RUNNING BLOG TONIGHT…best to start at the bottom!
11:08 — I give up. I hate the Colts. A disgusting night all the way around. Indy is up 34-10. There would be nothing worse than losing to them again. Too much to bear or even consider at this hour…I’m going to bed!
10:37 — Geez. I go away, come back and it’s Indy, 17-10. And what’s worse? Second play, BOOM, touchdown Colts. It’s 24-10. Sleep is suddenly an option worth considering. I ended LAST year watching the Colts win. I sure as hell don’t want to begin a weekend full of Red Sox fans and a trip to Cincinnati with a Colts victory. It’s been a bad night.
10:29 — How is it possible that we can PREDICT these meltdowns and they actually HAPPEN? It’s just freaky — unreal, really — how they continue to lose games in such a painful fashion. This has been the most painful team in Oriole history. It’s just sad! A Baltimore stadium full of Red Sox fans streaming into the streets downtown right now, all happy, celebrating a 9th-inning rally that felt routine in its precision and nonchalance. And Hunter and Dempsey look constipated right now. Poor bastards! I feel sorry for them, I really do. Night after night, I just wonder how they do it!
Free The Birds…
10:21 — Not much to discuss in the 9th. Millar whiffed to end it. Geez, I gotta think Jim Hunter has the worst job on EARTH. What the hell is Dempsey gonna say about this? Just dreadful.
Back to hating on the Colts…
10:11 — No need to tell you how it went. Jason Varitek — and one day we can only hope Matt Wieters turns out to be a star — knocked in Coco Crisp. Red Sox are up, 7-6 and the 20,000-ish crowd erupted with delight. It’s like Fenway Park tonight.
Can the O’s score on Papelbon. Odds are, no. But geez, at SOME point you wanna believe there’s some "Oriole Magic" somewhere?
10:00 — Perfect timing! Red Sox batting in the ninth, halftime in Indy!
Coco Crisp just beat out an infield hit to lead off the ninth. The sharks circle…
9:45 — Colts don’t look so hot tonight. And this makes me happy, seeing Peyton Manning struggle. The Colts bring out the best and worst in me. The passion and the dark side, that "inner core" of disdain that I can’t let go of no matter how hard I try. Even though Jimmy Irsay was a pretty good guy after all.
BTW: I REALLY, REALLY like the "symbolisim" of the BS on the sleeves on these Black Sox jerseys tonight. It’s 6-6 in the 8th, there are two on…and well, you know what I’m thinking is coming next. Chad Bradford on the hill. Some kid names "Ellsbury??" at the dish. Yikes!
I hear the chants…Let’s Go Red Sox…Let’s go Red Sox…
Ellsbury just got a hit. The bases are loaded. There is one out. J.D. Drew up..
My wife just proclaimed: "The football game can wait!"
Drew just hit into a double play. Chad Bradford looks like he was worth that contract at least for one night. He WAS an Oakland Athletic, so you know he’s got some "fight" in him…
9:26 — If I hear that John Mellencamp song ("This is our country") one more time tonight, I’m gonna vomit. I LOVE Mellencamp — I’ve flown to 8 different states to see his concerts, I’m a HUGE fan — but geez that song just stinks!
8:54 — I wasn’t gonna blog tonight, but I just HAD to. Even though the Orioles have essentially chased me off of the radio with their shenanigans, man when sports is done RIGHT…I just LOVE this stuff. And any of my friends will tell you that I honestly don’t say that very much lately.
BUT…tonight, well, it’s just a beautiful thing.
The game started 20 minutes ago and so far I’ve had a running dialogue with myself while watching the game.
A few random notes:
God, John Madden just totally sucks. It’s painful!
Al Michaels says the word BALL in such a weird way to my ears. He calls it the "buuuooo-aaaaaaallllll" Like us, we’re from "Buuuuuuoooo—aaaaaalllltomore!" And he says the word "ball" at least 300 times a game.
I "missed" the raising of the flag, probably not a bad idea!
I STILL HATE THE COLTS. I don’t WANT to hate them anymore, but I really, really, REALLY just DO! I might have to go to the Phoenix Recovery Center for this addiction to hating the Colts.
Oh…almost forgot to mention: spent the evening last night at Ravens Stadium for the official "ribbon cutting" for the Geppi Entertainment Museum Club Level.
In a word: SPECTACULAR!
Steve Bisciotti and Steve Geppi spared NO expense or left any detail unturned in turning that rather "drab" club level into something EVERYONE in this city should see. Memories, momentos, incredible photos — it’s all IN THERE!
Along with Sports Legends Museum, these are really sweet, cool things that more Baltimoreans should be checking out. I have a wnsTV "special" coming on these places, along with the Geppi Museum.
I finally made it over there for a grand tour and we videoed it all. WOW — we have some cool stuff here!
Anyway, I told Steve Bisciotti that we shouldn’t worry about Canton anymore.
As I walked through the corridors last night, I thought: WHO NEEDS Canton to give Baltimore and the Colts heritage here respect. Honestly, EVERYTHING worthwhile is ALREADY HERE!
All of the memories and living souvenirs — tickets, gear, programs, stories — it all lives inside of all of us. And it’s grown up from its infant blue and turned a vivid shade of purple in its adulthood. At least that’s the way I feel.
And as I walked the room and spent time with Art Donovan (man, he’s just the BEST dude!), Lenny Moore, Bruce Laird, Stan White and others, I thought: we have EVERYTHING here — museums to visit the memories, a Trophy from Super Bowl V, all the memories and we EVEN have the PLAYERS!!
Two nights ago I got a real thrill. I went to the Sports Legends Museum for their Ravens store opening there — I went to shoot some wnsTV — I bumped into Lydell Mitchell.
Two nights ago, I also went to dinner with Rob Long, Bob Haynie and Drew Forrester and we all shared our favorite baseball players as kids.
Drew: Don Money
Rob: Eddie Murray
Bob: Paul Blair
Well, Lydell Mitchell was one of those guys for me. You couldn’t love the 1975-77 Colts without having a little "Hey Diddle Diddle" in ya, right?
So, I got to meet Lydell and interview him for wnsTV. I’ll get it up on the site over the weekend. But it was truly a thrill for me to meet Lydell and chat with him. I kidded Bruce Laird that I wasn’t impressed by him anymore because I see him too much. Ditto, Stan White, who gave me my first football thrill when he sacked Joe Namath (or as he says, "I fell on him!")
ANYWAY…after seeing all of the Colts stuff last night…and seeing them raise that F—ing banner tonight…well, I just thought I’d vomit up my thoughts tonight.
I think the old Colts are pretty cool. I think the current Colts suck. And I think I hope the Saints get back in this game, because I still hate the Colts and probably will until the day that I day!
