The Lesser Lights of Red Sox Nation

Ever since the Cleveland Indians fell from grace, I've not followed baseball as closely as I used to. I still love a good baseball story, though, and I still enjoy a little distraction while I write. As the owner of a new computer stationed in the living room, I can enjoy the hedonism that is surfing the 'net and watching TV at the same time.

So I flipped on Game 1 of Yankees/Red Sox game, with the Yanks comfortably ahead, 8-0. A few extra base hits later, it's 8-5 and I feel I have just casually turned it to a baseball game that may have historic ramifications. If the Red Sox come all of the way back to win this, it may give them the momentum to propel them to a World Series victory. I should not be honored with watching such a historic event if I disdained the first two hours of it to watch The Golf Channel. I'm not deserving.

I don't deserve to watch, but I will, as I write. No, I'm not going to turn this into a stream-of-consciousness entry, because too many have done it (because it's very easy ... I do wish I had thought of it). However, I will keep you posted, and I will also toss in a couple of comments from Red Sox message boards, where they must be going berserker right now.

"OMFG!!! NO WAY" offers mrr75819 on one board regarding the comeback.

"COME ON BOSTON 5 RUN SEVENTH AND BREAK UP THE MOSSINAS NO HITTER. HOLD THE YANKS AND MAKE AN AWSOME COMEBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1" says Lee on another board, who then laments the lack of support he is getting on his "rally thread." To be fair, he correctly spells a few more words than he missed.

This is just too much excitement to take when there are still 14 undefeated teams in Division 1A college football, nine of which come from BCS conferences.

That number will fall to 11 as three games involve only unbeatens: Louisville at Miami, Arizona State goes to USC, and Wisconsin plays at Purdue.

(Uh-oh. Red Sox now have two on with two outs in the eighth. All this overwhelming excitement prompts soxfansincebirth to note, "it lookedlike arod grabbed riveras butt.")

Miami is expected to have little trouble with Louisville, and ditto for Arizona State with USC. The most intriguing game of the week is Wisconsin at Purdue, mostly because of their contrasting strengths. Really though, Purdue's resume looks better to me, particularly after Syracuse, slain 51-0 by the Boilermakers, nearly upended Florida State. This'll be one time when a great offense beats a great defense.

I'm giving Miami about an 85% chance of handling Louisville, but I wouldn't be shocked with a Cardinal win.

The most likely upset to occur during the battle of the unbeatens is Arizona State over USC. This is the third-straight week USC has been played a very good team, and the first two came down to the wire. Can't see why this would be any different, so why not bet some house money that it'll go the other way? USC is still great, just not dominant, and this cupcake-free run has to have them exhausted soon. Arizona State, even more than Cal and Staford, is a team in search of a destiny, and had an extra week to prepare. I'm thinking they will grab it here.

(Boom! It's now 8-7 Yankees going into the bottom of the eighth! Alas, before anyone can get too excited, the Yanks put two on with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Toofarawayfromboston thinks the Sox just need "POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!! POSITIVE VIBES!!!")

Later this year, Virginia will face Miami, Southern Miss will play Louisville, and Oklahoma will square off against Oklahoma State. I realize that we have an "upset Saturday" virtually every year, and that cuts the field of undefeated down to a reasonable amount. But the perverse in me badly wants the year to finish with nine unbeatens (say, Louisville, Virginia, Oklahoma, USC, Utah, Boise State, Purdue, Navy, and Auburn). It could happen. I think that may be just what the playoff doctor calls for to get the conference commissioners to install a playoff system.

(Yanks score two on a double over Manny Ramirez's head, and now it's one pitch, one out for the BoSox in the ninth. What say you, Bossox316? "YOU BIG FAT *******!!! You had to ******* catch the fly ball, my god! Manny you must be the king of the idiots you fat ****!!!")

Quick Picks of the Week

Now with more picks, less 'splainin':

ILLINOIS +19 over Michigan
Tennessee -10 over MISSISSIPPI
Oklahoma State -7.5 over TEXAS A&M
Stanford +1 over WASHINGTON STATE
LIONS -1 over Packers

The Slant Pattern Top-25

1. Oklahoma
2. USC
3. Virginia
4. Purdue
5. Auburn
6. Miami
7. Oklahoma State
8. California
9. Florida State
10. Arizona State
11. Georgia
12. Wisconsin
13. Utah
14. Louisville
15. Boise State
16. Tennessee
17. Minnesota
18. Southern Miss
19. Navy
20. Michigan
21. Texas Tech
22. West Virginia
23. LSU
24. Texas
25. Florida

(Yes, you already know that the Red Sox couldn't pull off the comeback, losing 10-7. What do you think about that, warmsox? "it will be better but the fact of the matter is we would never have lost if francona used the bullpen correctly!!" Got that? If not for the bullpen moves, Boston definitely would have come won.)

For a slightly more intelligent message board on all sports, give a look at the Sports Central Message Boards.

Comments and Conversation

October 15, 2004

M. E. G.:

Purdue as #4? I suppose in some respect this is analogous to the Buckeyes of ‘02, i.e. do you believe they can win a BCS bowl game against a top-five team. Still, I doubt they could replicate Cal’s performance in Los Angeles (or Louisville’s in Coral Gables). Good pool, though, except Auburn deserves to be higher and Virginia is overrated, unless, of course, the FSU Era of Doak Dominance is really over.

November 18, 2004

Chilli:

i think the bcs should b banned because we would be able to enjoy a plyoff more than one very important bowl game. Look how big March Madness is and basketball is no where near as popular as football. It would be even bigger. We would be able to find who the real champions are.

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