Memorial Day Weekend 2017 Part 3

Continued from Part 2

5-29-17, Monday

Amazing what some good sleep will do for your attitude.  Not to mention, MeTV just started showing Remington Steele again in the mornings, one of my favorite shows.  Just to continue the roll, I was encouraged enough that I finally left the apartment for an excellent lunch at Schlotzsky’s.  This trip was tinged with melancholy as this was the road I took to go to the university, and I could see the Pan-Am Center out the restaurant window.  I was reminded that there weren’t going to be any more games to see for a couple of months, perhaps longer, if my job resolves badly.   

Sportswise, I made a half-hearted attempt at watching French Open tennis, but I only lasted two points.  I didn’t know the players, and they were playing listlessly in some bad heat.  (And the girls weren’t attractive.)  I flipped on KROD ESPN Radio early, hoping that they’d pick up an afternoon MLB game.  I heard a talk host actually begging people to watch the NBA finals.  Later, they were praising one of the players for being selfish and not caring about the fans’ opinions.  I was laughing so hard at this unintentional comedy, I could barely see to type.  Unfortunately, no game came on.  My afternoon was boring to say the least.      

While waiting for the evening Rangers game, I listened to Foxsports Radio briefly.  The idiots there debated on how unpopular all other sports, such as the Indy 500 and hockey, are compared to the NFL and NBA.  Sports radio jockeys view all sports through the lens of TV ratings and The Agenda, and those are all the criteria that matter in judging sports.  Racing and hockey don’t register in either category and just serve as punching bags to puff up their approved sports.  Baseball just barely meets the threshold, and since ESPN and Fox both broadcast games.  They criticize the sport incessantly, but can’t completely bury it.  The Agenda, you ask?  It’s the subtle and not subtle societal checkboxes that the news, sports, entertainment, and most of Internet industrial complex promote constantly.  You can figure out those items for yourself.

The 100-th Stanley Cup finals Game 1 was between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins.  This was the Predators first appearance in the finals, and I’d chosen them to root for.  I don’t see enough hockey to really have any favorites, though I do have a distaste for the Penguins.  Their captain, Sydney Crosby, did something during the Olympics for Team Canada a while back that pissed me off, and I’ve never liked him since.  I can’t even remember what.

PK Suban of the Predators was heavily promoted in the opening promotional shots.  He did score the first goal of the game, which was unfortunately waved off, after a 20-minute review, for offsides.  Already, I found myself disenchanted by the game.  Late in the first period, two Predators were put in the penalty box, giving the Pens a 5 on 3 for two minutes, which scored the game’s first goal.  The Penguins would then go on and score two more in the period for a 3-0 lead.  The refs had done all they could for them.

My threshold for watching hockey generally ends when one team goes up by three.  I flipped over to watch the hot little party girls on Chic Music on a Juarez station, but continued to flip back just to check in.  Nashville scored one in the second period, but I still wasn’t interested.  Late in the third, the Predators made it 3-2.  With five minutes left, the score was tied, and I started watching again.  Unfortunately, there was a breakaway in the Nashville zone that led to a Pittsburgh goal two minutes later.  Then there was an empty-netter with a minute left that sealed the game.  5-3 and the Penguins go up one in the series. 

Meanwhile in Arlington, the Rangers played the Tampa Bay Rays.  Today was the return of the captain, Adrian Beltre.  He got a big hand from the crowd for his first at bat of the season.  Beltre got a hit as part of a three-run first inning.  His infield buddy, Elvis Andrus, had an eventful third.  He got caught stealing from first, but got back on a bad throw.  He stole third on a bad jump.  His luck ran out, as Elvis tried to take home on a fielder’s choice.  The fielder even had a moment of indecision before finally throwing him out as Elvis tried to get back to third. 

Joey Gallo hit a golf shot home run to lead off the second.  Gallo was now playing in the outfield and would later make a great out there after hitting a double in the fourth.  Late in the game, after I had missed a few innings, Matt Hicks was saying he’d never had a longer discussion about a foul ball during a break.  Intrigued, I kept listening for an explanation, but all I got was something about a Gallo foul ball clearing the stadium.  That couldn’t be right.  I looked it up the next day (Joey Gallo foul ball), and indeed, he had fouled one over the three-deck stadium to right field, almost hitting the lights.  The crowd gasped and applauded it.  Unbelievable.          

Matt had some interesting comments about strikeouts.  The Rangers, in spite of Gallo, don’t actually lead the league in “K’s.”  The Rays and Tigers are on top of that list, and it’s not even close.  Eric Nadel expressed concern about Matt’s comment that the Rays also have the slowest working staff in baseball.  I thought this game was moving slowly.  Not to mention, later this week, they’ll be playing against Yu Darvish, one of the slowest working pitchers in baseball.  I noticed that Gordon Beckham was playing second for the Rays.  I thought about that for a minute and went back and checked.  Yes, last month he was playing in Triple-A against the Diablos at a game I was at. 

I tuned back into the Rangers’ game on another station in the seventh.  I was just in time to hear the Rays tie the score at 7 via a Colby Rasmus hit.  Wait, The Lizzie Bennett Diaries is on.  All sports entertainment must cease for a half hour.  Okay, I’m back.  In the eighth, the Rangers were now down 10-7.  In the bottom, Shin-Soo Choo hit a mammoth home run into the top row of home run porch, 10-8.  In the ninth, the Rangers struck out to end game.  10-8 Rays was the final. 

At the same time the local signal faded on the Rangers, I picked up the start of the Chihuahuas’ game on another station.  It was 97 degrees at the start of the game in the late evening in Las Vegas.  Tim Hagerty mentioned a misting system over the stands I think, which I’m sure they needed.  The 51’s came out hot and scored four runs before the first out.  Jose Pirela would get the scoring started for the pups with a two-run homer.  He’s really becoming a standout on the team.         

I later rejoined the Chihuahuas up 5-4.  A bottom of the seventh error tied game.  Suddenly, it’s ESPN Radio for 10 minutes.  Who are the clowns running KROD?  This is the second time they’ve done this, this weekend.  Not to mention, they keep running commercial breaks in the middle of MLB games.  That one isn’t an accident.  It’s a management decision.  They don’t this amateur-hour stuff during NFL broadcasts.  Oh great, and now its 7-5, 51’s in the top of the eighth.  After a three-run homer in the bottom, the game was basically over.  10-5, 51’s beat the Chihuahuas. 

All the teams I was rooting for today, lost.  That’s the way it goes.  A bit of a bummer way to end my favorite holiday weekend.  That was three races and seven ball games in three days.  Once again, I’m exhausted by the end of it.  Not quite as beat up as last year’s trip to Denver to see the Rockies and Giants though, but still worried about my job, just like last year.  No wonder I take my sports seriously.  I’m trying to forget about my work life.  Hopefully, I’ll still be able to do this again next year.