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Friday, October 10, 2008

You Knew This Was Coming....

You knew this was coming from a mile away....or should I say a Manny Ramirez tapeshot homerun away?

Shaughnessy treats us to one of his many walks down memory lane. This time, we visit Tampa St Petersburg, a place where Shank says the sports tradition is mighty thin. He contrasts this to the tradition rich histories of New York, Cleveland, and Chicago. Come on Shank, as if Cleveland and Chicago would offer a more compelling match-up because of their richer histories? The Ray's history may be short but given that, the animosity that has developed between them and the Red Sox is pretty rich. I'd take this series in terms of interest than pretty much any other series save perhaps the Yankees.

Shank manages to dig up reference to every exhibition game he possibly can in which a Boston team was involved that was played in this area. He also makes the relevation that the Super Bowl will be played here in 4 months and wouldn't it be nifty if the Red Sox win this Series and the Patriots win the Super Bowl? Didn't Shaughnessy write the Patriots off three weeks ago?

Shank can never resist the jabs even if he has to strain to do it...let's follow this sequence...Scott Williamson claims to have seen a ghost at a Tampa hotel...Scott Williamson was in the bullpen when Grady Little stuck with Pedro Martinez on a fateful night in 2003 so lets therefore bring up a Grady Little/2003 Game 7 reference. It's a natural fit for this column. (Oh by the way, Williamson was pretty clutch for the Red Sox in a few playoff games)

Shaughnessy's whole premise is that Tampa has no sports history and that the Tropicana Dome is an abhorent pit and yet Shaughnessy throws out a little tidbit about the Ted Williams museum being located here and concludes "Pretty cool - for a place that came close to being named the Knuckledome." So is it cool Shank? Or is it a second rate sports city with a crappy stadium and no tradition?

Bottom line: Another meandering mess from Boston's finest columnist

15 comments:

dbvader said...

HEY DAN,

THERE IS A BASEBALL GAME ABOUT TO BE PLAYED. HOW ABOUT YOU TALK ABOUT IT, YOU LAZY KNOW NOTHING HACK?

This was a terrible piece. Dan loves these flipping through the history books columns. He just picks up enough random tidbits to fill out the space. Awful.

Anonymous said...

Hey monkeesfan ...

A few days ago you asked stated:

"So what's Shank going to say after the Sox nailed Game Four in the equivalent of a photo finish?"

My response:

What does it matter?

He is out searching for Tampa Bay baseball "history" so that he can craft some sort story on how they represent the Anti-Monolith.

His story will be full of laser “ray” insights."

OB - Get the point. Predictable as Death and Shankcrapping.

g

Anonymous said...

Shame on Dan. Clearly he should have written a sabermetrics-rich tome because we all know two hours of pre-game isn't nearly enough. We need match-ups and statistics and quotes about who hates whom.

He acts like it's a game or something. Screw that history stuff, we want stats, match-ups, and a complete discussion of how each and every batter hit against each and every pitcher. Facts, we need facts. No stories. No anecdotes. No color. We need it black and white. That Ted Williams reference really was the last straw. He says Tampa is a lousy sports town and then says something good about Tampa! That will never do. If he says something bad about a place and then notes something good about the same place it means he is a lazy hack.

Doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

OB:

He's a lazy hack because he's written what is essentially the same column a few dozen times previously.

Your pal,

Timmy

P.S.: Say, "sabermetrics-rich tome" again, it makes me hard.

dbvader said...

OB,

Your cult-like devotion is compelling yet still frustrating.

The history angle might have been interesting if it was done by someone who wanted to put in more effort than CHB.

But when by the fourth paragraph, the topic turns to hockey, you know nothing is being said.

The fact is that Tampa/St Pete has a rich baseball tradition and is one the great areas for developing players. And what is interesting is that the area is very diverse. You have players like Lou Piniella, Tino Martinez, Al Lopez, Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Wade Boggs.

Is there an exploration of this rich heritage? No. We are given Bruins, BC football, and Patriots references.

And as for that stat stuff you talk about. That would have been a whole lot more interesting and informative than the crap Shank spewed. But then again, it would have taken some effort and intelligence to do.

SHUT UP OB!!! I am sick and tired of your silly defenses of your boss/relative. The next intelligent argument you make will be the first.

JJ said...

It took him all of what, fourteen words before we get a gratuitous Babe Ruth reference (BRR)?

He even managed to sneak a BRR in the Zimmer story yesterday - which was otherwise a pretty decent column, I will give Shank that one.

Anonymous said...

Guess I'm in the minority here, but I thought this was an excellent and much needed column...

Anonymous said...

I thought it was another awful effort from the Shanker....one of his typical "mail it in" jobs.....alright, alright, I really didn't read it.....but if you've read one Shank column, you've read em' all

Dave M said...

OB

DBVader is exactly right.

Man, you are truly an idiot.

Where did I suggest that he had to write a statistical piece with quotes. There is nothing wrong with good color commentary. This was not good color commentary.

Shaughnessy lacks coherence. He could have taken a number of angles as DB suggests. For example, he could have written "Don't let appearances fool you Yes, the stadium stinks. Yes, they have only been around for 11 years. Yet, this is an area with a rich baseball heritage. Couple that with the bad blood that has developed between these two World Series hopefuls in the past couple of years and we don't need deep tradition. We have the makings of a classic as it is."

He could then proceeded to tell about the baseball heritage and the bad blood and that would make a fine column. Instead we get a rambling lazy incoherent mess that refers to tangential topics such as college football and exhibition hockey. It is lazy gibberish

dbvader said...

arwear kmkui Juan "I'm-a-right-wing-stooge" Williamsertwrfafds fsadfsgbergb

Anonymous said...

Timmy, I'm sure one of the chaps at the Ramrod will whisper whatever sweet nothings it takes to achieve the result you so clearly desire.

As for me, I'll rolling in the aisle of my stately mansion over how a handful of high schoolers somehow endow Tampa/St.Pete with a "rich baseball tradition." Perhaps you can explain how the "rich baseball tradition" means the team with the biggest turn-around in baseball history ranked 26th in total attendance in 2008, after faring better than only Montreal and Miami since the start of the decade.

"Rich baseball tradition." Tell it to the people in Williamsport or Omaha, because not only has no team from the west coast of FLA has ever played for a pennant, no team from this region has made the finals of the College World Series or won the Little League World Series, and you're not going to tell me about anybody who has amassed the credentials for a legitimate shot at the Hall of Fame who played a significant enough portion of his career at the Trop so it would be more than idle chatter that his plaque feature the Devil Rays cap.

Baseball heritage? Tampa Bay has no real pro sports heritage at all. Which was the columnist's point, noting that the bizarre eclipses the epic when looking at the recent history of Tampa Bay sports. Your venom-induced tirades clearly fail to recognize this, but then every time you open to something this guy writes, you're already convinced that you'll hate it, then when someone points out this bit of monumental stupidity and childishness, he's accused of being a relative or co-worker.

Dave M said...

Bruce

Do your own homework about the baseball tradition in Tampa/St Petersburg. I won't do it for you. You continue to demonstrate that you are nothing more than a tool for Shaughnessy. It really is pathetic

This column by "the columnist" was a rambling incoherent mess.

Monkeesfan said...

anonymous #2 - you nailed it.

Shank needs to grow the heck up. Tropicana Field is truly hideous? It's better than Fenway. And while you're ripping Tampa for not having any sports tradition and snidely remembering a cancelled pre-season game there in 1991, Dan, try and get a gander at the Lighting's 2004 Stanley Cup trophy and the Bucs' Super Bowl XXXVII trophy - and check out the Storm's five Arenbowl trophies for good measure, Shank.

Yep, another meandering mess by Shank.

Anonymous said...

OB:

When you say "chaps," I'm assuming you mean
ass-less, leather ones?

Your pal,

Timmy

Monkeesfan said...

OB, "Tampa has no sports heritage." You obviously missed the Bucs' Superbowl trophy and the Lightning's Stanley Cup, also. Grow the hell up, both you and Shank.