A Boston Edition of the Hostile Hochuli Editorial
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From: http://afraidofedhochuli.blogspot.com/
The city of Boston is a lucky place. They have an entire group of teams that can win at any moment. I think every city wishes they could have that. But I have a couple of issues I need to get off of my chest. And I will, so strap in.
Red Sox
The Red Sox won their second World Series title in four years. That is pretty amazing, and I don't want to take anything away from it, but the team is being billed as the greatest of all time. It isn’t even the greatest Red Sox team of all time. I mean, come on, this is a great team and they are powerful, but it is NOT the best.
Baseball Almanac's formula gives different values to the importance of the games, amount of games, winning percentage, average runs – ERA, % of runs scored, postseason win % and if they won the World Series. Based on that info they ranked teams between 1902 and 2005. These are the rankings they came up with:
Rank
Team
1 1927 Yankees
2 1939 Yankees
3 1907 Cubs
4 1932 Yankees
5 1902 Pirates
6 1910 Athletics
7 1905 Giants
8 1998 Yankees
9 1906 Cubs
10 1929 Athletics
I would argue that the 2004 Red Sox team was better then the one that just closed out the Rockies and they are not in the Top 10. Now, you could argue with me that they are younger and more stocked, but that doesn’t mean better.
2004 Red Sox:
98-64, Finished 2nd in AL Eastern Division Scored 949 runs, Allowed 768 runs .282 BA, 222 HR, and a .472 SLG% 4.18 ERA, 159 HR allowed and 1132 Strike Outs
2007 Red Sox:
96-66, 1st place in AL Eastern Division Scored 867 runs, Allowed 657 runs .279 BA, 166 HR, and a .444 SLG% 3.87 ERA, 151 HR allowed and 1149 Strike Outs
So the pitching staff was a bit better, but the Offense was worse.
Do we feel that they could have beaten the Cubs or the Diamondbacks? Maybe (we shouldn’t say yes or no, since speculation will get us nowhere), but they got lucky with the Rockies. Why? This team was made up of kids. The average age of this team is 27.9. The Red Sox? 30.6. That may not seem like a huge difference, but when you have that many “veterans” on a team there is a certain relaxed feel. With “kids” it is almost a nervous energy that can back fire.
Maybe there is a curse in Denver. I mean, that’s what it is called when a team that should win loses, right?
On to the New England Patriots
I stated shortly after the “Video-gate” scandal that Bill Belichick is a cheater, but now I think that he is just a jackass. Why?
The Patriots are good. We all know that they are good. But do you need to keep throwing the ball when you are up 38 to nothing? I will steal from John Clayton, because he put it down nicely:
“That's why, on Sunday, he … • … kept Brady on the field for an 88-yard drive six minutes into the fourth quarter despite already leading 38-0. On that 14-play drive, the Patriots went for a fourth-and-1 at the Redskins' 7 and ordered a 35-yard bomb to Randy Moss.
• … went for a fourth-and-2 at the Redskins' 37 on the next possession while leading 45-0. Backup QB Matt Cassel hit Jabar Gaffney with a 21-yard pass. Two plays later, Cassel scrambled for a 15-yard touchdown run to open up a 52-0 lead.
Asked why he would go for two fourth downs in a blowout, Belichick responded, ‘What do you want us to do, kick a field goal?’
Pressed further, he said, ‘It's 38-0. It's fourth down. We're just out there playing.”
Well, actually Bill, yes I would like you to go for a Field Goal. Is there a reason to continue throwing down field when you are up by that much?
Redskins linebacker Randall Godfrey said what we are all thinking: "I said something to [Belichick] after the game, I told him, 'You need to show some respect for the game.' You just don't do that. I don't care how bad it is. You're up 35 points and you're still throwing deep? That's no respect."
I agree. Respect the game Belichick. I don’t care if you can put up 150 on a pathetic team. Everyone knows the Pats are the best and that they can score at will, but you aren’t trying to get into the AP Top 25 here, you are trying to win. All that matters is the W and the L after the game, so why embarrass a team? Bill Walsh would be calling you today and telling you that you have lost any class that you had left.
I hope to god that Tony Dungy runs up the score on you. I hope the final score is 60-3 so you can see that it is disrespectful to the team, the coaches and the fan base.
Just goes to show that class doesn’t come with the championships.
