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Boston Red Sox

A Flawless Day… Almost

Leave it to the Boston Red Sox to ruin a perfect day.

The script was all right there in front of me, every detail pointing to June 30, 2004 going down in history as one of the watershed days of my life.  The weather was gorgeous, a moderate mixture of temperature, sun intensity, and gentle breeze that could have passed for San Diego in April as easily as Boston in early summer.

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Boston Red Sox

Eager Sox- Anxious Fans Ready for Stadium Invasion

Pressure?  Urgency?

The Red Sox could get swept by the Yankees this week and still hold a 6-4 lead in the season series.

Unfortunately, the glass-is-hall-full approach is not shared by many citizens of Red Sox Nation, who have been known to demand the firing of pennant-winning managers and other field generals who take the team to the ALCS.  In some baseball cities, reaching Game 7 of the ALCS would be seen as a triumphant season.  In the hardball meccas of Boston and New York, however, such a season is a disappointment, a chapter in the annals of the franchise that deserves to be skimmed over.  In these two cities, where baseball is not as much a diversionary sport as it is a fan’s validation of his own self-worth, the greatest rivalry in professional sports is renewed (for the eighth time this year) this week in the Bronx.

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General Sports

Bird and Bonds- and Racism’s Ugly Head

It was quite coincidental, the timing of two men’s comments, a mere 10 days apart.  Two American sports icons, one a beloved Caucasian ex-basketball player from the cornfields of French Lick, Indiana, and the other an oft-reviled, much-spoiled, ever-privileged African-American son of a big league ballplayer.  Both were foolish to say what they did.  Both touched on an extremely sensitive, delicate issue that is still very much in the forefront of the collective American consciousness.  The difference, though, is that one was right and deserves serious discussion, while the other was blatantly ignorant and easily dismissive.

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Boston Red Sox

Pokeymania

Bill Simmons, the self-proclaimed Boston Sports Guy, writes about The Leap: those moments when good or even great players transcend their previous limitations and solidify their immortality as one of the truly elite.

While not quite the same idea, Red Sox fans witnessed The Leap of a different variety on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers at a brisk Fenway Park.