Another curse broken

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies: Under manager Charlie Manuel, the "Phightins" beat out a young Tampa Bay Rays team to win the World Series, 4 games to 1.

Most of the country didn't really care about this series (as evidenced by a 25% drop in ratings from 2007), but it was still pretty exciting.

...and hopefully I don't have to bail out my friends from jail tonight.

After a 3-2 Philadelphia win in Game One, Tampa Bay struck back Thursday to even the series. The Phils then stormed back after a 90-minute rain delay Saturday, winning in one of the oddest endings to a game I've ever seen [click here to read the recap]. Then came Sunday, when the Rays just basically rolled over and died--even Phil's pitcher Joe Blanton jacked one out of the park.

Then we had the controversial Game Five. On a cold and rainy Monday night, the Phillies struck early, going up 2-0 on a Shane Victorino single in the first. Tampa Bay's slumping stars finally got a little something going in the top of the fourth, making it 2-1. The elements started to take over in the fifth inning, but Commissioner Bud Selig allowed the game to continue long enough for the Rays to manufacture another run off Phillies ace Cole Hamels. The tarps came out and the Phillies fans cried foul.

After rain and snow --yes, snow-- Tuesday, the teams took the field tonight, 46 hours after Game Five's suspension. The 3-inning game, which required an exorbitant amount of strategy, began with a lead-off double by Geoff Jenkins, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Jimmy Rollins and an RBI single from Jayson Werth. Tampa Bay's Rocco Baldelli jacked one over the fence in the top of the 7th, tying the game at 3, but not for long: Pedro Feliz put the Phils back on top in the bottom of the 7th and Brad "Lights Out" Lidge came in in the top of the 9th to shut down the Rays and bring Philadelphia its first championship since 1987.

[NOTE] Before I get into my schpeel and get scathing comments in respone to this post, I have a guest writer on-deck to write a "Yay Philadelphia" post in the coming day, so chill out on the hate messages. Now, on to my rant...

I grudgingly congratulate the Phillies because--being from south Jersey--I've just had it with the bandwagon fans who have come out of the woodwork the last month, and especially the last week. I know it's to be expected, but it's just obnoxious. Philadelphia was a city that was all about "bleeding green" for its Eagles for the last several years, and now that the Eagles are in last place, these people are jumping ship and "painting the town red," as they say. Suddenly everyone remembers that Philadelphia has a baseball team and their clothing, cars, away messages and Facebook statuses are overwrought with Phillies exclamations. You talk about bleeding green--I think I'm vomiting red. (That doesn't sound very healthy, eh?)

But hey, congraulations to all the real fans. Your curse is over. Now you can stop complaining. Hey, now you're just like everyone else. Now you've just gotta win 24 more World Series titles to catch up with the Yankees, haaaa. Oh, and the Eagles still suck.

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Or don't blame it on the rain...
Blame it on the rain
Taco, taco, taco!
World Series set to go
Boston wins World Snoozefest
Speedy Gonzalez
Yo quiero free taco
Dem's fightin' Phils

Or don't blame it on the rain...

[UPDATE] The remainder of Game Five will be played tomorrow, Wednesday, beginning at 8:37 p.m.

NOTE: This is a special-guest feature from my friend, Dave, who is the biggest Philadelphia sports fan I know. As an anti-Philadelphia sports fan myself, I obviously did not plan to write a sympathetic post in opposition of the events of last night's World Series Game Five, but I know that the suspension is drawing huge criticism and who better to air the grievances than a tortured Philadelphia sports soul?

The stage was set last night. It was supposed to be the night that the so-called curse was lifted, and Philadelphia had a sports championship to celebrate.

God had other plans.

We all know what happened: Delayed after 5 ½ innings; play will resume when "weather conditions permit." [see the logistics surrounding the suspension, below]

No one can be blamed for what happened with the weather. If it’s going to rain, it’s going to rain. Nothing can be done; however, the way it was handled was perhaps the biggest disgrace that Commissioner Bud Selig has ever been apart of. And if you’re a baseball fan, you know there were many--including but not limited to the tie at the all star game in 2002, and the continuous blind eye to blatant use of performance-enhancing drugs.

What the casual fan may not have seen last night was Selig’s post-game press conference, which was an absolute joke. It was an obvious attempt to deflect blame off of himself. You can go back and read the transcript yourself, but he essentially blames the groundskeeper, and then the weatherman at the stadium for letting it get out of hand.

The real problem, however, may not even be Bud Selig; it is rooted in the fact that these games don’t start until about 8:45 pm. There is no reason that these games can’t start at 7:30 or 8:00 on the dot. Major League Baseball wonders why kids aren’t as interested in baseball as they used to be. Perhaps it’s because they’ve never been allowed, or physically able to stay up until 1 am to see a team experience the joy of winning a World Series.

Nevertheless, the city of Philadelphia deserves better. The wait is now on and the worst part is, the fans of this city don’t even have a clue as to when the final 3 ½ innings of this game are going to be played. The anticipation is intense.

Look at it this way Philadelphia: The wait has been 23 years, 6 months, 28 days since the 76ers completed the sweep of the L.A. Lakers in the 1983 NBA finals. What’s one (or two) more days?

And hey, it could be worse: Game Four of the 1911 World Series between the Giants and the Athletics in Philadelphia was postponed for six days due to rain.

RELATED LINKS
Blame it on the rain
Taco, taco, taco!
World Series set to go
Boston wins World Snoozefest
Speedy Gonzalez
Yo quiero free taco

'Dark' curse?

By now, you may have heard about Morgan Freeman's car accident that put him in the hospital last night.

CNN.com is reporting that Freeman, 71, was in serious condition but appears to be "in good spirits" after suffering a broken left upper arm, several other fractures and neck and shoulder injuries in the wreck.

Freeman, who could have surgery as early as Monday, was enjoying the recent success of the latest installment in the Batman series. This got me thinking...

*Does anyone else see a somewhat ominous trend falling over the stars of "The Dark Knight"?

Similar to Poltergeist, perhaps this big blockbuster is carrying some sort of curse.

We've seen the death of star Heath Ledger ala painkillers and sleeping pills shortly after the movie wrapped. (Sources say his role as the Joker was causing insomnia.) Then, Christian Bale has assault charges filed against him by his mother and sister days after the movie's premiere. Now, Morgan Freeman's car flips off the road and he lands in the hospital as the movie continues smashing all sorts of records?

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