SawxBlog

A Bullet in the Head

_{Crowds gather last night at Ground Zero in celebration of Bin Laden's death. (AP Photo)}

I went to bed early last night, dozing off half-way through Game of Thrones after a nice long day of comradery, BBQ, music, and sports with friends. A typical Spring Sunday somewhere in America. Well rested, I woke up at 6:30am to a sun drenched sky, with the chirping of birds outside my Cambridge window serving as an alarm clock. Wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I walked down to the dojo (what others may call their office) to begin formulating my post for this morning's SawxBlog entry. Lord knows I had plenty to write about, between Crawford's walk off at Fenway, to the Celtic's sketchy & sloppy playoff game in Miami. I figured the post would write itself, and I was right, I just didn't realize sports would be absent from it. Per my morning tradition, I went to the New York Times website to be greeted with stunning news staring at me in all caps. "BIN LADEN IS DEAD"

Now this was unexpected and shocking. Bin Laden had turned into a real life Keyser Söze for the American psyche, and seemed more mythical than real. We'd seen grainy footage of him touting an AK-47 through forgotten caves speaking on the ill's of America and claiming war on our land. But that real Bin Laden, while still hated with a vehement venom, had given way to more of a parody than anything. He was something to be mocked on Saturday Night Live or in some low budget teen movie, and for a lot of American's his capture seemed as evasive as Castro's.

I moved to Boston on September 9th, 2001 - just two short days before the tragic and confusing times of 9/11. I had just put myself through college, becoming the first in my immediate family to earn a degree, and was bright eyed, optimistic, and as hopeful as any 21 year old could be. I had a job all but lined up with a local record label, and was going to crash of the couch of two gracious friends until I got my feet on the ground. Then the planes were hijacked. The towers came down. The Pentagon burned, and thousands of civilian's died in horrific and cataclysmic ways. America, for the next couple of weeks got really, really weird. I remember standing on the roof of my Allston apartment as F-16 fighter jets continually circled over Boston, buzzing my thoughts with their crackling jets as tears streamed down my cheeks. I cried for the loss of life. I cried for the great city of New York. I cried for the loss of innocence. I cried for the uncertainty my life had been sprung into. Just two weeks prior I interviewed for a job basically in the shadow of the Towers, over at Columbia University, and my getting that job or not was the difference between Boston and New York.

The 9/11 attacks delayed the start of my career by years. The job I had lined up fell through, and I ended up sleeping on that couch for 12 months, working various odd jobs to barely scrape by. I was lucky though. I had lost no one that day, I still had my education, and lived in what I consider to be a great country, with great people. You can't achieve the American Dream without struggle, and while times were hard for a lot after that day, people banded together and helped one another out.

I was never comfortable with the faux Patriotism that people emitted afterwards though. I wasn't, and am not, comfortable with the creation of Homeland Security as a result. I wasn't comfortable with my privacy being sacrificed in order to be "safe". I wasn't comfortable with how 9/11 was dressed up like a Prom Queen and used as an excuse for things that had nothing to do with that tragic day. Bin Laden may be dead now, but when you're taking off your shoes at the airport, or hearing announcements on the Terror Level over loud speakers that's a direct result of his legacy. I'm glad that Bin Laden was finally made to pay for his actions, and I do believe it's some-sort of justice. I just don't like to cheer or wave flags when people get shot in the head, maybe I'm not Roman enough. But those crowds gathering last night chanting "USA! USA!" like they just left Lake Placid sure reminded me of the crowds gathering after 9/11 - and those crowds made me very uneasy.

I hope this brings some solace to those who lost people ten years ago, and also honor to the brave kids who've sacrificed their lives and time in pursuit of Bin Laden and his cronies. I just have a lot of mixed emotions on what has happened since the Towers went down. I'm glad this chapter's over that's for sure, but the fear Bin Laden created, and the way that fear was further manipulated in this country are still alive and breathing, and that kinda makes me feel like a 21 year old, standing on a roof in Allston.

Love That Dirty Water: Boston Red Sox, along with Water Supply, thoroughly Contaminated

Today's cover of the Globe speaks volumes. Boston Globe Screenshot

Solace has been fleet for the citizens of Boston lately. It was just last Thursday night that our subway caught on fire, causing dozens to suffer from smoke inhalation, and thus resulting in significant train delays for days to follow. The MBTA is already a system heavily under strain, and stories like this have moved passed the realm of normal, and are now just expected. Daily I'm being told by both conductors & robots alike of significant delays that lie ahead during my daily travels. I used to chalk up these inconveniences to the rigors of city life, however, when it's happening four out of five days a week something larger seems to be amiss.

Suffice to say that I wasn't shocked when I learned Saturday that the infection of ineptitude our city is run on has spilled over to our very own water supply. We're being told that this contamination is due to a breach in a pipe out in Weston that's - get this, only seven years old. Amazing isn't it? The event is being described as 'Catastrophic' and a subsequent State of Emergency has been imposed on the Greater Boston Area, affecting nearly two million residents. Ironically, a State of Emergency has also been imposed on the residents of Red Sox Nation, population unknown.

Last March, in the final throes of the Manny Ramirez era, I wrote tepidly about the State of both the Red Sox and their fans. One of my first questions was if the Red Sox were boring or not, and unfortunately, that question has become a statement.

The Boston Red Sox are a boring team to watch.

I've been a large proponent of the Bill James Era in Boston, and believe that you need to look at large sets of data to properly understand what you're looking at, however - I think it's finally time to admit that our noses may have been a little too deep in the numbers. Since 2004 the Red Sox have fielded Teams that have been less fun to root for and watch with each succeeding year. This may work for Belichick and the Patriots, but they're only playing once a week for a limited time of the year. If you're a Red Sox fan they live with you on a daily basis, and watching them fail night after night, for four plus hours, is not a very enjoyable way to pass the time.

Maybe if they were more likable it'd be easier to endure these down times, however, their personality is pure vanilla, and the discontent emitting from the millionaire veterans on our bench is infecting the greater part of the Team and fan-base. Theo Epstein should have his genius card revoked. David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, and Mike Lowell being locked with the money they're making is a crime. This caused (forced) the Red Sox to try and plug holes with guys like Adrian, Cameron, and Scutaro. Those are all great players, however, they don't scream "Championship" when you see them in the line-up. It all seems like a cheap fix to a bigger problem, which is ironic.

To think, this is all coming in a year where the Red Sox players are making more money than ever before. It all points to poor management in my book, and when you're spending money like they are, you're not allowed to call it a "rebuilding year", when in fact it's a "Recover from numerous mistakes we made year". I expect the Red Sox sellout streak to end this season as well, because again, they're just not a fun bunch to root for, and when they're not winning, it's much less in vogue for pink hats and businessmen to be at the games.

When flipping over to NESN from the NBA or NHL playoffs it's laughable, and is the most distinct line drawn between what entertainment and habit is. Maybe it's not fair to compare May baseball to the playoffs of other sports, but that's whats competing with baseball right now, and baseball's losing big. Shit, the NFL beat everyone last weekend by moving their draft to prime-time, making a full blown gala of it, which further cements football as the New American Sport, for better or worse.

They're saying now that our water supply should be fixed within 48 hours, unfortunately for the Sox, their contamination can't be fixed in that brief of time, and you just hope they don't have to boil their water for too much longer, because from the fans I've been speaking to, we're already past the boiling point.