World Series

Are the Red Sox are baseball's loveable Goliath? This writers say, "When you’re a loveable loser and always the underdog, people cheer for you to finally taste victory. But when you win all the time — and spend a lot of money to do it — people start to get first bored and then resentful." This is certainly what happened with Duke: one day everyone felt bad for us losing to UNLV and then practically overnight people started rooting against us and throwing bottles at players' families! (Well, what do you expect from those Terps fans?!) Is it just a matter of time before the world turns on the Red Sox? We already hear that our (lack of) salary cap makes us just as bad as the Yankees, and the argument that we're good and they're evil simply doesn't sound convincing.

In this World Series, the Rockies are not only the underdogs, they are practically invisible as they stroll about town. But that doesn't mean they will be a pushover...

The Duke schedule is released!

Even I don't start worrying about basketball until the baseball season is over, but there is always a frisson of interest when Duke releases its schedule and I examine it carefully to figure out when I will be able to see my team play in person. Unfortunately, this year, the closest the team will get is New York (a neutral site game against Pitt on a weeknight) and at Temple (on another weeknight in January), and I will have less flexibility this year in terms of taking an afternoon off to get to my seat by tipoff. Admittedly, one often sees better on TV but of course it is not the same! However, until the new freshmen make their mark, there is no one incredibly exciting on this team (and hasn't been since JJ graduated), and while Gerald Henderson and DeMarcus Nelson show signs of brilliance they have not been able to sustain it for an entire game. I guess I will stick to the Red Sox for the time being although their August slump is worrying everyone in the Nation... although Red Sox fans on the road, seem to be having fun, so long as you don't ask Terry Francona!