“Own the suck!”

I will be the first to admit that I was under no illusions that this season would differ greatly from the preceding twelve (12!).  My theory behind this new slogan is quite simple, really.

1. If the team is this bad, why not embrace it as opposed to rejecting it outright?
2. While the 1988 Orioles started the season 0-21, why not shoot to best that with a 1-24 record to start the 2010 season?
3. If we are going to be swept by what was deemed as the worst team in the AL East for this season, why not strive to be swept by the divisional competition?

In other words, if the Orioles are going to be bad, own it.  Don’t shy away from the ignominious distinction of being the worst team in the majors–as of this writing, the O’s are 1-11.  It reminds me of one of my favorite moments from The Simpsons:

Bart: No offense, Homer, but your half-assed underparenting was a lot more fun than your half-assed overparenting.
Homer: But I’m using my whole ass.

In other words, let’s not half-ass our attempts at sucking.  Let’s use our whole ass to suck.

My t-shirt idea to further the cause of “owning the suck,” with apologies for my feeble attempts at design:

Let’s honor the 2010 Orioles as being, in Homer’s immortal words, the “suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.”

Here are a couple of issues I have with this presumptive email:

1. Apparently, I can travel up to Boston on two weeks notice to take in a Red Sox game at Friendly Fenway Park.
2. “[Y]our Red Sox”?!?!?  The Red Sox were never nor will they ever be my team.  Indeed, while the Orioles continue to founder below mediocrity this season, I still will never become a fan of the Red Sox.  Of course, the alumni club of my alma mater presumes that everyone who went to BU has become a Red Sox fan.

I will keep this in mind for the coming weekend invasion of Sox fans into Baltimore as the Red Sox come into town. 

Some of my favorite sights, though, had to be enjoying the dampened spirits of Yankees fans as the Bronx Bombers and their mighty payroll were vanquished by my lowly O’s.  CC “Fatty” Sabathia gives up six earned runs, and Mark Texeira was greeted lustily with boos and catcalls whenever he entered the batter’s box. Fortunately, Opening Day was the one time of year in Baltimore when the hometown fans outnumber the omnipresent visiting fans.

I’m a realist, and I know the Orioles are a couple years away from contention with the development of their minor league pitching and the best prospect in baseball–Matt Wieters.  Still, it was fun watching Nick Markakis and Adam Jones in the outfield.  It’s going to be fun watching them become good ballplayers–Markakis is well on his way there.

As I have always said in the past, the beauty of baseball’s Opening Day is its perfect connection to Spring. There is a renewed sense of hope along with the general sense of renewal.  There is hope that my team will defy all odds and hope for a win on Opening Day. At least one of the things I hoped for yesterday became reality.

Ravens LosS to the Titans

While I was able to take my grandfather and uncle to their first Ravens game on a beautiful day, I was unable to ensure they saw a win.  While I do think the roughing the passer penalty was a bit specious at best, a loss cannot be laid at the hands of the officials alone.  The defense stopped pressuring the quarterback late in the game, and that hurt them.  Now, the tough road stretch begins.  I still am surprised at how the Ravens are doing considering most folks thought they would suck.  Ray Lewis is truly playing like a man possessed (and 10 years younger). 

Red Sox and Rays in the ALCS

While I sincerely wanted the Angels would defeat the Red Sox in their Divisional Series, the fates and playoff history conspired against me.  The Rays, on the other hand, easily handled the Ozzie Guillen-managed White Sox.  (Aside: My hatred for Ozzie Guillen is a deep-seated one, and I find his managerial skills to be highly over-rated.)  Now, my allegiance swings to the Rays.  I would like to see them go from worst to first–even a World Series win.  If they do it while beating the Red Sox, even better.  Anything that slightly reduces the smug nature of most of the visiting Red Sox fans when they visit Baltimore brings a smile to my face.  Besides, I now have a night of drinking riding on this.  Go Rays!

College hockey begins

Important only to me, but my alma mater is ranked 2nd in the Hockey East preseason Coaches Poll and ranked 9th in the Division I Men’s Poll.  I miss watching college hockey. 

On my ride home, there were more of the Sux fans.  Many of them wearing their “After 86 Years of Ineptitude, 2 World Series!” t-shirts.  It was even worse as I listened to some of the ball game on the radio on my ride home from the gym later in the evening–hearing the “Let’s go Red Sux!” chant.

After heaping scorn and hate upon many Yankees fans, I have truly come to hate and despise most of the denizens of Red Sux Nation.  It what was once a nostalgic and somewhat endearing tale when they would come to the precipice of victory in the Fall Classic.  Now, they have become pariahs as they have effectively become that which they have rejected so much–the Evil Empire of New England–equal to their arch-nemesis, the New York Yankees.

God, I hope the Rays win the AL East.

* For the uninitiated, my contempt for the Boston Red Sox has forced me to give them a new name: the Red Sux.

For a good baseball trip, St. Louis has to be included.  They have some great fans, and the new ballpark is a great place to watch a baseball game.  My lone complaint: Beer, in the city that is (currently) the capital of American brewing, is insanely pricey.  Admittedly, beer was more expensive than it is at Camden Yards.

Again, though, a great time was had.  Nothing like catching up with a good friend to put things into perspective and act as a nice respite from the usual monotony.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I made my trip to Nationals Park in Washington today.  The quality of the game was what I expected for a Nationals game, as the San Francisco Giants won 6-3.  The ballpark, on the other hand, is quite nice.

The ballpark sits along the riverfront near the Anacostia River, near the Navy Yard.  There is a lot of development occurring in this area, as the new Department of Transportation building is nearby, and there are other buildings that are new construction.  One of the questions my friend had–one I agreed with–was the lack of other things to do near the ballpark.  I am sure that will change as the area around the ballpark develops, but there really was not much else to do right in the vicinity of the ballpark.  The other thing that will change in the future as the area gets developed is the presence of nearby parking.

The ballpark, though, has all of the modern amenities one would expect with a new facility.  As for my seats, they were fortunately in the shade on a pretty hot Sunday afternoon.  I sat up the third base line and had a good view of the action.  I also enjoyed the Presidents Race, watching the caricatured heads of the four Presidents on Mt. Rushmore run down the first base foul line is pretty funny.

My complaints about my experience are pretty small, though.  I must take this opportunity to both praise and rant about paying for parking.  The Nationals website allows you to purchase parking passes for the day of the game, and I highly recommend doing so if you are driving down from Baltimore for a game.  My complaint, though, is the typical TicketBastard interface.  In addition to the cost of the pass, you pay the convenience fee for each pass.  Additionally, I have to pay for the ability to use my printing resources at home to print out the passes.  While this complaint is not with the Nationals, I still do not understand why I must pay a fee for what is, effectively, a relatively inexpensive business transaction and to print the pass out at home.  Thanks, TicketBastard!

My only other complaint has to do with what the Nationals do during the game to keep the fan interest in the game.  I first saw this in Pittsburgh, but the Nationals employ a Ryan Seacrest-like reporter to rove through the stands and help with different drawings and activities during the game on the HD screen.  I personally find it annoying, and I am glad that the Orioles have not employed such a tactic while the team has floundered in the standings.

Nonetheless, Nationals Park is a pretty good place to enjoy a baseball game.

I will admit to being a sports fan, but sometimes one needs to draw the line as to how fiercely to defend one’s hometown team.  I want to hear nothing of how heated this rivalry is.  Some things are just plain stupid.

In my mind, it is yet another reason to heap scorn upon the fans of both teams.  Only would fans of either of these teams have such a trivial debate end with such an extreme outcome.

Stay classy, Yankees and Red Sox fans!

Giving the rebuilding journey the team is embarking on, I fully expect this team to lose 100 games.  They have very little offensive firepower for the AL East, and they are relying on a lot of untested youngsters in the starting rotation.  Even worse, Daniel “Nuke LaLoosh” Cabrera gets trotted out every fifth day.

Still, there is a tiny ray of hope that this team is headed in the right direction.  They finally cut Jay Gibbons, owing him nearly $12 million over the next two years on his contract.  Peter Angelos is actually eating a contract for the long-term health of his franchise.  Given the last ten years of ineptitude on his part, I am surprised to see this decision. Now, if only that same roster decision can be made for others–Jay Payton and Aubrey Huff being two names that immediately come to mind.

So, maybe, just maybe, there is a small bit of light at the end of this long and very dark tunnel my hometown team has been stuck in.  Maybe.

It really is disheartening to be an O’s fan.  This year marks 10 years of ineptitude and bumbling by this franchise, and it is even more painful as others try to paint this bucolic picture of a team that is close to being competitive.  If anything, there are four things that have taken place in their most recent tailspin that solidify my thinking:

1. A 30-3 drubbing at the hands of the woeful Texas Rangers;
2. Giving up 11 runs in an inning to lose a game to the woeful Tampa Bay Devil Rays;
3. Getting swept by those same woeful Tampa Bay Devil Rays; and further adding insult to injury (regardless of the rookie’s performance)
4. Getting no-hit by a rookie pitcher in his second major league start.

I had thought that even though this baseball season was going to end like many of the recent ones have, the picture seemed to be brightening a bit.  The team had finally hired a baseball executive who would no longer be a “Yes Man” to the ownership, and they signed the highly regarded draft pick they made this summer.  This recent stretch, though, just shows how much further this team needs to go to be competitive.

How long before we have Orioles fans showing up to games dressed like this?