Sunshine and lollipops!

The left leaning media in this Nation has been so biased in this election coverage, a biased organization came out and said this week that 65% of the coverage of McCain was biased and negative. These pukes are jumping up and down right now. Obama is already picking his cabinet according to an article online this evening. There is even a new discussion of a new cabinet position, the department of peace. Isn't that wonderful. Maybe Oprah can get that cabinet position, the sales of Kleenex would go through the roof, then they'd get to get taxed more and help those less fortunate. How's Oprah spreading around her wealth? A few give aways on her show from product placement people getting free advertising? Bullshit on that. You watch, the tax increases will only apply to white Americans. If you are a minority and own the company, you won't have to pay increased taxes.

I have faith in you America. We underwent this same scenario with Kerry and Bush in 2004. Going into the final weekend Kerry was supposedly up by 8 points prior to the election. Bush won. We heard all of the same rhetoric in 2004, that Kerry energized all the young voters. They were going to push him over the top. Not so much. The polls are tightening as I expected them to. This Nation is NOT socialist at heart and the worst thing that you can do in the current economic climate is to raise taxes, and that is what the class warfare candidate Messiah Obama wishes to do. He wants to appeal to peoples fears and not their hopes and dreams. He feels our Constitution is a document of negative rights telling citizens what the state and federal government can't do to you instead of what they must do for you. We don't want the government doing anything for us because they screw it up each and every time they try.

This Nation was founded by intelligent men that somehow could see into the future. (imagine that and they didn't need more funding for public education) they knew that this Nation needed checks and balances in government to prevent tyranny against the citizens.

We are on the precipice of going over the cliff. The Constitution. The Supreme Court. Unions taking over small businesses. The open discussion now of a Second Bill of Rights. They are all at risk. Your 401K is at risk of nationalization, it's being discussed currently by the democrats in the house. You can read the article on the Wall Street Journal. I don't make this shit up. Barney Frank has come out in the last week stating that the military budget should be cut by 25% to pay for domestic programs and that deficit spending should occur over the next 2 years and then make up the difference by taxing all the rich folks out there. Barney, wasn't your butt buddy boyfriend head of Fanie Mae? Didn't you tell the American public, Fannie and Freddie were fine in mid July on CNBC, because I swore I heard your lispy voice tell America everything was fine. I was watching that afternoon. LIAR!

I love this Nation. I don't want a safety net. At multiple times I've tried to create a new business and I've failed, but that is what makes this nation great. In 1998 when I started shipping seafood, the demand got larger than I could handle and I was faced with a dilemma, invest and expand or retreat. I retreated and I'm glad I did with the shipping costs having skyrocketed. However that doesn't defeat me. And I didn't ask for a government handout.

I come from a family where all the male members except for myself, have proudly served in the military. My great grandfather was one of only 9 individuals to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor twice during the Civil War. My grandfather and father both served during World War II and my uncles and half brother served during Vietnam. These members of my family served this Nation in order to insure our protection as well as defend the Constitution. I have no doubt the military personnel would suffer greatly under the Obama watch.

We cannot elect a person president who has allied himself with a multiple of persons who openly voice their hatred for this Nation, and even more, have committed terrorist attacks against this Nation and innocent civilians. And then once questioned, dismisses all associations.

It is important in the next 144 hours, talk to your friends. Engage people who are going to vote. Try to persuade them to Vote McCain/Palin. This Nation, at this crucial time cannot afford a leftwing dictatorship running this Nation with no checks or balances. Please help save free enterprise, help save the Constitution, help save America as we know it.

Good night and God Bless.
And even though the Phillies won, I'm so damned proud of the Tampa Bay Rays.

A 10:07 pm EST first pitch?

A you freakin' kidding me? MLB is doing it's damnedest to make sure future generations of young children will finally stop playing baseball and move towards other sports. I won't make the entire game tonight, and neither will many other fans. How about a day game once in a while guys? This is bullshit tonight. Never mind the fact a major early season snowstorm is headed towards the east coast early next week.

Sarah Palin can't be president?

Over the past month the left wing main stream media has been running story after story about how Sarah Palin was the worst possible choice for vice president McCain could have ever made. It's so nice to see the New York Times and MSNBC helping out the McCain campaign in such a dubious fashion. The fact is, many Americans connect with Mrs. Palin. Her appearance on Saturday Night Live last weekend drew the largest viewership of that lame show in the last 14 years. Why? Not because Tina Fey looks like her, it's because Americans' like her.
To steal a line from the Tom Cruise movie, Jerry Mcquire, "You had me at hello."
Sarah Palin's husband is a commercial fisherman. I've seen video of Governor Palin pulling gillnet from years ago from family video before she was ever a politician in the public eye. Any woman willing to go out commercial fishing with her husband, and undergo the hardwork associated with that job, understands the ordinary everyday life of the "Joe the Plumbers" of America. The socialist redistributionalists on the left wish to discredit her and her straight talk to the American people. I happen to think what she says speaks for the majority of the people I know in my life, and she and her family are welcome to break bread at my homestead any day, any time.

Mrs. Palin represents a threat to the liberals, and they constantly point out how little experience she has. Never mind the Messiah hasn't even served one full term in the US Senate. When this Nation was founded, there were no "experienced" politicians to draw from. After all, we had just broken away from the Motherland of England, after the citizens which risked everything to come to the new colonies were fed up with being taxed out of their gourd to finance projects back in England. Taxation with Representation. Get ready for that phrase fellow citizens. So who exactly were our first founding presidents?

George Washington 1789-1797
He was a surveyor and joined the military. He did not want to be president but is the only president in history to win 100% of the electoral votes in 2 elections. He also never joined a political party.

John Adams- 1797-1801
Lawyer. Need I say more? Went to Harvard and graduated when he was 16. In 1800, I don't think there were too many ads for 1-800-ASK-GARY. Too bad for him.
Even though he was an attorney, before the legal profession was corrupted by frivolous lawsuits and easy money, he wrote the anonymous letters in 1765 to the Boston Gazette opposing the Stamp Act on the basis of 2 principals. There should be taxation with representation and those facing trial should face a jury by their peers.

Thomas Jefferson- 1801-1809
Another lawyer. (the trend was set early on in this Nation)
Jefferson distrusted banks, and supported states rights instead of centralized federal control. He must be doing cartwheels in his grave today. Jefferson was also a strong supporter of separation of church and state.

James Madison- 1809-1817
I wasn't around during the Madison era, but if I had been, I'd have voted for my hero more times than an ACORN volunteer can sign up welfare recipients in Cleveland to vote for Obama.
This man had it right. James Madison should be the Father of the Country. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, we were new, shaking out the process, then we finally got to the heart and soul of what made this Nation great. The primary author of the Federalist papers, which should be mandatory reading in every US History class in public schools in America. The shortest president in US history at 5' 4" and also the first, non lawyer! Mucho bonus points there as well.
Madison believed in a strict, limited Federal government and one of his strongest beliefs was non other than the checks and balances system in our government. No doubt he is doing cartwheels along with Jefferson.

James Monroe-1817-1825
Nothing really significant here about Monroe, other than he was key in securing the state of Florida for the US in 1817. 183 years later, Florida could be known for the hanging chad and the butt of all the latenight tv shows jokes. Thanks James.

So during the infancy of this great Nation, prior to the advent of 24 hour news channels, the internet, blackberries, cellphones, and all the other devices which make our lives simpler, but the media will tell you are causing so much more stress. Take some time out and look at the folks which formed this great nation. The first 5 presidents of this nation undertook a great challenge, not knowing if this Republic would survive. They undertook their leadership position by believing in the American people, not the government taking care of the population. Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison didn't have focus groups polling people to see how they'd react to a particular issue, they knew what Americans wanted, they wanted to be free and free of oppressive government. Imagine how they ever got elected without a New York Times endorsement.

Sarah Palin understands that and that is why she resonates with so many American people. She is one of us. And that is why the media despises her so much. The media despises you and me and everyone else out there working in the trenches for a living. They feel that we are not taking care of the disenfranchised, those without a voice. I say horseshit. They are wanting to facilitate a cradle to grave government care society because they feel that we are incapable of taking care of ourselves. We have 12 days to go in the most important election in the history of this Nation. Are we going to follow the path of my hero James Madison and insure checks and balances in the government or are we going to simply become France Lite? It's up to you voters. This 220 plus year experiment in democracy is up for grabs. Please vote. And vote correctly! McCain/Palin.

Perry Mason was gay?

Reports surfaced this week about Raymond Burr being gay and spent his life with a partner while he was a star on Perry Mason and Ironsides. WOW! Why wasn't he jumping up and down using his "celebrity" as a platform to further an agenda? Ellen Degenital has certainly picked up the slack for him.

Slant Pete Times doesn't fail to dissapoint

The self appointed "Best Newspaper in Florida", the slimy ambulance chasing rag which loves to report hardcore news such as DUI and drug arrests of locals, came out today with a glowing endorsement of who they consider will become the next presi......I mean Messiah of the United Socialist States of America.

I won't even waste bandwidth to link the endorsement here, but if Michelle ever decides to leave the Messiah's side, suffice it to say, the editorial board of the Times will be more than happy to slide into bed along side his majesty and keep him warm at night. At least, the Fort Myers Newsless-Press refused to offer up an endorsement.

It's time America for you to conduct a gut check. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Hopefully, you were educated in the school system prior to 1990 and have a firm grasp on how the election process works and understand US history. It is time to understand the ramifications of electing a Messiah who will control both houses of Congress and both leaders. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi can't wait to take this Nation so far left that you won't even have a chance to feel the whiplash.

House democrats are already discussing taking, not a voluntary contribution, but taking your 401k and retirement monies and putting them into the Social Security trust fund. This idea, just simply fueling on the fears of the media over the radical moves on the Stock Market over the past few weeks, is rooted in the arena that the government knows better than you on how to manage your money. If this plan is enacted, and there is no reason not to believe it won't be enacted with the Messiah holding court over a democrat Congress, your 401k will be taken over by the Social Security Administration (and boy aren't they doing a bang up job) you'll be given a 3% annual bond, and when you retire, you'll get one check from your 401k and your SSA monthly check, all in one. Isn't that sporty? One stop shopping. Never mind the fact that any contributions for any further 401 contributions will no longer be tax deductible. Socialists don't want folks to be personally responsible, they want you sucked right up to the government tit. Then if you die, your 401k will be subject to a 50% death tax.
How many more folks does that move into the 250,000.00 threshold? The American dream stops at 250,000.00 according to the Messiah. So do you want to suck on the government tit or be free to try your hand at trying to get a handle on the American dream? Quit sucking and get a job.

WAKE UP AMERICA. THIS ELECTION WILL DETERMINE WHETHER WE WILL BECOME A NATION OF HANDOUT RECIPIENTS WHILE PUNISHING THOSE WHO PAY THE FREIGHT OR WE WILL ELECT A PERSON WHO WILL CREATE THE CHECKS AND BALANCES WHICH OUR FOUNDING FATHERS INTENDED.

ATTENTION LEE COUNTY FOOD SERVICE PERSONS

The above photo is of Rob Duca, a "journalist" for the Cape Cod Times newspaper, which in circulation numbers means he basically writes for the a newspaper no larger than the Observer newspapers which are thrown on our local driveways once a week.

Everyone in the service industry needs to become aware of his face and his name. I'll bring this up again on the blog as we get closer to the spring training season after the first of the year. His face and his words will be circulated to all the service industry folks I know in various locations throughout Lee County this Spring Training.

This individual is a lapdog for the Red Sox and during the offseason, wrote a column about how "gritty" Fort Myers is. How horrible Ft Myers is, "requires traveling on the busiest street in Ft Myers, Imagine an airport runway-flat and straight-with and endless stretch of fast-food shops, pawn shops, tattoo parlors, strip malls and seedy motels. That's Cleveland Avenue, and that's pretty much Fort Myers."

Rob Duca couldn't sing enough praises for the Red Sox moving from Ft Myers up to Sarasota, referring to Sarasota as "Swanky Sarasota" He obviously dislikes Ft Myers terribly.

He wrote his column about how bad Ft Myers was as he was on his way to the Bell Tower Shops to eat at Blue Pointe Oyster Bar and Grill to eat a high end meal. So, you servers out there, be on the lookout for this man come late January, early February, no doubt he will be hitting the high end locales in Ft. Myers on the expense account of the Cape Cod Times, and without a doubt telling you waitresses and bartenders how important he is as a member of the "national" media. He despises Ft Myers and dislikes Florida in general. DO NOT GET SUCKED IN WITH HIS BULLSHIT WHILE HE IS HERE. I'll revisit this post again just before spring training.

Rob Duca should simply stay home if Ft Myers was so miserable last spring training.

The Next Arrogant Opponent

Philly. PLLLLLEEEAAAAASSSEEE. I've read some of the dribble coming out of the City of Tampa Bay's Brotherly Love today. Have another cheesesteak sandwich and shut the hell up. Philly you exist to be the Bay area's bitches.

We can revisit recent history. The Bucs, in your beloved dump, known as Veterans' Stadium, January 20th, 2003, NFC Championship game. The snapshot above is Barber running back a McNabb interception to seal the 27-10 win in Philly so we could advance on to the Super Bowl and win. Something Philly has been unable to do. Then in an unprecedented scheduling move, the World Champion Bucs open the 2003 season on the road in the new Philly Stadium, and administer another beatdown of the Buzzards on Monday Night Football.

As far as the Bucs history goes, we can go all the back the the 1979 season. Another Tampa worst to first scenario. The Bucs went from worst in the NFL to win the NFC Central Division. NFC divisional game, in Tampa, where the Doug Williams led Bucs defeated the Buzzards, 24-17, and my childhood hero, Ricky Bell carried the ball 38 times for 142 yards. It was unfortunate his life was cut so short.

The Lightning eliminated the Flyers to advance and eventually win the Stanley Cup.

Now we are down to baseball. The Phillies are another speed bump on the way to Bay area history.

Philly thinks they are bringing history and national heritage to this series. Hmmm.

Philly has the cheesesteak but, the bay area was the birth place of Hooters- +1 Bay area. I've got to add +2 for Hooters for the Bay area, they did launch an airline franchise and opened a casino in Vegas. Are there any cheesesteak casinos in Vegas?

I'll add a +2 for the creation of the Winghouse, much better wings and much hotter women.

Philly is the "birthplace of Independence" but the majority of the city is voting for Obama, many illegally registered by ACORN, who don't believe in independence so thats -1 for Philly.

Philly was the genesis for the Rocky films and after watching the last Rocky film, that's another -1 for Philly.

Thats a +3 for the Bay area on the surface. I'll delve into deeper analysis of the cities tomorrow.

This is going to be a great series. And if the Rays don't manage to win the series outright, then so be it, but I just have the feeling that they will. This team is playing so well and has all season as a team, each night someone else steps up to be the star. Never underestimate the power of more cowbell!

Rob Duca is a chicken shit reporter

Regular readers of my blog in the Ft Myers region will recognize this name. You know the reporter from the 347th largest media market in America, Cape Cod. Boston Red Sox kool-aid drinking fan, err excuse me, unbiased journalist for the media giant, the Cape Cod Times. I'm not a journalist, and I'm biased and proud of it.

Mr Duca got caught up in the possibility of the Red Sox voiding their contract with the city of Ft Myers and moving, in his words, to "swanky Sarasota". Well, last week, Sarasota said they don't have the money to build the Red Sox's newest spring training shrine. Interesting that this team went 80 plus years without a championship and now feel like they can dictate to communities what they want as if they a perennial champions. NOT THIS YEAR! Take your 72 piece a game bubble gum chewing manager and find him a dentist in the offseason for God's sake.

Mr Duca referred to my hometown as, "the main road resembles an airport runway, flat and straight-with an endless stretch of fast-food restaurants, tattoo parlors, strip malls and seedy motels. That's US41 and that's pretty much Fort Myers." Of course he wrote this opinion of Ft Myers while he was driving to dinner at the Blue Pointe Oyster Bar and Grill at the Bell Tower Shops 2 miles from my house. You won't walk out of the restaurant without a 50.00 per person tab, but who cares, he writes it off to expenses to the journalistic pillar known as the Cape Cod Times for his time spent here in "gritty" Ft Myers on his "expense" account. Reporters come here to cover both the Twins and the Red Sox and "reporters" always try to impress the local bartenders by informing them they are with the "National Media". Please. I've seen your picture Duca. Go back to the hotel room and watch HBO.

Piss off Mr Duca. I know lots of folks in the service industry here in Gritty Ft Myers and I think we should start a letter writing campaign in the area to tell your editors that you really don't like this area and in this economic downturn you should stay the hell home this spring training if you find Ft Myers so offensive. Shovel snow in March instead of applying sunscreen. You can write about the Rays and the "Dreadful Trop" to your minions of liberal fans drinking the Red Sox kool-aid, but you never once responded to my emails when I confronted you with your accusations about my hometown. And to that, you are chicken shit. You are nothing more than a Boston Globe wannabe or an ESPN groupie.

Well, get your popcorn ready sonny, Wednesday night, 8pm, the FOX network you can watch the American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays take the field for game 1 of the World Series. Oh, how stupid of me. You'll probably be putting new anti-freeze in the car and adding some home heating oil to the homestead. Yeah, it's chilly here to. We just finally got to turn off the air conditioning after 4 months and I had to get a sweatshirt out tonight, it was 86 today but we might dip down on the mercury to 64 tonight.

Quick wk 7 picks

Buffalo over San Diego
Minnesota over Chicago
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati
Tennessee over Kansas City
Dallas over St Louis
Miami over Baltimore
New York Giants over San Fran
New Orleans over Carolina
NY Jets over Oakland
Indy over Green Bay
Crackheads over Cleveland
Tampa over Seattle
New England over Denver



Finally, Tampa Bay over the Evil Empire 9-5 and on to the World Series.

WTF TBS?

I know you were having problems with the sound portion of the broadcast, but can't we atleast simply watch the pictures? Craig Sager probably got his velvet suit wet and shorted out the transmission truck.

Red Sox in a landside

Red Sox won tonight, and the "objective" announcers from TBS jumped out of their skins when the Red Sox rallied to win. It was orgasmic. Jesus, I thought Obama had paid a visit and laid his hands upon the Red Sox. I think it is pretty disgusting that TBS carries the ALCS games and has one announcer who was the team announcer for the Red Sox all season long. Now the discussion has become all about how badly Maddon has mismatched the pitching rotation. I hope you guys over at TBS have changed your pants after last night's game. So much for objectivity. And for you Craig Sager, no need to change your outfit, but I hope it's waterproof, each night brings a new one that's a real pisser.

Tampa will win this division series where they need to win it, in their hometown! Saturday night!

Denial, maybe Duca needs a 12 step program

Rob Duca is so concerned about his precious Red Sox and notice all the refenences to all the celebrities in his column. Al Franken, Jimmy Fallon, Drew Barrymore. Oh Boo Hoo if the Sox can't win so they can't attend anymore Sox games this year. What happened to Ben Afflac and Jennifer Garner?

Notice how quick the New England media jumped off the New England Patriot bandwagon? They were like rats when the water first touched the float switch for the bilge pump.

Thought Rays fans would like another e-mail contact after we win to touch base with our sensible fellow Americans which live in another region on the Nation.

By ROB DUCA
October 16, 2008

BOSTON — Nothing but positive thoughts today.
Skip the section of your morning newspaper that reminds you of the Red Sox's predicament in the American League Championship Series. Don't watch the pundits on ESPN. Turn off sports talk radio.
Instead, settle onto your couch and pull Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking" from the bookcase. Insert Sinatra's "High Hopes" into your CD player. (Stay away from playing Dire Straits.) Call up YouTube on the Internet and search for "Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley" (the Al Franken character on "Saturday Night Live"). Watch him gaze intently at the mirror and repeat, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"
Imagine how this will all turn around. Remember the past. Take comfort in reliever Mike Timlin's reassuring words following Tuesday night's 13-4 Game 4 pasting from the Tampa Bay Rays that left the Red Sox on the brink of elimination.
"Don't they say history repeats itself?" he asked.
Draw inspiration from catcher Kevin Cash.
"We were down in this situation last year," he said. "Everybody in here still believes that we're going to go out and win Game 5 and so on. We've got to take the attitude that we're playing Thursday, and we'll see what happens after that."
After that they will head to St. Petersburg, Fla., where Josh Beckett will remember who he is, and Jon Lester will take care of business, and the Red Sox grounds crew will begin prepping Fenway Park for another World Series.
Keep telling yourself that. The glass is half full. Remember Rick Pitino's words: Negativity sucks.
Don't even think about how Fenway felt earlier this week. Silence is not always golden, particularly when it results from the shock of watching your heroes being bullied in their own backyard. Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford will cool off. It's the law of averages. Yesterday's gone. Today is the first day of the rest of the postseason.
Time isn't on the Red Sox side, but history is. They have done it before — not once, but twice in the past four seasons. They trailed the Cleveland Indians by the same 3-1 deficit just 12 months ago and were spraying each other with champagne in Denver not long after that. They were staring at a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in 2004 and won four straight. It's not like they're attempting to split the atom.
"I believe that what we did last year — if we can draw on anything from that, good," manager Terry Francona said yesterday. "Anything that's happened in your past, you try to turn it into an advantage for you. Saying that, this is a different team, it's a different Tampa team. But we'll use anything we can to give us any kind of advantage."
Resist the temptation to dwell on the negative — or as some heretics might suggest, the reality of their difficult circumstances. It is true that Manny Ramirez, who hit .409 and drove in 10 runs to lead their comeback last year against the Indians, now wears Dodger Blue. And Mike Lowell, author of a .333 average and eight RBIs in that series, will undergo hip surgery on Monday. And Jacoby Ellsbury, who replaced Coco Crisp in Game 5 and ignited the Red Sox, is mired in an 0-for-20 funk.
And David Ortiz, Mr. October in the 21st century, can't hit his way out of paper bag. And Jason Varitek is looking more feeble than your stock portfolio.
Details, details. It will only add to the lore when they storm back. More books will be written. Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore will be signed up to star in "Fever Pitch II." Letterman and Leno's people will be calling.
Daisuke Matsuzaka pitches tonight's fifth game. People can whine all they want about his frustrating style, but he went 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA during the regular season. Those are Cy Young-worthy numbers. He's started twice in the postseason and the Red Sox won both games. He fired seven shutout innings in their 2-0 victory over the Rays in Game 1.
Besides, the Rays are skipping over ace James Shields and pitching Scott Kazmir, who was lit up in Game 2. Big mistake.
Remember when Kevin Millar huffed in '04 that the Yankees better not let the Red Sox win Game 4, because then Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling were on tap? If the Red Sox win Game 5 tonight, Beckett and Lester will be next. Neither can pitch worse than in their first starts in the series, right?
Beckett insists he's healthy. Take him at his word. Unless he's lying straight to your face, he will get the job done in Game 6. And then it's up to Lester, and you don't think the youthful Rays will feel a little pressure if this series goes to a seventh game?
So it's all laid out perfectly. The Red Sox have the Rays just where they want them — overconfident and unaware of what dangers lie ahead. And if doesn't quite work out that way, there are always the world champion Celtics just around the corner.
Staff writer Rob Duca can be contacted at 508-862-1177 or rduca@capecodonline.com

A match up with brotherly love possible?

I don't want to get ahead of the game here regarding the Rays, the Red Sox are still dangerous. A rattlesnake can still bite you until you cut off it's head. But, it's sort of ironic to ponder a matchup with the city which has been so involved in providing championships in other sports for the Bay area.

Philadelphia, the city which spreads it's brotherly love to the Bay area.

Bucs-
In 2000 and 2001 the Bucs qualified for the playoffs, but were quickly eliminated from the tournament 21-3 in 2000 and 31-9 in 2001. Those loses opened the door to send Tony Dungy packing and Jon Gruden to take control of the Bucs.
In 2002, Gruden led the Bucs to their season best record of 12-4, and once again, an eventual playoff matchup with the Buzzards. This time, the outcome was vastly different. The Bucs dominated the game in Philly and won their first game ever when the kickoff temperature was under 40 degrees, walking out of the Vet with a 27-10 victory and tickets to San Diego and eventually a World Championship. (something Philly is still looking for)

Lightning-
The Lightning in the 2003-2004 season won the Southeastern Division with a 46-22-8 record.
The Lightning eventually played the Philly Flyers in the championship game before advancing to the Stanley Cup series. Philly was defeated 4-3 by Tampa, and Tampa captured the Stanley Cup over Montreal.

So Philly, we are ready for some more of that brotherly love so we can close out a hat trick of championships of the major sports in our region at your expense.

Quickest way to turn around a franchise? Uniforms.

This season the Tampa Bay Rays shed the green color and the word Devil from their franchise moniker. Sure, a uniform change is a great way to increase merchandise revenue, but let's face it, going into this season, Rays merchandise wasn't flying off the shelves but looking back at some uni changes in the past, perhaps it should have been, and most likely will be now.

1997. The Denver Broncos. Perennial Super Bowl whipping posts for opponents getting beat during the John Elway era in Super Bowl XXI 39-20 by the Giants, Super Bowl XXII 42-10 to the Washington Crackheads and then in the most lopsided loss in Super Bowl history to San Francisco 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV. Going into the 1997 season, ownership decided to change the uniforms for a different look for the Broncos. Gone was the traditional orange accent in their colors. Gone was the big D on the helmet, replaced with a horse head which resembles Sea Biscuit looking to win by a nose at the wire. The result? The Broncos went all the way to the Super Bowl and finally won with John Elway under center, beating Green Bay 31-24 in a thrilling game.

1981 Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were perennial losers, having never reached the Super Bowl in franchise history. In 1981, the Bengals decided they would retain their orange and black primary colors, but they would change up the uniforms. They made dramatic changes with the helmets, shedding the block letters spelling out the teams name, Bengals, and adopted a snazzy tiger striped approach. Tiger stripes were added to the shoulders of jerseys and along the legs of their pants. The change was good. During the 1980 campaign, the Bengals were a measly 6-10, when they hit the field during the 1981 campaign, they turned in a 12-4 season and made it all the way to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately for the Bengals, they lost 26-21 to a new quarterback by the name of Joe Montana who would go on a have a decent career.

1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Oh the futility. 2 seasons and a 0-26 record right out of the gate in 1976. In 1979, the Bucs advanced all the way to the NFC Championship game but their flirtation with being a regular participant in the playoffs year in and year out was short lived. Once tightass Hugh Culverhouse finally died, the team was sold and in 1995 Malcom Glazer took control of the NFL's worst franchise in the previous 15 years. In 1996, the Bucs hired Tony Dungy who went 6-10 in his first season. Before the start of the 1997 season, the Bucs decided they would finally rid themselves of the Creamsicle uniforms and instill a new mindset. Prior to the 1997 change, bright orange and white uniforms trimmed in red, helmets were white and adorned with a pirate named Bucco Bruce. It was a logo before it's time. A pirate with a giant marabou feather lopped over the top of his head and a dagger clinched firmly in his teeth. I'm sure Bucco Bruce is the unofficial mascot of transvestites everywhere these days. So, the new ownership unveiled a completely new direction. The Glazers introduced a new color into the NFL family, pewter. Bucco Bruce was replaced by a pewter helmet with a red pirate skull and crossbones battle flag on each side. The uniforms varied between red and white jerseys and pewter pants. The result? A 5-0 start, a 10-6 regular season record and the first playoff appearance in 15 seasons. 5 seasons later, a Super Bowl championship.


So, the Rays are on track to log their place even deeper in MLB history. Done is the devil ray image, replace by a blue and gold sunburst. The sun has risen over St Pete this season and it's definitely been a new day. It's in the Rays' hands to bring home the championship before the sun sets on this season.

A Ray of Dope?

This was the headline in today's unbiased journalistic bell weather, the Bawwsten Herald.
The headline was in regards to Joe Maddon changing the pitching rotation to have Scot Kazmir take the mound tonight instead of James Shields. Boston ought to worry about their own team. If they had managed to open the newspaper and looks at the standing for the ALCS Bawwsten is down 3 games to 1. Skipper Joe Maddon has made some unconventional moves this year, but he's an unconventional coach.

I have to agree I'm holding my breath tonight with Kazmir, who has been shaky the last few outings, but Maddon knows better than I what moves should be made. In Joe we trust.

I finally realize why the ownership changed the team name this year. The simple name RAYS, is an acronym. Redsox And Yankess Suck.

Hey Red Sox!Sarasota said they don't have the money to build you a big new replica of Fenway Park for spring training so it looks like Rob Duca will have to tolerate the non swanky Ft Myers.

Are you jealous Jon?

Just as the sun will rise in the East Wednesday morning, Jon Gruden will arrive at One Buc Place just around the corner from Raymond James Stadium at 3:18am to plan how to attack the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday night. When he was hired by the Bucs, he was considered to be an offensive genius in the NFL coaching community. He quite possibly could be scratching his head in 4 hours, wondering how did Joe Maddon overthrow his title.

The Rays had 12 hits on Saturday, 13 hits Monday, and 14 hits on Tuesday. 39 hits and 31 runs in 3 games. Carl Crawford achieved something no other player has in MLB playoff history has, a 5-5 plate appearance tonight with 2 stolen bases while batting .500. Willie Aybar is batting .500 as well with 5 RBI's this evening. The Rays are scoring more often and easier than the Bucs offense. Can Carl Crawford play wide receiver after the World Series? The Bucs could sure use him.

Tonight's debacle started early when the Rays scored at will on the 42 year old knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, who had not pitched in 16 days. He lasted 2 2/3rds innings. On behalf of the Rays fans Tim, we enjoyed having you, hope you enjoyed being had.

I had mentioned last night that it looked as if there was a commercial being filmed in Fenway after the 7th inning for Pepto Bismol. Pepto isn't going to coat, soothe, and relieve this ass whipping tonight. Sox fans, just skip over the Pepto, move right after the game to Grey Goose and Morphine.

Time for the observations of tonight's beatdown and there is one pressing issue I must address first and foremost-

Craig Sager- For the love of God man, have you no dignity? A velvet suit jacket? VELVET? And that's not even the half of it, your tie looked as if it was made from drapes out of a Motel 6 hotel room in Lake City that was going out of business. And, please........please, tell me I didn't see you wearing blue shoes with that outfit.
A VELVET suit jacket? You looked like a walking carpet painting of Elvis sold on US 41 by some Pakistani couple in a Citgo gas station parking lot on Sunday afternoon. Has your broadcasting career reached this low?

BJ Upton- Son. I can't say enough good about the majority of what you are doing. I hope this offseason you can tone down your "anger" with the "man" and spend some time with Joe Maddon and he can get you headed in the right direction. Watching you play is frustrating because you could be a superstar but you seem to zone out at times and one of those times was in the 8th inning.

Verizon- I've got the perfect new commercial for you. Joe Maddon walks up to Fenway Park with a duffel bag over his shoulder, sporting his Hugo Boss glasses. He's met at the gate by all the baseball writers, and those who can't write and blab about sports on the radio gurus of America. Maddon reaches the front gate of Fenway but it's locked and all the sports intelligentsia tell him, "You can't come in here, it's a dead zone." Maddon smirks, looks over his shoulder, the camera pans over to show the entire Rays team and they are all carrying Verizon phones. Maddon says, "It's okay, I brought the Network. Can you hear me now?"

38-0- The Rays are 38-0 when leading in any inning this year by 5 or more runs. Check my other blog postings about the Bucs when scoring 26 points or more.

Subway- I'm just annoyed with this 5.00 footlong advertisement campaign you are running. The subs you picture in you ads, where are they? All the veggies perfectly stacked, lunchmeat perfectly portioned, cheese hidden away, no condiments dripping from every end of the sandwich. Shit, your 5.00 footlongs look more like 5.00 footballs by the time you get out of a Subway.

Lights off- Damn. Tonight was the important night for those of us who blindly follow the media folks in their feel good initiatives to right the wrongs of the world and once and for all tell the foreign oil companies enough is enough and turn off our lights! Ooops. Sorry Anderson Cooper. Were the lights off at your house tonight? So,at the conclusion of tonight's pummeling, TBS reported that the state leading in the Lights Off campaign, was no less than Florida. 42,311 households had agreed to participate and 120,908 light bulbs had been turned out. OOOOOH! Saudi Arabia must have been quaking in their shoes. Oil probably plummeted 20.00 a barrel.
The reason 42,000 households in Florida turned off three lamps in their house was because the Bay area was confused and thought it was not a Lights Off program, but a Lights Out program and once the Rays were up 13-2, thought it was Lights out and simply went to bed in the 8th inning. But God Bless the Bay area for saving the world and destroying the global oil demand.

If the Sox return to St Pete- Perhaps they should change things up a bit. I'm thinking they maybe ought to think about staying in a Holiday Inn Express on their next visit. According to their ads, you can do some remarkable things if you stay there.

Big Papi- You hit a triple tonight and the Red Sox broadcaster on the TBS announcing team was near orgasmic. All you need is one hit to get back in the groove. Tonight, the triple you hit was the first hit of the series. You are 1-14 with runners in scoring position. Then you followed up your triple, with a strikeout. As much as the Sox want to downplay the trade of Manny Ramirez, your team misses him badly in the lineup. Add his loss in with the loss of Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett's health, and quite simply this is not the same team which rallied last year from a 3-1 deficit over Cleveland.

I know America wanted a LA/Boston World Series, and you could hear the announcers tonight trying to rationalize a comeback for the Red Sox, but to take a page from Obama's playbook, CHANGE NOW!

Oh and one last thing before I go tonight. In this election cycle, of course the mainsteam media is pushing every angle they can for Obama. I've seen and read lots of stories over the past few weeks about how, we as Americans, need to be more tolerant of people of color and whites aren't going to be the people in the majority in the coming years. I could care less about someones skin color, however I do have issues if the person is a LEGAL citizen of this country or not, but as I was reading the coverage of the game tonight, I ran across this story on Foxsports where Ken Rosenthal wrote about how the Boston Red Sox are looking very white.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8670984/Will-non-white-free-agents-shun-the-Sox?

This article disturbed me and it should you to if you can read in the underpinnings of the article around today's political climate. These are uncertain times we are headed for in this next election. I'm just happy that my Tampa Bay area sports teams are helping to give me some relief during this period.

What happened at Fenway tonight?

I could have swore that there was an ALCS game played between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox this afternoon in Bawwsten. However, after very careful examination of the majority of those in the stands at Fenway, I couldn't help but think there was a shoot for a commercial happening right around 7pm EST. A filming of a commercial for Pepto-Bismol. (my mother loves this stuff) You've seen the commercials, usually made with 4 goof balls, line dancing while reciting the codewords for the use of Pepto. Upset stomach, nausea, indigestion, diarrhea.

Pepto sales are up tonight on Yonkey Way. How could the lowly Rays, the un-anointed ones from Florida, the team which has fish swimming in a tank in their outfield, kick our asses this bad tonight? Well, prepare yourselves Bawwwsten. Anyone else see the mass exodus from Fenway in the bottom of the 7th? Anyone notice the fine upstanding Bawwsten fan which was shown by TBS leaving the stadium in full Sox gear and then reminded everyone who was #1 by projecting his favorite digit? Very classy. Very Bawwsten.


Just a few random observations from tonight's game:

BJ Upton- You are getting a free ride here son, but that was a stupid baserunning blunder on second base. In a close game that mistake would have been huge.

Kevin Youkilis- Dude, you can shave your head cleaner than a cueball, but what the hell is up with the womb broom?

Rays Front Office- Your off-season move of trading troubled OF Delmon Young to Minnesota for P Matt Garza and SS Jason Bartlett allowed the Rays to advance this far into the playoffs, hell, even make the playoffs at all. It goes down in my book as one of the top 10 all time trades ever made in baseball.

Craig Sager- Craig, you cut your teeth in broadcasting here in Ft Myers and I understand TBS has to do something with you. However. Who the hell dressed you for the post game interviews? Deion Sanders couldn't have made your threads tonight work. You had the thick assed pin stripe suit working with the flowered blue tie. Even with the pinstripes, I can't say you looked Spranos-esque. You more closely resembled a seedy preacher which slid into town on the outskirts to set up a revival tent, and you too could be saved for a meager donation.


Buy up the Pepto in Beantown, the chowda's causing some upset stomach and more.

New England Kills Mantees

Alright,
I wanted to grab a sensational headline for once. Dennis, the wayward manatee which worked his way into Cape Cod harbor was rescued for a return here to Florida and during the transport, the manatee died.
I know, everyone loves manatees. Just look at their cute faces, they just need to be rescued, while all marine dock construction should come to a complete halt while we adjust the normal behavior of a non native species.
A rapid response to the "Dennis" manatee sighting in Cape Cod, was addressed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "The loss stunned animal lovers"
Hmm. I love animals. Didn't stun me. If these folks wanted to save "Dennis", he was first sighted in Fall River on September 24th. Maybe we can see the picture of a dead manatee on the cover of a Northeast newspaper on monday, most likely will be on the Today show or Good Morning America in a video claiming endangered species die under Bush's watch, and will just get worst under McCain. Obama will create life. He already has in Virginia. Never mind the fact that manatees are no longer endangered species. Won't bother the media though. You watch, every morning show and evening news on ABC, NBC and CBS will report this manatee death and it will be Bush's fault. Of course it couldn't be a species expanding it's range due to a population explosion. Nah. Global warming, end of the earth, Obama will be the only savior.
God bless the manatees.

Must be rough in ChowdaTown this weekend

What you chowda eatin folks must have thought was going to be a two game sweep of the Rays turned into a split of the series. Now, on Sunday night are you are watching the San Diego Chargers destroy the New England Kodaks? 30-12 with 5 minutes left in the game.

Advice to Kodak fans, don't be making any plans to attend Tampa Stadium in February. In fact, you might not want to make any football plans after December 28th this year at all. Ouch! That hurts doesn't it? Yeah, sort of like coming home early from work and finding your wife in bed with your best friend.
IMAGINE, how could the world ever survive if the Red Sox and the Patriots don't win their championship games, or even participate in them? Dear God! Forget about problems in the financial markets, the ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and other major media sports writers in the Northeast will be jumping from the windows of their offices in their Ivory Tower's. I say start jumping. Don't wait for the crowd, feel free, start at any moment.
A bottom in the financial market is called capitulation, we've not seen that from the Sox yet, but I believe we are near that point for the anointed Kodaks. What will the Hoodie do if the Patriots finish .500 or less this season? Keep him away from the Skyway during the Super Bowl this season might be good advice.

Hey Hey Tampa Bay!

What a great weekend for sports in the Bay area. A marathon 5 plus hour win for the Rays and then a complete ass whipping by the Bucs over the Kitty Cats from Carolina.

A few observations from the Bucs game.

Jon, you must be reading the blog. I wrote yesterday about the lack of attempting to stretch the field in the passing game, and just like that, there were 5 plays of over 20 yards today. The Bucs came into today averaging a paultry 5.6 yards per attempt, and today, we saw 8.7 yards per attempt. Much improved.

As I've said all season long, this OL is the best we've had in Tampa in 30 years. I was overjoyed today to watch the Bucs wear down and gas the DL of the Panthers in the 3rd quarter. 32 rushing attempts versus 20 passing attempts. No turnovers. Brilliant!

Skids Jackson. He didn't fall down today, but he did run backwards on one punt return and gave up nearly 20 yards. I'm not sold on this kid yet. And, I damn sure wouldn't trust him if we make it to the playoffs to handle return duties.

There are STILL two issues I have serious concern with.

First, clock management. Once again the Bucs used a time out on the first series three plays into the game. What can be so important 3 plays into a game you must burn a timeout?
And, as much as I love Graham, he made a bad judgement call with 53 seconds remaining in the 1st half. The Bucs had 1 time out remaining and he took a screen pass up the east sideline and turned back into the middle of the field instead of going out of bounds. Sure, we ended up with a field goal, but if we had been behind, wouldn't have been a smart play. Suck it up guys.

Second- penalties. STUPID penalties. After every turnover the Bucs created today, the defense was penalized a 15 yard penalty. Granted the taunting call on Jackson was questionable at best, but Javon Haye doing cartwheels? Hey dumbass, you just got over a groin and hamstring injury, what the hell are you doing cartwheels on the field for?

On a final note this week for the Bucs, regular blog readers know the key to victory for the Bucs is to score 26 points or more. Search through the achieve to read my column on that, the numbers speak for themselves.

A few observations from the Rays game.

I'm still tired. I don't know how many of these 1:30am games I can take. A 52 minute inning in the 5th? Josh Beckett. You work so slowly that you might slip into a coma at any point. If your ass ever caught fire, you'd spontaneously combust before you realized what was happening. Speed it up son, It's okay to throw a pitch more than once every 3 minutes.

Oh Papi!! The Big Papi, and I reiterate BIG Papi, has no homeruns through 52 post season plate appearances. The law of averages says the big guy is going to let loose one of these at bats, we better just hope no one is on base.

Has someone locked the doors at the Trop yet? Because I swore the ESPN announcer reported an hour ago that Dustin Pedroia just scored another run. Jesus,this guy is about as annoying as a deer fly eating at your neck when you are flats fishing. The Rays better hope this guy gets some bad chowda today or tomorrow. And then again he's another one of the Red Sox players with this facial hair issue out of control. Grab a trimmer. Get a freaking razor.

Anyone have a dentist on speed dial? Those of us who weren't fortunate enough to be in the Trop last night, were treated to the TBS announcers which enlightened us with the information that BoSox manager Terry Francona chews 72 pieces of Double Bubble Bubble Gum a game. Last night he ran out of gum in the 8th inning. Did he make a call to the pen? Is there reserve gum? Quick estimates, removing spring training and post season games, 162 regular season games times 72 pieces a game, thats 11,664 piece of Double Bubble Bubble Gum for the entire regular season. . Is this a publicly traded corporation? The economy is in the tank, we need investment ideas. And Francona better have a good dental plan.

BJ Upton, are you Andrew Jones? BJ, you have so much talent, but when I watch you play in the outfield, I can't help but see the comparisons to Andrew Jones. Quit reading the papers about how great you are going to be, and just go out and play, and play the ENTIRE game. Sure, you hit two homeruns against the White Sox and you hit a homerun last night and drove in the winning run with a sac fly, but your bonehead shallow play in the outfield makes me nervous. Just embrace what is happening to the Rays right now and management will deal with you in the offseason.

Just a few random observations-

During the AL playoffs, TBS has been hawking this new gloom and doom series coming up on CNN, Planet in Peril, narrated by the most objective "journalist" Anderson Cooper. Another crisis series. Cooper is offering up his attempt at energy reduction by telling folks to turn their lights off at home during Game 4 of the ALCS. (folks should think about Jimmy Carter telling everyone to wear a sweater) Why stop at turning your home lights off? Lets turn them off nationally. Let's turn them off in Fenway. Why not? Pitch by candlelight.
You just want me to turn my lights out so you can send folks in to steal my McCain/Palin yardsign. Let's not forget, Obama said we should inflate our car tires.

And finally, I read a story this week about a divine intervention virgin birth. A female blacktip shark in captivity in a Virginia aquarium gave birth to babies this past week. Marine biologists are amazed that she conceived without any contact with male sharks and delivered a few pups. Female sharks, along with some reptiles like snakes and lizards are able to undergo a process called parthenogenesis, which is basically unfertilized eggs becoming fertilized without the actual process of male fertilization. Has Ellen heard of this?
Scientifically, I understand what happened here. This shark was housed in an aquarium in captivity in Virginia. The shark was housed against it's will. Virginia is a state which is in play this year for the election. Messiah Obama paid a visit to to the tank, laid his hands upon the walls of the tank, and before you know it, viola! live birth without sex. Won't that be a great plan for the democrats to expand their voter registration! Illegals, convicted felons, ACORN registrations and now Divine intervention, Pelosi must be beside herself.

Dear Jon

This is an open letter to Jon Gruden regarding the current state of my beloved Buccaneers.

Dear Jon,
This week we face the Carolina Panthers. I don't need to tell you, that if we lost this week, we will be down 2 games in our division and we'll then have an overall record of 3-3 with upcoming games with Seattle and the Dallas "work release" Cowboys. I have a few suggestions going into tomorrow's game.

First, Sit Dexter "skids" Jackson on the bench and allow Michael Bennett to return the kickoffs. Bennett has 4.2 40 speed and was a pro bowl player when he was in Minnesota. Mike's not afraid of contact and has played NFL football for several years now and understands it's nuances.
Dexter Jackson falls down so much I believe he has a neuromusclar problem. He should be a spokesman for Morgan and Morgan personal injury attorneys, Slip and Fall, call Morgan and Morgan. I'm Skids Jackson and I approved this message. For the love of God, please let Bennett return the kickoffs. You won't let him touch the ball in any other fashion.

Second, When the Bucs gave away a king's ransom to obtain you as the head coach, your reputation was that you were an offensive genius. Now, I'm one of your biggest fans, but Jon, your offense is offensive. It's 2008. It's okay to try a pass attempt of 20 yards or more atleast once in a game. And when the running game is clicking, it's okay to try to run the ball more than 20 times a game. Graham gets better later in the game with more carries. He's touching the ball 11 times a game at this current rate. Why did we draft all these big studs on the OL the past few years if we can't run the damn ball? This technique of abandoning the run allowed Green Bay back into the game two weeks ago when we clearly had dominated the game up until that point.

Third, Clock management. Three times this season in the opening drive, the Bucs have called a timeout. Why? Down by 10 points in Denver with 7 minutes to go, Garcia comes in and executes the "death by a thousand papercuts offense" dinking and dunking 3 yards passes, striking fear in the defense of Denver, all the while eating up 5 minutes of clock time. It would have been nice to S-T-R-E-T-C-H the field and score, then kick off to Denver with more than 1:58 on the clock putting the defense in such a make or break situation.

Fourth, Penalties. What is it with the RT position for the Bucs? Trueblood has been out of control the past few weeks with stupid penalties. Before Trueblood, we had to endure Kenyatta "false start" Walker. Another player we sold our soul for in the draft which is now out of football completely. Get this damned squad under control. It seems as if we are always at 1st and 15 or 2nd and 20. You are professionals, act like it.

Lastly, I don't need to reiterate to you how important this weeks game is. This season, I believe both wildcard teams will be from the NFC East division, so inorder to get into the playoffs, the Bucs will need to repeat as NFC South division champs. I realize since realignment, the team which finishes last the prior year wins the division the next year. Carolina has won their last 5 games in Tampa and Tampa is 4-10 against the spread in the past 14 games. It doesn't look good on paper my friend. But the game is played on the field. Now field the best 47 players this Sunday and kick Carolina's ass. The Rays have their back against the wall in the early series with the Evil Empire and the Bucs are in the same position. This week's game can be the difference in whether we finish 10-6 or 6-10. Pound the Rock!


That is all.

Game 2

It's hard to imagine saying that the second game of a 7 game series is a must win, but if Boston wins tonight and the next three games in Boston, this series could get away faster than an ACORN volunteer registering Obama voters.

Tonight's matchup is intriguing. Scott Kazmir (12-8 3.49) up against Josh Beckett (12-10 4.03)
Beckett was shelled his last outing against the Angels. Kazmir had his usual early inning struggles his last start, working out of a bases loaded jam in the 1st against the White Sox. Kazmir has struggled late in the year after the All-Star break the past few years. I believe the conditioning coach has to work with him this offseason to develop better stamina. I like Scotty, he reminds me of a young Tom Glavine. Glavine always struggled with early inning issues through his career was well, but is headed for Cooperstown when he hangs up the cleats in the next year or two.

While watching the game last night, I noticed many Red Sox fans in the crowd were wearing the blue version of their cap, not the red one. Was this so they could slip in the crowd undetected. Several Sox fans commented in this morning's Slant Pete Times that they found the home crowd in St Pete to be annoying and the cowbells especially annoying. Isn't that the point?

Well Mr. Kazmir, the future of the free world rests on your shoulders tonight. I know you won't disappoint. I certain that Joe Maddon passed along some zen-like wisdom to the boys last night. We've come too far to turn back now. Rays win tonight 8-4. Take it to the bank, mortgage the house. Wait a minute, isn't that what got us into the current financial mess? Scratch that. Bet your gas money this week. Rays win.

Down one but...........

Yeah, okay I predicted a win tonight. Maddon should never have pulled Shields in the 7th, but I can't argue with a manager who won 97 games this season.

What I do want to argue about is the coverage of tonights game on TBS.
TBS announcers referred to the Rays, as the "Baby Rays"

In the 7th inning, Tampa was referred to as a young team trying to do too much. The Rays won 97 games this year, maybe they are simply trying to simply win a ballgame?

In reference to Grant Balfour in the 8th inning, TBS announcers said, Balfour doesn't pitch correctly and should be called for a BALK each time he pitches. Hmmm, he's pitched the same way all year.

At Midnight, TBS announcers announce, it's midnight on the east coast and the clock has stuck for the Cinderella Rays.

Then there was the expected comment, that once again in the playoffs, experience trumps exuberance.

Write off the Rays media.

When will sanity return to the NFL?

As we are heading into week six of the NFL season, there is turmoil in many houses of the franchises. San Diego has the same record as the Miami Mullets, of 1-15 fame last season. The Philly Buzzards are 2-3 and their quarterback hasn't thrown a touchdown in two games (and he's killing me on one of my fantasy teams) Cleveland, who had Derek Anderson under center last season, can't seem to find the endzone. Indy is struggling badly. God's anointed team, the Patriots, have lost their Messiah. Perhaps Obama can lay his hands upon Cassel and all will be well with the world. Finally, I am only 10 games above .500 on my selections this season (40-30). Not good.

So this week,
Minnesota over the hapless Lions
Crackheads over the even more hapless Ewes
New Orleans scores 40 points and beats da Raydas
Mullets win their third in a row over Houston
Jets score 35 and whip Cincy
Chicago over Atlanta
Indy over Baltimore
Tampa wins a close one over Carolina
Jags over Denver
Dallas over Arizona
Buzzards over San Fran
Seattle over Green Bay
San Diego gets even for last seasons playoff loss over New England
Giants score 38 and destroy Cleveland on MNF.

BUCK FOSTON!

It's on like Donkey Kong tonight at 8:37pm. It's good versus evil. It's clam chowda versus grouper sandwiches. It's the big dig versus the majestic Skyway. It's democrats versus republicans. It's James Shields (14-8 3.56) versus Dice-K Matsuzaka (18-3 2.90)

This is it Tampa Bay, you are 4 wins away from advancing to your first ever World Series. And as in previous years, I believe this ALCS will be better than the World Series itself.

Dinner is cooking, the beer is chilling and at 8:30, I'm kicking the cat off the couch to settle in for what will be the first game of a great series. I have to skip the pregame show because the National Anthem will be sung by former American Idol runner up, human muppet, Adam Archuleta, pictured above. Is this all the Rays could dig up for this monumental moment in franchise history? A 90 pound waif who resembles Fozzy Bear when he was a cub? Ugh!

I've read online this afternoon that several hundred Red Sox fans are planning to congregate at Ferg's, the huge sports bar across the street from the Trop to watch the game and imbibe a few adult beverages. Good thing the St Pete Police Department is just down the street, and officers, feel free to use the taser on any obnoxious fans wearing red.

I'm predicting a 4-3 win tonight by the Rays in extra innings, and the Rays to win the series in 6 games.

HELLO Bosox!

Welcome to Florida. Again and to the "dreadful Trop" as so lovingly referenced by award winning major media journalist Rob Duca of the 217th largest media market Cape Cod Times newspaper.
Those of us in Southwest Florida know how much Mr Duca loves Florida. All I know is that it was 88 here today and Bawwwsten had frost this morning. Damn. The chowda's gonna get cold quickly with those temps.

Well, this is the matchup I've wanted all along. The Red Sox, the media anointed, the darlings, God's chosen against the little team that can't. The little team with the little payroll which media elites all season long gave little credit to. It was the standard line on ESPN and other sports websites, The Rays are playing good ball but let's see how they are doing after the All-Star break. Then it became, let's see how they are playing in August, then September, then it was the call for an early exit from the playoffs. Well guess what "experts"? The Rays are 4 wins from getting to the World Series. After just watching the Presidential debate this evening, I believe I heard Obama say he sent a memo a year ago to Bud Selig stating he thought the Rays would be the next great team in Major League Baseball. He's sent a letter or called someone about every great event facing this Nation in the past three years according to him. (He sure calls and sends alot of letters, just doesn't do much)

So here come the thugs from up north. The team which incited the bench clearing brawl on June 4th. Coco Crisp charged the mound that day. Coco Crisp. Was his mother stoned when she named him? Maybe the Sox can sign Milkey Cabrerra and Count Chockulla to fill in the outfield in the offseason. Perhaps they could entice Atari Bigby to give up football with the Packers or Milton Bradley to join the squad. And we get another visit from the mouthy pitcher John Papelbon.

Tampa has lost only one home game this year with over 25,000 in attendance and that was the season opener. Tampa was 8-1 at home this year against the Red Sox and won a series in Boston late in the year. I can't wait for the first pitch at 8:37 on Friday. I can't wait to see Boston go home and watch the World Series on tv. Hopefully this is your last year in Ft Myers you greedy bastards, head on up I-75 and take your rude and nasty arrogant fans with you. And throw another log on the fire, your chowdas' gonna get cold.

Rays up 2-0, games move to Chicago.

Well, well, well. The National media is beside themselves once again. How can the Tampa Bay Rays be up 2 games on the Chicago White Sox? Two weeks ago, The Bucs beat the Bears, it's a fluke. Now the Rays are 2 games up on the Sox and the media is spinning stories on how the Sox can come back. Come back?

The Rays will win this series in 4 games. Meanwhile, the Sox can stay home in the bastion of corrupt politics and each White Sox player can vote 13 times for Obama to be ordained as the Messiah of the USA. The Rays are just helping to get out the vote.

Boston? Are you out there???? Can you win the series against the Angeles????
We Ray's fans want nothing more than a 7 game series with you and your obnoxious fans. America is sick of Boston and their sports. It's time for a changing of the guard.