Sunday Funday (featuring The Sox-Yanks rivalry, Harry Reid, Daredevil and more)

Face it folks, the days of Pedro throwing useless turds to the ground are over.

Dictionary.com defines "rival" as this:


-A person who is competing for the same object or goal as another, or who tries to equal or outdo another; competitor.


-A person or thing that is in a position to dispute another's preeminence or superiority.


I suppose that, when looking at the first definition, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are rivals. Theoretically they both strive to win the World Series. But if you look at the second definition, well, there's no disputing the superiority the Yankees have over Boston. Is this a rivalry? I suppose it is. However, since the events in the 2003 American League Championship Series and 2004 regular and post seasons, the Sox-Yankees rivalry has been completely watered down to a point where one has to question if it's still the greatest rivalry in all of sports.

One way to look at it...

It's not a rivalry if the other team beats the crap out of you on a regular basis: I like to tease people by saying this, mainly based on the fact that, for the past 92 years, New York has gotten the better of Boston in about 85 of them, and that might be generous. And when I say that, I mean, "beats the crap out of you when it matters most." What I'm saying is 2004, the last time the Sox won the regular season battle with the Yankees and the only time they've beaten them in the ALCS, was an aberration. The past three seasons, to my surprise, have netted a 27-27 record, but you'll recall in 2009 Boston won the first eight meetings and New York won nine of the last ten.


Eighteen games. You heard me: One of the nice things about football is you have rivals you see on a very limited basis, making it more meaningful and more exciting. Even in basketball you don't see a lot of your rivals. Not in baseball. Boston and New York, like many other division rivals, play each other 18 times. Eighteen. It's just ridiculous, which leads into the next point...


ESPN, Fox Sports and NESN are a joke: Dallas Cowboys running back once said of the Super Bowl, “If it’s the ultimate game, why are they playing it again next year?” These insults to journalism hype up all of those 18 games as "the ultimate game." I'd throw NESN a bone but every time a new player comes to town they have to make a commercial with said player saying "It's so great to be part of this tradition," or have Heidi "Homewrecker" Watney do a stupid interview asking what it means to be part of "such a rivalry."


What about the other jokers? Well if you've ever watched ESPN it's pretty clear they don't give two hoots about the other 28 MLB teams. Fox isn't much better. They too love to prop this up as the greatest rivalry in the history of the universe.


And memo to these two outlets: Kevin Youkilis being pissed off doesn't mean the rivalry is back on, it's just means it's one of the seven days of the week.

Stay classy Sox Nation.

The fans care more than the players: Simply put, it's obvious the actual players don't think of this as some ultimate rivalry. Moving on to the fans, there was an episode of Brotherhood where a Yankees fan walked into a Providence bar, called Ted WIlliams a "fag" and got a bullet in the head for his troubles. While things haven't been that bad, the World Series Boston won in '04 has given most Red Sox fans delusions of grandeur. More specifically it's turned them into world class d-bags, the same d-bags they used to rail on. So now you have two fanbases full of d-bags and two teams of players who couldn't care less about this so-called rivalry.

Flan on Films: Didn't watch any new movies this week, but did have time to throw Top Gun in the old PS3. Always classic. Also watched the Daredevil Director's Cut, much better than the theatrical version. One thing that is very underrated about this film is the soundtrack. See end of post for more.

Gabrielle Giffords' Moment of Civility Award: This one once again goes out to all the Democrats and liberals who used fear-mongering and violent rhetoric that they allegedly were against when their colleague Rep. Giffords was shot by one of their own. I'll let Mark Levin handle it from here:

Muhammad Hassan Wrestling Video of the Week: It's been a week since the debacle that was Wrestlemania XXVII and The Flan's Blog still needs a break from wrestling. It will return soon.

Last Word: So I have to go to Pawtucket frequently for a school project. I gotta tell you, the more I see of the city, the more ugly it gets... On that note anyone who knows where I can find soil and geological maps that'd be swell... If you have attention issues while working I recommend the House and Law & Order marathons on USA... My friends went to see the cherry blossoms in D.C. and reminded me of one of my least favorite comic book characters... A little music from the aforementioned Daredevil soundtrack:

Out.