And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors...

The Red Sox this season, for however much of a myriad of reasons (injury, poor starting pitching, Chicken and Beer, management, "chemistry", un-clutch performances, defense, bad luck, lack of Chicken-and-Beer, stupidity with regards to pain meds, umpires, Larry Lucchino, etc), have been bad this year. I find this rather frustrating, to the point that right now I do not really want to complain about them and have instead turned to another topic near and dear to my heart (note: sarcasm): awful radio commercials.

I have heard from a former advertiser that good advertising is intended to create a need in the person targeted, and offer a product which would fulfill that need. The creators of some of my "favorites" appear to believe that while that is great and all, just making people remember their name is plenty. This may or may not be true, so in exchange for spreading their brand ever so slightly more, I will say that a purchase from one of these companies is just a little bit more money towards some terrible, lazy, and (to me) irritating advertisers. 

Expectations and Probabilities

Peyton Manning is a quarterback, primarily for the Indianapolis Colts (a team I strongly dislike), now with the Denver Broncos. He is one of the very best ever at what he does (coming back from behind late in games). Because of that he has hurt my team many, many times in his playing career, and likewise any time he fails to do so is cause for an unusual amount of celebration. He was injured last season, and while he will be back for this coming season, we still do not know if he will ever be the same again.

Mariano Rivera is a closer for the New York Yankees (a team I strongly dislike). He is, almost without question, the very best ever at what he does (holding small leads in the late innings). Because of that, he has hurt my team many, many times in his playing career, and any time he fails to do so is cause for an unusual amount of celebration. He is injured this season, and while his will likely be back next season, we still do not know if he will ever be the same again.

Middlebrooks Breaks Wrist, Sox Clinch Full Season Without #1 Lineup

Will Middlebrooks was hit on the hand in yesterday's otherwise encouraging victory over the Cleveland Indians, landing him on the DL with a broken wrist and just about guaranteeing that the Red Sox will not put their best lineup on the field for a single game this season. For reference, that expected best lineup would look something like this:

C: Salty/Shoppach (platoon)
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
2B: Dustin Pedroia
3B: Youkilis/Middlebrooks
SS: Mike Aviles
LF: Carl Crawford
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury
RF: Ross/Sweeney (platoon)
DH: David Ortiz