Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Wating to Catch Hell

  • I'm keeping this short. Sitting in my DVR, just waiting for a midnight viewing, "Catching Hell". It's the Bartman story. Even though ESPN didn't score the elusive interview with Steve Bartman himself, I'm eager to watch a documentary on the most ridiculous fan overreaction and misplaced scapegoating in modern sports history.
This guy needs a hug.
  • Rookie Jeremy Hellickson has the poise of a veteran. The Des Moines Hoover alum again pitched clutch when the Rays needed it most. He even got the Yankees' Russell Martin to hit into a triple play that kept Tampa Bay in a game it had to win. The Rays did win. So did the Red Sox. The wild card comes down to game 162. Game deal with the Braves and Cardinals. Maybe baseball can steal headlines from football for one day.
  • Ozzie Guillen is a good kind of crazy.
  • The Hawkeyes should go to their hurry-up offense frequently this season. It's more effective, and it would give other teams an additional worry.
  • Mack Brown can't believe a couple of the plays Steele Jantz made against Iowa. I still can't believe it either. I also can't believe how bad he's been in the first quarter. Better not try that against Texas.
  • I liked the movie "Moneyball" a lot. Brad Pitt carries the movie with his charisma, and he and Jonah Hill deliver Aaron Sorkin's sharp dialogue as intended. It's a little too long, but a thumbs up and a B+ for me.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I STILL can't believe the hatred some 'Cubs fans' have for Steve Barman (quotations are because Bartman didn't lose that game 6; the Cubs did. Then they lost Game 7).

As has been said many times (probably on that documentary, too - I haven't seen it yet) - MULTIPLE people were reaching for that foul ball and anyone who watched Moises Alou knows he wouldn't have caught it...he's not as bad as Soriano in left field (who is?) but he wasn't exactly known for his defensive prowess.

Dave said...

I watched the show and found it pretty good. I'm not a baseball fan but I do like a good sports documentary. Bartman gets the blunt of this because he was the only one who touched the ball, yes about everyone else around him was reaching but he touched it. Could Alou catch the ball? Mute point since he never got the chance, I think he might have had a better than average chance on that play.

But does Bartman deserve the scapegoat status he has acheived? I don't think so, I would say that Gonzalez who booted the ball to allow the bases to be loaded in that inning was a bigger play lost. He had a sure double play but muffed the play. He was the Bill Buckner of that series.

Bartman maintains this scapegoat status because sports fans and sports media hang on these things. One play doesn't define a franchise, but because the media shows a play over and over to us, the fans, we hang on to those plays. Boston had Buckner...Chicago has Steve Bartman.

Anonymous said...

Gee Dave, thanks for the most simplistic and obvious comments ever.

Next up, Dave extols his genius by saying OJ was guilty and Kirstie Alley is still fat.

AthleticQuest.net said...

I really enjoyed this great post and you are very talented and interesting. I really appreciate this excellent post.

DerailleurConsulting.com said...

I loved your blog and website.Everything is perfect.Thanks for sharing.