A Trio of Sox Thoughts

1.) Sarah brought up a really important point in the comments of yesterday's post about a possible generation gap between pre-2004/07 Sox fans & post-2004/07 fans. I've been thinking about that topic for awhile now & will write a post about it soon. Thanks for reminding me, Sarah!

2.) After reading this article, I wanted to post about the team's flight home from Denver on Monday. However, Kristen pretty much wrote exactly what I wanted to say, so check her post out! I will post two of my favorite pictures from the flight, of my two Red Sox boyfriends (Ellsbury & Lowell):

Lowell juggling both the MVP trophy & the World Series trophy

Ellsbury asked his teammates to sign his jersey. No, I'm not kidding
you. Is that not the cutest thing you've ever heard in your life?

3.) I wasn't able to make it down to watch the parade this year, unlike '04. I was really disappointed, but there was no way around the obligations I had in NH today. However, I did get to watch the parade with my father & grandmother up at my parents' house. Here are two of my favorite photos (from Boston.com):

This was absolutely my favorite moment, when the flatbed truck stopped @ City Hall Plaza. Paps continued his crazy dancing (in a kilt this time!), Timlin joined in enthusiastically, and Okajima gamely gave it a shot. However, he did have a "What the heck is going on?" look on his face. :)

Despite the love that I have for Lowell & Ellsbury and the immense respect that I have for Varitek, there's no denying that Ortiz is the sweetest, most wonderful man on the planet. :) I just love this photo of him.

Not so warm & fuzzy anymore?

You guys, I'm still basking in the glow of the Sox win. :)

However, without casting a shadow on the day, I wanted to share an article that nearly boiled my blood. In the wee hours of Monday morning, when NESN's coverage was over & I was digging into the internet's coverage, I found this article on Boston.com. It's by Tim Dahlberg, who is an AP sports writer.

Essentially, the main idea is "with victory comes new risk for Boston. They're not warm and fuzzy anymore, and no longer seem all that lovable." He also compares us directly to the Evil Empire: "Put pinstripes on these Boston Red Sox, move them to the Bronx, and America would have the same love/hate relationship with them as they do with George Steinbrenner's multimillionaire minions."

Humph. I, and I'm sure most of you, strongly disagree. So, as late as it was, this is the response that Mr. Tim Dahlberg got from me:

From: me@myemail.com
To: tdahlberg@ap.org
Date: Oct 29, 2007 2:03 AM
Subject: not so warm & fuzzy?

I wish I could write a more coherent response to your article about the Red Sox, but it's awfully late and I've been up watching my team win the World Series. That's right - I said "my" team, because that's how Red Sox fans views their players: as family. These guys are our baseball heroes and we maintain faith in them, in Terry, in Theo, and in the owners.

I myself have had some concerns like those you mentioned. I've been worried that Sox fans will come to expect success, like Yankees fans did for so long. I've been worried that having the second highest payroll in the MLB and the freedom to spend that money would lead to some bad decisions (like Gagne may turn out to be). In the end, however, knowing Bostonians and Sox fans like I do (you're not from here, are you, Tim?), I don't think that will happen.

Did you see Mike Timlin and Tim Wakefield on NESN after the game tonight? Timlin praised Wake for stepping down and leaving room for the younger pitchers to start in the series. Wakefield was close to tears at the end. This is who the Red Sox are - good men who work hard at this game and never, ever assume that success is guaranteed. They are a true team and a group of guys who always seem amazed and humbled by the support of their fans.

You can keep your pinstripes in the Bronx, thanks. That's not our thing here in Boston.

Stacey (my last name)
Portsmouth, NH

UPDATE: To his credit, Mr. Dahlberg wrote me back to say, "Hope you enjoyed the parade . . . thanks for writing." So while I still disagree with the point of his article, I'll give him points for politeness.

World Champs, baby!

Holy crap, you guys. :) WE DID IT!!! I'll try to write a post that's more thoughtful later, but for now - let's just bask in the moment. For the second time in four years, we won ourselves a world series championship. I talked to my mum a few minutes after the win & we talked about how we never expected this to happen twice in our lifetimes.

So many great moments from all of our boys tonight:

• Ellsbury & Pedroia combining to put the Sox on the board at the top of the first inning
  
• Lester getting the win by pitching six scoreless innings - after coming back from cancer. Cancer, people!
• Kielty coming in off the bench & smashing a home run to left field on the first pitch he faced
• Lowell getting MVP & mentioning that he loved playing in Boston (Theo - make it happen!)
• Timlin moving Wake to tears in a post-game interview by saying how great Wake was to step down & pass the torch to the younger pitchers for the series
  

I could go on, but it's late & there were so many great moments & images. For tonight, here's to the 2007 World Champion Red Sox. The Nation thanks you. :)

Red Sox Amazingness & Blogging Sadness

So. The Sox did a great job both Wednesday night and last night - though the scores were very different. On Wed. night, I watched here in Portsmouth at The Page with some friends from my graduate program. Thurs. night - I ended up at my "home bar" in Cambridge with one of my best friends, a close friend from my graduate program, and a bunch of old friends who work at the bar.

Unfortunately, due to car trouble & ridiculous traffic, I missed out on attending Blogtoberfest prior to the game. I was bummed, since I had a great time at last year's event. I was also looking forward to seeing Jenny, Sarah, Eileen, Tom, and Caity and meeting Susie and Jason. Oh well, sounds like they all had a good time & there's always next year. :)

Good & Bad

Last night, on the way home from tutoring, I was thinking about things I'm good at & things I'm bad at. I don't know why, you guys - I just was. ;) Here is the short list:

Good at:

1. Talking about history
2. Taking random photos that turn out pretty good
3. Picking things up with my toes
4. Daydreaming

Bad at:

1. Tying & untying knots
2. Making small talk
3. Telling short stories
4. Doing any kind of math

And here are the two new things I can add after this weekend:

Good at:

• Bullshitting. Today I both wrote a short paper about & participated in a discussion about a 400-page book that I never read. Well, I read the intro & the conclusion, but not much besides. ;)

Bad at:

• Talking to boys at bars (see "Making small talk"). I watched the Sox game on Saturday at The Page & despite the fact that I was there on my own for close to four hours, I only talked to one boy. :(

Oh, well. I've always got the "Picking things up with my toes" bit going for me. :)

UPDATED: Sarah, clever (& lazy) minx that she is, has taken my "good at/bad at" list & made it into a meme! Her addition was to add a tip at the end to help other bloggers be good at those things too. I love it. :) And since Eileen has already taken up the challenge, I feel obligated to add a tip to my original list. Here goes:

"How to Take Random Photos that Turn Out Pretty Good:"
While you're shooting photos of wherever you are, do a slow 360* spin. Look for unusual angles, unexpected things, and interesting slants of light. Then, just shoot & shoot & shoot. If you have a digital camera, it really doesn't matter how many you take. You can sift for gold later. I've gotten some photos I'm really pleased with this way, like this & this & this.

Welcome to Fenway Park . . .

(Photo from Boston.com)

where the '07 Sox rule the roost. It's after midnight now & Fenway is still packed with fans. The players & their families are frolicking on the field & in the clubhouse.

So many great stories in this series. The sports media who thought that only Manny & Papi could produce runs? Let me introduce you to Mssrs. Drew, Pedroia, and Youkilis. Ellsbury kicking some butt in last night's and tonight's games, then Coco making that sick catch when he did come back in the 9th. I could continue, but I trust you've all been paying attention. ;)

This was a team effort, as usual. Like in '04, our boys squared their shoulders after the loss of three games & said, "Not on our watch." It's on to the World Series & the Rockies should be worried.

Update: Josh Beckett during his post-game press conference said, "I just think we're better than everyone else." I agree, Josh, I agree. :)

Faith Pays Off

Not counting eggs before they hatch, not looking too far into the postseason future - but thank goodness for faith. After the sting of Tuesday's loss, some were starting to lose it.

My roommate, who is not a sports fan, said snarkily to me as I headed out last night to watch the game, "Hope you're wearing your "Loser" shirt." I said, "Don't expect I'm going to need it."

And of course I was right. Beckett was masterful, the obnoxious crowd at Jacobs Field was silenced for the evening, and we were back in the game.

As usual, it comes down to this. I choose the Boston Red Sox. They are my team, my boys, my baseball heroes. No matter what happens in the end, I believe they can do it. I've said it before & I'll say it again: I choose faith.

Go get 'em tomorrow night, boys. :)

Addendum to Birthday Recap

Just found this cute picture of Thing 1 inside my new tote bag. :) He doesn't seem to mind that much, does he?

Also, go Red Sox! I have faith that you can turn this ship around tonight. So far, you've lost both games that I've worn my Sox t-shirt, so we're going with a strict "no Sox t-shirt" rule tonight. Hope it helps! ;)

Halloween '07

OK, kids, it's time to start thinking of Halloween costumes! This year, I don't have a boyfriend with whom to do a "couple costume," but oh well. I've got something good on my own. :)

You probably guessed it from the photo, but I'm going to be . . . Indiana Jane! Decided to go that route instead of the other option, Lara Croft, mostly because I like Indy's outfit better than any of Lara's.

However, I have a problem. I have a great white safari shirt & a khaki skirt with cargo pockets that will be perfect. I also have a leather jacket & fedora - but they're the wrong color! Indy wears brown of each; I have black.

What do you think, kids? Is it worth getting a brown fedora and brown leather jacket or should I suck it up with the black versions? :)

Game 1

As carefree as they look in this photo, these are your Boston Red Sox & they are ready to play tonight. :)

First pitch is at 7:10pm: Josh Beckett (a.k.a. Commander Kick-Ass of the F@# Yeah Brigade) on the mound against HUGE C.C. Sabathia.

A couple of old friends are in town for the weekend & we'll be meeting up with a couple of new friends to watch the game at The Page. Go Sox!

Birthday Weekend Recap

OK, the long awaited birthday recap. :) My actual birthday was Monday, but we celebrated it mostly on Sunday, since I had class & my mother had to work on Monday. Turned out to be a good thing, since the weather on Sunday was gorgeous & Monday left a little to be desired.

At my request, we spent part of the day at Cardigan Mountain Orchard, enjoying the view & the sunshine. The first pictures are from that, while the final are from my birthday dinner.

The orchard had a tractor, which totally made Thing 1's day

Pretty view from a hill in the orchard

My dad, nephew, brother-in-law & I

Before Thing 1 was born, my bro-in-law started calling me Auntie Stinky (a play on Auntie Stacey). Here's hoping it won't stick, but considering I now get cards addressed to Auntie
Stinky, I'm probably out of luck. ;)

My new tweed tote bag

My cake, which I made myself because I wanted to. :) It's a
pumpkin spice cake with an orange glaze. Go Auntie Stinky!

In this photo, Thing 1 is traumatized b/c Auntie blew out the candles, thereby making the pretty little lights go away. How dare she?!? ;)

So that was my 26th birthday. Man, I'm old. ;)

Too Much Going On

for a coherent post at the moment. I had a great 26th birthday over the weekend & the Red Sox are advancing to the AL Championship Series!!!

Plus, I have a paper to write, so I can't linger. I'll leave you guys with a cute picture of W. from the orchard we went to on Sunday & an IOU for a few longer posts soon. :)

Just Ain't Right

Well, I came on to blog about how great Wednesday's night win was, how great it was that the Yankees lost, and how excited I am to see tonight's game. Instead, I felt I had to write about this instead: Red Sox fan assaulted in New York.

Just looking at that title, what do you picture? I pictured a brave, but foolhardy fan in Sox regalia sauntering into a Manhattan sports bar during a playoff game - "bearding the lion in its den," so to speak. In which case, violence is never the answer, but that guy was taking a risk.

However, when you read the article, the facts emerge & it's not at all that simple. Carlos Ortez, a carpenter from Quincy in NY for a construction job, was watching Wednesday's game in the lounge of the Ramada Inn in Yonkers. Another patron of the bar made a comment about his Sox hat. After the game was over, this patron & two others with him followed Ortez & his co-worker outside & attacked Ortez.

Ortez is in intensive care & two of the three men were arrested. Wait for it - the story gets weirder. The men arrested for Ortez's attack are from Pennsylvania.

From the known facts of the case, the attack did not appear to be a "heat of the moment" thing based on an argument between two rabid Sox & Yankees fans. Ortez & his co-worker were away from home, just watching the Sox play at their own hotel bar. They did not go out looking for trouble, but somehow it found them, in the form of two other construction workers from another state altogether.

Now, I'm not saying that I would have been ok with two opposing fans from NY & Boston getting into a fight & hurting each other seriously - but I would have at least been able to understand it. This seems like a calculated attack on a lone man (Ortez & his co-worker were walking in difference directions when the three men attacked Ortez) who didn't appear to be baiting his attackers.

As tempting as it is to point to the two attackers as "typical brutish no-class Yankees fans," I'm not going to do it. As sacrilegious as it seems for me to say, I think most Yankees fans are pretty similar to most Red Sox fans - fiercely loyal to their team, but law-abiding.

However, this attack was beyond the pale of normal sports loyalty & should absolutely be condemned by both sides. Please think of Carlos Ortez as the Sox go into the second game of the playoffs tonight.

Back in the Game?

As much as I love my nephew & am looking forward to nephew #2, I am definitely not ready for kids, you guys. ;)

I had a lovely visit from my parents & nephew on Saturday, while my sister & her husband were in Maine celebrating their anniversary. However, Thing 1 was tired at dinner (at the Portsmouth Brewery) & he was a little crazy. I'm ashamed to admit that I got a little frustrated, especially when chasing crayons all over the table made me elbow my pint glass & spill a quarter of my Octoberfest.

Yes, I love him, but I am happy to be an auntie for now. ;)

However, on the bus on the way home from campus today, I saw something that made me realize that I am ready to be with someone seriously again. A couple was sitting side by side under a tree on a hillside & throwing a ball for their golden retriever to fetch. They looked happy.

I miss that kind of thing. Both of my exes shared my desire to explore the world "off the beaten path." Therefore, I spent a lot of time over the last three years tramping around outdoors: taking pictures, going on long walks, and exploring historic sites.

I'd like to have that again, please. Don't know to what romance authority I'd need to speak, but let's see what can be done, hmm?