Twenty Years Ago the Curse was Reversed

Twenty years ago the Boston Red Sox finally broke the 86-year old curse and won a 4-0 sweep of the World Series against Saint Louis.

A poignant reminder. 

Nobody in Boston even talks about a curse these days. It's a faded memory. But not Wake - he lives on in the hearts of many.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Like I said - predicting that this would be the least watched World Series in history was the easiest prediction I've ever made

- Tesla to wide-release Full Self-Driving "by the end of this year" (pending safety approvals)

- Still funny

- Another easy prediction was that Quibi would be an absolute failure. I know many of you are saying, "What the hell is Quibi?" To which I say, "Exactly!"

- Studies point to big drop in Covid-19 death rates. I find it significant that even NPR is admitting this. 

- Interesting - Microsoft's new data center in a box will use SpaceX Starlink broadband (and also SES medium orbit satellites)

- True

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If Hunter Biden gets subpoenaed prior to the election - what are the odds that he checks himself into a rehab facility to avoid testifying... "If you want something done right - do it yourself." - Jeffrey Toobin... Easiest prediction I've ever made - this will be the lowest rated World Series since TV ratings became commonplace... This has been going on at CNN for a long time... What if Andrew Cuomo was Fredo all along?... Phrase of the day, "Drinking with Godot" - adjective: drinking while waiting for friends who may or may not arrive... "Opulence - I has it." - Hunter Biden... I wonder if Trump wins re-election if both Twitter and Facebook stock plunge on November 4th... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Here's my thoughts on the World Series: I'm rooting against the Astros because of the way they handled that female reporter from Sports Illustrated but I want Mattress Mack to win his bets although I'm not going to subject myself to a four hour game if there's any football on that I can watch instead... I'm going to hell for laughing at this (make sure the sound is on)... "Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."- Thomas Huxley... Hard to believe but the last head coach of a Cleveland Browns team to win an NFL playoff game is none other than Bill Belichick... Heh heh - vintage birth control... I seriously spend time wondering if the Harry Potter movies could have been better if they were made by Pixar instead. Perhaps someday Pixar will get the rights to reboot the series... There's less than 100 days until the Super Bowl and I'm still wondering where the hell did the summer go?... Who knew? The first scientist was a woman. Before Mary Somerville - people were called "men of science"... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

One of Alex Cora's most underrated moves the last night was to have Chris Sale come in to close out a 5-1 game. Sale was supposed to have started that game but Cora made the right move to go with David Price. This had to have hurt the ace's ego but allowing Sale to be on the mound when the Series was clinched was a good way to make sure everyone was "good"... Heh Heh... Went to a They Might Be Giants show last night in Providence. Just guessing but I think the SAT scores of that crowd must have been off the charts... Might be a character defect on my part but I have a strong dislike of anyone who has thousands of songs available to choose from on a jukebox but still plays Hotel California... Speaking of overlooked World Series moments - I really hope the Sox can keep Nathan Eovaldi... Kite of Destruction would be a good name for a band (or a military drone)... "I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing." Stubb in Moby Dick...

Flotsam and Jetsam - World Series Edition

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations from last night's epic 18-inning World Series game.

I admit that I only watched last night's marathon World Series game up to the 14th inning. The reason I quit then is because I cut the cord with cable 6-years ago and the bar I was watching the game had to close at 2:00 am... If you want a reason to root against the Dodgers - here's how much they gouge you for beer... Random thought - neither Frank Sinatra nor Humphrey Bogart (both big baseball fans) would ever, ever wear a fucking rally cap... Random observation - there seemed to be a lot more hair product in the Dodgers dugout last night than in the Red Sox dugout (not that there's anything wrong with that)... If you want a reason to root for the Red Sox - here's the type of players they have on that team... If I were Governor Baker of Massachusetts I would have sent out an emergency alert last night about 1:00 am saying the law requiring bars close at 2:00 am in Mass has been lifted and that there is no last call as long as the game was still going. That would have guaranteed re-election (he's getting re-elected anyway).... I enjoy baseball but I still laughed at this...

Go Red Sox

Take that LA Philharmonic!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

With some many different players contributing to the Boston wins - if the World Series MVP had to be chosen today it would probably have to be Craig Kimbrel... This Boston sports fan speaks for all of us Boston sports fans... When I was a kid we used to call someone a "skid" when we needed a word for "loser". "Skid", of course, is short for skid mark.  We should bring back "skid' into the common vernacular... For Halloween I may dress as Hodor from Game of Thrones but instead of saying just "hodor" I will say "hey baby" and only "hey baby"... Not sure why I chuckle so much at this photo... Of all the Greek myths the story of Sisyphus might be the most entertaining. People remember the ending with the rock but the rest of the story would make a great HBO miniseries...  Copious Coitus would be a good name for a boy band... 

Red Sox

With last night's 4-2 victory the Sox are now up 2-0 in the Series and the potential exists that the last game of the season at Fenway Park has been played.

If that's so then this image might be the lasting impression of many of Fenway 2018.

For others it might be this image.

Red Sox Take Care of Business

The Red Sox beat the Yankees last night to move on to the ALCS which starts Saturday night in Boston.

I truly believe the winner of this series - either Boston or Houston - will win the World Series. The Astros have a hell of a starting rotation and will be tough to defeat but there just seems to be something special about this Boston team.

Go Red Sox!

Daniel Murphy and the Mets

Congratulations to the Mets and Daniel Murphy for advancing to the World Series. I do have to wonder what would have been the outcome of the series if the Cubs had simply intentionally walked Murphy every single at bat though. Would it have made a difference?

Murphy had 17 AB vs the Cubs with 7 hits and one walk. Included in those 7 hits he had 4 HR and a double. According to my simple math - if the Cubs walked Murphy every at bat it would have dropped his OPS from an incredible 1.561 during the series down to an even 1.000. That's why I can stop wondering if the Cubs had just walked Murphy every at bat - would they still be playing for a World Series birth?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I stayed up last night to watch the final out of the World Series. I have to agree with Chad Finn of the Boston Globe that the Erin Andrews interview of Marco Scuturo may have been the worst live interview in the history of TV... Steve Jobs made small devices that were elegant and utilitarian but I have to say that his yacht is gigantic, butt-ass ugly and I'm not sure how well it would fare in a storm... Random fact about me - when I was younger I memorized both the lyrics to REM's It's the End of the World As We Know It and the words on the Budweiser label (this is the famous Budweiser beer)... Notre Dame is for real! Who saw this coming?... Would "The Taint of Destiny" be a good name for a fantasy football team?... This place looks awesome! Not a fan of going shopping but I would frequent this store on a regular basis if there was one near me. A "liquid delicatessen" what a great idea... The things you learn from the Internet - the word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent"... Fordham's kicker, Patrick Murray, has an NFL caliber leg. I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing on Sunday's... If Barack Obama loses the election - the combination of Michele's expensive tastes and his Jimmy Carter level incompetence may narrow his earning potential to the point where he could be broke in five years...