No Sports in a Sports City

Ah, Seattle.

Home of the 12th man in Football.

Home of the Mariners, where one pitcher has his own section of fans.

Home of MLS's Sounders.

Home of no NBA teams since 2008.

Seattle is one of the towns who has a constant buzz about their teams.  They are the city who cheered so loud during a football game, the nearby university (U of Washington) registered a 3-point earthquake.  This is a city that has Mariners memorabilia everywhere, even during these last few leans years.  There is still Supersonics memorabilia around this city even after being abandoned nearly four years ago.  Sorry, Oklahoma City, I grew up in one of your suburbs (Mustang), but I will never root for your Thunder, the team that used to be the Supersonics.  In a time where so many NBA teams are so mismanaged and so many fans need to dredge care out of Give A Fuck Bay in order to even care about the local NBA team, the NBA pulled out of a city that genuinely cared about their team.

There is a proposal in Seattle to build a new stadium.  SafeCo Field is state of the art and friggin awesome!  QWest, now Century Link (the Clink) are state of the art.  And now the city of Starbucks and Microsoft takes aim at once again getting an NBA team.  Or possibly an NHL team, or, heaven forbid, both.  But Seattle is still classy.  They've been the jilted lovers.  They don't want to take another city's team.  The downside to that is that, after the recent lockout, the operating losses for mid-and small market teams (seriously, if you can't manage to make money in American sports, for the love of God, never breed), and the low attendance for teams, it is highly unlikely that Stern and company are going to be in any shape for expansion.

Right now, the NBA owns one of its own teams (don't get me started on Stern's meddling in the CP3 trade) in the New Orleans Hornets (who packed up and ran out of Charlotte in 2002).  Since New Orleans did just trade CP3 (the fact that they did isn't what gets my hackles up, but that Owner's Monkey Stern blocked the trade because Paul would have gone to a major market, only to trade him to the same major market, just another team) the Hornets have gone way downhill.  Since they won against Linsantiy and the Knicks on Friday, the Hornets are all the way up to 7 victories.  Attendance is down because their best player is now the LA Clippers best player.  New Orleans is riding high on the successes of the Saints, but with no baseball, New Orleans would feel the hurt of going back to being a one sport city. They would also be one of the cities to have two NBA teams leave (the Jazz moved to Utah in 1979 because, you know, when I think Jazz, I think Utah).

Another possibility of a team for Seattle is one that has practically moved out of their stadium and turned off the lights already--the Sacramento Kings.  What could be better for King County than to have the Kings play NBA ball in Seattle.  If Sacramento doesn't build a new stadium, the Kings are gone.  They almost moved to (you guessed it) LA (Anaheim) putting 3, count 'em 3! NBA teams in the LA area!  And Owner's Monkey Stern has already all but signed off on it.  Sacramento hasn't been relevant in the NBA since the Clinton administration.  But they suddenly have a core of young talent (if they can afford to pay them once their rookie contracts are up) to build on.  If the Kings are already gone, then why not go to King County, Washington?  They want a new stadium, Seattle is building it.  They want a new city that is growing despite the economy?  Seattle is still booming away.

My trip to Seattle this month was strangely subdued.  This was my second time into the town when there were no major sports going on.  The first time, I didn't know enough about the pulse of the city to be able to tell.  But this time, after visiting the city during the height of baseball season last June and baseball/football last September, Seattle felt more subdued.  People were excited about seafood and Pike Place, which are normal tourist busy points.  The area was buzzing about a recent visit by Andrew Zimmer and Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, which had aired the week before my own trip.  But the stadiums were still.  The Sodo district (where all three current Seattle teams play) was quiet.  There was a Presidents of the United States of America concert, but even that was downtown.  Key Arena was silent. The nearby Space Needle and Experience Music Project being a bigger draw.

There are always things to do in Seattle.  But when the sports are done, there isn't a unity that comes with the support of a team.  There isn't a feeling of citywide celebration, even being there on the weekend before Mardi Gras, that comes with a sports team when they are bringin it.  Seattle is one of the cities that needs, needs needs sports year round.  Right now, there is nothing between January NFL and St. Paddy's day when the Sounders start up again.

Move the Kings, move the Hornets (and for the love of God, rename them), or resurrect the Sonics, but bring the NBA back to Seattle.

And, as always, send Stern packing.

More Karma (?) in Sports...Beware Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

Bill Belichick has lost another Super Bowl.  That means he is now 3-2 as a head coach in the Big Game.  He is 0-2 since SpyGate.

Gregg Easterbrook who writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback, one of my regular weekly reads during the football season, here, links SpyGate and Belichick's Super Bowl losses to the Football Gods raging against him. They rage because he has never admitted that it was outright cheating, but only a "misinterpretation of the rules."

There is a correlation between the two.  Before SpyGate, Belichick was undefeated in the Super Bowl.  But is it Karma and the Football Gods catching up to him that has put the Patriots at home while another team gets a NFL Championship Parade?  I would suggest several other factors before crediting the Football Gods.

Disclaimer: I actually do believe in Karma.  I invoked the Football Gods during the final rivalry game of U of I and Boise State when BSU was still throwing long bombs despite being up by five touchdowns.  They lost to Nevada two weeks later and also lost any hope of playing in a major bowl game.  It serves them right. But was it an angry Football God that made their kicker miss two easy ones?

On to Belichick.  There are several other reasons why Belichick hasn't won the big one since SpyGate.  Think about it, he was nigh unstoppable before they caught his cameraman...could it be because he HAD A CAMERAMAN ON THE OPPOSING SIDELINES?!?!  And now he doesn't and he isn't unstoppable.

Belichick is a very good coach.  He is intense, knows how to draft (or at least knew), and studies more than just the other team's players, but also coaches' tendencies as well.  He plain outfoxed Fox in the first Denver meeting.  But he hasn't done a lot of innovation lately.  He is the IBM of the NFL (mmm, alphabet soup).  He has stopped innovating.  He throws different defensive looks at teams, but most teams have realized he doesn't have a dominant secondary anymore.  They've realized he's stuck with an aging pass rush, too.  New England's defense was among the worst in the NFL.  But it's offense could carry it...against poor teams.  Of the teams that New England beat in the regular season, only one finished with a winning record.  Teams with decent defenses knew that Brady was going to drop back and pass...and pass...and pass. Name a starting running back for the Patriots...John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt BenJarvis Green-Ellis? 667 yards rushing...sandwiched in the rushing leaders by Cam Newton (706) and Tim "Oh Dear God, Let's Not Keep Talking About Him" Tebow (660).  Green-Ellis, New England's leading rusher was down there among the quarterbacks, running quarterbacks to be fair, but still quarterbacks.  Teams knew what the Patriots were going to do.  The teams that beat them, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and New York (twice), had defenses good enough to stop Brady.  In the playoffs, the Ravens (who should have beaten the Pats if not for a shanked close field goal) also had a defense good enough to stop Brady.  In the second half of the Super Bowl, the Giants were in nickel almost the entire time.  How do you beat a nickel or dime?  You rush.  This is one case where a quarter rarely beats a nickel.  Coughlin knew Belichick despised the run this year.  He dared him to run.  Belichick didn't/couldn't.

Belichick's former drafting greatness has fallen by the wayside as well.  With the notable exception of Rob Gronkowski in the second round in 2010, he hasn't drafted a star or diamond in the rough in years.  New England had a raft of first round draft picks and has another two in the upcoming draft.  But they haven't been making headlines with their players.  Belichick has even been credited with a few busts in recent years.

Another reason for the lack of trophies in Foxborough for the past 7 years could also be that the NFL is a copycat league.  The wildcat has come and gone.  We are again in a spread offense and running quarterback phase (Cam Newton meet Randall Cunningham).  The NFL caught up to Belichick.  They figure him out.  Drew Brees had more yards passing than Brady did this season, even though both broke Dan Marino's single season record.  In a game of Tecmo Bowl (1991 NES video game, for those of you not familiar) pass wacky offenses could work.  Some teams didn't need running backs.  Run heavy teams could also work.  But that was a video game.  If a team never rushes, they face a secondary that gets coverage sacks, like a few we saw Sunday.  If a team is run heavy, they wind up facing seven or eight men in the box, like New England did to Denver during the regular season and playoffs.  It became obvious that Belichick's innovative offense was pass wacky.  Coughlin is a good enough coach to see that and plan for it.  The Giants have a good enough defense to follow through on those plans.

Yeah, there might be some modicum of karma in sports.  But don't assume for a minute that that was the only reason New York was victorious Sunday.

The Death of an Icon

Joe PA

JoePa is dead.

The winningest Division I college coach and the icon for longevity and loyalty to one institution died of lung cancer this morning/last night.

A pox upon Penn State!  Penn State will now be the new Boston Red Sox pre-2004.  The curse of JoePa will be the new Curse of the Bambino.  The way that PSU let Paterno go, firing him in the aftermath of the breaking of the Sandusky accusations, will insure a pox upon the program.

Columnists (Easterbrook, Reilly) have pointed out the two-facedness of the PSU regents' actions.  Their actions show that they had to know something.  They threw Paterno under the bus but retained the two administrators (long enough that the university paid their legal fees for perjury) that Paterno did report the accusations to, the athletic director and then president of the university.  Paterno cooperated in the investigation, the other two were tried for perjury for lying about their knowledge.  But it was Paterno who was fired, even after announcing that he would retire at the end of the season.

Compare the PSU scandal against the Syracuse scandal.  Syracuse stands by Bernie Fine and hasn't touched Jim Boeheim.  There is damning evidence against Fine, recordings and even his wife knew about his inappropriate relationship with at least one ball boy.  Paterno admitted he knew.  Paterno went through college channels reporting the abuse when then Grad Assistant McCreary told him.  And was fired.  Should he have done more?  Absolutely.  Even he acknowledged that he should have done more.  Everyone should have done more.

Then it came out that he was diagnosed with lung cancer.  Then he broke his pelvis.  With all the media attention, we practically watched the post-football decline of a man who's very nickname carries the nickname of the state where he coached for longer than some people live.  He was at Penn State for 62 years, 46 as a head coach.  How many people even work for 62 years?  Let alone at one place.  JoePa was Penn State.  And they kicked him to the curb.

Do you know those people who are completely defined by their job--by what they do?  Not in a bad way.  Not in the I have to do this above and beyond anything and everything.  But in the "that was what he was put on this earth to do" kind of way.  Think Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts.  Defined by Charlie Brown, Schultz died the same day the last new Peanuts strip ran.  In an interview in 2008, a sportswriter asked him about life after football and the possibility of retirement.  JoePa didn't know what he would do.  Think about it.  He had been doing football for 62 years at Penn State.  That doesn't count playing at Brown.  JoePa was football.  Paterno responded to the question that he didn't know what he'd do after football.  He was scared to think about life after football.  As it turns out, there was only 77 days of life after football.  JoePa didn't have to watch a Penn State game that he wasn't coaching after being fired.

After Paterno was fired, Penn State only won one game.  Against a struggling, unranked Ohio State team that would later fire its own coach.  Over the season, Penn State didn't beat a ranked team.  Of course, the only ranked team that faced Paterno's Nittany Lions was Alabama, then ranked #2.  The team was 8-1 when Paterno was fired.  They finished 9-4.  At least two highly ranked high school prospects withdrew commitments to Penn State.

Without JoePa, Penn State will fade into obscurity.  Beyond talking about the Sandusky scandal, Penn State will be irrelevant.  They will not be a highly ranked team.  They will not play in any of the big bowls.  They will not win another national championship.

They owed more to JoePa.  Penn State has an all-time record of 827-360-43.  409 of those 827 wins were JoePa's.  Only 136 of those losses were his.  Only 3 of those ties were his.  He put Penn State on the NCAA Football map.

He deserved more.

Linkage in Sports: Wins and Gods

Athletes thank God when they win.  Some blame God over twitter when they don't (Buffalo Bills receiver Stevie Johnson here last year).  Bob Costas and sportswriters tackle the thought from time to time and wonder if God really has anything to do with sports.  A recent example is a look at Tim Tebow's faith by Charles R. Pierce here.  Is God responsible for Tebow's success in the NFL this year?  Is God responsible for Tebow's 6 game win streak that was broken Sunday by the New England Patriots? (More on them later).  Could it maybe have been that they played a shaky Raider team playing with a new starting quarterback the first week?  Could it maybe have been that they played an injury-riddled, struggling Chiefs team the second week?  Could it maybe have been that they played a Jets team that is infamous for inconsistency the third week?  Could it maybe have been that they played a San Diego team mired in one of their worst slumps with the current coach (Norv "I'm not quite sure what's going on" Turner) and quarterback (Philip "Cry me a" Rivers) in the fourth week?  Could it maybe have been that they played a Minnesota team with two wins in the fifth week?  Could it maybe have been that they played a Bears team without a starting quarterback or running back, with a quarterback who could play for Kansas City, he has been so futile, in the sixth week?

Then the Patriots came to town.  Tebow finally faced a coach who knows what he is doing.  Look at the six coaches Tebow has faced; Hue Jackson, a rookie coach, Todd Haley, who is now unemployed; a bragging blabbermouth in Rex Ryan who routinely blames his quarterback for Ryan's bad calls; Turner; Leslie Frazier (the team record speaks for itself); and Lovie Smith.  Out of all of those coaches, I would only take Smith, who has coached in a Super Bowl (he lost to Peyton Manning).

But now, Tebow and coach John Fox faced the master, Bill Belichick.  Even though the Patriots defense is one of the league worst, surprising for a Belichick team, they held the Denver Tebows to 23 points.  To be fair, 23 points would have been enough to beat 4 of the 6 teams of suck that the Tebows had beaten the previous six weeks.  But the Patriots scored 41 against the real reason the Tebows had won those games--the Tefense.  The Denver defense kept games close even though the Tebow offense really just kind of sucked for three quarters in every game, and then came from behind on weird runs against tired defenses.  Basically the Denver Tebows used high school tactics (run-run-run-run-long bomb...run-run-run long bomb) until the defense was tired in the fourth quarter.  With a good defensive team like Denver has, they could apply this tactic.  But against a Belichick offense that picks apart defenses? Not so much.

Belichick's team also figured out the way around the Tebow offense.  Tebow scrambles; he is a very mobile quarterback.  When he scrambles, teams react to try to hit him for a loss.  When they do, they leave their receiver open for Tebow to hit with a short pass right over the defensive back-now-pass rusher.  The Patriots figured out that if they let Tebow run until he crosses the line of scrimmage, they can then take free runs at him because he can no longer pass.  Tebow would scramble and the db's wouldn't react.  He would cross the line of scrimmage and then the linebackers and db's would collapse.  This is what kept Tebow from being fully effective.  An offense that was running on all cylinders came into Denver made it so that Tebow couldn't just run; he had to pass in order to try to catch up.

The Patriots exposed the Denver Tebows.  They showed the weakness of the team.  They didn't thwart the plans of a higher deity that prefers missionaries' sons over male models who happen to play QB.  They didn't enter into some sort of cosmic theological contest for all of our souls.  They played a football game.

That brings me back to the Patriots.  Remember when they won the first Super Bowl after 9/11?  When they were the good guys?  They were the red-white-and-blue team who came back from a national tragedy and won a championship.  Then came spygate in their taping the Jets sideline.  Suddenly Belichick and the Patriots are the bad guys.  They are still red-white-and-blue.  They are still called the Patriots.

In 2007, the Patriots were the first team since the '72 Dolphins to go undefeated through the regular season.  The way that they did so was one of that is commonly associated with the villain teams in 80s sports movies.  They were a juggernaut that ran up the score and threw long bombs when the game was already out of reach.  Their starters would play the whole game, even when they were up by 3 or more touchdowns.

The Patriots went from the patriotic heroes who pulled themselves up after the tragedy of a nation to the cocky champions that would often be seen as bullies. They lost the Super Bowl, their only loss that season.

Did they anger God with their cockiness and cheating?  Is that why they lost?  Did God turn his back on them?  Most of the football fans outside New England did.  One way of looking at religion is that it is an extension of the culture.  The people drive what the deity is doing.  The ancient Greeks conquered the people who had previously worshiped the beings we now know as the titans.  In Greek mythology, the Greek gods defeated the titans.  The general populace turned against the Patriots.  Since we turned against them, we felt like they were the bad guys.  Since they were the bad guys, God would also be against them.  They lost and we felt vindicated.  We felt like God had spoken and punished the evildoers.

Nearly four years later the Patriots with the same core, same QB, same star receiver, many members of the same defense, and, most importantly, the same coach, came into God fearing Denver.  They played the God fearing Denver Tebows.  They beat the Denver Tebows by more than double the Tebows' score.  If God is involved in football, or any sport, games, then he is fickle and easily angered.  What did Tebow do to anger God?  Is it the rumors that he is dating a divorcee in Lindsey Vonn?  Does God read the tabloids?  I would think those were well within the domain of Lucifer.  Right in between public officials and bankers.

Does the Patriots win over the God fearing Tebows have deeper religious implications?  Are we really supposed to be vain, wrathful, disdainful of others, and unapologetic when we are caught cheating?  Are all of those better than allegedly dating a recent divorcee (who denies she is dating Tebow)?

Or does God have better things to do than worry about the morality of football players?  Looking at the current state of the image of the pro football player, I'd say he'd have a lot to worry about.  With the exception of Tebow.

A Sad Week in the Football Mind

It has not been a good week in my football mind. Of course, I am talking about the Penn State scandal. I admired JoePa. As a coach, he had a reputation for holding is players to academic standards as well as moral standards. Under Joe Paterno, Penn State wasn't just a football factory that concentrated solely on the production of football players and championships.

After an astounding 46 years of head coaching, after an astounding 62 years with the same program, after two national championships and five undefeated teams, JoePa was fired.

Now, we're left wondering how much of that reputation was real, if his "Grand Experiment" was really just a sham. This isn't JoePa's first scandal. This wasn't the first time the board of regents had called for his resignation. In 2008 he faced a scandal again dating back years. From 2002 to the time of the scandal, 2008, 46 football players faced 163 criminal charges. It appeared that Paterno's "Grand Experiment" didn't include a moral/criminal clause, only focusing on academics and athletics.

I am torn at the Sandusky scandal. The grad assistant told Paterno and Paterno told the Athletic Director and the President of the University. No one did anything. It was a black eye on the Penn State. Now, it is a whole fist fight. If someone, any one of those four people had gone to the police at the time, this could have been avoided. The kicker? Sandusky wasn't even a member of the coaching staff or employed at all at the university when the grad assistant allegedly witnessed the abuse. Even after that, Sandusky was still given access to PSU facilities.

No. One. Did. Anything.

Now everyone who could have done something years ago has either been fired in disgrace or is on leave after death threats (the former grad assistant, now one of the Nittany Lions coaches). Sandusky is out on bail (and lives next door to an elementary school), and facing charges on the sexual abuse.

Not surprisingly, and barely worth noting in comparison to what is happening off the field, Penn State lost Saturday to a lower ranked opponent.

In depressing news on the field (again which pales in comparison to the above), The Kansas City Chiefs suck.

Even when this team is good (13-3 a few years ago) they suck. Whenever they have a season like their 13-3 seasons, I have the feeling that they won't win against any contenders. Looking at even last season, they didn't face any terribly challenging teams, given that the AFC West is not exactly a strong division. Sometimes last season, I would have wondered how the teams in the division would stand against the SEC. I'd almost take LSU against these guys.

The reason the Chiefs suck this time around? Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN's Page 2 would call it declining football IQ. Going late into the game, Chiefs are down by 10 against the Broncos. Four minutes left in the contest, definitely four down situations. The Chiefs do go for it on fourth down, that's not the stupid part.  The stupid part is that Matt Cassell, who the Chiefs, for some reason unbeknownst to many Chiefs fans, is the Chiefs QB of the future, has less than 100 yards. It is the fourth quarter of the contest and your QB of the future has 93 yards passing. Against Denver. Great Lou Holtz's Not Dead Yet Ghost! Kansas City goes four and out. Pass attempt incomplete. Run for 7 yards. Pass attempt incomplete. It is fourth and 3. There are four minutes left in the game. You're quarterback is sucking more than usual. Run. The. Ball. Your running game has been carrying your sorry team throughout the contest. Run. The. Ball. Cassell lines up in a shotgun. I start crying in my beer. Hey, it wasn't an incompletion. Cassell gets sacked for a five yard loss.

How much does Todd Haley make?  I will take a fraction of it to coach this team. It is fairly obvious Charlie Weis was the offensive genius behind last year's team. Weis called the plays. Weis made Cassell tolerable.

Weis announced he was leaving for a college head coaching job. The Cheifs still had two games to play last year. The final game of the season and one playoff game. They lost both. They have been even less than impressive on offense than they were last year. Last year they had a great running attack. Cassell, even though the Chiefs were winning, still sucked. They ranked 30th out of 32 teams in passing. Their running attack? 1st. Granted, this year Jamaal Charles, last year's work horse, is injured. But Battle has been showing flashes of above-average-ness.

After Weis announced his eventual departure, Kansas City again choked in the playoffs. Do you know how long it has been since the Chiefs have won a playoff game? I was in high school. Bill Clinton was not yet president, hadn't even had the election. George H. W. Bush was the President of these United States. The last quarterback to win a playoff game for Kansas City? Joe Friggin Montana! Have you seen his latest commercials? Do you know how old Montana is?? The answer to the trivia question is December 199-stinking-3.

The Chiefs have been famous at shackling themselves with mediocre draft picks or not keeping successes (see Jared Allen, who is a sack machine for the Vikings now). Oh, look, Allen just sacked Aaron Rodgers on Monday Night Football to jump into the NFL lead for sacks this season. Hi, Jared! I remember when you wore red and led the league in sacks, too! Hi!

What goes through the Kansas City powers that be on draft days? Take the first round this year. Hmmm, we have a mediocre QB and a GREAT wide receiver. We have an AWESOME running back. Our defense has been suspect, but is improving. Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh---uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. LET'S DRAFT A RECEIVER herp-de-derp!

Yaaaaay, now we have two receivers the quarterback can't hit!

It was announced today that Cassell may be out for the season with a "significant" throwing hand injury. That explains the late game suckitude. Herp-de-Let's Have Our Sucky Injured Quarterback Throw on Fourth Down-FRIGGIN-DERP!!

I'm hoping and praying that the pundits that be (including ESPN's Mel Kiper) are right about Ricky Stanzi. I'm hoping he's the next coming of Kurt Warner and Pretty Boy Brady. I'm hoping he gets in and the Cheifs take off and Cassell gets traded for Bobby Boucher (see: Waterboy).

Here's the problem (yeah, another one). The Chiefs haven't given Stanzi any snaps in practice all year. They haven't had him even think about taking a snap all year. Journeyman Tyler Palko will be the starter next Monday night against New England.

Herp-de-derp.

There's Something About Game 6's

One of Reggie Jackson's Three Game 6 Homers

Look at all the famous Game 6's. Not just in the World Series, but in any seven game series. 5 of the 6 Jordan-era Bulls championships were won in Game 6 (MJ's first championship over the Lakers was in 5). Reggie Jackson's three home run performance in 1977, Game 6. The Buckner game, Game 6. The Bartman game, Game 6. Curt Shillings ALCS Bloody Sock Game, Game 6. Tonight's extra innings heart attack extravaganza, Game 6.

Poor Bill

One of the causes of all this excitement in Game 6s is that one team is playing to win the whole tomato. One team is playing to keep their season alive and force a game seven. Reggie Jackson's three homer Game 6? Championship. Buckner, Bartman, the Bloody Sock, and tonight? Forcing a Game 7.

Tonight's heart attack extravaganza is special. It is special because it was eleven friggin innings. It is special because it took the better part of five hours. It is special because it is one of the few games I've spent cheering with a band of friends in the pool hall across the street. Normally I watch my big games at home with maybe my fiancee.

As a Yankees fan, I will forever hate this sock.

This one was different. Four tables at the bar were cheering for St. Louis. One person, at our table no less, was cheering for Texas. I am generally opposed to just about anything that comes from Texas. My fiancee has family in St. Louis. Tony La Russa is my second favorite manager behind Joe Torre. La Russa looked old tonight. He looked old explaining what the hell happened in game 5. But he looked older as his team hung 3 errors on the board tonight. I imagine I look a little old after those three errors, and I was just watching in a pool hall.

St. Louis had three errors. Texas had two. St. Louis became the first team in MLB history to score runs in the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh innings of a World Series game. They were barely fending off Texas with scores in the eighth, ninth, and tenth, playing catch up as the Rangers continued to jump ahead. Finally, in the bottom of the eleventh, David Freese hit a home run to straightaway deep center. Before the ball had cleared the fence, fans were clamoring over the railing to get into the grass for the ball. Everyone but the Ranger Girl at our table (who is really a San Francisco fan, go fig) is screaming, clapping and high-fiving.

Just at our table alone, this game took its toll. The Sports Fiancee, who is now fast asleep, felt like her spine was being wrung out. She kept holding her pink scarf over her mouth and nose. She'd sniff for a bit, almost praying to the Baseball Gods. Then would rock back and forth like Rainman. it turns out she wasn't going through some ritual for the Cardinals to win. She had to pee so badly, but couldn't stand to leave the game long enough to get to the bathroom. She and Ranger Girl both had to be cajoled during a Ranger pitching change in the 9th to finally go. I have never seen two women get into the bathroom and back so quickly.

The only other guy at our table and I decided to do tequila shots around the 7th inning. Just as we got our shots, Beltre hit his home run. We joked about needing the alcohol to make it through that and downed the Tarantula. We ordered another shot just in time to see Cruz hit his home run. We decided, in perfectly logical fashion, that our shots were causing the Rangers to hit home runs and stopped drinking.

At five different times during the night someone at our table was laughing so hard they were either crying, curled up in the fetal position in their chair, or trying not to wet themselves.

At five different times during the night, we vocalized our disgust with the errors in something that could never be classified as intelligent language, let alone English.

Have you ridden the S.L.U.T.?

At at least five different times during the night we joked with the table in front of us about the Seattle Transit System deciding to name one of their light rail systems the South Lake Union Trolley and that name actually getting approved by the mayor's office.

This was followed by at least five different references to "Riding the S.L.U.T."

We laughed, we cringed, we screamed ourselves hoarse. Baseball can do this. Other sports can't. Basketball is too fast paced. There isn't time for the conversations there are in baseball. The Sports Fiancee was able to look at an advertisement on the wall and name all 32 NFL teams during the game. Football is slower, but there is still enough going on that you can't keep conversations going during a game.

One of the main complaint about baseball is that the games are so slow--that there isn't enough action. Baseball, especially baseball in the World Series, is a game of tension. I kept reaching over to massage the Sports Fiancee's back,  knowing she was in agony watching her team drop routine flies like the Bad News Bears. She was in even more agony after the platter of fried food, the Irish Coffee, and however many glasses of water, even before St. Louis had to claw back in the eighth, and ninth, and tenth innings. Baseball builds that tension. The game is slow, but so is the build up to a really good horror movie. Suddenly, a fly ball that has a chance to be a home run is flying toward the outfield. You find yourself holding your breath. You are clenching your fists. You are clenching your bladder because you drank too many Sam Adams during the early innings. The ball is caught and you can relax...except your bladder. Then the next hitter comes up and it starts all over again. Baseball is an emotional roller coaster wrapped into a sport. Enjoying it with a group of friends makes it all the more enjoyable. Making it a do or die for one team at game six makes the roller coaster that much more of a wild ride.

What baseball fan doesn't dream of this?

On to Game 7.

The Ethics of Sucking for a Shot at a Franchise Player

This is the year of Suck for Luck. It all started last year when Stanford junior QB Andrew Luck, who was in the heart of the Heisman race late in the season, decided to return to school for his senior year.  Now, Andrew Luck has the college play ability and reputation of possibly being the best QB heading to the NFL since Peyton Manning. This guy could be more Manning than Manning (Peyton than Eli).

As soon as Luck decided to go back to Stanford for his senior season, fan bases for bad NFL teams started hoping for L's more than W's. Look what happened to the Colts from 97 to 98 and then into the Manning Era. In 1997, the Indianapolis Cots finished with a 3-13 record, the worst in the NFL. This ensured them the first pick in the draft. Two college QB's were vying for the honor at the time, Manning, and Ryan Leaf. Looking back, now the Manning/Leaf debate seems as stupid as Coca-Cola Classic/New Coke. The Colts took Manning. Their next season, 1998, they also finished 3-13. However, with another first pick in the draft, the Colts took RB Edgerrin James. Now that the young QB, Manning, had an offense that wasn't one dimensional, the Colts took off. They finished the 1999 season 13-3 with a first round bye in the playoffs. They didn't look back, making the playoffs every year until now, where they sit 0-7. For those of you living under rocks (at least in the sports world), Manning had two off-season surgeries and has not played. It doesn't look like he will play this season, possibly in his career, depending on the rate of recovery from the surgeries.

Manning has been thought of as one of the best quarterbacks ever to play in the NFL. His intelligence and ability to read opposing defenses has led Indy to more complex offenses, the ability to adapt to different teams, and to be at least evenly matched against any other team in the league. They are the only team to really give the Bill Belichick Era Patriots fits. It looked like Indy would set a record this season for most consecutive playoff appearances before Manning had to bow out. All of this because they sucked in the late 90s and were able to get a franchise quarterback with the first pick.

Now it's happening again. Luck is the quarterback this time around who can be the next Manning. There are three teams who have yet to win this year. Indy is among them. The other two are Miami and St. Louis. St. Louis used a high draft pick two years ago for Sam Bradford, another good college QB. The problem has been, like Manning's first year, Bradford has no other options. His offensive line is atrocious and his running back is way past his prime. Bradford has been hit so often he sat out this past Sunday's game with a high ankle sprain. If your young quarterback gets pounded, he's not going to become an old quarterback.

Getting back to the Luck Question: should we as fans hope for our teams to tank for one year for the chance at future greatness? Part of me says yes. I would love to see Andrew Luck call plays for the Chiefs, who were early season contenders in the Suck for Luck contest. They have since won three in a row. I swear, every time I think that Matt Cassel should be traded, benched, or run out of town on a rail, he has a great game, or series of games, and pulls the Chiefs out of suckitude. Would I take Andrew Luck even though Cassel shows signs of greatness? Yes. Would I want my team to tank this year for the chance to be the next 2000s Colts? That's harder to answer. Like I said earlier, part of me says yes. But I also want my team to do their very best every year.

As a general manager, coach, or even owner, this question is easier to answer. No. You never tell your team to tank in order to get a star player next year. Look at the NBA right now. There might not be a "next year."

Let's look at some of the past teams who have had a franchise player land in their laps via suckage, intentional or not.

First up, Cleveland and the LeBron James Contest.  Cleveland absolutely sucked in the early 2000s. They finished the 02-03 season with a record of 17 wins and 65 losses. They finished tied with the Denver Nuggets for the worst record in the league.

Where the NFL goes by straight team standings for their draft selection, the NBA goes with a lottery system. The teams that don't make the playoffs are entered in a lottery. The NBA draws ping-pong balls with team logos out of a lottery machine to determine draft order. The worse the record, the greater the number of ping-pong balls the team has in the machine.

With their matching suckitude records, the Nuggets and the Cavaliers had equal chances to land James. Cleveland won the opportunity and snatched the high school player with the first pick. It didn't work out too well for them. Yes, Cleveland started selling out home games. They started making the playoffs (eventually). They made it to the NBA finals (but lost). Then the inevitable happened. James left. Not only did he leave, he kept the city on a yo-yo while he "tried to make up his mind." Read here: milked the publicity. James knew where he was going to go. He had known since he and Chris Bosh had played with Dwayne Wade on the 2008 Olympic team. They had all decided they wanted to play together and see how many rings they could get. Were they all going to play in a mid-market team in a depressed city like Cleveland? Were they all going to travel to the frozen north to Toronto, where Bosh was playing? Or would they travel to South Beach, Miami? A major market team in a comfortable climate in a big city. Hmmm. And everyone wound up playing for the Heat.

A player as savior is not a sure thing, especially in football. Early draft picks have a hard time making the transition from college stud to NFL savior. It took Manning two years to have a winning season. Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, and Matt Leinart have yet to come to fruition. Leinart isn't even a starter, backing up Matt Schaub in Houston.

So, what do you do? Is it ethical to write off a season and try to get someone who will put butts in the seats and lead the franchise to the playoffs for nearly a decade? If you do try to win games and fight and claw your way up to the middle of the pack in the NFL, then what? You don't make the playoffs, and you're in the middle for the draft. Chances are, you don't get a big college savior, and you're doing what you've been doing for the last however many years; drafting to fill the needs you have and just hoping you find a diamond in the rough.

That is unless you're Bill Belichick. The guy is a genius when it comes to finding draft picks that pan out. You know Tom Brady? Superstud at the pro level? Setting records for most games without throwing a pick? Until recently had never thrown an interception in the red zone? That Tom Brady? Yeah, 199th pick in the 2000 draft. Sixth round. There was no risk in taking him at that point. Why not? Getting into those late round picks, you're getting kickers, punters, and a special teamer or two. Well, here's a quarterback who our quarterbacks coach says looks pretty good. Eh, whadaya gonna do? If he doesn't pan out, we cut him with the other late round picks. It took Brady two years to get into the starting role. It took an injury that caused internal bleeding to then starter Drew Bledsoe, but he got there. Three Super Bowl champion rings later, he's still one of the top tier quarterbacks, if not the top QB in the NFL. The Patriots didn't suck the year before in order to draft their quarterback of the future. They didn't need to.

I'll admit it. When Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles went down with a season ending injury in the second week of the season, joining tight end Tony Moeaki on the injured-reserve list, I started thinking "hey, maybe we can lose all of them this year and get Luck." I had that thought. I'm betting Dolphins fans are having that thought. I'm betting Rams fans are having that thought. I'm wondering if Colts fans are having that thought. The Dolphins and Rams have long term woes. Luck, even if he turns into the next coming of Peyton Manning, won't be able to right those ships. But neither was Manning. The Colts, I don't know. If they wind up going oh-fer, do they take Luck, knowing that Manning might be back next year? Do they expect Manning to train his replacement? Will Indy wind up with a Favre-o-rama in a couple of years with a current quarterback hanging on too long while they have the next great one in the wings?

And what if Luck is the next coming of Ryan Leaf? What if the real genius of the Stanford offense was really Jim Harbaugh, now the head coach for the 49ers? There are too many variables. If one of the oh-fer teams right now winds up that way, and joins the 2008 Detroit Lions with the record for suckitude, and drafts Luck, will this season be seen as a blessing in disguise? Or will it be a taste of things to come?