Thursday, February 09, 2006

WBC - The Stupidest Thing......Ever

I first heard rumblings about something like this in a Peter Gammons column about six or seven years ago.
Gammons (of whom I am a huge fan) was yammering on about how the World Series isn't a "true" World Series - more like a North American Series.
Apparently he thought that since the teams reside only in the US and Canada, the players are all either American or Canadian, too.
Then Bud Selig started talking about.
And now this month we're gonna have it.
And I hate it.
Hate it, hate it, hate it.
No one in America gives a flying fuck about this stupid baseball tournament.
In Venezuela, the Dominican, Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc., it'll probly be bigger than the second coming of Jesus Christ.
I just think the Major League Baseball regular season is good enough, and I don't want it, or the health of my favorite players, jeopardized by a meaningless tournament.
Plus, I think it's just promoting segregation.
Why do we have to keep labeling the players we root for as Venezuelan, Dominican or Puerto Rican? I don't care where they're from. Why are we always trying to seperate them?
I remember last year at the Home Run derby they had all the players play for their country, and when you watched the derby you just had all the American guys on one side, keeping to themselves, and all the Latin guys on the other, speaking Spanish and doing the same. It made for an uncomfortable scene.
Plus the rules on this thing have been stretched to absurdity, as anyone who's last name ends in a vowel - Piazza, Delucci, etc., are playing for Italy, Mark Mulder is on the roster for the Netherlands, etc., even though none of these guys have ever set foot in Europe.
Hey, how about a "Skin-tone classic"?
Just think, Torii Hunter and the Bruthas vs Justin Morneau and the Crackas!
Oooh, the drama!
Or a World Faith Classic, where Shawn Green leads the Jews against Roberto Alomar and the Catholics!
This is stupid, and the only Americans who will care are the same sunshine sports fans who watch the Olympics and the media drones who are forced to cover the damn thing.
The good news is it already has the makings of a failure, as big name players are taking their names off the list in droves (Joe Mauer just withdrew - thank God) and tickets are selling like Herpes brand lip-stick.
The World Series is a World Series because Major League Baseball clubs are made up of the best players in the World. Otherwise, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Ichiro Suzuki, Vladimir Guerrero, David Ortiz, etc. would be playing in the leagues of their respective countries instead of coming here.
You know what I hope happens?
I hope Alex Rodrigues tears his ACL in the first game, and George Steinbrenner sues Bud Selig's ass off.
Then maybe this ridiculous ploy to cheat poverty-stricken Latin fans out of money they don't have, will come to an end.
* Matthew LeCroy signed a one-year deal with Washington.
I'm happy for him. Glad he didn't have to go play in Japan or something.
The guy's slow and a liability with the glove, but he can mash lefties.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How could the health of your favorite players be jeopardized by a meaningless tournament. Aren't you a twins fan. Do they have anybody on any of the teams?

SDTwin said...

Yeah - Santana, Silva, Crain, Morneau, Rincon, Liriano, Castillo, Nathan to name a few...they might have more players than any team.

Anonymous said...

They all suck!! I meant did they have any good players on any of the teams!! Sucka

Anonymous said...

Zim,
I enjoy reading your blog especially when I need a laugh every now and then. Couldn't agree with you more about this bullshit! Who are the Vikes going after in this free agency? Rustyb in sincity!

SDTwin said...

Rusty!!!
Any good prostitutes down there?
Vikes are gonna sign some linebacker named Bagdasarov or something.
Stay in school and shit.
Z