Paul Pierce when banner #17 was raised. Photo by Winslow Townson/AP. |
There’s just so much to cover:
During the spring, I had made a few inquiries to New York sports writers about Joba Chamberlain and his court date for his DUI arrest. The only one who even bothered to respond was Peter Abraham who, back on February 17th, told me:
I have no idea [when his court date has been rescheduled to] but I’m sure it won’t interfere with what he’s doing.
Well, Pete was correct about that interference part. Thanks to a tip from a friend (shout out to AB), today Newsday tells us this:
Finally, Joba’s day in court today. Chamberlain’s drunken-driving case in Lincoln, Neb., originally scheduled for Tuesday, is expected to be resolved Wednesday. Chamberlain’s attorney, the Omaha-based W. Randall Paragas, filed a motion for continuance Friday because the court date conflicted with Chamberlain’s start Tuesday. County Judge Laurie Yardley agreed to delay the hearing for one day, which was the fourth postponement in the case.
Chamberlain flew to Nebraska after the game and is expected to go to New York after the hearing. When asked if he was looking forward to putting the case behind him, he said: “It’s done. It’s been over with.”
The 9 a.m. CDT court case is scheduled as a disposition without trial, implying the pitcher won’t contest the charges. On Oct. 18 around 1 a.m., Chamberlain was stopped by a Nebraska state trooper after being clocked at 71 mph in a 55-mph zone. The trooper smelled alcohol in the vehicle and saw an open alcohol container on the front passenger seat.
One of the most infuriating things about this, to me, is that Joba keeps saying things like “As a man, you have to fess up when you do something wrong. A lot of people would run from it, and I would never, ever run from it.†and “it’s been over with” when he’s had his lawyer postpone the hearing FOUR freaking times. Because, everyone knows, baseball is more important that some silly DUI. He hasn’t faced this like a man. He’s just offered a lot of lip service so people will say “Wow! He’s learned his lesson!” I think in order to learn a lesson like this one you actually have to be man enough to face the charges as the come, not try to continually get them pushed back. Color me unimpressed.
Also a bit on the unimpressive side: They’ve changed Fenway Franks. WTH? With all the improvements that could be made at Fenway, the Frank wasn’t exactly high on the list of issues. Sure, I think it’s great that the hot dogs are now being made by a local company (a very successful, local company. It isn’t like the Sox just gave this contract to some Mom and Pop outfit) but why mess with something that was already working??
And now, with a special formula and a cutting-edge technique that makes the hot dog juicier, Kayem is hoping to wow Fenway’s Faithful with a frank that it says is meatier with more distinct flavors of garlic and smoke than anything previously served in the shadow of the Green Monster.
Garlic and smoke does not a Fenway Frank make. Everyone has their own rituals at Fenway. Mine is that, regardless of what’s going on or what I’ve eaten during the day, I always make sure I have a Fenway Frank and a beer at any game I attend. Come Monday, when I’ll get to taste the new dog for the first time, I’ll be mighty peeved if they’ve taken that from me. Garlic and smoke? I’m getting cranky just thinking about it. Also, if you follow that link, Boston.com decided it would be GOOD to show you a hot dog being made. Let me just say, no, no it wasn’t good. Avoid the video if you can. Holy hell.
Clay Buchholz had his first truly bad outing of the spring yesterday and then found out that, as long as Brad Penny’s arm doesn’t fly off when he pitches tomorrow, Penny will be the number 5 guy in the rotation. He must be bummed about this, especially given the Spring Training he’s had, but Clay seems to be handling it well (at least publicly). I’m disappointed, but the idea of a healthy Penny pitching well AND having Clay waiting in the wings makes me wildly excited about the possibilities for pitching success this season.
And this is random, but here it is anyway: Paul Pierce is following me on Twitter. Now, Paul Pierce happens to be following 526 people, so it isn’t as if I’m all that special, I know, but it still made a bit giddy when I saw that he was, indeed, a “follower”. (For context, I followed him first. I’m fairly certain it was just a respectful follow just to return the follow move, but I’ll pretend that my favorite Celtic actually cares about my Tweets!)
Given today is my only free day until I make the trip to New York on Friday, I should be spending it preparing for said trip. But there is a Marlins/Orioles ST game on the MLB Network at 1pm. I’m compelled to spend 3+ hours in front of the television to watch a meaningless game between teams I don’t root for. Nah, I’m not too desperate for the real season to begin!