OK, I jumped in late on Tuesday afternoon’s WEEI rant about the AL MVP voting.
“How could somebody leave him off their ballot?”
One whined.
“He’s a moron if he thinks this guy’s not in his top 10.”
Ranted another.
I was like, “yes, finally I’m on the same page with these guys. Carlos Pena did get royally robbed, earning only ninth in the AL MVP voting. Yeah, you go fellas!”
And then they announced they were sycophantically whining about the eventual worthy winner Dustin Pedroia.
They were offended he was left off ONE!!! ballot. ONE!!! Are you that petty? New England sports fans’ ego-centricity (if that’s even a word) knows no bounds. How dare somebody not respect Dusty? If he did, he’s a “moron.”
Pedroia’s a worthy candidate, a solid MVP, but he wasn’t a lead-pipe lock. You know what, Haverhill’s finest was pretty damn worthy, too. How many walkoff hits did the ex-Hillie have? Do I have to remind you he led a team that was last a year ago to the division title, not just the cheapo,back door wild card for $140 mill?
Congrats to Pedroia, but keep a little perspective sports fans. He’s great, an MVP type, but they are numbers A-Rod (and I hate A-Rod) puts up every year. This wasn’t Freddy Lynn in 1975, folks.
Look at the numbers, it was a lot more like Wade Boggs in 1987, and where did he finish in the voting. Pedroia won, be happy. And stop the whining.
Oh well, sorry about the detour from the high school talk, but I had to get that one off my chest.
Did I read my e-mail correctly? The Greater Lawrence Boys Christmas Hoop Tournament opens Dec. 26?
Wow, I hope you moms don’t mind on Christmas afternoon when Coach (Fazio, Neal, Barden, Perry, Nault, Rosinski, Habib, McVeigh) has little Ben, Alex or Carson head to a practice that night with desert still on the table.
There’s no way any competent coach opens the Xmas tourney coming off an off day.
To settle the little argument about stadia that popped up on the blog:
Football mum, I’ll take Amesbury for its quaint nature and atmosphere.
Coach, I’ll take Lawrence for its field turf, a now necessary requirement come November.
If it’s still open (September and early October) I’ll go with the lobster roll from Skips on the way to Landry Stadium, while Harrison’s Roast Beef or the spinach pies from Pizza King are a great pre-game stop in South Lawrence. That’s a wash.
Both fields are awesome. As a parent of a potential future Hillie, I’d take either. Instead, I’m stuck with a monstrocity of a high school and an eyesore for a stadium.
I know it’s coincidence, but it makes a lot of sense that the Haverhill Stadium’s closest neighbor is Building 19 (The parks department probably bought the lights there).
But hey, you want to walk your doggie, baby, Winnekinni has it all over anything you guys can present. (Please read the last sentence in my best sarcasm).
Caught the newest class of inductees at St. John’s Prep’s Hall of Fame and as always, it’s quite impressive. One question though?
The class of 1998 is well-represented by Arizona Cards QB Brian St. Pierre, ex-Giants offensive lineman Wayne Lucier and ex-minor league catcher Bryan Lentz.
But where the heck is Jeff Mackor?
The kid started two ways on that same EMass Division 1 champion football team, possibly the best high school team in EMass ever. He caught like six TD passes, and he kicked, too. He was a Catholic Conference All-Star. And football was his No. 2 sport. He was the CC MVP and an All-Scholastic in baseball, went on to be All Big East at BC and played through Double-A in the Astros organization.
Somebody goofed in Danvers. Jeff belongs with the other three. I’ll bet all three of them would agree, too.
Ramon Heredia’s performance Friday night against Haverhill was as good as you’ll see for a high school player in this area.
I know the meat-headed coach from a state school south of Boston who chose not to help Jesus Moore get into his school then watched as he started every game at defensive tackle for league rival Fitchburg State as a freshman, won’t be listening to this, but somewhere out there is a package deal brewing for Heredia and his main target over the last three years, Demetri Brown.
Is it Merrimack? Could Johnny P. be watching the local kids with interest?
I’m not sure, but it says here Heredia and Brown both go on to strong college careers at some NE small school.
I watched Colby Verge play safety for Pinkerton before the knee injury two years ago and knew he was something special. The kid sure showed it Saturday against Londonderry, didn’t he? ACL and all.
Read colleague Mike Muldoon’s Sunday rant on ESPN in The Eagle-Tribune. I had to agree with Mike. But one question, why are you watching?
If it’s not a live event, or the World Series of Poker, I don’t even go near ESPN.
SportsCenter, what’s that?
I haven’t watched SportsCenter since the days of Craig “Def” Lefferts and Wally “Absorbine” Joyner. The last two anchors I actually tuned into were Larry Biehl, and I did it “With Authority” and Craig Kilborn, who I know “the one thing he could do was finger-roll.”
And I haven’t watched Berman since the birth of the NFL Network.
Do you think the folks from Pony knew something when they gave Randy Moss his own shoe line and promoted it this fall? Do you think anyone was watching those shoes last Thursday night when Moss tapped them in on one of the great catches of our time?
Only 100s of millions of people, that’s all.
Said this to a friend the other day and I firmly believe it: Anyone who watches or talks college hoop a second before the final play of the BCS title game has serious issues.
OK, my mind is now empty again. Here’s the latest h.s. football top 10
1. Pelham (10-0) … Don’t look behind you boys, the Astros are gaining.
2. Pinkerton (8-3) … You’ll be back at No. 1 with a win Saturday.
3. Methuen (6-4) … Swept the locals: CC, Haverhill and Andover. That’s good enough for me.
4. Amesbury (8-1) … All of a sudden, Thanksgiving looms gigantic.
5. Whittier Tech (8-2) … Don’t you let me down Kevin.
6. Georgetown (8-1) … Tumbling, tumbling …
7. Timberlane (6-3) … A solid year by any standard.
8. Londonderry (6-4) … Missed opportunities a plenty
9. Pentucket (6-4) … I’m sorry for doubting you.
10. Central (5-5) … By default.
