ESPN.com, in their annual baseball preview section, takes a presidential campaign theme (because that hasn't been tritely overdone yet).
Their "campaign slogans" for the Red Sox and Yankees?
Boston Red Sox: "Workers of the World, Unite"
New York Yankees: "Compassionate Conservatism"
Sure, that may offend your sensibilities, but at least it doesn't offend your intellect. Oh, wait ...
The Blue Jays think they acquired some needed grit and a winning attitude when they picked up former Cardinals David Eckstein and Scott Rolen.
Emphasis mine. Too bad they didn't pick up some needed talent, or some needed healthy players.
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Then thank (that Prominent Figure in the Bourgeouis Religion-Myth) that I am a Sox fan!
That said, I don't hate the Yanks THAT much, and a lot of us come to baseball to GET AWAY from the harsh awfulness of our political situation.
It's why I hate Dennis and Callahan so much...........
Posted by: dabize | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 05:52 PM
this Crasnick article is brutal, Ive lost any respect that I once had for him.
Posted by: sam-YF | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 05:57 PM
Wow, it's like ESPN has just given up, not even gonna try any more. My god, teh suck.
Posted by: LocklandSF | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 06:09 PM
Hey, be fair to Crasnick. He says "The Blue Jays think they acquired...". He says nothing about what HE thinks about Eckstein/Rolen's supposed grit or winning attitude.
That said, it's an incredibly flat and unfunny column. Though I am not sure why it engenders such a reaction from you, sam. This is the column that causes you to lose any respect for him as a writer? Now if you had said "humorist" I might have been right there with you...
Posted by: SF | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 06:10 PM
Abraham brings up an excellent thought exercise:
"The Yankees drew 4,271,083 last season. They’ll blow that away this season. Think of the average ticket cost plus how much money the average fan spends on food and souvenirs. It’s a staggering amount of loot."
Think about that - even at $50 on average per ticket, that's over $200 million before TV rights. And that $50 has to be low.
Now consider they've already sold 3.8 million tickets for this season.
Posted by: A YF | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 06:29 PM
Yeah, I didn't even bother finishing the column.
Ironically enough, I think the fanbases are actually inclined to have similar political leanings - both New York and Boston are pretty left-leaning, politically (although I've got no idea what the relative composition is here).
And yes, it's too bad they didn't include some real baseball talent with the Magical Gritty Eckstein. Perhaps, if they begin losing games and feel they are still lacking in grit, they can acquire Darin Erstad too. (ability to play baseball not included)
Posted by: Micah-SF | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 06:29 PM
It astounds me that they released Reed Johnson. He probably would have been one of the better offensive contributors on their team. Also, it seemed like he was a 'Yankee-killer', but looking at baseballreference that was only in 2006.
Posted by: AndrewYF | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 08:04 PM
Ok Eckstein is not going to carry the Jays but do they have another second place finish in them? Is there going to be a 2008 predictions thread?
Also nice post dabize
Posted by: Honkball | Monday, March 24, 2008 at 10:20 PM