Inky Horizons

So, let's see....

Yankees and Phillies. 

*YAWN*

If you love baseball you know why I'm irate about this.

The worst call of all time.  (No, it's not an exaggeration. Would that it were.)



When you're not touching the base and you are tagged, you're OUT. Sometimes it even results in a double play. Well, those were the rules....

I'm in a bitchy mood today about baseball. It mostly has to do with the Yankees on their way to buying another World Series. Like we haven't seen that before.

But I've really had it with umpires in professional baseball. It's getting to the point where I don't enjoy watching a game because the umpiring is so bad.  It's blatantly bad. I expect this kind of ineptness from the minor leagues. But in professional baseball? Wow. Fuck that.

And I'm not talking about the need for instant replay in baseball, although if last night doesn't convince anyone we need instant reply then nothing will.

I'm talking about the umpires themselves and their unwillingness to follow the basic rules of the game.  There's a rule for what the strike zone is, so why don't they call it? And don't give me the "Well, as long as they're consistent it's okay" horseshit. No, it's not okay. A ball outside the strike zone isn't a strike just because an umpire always calls it a strike. You don't get a touchdown in football for getting the ball to the two-yard line. Close isn't good enough for other sports.

So why is "close is good enough" okay for baseball? I don't understand that.

Aren't we at the point where technology can take over some of the umpiring duties of baseball? Not for everything, but for strikes and balls? If we're not now we will be in ten years.

I'd trust a laser to tell me what the balls and strikes are more than someone behind the plate who is only interested in his own power and not getting the call right.

I am so over the Cubs.  Which upon reflection is nothing short of amazing. I mean, I've followed this team since 1974. So far this season I haven't seen but about three games, if that. I have no idea what their standings are or what their record is or anything else. I used to have these facts at my fingertips.  But after last season, or more specifically after last post-season...I just lost interest in tying myself to them.

I guess I got tired of having my soul stomped on. I still watch baseball. I watch the Astros and the Rangers. Not unsurprising since I live in Dallas, TX.  And I watch whatever game might be on ESPN. But I'm not clued in to what's going on with the Cubs.  I might have a chance to go to Chicago next year. I was asked if I wanted to go see a Cubs game and I said, "Nah, not really. There's lots of other things to do in Chicago."

I'm still a fan, though, if only out of inertia. I want them to do well. But I'm not emotionally invested in them the way I once was. I don't follow them with the fervor I once did.

I think there's a game on now. Lemme turn it on.

Huh. They're playing the Astros. It's 0 -0 in the top of the second. But that goes to my point. I didn't even know they were on and I used to know their weekly television schedule by heart.

I think part of it is I'm also busier. Matthew and Patrick are older and there's more fun things I can do with them now. I guess I like that more. 

I'm ready for baseball to start so I can have something to watch on TV. But I have no emotional interest in the Cubs at all. Not after last season.

I can't say I'm surprised. They're just doing what the Cubs always do: implode.

This might be the last year I spend following this club. Seriously. I'm tired of having my heart stomped on. Even someone of my limited intelligence catches on eventually....

Cubs play the Dodgers tonight. It's the first game in a five game series. Cubs in four.

GO CUBS!

My Cubs won the NL Central yesterday.  Go Cubs!

I'm satisfied.  Oh, sure, I'd like to see them win the playoffs and get into the World Series and win that, too, especially seeing as how it's been exactly one hundred years since they last won the Series.  But no true Cubs fan has the right to expect more out of this team than Division Champs -- and even that's pushing things because say what you want that Goat Curse is real.  I've been a Cubs fan way too long to get my hopes up about anything other than what they've accomplished right now.  Anything extra will be icing on the cake, as far as I'm concerned.

Pessimistic?  No. It's just that I'm a Cubs fan.  As such you learn to take what you can get and run with it.  A bird in the hand, and all that jazz.

My Cubs won their division and they're going to the playoffs.  I'm happy enough with that.

I hope Mark Cuban becomes the owner of the Cubs.

Because, you know. He's Mark Cuban. And they're the Cubs. Oh, and the Tribune sucks donkey balls.

What is it with ESPN and the Yankees?  There are thirty major league teams to choose from and ESPN always picks a Yankee game to broadcast. What's up with that? Nobody I know likes the Yankees or gives a good goddamn about them or their lunatic owner. I say fuck 'em. Let's see something else for once. Maybe the Yankees who live in East-coast biased Yankeeland like the Yankees, but the rest of 'Murica sure as hell doesn't.

This Jack Daniels I'm sipping straight up sure is good, btw.

Sweet Baby Christ. Four games into the season and we're already in the fucking basement.

Today is Opening Day, the best day in baseball. And already there are sports writers who are saying the Cubs will win the Central, and more than one saying they are going to win the World Series.

Sweet Baby Jesus. What are these guys on?

Are they in Boston with empressov knocking back double absinthe shots before they spout this garbage? Way to curse them for another hundred years, by saying on the first day of the season they're going to win it all.  These are the Cubs we're talking about. You can't say shit like that and not expect the universe to crush your heart one more time....

Grr.

Anyway. I'll write this morning and then I will be able to justify watching baseball the rest of the day. I love Opening Day!

"This record is not tainted at all. At all. Period."  --Barry Bonds


Want to bet on that, Barry? Yeah, I'm happy. I hate this rat bastard racist. I'm not the only one. His teammates hated him, too. He never worked out with the team, traveled with the team, ate with the team. He was an asshole from day one and he never deviated from that path.  And now he's been indicted. And it's all because he's an arrogant fucking jerk.

And I can prove that.

When he went before the Grand Jury they made him a deal. They told him he had immunity. He could tell them anything he wanted and he wouldn't be prosecuted. So what does Bonds do?

He goes before the Grand Jury and lies. And they know he's lying because they have drug tests that proves he's lying. Result? He fucked himself. This isn't about steroids. It's about lying to a Grand Jury. That's why he's in trouble. 

No one did this to him; he did it to himself. And he deserves whatever he gets.

I said the Red Sox would take the series in five, but it appears that nine-day layoff really hurt the Rockies.  Still, kudos to the Red Sox.  Hardly a memorable series, though.

The WS begins tonight as the Red Sox host the Rockies.  I'm a National League fan first and foremost, but even I must bow down to reality.  Rockies ain't gonna win this series.

Sox in five.

I'm really not surprised.  I'm not even angry.  I mean, I've taken it up the ass from this ball club since 1974.  You don't get anally raped for that many years and suddenly get angry when the Cubs tank three games straight and get knocked out of the playoffs.  Seriously.  We Cubs fans are sterner stuff than that.  Give us some credit.

But I would be lying if I said I was surprised.  The Cubs this year were never anything other than a AAA team in a very lousy division.  They never really won the central as much as the other teams in their division collapsed and gave it to them.  The Cubs didn't lose this playoff series, the Diamond Backs won it...and deservedly so.  They were a professional baseball team.  My Cubs were never anything other than bush league.

99 years.  99 fucking years.  That's some serious longevity to the disappointment of a long-suffering fan base.

But, hey, you get cursed by a goat and you might as well slit your goddamn throat.  There are curses and there are curses.  The curse of the goat ain't nothing to sneeze at.  That fucker was serious when he doomed the Chicago Cubs.

Don't fuck with the goat.  Ever.

Brewers lost last night so the Cubs are still on life support.  Now I know what you're thinking. I was about to have my head explode yesterday.  Yep.  Welcome to being a Cubs fan.  It's a rollercoaster ride of emotion like that for the whole damn season.  And I've been a Cubs fan since 1974.

You do the math.

I just want my team to win, I DON'T want them to back into the playoffs in October just because they were a less shitty team than the Brewers.  I know some people will tell you it doesn't matter how you get into the post season, as long as you get there.  I would disagree.  I would rather my team make it on their own merits, winning their way in, than depending on some other team to tank.  Just me, I guess.

But, yeah, being a Cubs fan is like this.  Up one minute, down the next month.  You get used to it.  It's not for everyone, though.  It takes a strong constitution and someone with a bleak outlook on life to weather the highs and lows.  Heh.  That describes me perfectly.

Go Cubbies! (you bastards)

Never. Never. Never.

Jesus Fucking Christ.  We were 3.5 games up and we get swept by the goddamn Marlins. Worse, we get swept by the goddamn Marlins for the entire season.  Worse, it was the goddamn Marlins who fucked us in '03.

Three games to play and we're playing like shit.  Trachsel is a fucking gas can.  Why did they bring that goddamn bastard back? He was a worthless POS when we had him the first time. Unbelievable.  Who makes these decisions? I want the motherfucker's phone number and address.  He and I have an appointment.  And Dempster.  Don't get me started on Dempster.  That bastard either spins one into the dirt for ball four or meatballs it down the center of the plate for a three-run homerun.  And he's supposed to be our closer. 

*Sigh*

There ain't enough fucking vodka in the world to see me through this weekend.  It's gonna be real shaky around here for the next seventy-two hours....   :(

Wow. I'm kind of stunned. Right now the Cubs are 3.5 games up on the Brewers with like 6 or 7 to play. Cubs don't play today but the Brewers do, which means the Cubs can increase their lead to 4 or only fall back to a three game lead. Pretty nice.

But they are the Cubs. How many times have I had my heart broken? Well, let's see. I've been a fan since 1974. Every year since then. You do the the math.

At the moment this looks pretty good, though. Think I'll run with it. 

Well, at least the Chicago Cubs have pretty much put the Cardinals away this weekend. Now the Central Division is up for grabs between the Cubs and the Brewers.  The Cubs have a game on them, but that doesn't mean anything. If you've watched the Cubs as long as I have (since 1974) then having your heart broken is an annual occurrence.  Simple rule of thumb: Never bet on the Cubs.  You'll be happier.

But the remaining schedule does favor the Cubs, so we'll see.  At least our mortal enemy, the Cardinals, are out of the picture.  Thank goodness.