save money on your car insurance by using Geico."

-Chad Johnson on whoever is covering him this Sunday.

Upset in Vicklanta?

Not if these guys are on their game.

This Monday is looking like it could be an embarassment on national TV for the New York Jets. With no true starting QB, no pro-bowl center, and our only reliable DB Ty Law is questionable with a groin injury. But there is still hope...

Our only chance of beating the Atlanta Falcons on Monday is Curtis "My Favorite" Martin. The Falcons are a bit small up front on the line and there's really no one behind Rod Coleman and Chad Lavalais to back them up. Ed Hartwell is still out and he was their best run defender in the linebacking core. That said, the linebackers have been all shuffled around, resulting in the starting of rookie 5th round pick Michael Boley at WLB. The Falcons are very vulnerable to the run, meaning if the Jets can avoid turnovers and get Martin the ball 25 times, we've got a chance.

If this game falls into the Jets hands, it will be by ball control. With our elderly QB, our only games is controlling the clock. Go ahead, let Vick sit on the sidline for 9 minute drives and keep the quick strike Falcons offense off the field. This cannot be accomplished if Vinny keeps consistent with his trademark toss up every time the pocket collapses around him. Eat the ball Vinny, try again next play.

The Jets are going to have to keep an eye on Brian Finneran and treat him as a no. 1 reciever. Vick seems to hit him for big strikes a few times a game, especially in clutch situations. Michael Jenkins and Vick probably don't have the timing down that Vick has developed with Finneran over the years, not to mention TE/WR Algernon Crumpler.

Ty Law is the x-factor for the Jets D Monday. Without him, D-coord Donnie Henderson will be severely limited in the pass defense and the game will almost certainly be out of hand.

The dagger tommorow night will be the Dunn-Vick running attack. The Jets struggling run-D will be overwhelmed by the end of 4 quarters Monday night.

But lest we forget, Vinny did lead the Monday Night Miracle. ;-)

Prediction: Falcons 30-Jets 20

At least we aren't dealing with a genius...

Manny for Beltran?

for ?

When I logged onto Boston Dirt Dogs this morning, some of my worst fears were confirmed:

1. Boston is once again shopping around Manny

2. They, along with the rest of MLB, have eefectively been punk'd by the Beltran aura

Now, before I start looking too far into this, I hardly think that the Mets are planning on giving up one of their biggest free agent signings ever after just one year. And, why give up a young Beltran for a soon-to-be aging Manny Ramirez. And there is every reason to believe that Pedro is behind ALL OF THIS!

Ok, now, onto the "Beltran aura". This guy has been around for 7 years now. He's a career .282 hitter. He has never hit more than 29 homers in a single season, in fact, the past 3 years, his production has fallen streadily! Now, some argue that hes got speed; well, the past 3 years he has stolen 14, 28, and 17 bases...speed...riiiiight. And what does speed do for the Red Sox anyways? They have always been the win it with the big swing team, never a small ball team. Even if he comes to Boston his SB's will go down yet again.

Need more proof that this Beltran phantom isn't all hes hyped up to be? Past 3 years stikeouts have gone from 44 to 57 to 96! Hmm, who does that number remind me of...oh yeah, Mark Belhorn...(no offense Bel). Given, Manny had more SO than Beltran, BUT he still hit higher avg and drove in more runs. Beltran has only hit over .300 in 2/7 seasons, Manny has done it 9/11 full seasons. The numbers are not even comparable.

Sure, the guy is an obvious upgrade defensively over the girly armed Johnny Damon, but if theres one thing I've learned about the Red Sox in recent years is you do not screw with the chemistry. You think Ortiz is going to be happy about losing his best friend Manny for the quiet and withdrawn Beltran? Hell no! Manny's antics on the field are a part of this team and entertain the fans and players alike, I'll take a few unbelieveably botched plays per year for the 45 HR that come with them.

Manny Ramirez means more to the Boston Red Sox than anyone seems to choose to recognize and it would be a damn shame if management trades him for Beltran (which also means goodbye Damon). Tear apart this team and you will be waging war with the fans who love them. Manny is routinely named the most dangerous right handed hitter in the AL (Sheff too) followed by Papi who is the most dangerous left handed hitter in MLB. Break up this duo and you may not see the playoffs for a while. Especially when you don't have the pitching to back it up.

Remember, all Beltran did to deserve that contract last year was tear up the playoffs. Wow, 12 games=best player in the league? I dont think so.

Paddling Up The Wrong "Rivers"

There has been much talk lately of Philip Rivers moving teams coinciding with the emergence of Drew Brees. The Jets and Dolphins have been a couple of the teams thrown around in the rumor mill and I couldn't be more upset.

Lets get one thing clear: Philip Rivers is not the Jets future.

There is a HUGE QB draft coming up this summer and the last thing the Jets need to do is panic and try to make a rush for the playoffs. Concede the season New York. Get us a top 5 pick and the possibilities are endless.

Here are a few options:

Matt Leinart (SR-USC): not my top pick, but clearly a gamer. Frankly, I'm tired of these pocket passers on New York Jet teams that are statues in the pocket and are helpless against the pass rush if the pocket collapses.

Vince Young (SR-Texas): P-I-M-P and quite frankly, my choice for Heisman. He doesn't have quite as amazing a support team on offense as Leinart does Reggie Bush. He can surely scramble and would be a new revolution in NY, A BLACK QB!

Omar Jacobs (JR-Bowling Green)- unorthodox delivery of the ball but hes got all the tools

Reggie McNeal (SR-Mizzou)- only returning starter from 2004 to avg. 250 in the air and 50 on the ground per game; huge dual threat, would fall in line with the "new age" QBs like Mike Vick, McNabb, etc

All I want is a QB who represents a threat inside and outside the pocket. If the Jets organization is serious about winning a championship, they will stop pretending that Chad Suckington will be rejuvenated and healthy next season and begin the process of moving on. Eat the cap penalties. Either cut him or trade him to Miami or Arizona or some other QB-desperate team.

But all of this is futile I'm sure. We will somehow end up either trading our first round pick for a washed-up veteran like Steve McNair (potential Doug Jolley of '06) and he'll go down in preseason and we will have shot ourselves in the foot again.

Or we'll draft someone real exciting, a huge playmaker like an O-line player.

On another note, so long Dale Sveum! Best of luck Ned Yost, your team just acquired possibly the most incompetent 3rd base coaches in the league. Brewers fans, prepare to see plenty of arms waving runners to their doom at home plate this season, just ask Manny.

Big Pujols

This years Big Papi? Meet Albert Pujols. This years Mariano? Meet Brad Lidge.

In a lackluster at best postseason that featured a team that barely finished .500, Albert Pujol's monster shot into the rafters of the stadium-formerly-known-as-Enron breathed life into a dying playoffs.

While the Red Sox are still dead, I have to root for the Cardinals. I don't care if the Astros are the little underdog that could, the Cards got their asses beat by the Sox last year and this is their 2nd chance. Not many teams get a 2nd chance. Plus, the 'Stros don't have any history, I want to see Busch Stadium go under with one last championship. Go Mark Mulder and damn Ozzie Guillen once again.

On an as-if-things-couldn't-get-any-worse note, perennial Pro Bowl center Kevin Mawae was crushed by that fat piece of crap Sam Adams in the 3rd quarter Sunday and tore his triceps. He will be missing the rest of the year.

On a related note, Vinny Testaverde has reportedly picked up a very large life insurance claim.

The New York Jokes...ahem Jets are still playing this Monday against the Atlanta Vicks and I will be in attendance, possibly with a Wayne Chrebet jersey and a paper bag over my head.

The Reality Sets In

I had this great dream last week, in which visions of Testaverde were dancing in my head, standing up and leading a disheartened Jets team to an improbable wild card spot. He blazed past the Buccaneers and never looked back, picking up win after win and flexing those 41 year old biceps and tossing bombs to a rejuvenated Lav Coles, who quickly made Jets fans forget the explosive Santana Moss.

Then I woke up. And found myself overcome with a gigantic freaking headache.

Vinny tossed up a couple of picks, including one in a game changing point in the 4th quarter that put the nail in the coffin. He also inexplicably fumbled 2 snaps. The Jets lost opportunity after opportunity to win this game and placed every Jets fan properly back into his seat.

Oh and Lav Coles? 4 catches for 33 yards. Would anyone like to try the insult for injury platter? Sure, Santana Moss had a measly 10 catches for 173 yards and 2 TDs. Ahem, ouch.

I cannot believe I actually deep down had hope. I should know better, Doug Brien taught me last year against the Steelers. The Jets can't win. There is a reason they haven't won a Super Bowl since Joe Willy called his shot against the Colts. It is a mode of thought.

You see folks, the Jets see Tim Couch, Doug Johnson, Quincy Carter, etc etc on the free agent market. All young, mobile QBs. And the Jets seemed to have seen a better option. Our GM must have been walking through the Jets headquarters and seen a highlight reel from 1998. He saw Vinny Testaverde throwing bombs to a then concussion-free Wayne Chrebet and something clicked in his tiny little brain: Vinny in 1998 must be the same a Vinny 8 years later.

Just like Curtis Martin this year is better than having LaMont Jordan next year (yes 148 yards today for Martin but thats an abberation).

Just like Laverneaus Coles now is better than Santana Moss this and next year.

The Jets are constantly on a calendar that does not include next year. They are only concerned with the present, quick fix that does nothing next year. Every game is like watching a highlight reel of yesteryear, except there are no highlights and instead, only reminders of whats gone wrong.

Reading John Clayton's article on the fact that the Jets are looking at Steve McNair for '06 made bile come into my mouth. Thats like buying a beat up used car from Steve's Auto Lot. No warranty, no garauntees except that its going to cost you in the long run. And thats the story of the New York Jets.

So go on Jets, keep on picking the 41 year olds off of their couches and throw them into the NFL. Ignore the roster cut QBs who saw action all of preseason. The New York Jets are the damn Big Apple Circus and I'm becoming ashamed to invest my time into the team.

In baseball, my favorite Venezuelian Ozzie Guillen won a trip to the World Series, where we'll get to hear more of his fun little soundbites for at least another week or so! Joy! I can only hope that the Astros can shut up this yapping idiot and put him in his place. I'm tempted to say screw it and root for Guillen so that he'll go ahead and retire like he claims and never be heard of again.

A Weekend of Redemption

V-v-vinny and the Jets!

Yes, the New York Jets won this weekend and they scored more than 10 points. Was it an act of God? No. Just a 41-year old native of Long Island with a few miles left in the tank. What Vinny came out and did this week deserves more coverage than the blurbs that have been in the papers. 2 weeks ago, this guy was sitting on his couch watching Dead-Arm Pennington and Jay Fiedler getting take out on consecutive series. Two weeks later, he was thrown into the fire of the NFL once again.

Now, I'm going to be realistic. He lead two scoring plays and the real story of the game was the phenomenal play of the defense. He ended up with 163 yards and an INT. Those are mediocre at best numbers, BUT at least the ball found the endzone. Every game will be this ugly and every win will probably be uglier, but the standings don't show the score of the game so I'll take it.

We still will not make the playoffs.

Cinderella story cries are being shouted from papers and Sportscenter, Chris Berman made some elaborate connection with Vinny and some other guy that involved the Super Bowl blah blah etc. etc. STOPPIT! This is a soon to be 42 year old veteran who entered the league 19 years ago, the Jets are NOT going to the playoffs. No, it's much worse than that. The Jets are going to go 8-8 and get a crappy draft pick and no playoff run. Thats the way it goes in the NFL, the best make the playoffs and the worst make the draft. The borderliners get the boot.

The D played a great, at times sloppy game, with an INT from Ty Law, 3 sacks and 2 more INTs that were nullified by penalties. If anything wins us games this season it will be Abe, Ellis, DeWayne, Barrett, Reed and the Law.

If anyone happened to see this rather offensive cartoon on the Bucs official NFL web site, ridiculing the Jets QB situation, in which Herm has both Bollinger and Vinny sitting in his office and he proceeds to play a humiliating game of "eenie-meenie-miney-mo" to choose which QB will be "victimized" by the Tampa D. It ends on Bollinger, WRONG, and he screams. I have checked back and the cartoon has mysteriously disappeared, much like the prestige of the Bucs D over the past few years.

In other news,

The New York Yankees are out of the playoffs.

Moose choked, once again, in a big game for the Yankees. Before the game George Steinbrenner had said that this game was in one person's hands--The Manager. Thats right Joe, you may have just shown yourself the door. You've had a hell of a run and you're respected by all, but it seems the Boss is ready for another Billy Martin spastic-type manager in the form of Sweet Lou Piniella. Tonight may have been the end of a Yankee era, and further proof that the Yankee Dynasty is tired and over.

My aching heart is soothed, knowing that the chants of 2-000 live on at least until next year. 5 years Yankee fans, 5 years since you won it all. And for Red Sox fans? 1 year.

Ah, its good to have the upper hand.

Oh and I want to start the "Don't Trade Manny" rally call. Where the hell else are we going to find 144 RBIs and 45 HR per year?

Tommorow I'll start the "Keep the Blob Off the Bench" rally call, to get David Wells in shape.

Every Fairy Tale Must Come To An End

It seems like it was over before I even watched the first inning of playoff baseball.

The Red Sox looked truly outmatched in this series, with Bobby Jenks looking like Mariano in his prime. The bats simply did not get it done, and worse, the defense was embarrassing. Although, the D was just as bad last year but had the bats and pitching to clean up.

The story of the game was the 6th inning. No outs, bases loaded and the next 3 batters went down 1-2-3. I truly thought that God had set this stage for Graffanino to redeem himself, but I guess I was wrong. El Duque looked unstoppable, like he was 26, not 36.

I don't feel as wronged this year as I have in years passed.

At least this wasn't the Yankees. At least this wasn't Aaron Boone.

I do feel for the youngsters though. Those who don't know better. The kid who was crying on his Dad's shoulder at the end of the game. They are in for a lifetime of pain, being probably too young to even remember what 2004 felt like.

The truly heartbreaking result of this series is the fact that this is the true end of 2004. Millar will be gone, Manny will be gone, Billy Mueller will be gone, and theres a good chance that the Caveman will never again lead off a Red Sox game.

The 2006 Red Sox team may boast a Manny-less David Ortiz, which will see Ortiz challenge Barry Bonds for the single season walk record. Pitchers just will not give Ortiz anything to hit. Not to mention the fact that Ortiz without Manny will be a very different Big Papi in attitude. I predict that big smile will be flashed much less and his happiness may falter. Losing Manny is effectively losing Big Papi as we know him.

And that, my friends, makes me sadder than any Red Sox loss this season.

All there's left to do is give one more big thank you to the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Thank you Manny, Johnny, Billy and even El Bencho. And thank you Pedro, Dave Roberts and Orlando Cabrera once again. You will never be forgotten in Bean Town.

2005 Boston Red Sox RIP.

Am I manager or a disgrace to the game?

Does anyone really wanna see this fat arrogant face covered in champagne?

Hell no.

Cowboy up Sox.

And hit a foul ball right into Ozzie Guillen's big mouth so he'll shut up for 2 seconds.

Gametime.

Keep the faith.

"Don't Let Us Win Tommorow"

The rally call from 2004 is all that can save us now.

Given 12 hours to digest the Red Sox gut-wrenching loss to a nothing better than mediocre Chicago team, I have renewed faith.

Sure, lightning just doesn't strike in the same place twice, but then again, teams don't come back from 0-3 deficits against the Bronx Bombers in a Championship series right? WRONG.

The Red Sox have been in this situation twice in the past 6 years and both time prevailed. Once against Cleveland in 1999 and against the A's in 2003. 0-2 in both scenarios and 3 straight wins in both scenarios. Not to mention that both those teams were arguably better than the current White Sox.

One more factor, the Red Sox don't lose at home. Period. The Fenway Faithful will show up and make a noticeable difference. Don't boo Graffanino, mark my words, he will be this years Mark Belhorn. Hes only a Pesky Pole shot away from redeeming himself.

Wake has been our best pitcher all year and if I remember correctly it was Millar and Damon last year down 0-3 commenting..."If we win today, we've got Schilling tommorow and game 7 we've got everyone going"

Well, it'll be game 5, and it will be everyone.

So man up, cowboy up, believe, keep the faith and goddamnit win a ball game.

Cause the truth is...with the Red Sox you never know when you're going to get a moment like this....

Tony Graffa-Buckner

Just when Sox fans think with all their hearts that they have moved on, forgiven and forgotten the follies of Red Sox years passed, this happens.

Tony Graffanino recreated the Bill Buckner play of 1986, except this time a routine double play ball at second base rather than first. My stomach dropped when I watched it. The replay makes my body tense. I won't be able to watch Sportscenter for at least a week, for fear of seeing a repeat of this horrific play.

Last night and tonight have made me realize something that had not dawned on me until now: these are not "the idiots". This is not the 2004 Boston Red Sox. This team has no chemistry other than the lovefest between Manny and Ortiz (which even seems to be waivering). When Gabe went down on (surprise, surprise!) GRAFFANINOS home run in September, all unity was lost.

Thinking back, Theo Epstein said something a few weeks ago to the tune of "even idiots grow up". Well, does that mean they stop having fun playing baseball? I haven't seen a Red Sox player smile in months, no hugs, no handshakes (COME BACK ORLANDO!) and no kind words in the clubhouse :cough: Foulke :cough:.

Bottom line is, I don't like the grown up idiots. The grown up idiots don't come back from 0-2 deficits in a 5 game do-or-die series.

Friday is a complete toss up. Apparently Wake is starting which means we'll either see 15 strikeouts or 15 homers. We could go a postseason series this year without seeing the hero and Papal representative Curt Schilling make an appearance. The so-called ace of Boston will potentially not even make a start. This could be a terribly devastating series if we get swept. Affecting possibly whether we see Johnny Damon in a Red Sox uniform ever again. Not to mention Keith Foulke, who already has his flight booked out of Boston, never to return right now.

I fear this game and I hope to God that the Sox don't lay down to a team that hasn't won a postseason series since 1917. Please, this is a calling of bats and arms, knuckle up Red Sox and save this season. Lets keep playing some baseball for a few more days.

And don't listen to Kevin Millar, the fans are with you Red Sox, you have more than just your team.

Go ahead, it's time.