Product of the Environment

Josh Q. Public:  Coming up now, another request, this time from the boys down at Anna’s Pizza Paradise.

Public Service Announcement.  It’s true.  I am a product of my environment.  Third Bass style.  A Bostonian in New York.  Belly of the beast, baby!  If I were still back home, I’d probably be berating Wily Mo right now.  If I were still back home, I’d be lamenting the trade that sent Bronson Arroyo away to the National League.  If I were still back home,  I’d be crying about being three games back.  If I were still back home, I’d be listening to the Big Show with the rest of the shut-ins and be complaining about Tito, the pitching staff, whatever.  But I’m not back home.  I’m here.  I’ve got to represent.  I cannot show weakness.  There are no sympathetic ears here.  My own wife, Mrs. Q. Public, is a Yankee fan.  I must stay the course, George Bush style.  Everywhere I go, people know I’m a Sox fan.  All my haunts, from coffee shops to bars, I get the same treatment.  And it’s nothing nice, I assure you.  It is my duty to respond in kind.  It is my duty to never relent.  I go to “Red Sox” bars.  Don’t be fooled.  At best there are 50% Sox fans watching.  There is no rest for the weary.  My fight, the good fight, must go on.  I must continue to smash the Yankees.  I must continue to blindly back my Sox.  Damn the torpedoes, Tom Petty style.  See you Friday bitches.

Public Knowledge:

1.  Gary Sheffield goes to the doctor today.  My guess is he never comes back this season.  Steroid recovery is a long process.  Just ask Mr. Bonds.  Giambi Juice is different, he’s much, much, younger.

2.  A-Broad on his 21st error:  “That’s a play I need to make.”  You think?  Almost lost the game again, you moron.

3.  Jets scrambling to find a replacement for Curtis Martin.  Lee Suggs failed the physical.  Back to the old drawing board.  It must make Derrick Blaylock, Cedrick Houston, and company feel good. 

4.  How weird was it seeing I-Rod playing second?  How much weirder would it have been a few years back when he was all juiced up.  Maybe not too weird.  Brett Boone was around.

5.  A federal judge told Game of Shadows authors that they must comply with a subpoena and tell a grand jury who leaked them secret testimony of Barry Bonds and the rest.  Nobody likes a big mouth.

6.  Two games go 18 innings.  I might care if any of the four were still in it.  They’re not.  Arizona kinda, but still.

7.  I like Marvin Lewis as much as the next guy but that “fish or cut bait” line about Carson Palmer is just ridiculous.  This guy will see plenty of Pro-Bowls in his day.  Leboretard called him Bradylike.  For that matter, Bob Ryan called Big Ben Roethlisberger Bradylike.  It sure is nice having the real Tom Brady.

8.  The terrorists will never stop. Never.  Just know that.  Energizer Bunny style.

9.  I’m adopting the The Mid-Island Little League team from Staten Island.  I was never a big New Hampshire fan.  They park on their lawns and wear flannel shirts all the time.  Staten Island it is.

10.  Dolphins sign Big Daddy Dan Wilkerson.  Always liked that guy.  Maybe it’s the Big Daddy thing.

11.  We all know T-Rac put Adrian McPherson out of commission.  Don’t feel too bad.  He’s used to it.  Remember he stole and forged blank check for $3,500, back in the day.  Got suspended from ‘Nole Nation.

12.  Lendale White looks like Saigon from Entourage.

13.  My new glasses give me life in Hi Def.  I love it. 

14.  Lienart finally signs.  Good job, Matty.  About time.  How funny would it be if he got hurt vs. the Patriots in four days.

15.  US Basketball smashes S. Korea.  No surprise there.  It’s cutting time though, and somebody has to go.  General consensus has it down to Battier and Bowen.  Bowen for defense and Battier for, well, I’m not sure.  If I were Coach K, I would cut them both and get Michael Redd.  I still believe this team needs a shooter.

16.  The T.O. Boom Goes the Dynamite Countdown.  I give it to week four before the whole thing blows up.  Wile E. Coyote style.  Parcells, T.O., all of it.  That puts us at Sunday, October 1 vs. the Titans.  45 days away.  Let the countdown begin.

Public Spectacle: 

1.  Denis Leary on Sox broadcast ranting about Mel Gibson.  A must see.

Public Figures:  Brought to you by the good people at Elias Sports Bureau and ESPN, The Worldwide Leader.

1.  The Twinkies & Dodgers both won 17 of 18 games this season. Two big league teams have not done that since 1988. The teams then?  Your Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A’s.  The A’s beat the Sox that year in the AL Championship Series, but lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. 

2.  As we know, two games went 18 innings last night. The Cubs beat the Astros, 8-6.  The Diamondbacks beat the Rockies, 2-1. It was the first time ever that two games of at least 18 innings were played on the same day. Shocker.  If you work in sports, there is nothing worse than a late game going into extras.  Unless of course its two late games.  Unless of course its two late games going 18.

3.  The Twins have now won 44 of their last 60 games, matching the best 60-game stretch in franchise history. The Washington Senators went 44-16 over a 60-game span in 1912 and in 1933.

4.   Chomper’s own:  Roy Halladay is the first pitcher to 15 W’s this season. He was also the first to 15 back in 2003. The only other pitchers to be first-to-15 more than once during the expansion era were Sandy Koufax, four times, The Rocket, in three different decades (1986, 1997, 2001), Steve “Lefty” Carlton, twice, and Joaquin Andujar (1984-1985).

5.  Chris Carpenter pitched his ninth complete game since the start of the 2005 season, the second-most in the major leagues over that span, behind Dontrelle Willis (10).

6.   A-Broad made another error last night.  Ha ha ha.  That would be his 21st of the season and his seventh with Bullwinkle on the mound. Only one player has made as many errors with a particular pitcher on the mound as A-Rod has for Mussina: Garrett Atkins has seven errors with Jeff Francis pitching.

Public Spectacle:

Peace out homies. Six two and Even!

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