As ’07 comes to a close, time to take a look back. The first-ever Clipboard awards begin with a tribute to the readers. With soooooo many great comments, it was difficult to pick just one. These comments were chosen for one of the following: entertainment value, humor, and/or poignancy, etc. Take your time and please vote for the best comment of the year.
Choice A: Reynell’s commentary on ‘Lessons Learned From the ’07 MLB Post-Season’:
Satisfaction will be the death of desire for Red Sox Nation. They will sign A-Rod this summer for $300+ million, win 10 more championships in the next 25 years, and build a $3 billion stadium. All that will be left standing on Yawkey Way will be an obscure part of what was once Fenway Park with a sign that reads: “Inside this wall existed a fraternity built from 86 years of torment. The existence of this brotherhood transcended championships and pennants. But inside these same walls integrity, loyalty, and human compassion prevailed.” And several blocks away in a retractable dome, probably named “Sam Adams Stadium,” a fan will finally reach the front of the concession stand in the 6th inning and order a garden salad with oil and vinegar and a grande orange mocha frappaccino. He’ll return to his seat in the box and turn on his personal massage setting and ask the gentleman seated next to him in a 1986 replica Bill Buckner jersey, “So how many outs until they switch sides?”
Choice B: JD’s response to ‘BGP’:
Anybody seen a bloody white sock that Schill can use. Oh yea, that was just some big lie, but hey whatever gets you through the night.
I must admit Manny is growing on me. At first glance he acts like an idiot and you worry about his committment to “Team”, but he mashes, plays hard and is not affected by pressure. Many players would gave crumbled after getting criticized like he did the other day. Many players but not Manram; he goes out and takes extra BP, plays just as hard and contributes to his teams win. Another point – by being the focal point of the team he takes pressure off of the other players. The media wants to hear from Manny and watches what he does which allows the others to just play. Finally I respect his honesty. Let me let you in on a little secret, Manny’s right, if the Sox don’t win the World Series it is not the end of the world and the sun will come up tomorrow.
Choice C: In response to ‘Columbus Day Musings-the Sequel’ Muels wrote this gem:
Any true Red Saux fan stays clear of predictions. That said, watching the Tribe win with their clutch hitting reminds me of the Red Saux back in the early part of the season when everything was going right for them. Championships are not won in April and May (though without it we don’t win the AL East) but now the Saux are finding Manny being Manny with the bat for the first time all season, and Big Papi continuing to ignore the pain that he has struggled with all year (somebody needs to explain how he managed to hit for his best average ever)…
I can’t believe that with the Red Saux in the playoffs, and the Patriots readying for the Cowboys, I am actually looking forward to the first week of the NBA season, when I can get the sneak preview of the NBA DirecTV package and watch my Celtics! What is going on with me??
Tim McCarver is the athlete-turned-commentator who has run out of interesting experiences and now talks simply to feed carbon dioxide to the trees of our world- I would say that he is trying to keep Fox “carbon neutral”, but he is too much of a negative to get a neutral rating in anything…
Am I way off base in thinking that the best thing for the Yankees would be to give their young talent a year to take their knocks, then mix their new homegrown base with a new mix of veteren free agents for long-term success? Not chasing after A-Rod would free up $30+ million/year to bring in quality character players for a cohesive clubhouse…
Do I want the Red Saux to chase after a free agent A-Rod? NO FREAKIN’ WAY!!!!!!!! Please give Mike Lowell a sweet 2-3 year deal and lock up their kids (Paps, Pedroia, Ellsbury and Clay). Pay Schill for one more year and pray that JD Drew can earn some of his money for the next 4 years. Keep Coco in center and Ellsbury as the 4th outfielder until Manny walks away from Boston (who knows when that will happen)…
Muels
Choice D: When considering ‘Wisdom From Woody Harrelson and Other Questions,’ Scooter wrote this:
Coming straight from a Yankee fan…DON’T feel sorry for Cashman, he screwed up when he signed A-Rod. Yes he is having a great year, he’s been clutch so far (awesome HR on sunday by the way) and might be in the top 10 players of all time when his career ends but offense doesn’t win championships, pitching does!! Without A-Rod the yankees could produce enough runs to win if their pitching could at least keep it close. Instead of wasting 250 mil on A-Rod they should have signed a defensive 3rd baseman for a third of the price and gone after two or three young pitchers. Another move that infuriates me is Cash goes after Pavano 20+ mill a year and he has pitched less games in two years than I can count on my right hand alone. Is Cash unlucky or is this ultimately George’s fault. If there wasn’t so much pressure to win RIGHT NOW then maybe Cash could take some chances and the future might look young and vibrant. Do you think the Yankees include walkers and canes in their players’ contracts?
Choice E: In his response to ‘Round and Round It Goes,’ Wally jotted this:
Note to Boston fans: As I warned Sabres fans in November after their torrid start, none of this will matter if you don’t go to the World Series. Actually, for you I should probably say “win” the WS. (If it were the Cubs, I’d stop at “go to the WS”. Hey, ANYONE can have a bad century!). The baseball season is only 1/4 done and the Bosox haven’t faced much adversity yet … are there key injuries lurking, etc? Still a bit early to write off the Yankmees, but I am enjoying their current state of misery and double digit deficit. I hope Clemens throws his shoulder out of its socket on his first ‘07 big league pitch coming up. Anyway, don’t gloat … don’t even talk about it. Watch the games and stick to business. Don’t disrupt the karma by talking chan’ship … good things’ll happen if you keep your head down and stick to the job at hand. Take it one game at a time and stick in other cliches here _____________________________.
Q: Are we already sure that the Detroit Tigers aren’t the real team to beat in the AL? Boy, they’ve got all the weapons and they’re pissed from throwing the WS away last season. And Shef has somethin’ to prove. Look out!
Now, on to the Celtics. Don’t think for a minute that the #1 or #2 lottery pick is a slam dunk to future chan’ships. First of all, ya gotta get competitive first … try getting a promotion from laughingstock to mediocre as a baby step. Second, make sure you pick the “right player” in the draft. Is it Durrant? Remember, back in the early ’80s, Portland picked Sam Bowie at #2 instead of MJ, who went to the Bulls at #3. Oops! Ouch! Ever since, Portland’s been known simply as the Trailers. Anyway, Oden is da man … that’s the guy you want.
Is Detroit really “Hockey Town”? I mean, isn’t that a bit more glib than Green Bay dubbing itself “Titletown”?? When you think of hockey, do you automatically say “Red Wings”? Well … we know two things for sure: a) Detroit has an image problem if they need perceived hockey success to boost it, and b) for sure they’re not “Football Town”, right Mr. Millen???
Out.
Wally
Choice F: To ‘A Love Affair With Sports,’ Monty Jr. Wrote:
It should come as no surprise that the inaugural moment in my sports love affair involves Notre Dame football.
It was definitely my father that taught me that it was perfectly natural to have a love affair with sports. For starters, we couldn’t answer the phone during a Notre Dame football game, due to a past incident between my father and my grandfather that, believe it or not, directly cost Notre Dame a victory. So, the rule was set; nobody answered the phone, or made a call, during a Notre Dame football game. (That rule is still strictly adhered to today in our family.)
But, my favorite memory of my father and Notre Dame football also happens to be the defining moment in my sports love affair.
New Year’s Day. 1991. The Orange Bowl. Notre Dame vs. Colorado.
I’ll forever carry the memory of my dad jumping off the couch, and with nothing else to do to express his excitement, he flopped down on the living room floor and began pounding his fists and kicking his feet, as he cheered on The Rocket, returning a punt for a touchdown with one minute left in the game to give the Irish a victory in the Orange Bowl.
The fists of pounding excitement quickly turned to fists of pounding rage. The return was called back, for what Irish faithful refer to as “the phantom clipping” call. Watch for yourself, do you see the clipping anywhere?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=sqC_Br3cDJg
Watch it again. It never happened.
But it was that night, after the game, that I remember first feeling the pull of sports and the obsession and the love. I guess it takes a broken heart to know you’re in love. I couldn’t sleep that night. I laid in bed, one month shy of 10 years old, just trying my hardest to fall asleep. And all i could think was that when i woke up in the morning, i would go downstairs and the newspaper would have a headline reading “Clipping Call Reviewed: Irish Win”. I just wanted to wake up and hear that the call had been reversed and that the Irish had won. I think it was that thought that helped me fall asleep that night, because i knew the sooner i fell asleep, the sooner i could wake up and maybe, just maybe, i wouldn’t have to deal with the heartache of the Irish loss.
And finally Choice G: From Aaron in response to ‘Thumbs Down For Willis McGahee’:
Recent telephone conversation between Willis McGahee and Stewart Scott..
Scott: ” Its my main main up in the North Artic.. Willis “Booya” McGahee.. Tell me Willy..What the snow like up there.. Is it like running through defensive linemen in the NFL ?”
McGahee : “Yo man, it is butt cold up here.. Straight up man, my porsche won’t even start, it is so cold.. ”
Scott: ” Well there is some controversy surrounding recent comments you made about about moving the team from Buffalo to Toronto.. Let’s set the record straight.. Talk to me, baby.. Preach to the choir.. Booyah!! ”
McGahee: “Straight up dawg. I am not here to talk about the past.. But I was mis-understood. What I said is that Toronto is a better city, what I mean is that it had better lo mein. And when I said that the team should move, I was talking about the fact that games get blacked out because Buffalo can’t fill an entire stadium of 80,000 people.. I am just looking out for the poor people of Western, NY who can’t afford to go to a game.”
Scott: “Righteous, righteous.. But you know that the same people will still be blacked out. Plus it is colder up there..”
McGahee: ” For real? Colder?”
Scott: “Mmmm hhhmm..
McGahee: “man, this area sucks.. nothing to do.. cold.. get me out of here..”
Scott:” Woah, wait.. you don’t mean that right?
McGahee: ” I changed my mind.. I am out here. This place sucks. I am out of here. Can’t we move to Miami or something.. ”
Scott: ” But my boy.. Wait.. come back…….”
Almost forgot Choice H comes from Chris Wuest in response to ‘Relegation Anyone’:
Ahhhhh….I don’t know Pauly. Its an alright suggestion but I’m not sold on it. It doesn’t make me want to pop my collar and break out into a sweet disco dance like I do when I’m at da club makin the ladies sweat over me cause I’m slidin’ across the dance floor like Bengals slidin’ into the court room.
Two things.
1) This idea takes away any potential for a “surprise” team. For instance the Tigers went from pretty damn bad to pretty damn good, which made it very exciting to see them play.
2) Baseball is already repetative enough with 162 games and you are suggesting that only 16 teams continue to play out 162 games against EACHOTHER??? eeeewwww I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
P.S. Paul – don’t ever mention soccer in one of your articles again.
He’s not Ludacris…he’s WUDACRIS
Reynell says
Choice D: Scooter
Muels says
Choice A- Reynell -glad we didn’t sign A-Rod, but just the thought of a stadium named Sam Adams Stadium makes me think cool, refreshing thoughts… new meaning to Oktoberfest…
The Thrilla says
What know Thrilla comments I must not have been around long enough,
I’ll go with choice H
Peace Sukkas
Casey says
Ah Thrilla,
Don’t take it personal. Great comments – I got a yuk yuk with the ‘sweet rocking chair’ comment. Keep ’em comin’.
Casey
Aaron Smith says
Gotta go with Reynell and Choice A
I gotta laugh everytime I read Sam Adams Stadium..