Something to Like in the Season for Hating

Last night the Rangers did more than prevent a sweep in this year’s World Series. And assuming that Cliff Lee can return to form when he next appears on the mound, they probably insured that the series will go back to San Francisco. But of greater significance, at least from the perspective of this publication, they staked out their claim to Red State loyalty in this year’s fall classic. By inviting W and Laura to sit in the owners’ box, Nolan Ryan guaranteed that die hard Democratic haters will now root against the Rangers, regardless of baseball loyalties. I wasn’t watching closely enough in Games 1 and 2, but I hope Nancy Pelosi was sitting close to the Giants dugout. Pelosi has about the same effect on Republicans that Bush has on Democrats. So even though the Hating season is over for all the known readers of this blog, I’m glad to see that this year’s Series still has the capacity to inspire player-haters across the land. Not only that, but next Tuesday ought to give this year’s Haters even more reason to get worked up. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Speaking of hating, I’ve had to take anti-nausea medication this weekend as the political ads descend to the absolute nadir of sleaziness and repulsion. Remember in Network when Faye Dunaway discovers that news is really just a form of entertainment? The medium of television, a/k/a Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has reduced political discourse to the level of name calling and hucksterism. We elect our political leaders using techniques developed for the sale of toothpaste. We probably make better decisions when we buy toothpaste.

But enough of that discouraging news, here’s something we can all be grateful for: the Syracuse football program, which had threatened to devolve into a Division III team, has won three consecutive road games in the conference; is now 6-2 for the season; and with a couple more wins, will be bowl eligible. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but yesterday’s workmanlike victory in Cincinnati suggests that this team could very well be playing on New Year’s Day. The most remarkable thing about this turnaround is, of course, the defense. That defensive genius who had been purportedly coaching the team for four years, consistently led them to the bottom of the D-I statistical rankings in every defensive category. (Have you followed the Michigan Wolverines this fall? Have you seen their defensive stats? I feel bad for Denard Robinson, who can’t run fast enough, or throw far enough, to make up for his team’s lack of defense.) Anyway, in recent years, the Orange had been so lousy that I just assumed the players lacked the athletic ability to compete on the Division I level. Turns out that was all wrong. Many of the same kids who were so ineffective two years ago are this fall making plays, now that they are part of a creative and intelligent defensive scheme. And if Marquis Spruill is indicative of the kind of recruits Marrone is bringing to the Dome, this defense is only going to get better in the years to come.

And yesterday, the offense looked much more effective. It helped that Carter was healthy; he and Bailey make up a great inside outside combination. Nassib was better than he had been in the ugly wins at USF and West Virginia, and the team capitalized on all of Cincinnati’s turnovers.

I know that the Big East isn’t the SEC; the conference is a shadow of what it was in the late 80’s and early 90’s. And it will take time for the Cuse to rebuild this program so that it can compete on a national level. But if Boise State and Oregon can dream of a national championship, why can’t the Orange do the same?

Yankees Go Home

That’s not a political slogan. That’s a fact. And from the perspective of all true Haters, the season is effectively over. None of us has to endure the indignity of watching the other play in the World Series, let alone win the thing. Instead we can watch simply for the enjoyment or entertainment or drama, without having any nervous breakdowns; and we don’t have to stay up until dawn, should one or more games go into extra innings.

I think the theme of this year’s classic, no matter how it turns out, will be redemption. The whole Josh Hamilton story is grounded in redemption. And while the Giants can’t quite match Hamilton for the extremes he’s encountered, there is an element of redemption for all the cast-offs who were picked up by San Francisco, whose careers seemed to be ending, and who are now playing for a championship.

Long time ago, I was a Giants fan, really as a result of being a Willie Mays fan. I always thought Mays was the greatest ballplayer of all time. He could do everything, and do it better than most everyone else. Think about the catch. And then think about his numbers from this perspective. He missed two years in his prime, when drafted for the Korean war. 1951 he was rookie of the year; 54 he was MVP; but he missed most of 52 and all of 53. Then consider that he was playing in the Polo Grounds, with a short porch down the left field line, and after 57 moved to Candlestick, where it was close to impossible to hit home runs. In 1954, when the Giants won it all, at the all-star break he was on a pace to break Ruth’s single season home run record. But Durocher told him instead, to hit for average, and he ended up winning the batting title. So if you give Mays those two years, and delay his move to Candlestick for even half a decade; everyone would have been chasing Mays with 800 home runs – not Ruth, not Aaron, not Bonds. Forget about it.

So for old times sake, I suppose I’d like to see the Giants win, although before the NLCS, I couldn’t have named anyone on their roster aside from Lincecum. At the same time, I like the Rangers. Not just because they beat up on the Yankees, but because they have an exciting lineup, with an landsman at second base. I like Vlad Guerrero, another guy who seemed like his career might be over, and who now is playing in his first World Series. For my money, I’d like to see a seven game series, with games decided in the late innings. But as for who wins, even though the Giants are a sentimental favorite, I think the season will have a happy ending for many folks, no matter how it turns out.

Speaking of happy endings, how about Cuse stopping West Virginia on that last drive, preserving a road win against a ranked team? How about an exciting defense, with guys blitzing from all over, and different schemes in the defensive backfield? I know the offense has been pretty unexciting of late, although the running game produced some good numbers yesterday before Carter got hurt. But the defense really stepped it up; and that was a huge change from the Pitt game. Wouldn’t it be nice if the coaching staff could figure out what the team’s deficiencies were, and make adjustments that corrected the problems? Wouldn’t that be a switch from the past decade, when we seemed to get out coached in every single game? I don’t know exactly how the team turned things around so dramatically in one week, but I’d like to think that the coaches had something to do with that turnaround. (And by the way, don’t you think that the guys who hired Robinson as defensive coordinator in Michigan are feeling pretty stupid right about now?)

If the Orange keep this up, before too long the Dome will be full for something other than the Nova game. Only thing is, if that ever happens, Dr. Gross will go nuts, and then I’ll be faced with a real dilemma: whether to pay the jacked up prices, both for my seats, and for the tickets? Last time they tried to jack me, I held out, didn’t renew, and eventually got my seats back for the old B level price. Actually, it was for the new B level price, which had already gone way up; but at least I didn’t get changed to A. But now, if football becomes exciting, will I really be willing to throw in the towel? I guess I’d rather be faced with that question instead of whether to attend the last game of the season, or try to sell my tickets on stubhub for seventy-five cents each. Go Orange.

Cold October

It’s already getting pretty cold in upstate New York. Take Saturday, for instance. We went to the Dome to see SU’s surprising football team take on the Pitt Panthers. The Orange came to this game with a 4-1 record, and a road win to open their conference schedule. Now I know that they had been beating the likes of Maine and Colgate, but four wins was the most we ever saw during the entire John Robinson era. Plus, Pitt came to town with a 2-3 record, so 40,000 Orange fans, including all the alums who came back for homecoming, were optimistic about the team’s chances.

Forget about it. It might have been sunny outside, but it was cold in the Dome. Pitt’s lines, both of them, pushed the Orange around all day. Carter and Bailey, who had been averaging over five yards a carry, were ineffective. After the team fell behind in the second quarter, the passing game came alive, but Nassib was picked off twice, one of those returned for a Pittsburgh TD. And the pass defense looked particularly inept. Pitt’s receivers were open all day, and twice turned short passes into long gains; one going for an 80 yard TD on the first play from scrimmage.

We left when it was 35-14, and by the time the bus had arrived at Skytop, the Orange had surrendered 45 points. Big East teams have struggled against all other BCS conferences this year; the conference has the stature of a mid-major as far as football goes. I recall back in the late 80s and early 90s, Cuse was playing the likes of Ohio State, and Florida, and Texas. We saw SU totally dominate Florida; Kirby DarDar ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and they ran up over 30 points in the first half. But can you imagine the Orange taking on one of those teams today? Worse, I’m afraid that as weak as the Big East is this year, we’re still going to struggle to find conference victories.

One thing that’s not cold is the pitching in this year’s post-season. Halliday, Oswalt, and Cliff Lee. Hot, Hot, Hot. I expected Lincecum to be hot, but Matt Cain? Who is Matt Cain anyway, aside from the guy who shut out the Phillies earlier today, giving the Giants a lead in the NLCS? Every championship team has an ace, or someone who steps up and helps bring home a World Series title. But I don’t recall any recent year with so many aces throwing so many blanks in one post-season.

I expect it will stay cold through the rest of October, and even in early November, but I’m hoping things start to heat up thereafter, mostly in the Dome. High expectations for this year’s hoops season. I’m hearing encouraging reports about Fab Memo, about Triche’s jump shot, about a big front line, even about James Southerland. It’s a little bit like when we heard two years ago about how Wes Johnson was eating everyone up in practice. Let’s hope the rumors are true. If so, maybe it will be a warm winter after this disappointing cold fall.