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Ernez

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21 years of pain hopefully comes to an end tonight.

 

I'm biased, but I know that there are legions of people around the globe rooting for the Pirates tonight. Because they are currently ultimate underdogs who were once a legendary franchise. The Reds are also a legendary franchise. I mean hell if I recall, the Cincy Red Leggins were the first professional baseball team. The Bucs and the Reds have had many great games over the course of MORE THAN A CENTURY. While tonight may not be the Big Red Machine vs The Lumber Company (the Reds vs Bucs match up of the '70's), it is a meaningful game between two teams with a ton of tradition and historical value to baseball. (Fun fact, the Bucs and Reds played the only Triple Header of the past 100 years, it was to end the 1920 season)

 

But bar trivia aside, these are important teams, and it's important to recongize a sport's teams importance.. to it's own city, to the fans and to the sport itself. Both of these teams are important teams. But the Reds tend to be at least pretty decent every year, while the Pirates have struggled for 2 decades. So the Pirates need this win more tonight. They have the momentum, but since that first wildcard round is just one fatefull game, they almost need to win to cement this season as a success, even though just making it this far was a huge deal. Destiny better shine on the Pirates tonight, because there is no better story for the 2013 MLB season than the Buccos winning the Series. That would be magical both for Pittsburgh fans, and fans of baseball in general! It would be like Oakland A's Money Ball type of magic. Speaking of, the A's are another important franchise, though one that has fallen on hard times throughout it's years.

 

To give an example of an unimportant franchise, I'm going to cross sports here just to state one that is very obvious and hard to argue with. The Jacksonville Jaguars. This isn't meant to direct hatred toward them. I just feel that to illustrate what an important franchise is, it helps to also illustrate the opposite. The Jags mean literally nothing, perhaps less than nothing to the NFL in general or the State of Florida for that matter. Tampa has probably twice the fans that the Jags have and the Dolphins have probably 3 or 4 times the fanbase that the Buccaneers have. Plus about 4 college teams: Florida, Florida St., Miami, and Cenral Florida all have larger, more diehard fanbases than the NFL's 90's expansion team the Jaguars. Nobody is gonna shed a tear for them when they are playing in LA or London or Canada or wherever fate takes them in the next few years. Because win/lose/or draw they just are not important there at all. They probably have zero future hall of famers as well, MJD was good, but not that good afterall.

 

But it would be a grave travesty if a team like the Pitt Pirates or the Cincy Reds moved to another town, because of the great tradition they have bestowed upon those cities for again over a century.

 

Anyways, game is starting soon:

LETS GO BUCS, LETS GO BUCS!

 

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The Reds suck! Suck!! They *Censored suck!!!

 

Lol rant over. Done with that team until Baker leaves. Why watch 162 games knowing we're going out first in the playoffs.

 

It's not that the Reds suck. They had a decent run this year. It's that sometimes you just can't *Censored* with destiny. The Pirates are the sons of destiny right now, and from my perspective thank God for that!

 

Ya know, it's like that Tom Petty song... "You don't know how it feels..." The Pirates were so bad for so long that just making the playoffs seemed like an impossibility. I mean we stopped even joking about it. You know it's bad when the cynicism dips so low that even being satirical and sarcastic about how bad your team is stops being entertaining. Up until a few years ago, that was all we the Pirates fans had left, was comedy skits and songs on local radio stations making light of bad management and losing Jason Bay. Then even that stuff stopped being funny. The team that once helped save a city alongside the Steelers in the '70's wasn't even interesting enough to be a laughingstock. We Are Family was dead... it was more like We Are Farm Team.

 

.500 ball wasn't even close to a reality for many years, until management began moving things in the right direction, bringing in Clint Hurdle (a coach who ya know, actually wants to win ballgames) a few years ago and ownership finally started spending some money here and there, then things finally got interesting.

 

Now Cinderella isn't even the word for the Pirates. This feels like escaping Shawshank, it's that type of redemption!

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Why are the MBL playoffs so short? They play the longest schedule in all of sports only to have the playoffs be 3 short rounds? 11 wins to be champ? Lame.

They used to be shorter, you know. Besides, there's no conceivable way for them to expand them without letting barely-above-.500 teams in.

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The Reds suck! Suck!! They *Censored suck!!!

 

Lol rant over. Done with that team until Baker leaves. Why watch 162 games knowing we're going out first in the playoffs.

 

At least you had quality baseball for 6 months. Some fan bases aren't so fortunate.

 

Why are the MBL playoffs so short? They play the longest schedule in all of sports only to have the playoffs be 3 short rounds? 11 wins to be champ? Lame.

They used to be shorter, you know. Besides, there's no conceivable way for them to expand them without letting barely-above-.500 teams in.

 

 

And because we can't have another Mr. November.

 

The Reds suck! Suck!! They *Censored suck!!!

 

Lol rant over. Done with that team until Baker leaves. Why watch 162 games knowing we're going out first in the playoffs.

 

It's not that the Reds suck. They had a decent run this year. It's that sometimes you just can't *Censored* with destiny. The Pirates are the sons of destiny right now, and from my perspective thank God for that!

 

Ya know, it's like that Tom Petty song... "You don't know how it feels..." The Pirates were so bad for so long that just making the playoffs seemed like an impossibility. I mean we stopped even joking about it. You know it's bad when the cynicism dips so low that even being satirical and sarcastic about how bad your team is stops being entertaining. Up until a few years ago, that was all we the Pirates fans had left, was comedy skits and songs on local radio stations making light of bad management and losing Jason Bay. Then even that stuff stopped being funny. The team that once helped save a city alongside the Steelers in the '70's wasn't even interesting enough to be a laughingstock. We Are Family was dead... it was more like We Are Farm Team.

 

.500 ball wasn't even close to a reality for many years, until management began moving things in the right direction, bringing in Clint Hurdle (a coach who ya know, actually wants to win ballgames) a few years ago and ownership finally started spending some money here and there, then things finally got interesting.

 

Now Cinderella isn't even the word for the Pirates. This feels like escaping Shawshank, it's that type of redemption!

 

 

What was the vibe like in Pittsburgh while Jason Bay was deteriorating in New York? Sympathetic? Hilarity?

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The Reds suck! Suck!! They *Censored suck!!!

 

Lol rant over. Done with that team until Baker leaves. Why watch 162 games knowing we're going out first in the playoffs.

 

It's not that the Reds suck. They had a decent run this year. It's that sometimes you just can't *Censored* with destiny. The Pirates are the sons of destiny right now, and from my perspective thank God for that!

 

Ya know, it's like that Tom Petty song... "You don't know how it feels..." The Pirates were so bad for so long that just making the playoffs seemed like an impossibility. I mean we stopped even joking about it. You know it's bad when the cynicism dips so low that even being satirical and sarcastic about how bad your team is stops being entertaining. Up until a few years ago, that was all we the Pirates fans had left, was comedy skits and songs on local radio stations making light of bad management and losing Jason Bay. Then even that stuff stopped being funny. The team that once helped save a city alongside the Steelers in the '70's wasn't even interesting enough to be a laughingstock. We Are Family was dead... it was more like We Are Farm Team.

 

.500 ball wasn't even close to a reality for many years, until management began moving things in the right direction, bringing in Clint Hurdle (a coach who ya know, actually wants to win ballgames) a few years ago and ownership finally started spending some money here and there, then things finally got interesting.

 

Now Cinderella isn't even the word for the Pirates. This feels like escaping Shawshank, it's that type of redemption!

 

 

What was the vibe like in Pittsburgh while Jason Bay was deteriorating in New York? Sympathetic? Hilarity?

 

 

Good question. Honestly, if I recall, I'd have to say the vibe was just Apathy.

 

I don't remember anyone being real angry with Bay. I sure wasn't. I think everyone wished him the best. It was not like with Bonds where Bonds turned on the city and everyone hated him, and then laughed when he got caught up with the roid scandal years later and such. Everyone loved Jason Bay and wished him well. Fans were mad at the ownership because they only put asses in seats with gimmicks like free t-shirt this or free Bobblehead that, or fireworks nights, never with winning programs. In fact, they got so good at turning a profit with a weak team that it became painfully obvious that under previous owner Kevin McClatchy, that trying to field a winning team wasn't even vaguely part of their agenda. Spending money on trying to build a team around Jason Bay, they seemed to feel was bad for business. Oh, of course they wouldn't admit it, but the writing was on the wall. Once Bay left, fans just assumed the trend would continue anytime we got someone worthwhile, that we would develop them and then sell them off to the highest bidder. But the new ownership, managerment and coaching did a welcome 180 and they did in fact build a team around Andrew McCutchen, and the rest is history, now we just advanced a round in the playoffs!

 

 

 

 

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