Post by rimrocka44 on Oct 19, 2006 10:52:27 GMT -5
And to bring a topic we just discussed to light:
from: sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/061018&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2
Q: What's with the "We just won the World Series" type of celebrations that the first round winners of the baseball playoffs are throwing? I don't remember it always being like this, am I wrong? I understand that in the past when the baseball playoffs were win one series and you're in the Series (plus you had just won your league), a team might have had cause to celebrate, but it seems overkill now. Could you imagine watching A-Rod celebrating after batting .135 as a seventh hitter if the Yankees had beaten Detroit? Thank you, Tigers!
--Rob Hallawell, Coronado, Calif.
SG: Glad someone brought this up -- it's my single biggest pet peeve with baseball right now, other than the fact that anyone complained because Fox fired Steve Lyons for a confusing joke that was absolutely misconstrued, when the reality is, he should have been fired for reasons like "breathing" or "blinking." Anyway, I have three thoughts on the champagne thing:
1. No baseball team should be allowed to celebrate with champagne until they win the pennant. If you want to pour liquor on one another, pour cans of beer. The way it works now, a baseball champion has four separate champagne celebrations in a five-week span (playoff berth, LDS, LCS, World Series). I'm all for guys looking for an excuse to pour champagne on one another -- in fact, I think we should be able to bid on the experience on eBay, as I've written before -- but four times in five weeks??? What happens if a baseball player gets married? Do they throw four bachelor parties for him?
2. Not nearly enough players pour champagne on the announcers anymore. This used to be a tradition and guys would go out of their way to torture Pat O'Brien, Brent Musberger and others, and they would always be secretly furious that somebody messed up their hair. I can't even imagine what would happen if someone poured champagne on Jeannie Zelasko; she'd probably punch them in the face.
3. I'm not sure when we started celebrating first-round victories like "The Price is Right" contestants, but I watched a bizarre game on NBA TV a few weeks ago in which the '76 Celtics clinched the title in Phoenix, and not only was there a complete absence of guys jumping around, hugging and happily running around with their arms raised, you could see Dave Cowens and Paul Silas shaking a couple of hands, then walking off the court like they had just finished playing an exhibition game in October. The following year, the Blazers won the title at home, the fans charged the court and they carried a shirtless Bill Walton off the floor. So SOMETHING must have happened between 1976 and 1977. I just want to know what.
from: sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/061018&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2
Q: What's with the "We just won the World Series" type of celebrations that the first round winners of the baseball playoffs are throwing? I don't remember it always being like this, am I wrong? I understand that in the past when the baseball playoffs were win one series and you're in the Series (plus you had just won your league), a team might have had cause to celebrate, but it seems overkill now. Could you imagine watching A-Rod celebrating after batting .135 as a seventh hitter if the Yankees had beaten Detroit? Thank you, Tigers!
--Rob Hallawell, Coronado, Calif.
SG: Glad someone brought this up -- it's my single biggest pet peeve with baseball right now, other than the fact that anyone complained because Fox fired Steve Lyons for a confusing joke that was absolutely misconstrued, when the reality is, he should have been fired for reasons like "breathing" or "blinking." Anyway, I have three thoughts on the champagne thing:
1. No baseball team should be allowed to celebrate with champagne until they win the pennant. If you want to pour liquor on one another, pour cans of beer. The way it works now, a baseball champion has four separate champagne celebrations in a five-week span (playoff berth, LDS, LCS, World Series). I'm all for guys looking for an excuse to pour champagne on one another -- in fact, I think we should be able to bid on the experience on eBay, as I've written before -- but four times in five weeks??? What happens if a baseball player gets married? Do they throw four bachelor parties for him?
2. Not nearly enough players pour champagne on the announcers anymore. This used to be a tradition and guys would go out of their way to torture Pat O'Brien, Brent Musberger and others, and they would always be secretly furious that somebody messed up their hair. I can't even imagine what would happen if someone poured champagne on Jeannie Zelasko; she'd probably punch them in the face.
3. I'm not sure when we started celebrating first-round victories like "The Price is Right" contestants, but I watched a bizarre game on NBA TV a few weeks ago in which the '76 Celtics clinched the title in Phoenix, and not only was there a complete absence of guys jumping around, hugging and happily running around with their arms raised, you could see Dave Cowens and Paul Silas shaking a couple of hands, then walking off the court like they had just finished playing an exhibition game in October. The following year, the Blazers won the title at home, the fans charged the court and they carried a shirtless Bill Walton off the floor. So SOMETHING must have happened between 1976 and 1977. I just want to know what.
