Wednesday, October 31, 2007

New Mexico schoolkids get free tacos

This paper is in New Mexico.
--pws

from http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_7325877

Thank you, Ellsbury: Free tacos for everyone

By Rhys Saunders The Daily Times

FARMINGTON — One fifth-grade class from Nenahnezad Community School in Fruitland made a "run for the border" Tuesday afternoon, thanks to a Navajo baseball player's stolen base during the second game of the World Series.

Taco Bell's "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" campaign guaranteed free tacos for a stolen base during Game 2 of the World Series.

When Jacoby Ellsbury, the first Navajo to play in Major League Baseball, stole second base during the game last week, the Boston Red Sox outfielder earned free tacos from Taco Bell for people around the country. Taco lovers were invited to pick up their free food from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Jody Idzerda's fifth-grade students arrived at Taco Bell, 2226 East Main St., just 10 minutes after the giveaway began.

"Our kids had the most parents in for their parent-teacher conferences," she said.

As a prize, the 25 children were allowed a pizza party. After watching the World Series game, Idzerda decided it would be a great opportunity to have an outing and enjoy some free tacos, courtesy of a fellow teacher's nephew.

"Jacoby is the nephew of Emily Allison, who is a sixth-grade teacher at our school," Idzerda said .

Others showed up after hearing about the giveaway from the media.

"I heard about it on the radio station," said Judy Nelson, 49, of Shiprock.

Nelson and her 30-year-old daughter, Shaundra Carlston, also of Shiprock, said they were hoping the Boston Red Sox would win because they heard an American Indian player was on the team.

Ellsbury's feat should be a source of pride for Navajo people everywhere, Nelson added.

Ellsbury, who was brought up from the minor leagues in late summer, hit nearly .353 during the regular season and was a standout during a 4-0 World Series sweep over the Colorado Rockies. Ellsbury hit over .400 during the four games and made a number of stellar plays both in the field and on the bases.

Local Taco Bell employees were ready for an afternoon rush, said Marilyn Anderson, who owns both Farmington stores. Instead of having the regular seven employees on hand for the afternoon shift, the 2226 East Main St. location boasted 18 workers to contend with the potential crowds.

"At 3:15, this place will be a mad house when the kids get out of school," Anderson said five minutes before the giveaway began.

The goal was to serve more than 1,000 tacos in each of the two Farmington stores, she said.

"We would have to get close to 1,500 per store before we would be in jeopardy of running out of taco shells," Anderson said. "I don't think we'll get to that point."

Tacos in Ellsbury's hometown

This article is from Ellsbury's hometown paper.
--pws

from http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1193801118304310.xml&coll=7

At the plate: tacos and Jacoby Ellsbury

Free lunch - Football players eat up stories about the former Madras High School -- and now Boston Red Sox -- star

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

CASEY PARKS

The Oregonian Staff

SANDY -- Every kid on the Madras High School junior varsity football team had a Jacoby story. Waiting in line at the Taco Bell on Tuesday, the guys boasted their best connections.

Quarterback Clint Hagan almost got his autograph once. Lineman Jesse Macias' dad worked with him when he was at Madras High. Tailback Caleb Flu said his uncle coached him.

The team stopped at the Taco Bell on their way to a 5 p.m. Tuesday game with La Salle Catholic College Preparatory in Milwaukie. For most of the players, lunch is usually something like a chicken sandwich. But Tuesday was different. Tuesday's lunch was on Jacoby Ellsbury, the Boston Red Sox center fielder who was born and raised in Madras. He won free tacos for the nation when he stole a base in the second game of the World Series, fulfilling Taco Bell's "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion.

Playing football after a Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco might make him a little sick, Macias said. But on second thought, "It's a Jacoby taco! How could it mess me up?"

The Madras team and two coaches traveled 93 miles in 90 minutes to eat their 24 free tacos. Their hometown doesn't have a Taco Bell -- yet. The city just approved one this year, said former Mayor Rick Allen, while waiting for his free taco.

Behind the counter, manager David Medrono, 54, beamed at the sea of blue and white jerseys. Business was good -- he gave away 425 tacos during the afternoon, and nearly everyone bought a drink or more -- but that wasn't the point. Medrono is a baseball fanatic, happy to join the excitement. Last week, he played shortstop on his Portland team as it won first place in the National Adult Baseball Association Senior World Series for ages 50 to 60.

The workers behind Medrono had less time for smiling. With a line spilling out the door, they had tacos to make. Fast.

Meanwhile, in Corvallis, where Ellsbury led the Oregon State University baseball team to the College World Series in 2005, the Taco Bell was equally busy -- a full parking lot, a long line at the drive-through and plenty of Beavers gear inside. Some of the first to arrive at the 2 p.m. free-taco start time were members of this year's OSU baseball team.

But without the Ellsbury connection, business sometimes lagged.

At the Taco Bell near Sunset High School in Beaverton, a steady stream of mostly retired couples arrived. "We thought it would be more crowded," said Dolores St. Marie as she and her husband, Ron, took advantage of the sunshine to walk from their nearby home.

Inside, a group of teens sprawled on a section of seats, chatting but not eating. "What free taco?" one asked. "We didn't know." They soon got in line.

But back in Sandy, Michael Roger, a Sandy High freshman, couldn't wait to get his taco. He's been a Red Sox fan his whole life. "I'm from Boston," he called to the front of the line. "I should be in front."

"But we're from his high school," countered Madras football coach Butch David.

Backing up, Roger said, "You guys got right of way, man. . . . Hey, did you know Jacoby?"

"Of course," David replied.

"What kind of guy was he?" Roger asked.

"He's a great guy."

In fact, it's that great-guy attitude that had most of the football players talking. Yeah, he's a hero of the World Series. Yeah, he stole a base. But it's his attitude that inspires them.

He had a good attitude at Madras, where he also starred in basketball, football and track. Now that he's on top, he's pretty much the same.

"He's not letting it all go to his head," Flu said. "He's not getting all cocky."

"He doesn't show when he's upset," Macias added. "Even if he strikes out, he is calm."

That strategy is one they said they're starting to employ on the team, which had a 1-6 record going into Tuesday's game. If Hagan throws an interception this season, he's going to act like Ellsbury and keep a straight face, he said.

For a team in which half the members are Native American, Ellsbury is a perfect role model. He is the first Navajo to make it to the major leagues.

"Heroes are usually on the reservation and not public," said coach David, a Native American. "This is a good thing to see. It gives them something to shoot for."

"It shows that every person can do this," Flu said. "Even from Madras, any person can do whatever they want."

Stu Tomlinson of The Oregonian and Casey Grogan contributed to this report. %%endby%% Casey Parks: 503-294-5972; caseyparks@news.oregonian.com

Ellsbury scores with fans at 'Steal a Taco' promotion

from http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/31/ellsbury_scores_with_fans_at_steal_a_taco_promotion/

Ellsbury scores with fans at 'Steal a Taco' promotion

After arriving through a back door, Sox rookie Jacoby Ellsbury greeted fans outside the Taco Bell on BU's campus yesterday. (PAT GREENHOUSE/GLOBE STAFF)

By Diedtra Henderson, Globe Staff | October 31, 2007

Forget those pitchers who came at Red Sox fielder Jacoby Ellsbury with inside heat.

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Yesterday, fervent fans came at him with even more: hats, T-shirts, posters, and even taco-stained wrappers and disposable cups.

One by one, fans who waited at least one hour at Taco Bell to spy Ellsbury during a free taco promotion sought autographs.

And, one after the other, Ellsbury signed memorabilia of every size, shape, and color.

The Red Sox outfielder stole second base in the fourth inning of the second game of the World Series, putting the company's "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion into play and elevating the rookie's profile as a promotion man.

Inside the restaurant on the campus of Boston University, Ellsbury gave high fives on his way to the counter to order a free taco that he slathered with "fire" sauce. The fast-food crew of eight workers, who had dispensed 500 free tacos in the first hour of the three-hour promotion, paused to snag autographs and photos with Ellsbury.

As he munched on his taco, women crowded inside the restaurant swooned.

"You're so beautiful. I love you," said one of the boldest.

"Will you marry me?"

Ellsbury, 24, was accompanied by his girlfriend, Kelsey Hawkins, 23.

A Taco Bell affiliation is just one of the endorsement deals that Ellsbury expects to ink before the glow of the Red Sox series victory fades, according to his agent, Joseph Urbon.

Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch said the company expected to give away millions of tacos.

Diedtra Henderson can be reached at dhenderson@globe.com.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

This isn't a football game. It's a morality play. With beer.

from http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030/COLUMNISTS01/710300349/-1/LOCAL17

October 30, 2007

Bob Kravitz

It's becoming easier to hate the Pats more every week

This news flash comes to us from Foxborough, Mass:

The undefeated and unchallenged New England Patriots added 12 more touchdowns and a two-point conversion, taking advantage of the fact the Washington Redskins had departed on their charter, nudging out a closer-than-it-looked 136-7 victory.

When asked later about the accusations of piling on, Patriots head coach and team videographer Bill Belichick said, "No lead is safe in this league. What do you want me to do? Kick a field goal?"

By now, it should be quite apparent the Patriots have chosen to make a statement this regular season. And that statement is this:

Bite me.

Well, bite us.

That's why it's incumbent upon the Indianapolis Colts -- those Beacons of Purity in heavenly conflict with the Forces of Pure Evil -- to not only beat the favored Patriots, but humble them, humiliate them and take their camcorder from them.

What? You don't think Jets coach Eric Mangini and every other right-thinking NFL employee and fan isn't rooting for the demise of the Belichickeans? Believe me, the Colts will have a lot more fans beyond the 57,000-plus loonies who will populate the RCA Dome on Sunday.

The Patriots, the least lovable former champs since Sonny Liston, have positioned themselves as the New Age Oakland Raiders. The difference being that the Raiders were dirty on the field, and the Patriots are dirty off it.

Sure, I hear the New England fans now: "OK, Belichick got caught red-handed in the videotaping scandal. But we've heard that Colts coach Tony Dungy once failed to rewind his 'Sound of Music' tape from Blockbuster.''

No sale.

There's so much to admire and respect about the Patriots, who, like the Colts, have sustained excellence during a salary-cap era designed to promote parity. And yet Belichick, who needs to cheat as much as Peyton Manning needs TV exposure, not only cheats, but shows absolutely no contrition about having cheated.

A misinterpretation of the rule? I'd hate to see what he does with the Ten Commandments.

The Patriots, in effect, have rallied around the fact that their now-beloved coach was caught engaging in devious practices. It's as if they've decided to show the world, "Look, we won all those Super Bowls because we were better than the other team."

It's not exactly "Win one for the Gipper," is it?

Now, if you're wondering if the Colts are concerned about dirty tricks, Dungy said Monday his team would take the usual precautions regarding industrial espionage. That probably shoots down the rumor that team president Bill Polian has hired Oliver North and G. Gordon Liddy for the week.

"You take precautions all the time, not just for them (the Patriots) but everybody you play," Dungy said. "I've never thought we lost a game to them because they were videotaping something."

Faking an injury, yes. Videotaping, no.

In the last three weeks, New England has scored 48, 49 and 52 points, inspiring inquiring minds to wonder, "Did the Patriots pile on?"

And every week, the obvious answer is, "Duh."

Even the New England media -- a group notorious for its pompom waving -- saw fit to grill the Dear Leader the past two days.

"A number of the Redskins players were upset yesterday at what they thought was piling on," a reporter said Monday.

Belichick: "I don't know exactly what you're referring to there, but we're just going to . . . "

Reporter: "Well, (Washington's) Randall Godfrey . . . "

Belichick. "Well, Randall is entitled to his opinion. You can talk to him about that. I'm sure he'll give it to you."

Reporter: "I was just wondering how you feel when you look back on it. Is there anything you would have done differently?"

Belichick: "Again, I don't know what you're referring to.''

When Dungy was asked about the issue of piling on, he took the high road, which really gets annoying after a while. In fairness, it should be noted that quarterback Peyton Manning is often still in late in one-sided games. That said, he's almost always handing off.

"In the NFL, you don't try to coach other people's teams," Dungy said. "How they play, that's up to them. I've never been offended by whatever anybody else does because you don't know what they're trying to work on."

That's plausible.

What coach doesn't want to see how Tom Brady will handle crucial fourth-down situations late in a game that's 38-0?

Yeah, this is going to be fun. As much as these teams say they respect each other, let's understand, they despise each other, especially at the top of the organizational chart. The Colts think Willie McGinest faked an injury. The Patriots think the Colts pressured the league's competition committee to change certain rules interpretations. The Colts think the Patriots let their home field turn to frozen mud. The Patriots think the Colts turned up the heat at the Dome during last year's title game.

This isn't a football game.

It's a morality play.

With beer.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or e-mail bob.kravitz@indystar.com.

15 laterals on the 61-yard passing play

If you haven't seen it yet, watch this last-second play to win the football game. The video shows it all. No need to read the articles below.
--pws

from http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/index.htm
Mississippi Miracle! Tiger Football Wins on Final Play at Millsaps
In a game that was about as evenly matched as it could be, Trinity's football team scored a game-winning touchdown on the final play to steal a 28-24 victory over Millsaps. Riley Curry took the ball into the end zone after 15 laterals on the 61-yard passing play that began with two seconds left in the game.

from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/sports/ncaafootball/30trinity.html?ref=ncaafootball
Student Announcer Ensures Laterals Are Heard Round the World
By JOE LAPOINTE

Published: October 30, 2007

Jonathan Wiener is a sophomore English major from Mississippi who enjoys William Faulkner novels. He is comfortable with bursts of words and long, descriptive paragraphs.

So when Wiener's narrative skills were put to a test Saturday in a football broadcast booth, he was prepared. For a young man with broadcasting ambitions, it was the pop quiz from heaven.

"I can't think of anything better in the world than watching football and talking about it," Wiener, 20, said in a telephone interview yesterday. "It was only one of the most improbable plays in college football history."

Wiener, a student at Trinity University in San Antonio, was the play-by-play announcer for the Division III college football game between Trinity and Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss.

He was part of a four-man crew with only one camera in a telecast seen live only over the Internet. Trinity won, 28-24, on the final play by completing a forward pass and then scoring after 15 lateral passes that zigzagged across the field, taking 62 seconds to cover the 60 yards to the end zone.

Wiener kept his cool through the frenzy and described most of the details precisely as they occurred. The replay of the video with Wiener's description has been shown on national television and has become a hit on the Internet.

"It wasn't much of a call," Wiener said. When someone suggested to him that it really was a pretty good call, Wiener replied: "Well, I tried. They were moving so fast. You do what you can."

The play began with two seconds left on the clock and the ball on the 40-yard line of Trinity. Just before the snap, Wiener's color analyst, Justin Thompson, finished a Wiener thought by suggesting that the offense might have to "start lateraling."

Moments later, after quarterback Blake Barmore completed a pass to Shawn Thompson, the players began to throw the ball to each other, either sideways or backward but never forward (which would have been illegal). Riley Curry ran it into the end zone after catching the last lateral, which bounced, at the Millsaps 34.

Seven players touched the ball, including two offensive linemen. Wiener mentioned all the players, except the linemen, who did not hold the ball long enough to be recognized. Wiener also kept track of the ball's position on the field. "He's going to throw it to Thompson; Thompson at the 30-yard line; Thompson now laterals it back to Curry at the 35; they're running out of spaces; Curry fakes; he's going to lateral it."

Wiener's voice increased in volume and pitch only after Thompson — the color analyst and brother of the original pass-catcher Shawn Thompson — began to shout. And then Wiener, too, began to shout, like Russ Hodges at the Polo Grounds.

"CURRY SCORES! THE GAME IS OVER!" he shouted, continuing, "THE TIGERS LATERALED IT AND KEPT LATERALING! AND THE GAME IS OVER! THE TIGERS WIN! THE TIGERS WIN!"

"OH, MY GOODNESS!" he added.

Wiener said he had not planned to cover the game but decided to stop in Jackson while returning from a journalism convention in Washington. The game just happened to be played in his hometown, a few minutes from his parents' house.

His mother picked him up at the airport and dropped him off at the field before kickoff. Along with his major in English, Wiener is studying for a minor in communications.

Wiener said he had a native Mississippian's love of Faulkner and read "Absalom, Absalom!" last summer while doing an internship as a basketball writer for Slam magazine in New York.

He said he would start reading Faulkner's "Go Down, Moses" this week while preparing to announce Saturday's home game against Centre College of Kentucky.

Faulkner, by the way, did a little sports reporting, too. In 1955, he wrote an impressionistic essay about a hockey game at Madison Square Garden for Sports Illustrated. Faulkner described the movement of players in a game between the Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens as "bizarre and paradoxical, like the frantic darting of the weightless bugs which run on the surface of stagnant pools."

In other words, hockey to Faulkner looked sort of like the football play that Wiener described Saturday in Mississippi.

Red Sox v Yankees - according to the NY Post

from http://www.nypost.com/seven/10292007/sports/putting_an_end_to_baseball_as_.htm

PUTTING AN END TO BASEBALL AS WE'VE KNOWN IT

<B>CASE CLOSED:</B> Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon celebrates after getting the last out in last night's 4-3 win over the Rockies, giving Boston its second World Series title in four years.

CASE CLOSED: Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon celebrates after getting the last out in last night's 4-3 win over the Rockies, giving Boston its second World Series title in four years.

October 29, 2007 -- DENVER - It ended without drama, without trauma, with just a fleeting trace of anxiety thrown into the mild Colorado night. At 10:05 p.m., Mountain Time, Jonathan Papelbon threw one last 94-mph fastball, a rumor that Seth Smith waved at, and in an instant Papelbon's glove was in the air and his teammates were on the field.

There was a seventh world championship in Red Sox history to celebrate, at once. There were 50,041 people inside Coors Field, but all you could hear were the 25 players now crowding the pitcher's mound. Ballgame over: Red Sox 4, Rockies 3. World Series over: Red Sox 4, Rockies 0.

And baseball as we've known it? Over. The Red Sox are two-time champions this millennium. The Yankees may well be Alex Rodriguez-free - and who know what else lurks in what's been a bruising offseason so far for the Red Sox's ancient rivals?

For now? The Red Sox couldn't have cared less about the Yankees.

"We are going to savor this forever," said John Henry, the man whose ambitions caused him to head a group that bought the Sox seven years ago and whose deep pockets keep them eye-to-eye with the Yankees. "The first one was sweet, because of everything that surrounded it. But this was different; it was all about a baseball team. A great baseball team."

For a baseball team that had spent 86 years inventing ways to torture itself and torment generation after generation of New England baseball fans, the Red Sox have become cold-blooded World Series assassins. Since 2004, the Red Sox have played eight World Series games. They have won all eight. And only two could be termed remotely competitive.

For the second time in four years, they have ended the baseball season on epic, damn near otherworldly, winning streaks, this in a year when we thought the deposed Rockies had given new meaning to the idea of late-season baseball magic.

"When this team is playing well," Papelbon said, shaking his head, "it's an honor to be a part of it."

In '04 they had to absorb the agony of surviving four consecutive elimination games against the Yankees before throttling the Cardinals, who barely stayed interested long enough to receive their lovely parting gifts.

This time, they made it easier on themselves - this time, it was only three elimination games against Cleveland serving as warm-up for the four-game beating they laid on the Rockies. And even those three elimination games were as worry-free as elimination games can be, nothing like the palpitation-inducing gauntlet they had to endure in 2003.

No, the truth is the Red Sox no longer bear the mark of those carefree Idiots of yore. The caretakers of that image - Kevin Millar and Johnny Damon - are long gone. And though characters still populate the clubhouse - Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon among them - the Sox are far more corporate-cut than they were in '04, more than anyone ever could have guessed they could be.

Now, they are the picture of cool efficiency. They are a lead-off double from Jacoby Ellsbury, who won't even be eligible for Rookie of the Year until next year; and an infield out from another rookie, Dustin Pedroia; and a single-against-a-drawn-in-infield from Ortiz to score the game's first run before things were even five minutes old last night.

They are Jon Lester, another kid, throwing 52/3 shutout innings. They are Josh Beckett, who would have been waiting in the wings to pitch Game 5 tonight, who is Bob Gibson for the next baseball generation, a very good pitcher who becomes a historic pitcher under October's brightest glare.

They are a manager named Terry Francona, who in the spring after that stirring '04 title run sat back in his chair in spring training and mused: "Joe Torre against a guy named Tito. I mean, come on, what's the point spread on that one?" Now, Torre is unemployed and Francona owns twice as many championship rings as Earl Weaver and Billy Martin, to name two.

The Red Sox are champions, and their rivals are in chaos. As they might put it in Boston: Good times.

michael.vaccaro@nypost.com

Red Sox v Yankees - the tables are turned

from http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/10/30/sneers_loathing_greet_a_boston_fan_in_nyc/

Sneers, loathing greet a Boston fan in NYC

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff | October 30, 2007

NEW YORK - The contagious joy of Red Sox Nation may have spread to all corners of the country this week, but New York is apparently immune.

At least that's what a reporter learned when he donned a Red Sox cap, a team warm-up jersey, and red sneakers to roam the land of the Yankees yesterday, venturing from midtown Manhattan to the bombers' own Bronx, inspiring a chorus of jeers and boos. As Boston celebrated the World Series championship, New York offered a collective scowl - and worse.

"[Expletive] Boston," a doorman uttered in front of the Lehman Brothers office building in Midtown Manhattan, after making eye contact and offering a sly smile.

From the relentless glitz of Times Square to the lonely grit of Yankee Stadium, drivers leaned on their horns, pedestrians tossed the occasional elbow, and a man passing out pamphlets in the Garment District for a men's clothing store sale withdrew the sheet of paper when he saw what the reporter was wearing. The venom cut across race, gender, and socioeconomic lines.

Two burly men yesterday, in the middle of loading a truck with police barricades along Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, pointed fingers and began an impromptu chant with a familiar ring.

"Boston sucks! Boston sucks!"

"You got a long way to go before you can talk dynasty," said Salvatore Leo, a 49-year-old from Staten Island who wore all denim and spoke near Times Square with a toothpick hanging out the corner of his mouth. "You won two World Series in four years. We won four in 10. Come on!"

Revealing a bit of Sox envy, however, he then offered to trade Yankees general manager Brian Cashman for his Red Sox counterpart, Theo Epstein.

"Nothing good ever came from Boston - Denis Leary, Michael Bloomberg," said a grizzled lieutenant in the New York Fire Department, who declined to give his name after grabbing lunch in Chelsea. "When I think of Boston, I think of Bill Buckner. I don't like Boston. At all."

When reminded that the Sox just won the World Series, he said, "You guys are so pompous."

It seems the tables have turned.

Yankees fans have long taken pride in how little attention they paid to the Red Sox and the city they play in. Sox fans were the ones who constantly chanted about how the Yankees, well, stink. They raged about Alex Rodriguez batting a ball out of Bronson Arroyo's hand in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. Boston fans mocked Jason Giambi's alleged use of steroids.

But now, New York fans are in a position they are unaccustomed to - second-tier city, at least in terms of one of the greatest sports rivalries of all time. And they don't seem quite sure how to handle it.

"The balance of power is shifting," said Paul Mills, 20, who grew up in Brooklyn wearing Yankees pinstriped baby clothes and only remembered the good times as he hawked the New York Post outside Madison Square Garden. "The Red Sox win the World Series, Joe Torre leaves, A-Rod options out. Everything is crashing down. I don't know what happened. It's really depressing."

Talk radio here was loaded with Yankee fans lamenting the Red Sox win, questioning how they would replace Alex Rodriguez at third base, and asking whether new skipper Joe Girardi could steer them back. In a column headlined "Baseball as we know it is over," Mike Vaccaro yesterday in the New York Post called the Sox "cold-blooded World Series assassins."

Some identified with New York Jets fans - whose team hasn't won a Super Bowl since 1969 - as proof that they can be loyal to losing teams.

And there were only a handful of people yesterday spotted in Red Sox gear.

"I go through a lot of trouble here," said Henry Rodriguez, 25, who proudly wore a flat-billed Red Sox cap. "People honk their horn, yell, '[Expletive] the Sox!' It feels good."

A cab driver declined to drive a Sox-clad reporter to Yankee Stadium, saying it would not end well.

"Nah, brah, you don't want to go there," he said. "You're going to get pushed, shoved, and punched in the face."

But a ride on the Number 4 train to 161st street revealed a different scene.

While Yawkey Way was crowded yesterday with fans loading up on the T-shirts and caps declaring themselves World Champions, the souvenir stores lining Yankee Stadium were all shuttered.

At the Sports Bar & Grill the lights were out, barstools were on the tables, and the black-and-white photos of Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, and Mickey Mantle looked over an empty room.

John Quirk, a 36-year-old bartender at the Yankee Tavern and former minor league pitcher, said he had no ill will toward the Red Sox. But in the next breath, he said, "Dustin Pedroia, I hate that little . . ." The word he used wasn't a term of endearment.

He then uttered a mantra familiar to Sox faithful - or at least it used to be.

"Wait till next year."

Monday, October 29, 2007

Fwd: "A human's brain is much more complex than a worm's brain"

Amazing scientific discoveries:

"A human's brain is much more complex than a worm's brain"
"They look like girls, but act and think like boys"
"For the most part they are females... It's really hard to tell that they are hermaphrodites, but they do make these few sperm."
"It suggests the brain determines behavior."

from http://www.latimes.com/features/la-on-gene28oct28,1,3120398.story?coll=la-sports-underdog&ctrack=1&cset=true

Gene switch altered sex orientation of worms

From Reueters
October 28, 2007

Altering a gene in the brain of female worms changed their sexual orientation, U.S. researchers said Thursday, making female worms attracted to other females.

The study reinforces the notion that sexual orientation is hard-wired in the brain, said Erik Jorgensen, scientific director of the Brain Institute at the University of Utah.

"They look like girls, but act and think like boys," Utah researcher Jamie White, who worked on the study published in the journal Current Biology, said in a statement.

Researchers in Jorgensen's lab switched on a gene in female worms that makes the body develop male structures, but they only activated the gene in the brain.

As a result, the female worms still had female bodies, but they behaved like males.

"It suggests sexual behavior is encoded in our genes" and not caused by extra nerve cells specific to males or females, Jorgensen said in a telephone interview.

Animals such as nematodes, fruit flies and mice share many of the same genes as humans and are often used as models to understand human genetics.

But Jorgensen said the study is not likely to resolve the burning question about the genesis of sexual orientation in humans. "A human's brain is much more complex than a worm's brain," he said.

Many scientists think a host of factors such as genetics, hormones and environment may play a role in determining sexual orientation in humans, but this has not been proven.

Jorgensen said the study is interesting because it suggests rather than being caused by extra, sex-specific nerve cells, attraction behaviors are part of the same brain circuit.

The finding was part of a study looking at areas in the worms' brains involved in sexual attraction.

LIVE IN DIRT, EAT GERMS

Nematodes, or C. elegans, are tiny worms about one millimeter long that live in the dirt, chomping bacteria. They have no eyes and rely on smell for navigation and propagation.

There are few males, only one in 500, so most of these female nematodes are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female sexual organs. This gives the female worms the ability to fertilize their own eggs and produce offspring in the absence of a male.

"For the most part they are females," Jorgensen said. "It's really hard to tell that they are hermaphrodites, but they do make these few sperm."

When they do mate with males, female worms produce 1,200 progeny, compared with just 200 when they produce their own sperm.

The researchers were trying to understand the underpinnings of sexual attraction in the male nematodes.

They reasoned it could arise from four extra smell-related nerve cells found only in male worm brains, from four core nerves found in both males and females or from a mix of both.

When they systematically neutralized the male-only neurons, mature male worms still responded to the females.

The findings imply nerve cells common to both male and female worms are central to sexual attraction and sexual orientation.

"They have genes for both male behavior and female behavior in them," Jorgensen said. "It suggests the brain determines behavior."

The study expands on prior studies suggesting a genetic component to sexual orientation.

"This is one more observation. We've seen this in flies and in mice," he said. "The difference is we know what cells are involved."

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Friday, October 26, 2007

I’m White and I Feel Really Bad About It

from http://www.barstoolsports.com/article/white_feel_really_bad_about/1744/

from the October 17, 2007 issue

I'm White and I Feel Really Bad About It

by Jerry Thornton (jerry@barstoolsports.com)

It's not an easy time to be a White Guy. I'm now into my fourth big decade of White Guyness, and I've been OK with it until now. I've tried my best to spend my one and only life on this planet trying to get along with everyone, eke out a living, not causing any trouble and mixing in a laugh here and there as I go. Mostly trying to live out my dreams of a few uninterrupted hours every NFL Sunday, watching the Red Sox win another championship, emptying my beer fridge and hoping against hope the kids will put their own damn dishes in the sink once in a while.

You'd think with such humble expectations I'd manage to get through this life without doing too much damage. (Or too much of anything else if you ask my Sweet Irish Rose. She'll tell you all about it once she's done clearing the table.) But from what I've been hearing more and more lately, the White Guy in me has been busy demeaning women, destroying the planet, subjugating native peoples, stereotyping ballplayers, producing unfunny comedy and wrecking the neighborhood. No wonder I'm too tired to help my wife around the house.

Not only to I feel bad about my Whiteness, I feel bad about feeling bad about it. Apparently we're not the most sympathetic people in the world, because whenever a White Guy says "Why is it OK to make fun of White Guys but not anyone else?" you can hear multi cultural eyes rolling across the globe and "Gimme a break" in a hundred languages. If a Mesopotamian says he's tired of the negative portrayal of Mesopotamians in the media, someone immediately forms a Mesopotamian Anti-Defamation League and the mayor's office opens a Dept. of Mesopotamian Affairs and the government starts printing election day ballots in Mesopotamese. But no one wants to listen to a White Guy yell "Unfair!" Just ask the Duke Lax team.

Maybe it's hard to argue that White Guys have caused more than our share of problems. If movies have taught me anything it's that my people are always running things and always up to no good. WWII. Russian terrorists. Evil business tycoons. Shadowy quasi-government agencies. The Galactic Empire. White Guys always seem to be large and in charge in movies. I guess it's true of real life as well. Except that the decidedly non-Caucasian places in the world don't really seem to be paradises either. And I can't take the rap anyway, since the only time I'm in charge of anything is when I'm alone in the car and I get to pick the radio station.

Are there two sets of rules for White Guys and non-White, non-Guys? Last week Isiah Thomas lost a sexual harassment lawsuit in which we admitted to calling a NY Knicks employee a "bitch." Under oath Thomas said it's more wrong for a White Guy to call a black woman a bitch than for him to say it. "A white male calling a black female a bitch is highly offensive. That would have violated my code of conduct," he said. Trust me, if there's one social movement I'm trying to get behind to make the world a better place, the "Equality of Calling Women Swear Words" is definitely NOT it. In fact, I've never wished for the right to talk to girls the way Isiah does. Not even Oprah when she did a whole show about the clothing boutique that wouldn't stay open late for her. And somehow I doubt Oprah would suffer much if I did.

While living out my simple, unassuming little White Guy existence, somehow I've managed to ruin the quality of life for indigenous peoples everywhere. I spent some time in Hawaii after I got out of college. I met a native Hawaiian woman who told me life for her people was great until the Europeans came to the islands. I politely asked her if white people have done any good by Hawaii. "Anything at all? Medicine? Technology? Trade?" until I realized we were doing the "What have the Romans ever done for us?" scene from "Life of Brian": " All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?" "Brought peace?" "Oh, peeeace...SHUT UP!!!"

My town is one of the few remaining whose intramural sports teams are nicknamed "Indians." There have been some mention of changing the name, but nothing much has come of it. Mostly because I think we're decidedly uncruel, ungenocidal people who think "Indians" is just meant to pay tribute to a group of people and is meant to be no more inherently mean or offensive than if we called our teams "Celtics," "Vikings," "Patriots" or "Fighting Irish." People who think if you really want to really help Native Americans, and not just grandstand to make yourself feel better, you can always move out of your two acre lot and deed it to the Wampanoags, who'd gladly take it back. And be sure to leave a note telling them how to winterize the pool.

There is no more accomplished, admired, envied and respected athlete in America than Tiger Woods. But a while back, he did a TV commercial where he said that because of the color of his skin there are places in America he's not allowed to play golf. I know the ad shouldn't be taken too seriously, because the real message of it was "Buy $500 drivers " but still I took it to heart. I called The Country Club in Brookline:

CC: "Pro shop."

Me: "Hi, I'm calling for a tee time."

CC: "Great. What's your member ID?"

Me: "Oh, I'm not a member, but it's OK, I'm a White Guy. You can let me play."

CC: >click< buzzzz

Of course if you're going to write about you White Guyosity, you've got to make it clear you're not hating on anyone. There's been plenty enough real hatred down through the years without anyone piling on. Donovan McNabb has said that as a black quarterback, he's held to a different standard than white QBs. Far be it for me to tell McNabb what he experiences every day, other than to point out that he plays in Philadelphia, and the crap he hears could very well be motivated not by racism, but by the fact that every single sports fan in the city is a colossal asswipe. Eagles fans hucked snow balls at Santa fercrissakes, and they don't get any whiter than St. Nick.

McNabb would certainly know more than I, but it seems to me that as a country we've gone way beyond evaluating a QB by his color. But at the same time, if there's a white Wide Receiver like Wes Welker on an NFL roster, the media is contractually obligated to call him a tough, aggressive, slot receiver with good hands and incessantly compare him to Wayne Chrebet. Why couldn't Welker be compared to a black guy like TJ Houshmanzadeh or a half-Korean like Hines Ward? And if we ever see another white defensive back you know he'll be compared to the now extinct Jasonus Sehornicus.

I hate the White Supremacy crowd more than anyone. But I've never had love for the "We're so lame and everyone elses so cool" self-loathing whites either. There's a comedy troupe called Whitest Kids U Know, and by "White" they don't mean "Funny" or "Clever." Last year I met an attorney from Cambridge. It was right after Halloween and she was gushing about how nice the holiday is in her neighborhood because kids come in from the inner city in busses to Trick or Treat, and she lamented how sad it is that her street has only white children. So I said "Yeah, it really sucks to spend your life surrounded by all those horrible caucasians."

Maybe I should've just called her a "bitch." By Isiah's rules I think that would've been cool.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Banned in Boston

See the last paragraph of this article to learn the origin of the phrase "Banned in Boston."
--pws

from http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/25/man_from_ministry_bans_potter/

Man from ministry bans Potter

By Tania deLuzuriaga, Globe Staff | October 25, 2007

WAKEFIELD - The summer reading feats of Lynne Bimmler's sixth-grade class are proudly chronicled on the St. Joseph's School website.

"The sixth grade reads an average of 7.5 books each with many students in double digits," says a note on the class page. "Of course, Harry Potter was a popular choice."

But last month, students found that their favorite series had "disapparated" from the school library, after St. Joseph's pastor, the Rev. Ron Barker, removed the books, declaring that the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were inappropriate for a Catholic school.

"He said that he thought most children were strong enough to resist the temptation," said one mother who asked that her name not be used because she did not want her family to be singled out. "But he said it's his job to protect the weak and the strong."

The removal at St. Joseph's is the first reported instance that the wildly popular series has been banned in the Bay State, according to the American Library Association. But British author J.K. Rowling's series, which many educators credit with inspiring a generation of children to pick up a book, has been as controversial as it has been popular. Groups in at least 17 other states have tried to ban the books since the first one was published in 1998, prompting the library association last year to name the Harry Potter collection "the most challenged books of the 21st century."

"Most of the controversy is centered around the witchcraft and occult themes," said Deborah Caldwell, who directs the office of intellectual freedom for the association. "But there are others who say the books model disrespect for adults."

Barker declined an interview yesterday, saying through his secretary that the removal of the books "is an in-house situation."

The decision has angered some parents at St. Joseph's.

"I'm upset it was done in the first place, and I'm upset it was done without talking to anyone about it," said Rick Hudson, who has sent all three of his children to the school.

But not everyone interviewed at the school yesterday was against the banning.

"I think the spirit of what he's doing is the right thing," said a mother who asked that her name not be used. "I believe he is sincerely interested in the children's well-being."

"We send our kids here for a reason," she added.

The Catholic Church has no formal policy on the books.

This summer, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops rated the most recent movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," appropriate for adults and adolescents.

Though Massachusetts is thought of as a bastion of liberal thought today, the state has a long history of banning books. In 1650, William Pynchon's "The Meritorius Price of Our Redemption" was publicly burned because colony leaders considered it too critical of the Puritan religion. In 1878, the New England Watch and Ward Society was founded to ban books, fight pornography, and "watch and ward off evildoers."

At the height of the society's power, in the 1920s and 1930s, controversial books at the Boston Public Library were kept in a locked room, and the police vice squad arrested anyone selling works considered offensive.

As a result, Boston led the nation in censorship based on moral grounds. Later, publishers actively sought to have books "banned in Boston" to increase sales in the rest of the country.

Tania deLuzuriaga can be reached at deluzuriaga@globe.com.

A long, perhaps too long, history of racism

from http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/homepage/x357266765

A long, perhaps too long, history of racism

Julian Phillips/Manchester Road

Wed Oct 24, 2007, 12:55 PM EDT

Winchester - In January 1967 a program to bus minority students from troubled Boston neighborhoods to privileged suburban public schools (commonly known as METCO), was announced. Most school districts in the greater Boston area voted to accept the proposal, but in Winchester a slim margin of approval came only after months of heated dispute. Town-wide opposition to the measure was so serious however that METCO declined to extend the program to the community because of concerns about student safety.

Seven years later, in 1974, the town selectmen once again introduced the measure, but abandoned the attempt after burning crosses were left on the lawns of the program's major proponents. Inexcusably, these troubling signs of racism were shoved under the carpet and ignored.

Thirty years later, little has changed. Winchester is still more than 87 percent white; and the only pitiful stab at ensuring racial equality in our public schools is a small outpost of A Better Chance on Dix Street. But a slew of recent incidents against the organization, at least one of which was racially motivated, have threatened its survival. Already, the eight ABC scholars are unable to leave their house for fear of attack and one student is considering withdrawing from the program.

While much of the community has been justifiably outraged by these recent events, few measures have been proposed to confront the problem. Two weeks ago a letter was published in this paper both decrying the mission of the ABC house and denying the very existence of racism in the United States. Sadly, a large, if often-unseen portion of the population shares this sentiment.

Cindy Hale wrote in a recent column "Is this really our Winchester?" The sad truth is "yes." And it is time that we faced up to our racial problems and bring an end to this deplorable chapter in our history.

Fwd: Winchester man dies in double shooting

I don't know anything that wasn't in the paper.
But during the last few weeks, Winchester has been talking about:

a Winchester drug dealer named Santa Claus was arrested for dealing at the Christopher Columbus Club
Woburn youth beat up and threatened Winchester High students from the ABC House. (A Better Chance brings kids from dangerous neighborhoods and poor schools to towns like Winchester, where presumably they'll be safer and receive a better education.)
Now the double shooting / murder

Fwd: Winchester man dies in double shooting

I don't know anything that wasn't in the paper.
But during the last few weeks, Winchester has been talking about:

a Winchester drug dealer named Santa Claus was arrested for dealing at the Christopher Columbus Club
Woburn youth beat up and threatened Winchester High students from the ABC House. (A Better Chance brings kids from dangerous neighborhoods and poor schools to towns like Winchester, where presumably they'll be safer and receive a better education.)
Now the double shooting / murder

San Diago evacuees

from http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/10/25/roberts_may_not_be_able_to_pitch_in/

[2004 Red Sox player Dave] Roberts and his family were evacuated from their San Diego area home because of the threat posed by wildfires that have destroyed more than 1,500 homes and caused an estimated $1 billion in damage.

Another former Sox player and current Roberts neighbor, second baseman Mark Loretta, a member of the 2006 team, also was evacuated from his home near Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north of San Diego. According to an ESPN official, former Braves, Indians, and Yankees star David Justice lost his home in the blaze.

Winchester man dies in double shooting

from http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/25/winchester_man_dies_in_double_shooting/

Winchester man dies in double shooting

Brother wounded; police make arrest

Winchester police said yesterday that Bryan Barbaro was able to call 911 after being shot in the chest in his Irving Street home. (BILL RYERSON FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | October 25, 2007

WINCHESTER - To neighbors, Chris and Bryan Barbaro were part of the fabric of their peaceful dead-end street lined with single and multifamily houses where residents have lived for generations.

Yesterday, neighbors were wondering why the two brothers had been shot, one fatally, inside their home on Irving Street, the same street where their parents and a sister live and where the two men were raised.

"It just blows me away," said next-door neighbor Leo Lepore. "This is crazy."

Late yesterday afternoon, Wally J. Simon, 30, of Medford was arrested in the case. Police said he kicked in the door of the Barbaros' three-family home and shot 48-year-old Bryan Barbaro in the chest, a wound he survived after being rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Simon was not charged in the death of Chris Barbaro, 50, who Assistant District Attorney Nathaniel Yeager said was killed by a gunshot to the forehead.

"The door to 70 Irving Street was kicked in," Yeager said in court, "and Chris and Bryan Barbaro were shot at that time."

Despite being wounded, Bryan Barbaro was able to call 911 and report that both he and his brother had been shot, officials said.

Corey Welford, a spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr., said that the investigation was ongoing and that more charges against Simon were possible.

Prosecutors persuaded Judge Marianne Hinkle to impound the case file, and Yeager did not offer a motive for the killing, the first in this town since Susann Wyler was slain in her home in October 2002. Her killing remains unsolved.

In a statement, Winchester police tried to calm public concerns following the shootings. "We do not feel that this was a random attack, and the safety of the community is not at risk," police said.

During his arraignment, Simon wore a powder-blue disposable jumpsuit because authorities apparently had seized his clothes. He appeared calm and occasionally looked at the people sitting in the courtroom.

Welford said Simon was taken into custody in Boston. He was ordered held on $250,000 cash bail, and his bail in a Middlesex Superior Court case was revoked. Simon is facing seven charges, including two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.

In the Barbaros' neighborhood, the bachelor brothers were known for their willingness to help out. Bryan Barbaro operates a mason and chimney sweep company from his home. Chris occasionally worked for his brother, neighbors said.

Neighbors also said they could not imagine why anyone would shoot either brother.

"It was a complete shock," said Joe Capone, 52, who grew up with the Barbaro brothers. "I don't see why anything that drastic had to happen. . . . They wouldn't hurt a fly."

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Wild Thing vs The Natural

A new competitor for Industrial Light Magic in the realm of movie special effects. :)

Uncle Buck and Barstool Sports present the greatest movie closer vs the greatest movie hitter...

your appendix produces and protects the good bacteria in your gut

from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/10/23/is-your-appendix-really-a-useless-organ.aspx
Is Your Appendix Really a Useless Organ?

Your appendix, long touted by doctors to have no apparent purpose, turns out to be good for something after all. Surgeons and immunologists from Duke University Medical School believe your appendix produces and protects the good bacteria in your gut.

There are more bacteria in your body than cells, and much of it is used to help you digest food. However, if your good bacteria dies, as the result of cholera or dysentery for instance, your appendix appears to restore good bacteria to your gut.

Your appendix acts like a "bacteria factory" that "cultivates good germs," according to the study's authors.

They pointed out that this function is not needed in industrialized society, because if your gut flora dies you can easily repopulate it with germs from other people. In the past, however, the appendix came in handy when disease epidemics affected entire regions, and the good bacteria was not easy to repopulate.

In modern times, appendixes may still be useful in less developed countries.

If your appendix becomes infected, it can lead to death, which is why surgeons have removed them routinely for generations. Even with the new theory for your appendix's purpose, the researchers said you should have yours removed if it becomes inflamed.

About 300 to 400 Americans die, and about 321,000 are hospitalized, due to appendicitis each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Journal of Theoretical Biology September 7, 2007

MSNBC.com October 5, 2007

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It is shocking to me that anyone ever believed your appendix has no purpose. Rest assured, there is a purpose for every organ in your body, even the ones that modern medicine can't figure out.

So please don't ever fall for the advice to have an organ removed "because it has no purpose."

There are times when it is necessary to do so, because if you fail to remove it you will die from massive infection. This can be true for appendicitis or an infected gallbladder. But there just isn't ever ANY reason to remove an appendix just because an abdominal surgery is being performed.

It makes perfect sense that your appendix may help regulate your intestinal good bacteria. For every cell in your body you have about ten bacteria in your intestine, or about 60 trillion bacteria. This bacteria has a very profound influence on your digestive health, your weight, and your overall health.

Hopefully, now that a function for the appendix has been formally recognized, surgeons will stop removing healthy appendixes for no reason. The notion that your appendix is useless has been so widely held for so long that many surgeons actually will remove your appendix when performing abdominal surgeries for other reasons!

However, I do not agree with the researchers conclusions that your appendix is unnecessary in the modern world because, as they say, you can easily repopulate the good bacteria in your gut.

Why?

Because your good bacteria is constantly being assaulted by antibiotics, chlorinated water, birth control pills, stress, sugar, and a host of other environmental factors.

Ideally, your gut should contain a ratio of 85 percent good bacteria to 15 percent non-beneficial bacteria, but the factors I listed above have actually caused this ratio to reverse in many people.

So there is clearly a shortage of good bacteria in many people, which is why I often recommend that you use a high-quality probiotic as an "insurance policy" that your body is balanced with good strains of bacteria, particularly if you don't lead a perfectly healthy lifestyle.

So there is just no way to know what far-reaching and subtle effects your appendix has on the way your body functions. At least one negative side effect has already been uncovered from having your appendix removed (called an appendectomy) -- an increased risk of Crohn's disease.

Appendectomy has long been a controversial surgery when done electively. It's possible, in fact, that 30 percent of controversial surgeries such as appendectomy are unnecessary. Other often-unnecessary surgeries include:

Don't Make the Same Mistake I Made

I was at an event in LA earlier this month for a full week, and I picked up a serious case of the runs (I was having 10-20 bowel movements a day). I had picked up a food infection and I neglected to follow my own advice to always take probiotics with you when you travel. Surprisingly, the natural grocery store, which was the only one convenient to me, had absolutely no probiotics other than yogurt.

So as soon as I got home I took a full bottle of my Complete Probiotics, and the four days of misery on the toilet stopped in a few hours.

So don't make the same mistake I made.

Both you and I should never leave home without a bottle of Complete Probiotics; they don't have to be refrigerated because they are in the bacterial spore form. They could save you lots of misery in the future and help you avoid the pure hassle of seeking to find a high-quality probiotic while you're on the road. Until it happened to me I had no idea how hard they were to find in a big city.

So learn your lesson and ...

Always Take Good Bacteria When You Are Traveling!!

When Might Your Appendix Need to be Removed?

It's important to point out, as I said earlier, that there are cases when an appendectomy can save your life, because once your appendix becomes infected or inflamed, it is life threatening. Here are some major warning signs that your appendix might be a problem:

You have absolutely no appetite, even for your most favorite foods.

You have pain that started around your belly button and has moved to your lower right abdominal area.

You have pain when jumping up and down. Try to gently jump up and down. If there is no pain, try jumping even higher. This will move your peritoneal cavity and if it is irritated with an inflamed appendix, you will be in miserable pain.

If you have all of the above symptoms you should be evaluated at your nearest emergency room.

If you are a woman, you may benefit from receiving a CT scan or ultrasound prior to having an appendectomy. A study published in the journal Radiology found that in women who had this done prior to surgery, a healthy appendix was removed 7 percent of the time, compared with 28 percent of the time when no scan was done.

Of course, it's always best to avoid surgery whenever possible, so while an appendectomy can be life-saving if your appendix is inflamed, it shouldn't be considered a routine, or elective, procedure.

Related Articles:

Appendectomy May Increase Risk of Crohn's Disease

How You Can Avoid Needless Surgeries

Avoid the Tonsillectomy!

Head of the Charles - Peking 'dunk' team

from http://www.boston.com/sports/outdoors/articles/2007/10/22/peking_dunk_team_redeemed/

Peking 'dunk' team redeemed

After 2006 incident, eight finishes in 20th

By Tony Chamberlain, Globe Correspondent | October 22, 2007

One of the most-discussed events in the history of the Head of the Charles seemed an impossibility.

Despite years of oar-clashing and bridge-abutment-crashing, usually near the end of the 3-mile course between the Weeks Footbridge and Eliot Bridge near the finish, no boat had ever provided quite the spectacle as the Chinese eight entry last year.

After some bumper-boat action with the Beaver Boat Club around the Weeks Bridge, which began the delamination of its boat's hull, it was another mile before the University of Peking boat filled with water and submarined so rapidly that many of the rowers did not know what was happening and kept stroking as water rose to their chests.

As danger gave way to embarrassment - all were saved without injury - the incident became an anecdote for the ages, particularly when coxswain Amy Sun explained a linguistic miscue made under duress led to the confusion.

"When we began to sink, I asked them if they could swim," Sun said at the time, "and they all jumped off the boat. "

The sinking/rescue has become one of the most frequently visited rowing entries on YouTube. Still, yesterday, the Peking team was back with seven of the eight rowers from last year and Sun still barking the cadence from the cox seat in the collegiate eights event.

Under the summery sunshine beaming on the river, the orange-clad Chinese rowers, while starting in last position (42d), powered up the river, Sun steering a tight, somewhat risky course under the Eliot Bridge to overtake the University of Florida near the finish.

Peking finished 20th in 16:09.19. A second Chinese entry, Tsinghua, finished 26th in 16.21.07.

Sun, a graduate student at MIT and a member of the boat club that rows daily on the Charles, was offered the cox seat again .

"This year we had no tense moments," said Sun, who is captured famously in a photograph standing alone in the sunken boat after the team jumped into the river.

Sun said there was some joking about last year's incident among the crew, but that no one seemed intimidated by the course, which is sometimes called the most challenging in the world.

Snaking its way upstream from Magazine Beach, the course runs under seven bridges, and when the eights - the longest boats in the regatta at 60 feet - get close to each other, there is an ever-present danger of contact.

"We had a lot of open water today," Sun said yesterday, "and I was able to row the line we wanted. We set up the way we wanted for the Weeks turn, and came up on a few other boats. We passed [the University of Florida] at the [Buckingham Brown & Nichols] dock. Everything was very smooth."

Sun, who speaks with the rowers in Mandarin, noted the difficulty the team has traveling such a long distance.

"A lot of time they don't know until fairly late that they're going," she said. "Everything they have, they have to borrow.

"It can be tough on them."

Despite the fact the sinking is often referenced as a moment of humor, the Head of the Charles safety committee did a thorough review of procedures following last year's race, and made several changes.

Even though the sinking "was a once-in-a-50-year event," according to executive director Fred Schoch, changes were needed in an event that has grown to such huge numbers.

The two biggest changes were the addition of more rescue launches, and three umpires along the course who have the authority to stop a race or keep another one from starting.

"We have always been cognizant of liability when you have so many boats on the river," Schoch said during the week. "So it was time to make some safety changes."

Since its inception in 1965, the Head has grown to a two-day event with 55 races, 1,736 boats and 8,220 rowers.

Schoch had nothing but high praise for the Chinese crew.

"This is redemption for them, a clean shot at going down the course," he said. "For 12 months they've been planning their return and this time they brought another school along. Good for them."

Millar throws out first pitch of game 7

from http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/10/22/as_usual_millar_provides_shot_of_comic_relief/

Late Saturday, standing in the Players Club wearing a Colorado Rockies-purple tie, Steinberg revealed Millar was coming to town for Game 7. Apparently the Sox couldn't get Jake Westbrook's high school girlfriend.

Millar was certainly a fan favorite during his time in Boston. He's the one who told everybody to "Cowboy Up" in 2003. In the hours before Game 4 against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS - while most of Red Sox Nation had conceded defeat after the 19-8 beatdown in Game 3 - Millar said, "Don't let us win tonight. This is a big game. They've got to win because if we win, we've got Pedro coming back in Game 5 and Schilling in 6, and then you can take that fraud stuff and put it to bed. Don't let the Sox win this game."

Two nights later, at frosty Yankee Stadium, Millar grabbed the bottle of whiskey and tried to get teammates to take a shot before Game 6. The legend was born.

Still, it was odd to see an active member of another AL team throwing out the first pitch in a Game 7 at Fenway .

"I don't get it," said smiling Sox manager Terry Francona. "This is another one of those things where he can pull it off. He's a member of the Baltimore Orioles, he's going to be spurring on the Red Sox and nobody is going to say a word. He'll probably bring the house down. I love it, but I don't get it. It's Millar. It's hilarious."

The Sox got permission from Orioles boss Andy MacPhail before calling Millar with the request.

"I was in Houston yesterday at a wedding," said Millar. "It all happened real fast and at 6 a.m. today I was driving to the airport. We were able to get a babysitter, so here I am. It's probably a first. It's certainly a little different. It's usually a retired player or an actor or a famous person."

Millar said that his friend Trot Nixon, now with the Indians, was not happy. We can only wonder what Eric Gagné was thinking. On Aug. 12 Millar hit a walkoff, three-run homer off Gagné.

"This is all in fun," said Millar.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Re: Sox tidbits

from http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/10/21/he_made_the_tough_call/?page=1

Francona believes in staying with the players who got him to the playoffs and angered many fans by sticking with Mark Bellhorn when the quiet second baseman struggled early in the 2004 postseason. Ultimately, the manager's patience was rewarded as Bellhorn got some big hits in the biggest games.

He waited with Crisp as long as he could, but he finally capitulated and said, "You get to a point where - I always talk about doing the right thing, and I felt like this was in the best interest of our ball club."

How did Crisp take the news?

"I didn't expect Coco to jump up and hug me," said Francona. "If I was him, I wouldn't either. So we try to do it correctly and with respect and give him reasons why."

The 24-year-old Ellsbury was drafted out of Oregon State two years ago and advanced rapidly through the Sox system. He started the 2007 season in Double A Portland, moved up to Pawtucket, and came to the big leagues for two stints. In 22 games (15 starts), he hit .353 with three homers and 18 RBIs. He was not caught in nine stolen base attempts. He made spectacular plays in the outfield. He was compared with a young Fred Lynn or Johnny Damon.

Ellsbury is of Navajo descent and was scouted by the Indians when he was in college. They seriously considered drafting him and asked if he would have any problems wearing a cap adorned with the hideous image of Chief Wahoo. Ellsbury said he was not offended by the team name or mascot, but last week he told the Globe, "You can look at it that it's offensive or you can look at it that they are representing native Americans. Usually, I'll take the positive out of it."

Sox tidbits after game 6 ALCS - Jacoby

...general manager Theo Epstein had told Francona after Game 3 that he would not be opposed to the manager replacing Crisp with Ellsbury.

Jacoby's mother, Margie, said the family plans to make the trip from Oregon to Boston if the Red Sox reach the World Series.

"Word has spread like wildfire about Jacoby being in the lineup," she wrote in an e-mail. "We're all excited. I have total confidence in Jacoby . . . He's prepared for this all his life. He's ready to take on this bigger stage.

"My family, from near and far, and friends are anxiously awaiting for this game to begin. In talking with my co-workers and other local people . . . it's funny how they've never been into baseball but since October have been watching every game of the Red Sox and are totally into it! . . . We are rooting for every Red Sox player, every Red Sox pitcher and so forth. It's awesome that the Red Sox and fans have been supportive and accepting of the newcomers to the team."

Sox tidbits after game 6 ALCS

from http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/10/21/matsuzaka_is_prepared_to_take_it_to_limit/?page=2
Kevin Millar will throw out the ceremonial first pitch tonight . . .

Numbers from Game 6: 15 of the Red Sox' first 21 batters reached base. By the third inning, all Red Sox batters had gotten a hit or scored except Jason Varitek . . . Curt Schilling and Fausto Carmona threw 30 balls, but Schilling went seven innings, Carmona only two innings-plus . . .

Francona said all four of his children were planning to be at the ballpark last night. His 20-year-old daughter, Alyssa, was attending her first postseason game, the manager said. She had been making college visits during the team's 2004 postseason run, he said. "The closest she got to one of the games, she was in Harvard with her tour guide the night the Yankees beat us, 19-8. She said, 'God, it was hilarious, Dad. The kids in the auditorium were saying just the worst things about you. They didn't know who I was, so I just laughed.' " . . .

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by former Sox third baseman Bill Mueller, who won an AL batting title while with the Red Sox in 2003, when he batted .326. But he will always be remembered here as the man who combined with Dave Roberts to save the Sox season three outs away from a four-game sweep by the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. With the Sox down, 4-3, Kevin Millar drew a walk from Mariano Rivera . Roberts entered the game as a pinch runner and stole second. Mueller singled up the middle, scoring Roberts. David Ortiz homered in the 12th to win it, and the Sox were on their way to winning four straight. Francona was asked if Mueller's hit has been overlooked by the myth-making apparatus. "It was not overlooked by me," he said. "Everybody talks about Dave Roberts so much. Once Dave Roberts got to second it was like, 'He's going to get a hit or he's going to get him to third.' " Knee problems ended Mueller's career with the Dodgers in 2006, one year after he left the Sox.