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Rob Kamphausen said:
but if you wanna clear-cut it, i'll take you to a jets game one day!

you will believe a man can fly!



I'm not much of a football fan, but I know enough about the Jets, particularly their draft history, to have much respect for you for continue to support them.

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so, to a point, i can understand your side, now that i see what it is.

but, still, ....

like, i guess i can understand your points n'all. since losing good chunks of the team after october '04, i'd be pretty pissed too as a sox fan.



My issue isn't with ownership breaking up the '04 team. I knew that would happen. I was more than willing to accept the decisions they made and the reasons they made them, even if I didn't agree. As good as D-Lowe was in the postseason, he was atrocious in the regular season. So I didn't gripe about them letting him go. As much as I hated losing Pedro and using that money to pick up Clement and Wells, I was willing to buy into the whole "Pedro's shoulder won't last four years" argument. Didn't like it, but I bought it. The Renteria-over-Cabrera deal made no sense to me. Didn't Renteria play for the losing team in the World series? Didn't we trade a beloved player for Cabrera and didn't Cabrera's defense and occasional pop at the plate help us win the World Series in '04? But, again, I bought into ownership's philosophy.

I'm not upset at '05. The Red Sox did the best they could. They gave their all. They came up short. It happens. The important thing, for me, is that they played hard all season and took responsibility when they succeeded AND failed. Graffanino showed a lotta class taking responsibility for his costly error.

My issue is the air of surrender that has been the norm since the trade deadline. In a region where our hockey team's owner openly doesn't care whether the team wins games, but our football team's ownership works hard and smart to put a winning team on the field, the Red Sox's air of futility and apathy is unacceptable. If I wanted to follow a Red Sox team whose ownership never gave a shit about the team or its fans, I'd hunt down tapes of the Yankey/Harrington-run teams.

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but i always think of the redeeming qualities to keep me around. even if i'm pissed at management, coaching, and pitching, and two or three bitchy players, there's always still one or two guys that you know are playing their hearts out that you wanna cheer for.



Which is one of the reasons I keep sneaking peeks. I caught the 1-0 win against the White Sox. I've seen bits and pieces all month. I couldn't escape the Toronto series, what with being in Toronto that weekend and all. I'll say it again: I love this team - I'm psyched to hear that 'Tek and Trot and Big Papi are back and Wily Mo is in the line-up. I just won't actively seek the games out or give ownership my time or dollars.

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or to continue having fun in this thread, which you've often spent not talking about baseball a lotta the time. or you could take the lumps and tell us why you hate the team or this player or whatever. give us a soxian view. like how much i dislike arod or coudln't stand knoblauch (whatta fucking scumbag!)



And here lies another rub. I love this thread. I love clashing swords with you and PJP and Harley. I love talking about the game and the rivalry. Love it. But last month, I wasn't enjoying it because every time I thought about the team I'd get a little angrier at management. Which would lead to typing posts that weren't funny but were needlessly scathing and then deleting them. If I'm gonna participate in this thread, it damn well better be in the spirit that this thread is meant. Being a whiny bitch, or - worse - not being able to carry my load, isn't fair to you three. You need a rival who can hold his own and still be as scathing as he's been. I've just been angry.

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or, fuck, just for the sake of watching the game with my pals or my dad. even if we're bitching out every onscreen move we see.

i guess i don't think i could pass up on all that.

i like the bad parts as much as the good.



I absolutely see your point. I'll tell you a funny li'l story about this weekend. I read this thread on Friday night. On Saturday I was in a golf tournament with my Dad. Now my Dad is a Yankees fan, has been ever since he moved to NJ in '95 to work in Manhattan. Now that he's back in NE, that hasn't changed. We swap Red Sox/Yankees gifts at XMas.He has a Yankees head cover for his driver. And for my birthday I got a Sparky Lyle autographed baseball...in a Yankees gift bag (yes, I know he played for both teams...hee hee!). After the tourney, we stuck around for the dinner and raffle. My Dad won his choice of golf packages, so he chose the Red Sox head cover and Red Sox style Calloway golf balls. He kept the golf balls - he plays with Calloways and likes the idea of "smacking the Red Sox around a golf course". Then, purposely in front of me, he traded the head cover for a King Cobra ballcap. Bastid.

My point is that I agree with what you're saying. I never had the intention to end my fandom entirely. I'd miss my feud with my Dad. I'd miss the rivalry in this thread. And I'd miss what makes this li'l guy ----> so special.

(Lookit him! Picking up where things were left off. You see that, Harley? You see his li'l mouth?)

In the end, you're right. So, as many times as I'll be gritting my teeth as I post in this thread (damn ownership), I'll still be posting. But I reserve the right to curse out whatever ineptness I see in my team. I'll be doing it with love.

Uschi said:
I won't rape you, I'll just fuck you 'till it hurts and then not stop and you'll cry.

MisterJLA: RACKS so hard, he called Jim Rome "Chris Everett." In Him, all porn is possible. He is far above mentions in so-called "blogs." RACK him, lest ye be lost!

"I can't even brush my teeth without gagging!" - Tommy Tantillo: Wank & Cry, heckpuppy, and general laughingstock

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