As I watch the rain pour down outside the windows of the Most Boring Job Ever, I can't help but feel partially responsible for this rash of unsightly weather. I previously commented on the fact that May isn't supposed to be hot and sunny as it had been for the better part of the month thusfar; rather, it should be rainy and cool. Whatever this is now is certainly NOT cool. It's downright freezing. The temperature index gives an actual reading of 42° and a 'feels like' reading of 36°. This rain pattern is supposed to continue right on through the weekend. My internal actual reading shows 'kinda like shit' with a 'feels like' reading of 'like complete shit'.
Aside from the weather, not much is spectacular about the end of this week, aside from the fact that is indeed the END of the week. The Sox will most likely be cancelled this evening, so I'll have to attend the makeup which may be tomorrow, in the rain. However, there appears to be some light ahead and not just from the forecast. I'll explain.
If any of you listened to the Mike Felger show yesterday afternoon, you probably heard his interview with the Patriots' Jarvis Green. Green told of the early arrival of Randy Moss and his eagerness to participate in the preseason conditioning drills. Apparently he's also primed for some good, old-fashioned charity work as well. I'm not quite sure who this Moss character is, but he's presenting himself as the second coming of Christ as it stands now. The thing of it is, I don't have a ton of respect for a guy who spent the last portion of his career in a snooze out in Oakland. All reports out of there tell of his lack of anything and everything while he was there and that not a single person was sad to see him go...aside from maybe JeMarcus Russell. The Raiders were the laughing stock of the NFL last season but looking deeper into that situation you can see that: 1. their defense was much improved over the season and kept them in games that they probably could have won if their offense wasn't totally anemic, and 2. that anemic offense probably could have done a bit more with the personnel they had. Regardless, when you have players like Moss who so obviously don't want to be there and it shows on the field, there's just no way that's going to have a positive affect on the rest of the team.
Now he finds himself in the comfy quarters of New England, amidst a core of new and old talent that has been concocted to win a Super Bowl. From the outside, you've never seen a shinier, more attractive offense in the one that will surround Tom Brady this season and the improvements we've made on defense will fill some gaping holes...although a few still remain in the secondary. I hate thinking that there's nothing that can stop them this season but it's impossible to think otherwise. The upcoming NFL season should be fruitful for New England fans.
So as I mentioned in a previous post, I had that audition for the radio gig yesterday morning. To clarify, it's part of one of those ESPN Dream Job contests and this one is to be the play-by-play announcer for the Class A affiliate of the Sox: the Lowell Spinners. I thought it went really well whcih probably isn't a good sign. I had to call the second inning of the 2004 ALCS and my whole angle going in was to make sure that I didn't sound like a Boston fan. I actually had to catch myself in the middle of my broadcast because i really had the urge to blurt out that Kevin Brown really sucks. Other than that, I kept it pretty low-key. But I fear that I may have come off a bit dronish in my delivery. See, I asked the guy running this thing what the downfalls of the other guys have been up to that point. He said that the biggest problem they've seen is the inner Sox fan glaring through contestants' broadcasts. Apparently, many of the other contestants couldn't stay away from calling David Ortiz "Big Papi" and stuff like that. He also told me that one guy came in and replicated the Joe Castiglione broadcast from that exact game, word for word. We then both joked about how Castiglione, even being the icon that he is among Sox fans, probably wouldn't get this job if he auditioned because he's so old and tired. I don't know, maybe I'll get a call back to the final round but even if I don't, it was pretty cool to sit in the ESPN radio booth right next to where Felger does his show. I'll never forget it, that's for sure.
More on the Sox...I really enjoyed yesterday's slate of games because they were both very good wins from lineups that were unconventional for this year's squad. Game one featured a gritty performance by Julian Tavarez; one that was imperative for saving some bullpen work in the midst of a double header. Usually, double headers play out in a way the calls for long work by middle-relievers. That wasn't the case yesterday because of the Tavarez performance. Solid defense and timely outs were also the theme in game two, a game in which Schilling wasn't dealing with his best stuff. But it's always refreshing to see your ace struggle through all six innings of work, yet never give up that big hit with men on base. He just kept fighting and gave the offense a chance to win the game. We all know that Eric Hinske was the star of the evening, making a sensational diving grab despite introducing his face to the right field dirt in rude fashion. I have no idea how he held onto the baseball, but that catch was one of the best I've seen. And then he did it at the plate, smacking a two-run homer in the seventh to put the Sox up for good. I always love seeing guys enjoy themselves when they play the game, and seeing Hinske's child-like grin as he rounded the bases and pumped his fist was pretty awesome. There's nothing like bench production in critical parts of the game, especially when you're looking for offense any way you can get it. Hats off to Hinske.
Finally, I'm happy to report that I have done some pretty nifty doodling this morning. I doodle from time to time, but it's not very often that I look at a doodle and think "man, that's one sick doodle". Well it happened this morning...the picture above is of poor quality, but enjoy nonetheless.
Here's hoping the weather cooperates for the slate of games this weekend.
