Rangers LOSE the World Series

I'm not a baseball fan. I don't understand how people consider this sport exciting. Granted, the World Series was pretty good...the parts I've watched anyway...but the game itself and in its entirety blows!

So, this image from ESPN.com will be the lasting memory in DFW-Arlington metropolitan area. Unfortunately, the "Breaking News" part of the image is incorrectly typed. It should say,

Rangers LOSE the World Series!

If I'm not mistaken, the Rangers were up 3-1 in the series and choked it hard. Another failed professional sports team from Dallas. Maybe it'll be like the rest though and after 2-5 runs to playoffs, they'll actually win the damn championship.

NO, I'm not bitter. I don't watch baseball, remember.

What's wrong with the NHL?

The actual words that piqued my interest were

"Is the NHL Disappearing? What's Wrong with Professional Hockey?"

This from an article here that I saw on Yahoo!. I didn't read the entire article. I really just scanned the first paragraph or two.

It made me remember that there was an NHL All-Star game last weekend. Did any of you know that? Do any of you really care? I don't recall a lot of advertising and marketing done to promote it. In fact, the only reason why I found out about it was because I was flicking through the sport channels looking for a Stars game and saw the ticker at the bottom of the screen on ESPN2 mentioning something about the skills competition for the All-Star game. I was like, "What? We've already reached the NHL All-Star game?" I was shocked not to have seen more marketing at least on the sports channels like ESPN, ESPN2, Versus, Fox Sports Southwest or even on the Dallas Stars website.

So, I caught the rerun of some of the skills competition. I made a mental note to make sure I tuned in for the actual game. I watched the anthems: Canadian then American. The Canadian Tenors sung the Canadian anthem. They sounded pretty good and they sounded official like people in Canada knew and like them as performers. They announced who was going to sing the American anthem and my first thought was, "What in the FUCK has happened to the NHL!?" I shit you not. I was disturbed, disgusted and disappointed in who they got to sing for one of the manliest of sports' all-star game.

It was mother fucking Clay Aiken! That's right. Clay...mother fucking...Aiken!

Gary Bettman, that's what is fucking wrong with professional hockey! Only an ass-wipe, clueless commissioner would book Clay Aiken to sing at the manliest of man sports. As an NHL fan and enthusiast, I am ashamed at your lack of direction and support.

Anyway, I watched the 1st period of the game and was bored. There wasn't a lot of excitement in the game. I mean the NHL All-Star game like the NBA All-Star game is where the skilled players shine with their nifty moves and amazing shots. This is where we should see the spinning-360 backhand score, the pass-pass-pass-shot-while-the-goalie-flops score or the between-the-legs-shot-with-the-puck-in-the-top-corner score. I didn't see any of this in the 1st period so I found it hard to find a reason to return and watch the rest of the game.

So, yes. There was an NHL All-Star game last weekend. It was competing with the NFL Pro Bowl game which was on the same day and I'm sure near the same broadcast time.

I don't watch football and yet I knew when the Pro Bowl game was and when the Super Bowl would be.

I'm a hockey fan, not die-hard or hard-core but very in to it. I didn't know about the NHL All-Star game until the very last moment and then was disappointed when viewing it.

This is what's wrong with professional hockey. There was a time in Dallas of all places that you couldn't walk down the street without people talking about the Dallas Stars just as much if not more than the Dallas Cowboys, the Dallas Mavericks or the Texas Rangers. In fact, the Texas Rangers were always in a negative context and the butt of many jokes. Somewhere, they all turned it around especially the Ranges recently.

Hopefully hockey can do the same.

Rangers choke. Another Dallas-area team of "could have beens"

"Keep your heads up, Rangers." "Thanks for a great season, Rangers."

That's just a couple of the quotes I've read on my friends' Facebook pages who are apparent "fans" of the losers of the World Series.

I'm not a baseball fan, never have been. I've been to about twenty games at The Ballpark in Arlington (which I believe has a new name since I've been). I've been in the nose bleed stands as well as about twenty seats behind 3^rd base. I could give a crap what was happening on the field. I'm just not a fan. I like the venue. The Ballpark is nice. It provides nice views from within the stands as well as on the very top "patio" area of Arlington.

Baseball is slow-paced. It's not like ice hockey, football, basketball or even soccer. It provides absolutely no interest at all for me in strategy or skill. I believe the players are way over paid for the amount of actual work and skill the bring to their "job" (the duration of a game). Pitchers probably earn more of their pan any of the other players but I think they are also probably paid less, most anyway.

A lot of people have the same dislike of tennis when I tell them I'm a fan. I don't understand why. Yes, a ball is hit back and forth of a net. How enjoyable can that be? To appreciate the skill, endurance, and training that a professional tennis player commands to control a little yellow ball with the string bed of a tennis racquet is way more than any baseball player has to do or exerts up to or during a game. It does take some skill to hit a baseball thrown at 98+ MPH with a 3in wide piece of wood but how many of the baseball players actually do this on a consistent basis? Granted it is a testament to the skill of the pitcher but who wants to see a pitcher throw a no-hitter compared to wanting to see more hits and home runs?

Even without all this "excitement," baseball outperforms tennis, golf and other sports for TV ratings. Sometimes even more than football. I just don't get it. Is it because baseball's rules are easier to understand and follow? I just don't know. Maybe it's the inbreeding. :-)

Whatever it may be, I say, "Boo on the Rangers." The proverbial carrot was dangle in front of Rangers fans and it was taken away without making a fight out of it. Seriously, 4 games to 1 is like how playoffs are won in the 1^st round of hockey or basketball.

I'm not completely heartless. I do believe the Rangers performed well for a team that never has been to the World Series. They quickly joined the ranks of the rest of the almosts-but-not-quite teams that have lost. There has to be a loser and it seems the Dallas-area teams are perfect for the role.

So, I bag on all the professional teams in the D/FW area not just the Rangers. As a sports fan, selective sports at most times, I am tired of my hopes being dashed because of the unfulfilling prophecy of the "one that could change our team and take us all the way" never is completed. Even though the Cowboys have won Super Bowls and the Stars a Stanley Cup, they still have disappointed local fans year after year with sub-par performances in the regular season and if lucky enough, post-season. The Mavericks consistently are "almosts" and now the Rangers have joined them.

I'm not a die hard fan, I guess. I'm not into giving my all, my attention, to things that end up wasting my time and patience. So, I guess I'm not a true fan either some might say. I say, "Maybe."

But maybe I'm like that person that has been really hurt in a relationship and is afraid to let themselves invest in caring again. Yeah, that's it. Maybe I'm just a sports romantic.

Nah, I'm just a bitter sports fan that wants his team to win or at least listen to me when I yell at the TV on how things should be done. If they still lose after my advice, then at least they did so following the BEST advice possible. I can't help it that they can perform the advice I've given them.

Again, Boo on the Rangers. Boo on the Cowboys. Boo on the losing streak Stars. And fingers-crossed that the Mavericks will bring it home this season! I won't keep the torch burning for them for too long.