Tuesday Curveball
by Texy
2008 February 12 at 9:11 am
Every Tuesday, I’ll post a discussion topic or question for everyone to think about and then discuss in the comments section. Tuesday is always one of the most difficult days of the week to get through – you don’t have the afterglow of the previous weekend’s fun any more, and yet you’re still days away from the next weekend. This should give us something fun to do to pass the time.
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Tuesday Curveball – Week Four Since Lenten season is now upon us, it’s time to give up some bad habits. What bad habit or behavior will you try to give up for this baseball season? Doesn’t matter if you’re Catholic or Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or atheist — I know most of us have at least one or two bad behaviors we exhibit at the ballpark, or bad habits we follow when watching baseball games. This is your chance to try and fix one of those- what are you giving up for Baseballent? (see what I did there!) |
As always, you don’t have to be a fan of the Red Sox to get in on the discussion. All baseball fans- even Yankee fans- are welcome.
I have an inordinate amount of hate for the wave – I think it’s stupid and pointless and has no place in real baseball parks. People pay more attention to the wave than to the actual game going on the field. One of the many reasons I adore Wrigley (along with no jumbotron, and only organ music) is that there is NEVER anyone trying to start a wave- just doesn’t happen. Ever. Wrigley is for baseball, not for stuff like that.
So I’m going to try to be a little less grumpy when (invariably) some crazy person starts the wave. It’s not gonna be easy! :)
I’m gonna try to not piss and moan as much over bad/questionable umpiring calls. However if it’s insanely bad or insanely consistently bad, I will speak up.
TG– I hate the wave too, and I finally figured out why. It’s because its about the fans entertaining themselves, instead of being about the game. It’s kind of narcissistic–look at us, look at us! type stuff.
Me, I am going to show better sportsmanship towards my New Yorker coworkers and friends. Trash talking will be kept to a minimum and in good humor.
I will not, however, be nicer to that girl who reliably has tickets to two rows behind my seats and emits high pitch screeches at the top of her lungs to for the whole game. Because that just drives me INSANE. It’s not cute, honey, and no, the players don’t notice you.
hmmm…you pose an excellent question.
Stop bad-mouthing A-Rod? naaaaahhhh…what fun would THAT be?
Stop complaining about other teams’ announcers when we have to watch their broadcases? hmmm…maybe not. OK, I can, maybe, dial it back a bit. Exception for the Yankees announcers, tho. Even my daughter calls them whiners.
On a serious note, I will be more sensitive to said daughter when she feels we’re paying more attention to Red Sox than her (that usually means, “Can I please watch ‘Hannah Montana’ on the BIG TV?”). We did remind her of Jacoby and that brought a smile to her face. heeheee…whatever it takes, eh?
At the park: Don’t swear as much. I don’t yell out “what the fuck was that ump?!?” or anything like that, but I do mutter stuff that has some “colorful” words in it far too frequently.
And I hate the wave too…there was no wave at game 6 or 7 of the ALCS and it was very nice. Probably because everyone there was much more focused on the game then starting the wave…which is how it should be every game.
I vow to quit forgetting to bring my coat to games. No matter how warm it is at 7PM, it isn’t going to be t-shirt weather by the time the game is over. Surely looking like a Rays fan is less of a crime than leaving a game early because my fingers are about to turn purple.
Oh and heads up: ProJo has the first batch of Spring Training Photos out!
I like the wave… but only, say, between innings. It’s dumb while the game is going on.
And I really need to stop blurting out random statistics during the game, whether at home or at the ballpark. Nobody cares what Wakefield’s WHIP is in the first three innings compared to 4-6, Liza.
And Piney–thank you SO MUCH for giving the heads-up! IT’S FINALLY (almost) SPRING TRAINING.
stop blurting out random statistics during the game
You say that like it’s a bad thing ;-)
It’s bad around my non-baseball-obsessed friends, though. Which it usually ends up being. >.>
My bad habit is kind of weird, but whenever my mom seems to walk into the room where I am watching baseball, the Sox mess things up, so I don’t let her near me when I am watching baseball. One time I made her stay in the basement so the sox would win, which they did. That is really mean, because my mom is a Sox fan, too. I also need to stoop throwing things at my t.v., because I almost broke it during game 2 of the ALCS.
embarrassing guys with my baseball knowledge
Umm…stop going to ticket agency websites while drunk?
I’m going to try and not complain when they put the games on Fox.
(I really hate it though. Just let me watch it on NESN!)
Ugh, no kidding. Having to sit through McCarver kills my soul one little piece at a time.
my sox tickets came today!
I swear, every time the games are on Fox, I want Don Orsillo and Remy to barge in and take over the Fox broadcast booth.
And awesome, Christa :D
What I really hate about McCarver and Buck is that they think that they have to dumb down their broadcasts so the casual fans watching the game will know what’s going on. Only one problem with that, Baseball doesn’t actually have that many casual fans.
I agree i usually hit the mute button when i have to watch a game on Fox, or goto a bar so the bar buzz drowns out the announcers.
As to the wave, if you notice, it always happens during dull boring parts of the game, once something actually happens, it usually stops. Of course, that doesnt mean i like it, but its something to do at a Phillies Mets game my G\f makes me goto!
Liza-I do pretty much the exact same thing at games! While I quite enjoy blurting out random facts, I’m sure that I’m boring the people around me to death! But that’s the only way I know how to watch baseball-totally engrossed in it!-so too bad for them ; )
OK, I don’t have bad baseball habits that I want to give up! So, aside from this denial, I will attempt to not talk baseball with people who could care less. This mostly applies to my co-workers and probably contributes to positive professional relations
I thought of something else I do that, while I enjoy, my family definitely does not. I Tivo almost every game just in case something interesting happens. If that’s not the case then I’ll usually get rid of it right away, but more often I’ll just leave it on there taking up precious recording space. I’m pretty sure there’s games on there from two seasons ago that I’m saving for a 120 degree summer day! (can’t really say “raining “here)
Then Rachel, I’m going to rely on you to alert me by email when something funny happens during games so I can make sure and snag video of it for the website. I also TiVo every single game, but still feel like I miss things.
Oh, I’m going to record every single minute of every single game this year (on my BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW, awesome, enormous, high-def TV) just in case there’s something I missed. Of course I got the TV in December…
On that note, actually, NESN’S spring training special coverage whatever starts at 6:30 tomorrow evening. That’s in only 31 hours! No longer are we counting in MONTHS or DAYS… just HOURS!
(I’m so excited. Eeeek.)
haha I sure will! But with the D-backs it’s usually something funny our commentators say. TG, being a Cubs fan I’m sure you remember Mark Grace…well him and Daron Sutton have got to be two of the funniest and energetic announcers around! Whenever I watch other team’s broadcasts I’m reminded of how lucky I am to get to listen to those guys every night! But yes if anything outrageous ever happens during a desert game I’ll be sure to let you know-as I’m sure you’ll do the same for the Sox games on here!
Love Mark Grace. LOVE. He may be crass sometimes, but he’s hilarious. I think he was one of my first baseball crushes- he was SO HOT back in the day.
And I’m jealous of the TV, Liza.
I can definitely see where he could have been fine back in the day. He’s such a big goofball now so of course everybody here loves him!
On Saturday we had Fan Fest here and I was lucky enough to get my softball glove signed by him…and he stole my Sharpie! O well he’s Mark Grace, I forgive him!
I’m extremely jealous of my own TV. It’s… huge. It’s actually kind of too big.
When we first got it, NESN was showing highlights of the Sox season and the first thing our TV ever turned onto was Dice-K, appearing to be standing, maybe 2 feet tall, RIGHT THERE in my house. It was awesome.
…I admit I can’t wait to see Jacoby’s face on the thing.
Rachel, do you play softball? I want to play baseball this spring but my school doesn’t allow girls on the baseball team. :P So I’m thinking of trying out for softball. I’m just looking for comparisons from people who watch baseball and play softball…
Liza, yes I’ve been playing softball for about 7 years now and this is actually our first week of practice for school ball. I too wish I could play baseball but I’m not sure many other girls would want to here or that we’d even be allowed. So yea if you have any questions just shoot! : )
wooops…computer issues there.
And man I couldn’t imagine anything better than a new big screen for baseball season! Jacoby and Josh blown up all big and cute!
Oh, awesome! I hope you don’t mind if I interrogate you a bit. ^_^
What position(s) do you play? How fast do pitches usually travel (at high school level, anyway)? How does scoring generally compare to baseball games (higher, lower, around the same)? Are the basic mechanics of hitting the same as in baseball?
I’m sure I’ll come up with more. Thanks, though!
Well I used to catch but apparently my high school is just full of catchers so I’ve been playing outfield for awhile now and I really love it. Pitchers are typically anywhere from 45 mph (love those!) to 60 mph at the JV and Varsity levels. Scores are usually higher simply because of the smaller field dimensions (60 ft instead of 90 ft between bases) so runs can be somewhat easier to manufacture. And aside from slappng (this crazy thing left handers try that’s like running to the front of the batters box as the pitch is delivered) hitting is basically the same.
Thanks :) I’ve never heard of slapping… sounds weird!
I have several baseball bad habits…
1. Not make the men in my life feel bad that I know more about baseball (and on a side note, football) then all of them put together.
2. I will not make fun of people as much when I really hate the team they love (looking at you Yankee fans).
3. Not yell at the t.v. when I have to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver when they are obviously biased towards one team.
4. Not have my t.v. on ESPN 98% of the time.
…Yeah like this is ever going to last when Spring Training gets into full swing.