Sox Lose Again

I don't care about the result of this game. I'm glad to see Clay Buchholz doing well. He threw 7 scoreless innings, only allowed 4 hits, and was in line for his 12th win of the season.

In the 17 starts he's made since the end of May, he's averaging over 7 innings per start, and has a 2.80 ERA. There aren't many brilliant free agent starters available this off-season, so there's a strong likelihood that Buchholz will be the best pitcher on this team in 2013... IF he can stay healthy, IF he can avoid these prolonged slumps at the start of the season, IF he can be consistent.

As for this game, Andrew Bailey totally blew it. The Sox had a 4-1 lead in the 9th and lost in undignified fashion. This was an embarrassing loss (at least it would have been if people were still watching), and the Sox have had more than a dozen of these horrible, painful, inexcusable giveaway games.

Only 11 baseball games left.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

I Like How the Patriots Handle the Media

The difference between 4 Yawkey Way and 1 Patriot Place go beyond the differences between a clustered city street and an expansive suburban roadway. Fenway Park spews and leaks information like the Titanic leaked water, while Gillette Stadium is as air-tight with info as an astronaut's helmet.

Brian Waters is the latest example. For weeks, speculative theorists like The Sportshub's Michael Felger have been berating the Patriots for being cheap with Brian Waters. They had no facts to base their criticism. These weren't sharks that detected blood, Felger was more like a blind/dead/senseless vulture bumbling around for a provocative story, making up things until something he said wound up being true.

But it wasn't. The Patriots offered Brian Waters $4 million to play this year, almost triple his $1.4 million salary. But Waters wants to stay at home in Texas. And that's his right, and his choice. Waters might want to play for the Houston Texans, but the Patriots understandably would rather not help one of their AFC rivals improve.

Felger didn't get why the Pats would "nickel and dime" a Pro Bowl lineman when Brady's protection seemed so suspect in the preseason. Instead of acknowledging that he didn't know anything, Felger assumed. And people who assume make asses out of themselves. Felger was wrong. He didn't understand the Pats nickel and diming Waters because they didn't.

I think Shawn Thornton said it best...

Anyway, as unnerving and frustrating as it can be, I like how valuable the Patriots regard information. They don't talk about anything. Even when they talk, they say nothing.

They don't mind being perceived as cheap. They don't care about perception. They don't mind jagoffs like Felger flapping their jaws and spouting rubbish. Unlike the Red Sox who desperately try to control the narratives that sports media discuss.

I remember when the Pats traded Randy Moss they actually went out of their way to debunk stories that had come out about Moss's problems with the team. The Patriots defended a popular star player they dumped. That's something the Red Sox would never do.

It seems funny to me how much criticism the Patriots get in this town, even though they're the most successful Boston sports team in this century. It's because the media doesn't get juicy gossip, doesn't get the inside scoop, they get frustrated and make things up. See: Felger, Ron Borges, John Tomase, et cetera.

Fuck the media, go Pats!

Let's Start Our Own Hockey League

The NHL has cancelled preseason games in September, and it won't be long until regular season games are erased from the schedule.

But what's to stop another league in the US and Canada from starting? And if that happened, what would we want that League to look like?

Well Florida wouldn't have any teams. If I had to pick cities that had franchises, it would be the following:

Boston
New York
Chicago
Detroit
Montreal
Toronto
Buffalo
Ottawa
Philadelphia
Los Angeles
Vancouver
Edmonton
Winnipeg
Calgary
Quebec
Pittsburgh
Newark
Washington
Raleigh
Minneapolis
Denver

That's it, 21 teams. Divide them into 3 divisions of 7 teams, or don't divide them at all. Whatever. But the root problem with this NHL labor dispute is that small-market teams can't keep pace with large ones. The players want revenue sharing to remedy this problem, the owners want players to get less money. My solution is: eradicate the small-market teams in cities where hockey is seen as a weird side-attraction.

But finding billionaire hockey fans in so many cities might be tough, so let's keep the league at 16 teams, in these cities:

Boston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Denver, Minneapolis, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Newark, Los Angeles

Fewer teams, higher talent level, more familiarity between teams, and no Phoenix Coyotes or Florida Panthers dragging the League down.

How hard can it be? Just adopt the NHL's rules, hire the officials, hire the players. Many of the rinks are owned by cities and states, not the NHL teams that play there. Boston might be a problem, for instance, because Jeremy Jacobs owns The Garden. But offer him high enough rent rates and he'll succumb to his greedier instincts.

To be honest, the players are the attraction. All us hockey fans love the NHL because the best players play in the NHL. We don't care about franchise rights, or anything like that.

So let us start our own League. We'll call it the North American Hockey League, and we'll plunder the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and commandeer the Stanley Cup.

So the Red Sox Will Be Below .500

For the first time since 1997, the Red Sox will finish below .500. 1997 doesn't seem like very long ago, but remember that was the year Pedro Martinez won the Cy Young, for the Expos. The Orioles won the AL East. Nomar Garciaparra won Rookie of the Year. Derek Jeter had 385 career hits. Tom Gordon was a starting pitcher. The Marlins won the World Series.

That's how long it's been since the Red Sox lost more games than they won.

Back then, Dan Duqeutte made a trade for an Ace (Pedro), and the Sox became contenders in 1998 and 1999. The Sox could use another transaction like that.

Daisuke Matsuzaka laid another egg last night. The good news was he only walked 1. The bad news was he allowed 9 hits in 3 innings. Alfredo Aceves looked just as bad, Daniel Bard looked even worse.

I sincerely hope the Sox don't keep Matsuzaka. He's slow, and he isn't very good. If the rest of the rotation had more certainty, I wouldn't mind him as a #5 starter. But with the top of the rotation in flux, Daisuke is too much of an unknown variable.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Fire Bobby Valentine Now

If Bobby Valentine is the manager of the 2013 Red Sox, I think we'll all be stunned. For a few weeks, I didn't mind that he was sticking around. What's the difference between that and a bench coach serving as interim manager?

But Bobby Valentine is doing harm to this team. His pinch-hitting of Jose Iglesias is my Exhibit A. He pinch hits for a young AAA guy with a 2-2 count because there's a man who just stole second. And in the process, he jeopardizes a prospect's confidence, doesn't do much to win the game, and magnifies his own ego issues.

The reason the Mets dropped Valentine is that he tries too hard to impact the game. He can't just sit back, do his job, and manage. He tries to do more than that. He tries to have an effect on every single aspect of the game, the team, the organization.

He tried to provoke responses with statements to media (See: remarks about Kevin Youkilis). He tries to get youngsters motivated by putting them down (See: remarks to Will Middlebrooks). He tries to boost pitchers' self-esteem by leaving them in games. He's always trying, always failing, always reaching beyond his job description. He's not a psychologist, not a self-esteem guru, he's a friggin' baseball manager.

Bobby Valentine feels like it's his responsibility to do everything. He feels like the role of manager is the most important job on a baseball club.

It isn't.

Managers are supposed to manage. They're supposed to move players in and out of games. They're supposed to manage egos and expectations. They balance, they don't control. They're supposed to let pitchers pitch, hitters hit, and fielders field. They're not supposed to take players out of 2-2 at-bats.

Valentine is a shitty manager. There's no other way to phrase it. Every day he manages this team, he does harm to it. He infects it with his egomania, which is a mask for his lack of self-esteem.

Bobby Valentine is a psychological mess. He has Oedipal issues with his father. He's what I call an Insertive Personality, in that he feels the need to insert himself in any situation. He can't just sit back and let others do their job and succeed without his own influence. He pushes, far too much.

Most of all, Bobby Valentine is scared. He was scared of Pedroia back in April, he's scared of failure, he's scared of disappointing his father, he's scared of looking in the mirror and seeing Bobby Valentine.

Fire him and send him to a shrink.

My Favorite Brick at Fenway Park

A friend sent me this picture he took of a brick at Fenway Park. I would pay good money for this piece of masonry.

Patriots Sign Deion Branch... Again

This is perhaps the least surprising sports story in New England history. Even after releasing him, the Patriots never removed Branch's nameplate from the locker room. You never heard any rumblings that he might end up elsewhere. And with the injury to Aaron Hernandez, the Pats could use another reliable receiving weapon. There was no way that this wouldn't happen.

They also signed Kellen Winslow Jr. Winslow had worked out with the Patriots before the start of the season. I remember WEEI's Lou Merloni being baffled that the Pats would work out multiple tight-ends (they also worked out then signed Michael Hoomananawanui), if they didn't intend to sign them. This is why, Lou... just in case.

What will the offense look like without Hernandez and with Branch and Winslow?

Branch has always been one of Brady's most reliable, must-have-down targets for Brady. When it's 3rd and 7, Branch will get 8. He's older, but he can still play a situational role on the offense, which should take some pressure off Brandon Lloyd.

The Patriots can't just replace Hernandez's type of production. Winslow will get some passes thrown to him, but Hernandez was practically a wide-receiver. Branch will get some throws, Welker will get more attention, and the whole offense will have to change while Hernandez is out.

It's always good after both a loss and an injury to a key player to get a nice bit of news. I'm glad to see Branch back.

Red Sox on a Mission for .500

The Red Sox need to win every single game in order to avoid their first sub-.500 finish since 1997. And they're on their way. Only 13 more wins to go.

Felix Doubront went 6 innings and only 1 hit. He also allowed 5 walks. But it's good to see him get another win, and maybe end 2012 on a positive note. Doubront and Clay Buchholz are now tied for the team lead with 11 wins. Which speaks volumes about the struggles of the Sox rotation.

I wouldn't mind Doubront as a #5 pitcher in a future rotation, so long as the 1-4 pitchers were actually 1-4 pitchers. This team is loaded with #4 and #5 pitchers, and that's one reason they'll need a 15 game win streak in order to finish 81-81.

Cody Ross had a pair of hits, including his 32nd double. It'd be nice to see him back with this team next season.

There's nothing about this team you can't enjoy by watching any garden variety reality TV show. A reality TV show that lasts over 4 hours.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo