Silver Lining found to Sox-less World Series.

Aside from not having to lose sleep nearly every night for the next week, there's one other good thing I've discovered to come out of the Sox valiant but just short effort to win the American League pennant and participate in another World Series.

It sits on a shelf in the beer & wine section at our own local supermarket, Big E. There's a whole stack of them actually, and as a result of the Sox now dusting off the golf clubs and not brushing back Phillies batters, you can get yourself one (or a few) for 3 bucks off. At $7.99, that about 6 bucks off the suggested retail from the official site. And proceeds go to the charity of the slugger's choice. What's not to like about that?

Hopefully not the taste of the wine. We'll have to get back to you on that one.

I opted for the Vintage Papi, a nice Merlot, Cabernet blend. Looking forward to pouring a glass and offering up a hearty 'we'll get 'em next year.' toast. Sleep or no sleep, it would have been cool to see our Sox in another Series, but they gave it a good go and provided some great playoff moments this year. Just can't quite figure out who to root for now. Maybe I'll just skip it and pick up a good book.

Sweet Night & The Sweetest Day.

Let's face it. Was there really anything else to talk about today? I hope you stayed up late enough to experience it. We here in Red Sox Nation have been lucky enough to enjoy some pretty great sports moments in the decade, and I have to say this one ranks right up there with the best of them. No matter what happens on Saturday and/or Sunday, no one can take away Thursday night's amazing and nearly inconceivable come from way behind way late in the game 8-7 win by our beloved Sox.

I could go on and on about that one, but this isn't a sports blog (although somedays you might wonder). We'll leave that to my favorite Sox blog, Red Sox Monster to do it justice.

All I can do is relate a quick story from last night's event. I'm sitting in the usual Sox watching sweet spot, the Brass Cat, with a couple buddies. The Sox and the game had continued where the last two lifeless and listless Sox performances left off. Few people were actually even paying attention anymore. Heck, it was 7 to zip in the sixth. Lights out. Let's get out of here and beat the traffic. In fact, the jukebox was turned up and the TV announcers down.

Until all of a sudden, a giant defibrillator fell from the sky and brought our comeback kids in red and white back to life.

All heads returned to the flatscreens as the score became 7-3, 7-4... At which point, someone in the crowd yells, 'Turn off that Jukebox'. Before Sam the bartender had a chance to reach for the volume control behind the bar, a guy from Brass Cat Red Sox Nation yells out, 'Don't you dare touch that jukebox!' Seems die-hard fans are a superstitious bunch. Sam left that jukebox rocking right through to J.D.'s walkoff single. For exactly the same reason Manny Delcarmon wouldn't let Dice-K come out of the clubhouse to watch the come from behind.

I'm pretty sure the Brass Cat jukebox isn't responsible for the Sox' historic win last night, but there are a few guys I know that might argue things might have turned out differently if not for one quick-thinking, beer-guzzling, Red Sox jersey wearin' who will go nameless but for the 'Pedroia' on his back, Brass Cat regular.

In the chaos that ensued, I hope someone remembered to buy him a beer.



Oh well, looks like I'm out of time for now. Guess my 'Sweetest Day' rant will have to wait until tomorrow.

Go Sox!

Olympics are over, now what?

Well, the 2008 Beijing Olympics are now in the history books. The timezone thing made it a bit difficult to watch something live and be truly surprised and nervous for the competitors, but there still were some great moments to be watched and admired. The whole Michael Phelps thing goes without saying. The only downside of that I think was the overcoverage of swimming events as compared to many of the more exciting (at least to me) track and field events (maybe I just wasn't watching at the right time) and other interesting events like table tennis and synchronized swimming. In any event, it was great to see the US basketball team back on top. Jamaica's Usain Bolt's world records in the 100 and 200 were just amazing. The beach volleyball rocked. As did Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, among the other great US tumblers.

For all the great moments and 'thrills of victory', the Olympics can be hard to watch someone fail. Seeing Lolo Jones get tripped up over that last hurdle was tough. And that shooter who's gun went off accidentally, counting as a miss just as he was poised for certain gold in the event. The sacrifices these athletes must make to be get to this level of competition is incredible. Years of their lives. Hard work, discipline, insane training regimes, complete focus on a single goal. The ultimate prize - gold. An instant of competition that's over in less than 10 seconds, a few dives, or a few laps in a pool. It's hard to imagine working so hard for a single opportunity to succeed or fail.

Michael Phelps, when asked how he was able to win an unprecedented 8 gold medals, replied, 'I just imagined it, then set up a training regime to make it happen.'

Of course, imagining it is important, but it's just a place to start. From there, it takes unflinching determination and hard work on a daily basis. Direct translation - thousands of miles of swimming, grueling strength training workouts, sprints until your legs won't move, doing whatever it takes to be the best in your chosen field/pool/track. You have to admire every single athlete in these Games.

It's obvious that Beijing spared no expense, from that crazy 'bird's nest' stadium to those over-the-top but way cool opening and closing ceremonies. They knew the world's eyes would be on them and they'd be darned if they'd let a little smog dim the view of their proud culture.

So what to do now after closing up the scoop shop? The new season of Heroes is still a month away, and who knows when Lost will start back up again.

Guess I'll just have watch the house Sparrows feeding in the swanky bird feeder I just installed on the outside of my apartment window.

Well, the cat seems to enjoy it...

And if that's not enough excitement for one day, the boys in blue are back (no more of this hokey preseason stuff) in just a few weeks! Go Pats. Help us forget that forgetable last game we watched...

See you soon.

Sacks, Lies, and Videotapes.

I'm sure I'm not the first to make up that headline about this unfortunate sports scandal involving one of our favorite local teams, but I did think this logo was pretty funny. They're still a great, well coached team, and since this is really just a blog about ice cream, small town life, and all things happy, I won't try to defend or denounce. Let's face it, there are more important things to get riled up about.