Saturday, August 23, 2008

Late Summer Doldrums

Anyone else having a hard time getting into the BoSox? Don't get me wrong, I still check the box scores every evening/morning to see if the Sox have made up ground on the Rays and I do watch more games than not but I'm having a hard time kicking it into gear. Given the fact that we're moving into the stretch playoff run, I need to turn that trend around soon.

Same problem with the Patriots. I'm not worried that they've now lost three straight pre-season games. In fairness, I'm more concerned with Tom Brady's foot injury than anything given the fact that we all know that the Pats fate remains firmly in the hands of Tommy B. I have started to engage with football ONLY because I've had to do my pre-season picks (I'm in three leagues this year - my brothers, Derek Showerman's and Peter Kim's).

I know that once the first real football game starts, I'll start to kick it into gear. I also know that as the nights get colder and we drift toward the end of September, my heart will start racing with every close late inning game. Maybe part of the issue is the fact that the Rays are the ones leading the AL East this year. I am happy for them but don't really see them as a real competitor... yet. The Yanks are the ones I like to loath and they've clearly been ravaged by injuries, poor investments and a general lack of team spirit this year. The Angels still don't scare me either. I know they have more arms and bats in their always competitive lineup but given their past October woes, I still don't see them advancing to the WS this year.

What do you think? I'm sure Mssrs. Cohen, Storer, Strout (John), Quinan, Humbarger (Halos fan), Person, Sukernek and Haslam have something to say. My bro-in-law, "Redfish" should also give us an NL pennant race update (he's a Marlins fan). Let's bring it in the comments!

7 comments:

Doug Haslam said...

I see what you mean. Pre-season football leaves me cold. Hockey and basketball aren't even on the radar. The Olympics are like summer vacation, but there's the point; it IS summer vacation. I don' tmind a drop in activity because I'm going to the beach.

As for the Red Sox, I don't feel a difference, except they are playing in a bit of a vacuum. nothing wrong with that.

adamcohen said...

I went to my first ever preseason game last night, which could be my last. While it's a fun way to spend an evening, there seemed like no soul to the Razor and the place was less than half full. It's not the same - not to mention the Peewee football game the played at halftime had better defense and special teams. We had a friends' Fidelity luxury seats too, where you have a hard time finding a sausage with all the carving stations in the way. My son had a $11.50 sundae, for crying out loud. (It was still a lot of fun, I shouldn't complain - but it seems the wrong way around, like Football isn't ready for us).

Baseball is all about streaks. I'm with in that it's hard to keep it up right now. For me being on the road makes it even tougher. September is a different story. The temp drops, kids are back in school, vacation is over, seems like a new start. Maybe TB wakes up from the dream when it gets to crunch time. We've weathered the doldrums, now it's time to spring back in action. I can only hope Beckett feels the same way.

Kyle Flaherty said...

I got to say it's been tough thus far to be a Sox fan in Texas, even harder to get Patriots info...but overall I've always found August to be a strange sports month, particularly after a monumental Sox trade. I remember feeling this same sort of malaise for a bit after Nomar was shipped off in 2004. The difference, if memory serves, is the team had a killer August (???).

This past week I had a vacation with the family up in Maine and still did not get to watch that much NESN, a victim to the rest of the family voting for the Olympics!

Either way, with Labor Day approaching I'm recommitting myself to Sox, Pats and college football in a big way. I'm sure colleagues will see a severe drop in my productivity ;)

Anonymous said...

You know, it's never too late to jump on the Angels band wagon. We can always use more fans in the Halo Nation and you won't be bored.

The Angels are now 17 games up in the AL west with 33 games to play - and head into 7 home games against sub-500 Oakland and Texas. Frankie Rodriguez just saved his 50th game last night and is closing in on the MLB record. Plus, the Angels are just a lot of fun to watch.

Jim Storer has some extra Angels gear if you want to start showing the colors...

Tom Humbarger
Follow me and the Angels on Twitter

Johnny Rooster said...

Definitely agree on the doldrums. The Sox's thoroughly lackluster play, with the exception of yesterday's victory, probably doesn't help the situation. In addition, after the excitement of the Olympics, Michael Phelps, and Usain Bolt, my interest in the Sox has temporarily waned. It is not just a long season for the players...

Anonymous said...

I also have some comments about the Soxs season and the Football season all colliding at once. Seems that each season just gets longer and longer.

Aaron_Strout said...

Great comments guys and gals. @doug, very impressive that you were able to update via your phone. @adamcohen @kyle and @johnnyrooster I think we're on a roll (today excepted). @tomhumbarger let's talk in October. @wifeofbigpapelbon LMAO

Best,
Aaron