Here we are, firmly in the Fall of Our Discontent. Food and energy costs up, and predictions of winter heating getting, well, not good. The midterm elections and campaigning aren’t helping with our anxiety and tension either. And then, there are our sports teams . . . . . .
Our beloved Red Sox are finishing the season in last place. How did that happen? The starting pitchers were pretty much everyone in the farm system. Injuries were devastating, but then who doesn’t have them? We spent most of the second half wondering, “Who is that guy?” as someone new came up to bat. Several of our “hopes for the future” came up and went back down as quickly as the price of gasoline. A column in today’s paper mentions that not long ago, the Sox outfield was the “envy of baseball” – Benintendi, JBJ, and Mookie. What more do you need? They’re all gone now, replaced by bits and pieces. If Chaim Bloom doesn’t start working his magic soon, Fenway Park will look like it did in the ‘60’s. (Or as Tropicana Field does even now.)
So, who to cheer on in the playoffs, while the Sox are on life support? It really goes against the grain to lend support to the Yankees. That’s like cheering on Kim Jong Un’s latest rocket launch. Yes, they do have Benintendi, but we still remember their thefts of our key players going back to Babe Ruth. So, in my mind, they still are the Evil Empire. I’m happy to see Judge get his historic home run, and we liked Derek Jeter, so I can be charitable at times. But that has its limits.
I can support Cleveland, because our fan favorite Terry Francona is there. He is such a nice guy, and I’ll always wish him and his teams well. That’s easier to do, now that the Guardians won’t be playing the Red Sox until next season. Toronto and Tampa Bay just lost in their playoffs to – Go Guardians and Mariners. Maybe by some fluke the Red Sox will all be vaccinated by 2023, so half the team won’t have to stay home when there are games in Toronto. I’m amazed by that. Players like pitcher Tanner Houck, who risks hepatitis with tattoos all over himself, takes a stand against “injecting chemicals into his body” by refusing the COVID vaccine. The Astros are out of my favor – they got Alex Cora into trouble. OK, he may have willingly participated, but it’s still the Astros’ fault. I like to place blame indiscriminately. The Dodgers have our Mookie, and yes, for the record, he’ll always be our Mookie. And Dave Roberts, who did well by the Red Sox as a player, certainly deserves to succeed, as long as it’s not against the Red Sox. So, I wish the Dodgers well as they head back to the playoffs. With the other National League teams, I’m pretty ambivalent. Don’t really know them, and don’t really care. We have friends in Philadelphia, one of whom is a Phillies fan, so that gives him something to cheer. The World Series in October will be teams of strangers, with the occasional familiar face. We ask ourselves, “didn’t he used to play for us?” Ah, the ones that got away. The ones we got and then injury plagued them. The ones that didn’t do particularly well for us, only to take flight and become spectacular elsewhere. Baseball is a certainly a game of chance. We’ve had our highs and our lows, and quite frankly, we don’t accept or live well with the lows. New England teams should always be at the top, speaking of which . . . . .
The New England Patriots are off to a mighty impressive 1-3 start. They’re down to their third-tier quarterback, looking to draft a couple of high school players from the South Shore and the Cape. What happened here? Although, I have to say the game last week in Green Bay wasn’t the bloodbath we all anticipated. The newbie almost beat Aaron Rodgers. You all remember Aaron? The guy that told us he was vaccinated, but it turned out he self-vaccinated with coconut oil. If they can get by the Lions this week, maybe there’s a chance, a glimmer of hope for a season not totally sinking into the West. Of course, we can wait to see . . . . .
The Celtics had a new coach last year who was quite impressive until he had an affair with . . . oh, for God’s sake. Now the assistant is the “interim”. For better or worse, he’ll continue. Big question marks and lots of heads shaking. That’s another wait and see . . . . .
The Bruins too have a new coach. He spoke about the team having to adapt to his style, which of course is true. That could be a spark that leads them to greatness, or it could go south in a hurry. Many key players back, but still. To be honest, we don’t follow hockey all that much, unless they’re winning, in which case we become huge fans. I can share with you a story about my hockey experience. A few years ago, Merrimack College was in the playoffs of the Frozen Four at Boston Garden. They were looking for a pep band, and asked Methuen if we’d like to provide one. Our band members did, and we took almost 50 students down. This was my first experience with a pep band for hockey, although I’d done it many times before for basketball. It was the most terrifying experience, as I was getting cues from the control booth, and I think we missed half of them. The students had a great time, got t-shirts, and I only aged about 10 years that night.
On the plus side, Her Ladyship and I took a brief foliage tour over to the coast to visit one of our favorite purveyors of jellies and jams, mustards, sauces, and the like. We stocked up for the winter, or at least until Thanksgiving. The fall foliage is beginning to look presentable, although it probably won’t be spectacular due to the drought this summer. And speaking of discontent, our friend, Lady Peacock, did a similar tour a while ago – weeks ahead of the peak, and she informed us that it was unimpressive. We took some strategic pictures and sent them to her to show her how lovely it was on Friday. She’s on Cape Cod this weekend, where it’s cold and blustery. Mother Nature seldom cooperates with her wishes, but then, nothing really does.
I'm Thinking...No! 