It's baseball season

“Damn, I fell asleep just before the game started and dreamed the Red Sox won the pennant. It was good to wake up this morning and realize it was just a dream.”

“--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The series was right in their hands. No excuse for dropping a 3-0 lead. The Sox were the hungrier team. It became a bit of an endurance contest since the two looooooong games. Red Sox didn't show any weariness (although it would have been understandable if they did), but the Yankees looked tired and played that way. Totally flat. But, hey. That's the kind of stuff that makes these games exciting. Congrats to the Red Sox. They performed fine.




(quiet aside) Now, should we tell 'em or wait?





(psssst, there really was no curse. We just wanted to see how long we could string you along. almost 100 years! lmao)”

“Tree, stop it. I know it was just a dream. I mean, Johnny Damon hitting a salami? Preposterous!

Ummm, the curse applies to the World Series. Until proven otherwise, the curse continues.”

“I just simply let the cat out of the bag early. They're going all the way!


Without my rooting for them, of course. That would be sacriligious!”

“Hey, isn't there one other person in New York City who knows the words to "God Bless America" besides Ronan Tynan? Is he the only one? Wassup wit dat?”

“OMG, I just found out I didn't dream it. The Sox did win.

Who would have thought, when the season started, that Tito would be going to the World Series and Bowa would be out of work?

Cereally, that was one hell of an epic series. Half a nation is sleep deprived, but one hell of a series.”

“I can't believe the headlines are saying the curse is lifted. As HUGE a Sox fan that I am, the curse has NOTHING to do with the Yankees. No matter how good it felt to beat the Yankees, it's MOOT if we don't win the series.”

“I told you, Penns. There is no curse!!!”

“The curse will be confirmed anew in the next week and a half.”

“Ghoul, We're not sleep deprived out here - heck, West Wing was just starting when last night's game ended at 9:02....

One of the TV announcers was saying, "People will always talk about where they were on Wednesday, October 20th, 2004..." I had to correct him, of course, since it was technically Thursday when the game ended....

Hey Ghoulbeet, didja see my pic of the pepper grinder from my trip????”

“Thanks to you folks on the left coast, we have to stay up past midnight to see the finish of the playoff games. Games start about 7 p.m. during the season, 8:20 in the playoffs. It's 1 a.m. by the time the game ends and the post game interviews are over.

No, I didn't see the photo. What thread?”

“My Changing Seasons trip report....”

“Awesome. A Sox triumph over the Cards would make this year complete.

Go Cards! (for the next two days)”

“Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has that the Boston Red Sox will host the Chicago Cubs in this years World Series. Selig was quoted " It's only fair that the Cubs get to go to the series if the Red Sox do, bseides no one outside of Houston or St Louis cares who wins the NLCS."”

“LMAO!!!!

Hey I used to root for the Cards, way back when - they were the closest major league team to my home town. I've even got Johnny Bench's autograph somewhere around here.”

“Um, wouldn't that be the Reds, Roam?”

“LMAO, Johnny Bench was the Big Red Machine. The O's beat them in 5 in 1970. I was in the right field bleachers for Game 5.”

“The curse isn't over until the Sox win the World Series. However, beating the Yanks in the fashion that they did in the ALCS is a huge step in the right direction. I'm still reveling in what they accomplished!”

“The Yankees and Red Sox in the playoffs the past two seasons has been an epic battle. Like we say for Army and Navy, "Yankees-Red Sox, ... 'nuff said!"

I just hope Houston wins tonight so I have somebody to root for in the Series.

Tito's in the World Series and Bowa is out of work, ... man!”

“Houston: Clemens, Kent. Located in Texas. Bleah!”

“I know Bowlder. I had to think twice about rooting for a team from Baja Oklahoma, but it beats Rolen, Schilling, Francona, Sveum, Boston, St. Louis!

On Sunday, I will watch the Eagles beat the Browns.”

“I was just checking out the covers of the NY papers today. I thought this one was pretty good:

”

“Congrats to you Cardinals fans. St. Louis has an awesome team and it's going to be a wicked tight series. I've always liked Larry Walker, and Pujols is definitely a force to be reckoned with. They're a classy organization, and it'll be a fun series to watch. I'm looking forward to it (though I'll miss game one because I'll be, well, backpacking).

May the best team win!”

“hum...the Cards vs. the Sox, not exactly the teams I wanted in the series, but it should be even match. Go __________!! insert your team here”

“Well, well, well, what a Series this has turned out to be. Red Sox vs Cardinals. My friends and I living in the boondocks, used to listen to Card games on the radio at night, so we liked the Cardinals. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Royals pound them 11-0 in '85, they have had a soft spot in my heart always. However, I have family in Boston, one of whom graduated from BU and is a Sox fan. I will have to go with the Sox on this one. I'm thinking it could go all seven, but we'll see.”

“I am not sure that the Cards' pitching staff has enough oomph to get them past the Red Sox, but I will be cheering for them anyway, because they're the NL team. I believe that the Red Sox are the better team, but as usual, I am rooting for the underdog. Since I'm a Cubs fan, I'm used to it.”

“Should be a fun series. I have no allegiance to either team, so don't care all that much who wins. Ghoulbeet, explain to me your hatred of all things Cardinal. Are they a big Philly rival? What gives?”

“In two words, Scott Rolen.

And I'm not fond of Schilling either.

If those two guys had shut their pieholes and stayed with the Phillies, we surely would have been in the playoffs this season, and probably last too.

Can both teams lose?”

“Ah, so it's one of those "those guys used to be with us; now they're in the Series and we're home knitting (or whatever)" kind of things.

Several former A's and Giants on those teams, too.....”

“Ghoulder, you probably feel the same way about Jeff Kent!”

“Go Cards!!!!!!! I just sat in joyful, peaceful silence after Jason Isringhausen pitched a rare easy inning. Had a buddy at the game (that bum had a 3rd row ticket!) who will surely give me every detail.

Stupid Roger Clemens cost the Cards homefield advantage with his All-Star game performance. Guess he paid the BoSox fans back for going to the Yanks a few years ago.

It should be a great series. No smart-alec predictions here. I'm just going to enjoy the games.”

“Kent! That lying bum! "I, um, fell off my truck when I was washing it. Or crashed my motorcycle, whatever...."”

“Boston Mayor Might Ban Alcohol During World Series
College Student Was Killed After Riots Following Victory Over Yankees
By GREG SUKIENNIK, AP

BOSTON (Oct. 22) -- Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he was considering banning alcohol sales near Fenway Park during the World Series, following rowdy celebrations of the Red Sox's league championship that turned deadly when a police officer shot a projectile into a crowd.

Menino planned to meet with bar and nightclub owners on Friday and also said he would press universities to expel students found guilty of criminal conduct in the melee.

"Since people won't accept responsibility, I, as mayor, will take it into my own hands," Menino said.

Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove, 21, died on Thursday, hours after being hit in the eye with what was designed to be a non-lethal projectile that would douse the target with a pepper-like spray. Her father expressed outrage at the city's response to her death.




Witnesses said Snelgrove was standing outside the ballpark when a reveler threw a bottle at a mounted police officer. Another officer fired the plastic, pepper-spray filled balls into the crowd, hitting Snelgrove.

Fifteen other people, including a police officer, suffered minor injuries in Boston's Kenmore Square neighborhood near Fenway Park after thousands of baseball fans spilled onto the streets to celebrate the Red Sox triumph on Wednesday night at New York's Yankee Stadium. Small fires were set and fights broke out. Boston police reported eight arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct.

Menino said that to avoid a repeat of the rowdiness in his city, he was considering imposing the alcohol-sales ban through a state law never before used in Boston. The law lets him ban sale or distribution of alcohol "in cases of riot or great public excitement."

He said he may also ask bar and restaurant operators not to let television stations broadcast live scenes from inside their establishments during games.

Officials said the projectiles are not supposed to be aimed at people's faces, and Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said she would "firmly and emphatically accept responsibilities for any errors."



Getty Images
Boston police made eight arrests in the postgame celebration after the Red Sox beat the Yankees Wednesday night.
CNN Video: Watch Red Sox Fans Celebration (Broadband)

But, she continued, "I also condemn in the harshest words possible the actions of the punks (Wednesday) night who turned our city's victory into an opportunity for violence and mindless destruction."

The student's father, Rick Snelgrove, said angrily that she did nothing wrong. Standing outside the family home, he held up a photograph of his smiling daughter.

"What happened to her should not happen to any American citizen going to any type of game, no matter what," he said. "She loved the Red Sox. She went in to celebrate with friends. She was a bystander. She was out of the way, but she still got shot. Awful things happen to good people. My daughter was an exceptional person."

City officials had announced there would be a heavy police presence in Kenmore Square for the history-making victory by the Red Sox, who came back from a three games to none deficit to advance to the World Series.

The city had been caught understaffed when riots broke out after the New England Patriots' Super Bowl win on Feb. 1, when one person was killed and another critically injured by a vehicle that plowed into revelers.


10/22/04 11:54 EDT”

“Does anybody understand the mentality, "Our team won; let's burn down the city?"”

“so this is new?”

“We could apply this mentality to backpacking: "I made it back to the trailhead!! Hey, let's flip over a few cars and raise some hell!"”

“Woooo Hoooo...Go CARDS!!!!!!

My ex is kin to Mike Matheny ...the catcher...so it makes watching the Cards SOOO much fun.....”

“GOOOOOO CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Cardinals are going to destroy Schilling!!! Tear him to pieces.”

“Well....Cards lost....BUT it's not over yet!!!!”

“Home field advantage should be big this series. I would't say either team is backed up against the wall until they lose a home game.”

“welp, it looks like my prediction was way off. Instead of the Cardinals tearing Schilling apart, Schilling tore the Cardinals apart and the Redsox's offense is pouring salt into the wounds. Still time to turn the table.”

“That's all the BoSox need.”

“Red Sox are playing well, except for the errors. They will have to clean this up while they are in St Louis. Manny Ramirez really needs to remember that it's not all about batting.”

“The Patsies beat the Jeets and the Dead Sox beat the Cruds.

It just can't get any better than that!”

“So far, the best performance of the playoffs was the Yankees fans chanting "Who's yer daddy" at Pedro. How do 50,000 people chant the same exact thing in perfect unison? And over a protracted period to boot? Now that's real class!”

“They say Schilling won't pitch again in the series. Good thing - that bloody sock is making me sick!”

“Not as sick as the Cruds hitters were getting.”

“Maybe they should have complained that the bloody sock was distracting them.”

“Celebs at the Series: Tom Hanks and Jimmy Fallon were hanging out on top of the Monster, and Steven King was in the expensive seats. They showed King but did not identify him. Guess he's not important enough.”