I got an email from a neighbor in Northern Virginia asking what happened to the Nats in the World Series going from a 2-0 lead to a 3-2 deficit. Being in Dublin, I have not had the chance to watch every game that the Astros won; so, I am not qualified to give him – nor anyone else – any sort of detailed analysis there. However, here is the substance of my response to him:
“In the 27 innings of the 3 games they lost to the Astros in DC, the Nats scored a total of 2 runs. If my count is correct, they left 21 runners on base in those three games.
“Those are the stats for losing teams not winning teams…”
Only twice before has the visiting team won the first 5 games of a World Series. (1906 Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs and 1996 Yankees vs. Braves.) In both of those cases, the home team won the 6th game ending the Series at that point. Therefore, history can be made in multiple ways in this Series:
- If the Nats win tonight, it will be the first World Series to see the visitor win the first six games.
- If that happens, then any outcome in Game 7 would be a “first”.
I did have the opportunity to see the condensed version of the Saints/Cards game from last Sunday. I wanted to see that one because:
- I had read that Drew Brees played well and I wanted to see that for myself.
- I wanted to see the Cards new-fangled offense now that it has had several weeks to evolve and settle in.
Brees was indeed outstanding throwing 3 TDs and about 375 yards in the game. If he had any “difficulties” with residual effects on his thumb surgery, they were not evident to me.
The Cards new and revolutionary offense looked ordinary to me. I know that it was only one game and that I am not the most sophisticated film diagnostician the NFL has ever seen. Nevertheless, other than having a very mobile QB who can run around and throw the ball from different locations and field angles, I did not see much from the Cards’ offense that would keep a defensive coordinator up late at night with anxiety attacks.
When I was a kid, I read Joel Chandler Harris’ compilation of Negro American folk stories called the Uncle Remus Tales. That collection of stories is so blatantly politically incorrect in 2019 that I doubt you can find the book in most public libraries in the US. One of the recurring characters in the tales is Brer Rabbit who is a trickster (at best) and a con man (at worst) who appears in many of the tales. Once Brer Rabbit was caught by Brer Fox who was planning to eat Brer Rabbit.
The trickster/con man told Brer Fox that he could do anything he wanted – including boiling Brer Rabbit in a pot to make stew, but whatever Brer Fox did, he should not throw Brer Rabbit into the briar patch. After several pleadings of this type, Brer Fox fools himself and throws Brer Rabbit into the briar patch whereupon Brer Rabbit gets away scot-free. I mention this folk take because we have just witnessed a 2019 incarnation of Brer Rabbit.
The Chinese government did not allow any of the NBA Exhibition Games to be televised across China. The result of that edict was that the Chinese people were spared watching the nonsense that is the NBA Exhibition Season. The Chinese Government just threw the Chinese people into the briar patch; they were saved from Brer Fox masquerading as the NBA Exhibition telecasts.
Now the threat is that the TV ban will extend to early regular season NBA games. Oh, the horror of that…
Finally, here is a definition from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:
“Caesar, Julius: Dictator of ancient Rome. His nearly fifteen years of conquest, which resulted in the formation of the entire Roman Empire, now reduced to a salad.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
In order to finish your truncated train of thought in this article, I will read the politically-correct version of Uncle Remus. In other words, it’s truncated.
TenaciousP:
I’d be interested to know if your local library has the Uncle Remus tales on the shelves…