This Heineken commercial is like the "Teen Wolf Too" to the original

The same plot and gimmicks used all over again, a weaker cast, not as good music; just a poor attempt overall to recreate something great (watch the original awesome ad).  But really, you can't expect to make that kind of magic happen again.

Biggest Choke Ever: 2011 Red Sox or 2004 Yankees?

It seems like the logical answer here would be this year's Red Sox.  They played consistently terrible for an entire month, whereas the '04 Yanks only lost 4 games in a row.  But here's why that's not the case.  Until this season, the previous worst September collapse ever was by the 2007 Mets.  The only reason I even know that is because for the past few weeks people kept bringing it up in reference to what the Sox were doing.  With the exception of Mets fans, I don't think anybody really knew or cared about what happened to them in '07.  By this time next year, the demise of the 2011 Red Sox will be mostly forgotten.  Plus there's the fact that the Braves also just gave away pretty much the same Wild Card lead that the Red Sox did (9 games vs. 8.5).  So really, how big a deal can it be if two teams did it simultaneously?

On the other hand, what the 2004 Yankees did will live on forever.  Becoming the first team of all time to blow a 3-0 lead in the playoffs, against their arch rivals, and leading to the end of an 86 year World Series drought?  That's something nobody will forget any time soon.  It's been almost 8 years now, and my guess is it's still something the average sports fan knows about off of the top of their head.  So sorry Yankee fans, the historical significance of it makes your team's 2004 failure still the biggest choke ever.

Did that really happen?

I'm stunned from last night.  Pretty much still in a state of shock.  I don't really want to get into it, because like I said a couple days ago, I hate to dwell on the negative.  It's just not fun.  All I'm going to say is this: without a doubt, yesterday was the CRAZIEST night in the HISTORY of Major League Baseball.  For now I'm going to leave it at that.  I am trying not to watch TV today.  And with the exception of this, I am staying off the internet.  It's really weird typing while sitting on the couch in silence.  I always have the TV on with sports or sports news in the background when I'm on my computer.  Luckily I'm on the Vineyard, and even though it was supposed to rain today the sun is fighting to come out.  I'm going to go get a bloody mary, and maybe it will turn into a beach afternoon.

Well, you can't say it hasn't been interesting...

How boring would the last week have been if the Red Sox had just coasted to the Wild Card?  Ellsbury wouldn't have had the chance to cement his case for MVP.  Nobody would have sat through 14 long and grueling innings of a Sunday night game in the Bronx.  And we never would have known the legend of Ryan Lavarnway.  One of the great things about being a sports fan is the drama and intensity you feel during really big games.  And 2 of the last 3 nights the Sox have delivered that.  And now we get one game to decide who keeps playing, and who goes home.  This is as exciting as baseball gets.  Unfortunately it's tainted with the stench of how bad September has been for Boston.  Normally Sox fans should be giddy with anticipation for the game tonight, and maybe tomorrow afternoon.  But now instead there's a sense of dread and impending doom.  Imagine if on opening day you'd been told that the Wild Card race would be all tied up with one game to go.  Well then today would be a day you'd be looking forward too.

Today is an "other stuff i care about" kind of day

I'm trying very hard today not to think about the local baseball team, and the football team isn't a great topic at the moment either.  Luckily I have to work this morning, so I won't have the day to spend watching ESPN and ESPN2 like I often do.  Rather than bitch and moan and hear about how awful my team is, when things aren't going well I prefer to avoid talking about it and watching the news.  Sports are supposed to be fun, and where is the fun in dwelling on the negative?  So in my effort to avoid the sports world today, here's something else I care about: the beach.  I recently discovered a "panorama" photo option on my cell phone, these are some pics I took last week at Quon Soo on Martha's Vineyard:

Things that suck about being lefty

My childhood was slightly traumatized by being left handed.  Here's a list in reverse order of the worst things that a lefty kid has to deal with:

4. Those crappy green scissors: In school when it was time to cut things, the first thing I had to do was find the pair of scissors with the green rubber handle.  They were always dull and never worked very well.  The right handed kids could cut circles around me.

3. Can openers: This would be higher on the list except for the fact that kids don't really have to open cans that often.  Turning the crank on the can opener was almost impossible for me with my right hand.  In fact I used to flip it around backwards and try to turn it lefty, but that never worked well either.

2B. Writing in a 3-ring binder: Tons of things I did in school involved writing on paper that was in 3-ring binders.  This was extremely difficult and uncomfortable because my arm was always sitting on top of the rings.

2A. Trying to write without making a mess: Writing from left to right would cause my hand to drag across everything I'd just written.  As a kid it was basically impossible to do this without getting pencil or ink all over the side of my hand, and then in turn smudging it across the paper.

1. (By a large margin) The Nintendo Controller: There were MANY Nintendo games that required pressing the A and B buttons as quickly as possible.  My inferior right thumb just couldn't do it fast enough.  I often had to flip my hand over and awkwardly press the buttons with my index finger.  But like the can opener, it wasn't much of an improvement.  I was never able to win a fight in Ice Hockey.  That was traumatizing.

Ok, fine. It's time to freak the $#&% out.

It took me a while today to figure out how I'm feeling about the current state of the Red Sox.  And then all of a sudden it hit me: I'm not panicking.  I'm not giving up.  I'm just mad.  Really mad.  Really really effing mad.  Seriously Red Sox, what the hell?!? They're 5-17 in September.  3-13 over the last 16.  They have won exactly ONE game this month when they didn't score at least 12 runs.  They've been playing defense like little leaguers. Yesterday Aviles forgets to cover his base on a ground ball to short, then Crawford drops a ball in left, and just like that it's 6-0.  And what is wrong with Jon Lester?  He's given up 16 runs over just 13.2 innings in his last three starts.  I'm sick of this.  It's pathetic.  I'm not sticking up for them anymore.