Simon Green’s Blog

When the Red Sox lost the ALCS Game 7 in 2004 to an Aaron Boone homer to left, my entire nervous system was shot. It felt like a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the stomach. Most of all, it felt like such a waste of my life. All of the reading ESPN articles and blogs, the obsessing, the emotional swings of victory and defeat, all for failure, for nothing. I felt so upset and so angry with myself that I could make myself feel this way over an athletic competition that I myself wasn’t even a part of.

I nearly felt that way on Sunday until I checked my emotions in a room of Seahawks fans. I draped my head in a dark Red Sox away jersey and sulked for a few seconds while the Giants celebrated in confetti of pink and white falling from the dome in Arizona. The Pats, nearing perfection, a storybook ending, couldn’t pull it off. They played scared. Brady faced tough pressure from a  hungry NY Giants defensive line. Randy Moss barely got involved. Wes Welker kept their offense competitive until one late drive in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots played like shit. There’s nothing else to be said. It sucks. I wanted that win. But so did the Rams fans when we defeated them as double digit underdogs. This is sports. It happens. It hurts.

I just need to see KG healthy again in a Celtics jersey and I’ll feel a lot better.

I’ve been trying to teach myself programming languages that would make future websites I make more efficient, more SEO friendly, and more easily changeable by an admin. I’ve read way too much on every topic I’ve listed in the title. There is so much information, life would be much easier with someone who knows more than I do to give me a hand. That’s how I became interested in Frontpage and Photoshop back in the day. Where do I find other web programming enthusiasts? None of my friends are into this kind of thing.

[Update: 11/16: The levels of fecal contamination are 7000% higher than acceptable. The Costa Rican government is working with the hotels there to fix the issue, but still no signs warning against the danger of swimming in human poo. Tourism is already taking a hit with folks canceling their reservations. Such a damn shame.]

I was reading a story today at www.ticotimes.net about a troubling problem of fecal bacteria being found in higher percentages in the ocean of Guanacaste; Tamarindo in particular.

Tamarindo is one of my favorite beaches in Costa Rica. There are way too many tourists, but the water is warm and the landscape is beautiful.

It hurts to read that Tamarindo businesses can be this irresponsible and not attend to sewage leaks and other related problems.

I nearly took an SEO job in Tamarindo recently. If I had, I know I’d be enjoying the gentle waves, the diving pelicans, and the brilliant shells; yet hearing there is poo in the water tarnishes this idea just a tad.

I hope this gets fixed before the beach is shut down for cleaning. Tourism in Tama-Gringo might take a mighty hit.

Humans are on an inevitable path to destroy their own mother earth. It sucks.

This is the last Red Sox playoffs related entry for a while…because they just swept the Colorado Rockies, 4 Games to None. Jon Lester, a young pitcher and cancer survivor nabbed the win, while fellow survivor Brian Cook took the loss. Bobby Kielty, a pinch hitter from the A’s, hit the difference maker homerun, and Jonathan Papelbon closed it out as usual.

I’m happy for the team, especially young guys like Ellsbury, Lester, Papelbon, Youkilis, the list goes on. Manny is just a pimp who gets it done. Papi is an optimist who cracks homers on weak knees. Beckett is the best playoff pitcher I’ve ever watched.  I could go on, but I won’t. The Sox battled back from adversity like in 2004 and walked all over their NL counterparts in the same fashion as well.

Hey, next time let’s win the whole thing at Fenway.

I was shocked and in awe in 2004. I was satisfied and gloating in 2007.

Not even close. Sox win 13 to 1. Read that again. 13 to 1.

Beckett pitched lights out, not surprising. Jeff Francis and the rest of the Colorado arms got SHELLACKED.

You know the game is out of hand when Coco Crisp is back in Center and Gagne is on the mound.

Come on Rockies, at least make this exciting. I’m a Red Sox Fan First, but I’m a baseball fan a close second.

There’s rain in the forecast for Fenway Park tonight.

My buddy Eric thinks the Red Sox will clobber the Rockies in 4 “MAYBE” 5 games. I’m thinking the Rockies win a couple games, Sox in 5 or 6.

I’d like to see some exciting playoff baseball, not a Sox-Cards anticlimactic sweep, with a gigantic run differential.

I’m ready for this. My roommate Nate is from Colorado. If the Red Sox take the series, he will wear my Manny Jersey for one day, and purchase a 6-pack of Colorado’s finest beer.

If the Rockies win, I will buy him a 6-pack of Boston’s finest and wear a t-shirt that reads “Rockies Rock,” or something similar. At least he’s not asking me to wear a purple and silver jersey.

Final Score 11-2, however the game was much closer than that. Cleveland had a couple unlucky breaks involving Kenny Lofton. First his slide into second was ruled out, and second he didn’t round third when he would have easily scored.

Daisuke made me feel a little sick, we left him out there longer than necessary when his stuff had flattened out.

I’m spent.

We did it.

Too tired to write more, check NESN, Boston.com for more.

Sox welcome the Rockies October 24th. The best playoff pitcher in recent history, Josh Beckett, will take the mound for us. I feel good about the matchup with Colorado, especially with our current momentum, but there is a 3 day break in action, the Rockies have won 21 of their last 22, and they’ve beaten us twice during our 3 game series earlier this season.

J.D. Drew! Grand Slam in the first inning! What a momentum changer that was. If he continues to produce for us tonight along with Lugo, and Pedroia, I like our chances.

The big question in every Boston fan’s mind is whether or not Daisuke can step up to the pressure of this game. One would think he’s got what it takes, he’s got the stuff, that’s for sure. He pitched Japan to a Baseball World Classic championship, and he’s had several strong starts during the regular season. However, during the playoffs, he’s had a look of a deer in headlights. He doesn’t exude confidence. I believe that if he can get some run support and rack up a few Ks early on, he’ll be good to go. He can’t afford to miss his spots as he’s done this postseason so far.

I’ll be ready to root my team on from the spacious living room, perhaps with the nuisance Cat named Bonnie across from me.

The living room is a bit of a mess right now. I’m watching the Seattle Seahawks beat the Rams, who are terrible this year. Compare them to the Patriots, who scored 49 points today versus the Miami Dolphins, in Miami. How sweet is that.

1 more hour until game time!

It’s early Saturday morning, or Friday night, whichever you prefer. In a little over 15 hours from right now, the biggest, most dramatic game of the season for the Boston Red Sox will commence.

This is it. Curt Schilling, the veteran bloody sock who brought the Red Sox a World Series title in 2004, takes the mound against a Cleveland ballclub that just two days ago was one win away from their first World Series bid in more than 10 years.

Curt will have to be at his near-best. His velocity isn’t what it has been in the past. He relies on his strong command of the strike zone, and a splitter, that when on, is a nasty punch-out of a pitch.

The tenseness in my gut is similar to the infamous Yankees ALCS series. That time, the Sox improbably won four straight games after an impossible 0-3 deficit, largely on the shoulders of Big Papi, David Ortiz.

I’m going to get some rest. Tomorrow will be an eventful day. I anticipate a lot of shouting in my living room.