Sports: October 2004 Archives
For any electoral predictions you see, take four from Kerry and add to Bush, if they are giving New Hampshire to Kerry. New Hampshire is close, and New Hampshire is Red Sox country, and the Red Sox won the World Series, and the man who won two huge games -- one against the Yankees, one against the Cardinals -- while having a torn ankle tendon, blood oozing through his sock while pitching, is campaigning for Bush.
Curt Schilling can't actually walk and go to campaign stops, but he has a recorded message, and this will tip the scales for Bush in New Hampshire.
Some people think this is frivolous, but no, those of you out there who think so really don't understand how deeply us New England natives feel about the Boston Red Sox and winning the World Series. We've been waiting 86 years for this. How we see the world is changing because of it. Most of us thought we would die without seeing it happen. And it happened. And it's like a cloud has been lifted. It's as though New England knows it will never have to huddle through another Nor'easter ever again. Everything has changed.
And this man literally came back from the athletic dead, a sports Frankenstein: his tendon was separated and the doctors sewed it to his skin to keep it from touching anything else, so it wouldn't hurt so much. The reason he can't campaign physically is because he can't walk, and yet in the last two weeks, on this hemmed stick, he pitched 13 innings and gave up only one run. He has surgery this Wednesday, if it is not infected.
He laid everything he had on the line, plus some, and without him, the whole region would still be under The Curse, miserable, despondent: the usual. The biggest crowd probably ever -- for anything -- in New England history came out to celebrate the World Series victory on Saturday. And this hero of it all, Curt Schilling, who came to the team last year specifically to win a championship for us, the fans, is campaigning for Bush in a state too close to call, in the final days.
Mark my word, New Hampshire is Bush's. Maybe Maine, too.
Of course, predictions in many of these states are hard enough on their own that we really don't know who will win. But one thing seems likely: if either candidate wins OH, PA, and FL, it is over, and it is almost over if Kerry wins only one of those three. Our chance of a very close election is if Kerry wins two and Bush wins only one, in which case Curt Schilling becomes the deciding factor, just as he was in the playoffs for the Red Sox.
And one other thing is for sure: we won't need to wait 86 years to find out. Maybe 86 days, though ...
P.S. In the Globe story I linked to, the last line makes it sound like Schilling went back on his word when he agreed to record the messages. It's a lie. Schilling apologized for endorsing Bush on Good Morning, America, which he said was the inappropriate time and place to do it, not that he would be reticent to endorse Bush in other, more appropriate, settings.
Curt Schilling can't actually walk and go to campaign stops, but he has a recorded message, and this will tip the scales for Bush in New Hampshire.
Some people think this is frivolous, but no, those of you out there who think so really don't understand how deeply us New England natives feel about the Boston Red Sox and winning the World Series. We've been waiting 86 years for this. How we see the world is changing because of it. Most of us thought we would die without seeing it happen. And it happened. And it's like a cloud has been lifted. It's as though New England knows it will never have to huddle through another Nor'easter ever again. Everything has changed.
And this man literally came back from the athletic dead, a sports Frankenstein: his tendon was separated and the doctors sewed it to his skin to keep it from touching anything else, so it wouldn't hurt so much. The reason he can't campaign physically is because he can't walk, and yet in the last two weeks, on this hemmed stick, he pitched 13 innings and gave up only one run. He has surgery this Wednesday, if it is not infected.
He laid everything he had on the line, plus some, and without him, the whole region would still be under The Curse, miserable, despondent: the usual. The biggest crowd probably ever -- for anything -- in New England history came out to celebrate the World Series victory on Saturday. And this hero of it all, Curt Schilling, who came to the team last year specifically to win a championship for us, the fans, is campaigning for Bush in a state too close to call, in the final days.
Mark my word, New Hampshire is Bush's. Maybe Maine, too.
Of course, predictions in many of these states are hard enough on their own that we really don't know who will win. But one thing seems likely: if either candidate wins OH, PA, and FL, it is over, and it is almost over if Kerry wins only one of those three. Our chance of a very close election is if Kerry wins two and Bush wins only one, in which case Curt Schilling becomes the deciding factor, just as he was in the playoffs for the Red Sox.
And one other thing is for sure: we won't need to wait 86 years to find out. Maybe 86 days, though ...
P.S. In the Globe story I linked to, the last line makes it sound like Schilling went back on his word when he agreed to record the messages. It's a lie. Schilling apologized for endorsing Bush on Good Morning, America, which he said was the inappropriate time and place to do it, not that he would be reticent to endorse Bush in other, more appropriate, settings.
Some people think the Red Sox winning the World Series is a sign Kerry will become President. Those people are on drugs. It's not like we haven't had a Democratic President from MA in the last 86 years.
However, what we've never had is an incumbent win when the Redskins lose their last home game before the election, which is scheduled for this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, versus Green Bay. If they win, Bush wins. If they lose, Kerry wins. Or so the story goes.
So, what are the chances the Redskins win?
The Redskins have not won consecutive games since September 2003, when they beat the New England Patriots. The New England Patriots have not lost any games since, rattling off an NFL record 21 in a row. The Redskins are the only team to not win consecutive games during that streak. Talk about a curse.
If the Redskins win, does it mean the Pats lose to the Steelers at 4 p.m., thus making Bush the victor? Or do the Pats have to lose first to enable the Redskins to win consecutive games, meaning the Redskins cannot possibly win on Sunday, since their game is earlier, meaning the election is already over and Kerry has won?
However, what we've never had is an incumbent win when the Redskins lose their last home game before the election, which is scheduled for this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, versus Green Bay. If they win, Bush wins. If they lose, Kerry wins. Or so the story goes.
So, what are the chances the Redskins win?
The Redskins have not won consecutive games since September 2003, when they beat the New England Patriots. The New England Patriots have not lost any games since, rattling off an NFL record 21 in a row. The Redskins are the only team to not win consecutive games during that streak. Talk about a curse.
If the Redskins win, does it mean the Pats lose to the Steelers at 4 p.m., thus making Bush the victor? Or do the Pats have to lose first to enable the Redskins to win consecutive games, meaning the Redskins cannot possibly win on Sunday, since their game is earlier, meaning the election is already over and Kerry has won?
I listened to the 5-7 innings on the radio en route to my hockey game. I saw innings 8 and 9 on the TV there. When they won, I let out some barbaric YAWP and fell to my knees.
My game started about 10 minutes later, so I was kindof in a daze, and I am still not convinced it happened. I have to keep checking the web, radio, and TV to convince myself. If I wake up tomorrow and it's still all there, then perhaps I will be convinced.
My game started about 10 minutes later, so I was kindof in a daze, and I am still not convinced it happened. I have to keep checking the web, radio, and TV to convince myself. If I wake up tomorrow and it's still all there, then perhaps I will be convinced.
Something just hit me.
I realized the other day that the only Boston team to NOT beat St. Louis for a championship was the Red Sox. Someone else noted that all three other teams broke major slumps against St. Louis: the Celtics won their first ever championship against them in 1957, the Bruins broke a 41-year slump in 1970, and the Patriots won their first in 2002.
And just now it hit me: all three teams lost the next year (58, 71, 03), but went on to win another championship the following year (59, 72, 04).
Could we be seeing the Sox again in 06?
Also, never have two Boston teams won a championship in the same year. This would only be the second deacade two Boston teams have won, which makes up for the fact that the 90s was the first that none won.
Of course, the Sox actually have to win it. And I, and millions of other fans, are probably jinxing it right now by talking so much about this stuff.
I am going to play hockey again tonight, perhaps missing the victory. I almost hope they lose so I can watch the actual victory live. Which means I am probably jinxing it further.
I realized the other day that the only Boston team to NOT beat St. Louis for a championship was the Red Sox. Someone else noted that all three other teams broke major slumps against St. Louis: the Celtics won their first ever championship against them in 1957, the Bruins broke a 41-year slump in 1970, and the Patriots won their first in 2002.
And just now it hit me: all three teams lost the next year (58, 71, 03), but went on to win another championship the following year (59, 72, 04).
Could we be seeing the Sox again in 06?
Also, never have two Boston teams won a championship in the same year. This would only be the second deacade two Boston teams have won, which makes up for the fact that the 90s was the first that none won.
Of course, the Sox actually have to win it. And I, and millions of other fans, are probably jinxing it right now by talking so much about this stuff.
I am going to play hockey again tonight, perhaps missing the victory. I almost hope they lose so I can watch the actual victory live. Which means I am probably jinxing it further.
I'll keep this updated. If you are not a Red Sox fan, you won't care anyway, so I won't explain it.
Update: It's over. I am still in shock. We won.
Update: It's over. I am still in shock. We won.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
