A Fright.

Whew! Earlier today I was in the middle of writing up a joke about Jason Bay when Blogger decided to block my IP address. I have no idea why it did this but it gave me a scare. I thought it had brought an end to my illustrious blogging career. Sadly, it didn't save the post about Bay, so it'll have to be reconstructed. And hopefully, nothing goes awry again.

Un-Baseball.

Mark Teixeira is a good baseball player. Might he be a great baseball player? Sure. Is he worth $25 million a year? No. Is he worth $22 million a year? Manny wasn't worth $22 million a year and Teixeira is no Manny. Will he get his money? Unfortunately. Do I wish it was a different team that was so disconnected from the reality of Teixeira's worth that they'd be willing to pay for him? Absolutely.

You could cry tough economic times as a reason for not going for Teixeira and you'd probably have a leg to stand on. The reality is: television ratings for baseball are down across the board. Fewer sets of eyes means less ad revenue. Moreover, Red Sox fandom may have reached it's saturation point. I don't pretend to know how much money they brought in last year but, short of dowsing for new revenue streams, that may be it. Who else could they get to part with their money, though? They've made inroads into the Asian market, Jason Bay's presence seemed to pique the interest of Canadian newspapers, but who else is there? I suppose that women make up a sizable portion of the population not particularly interested in baseball but selling 'baseball for women' would not be an easy task.

Or it might just suck in that the 'getting' of Mark Teixeira comes at the expense of Mike Lowell. When Manny left I felt like I'd been dumped. When Trot made his way in from right field that last rainy time I felt like I'd had my heart ripped out. When they kick Mike Lowell to the curb for this guy, it's going to be hard. (And if he takes Mikey's 25, I won't go all Yankee fan LaTroy Hawkins/Roberto Clemente/Paul O'Neill on him but it'll be salt in the wound.) I understand the need for a big bat in the lineup. I do. If Teixeira was something really, really special, then I could stomach it. I guess. But I adore Mike Lowell.

Thinking about it makes me grumpy, though. So instead of continued depressing rumination, high hilarity: the Season Two Premier of Flight of the Conchords.

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

Blerg. It doesn't seem to want to work properly.

And Now for Something Completely Different.

So this article from a Zimbabwean (I don't know if that's the adjectival form or not, but it's from Zimbabwe) newspaper isn't about the Red Sox. It isn't even about baseball. It is about the former head coach of the Zimbabwe National Soccer team, Charles Mhlauri, who has been living in Boston for the past year.

I like baseball. I have little more than a passing interest in other sports, although I will watch running and bowling on television (odd, I know.) The last time I watched a soccer game was when my brother was on one of the rec-league U10 teams.

So why bother passing it along? Simply put: It's beautifully written. It lost me once it got into the politics of the team but I was right with it until then. And the line that really got to me?

"This is a city that believes in baseball and the Boston Red Sox.."

Amen.

If everyone listened to me, then the world would be a better place.

I've tried to keep my chatter on here related to baseball or, at the least, tangentially related to the Red Sox. And so I apologize for this but it needs to be said.

All this talk about the Giants-Patriots being Red Sox-Yankees II is driving me nuts. I've tried to dismiss it as being media hype but people are buying into it and it just isn't true. My Dad and my Uncles are all Red Sox-Giants fans. This guy I work with, Mike, is one of the crazies of Red Sox fandom (Seriously. If there is a weekday afternoon game, he'll sit in his office wearing his Varitek jersey over his shirt and tie while listening to the game on the radio.) He's a Steelers fan. Sports loyalties are formed when we're young and the Patriots weren't around when these guys needed to pick a football team. If I cared one fig about football, then out of loyalty to my father I would be a Giants fan and would be hoping for a Giants victory tomorrow.

The Patriots don't have the same following as the Red Sox. With the exception of Connecticut, baseball fans in New England who aren't Red Sox fans are few and far between. It's not difficult, however, to find people who are fans of football teams other than the Patriots. Go to a sports memorabilia store if you need further proof. So it would be impossible to have the same acrimonious rivalry between the teams. Also, the NY Jets would be a better candidate for Red Sox-Yankees II than the NY Giants but that's beside the point.

It's like Christmas-I can't wait for tomorrow. Except what I really want is for tomorrow to be over, so that we can all move on. Spring Training starts in less than two weeks. And with the Santana deal being official ($137.5 million/6 years), when I search for interesting little news and tidbits I won't have to wade through hundreds of articles about Red Sox-Yankees II and Santana (will he or won't he) to find anything worth passing on.