So I guess I should do this

I’ve written a few things about the WEEI Next Great Sports Blogger contest and folks have been great with their responses. Well, voting for the contest ends at the end of the day on Friday, so that leaves us two whole days to get the vote on.

As much as I’m not completely comfortable tooting my own horn, I have to admit that over the course of this month I’ve com to realize that I didn’t enter this contest by accident.  I actually want to win the damn thing.

This isn’t easy for me to admit.  I am the queen of just letting things happen as they might and not going out of my way to get my hopes up.  Well, in this case, that ship has sailed.  I’m not completely certain exactly what it is that compels me to want to win – but I do.

Vote for Cyn Donnelly - Photo by Ellen Goldberg

So, once again, I’m asking for your help.  You can go here and vote for me as one of the two people, out of ten finalists, who will become the Next Great Sports Blogger over at WEEI.com.  You can click here for Rob Bradford on WEEI Wednesday talking about bloggers and the contest.  According to Rob, it’s a tight race.  Which is what made me decide to write this entry.  If it’s tight among 10 people and two of us are going to win…I want to do all I can to try and make sure I’m one of those people.

I’ve received so much support.  From my Sistahs, to the SGers to the folks at SoSH, to my readers here, to my blogger friends and the rest of my friends as well.  My family has been huge in getting the word out too – and I really appreciate it from all of you!  Thank you so very much.  When this is all over, I’ll give more proper thanks (linkapalooza!).

So, all I ask is that for two more days, if you think I’m worthy of winning, you let folks you know that they can vote for me at weei.com.  And, if you haven’t done so yet, vote for me yourselves.

I have no idea what I’ll be able to accomplish if I win the contest – but it’ll be nice to kind of have one of us on the inside over there, huh?  🙂

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The “Let’s try this again” Live Blog!

Okay, one more time ( and I shut down the old live blog so this will be a fresh one!).  For the win, Phillies, for the win. (And, please God, fulfill my wish of Jonny Gomes giving Michael Brett Myers a beatdown – thank you!)

So be here for the chat, blog, freeforall that will, hopefully, mark the end of the 2008 World Series!  And remember, every RBI that Pat Burrell hits, means a half-nekkid Pat Burrell photo in the blog.  Wooo!

I still want the Phillies to win…

…in spite of the fact that Brett Myers is a wife-beating asshole who also happens to be a liar.

Yet when Myers pitched the next day in Boston, he was alone. He heard the vicious chants. He says he was pelted by plastic beer bottles and trash when he warmed up in the bullpen.

Okay, raise your hand if you’ve ever seen a plastic beer bottle at Fenway Park. Put your hand down Myers, you POS.  No beer bottles in Fenway.  Nice try, though.

Honestly, though, I’m beginning to think his wife deserves him.

“We’re both pig-headed,” says Kim, who married Brett before a justice of the peace during the 2002 season. “But what people don’t know about Brett is how sensitive he is. I tease him about that. He’ll do everything for anybody, and he’s always tried to protect me.”

Yeah. I wish I had a husband who would protect me by dragging me down a street by my hair and slapping me in the face. Boy have I missed out!

I’m not sure what the most pathetic aspect of this story is: that Myers denies what more than one eyewitness say, that his wife is so wrapped up in the lifestyle that she accepts that kind of treatment or that, going along with the cowardice that is a wife-beater, Myers was going to BAIL on pitching in Fenway if the Red Sox won the ALCS:

But he couldn’t escape the fear of the Phillies’ possible World Series opponent. “I did not want to play Boston,” says Myers, 28. “If Boston had beat Tampa, I would have gone to (manager) Charlie (Manuel) and told him, ‘I don’t want to pitch in Boston.’

“I don’t ever want to pitch in Boston again.”

Because people in Boston know what you are, Brett. And you don’t like having to face reality, obviously.

What a man.

Edited to add this link from another story about Myers published today.

I’d never fired a gun in my life and, frankly, it was not on my bucket list. Myers didn’t care. He loaded a Glock 19 handgun. I squeezed off a few rounds and managed to hit the target.

Myers was not impressed.

He grabbed the handgun, held it sideways and began firing.

“That’s how the gangsters do it,” he said.

“You’ve been watching too many movies,” I said.

“This is a lot of fun for me,” Myers said. “I just like shooting.”

Well, that’s one way to make sure there aren’t any witnesses.

“Sometimes I like concentrating and seeing if I can hit the target,” he said. “Sometimes I just want to go Rambo-style – no focus, just hold the trigger down. Let it ride, see how much damage you can do to a target.”

Yeah, this guy’s just fine. No issues with violence at all. Nope. Nothing to see here.

Game Five Stopped for More than Rain

Yankees Co-Chairperson Narrowly Avoids Embarrassment

October 29, 2008

Boston Gullible

By U. Ben Hadd

The World Series has seen its share of odd happenings over the years, but as temperatures plummeted and rain continued soaking Citizens Bank Park for game five of the World Series, first base umpire Tim Tschida and home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg were in the process of suspending play when Henry G. Steinbrenner stormed into the Fox broadcasting booth during a commercial break.  The players and on field officials knew nothing of what was happening in the broadcast booth.

I’m totally bored…

…and uninspired to write. 😦

It’s going to be the longest off-season ever!

So, in the meantime, do me a favor and, if you’re so inclined and haven’t done so, stop by WEEI and vote for me for Next Great Sports Blogger. (Thank you!)

Wow. A post devoted entirely to self-promotion. I feel dirty.

A photo of Kyle to wash the pimpiness away!

Kyle Snyder Head Shot from the PawSox Site

So here’s my question:

When Game 5 of the World Series resumes, are they going to have someone sing the National Anthem again?

The Final Live Blog of the Season (?)

Well, here’s hoping anyway!

If you feel like chatting, voting on goofy polls or looking at half-naked pictures of Pat Burrell, this live blog is for  you!

With any luck, the Phillies will finish off the Rays tonight – and we’ll be here to document it!  Join us, won’t you?

It was four years ago today.

Four, glorious, happy, thrilling, life-altering (in a sense) years ago when the Red Sox beat the Cardinals to win the 2004 World Series.

2007 was sweet.  It shut up everyone who said after 2004 “You won’t win for another 86 years!”.  But 2004 was magic.  And unless the Cubs win the World Series, no other fan base will truly understand what it meant to Red Sox fans.  I don’t care how egomaniacal that sounds, it’s true.

So thank you Red Sox.  For giving us that joy in 2004.  And for giving us the hope that it will happen again and again!

Photo from Boston.com

“Simply a winner”

This is one of the items Fox posted for their profile of Andy Sonnanstine.

Andy has given up six hits and five runs tonight.

This “Big Game James” crap when the guy hadn’t yet pitched in a big game and then the “Simply a winner tag” stuff…could they make it any more obvious (and by “they” I mean Fox and TBS) who they want to win?

You could say “Simply a winner” about any of the guys playing in the World Series since they all had to win to get their.  No need to blow smoke up the asses of the Rays just because they’re such a good story.

(In fairness, both “Big Game James” and “Simply a Winner” came from teammates of both Shields and Sonnanstine…but the networks didn’t have to jump on the bandwagon and beaten us to death with it.)

Hey!  Eric Hinske made it to the World Series roster because Cliff Floyd has a messed up shoulder and got taken off the roster!  And he just hit a solo home run to make it 5-2  Phillies in the 5th!  Good for you, Eric!   I’m happy you hit he homer, and I feel mildly bad about rooting against you, but I am.

(And a final note on Sonnanstine – the “Winner” only lasted four innings.)

And another edit:  Joe Blanton, starting pitcher for the Phillies, just hit a solo home run.  Who’s the “winner” now, fellas?

Not Quite

The Phillies are annoyed because prior to Game 1 in the World Series, the entire teams weren’t introduced on the field, just the starters.

It was then when a Phillies PR representative came into the clubhouse and informed the team that only the starting players would be announced on the field and on national television. That meant no clubhouse staff, no coaches and no Matt Stairs. He, along with 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, had waited their entire lives for this moment, and then it was gone. All non-starters were allowed to walk out onto the field, but they were never publicly acknowledged — not to the TV audience, not even to the crowd.

Now, I happen to agree that this sucks.  But it isn’t as if this hasn’t happened before.  Although ESPN would have you think differently:

Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell said that since the 2004 World Series Fox has only broadcast the starting lineups. He said it was a joint decision between Major League Baseball and the network to try and get to the first pitch faster during the broadcast.

But that isn’t the issue for the players, who said they had no problem if Fox wanted to broadcast the starting lineups, but that this was the first year in which the reserves and coaches weren’t announced to the ballpark. Bell said that there have been no conversations on excluding the rest of the announcements.

Sorry, but that bolded part is just flat-out wrong.  I was at Game 1 of the 2007 World Series at Fenway Park and I promise you, they only introduced the starters.  I know this because 1) I was waiting for the introductions because I was excited that Kyle Snyder would be introduced since he made the World Series roster and 2) I was wondering how the fans would respond to Eric Gagne.  Neither happened because, as I said, they only introduced the starters.

So, as much as  I understand players being bothered by losing possibly their only chance at getting introduced to the crowd at a World Series game, the Phillies and Rays aren’t being singled out here.  This has happened before – as recent as last year.  Nice fact-checking ESPN.