Nurse the Hate: Hate Being Stunned

I am just now getting over what transpired last week when the Indians came back from the brink of victory to snatch a soul crushing loss from the Red Sox. That the Red Sox went through the Rockies like a hot knife through butter only makes it worse for Indians fans. I heard some sports talk turd trot out the old "doesn't it make you feel good to know that the Indians lost to the eventual champions" line. No. No, it doesn't make me feel good. It makes me feel like that they choked not just on the ALCS, but rather at the best look they had a championship since the 9th inning of Game 7 in 1997. Next year the Tigers will be healthy, Liriano comes back for the Twins, and the Indians can't expect another year like 2007 from Carmona, Betancourt, Byrd, or Lewis.

The fact is that the nucleus of this team is the same bunch of choke artists that flamed out to the Devil Rays at home to somehow miss the playoffs two years ago. Then when expectations were raised in 2006, they swan dived through April to never recover. The only guys I would make untouchable on that roster are Martinez, Sizemore, Westbrook, Carmona, and Betancourt. Anyone else is trade bait to try and get a winning attitude in there. They need some veteran who's been in big games, and delivered. Gary Sheffield available? Can they squeeze a productive year out of Jim Edmunds? Can Sandy Alomar get knee replacement surgery and catch once a week? Is Scott Brosius still out there? Maybe Reggie Jackson can still swing it. What about Bob Gibson? Can the exhumed body of Phil "The Scooter" Rizzuto contribute?

By the way, the Rockies looked like the 8th best team in the AL out there. Who would you rather play, the Rockies or the Twins? How about Seattle? I think the Red Sox, Indians, Yankees, Angels, Tigers, Twins, and Mariners are all better than Colorado. You could make an argument about a healthy Toronto too. That was the worst looking World Series team since the Yankees beat the crap out of the Padres in 1996.

Random Notes: I saw a really good scruffy country rawk guy named Ryan Bingham open up for the Drive By Truckers last week. Check him out if you have the chance. The best stuff is kind of like a ballsier Todd Snider, or what Whiskeytown should have been...At The Thermals show this weekend, I noticed the "new cool thing to do" is to throw the contents of your beverage at the band/crowd in front of you. I can say confidently that while you may think you are being "punk rock" by doing that, all you are really doing is making the guitar player pissed off because his strings are getting sticky from beer. He (or she)then has to stop, and wipe down the guitar to start playing again while everyone else waits around. The Thermals seemed like nice harmless young adults that would never get mad about it (publicly at least). It is kind of a drag though. If a friend of mine drenches me in some beer, I can live with that. If some scrawny little fuck standing on the edge of the crowd does it, that's not really about enthusiasm with the rock performance, is it? I think that when someone becomes that overzealous about ruining the good time of everyone else, a well placed blow by a mic stand will help restore order. At least, in my experience, it has done the trick...There's going to be a lot of wild talk about this Indy/New England game this week. The Pats are 8-0 vs the spread, so stick with 'em until they don't cover. Stick with it until they give you a reason not to...I tasted my way through an impressive array of 2005 Bordeaux last weekend. If you can, I would advise buying the 2005 Leoville Barton and 2005 Cos d'Estournel. Buy 3 each and stick them away in a cool dark place until 2017. You'll be really happy you did.