Who is the Underdog Now??

Is this the Michael Jordan of Taiwan???

It seem that after 86 years of losing, only to see the Yankees continue to win during that time, that Red Sox fans had grudgingly accepted their underdog role. Now the question has to be...Who is the underdog now? A reasonable person can't possibly look at the Red Sox and Yankee rivalry through the same old glasses any longer can they? Isn't it a fact that the Red Sox are now the team to beat in that rivalry? The tide has certainly turned hasn't it? The Yankees are always referencing their "26 rings", but don't the most recent 2 rings that the Red Sox find on their fingers trump that when we are talking about this decade, and certainly this season? I guess it would depend on who you ask. Hal Steinbrenner certainly doesn't think so. He was quoted in GQ Magazine as saying....

"I don’t think you guys wanted to play us in the ALCS. So I will concede nothing. I think we’re better than you."

I can appreciate that coming from the team owner but is the average sports fan with no allegiance to either the Red Sox or the Yankees suppose to believe that? I mean aren't the New York Giants now the team to beat in football? If that's the case, and I believe most New Yorkers will tell you that it is, then don't those same New Yorkers have to say that the Red Sox are the team to beat in baseball?

Now I know what most New Yorkers are probably thinking right now, and that is that we have forgotten about their secret weapon. Which secret weapon you ask? That would be Chien-Ming Wang, the "Michael Jordan of Taiwan"; I do wish I could have been in the room when his agents pulled that one out of their asses! To respond to that thought, on behalf of Red Sox Nation, I say to you, that as great as he may be, we are not worried about Chien-Ming Jordan.

Anyway, it is my humble opinion that, at the end of the day, when all the arguing and debating is done, that the Red Sox are the team to beat. As for why, it's real easy. They have to be. They are the reigning champions and that will hold true until they are eliminated from World Series contention in 2008, and nothing that the Yankees have done in the past can change that.

If You Could Forgive One Man in Sports......

Shoeless Joe Jackson

All this Roger Clemens talk seems to have people divided into two groups. One group says give him a pass, and the other group says he should be held accountable for his (alleged) actions. This got me thinking. Should he be given a pass? Should he still be a first ballot Hall of Famer? Should he be in the HOF at all? With those questions in my mind I ask you this; If you had one vote to cast for "forgiveness" who would you cast it for? (Let's just stick to the sports world please) Would it be for a guy like Steve Bartman? Scott Norwood? Roger Clemens, Marion Jones? To take it one step further, who would you allow into the HOF who isn't there now (or you don't see getting in when their time comes) but you think should be?

Pete Rose- Gambling
Mark McGwire- Steroids
Shoeless Joe Jackson- Accused of Game Fixing
Barry Bonds- Steroids (I'm just assuming that he's not getting in on the first ballot if at all)
Raphael Palmeiro- Steroids

Who do you think deserves the pass into the Hall? Remember you can only pick one for the Hall.

Andy Pettitte.... A Rat??

It seems as though Andy Pettitte's press conference today has stirred up a lot of emotion, and in reading some of the comments across the internet today it seems like most of the emotion is, not only negative, but aimed at Andy Pettitte. How can that be you ask? Well, apparently New Yorkers think that Pettitte is "a rat". Well, with that said, in my slightly slanted opinion, most New Yorkers have shown themselves to be ignorant morons! You look at a guy who tells the truth while looking at a choice between prison or supporting his family and you call him a rat? It's not like Pettitte came out and started running his mouth just because he felt like it. They gave him a choice. Which, by the way, was the same choice that they gave McNamee. Tell the truth or face possible jail time for perjury. I guess most big tough New Yorkers would have put their friendship first and their families in the background where they apparently think they belong. Do any of them think for a second that Clemens would have put himself or his reputation in harms way to protect Pettitte if the situation was the other way around? Clemens is interested in one thing and one thing only and that's covering his own ass even if he has to expose someone else's ass to try to do it. In this case, that person's ass was Mrs. Clemens, literally. I'm just waiting for him to say "it wasn't me it was the one armed man". By the reaction from most New Yorkers though it seems as if this is the kind of guy that most New Yorkers aspire to be and think displays the qualities that a man should possess. I have to say, I feel bad for any single woman around New York who are looking for an intelligent honest man because apparently they are few and far between. On the bright side though if you're looking for an ignorant guy with his priorities and values all out of whack then you are in the right place!

As far as Andy Pettitte goes, he has earned my respect. What he did was wrong and today he accepted the consequences. He didn't run, he didn't hide, and he didn't point the finger at anyone and everyone in his life. We all make poor choices at one time or another. It's how you handle the consequences of those choices that make you a man.