I Spit on the Curse

I've yet to see a single World Series game. I'm writing this post just minutes before the first pitch of what could be the last game, a game that could possibly mean the end of another baseball season without my beloved Braves as the champs. The team I want to win has yet to claim a single victory in the series, their big bats silenced by Bloody Socks and a midget good luck charm.

Anyway, I thought about writing two posts: one congratulatory, wishing the city of Boston good luck in cleaning up the damage from the riots; the other a little mockery. But at this point, I'm just hoping to stay awake for the first pitch.

Interestingly enough, the World Series has given occasion for one person to examine the history and etiquette of spitting:

Outside of the national pastime, in the United States spitting is no longer a socially acceptable pastime. It's decline began in the mid-19th century, when scientists first slipped sputum samples under a microscope and found them rich in bacteria. By 1873, roughly 130 cities had enacted laws prohibiting public spitting. Many more followed a decade later, when a German biologist found TB in an infected patient's phlegm.

Never hurts to add sputum to the list of things that will attract traffic to this site. Gotta give Ken Jennings some company.

So if Boston won last night, congratulations to Red Sox nation. I hope the Boston riot was minor and clean up easy. If the Red Sox lost, I hope the Boston riot was minor and clean up easy.

Update (written before this post was posted): So I managed to watch the game. Red Sox...woop! I'm happy for my friends who are Red Sox fans, both of you. Most absurd moment of the night goes to the Nike post-game, in-the-can-in-case commercial. Can we all move on now? Or do we begin a Cubs in 2005 watch? Sleep well, Ted Williams, wherever you're frozen!

Comments

[LTR]

Best headline so far was from the AP: "Red Sox just another team now with deep pockets and a shiny new trophy." Make it stop. Please.

[Jeff]

From what I understand, the Red Sox plan to slash payroll next year. In some ways, are they really any better than the 97 Marlins or the 02 Diamondbacks in that they bought this ring and then will fade back into some relative mediocrity soon after? When they've won a few division titles in a row, then they can talk...