Somebody Upstairs is Unhappy with The Passion

When I first read this CNN report, I couldn't stop laughing.

It seems that Jim Caviezel, the actor playing Jesus in Mel Gibson's movie about the death (passion) of Christ, was struck by lightning during filming a few days ago. An assistant director, Jan Michelini, was also struck--for the second time in a few months.

Maybe the Deity is none too pleased with the alledged anti-semitism of Gibson's film. I've talked to several people who say that Gibson isn't actually anti-semitic; he's just portraying what happened based on the Gospels. But after I read that New Yorker article from a few weeks ago (sorry, no link available) in which Gibson implied his own wife would be going to hell for not being the right type of Catholic, I think I'm justified in thinking the worst of Gibson.

WOW!

My regular readers have probably noticed by now that I only blog about the Sox when they win. That's generally because I am too upset to do anything but sit around and be cranky when they lose. But last night's game was amazing. I watched it at first by myself in my apartment until the Sox were up 4-1. Then in the car on the way to an event in Copley Square, I listened with my boyfriend as the Yankees rallied to 5-4. I was very depressed. Then, at the event (an art auction to benefit Copley Square) I watched the game again on a TV that the organizers had helpfully placed by the silent auction items, I watched the Yankees score again, 6-4. At that point I started drinking copious amounts of wine, hoping to drown my sorrows once again. And then, the Sox offense turned on. What an amazing rally.

And, to make things even better, Nomar is apparently out of his slump. Bob Ryan writes in today's Globe:

For high onto six weeks, he's been the Stepford Nomah, not Our Nomah. He's been Nomah the Poppah-Uppah. Nomah the Whiffah. Nomah the 6-4-3ah. Nomah the Rally-Killah. Our Nomah was famous for making hard outs. This Nomah was a glorified Mark Belanger. All over New England people were praying to the Deity of their choice, all demanding the same thing: "Please, God, give us back our Nomah!"

Last night the prayers were (finally) answered. Nomah singled to right in the first. Nomah singled to center in the fifth. Nomah ignited the big seventh-inning rally with a triple off the center-field fence (scoring on Hideki Matsui's accompanying throwing error). Nomah had a single behind the third base bag in the eighth. Nomah went 4 for 5 and scored two runs. He'll be fully back when he hits a three-run homah off Rogah tonight, but four-fifths, or seven-eighths, or whatever it was of Nomah was a tremendously welcome sight for the Boston Red Sox.

And Trot Nixon continued his hitting heroics with a homer in the top of the ninth. Johnny Damon's two catches in the bottom of the ninth were phenomenal as well. Tonight's pitching match up promises great excitement. Go Sox! Reverse the Curse!

Sox win AGAIN!!!

The Sox picked up another game last night 3-2, tying the ALCS. You can read the Globe's coverage here. The article makes the excellent point that Tim Wakefield is turning into an ace of a pitcher, and the Sox bullpen is actually helping win games instead of lose them:

Wakefield and the Sox won the game, 3-2, and now the ALCS reset button has been pushed. A strange series just got stranger. The Sox and Yankees are tied at two games apiece, and now Boston no longer talks as if getting the ball to Pedro Martinez again is the ultimate plan. Now they talk as if they have two aces. There is Pedro, the man who knows about being debated and discussed at playoff time. And there is Wakefield, the man who knows how it feels not to be picked for the playoff squad.

Incidentally, The Globe also obtained a copy of the police report filed after Saturday's bullpen incident. It turns out that the fan in the Yankees' bullpen was actually a Fenway groundskeeper who was cheering for the Sox. (This sort of partisanship is apparently against Sox policy.) At any rate, Yankee pitcher Jeff Nelson and Right Fielder Karim Garcia beat the guy up pretty badly...there were cleat marks on his back and neck.

So let's think about this: two Yankees players beat up an unarmed guy who happened to be cheering for the Red Sox. Nelson didn't get fined at all; Garcia was fined $10,000. Pedro Martinez was rushed by a Yankees coach and got fined $50,000, while Don "Bowling Ball" Zimmer got fined $5,000. Clearly MLB is biased against the Sox. I'm not excusing anyone's behavior during Saturday's game, but I do expect MLB's disciplinary arm to deal out fines fairly. That has not happened.

WHAT???

According to the New York Times:

With no game Sunday, the fallout from Saturday's chaos dominated the day. Major League Baseball fined Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez and outfielder Manny Ramirez, and Yankees right fielder Karim Garcia and the bench coach, Don Zimmer, for their roles in a brawl in the fourth inning of Game 3. Martínez was fined $50,000, Ramirez $25,000, Garcia $10,000 and Zimmer $5,000, The Associated Press reported.

How is it that Don "Bowling Ball" Zimmer rushed Pedro, who was just standing there during the brawl, gets fined only $5,000? Are we supposed to feel bad because he's an old geezer? He deliberately attacked the starting pitcher for the opposing team. Good grief.

Wakefield is starting tonight again. May be repeat his performance of last week!

Zimmer as Bowling Ball

Bill Lee, who never saw eye-to-eye with Zimmer, checked in with the Associated Press on Saturday's incident. "Maybe it knocked some sense into him," Lee said, adding that he was impressed by Martinez. "It's pretty hard to grab a bowling ball by the ears.

Yesterday's Sox Game

I'm appalled by the behavior of grown men. That goes for Pedro and Manny as well as Roger, Don Zimmer, and whoever that crazy Yankee was that rushed into the Yankees' Bullpen to confront a fan the Boston Police already had under control. Good grief.

That said, I can't believe Don Zimmer rushed Pedro. No wonder Pedro knocked him down. I'd be scared if that fat thing came rushing at me too.

And, if I may continue in the same vein as before (see below), Fox's coverage REALLY REALLY STINKS. We got more commercials for sleazy upcoming Fox shows than actual baseball.

The Tragedy of the Gag Rule

An editorial in today's Boston Globe details the lives the Bush administration's gag rule is taking in Africa and Eastern Europe.

In Ethiopia, where people in some areas must walk two days to reach a highway, the rule has interfered with outreach programs that provide health care to otherwise forgotten communities. Voluntary AIDS counseling, testing, and prevention programs have been decimated. Life expectancy in Ethiopia, according to the United Nations, is 45 years.

In Romania, where abortion is tragically common, family planning counselors accepting US funds cannot reach women when they need it most -- immediately after having an abortion. Health workers are not allowed to lobby for safer abortion techniques or equipment. A successful program funded jointly by Planned Parenthood and US AID designed precisely to help women avoid abortion can no longer provide condoms to women at clinics where abortions are performed.

It's a shame that so-called "abortion politics" are so black and white for the "pro-life" lobby that pulls Bush's strings. One might as well call the gag rule "pro-death."

How 'bout them Red Sox?

Wow. I've spent the entire season reviling Tim Wakefield. I take it all back. Last night, the Yankees looked like the Red Sox, running through four pitchers in one inning. Sure, there were a few nervous moments. But overall, an outstanding start for the Sox. May they keep it up.

While I'm on the subject of The Game, I must say that Fox's coverage STINKS. Last night featured frequent commercial interruptions, so that many times viewers were returned to the game after another inning had started, missing several pitches. And the announcers, whoever they were, were not very good at actually narrating the game. I was in the kitchen for the first few innings with the TV turned way up, expecting to at least hear what was happening ("Wakefield high and outside" or something like that) but no such luck.

You can check out the Boston Globe's coverage here. I love that Dan Shaughnessy is calling the ALCS the "Fung Wah Bus Series!"

More dumb Bush

"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."—President George W. Bush, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 3, 2003

I guess Bushie, our Commander-in-Chief, has failed to notice something significant: there are enough weapons of mass destruction in American missile silos to annihilate life on this planet several times over.

Red Sox 4, Oakland 3

Wow. The bottom of the ninth. Bases loaded. Two outs. Lowe on the mound. The count 1-2. And he struck him out!!!! Sox win! Eat your hearts out, Yankees fans! We're coming to New York to do the same to the evil ones!