So I sell my tickets to the Red Sox game tonight because I have too much wedding stuff to get done before the big day on Saturday.  I've had nothing but bad luck in terms of attending good Sox games that they win in, and the weather looked less than stellar anyways.  Well guess what?  The weather cleared up, an amazing pitchers duel, and the Sox walk off in the ninth.  What the hell...

On another note, I was one foot out the door to work this morning when my 16 month old son starts calling :"dad, dad, dad."  I look back and I say "yeah what's up?"  The kid hands me my cell phone.  I swear to god I was speechless.  Not only would that have been the ultimate pain in the ass to have to go back and get my phone, putting off my work schedule all day, but the kid shows some big-time awareness.  16 months old people.  Safe to say he is more than a little bit smarter than his father.  If only the kid knew how to sleep now...

This should be my all time record for earliest post on mindsay.  I don't know if that is good or bad, as it isn't even all that early; it is 7:33 am.  Yeah I got up at 6 in the morning to watch Dice-K and the Sox against the Oakland A's in Japan, and it really isn't paying off so far, as the whole team is looking like it is still spring training.  But I did have Dice-K on my rotisserie baseball team, so I did what any loyal owner should do.  Unfortunately, the first two innings he pitches were downright painful to watch, but thankfully he has settled down now after 4.

It will be interesting to see if my posts are any more or less incoherent in the mornings.  I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, although I do think it would be more productive if I made more of an attempt to be one.  I sleep so terribly that I just don't get a good rest at night, so I see this as not happening any time soon.  It takes me a good 35-40 minutes to shake the cobwebs in the morning, while some would argue I don't shake them at all.  There is a professor at the University of California that has been trying to almost manufacture his mood by altering his activities and trying to find an optimal routine to boost his morale.  This is an interesting concept.  I know that he found he is happier if he watches an hour of television in the morning, and none before bed.  I wonder what my optimal schedule would be. 

Does the name Jack Cust sound dirty to you?  Yeah, me too. 

Boston started out exhibition play beating Boston College 24-0, and Beckett wasn't pleased with his performance.  Somehow I do not expect a repeat of what happened the last time they won the World Series.  It's exhibition play, but thank god baseball is back. Football is great, but I can't do basketball or hockey.  Basketball is watchable for me in a last case situation, but hockey, not at all. 
What kills me about basketball is that the league is filled with thugs, who care more about image than the game.  The regular season means nothing, because they basically let 75% of the league into the postseason, and the long series in every round makes the playoffs last for an eternity.  I think even the first round of the postseason is 7 games.  You got to be kidding me, way too much. 
Anyways, thank god baseball is back.  I love everything about it, watching it, reading about it, fantasy baseball.  I'm looking forward to seeing some of the younger Red Sox coming up and contributing, guys like Ellsbury and perhaps seeing if Craig Hansen can finally put it together. 
 

BOSTON—The Boston Red Sox, who have failed to win a single World Series since the departure of relief pitcher Curtis Leskanic in 2004, are attempting to defy the odds and do the impossible: reverse the curse of the journeyman reliever whose ghost has haunted this team since the mid-2000s.

Pitted against the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 Fall Classic, the team that for two long years seemed like it might be destined to lose forever has a chance to finally put an end to its 36-month-long World Series drought. However, the Red Sox must first overcome the famed Curse of Curtis Leskanic, which caused medium-to-long-suffering fans much anguish and heartache during the period between 2005 and 2006.

"It will take a miracle for the Sox to win the World Series as long as the spirit of Leskanic has anything to say about it," wrote Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, who coined the phrase "Curse Of The Former Red Sox Relief Pitcher Curtis Leskanic" in March of 2005, when an error by shortstop Edgar Renteria allowed the Devil Rays to defeat the Red Sox 7-4 in a spring training game. "This curse will play a huge part in this series. Every home run that curves just foul, every dropped fly ball, every bad hop, every blown call—Curtis Leskanic will be there."

Leskanic, a right-handed set-up man acquired by the Red Sox halfway through the 2004 season, pitched nearly 28 innings for the team from July to September, and was present as Boston defeated the Yankees in the ALCS and went on the win the World Series. However, as legend has it, the Red Sox refused to offer him a contract extension, despite the fact that he was coming off a 3-5 season with a 5.19 ERA and 37 strikeouts. Leskanic, unable to find work in the major leagues, retired—and the rest is history. Since then, the Florida Little League team that Leskanic went on to coach has enjoyed unprecedented success, winning the Lake County Round Robin two years in a row and going undefeated in 2006.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have made it to the playoffs just twice since 2004.

"I don't usually believe in 'curses,' but how else do you explain the Red Sox's early elimination from the 2005 Division Series, or their five-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees last August, or the fact that they didn't even make the playoffs in 2006?" said longtime Red Sox fan Gary Everett. "No team is that unlucky."

"We never should've gotten rid of Leskanic," Everett added. "Just think of how many more rings we'd have now."

"When [White Sox outfielder Scott] Podsednik hit that home run in Game 1 of the 2005 ALDS, all I could think was, 'Damn you, Leskanic!'" said Allston, MA resident Terry Bresler. "But if the Sox can beat the Rockies this year, I might be able to finally forgive Tony Graffanino for that error he made in Game 2 of that series."

In an interesting twist of fate, to end the curse, the Red Sox must first beat the Rockies, the team with which Leskanic began his career in 1993. Many fans believe destiny brought these two teams together—that it is only fitting that the Red Sox must exorcise the demons of their recent past against the very team with which Leskanic enjoyed his greatest success, including his 7-5, 6.23 ERA season in 1996 and his 1-1 effort in 1994.

"Ending the curse against the Rockies will just make it that much sweeter," said Boston resident Terry McMahon. "Not even Curtis Leskanic can stop this team!"

"I just pray that my son can see the Sox win at least one World Series in his lifetime," said Boston resident Sal Fischer of his son Cody, 2.

Many Red Sox fans believe the Curse of Curtis Leskanic was already broken this June when two diehard Red Sox fans traveled to Leskanic's childhood home in Homestead, PA and burned it to the ground, while others think the curse was lifted in August when the Red Sox won three games in a row. Still others believe that the ghost of Leskanic was expelled from Boston in April, when Jimmy Buffett played to a sold-out crowd at Fenway Park; Leskanic was known for not being that into Jimmy Buffett.

Curtis Leskanic currently resides in Orlando, FL with his family, and works as a pro scouting consultant in the Red Sox organization. When reached for comment, he wished the Red Sox the best of luck.

 

I'm gonna tell you a story
I'm gonna tell you about my town
I'm gonna tell you a big bad story, baby
Aww, it's all about my town

Yeah, down by the river
Down by the banks of the river Charles
That's where you'll find me
Along with lovers, fuggers, and thieves
Well I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you're my home
Frustrated women
Have to be in by twelve o'clock
But I'm wishin' and a-hopin, oh
That just once those doors weren't locked
Well I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you're my home

Because I love that dirty water
Oh, oh, Boston, you're my home !!!!

Well, I love that dirty water
I love that dirty water
I love that dirty water
I love that dirty
I love that dirty water
I love that dirty water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

The Sox have started the World Series with a bang... I am super pissed that all the games are starting at 8:30PM, Fox doesn't care about my HUGE need for sleep!!! :)  Whatev... GO SOX!!!!