Josh Beckett, the new Red Sox ace, is just what Boston needed in its rotation, but I hope he learns to check some of his hefty attitude at the door. He is off to a hot start, but not just with his multi-million-dollar right arm. He’s a hothead. Pure and simple. He talks about respecting the game and trying uphold the old school, unwritten, gentleman’s rules of baseball. He says that since he respects the batter, the batter has to respect him. This is all well and good. I am an old-schooler myself and I’m all for a young pitcher keeping it real, but this guy keeps it mother f–king real. I am worried that he is going to keep pissing off opposing hitters (Shea Hillenbrand is still fuming over Beckett’s overreaction the other day), get his own teammates hit with retaliatory pitches, and – even worse – get a teammate injured in a bench-clearing brawl started by his own stubborn actions. Just watching the spring training games and the first week’s games, you can see an eager and awed Beckett soaking in all that Curt Schilling has to say. And we all know Schilling has a lot to say. Schilling is a fiery competitor, he backs down to no man, and he keeps it real. However, he does not cross that line that Beckett does. Let’s hope Schilling can be a positive influence, if not a calming presence, in Beckett’s development. Afterall, Josh is on the big stage now. This isn’t Miami, big guy. Grow up and keep those emotions in check.
Archive for April, 2006
Beckett Better Not Wreck It
April 14th, 2006Backtracking
April 11th, 2006I’ve written before how I avoided seeing Closer with my girlfriend to preserve the relationship. After seeing the movie alone more than a year later, I decided I was right. That movie, while compelling and haunting, left me feeling depressed and dirty. While channel surfing last night, I rediscovered long-buried thoughts that might actually prove my hypothesis.
I came across a Mad About You marathon on Nick at Nite. I have to admit, I watched that show back in the day. I don’t even know why – because I was never a fan of Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt has always annoyed me (and sometimes repulsed me), the supporting characters were ugly and clingy, and let’s face it, it was pretty much a chick show. So why the hell did I watch it? It probably had a strong lead-in on NBC’s daunting 1990s Must-See TV lineup, not to mention sparse competition.
Anyway, last night I ended up watching the pilot episode and the clever cross-over episode guest staring Michael Richards as Kramer. While watching, I drifted off to a time almost exactly 10 years earlier when I used to watch the show with my girlfriend. The MAY storyline in the spring of 1996 was that Paul Buchman was cheating on Jamie or was thinking about cheating on her because she kissed a coworker. This was material which I now deem inappropriate for a couple to watch together, yet we watched it.
We were already on shaky footing due to a couple of breakups, our latest re-start had occured under dubious conditions, and we were just trying to get through a rough period and hopefully make it through to the other side. She was probably trying harder than I to make things work and (cliche warning) if I knew then what I know now, things would have turned out differently. Looking back, it seems so simple what a wiser course of action would have been. (devil’s advocate warning) Then again, what happened was meant to happen because we acted age-appropriately.
Even though we watched that several-episode-long story arc of Paul and Jamie’s marital problems and vowed that nothing like that would ever happen to us, we broke up less than a month later. The power of suggestion is a mighty thing and I’m not saying that a TV dramedy directly led to the end of my first real relationship. I’m just saying that these days, I’m all about remaining positive, upbeat, and cheery.
Nineteen Eighty Six
April 11th, 2006I will openly admit that when I was growing up I was a New York sports fan. I lived in Western New York and had no association with any particular team — so I became a Yankees fan, just because. In that same vain, I rooted for the Mets in the 1986 World Series, and not my beloved Red Sox. Say what you will, but I’m being honest.
I stumbled upon this link last night, which is the complete bottom of the 10th inning of the imfamous Game 6 of the World Series re-inacted using Nintendo’s RBI Baseball.
I don’t mean to bring up bad vibes on the Diatribe, but I found this amazingly compelling. It’s about 8 minutes long and the detail is unbelievable. Thinking about how difficult it must have been to re-inact the inning, let alone get it set up so that the box score lined up correctly, the pitches were fouled off in to the right directions, and balls and strikes were called. Unbelieveable.
Here is the link directly to the smaller WMV file or you can visit the original site and watch the YouTube download.
My afternoon fix
April 10th, 2006Sometime back in January my company bought one of those stand-alone, single-use coffee machines. We had one back at bcom known as Flavia — which was something like the office joke. Some may disagree, but I found it unappealing. Though I don’t know the brand of this new coffee aparatus, I can tell you that it brews Green Mountain Coffee “cups,” which I thoroughly enjoy.
Prior to the coffee machine, I used to spend a $1.50 each day at Dunkin Donuts for a medium coffee. The coffee was almost always burnt or screwed up in some way shape or form. The new coffee machine has not only left my wallet more full, but it also has made me a much happier person overall. No more morning kvetching about how someone managed to mess up my coffee once again. It has also, however, turned me into a much more frequent coffee drinker.
I have one cup before I leave the house (to ensure that I make it to work without falling asleep), then the morning cup at the office. My newest habit, however, is a coffee late in the afternoon. At first I started doing it just to get some more energy before going to the gym, but it became a ritual of sorts. Today, though, I was too busy this afternoon to make a run to the kitchen and get an afternoon coffee. For the first time, I can say that I’ve become addicted to the afternoon beverage.
I came home tonight and opted not to run due to some soreness in my knees that were a result of yesterday’s work out. I then proceeded to yawn, and think about taking a nap. I can’t remember the last time I took a nap when I got home from work. Even now, as I write this, I can feel my eyelids getting heavy — and could go to sleep right now if I felt like it.
I’ve come to depend on my afternoon fix, and now I’m obviously feeling the withdrawl symptoms. And to think that I used to have around 5 cups a day when I was in college. Sheesh. It’s a wonder I got any sleep at all back then.
Fuzzles
April 6th, 2006I’m starting to feel like I’m going through icons faster than I do kleenex. It’s funny how quick everyone is to criticize, but yet I open the door for submissions and what do I get? Nothing.
Everyone’s a critic, I tell ya. Anyway, here’s my new icon, it’s known as a fuzzle. He’s not just a normal fuzzle, this guy is a rabid fuzzle — because he’s sick and tired of having people give him a hard time about being an icon.
Originally, I was thinking about using Davey, from Davey and Goliath.. but cropped down he looked a little too much like Howdy Doody. Here’s a larger photo of our dear friend the fuzzle. Beware.
It’s all about the lid
April 3rd, 2006Sean Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of the Boston Archdiocese, was recently promoted to cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. I think it’s XVI. Don’t quote me on that. Boston.com, the web site I love to hate, came through like it always does with a slide show. That web site would be nothing without its slide shows. While flipping through, I noticed one glaring issue above all else – Cardinal O’Malley might be making more money (since he’s a friar, I think he gives it away anyway) and he undoubtedly has more clout now, and he is now eligible to become pope (an American pope will always be a long, long, long-shot) but he took a major step back in the hat department.
As a bishop, you get a nice big chess piece hat just like what the pope wears. It just looks cool. That hat might be the reason so many men join the priesthood. But the hat that cardinals wear (all these hats have proper names, but I can’t remember them) is much shorter, bright red, and has four pointy corners surrounding a half dome which covers your head. I don’t know if this is enough reason to politely decline a promotion to cardinal, but it certainly sheds more light on why all the world’s cardinals clamor to become pope.
Today’s the day
April 3rd, 2006After a long, cold winter — being forced to watch the Red Sox Management make its decisions for better or worse — we’re now set to begin a whole new season.
It’s like stepping into a roller coast that slowly begins cranking its way up to the very first hill. We’re now at the apex and ready for our first decent into what will surely be an exciting season. It’s going to be a whole new team stepping out onto the field today, but a team we’ll be very familiar with a few weeks down the road. A
You could see it around The Boken yesterday. Everyone wearing their Yankees hats, excited about what today would bring. Even wearing my Red Sox hat, the Yankees fans smiled — as we knew the rivalry was about to start back up in a few short hours. Let the games begin, and get ready for an exciting ride!
