Testy Copy Editors

Our new website is up and running at testycopyeditors.org. This board will be maintained as an archive. Please visit the new site and register. Direct questions to the proprietor, blanp@testycopyeditors.org
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 12:25 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours




Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 8 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:09 pm 
Offline

Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:01 am
Posts: 968
Location: Champaign, Ill.
The Yanks just lost 17-8 to the Royals.<p>Earlier this week, a fan who just happened to live in Babe's old house was hit in the teeth by an errant foul ball at Fenway under a full moon, and two beer vendors found a 1918 penny on their cart in the right-field concourse.<p>Still, the Sox are 3 games back, and I believe if they make it as the wild card, they won't get to the Series. Something will happen.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 12:18 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 741
Location: The Empire State
Um ... doesn't something *always* happen to the Red Sox, regardless of how they make the playoffs?


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 3:17 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 3135
Location: Albuquerque, N.M. USA
It looks like the Sox are getting blown out for the second day in a row to fall 4.5 games back. Yet, they have a comfortable lead in the wild-card race.<p>Weekends like this lend substance to Bob Costas' theory, outlined in "Fair Ball," that the wild-card format not only doesn't make pennant races more exciting but on the contrary takes the verve out of them.<p>It wasn't all on the line this weekend between the Red Sox and the Yankees. And it probably won't all be on the line next weekend, either.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:07 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 2266
Location: New Jersey
It's true. The question is whether that is outweighed by sustaining the interest of fans of teams that would otherwise be eliminated without the wild card.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:09 pm 
Offline

Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:01 am
Posts: 968
Location: Champaign, Ill.
Still impressive that they can let the Yanks put up double digits two days straight.<p>On a side note, I, for one, am glad that at least the National League Central Division title is settled.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:36 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 741
Location: The Empire State
Having been witness at Yankee Stadium to said 11-1 blowout, I can attest to the fact that wild card or no wild card, every Boston-New York game (regular season and postseason) for the past eight years has been fraught with anticipation and tension and has usually delivered copious amounts of quality baseball. Even the most confident Yankee fan could not have predicted Pedro would surrender eight earned runs in five-plus innings.<p>It is interesting that, as Harvey Araton points out in Sunday's *Times,* Costas was once against even a single wild card. Now he favors two wild cards in each league, albeit because he wants to redress the imbalance the presence of a single wild card creates. <p>But would baseball stop with two wild cards in each league? I'm not being facetious. That's a slippery slope. Could we one day see four or six wild cards per league? Then baseball would become hockey, where every team makes the playoffs and the regular season means absolutely nothing.<p>[ September 20, 2004: Message edited by: wordygurdy ]</p>


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:30 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 2266
Location: New Jersey
Agreed. I would like to point out that with 8 of 30 teams making the playoffs, baseball still has the most meaningful regular season of any major sport, by a large margin.<p>Let's keep it that way. I'm happy with the current system, including one wild card per league, because it ensures that only very good teams make the playoffs. Even in the NFL, a couple of merely decent teams make the playoffs each year, and in the NBA and NHL the regular season is a mere formality. In baseball alone does the regular season reign supreme.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Reversing the curse
PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:39 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 3135
Location: Albuquerque, N.M. USA
All good points. It's a tradeoff. Certainly having "only" 8 is a fair compromise in this era. <p>But the original point remains: Two September series between the Yanks & Red Sox, while steeped in rivalry, contain little urgency.


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 8 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group

What They're Saying




Useful Links