LOL Entertainment

Earlier this week, during a baseball discussion among friends online, the subject of Kyle came up…again. There are a group of us (Not just me!) who have grown very fond of Kyle since the Red Sox picked him up in 2006 and we are still following his career and hoping for good things for him. During this discussion, one of the gang jokingly suggested we create a site similar to the LOLCats and Icanhascheezburger pages that are so popular these days – only this one would be dedicated to Kyle so we would get to see a different Kyle photo each day the way that those other sites highlight a new photo (of cats) each day.

Given that I’m using photos of Kyle this week to make me smile during what is, admittedly, a pretty tough time for me, it will come as no surprise to anyone reading this that I love this idea and am already just getting the biggest kick out of the new site.

So here I am, “pimping” the LOLKyle page. If you aren’t familiar with the LOL phenomenon, you might want to click on the links above to get an idea of the basics (like why the spelling is so bad in the captions!). Also, keep in mind the captions only reflect an interpretation of the photo and in NO WAY are intended to be making fun of Kyle. We created this site as a humorous homage to Kyle and a way to keep him fresh in the minds of folks! We hope you all enjoy it as much as we are thus far. 🙂

And if Kyle ever stumbles upon it (hey, this is my blog, I can dream!), I hope he realizes that it is TRULY meant to be a tribute to him and something to just make folks smile. Kyle was already making us smile, we just decided to find a place to house photos of him for that purpose!

I’m big on things that make you smile, especially this week, so I hope this does. 🙂

Duel

As most folks who read this blog know, I tend to favor pitchers. So you’d think that means I enjoy a pitcher’s duel.

I don’t.

Can’t complain about Crabcakes last night. Kid pitched one-hit baseball for eight innings. Nice work.

And Roy Halladay pitched a hell of a game as well. But has anyone ever seen a poorer loser than “Doc” (incidentally NOT the namesake of my llama!)? Had the Blue Jays pounded the Sox in the ninth and won and our pitcher acted like Halladay, I would have been embarrassed for him and the team.

Even though stopping the bleeding and winning the game was fabulous (special shout out to Dustin Pedroia!), I’m still not happy with the offense.

Masterson, Buchholz, Beckett and now Lester have all pitched fantastic games and NONE of them have a “W” to prove it. This team needs to shake the cobwebs off and start raking. Sooner would be good fellas.

That’s What Friends are For

Crazy woman* on her way to Texas thinks shes sneaking a picture of Kyle with her iPhone and he smiles at her.

Honestly, it’s getting to the point where someone could show me a picture of Kyle kicking a dog and I wouldn’t care (or I’d just think it was a fake). Early morning flight…just dragged his butt out of bed and he smiles for a nutty (but harmless!) Red Sox fan. Makes me just want to hug him.

Hey, Bronson won last night! His first “w” of the season. Hell, he even went 6 innings. (And he credits swimming for his winning way.) Nice work, Bronson. Keep the Reds fans quiet!

Crabby boy who hates me** pitches tonight at Fenway. My mother should be home from her trek to Florida in time to see the game. Howsabout winning one, fellas?

And to finish up: Day three of photos that make me smile, courtesy, again, of Kelly O’Connor (this one was taken at Pawtucket the day Kyle got his WS ring)

* I write that with love. Great story, Becks and thanks for the pictures!

** The hate part might not be true; The crabby part is! 🙂

Give out Number 21 NOW

In the spirit of full disclosure, my parents started dating when my mother was 16 and my father was 27.

This also happened to be in the early sixties and both my parents worked with my mother’s parents and most if not all of their dates were ‘chaperoned’ by my grandparents.

Oh yeah, and my father wasn’t married to someone else and having children with that person.

If this story is true, and at this point nothing would surprise me, I just have another reason to believe Roger Clemens is a total scumbag.

Here’s a blurb that, when I read it, made me crazy. I decided not to comment on it because I felt too strongly and didn’t want to use this blog to pick on a player I really like and respect. From February 2008:

“I have not lost an ounce of respect for the guy,” Timlin said. “I fully support the guy. I feel bad for what’s happening. I don’t think anything in his career should change.”

I wonder how Mike Timlin feels about Clemens now?

The Red Sox need to get their collective heads out of their collective asses and STOP holding on to the number 21 like it’s some sacred artifact never to see the light of day again. There is no reason to hold back from giving it to another player. They should have done it YEARS ago, but after the way Clemens has teased the team the last couple of years (especially last year), the the Mitchell report and the subsequent fall out and now this bit of sleazeballiness…the time has come.

Give it to Sean Casey. Give it to Justin Masterson if he gets called up again. Give it to the freaking batboy for all I care, but STOP protecting it like Clemens is a person deserving of that honor.

Monday Blahs

Read this earlier, nice shout out for Kyle and a cool story about a fan getting to meet Mike Lowell.

(Lowell gets a police car to the airport – that’s MVP living for you!)

Good to see that someone there classified Kyle’s outing as ‘good’. Makes me happy.

Also found this article from a couple of weeks ago about how critical and blunt most of the broadcasters for the Cincinnati Reds are. I think it’s part of the job to be a little critical instead of a complete homer, but I listen to these guys on a fairly regular basis and I think they cross the line. Imagine Dan Shaughnessy if he did play by play for the Red Sox. Ugh.

There was also an interesting quote from Bronson about a former Red Sox pitcher:

Arroyo recalled former Boston teammate Derek Lowe reading newspaper articles and listening to sports-talk radio until it “ate him alive.”

Sadly, this doesn’t surprise me.  Again, I have nothing against a little criticism, but the unapologetic and complete bashing of players is ridiculous.  (I watched the game live where Brantley was ripping into Encarnacion.  It was a disgusting display.  You want to make a name for yourself in broadcasting, Jeff, don’t do it at the expense of someone else.)

(And this photo is Day 2 of “Photos that make me smile”.  This one taken this year at spring training by Kelly O’Connor.)

Off-day for the Sox today.  Bronson is pitching in St. Louis and the PawSox are in Rochester – so there will still be baseball to watch if I’m looking for it.

Taking a breather

Kyle’s headshot from PawSox.com – Just because I need SOMETHING to make me smile.

I just wasn’t feeling the baseball vibe today, so I didn’t watch the game. Looking at the box score, I guess that’s a good thing. Another game that can be summed up thusly: Good Great pitching, no offense. Swept by the Tampa Bay Rays. Way to go guys.

I was getting updates on the PawSox game. Kyle pitched 5.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits. Again, not a horrible line. (He struck out 2 and walked 2 as well.) I have great faith that he’ll continue to improve and show folks he’s worth getting that shot back up with the ‘big’ team again.

The Red Sox are certainly not doing their part to give me a good diversion from my real life right now – but I have to, again, thank all of you for your well-wishes. By the end of the week, the family should all be together again and we can continue working through this together.

Red Sox have tomorrow off and then start a homestand that begins against Toronto on Tuesday. PawSox head to Rochester (From Buffalo. Are they going to be forced to get there via Logan again?) for a three-game series starting tomorrow.

Wins, fellas. Wins would be good.

Tales from Tru – II

Note from Cyn: Longtime readers and friends of the RSC know “Tru” very well! He’s graciously offered to occasionally contribute to the blog in times when the spirit moves him. Below is his latest offering to help pick up my slack!

Boston, MA
April 2, 2008

Boston Gullible

By U. Ben Hadd

RED SOX LACTOSE INTOLERANT

Dr. Larry Ronan, Boston Red Sox team internist announced yesterday the twenty five man roster is lactose intolerant. Citing HIPPA laws, the Red Sox would not officially comment, however sources close to the situation suggest that recent elevated levels of flatulence have been recorded in the Sox locker room. It was learned that the team decided to remove the ice cream machine that several players frequented.

Trucks from the Gas-B-Gone fumigation services were parked at the corner of Van Ness and Ipswich streets, as workers in Haz-Mat outfits entered Fenway Park, leading to speculation that something foul was in the air. Al Levanchy, a long time custodian said the situation really stunk. “I’d have to wait for more than an hour after these guys left to clean the place up”, he said. When asked how bad it was, Levanchy fell backwards and sprawled on the ground mimicking the first time he tidied up the club locker room after their Fenway home opener. “I was standing in canvas alley watching with some of the other guys in my crew. When Tek (Jason Varitek), was announced, you could hear him putput all the way onto the field. It was hard to hear, but hoo boy, you could smell it a mile away.”

Tomorrow is another day

Because I always hate leaving a negative post hanging here – something to put a smile on our faces:div#main{overflow:visible;}

All I have to say about this game…

(top of the 9th)

…is that each of those guys in the lineup deserves a punch in the face if they can’t get some runs for Clay after the fabulous way he pitched.

(Edited at the end of the game)

Shame on this team tonight. Clay pitched his heart out and they paid him back with one measly run. He didn’t deserve the loss tonight, but the other nine guys playing sure did.

Admittedly, I’m cranky about things that go beyond a baseball game tonight, but Jesus, this team is so much better than what they showed tonight. And this is the second game this week where a rookie deserved a win – EARNED a win – and the rest of the team just completely let him down.

Once again, Beckett gets saddled with the “stopper” role. I know it’s still only April, but this is going to get old fast.

So much for baseball as a GOOD diversion, huh?

PawSox lost tonight too.  Kyle gets to be the “stopper” on Sunday for them!  Good luck, Kyle.  Kick ass.

Oh Well

Becks tells us the entire PawSox team was flying out of Logan to go to Buffalo.

For whatever sense that makes.  (They know there’s an airport in Rhode Island, right?)

Ah well.  At least the preemptive worrying about Kyle being dfa’d again goes away for a while.

Back in the ‘real’ world:  Thanks for all the kind words, folks.  It’s a tough time and I really appreciate the support.

Clay will do his best to turn my frown upside down tonight, right?