And off we go with Season 10, after yet another very quick rollover. A few guys left after Season 9, and they were replaced by the following dudes.
patterba takes over drew's old team, after drew posted the worst record in nine seasons for his franchise, and just before he could have gotten his t-shirt. I don't get it. He was taking shit from various owners for many seasons, but he kept sticking it out, and just before he can actually get something tangible for his efforts, he bails. Oh well, the world is better without him, but poor patterba inherits a team that currently has $85M in payroll, and he still has to go through arbitration and free agency. Don't be surprised when patterba spends the first few days trying to unload contracts, and bring in a ton of pre-arb MLer's. patterba comes to us with four seasons under his belt, most of those while in The Show II world. He is not from Canadia.
Over in the AL South, mesapitfan takes over Sved's old squad, after that team's steady drop in the rankings from its pinnacle of winning two World Series in a row. After years of weak drafts due to high finishes, the team will certainly require some work. Meanwhile, mesapitfan is not new to this world, as he was a founding member way back in the day. But a different team, and many versions of the world later, it does not look like the BPF that mesa remembers. Also, not a Canuck.
After orabbi ran his team for seven straight seasons, it now has its third owner in as many seasons, something that orabbi probably wouldn't want to see. caseroc is the latest owner of the team, coming to BPF with nine full seasons under his belt, and a very solid .526 winning percentage. Hopefully he can take this team and its amazingly low payroll, and build it to something impressive. caseroc, not a Canadian.
I love the World Cup. I vaguely recall watching bits and pieces of it in 1990 when it was in Italy, and West Germany got revenge from the prior WC, beating Argentina 1-0. And like so many kids in the 90's, I vividly remember 1994 when the WC was here in the good ol' US of A. The entire event was so big, the stadiums were so huge and so filled to capacity, it was unreal even just watching it on TV. The US second round game against Brazil was just a few days before my 16th birthday, and I remember sitting in the living room for probably two hours before the game started, trying to figure out which seat would yield the best result, and whether my replica USA jersey would be good luck or not, since I had worn it during their loss to Romania a week earlier. Who cares about getting your license and having a party when the biggest game in recent USA Soccer history is happening?
Maybe the most fun WC was 2002 when it was in Korea and Japan, and you had to get up at midnight if you wanted to watch any games. I don't remember what day of the week it was, but the US was playing Portugal, and I think the start time was something like 3am. My roommates and I went to bed as early as we could, I think it was probably 8 or 9pm, it was still light outside. We all set our alarms for around 1am, and walked into the bar around 2am. Some of the local watering holes were setting special hours for the games, and I remember going to the Clarendon Grille, where we thought we would have to knock on the door to remind them to open up for us. Instead, there was a line around the corner. They opened the doors and we rushed in, trying to find a table to claim for the four of us, plus the other two guys who were meeting us there. Beers at 3am when we need to be at work by 9am? Sure, why not? Three hours later, we're ordering coffee and breakfast, trying to sober up for work. Oh, and the US won.
I love me some World Cup. And I know most of America doesn't get it, and most of America thinks they don't score enough, and most of America thinks it's a game for other countries. But most of America also drinks Budweiser and watches Nascar and loves American Idol. So when America played England yesterday, I had a rod in my pants the entire game. When the US plays Slovenia on Friday at 10am EST, you'd better believe that I'm gonna walk into my office around 8am, answer a few emails, and then go snag a spot in the bar for the next two to three hours. And again, I'll have a rod in my pants the entire game, only this time I won't be in the privacy of my living room.
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