Stream of Consciousness

OK - trying something different this morning. Last time I did a "stream of consciousness" rant - I was pretty happy with the results. So I figured what the heck - I'll do it again.

First thing to rant about this morning is the Red Sox.

Before the season started - many people (myself included) were talking about how well put together this team was. The rotation of Pedro, Schilling, Lowe and Wakefield was compared to the best in the game with very favorable results. The offence was considered the equal of last year's historic line-up. Things looked good for Red Sox Nation. But as they say, "the best laid plans of mice and men..."

Who could foresee Trot Nixon hurting his back driving his car to spring training? Who could foresee Nomar's "bruise" keeping him on the shelf for months (not days as originally reported)? Who could foresee Bill Mueller needing knee surgery? Byung-Yung Kim? Scott Williamson? And I have to say that I don't think Pedro was 100% to start the season. If you look at the tapes from his first few starts vs. how loose he is today - I think it is more than just the warmer weather (but Pedro never complained - so I guess we'll never know).

The Red Sox have yet to be completely healthy and have yet to hit a hot streak of their own. Now I may be a complete optimist but I think the best is yet to come. The Red Sox will be the Wild Card (at least) and I repeat the same question over and over - who would want to face this team in the playoffs?

Probably the most disappointing thing about the Red Sox "being closer to the Devil Rays than the Yankees" has been the attitude of the Red Sox fans. If Red Sox Nation was a European country - I'm afraid we would be France. Haughty, superior, condescending and willing to surrender at the first signs of difficulty. Sorry to say but that description fits.

As an aside - if this analogy works then I guess Larry Lucchino would be Jaque Chiraq. The French President seems to exist solely to try and cock-block the US at every turn and that would also seem to describe Lucchino's role against the "Evil Empire".

As a second aside - New England even seems to have it's own Vichy fans (the Vichy were the French who collaborated with the Germans for those in the audience victims of public school history education). You run into a surprising number of Yankee fans in New England (and I'm not talking Southern Connecticut here). Howard Dean for example was a Yankee fan who changed his (pin) stripes just before the New Hampshire primary. My roommate from college was another example (maybe it's a Vermont thing?).

OK - enough Red Sox blather. Let's turn to the "steak".

Eric Gagne streak of 84 consecutive saves ended last night and you can color me unimpressed. Don't get me wrong. I have been greatly impressed with Gagne. He's lights out. But I'm not falling down at the wonder that is 84 consecutive saves. It's not like it was 84 consecutive scoreless innings. It's not like Gagne is ever asked to give the team more than 3-outs. It's not like he didn't blow the save in last year's All-Star Game (whose theme was "This time it's real"). Gagne is the best closer in the game but his streak isn't in the same ballpark as Dimaggio's hit streak.

Finally today let me rant on Coach K. Who really thought he was going to leave his kingdom to be the vassal of another? This whole thing was about Coach K's ego. Pure and simple. There is a new school president at Duke and this was Coach K's not so subtle way of showing who really wears the crown a the school.

Time to give my two fingers a rest.