Today's "read the whole thing" post
is by Charlie at Bucs Dugout, who does some investigative reporting by discussing Jim Tracy's tendencies with a Dodgers blogger. Extremely depressing and not for the faint of heart. We have Tracy and Littlefield for three more years and McClatchy for 15 or 20.
We trooped off to the game today, Zeke, Rebecca, and I, to celebrate Mother's Day. However, the damned thing was over in 15 minutes, putting all three of us in a foul mood that motivated a lot of catcalls to the field--our seats are within hearing range of the field, we think, in the section right behind where McClatchy sits, although he wasn't in his seat today. "Mark Cuban!" "Cu-ban, Cu-ban, Cu-ban!" "Tracy--retire!!!" "Bring back Lloyd!!!" and of course, "Burnitz, you stink!!!" This is really no way for a man my age to behave, and not the kind of behavior that parents are supposed to model for their children. No excuses here: following this team has me completely unhinged.
I picked a bad season in which to start a Pirates blog.
One of the oddest things about Pirates games these days is the demeanor of the ushers and other employees of the Pirates. If you say something to them such as, "Man, they really stink, don't they?" they give you these nervous smiles without actually responding, as if someone has explicitly forbidden to speak negatively about the team. There have been reports that the announcers are under similar orders. The other announcers play this a bit more subtly, but has anyone else noticed how, as things continue to unravel, Lanny has become increasingly like the Iraqi Information Minister?
The People's Republic of the Pittsburgh Pirates. My team.
I recall a conversation that the guys on the Baseball Prospectus podcasts had with one of the BP writers (can't recall which one) who is a lifelong Royals fan. They asked him something like, "How can you stand it?" and his answer was that, when you root for a sick team for which there is no hope in the foreseeable future, one way to survive is to become more of a fan of baseball instead of a fan of one particular team. This is easier than it has ever been, with blogs, internet sites, and mlb.com making both live games and archived games available. Maybe that's the answer for me.
We trooped off to the game today, Zeke, Rebecca, and I, to celebrate Mother's Day. However, the damned thing was over in 15 minutes, putting all three of us in a foul mood that motivated a lot of catcalls to the field--our seats are within hearing range of the field, we think, in the section right behind where McClatchy sits, although he wasn't in his seat today. "Mark Cuban!" "Cu-ban, Cu-ban, Cu-ban!" "Tracy--retire!!!" "Bring back Lloyd!!!" and of course, "Burnitz, you stink!!!" This is really no way for a man my age to behave, and not the kind of behavior that parents are supposed to model for their children. No excuses here: following this team has me completely unhinged.
I picked a bad season in which to start a Pirates blog.
One of the oddest things about Pirates games these days is the demeanor of the ushers and other employees of the Pirates. If you say something to them such as, "Man, they really stink, don't they?" they give you these nervous smiles without actually responding, as if someone has explicitly forbidden to speak negatively about the team. There have been reports that the announcers are under similar orders. The other announcers play this a bit more subtly, but has anyone else noticed how, as things continue to unravel, Lanny has become increasingly like the Iraqi Information Minister?
The People's Republic of the Pittsburgh Pirates. My team.
I recall a conversation that the guys on the Baseball Prospectus podcasts had with one of the BP writers (can't recall which one) who is a lifelong Royals fan. They asked him something like, "How can you stand it?" and his answer was that, when you root for a sick team for which there is no hope in the foreseeable future, one way to survive is to become more of a fan of baseball instead of a fan of one particular team. This is easier than it has ever been, with blogs, internet sites, and mlb.com making both live games and archived games available. Maybe that's the answer for me.
posted by Billy at 4:40 PM
3 Comments:
LOL. Good point!
Our regular usher in right field joins in the smack talking of the Pirates, but only with people he knows feel the same way. As for the announcers, I think they're almost given a script as they're employees of the team. Today when Cabrera hit his blast (and it was a helluva blast) there was just silence from Lanny and Walkie. Neither of them called the homer at all, just before it landed Walk deadpanned, "Gee, I wonder where THAT one's coming down." If you can't say something nice...
I see that I'm not the only person to have a blog posting stolen word-for-word on the Dogers-flyball blog...
Post a Comment
<< Home