Indians Routed By Red Sox: There Is No Joy In Mudville

Casey didn't strike out, but the look on his and Pronk's faces tell it all

So, the title of my column is unoriginal because it includes an overused, practically cliche line from Ernest Lawrence Thayer 's classic poem "Casey at the Bat." Well too bad, shove it. Add unoriginal hack to the list of adjectives like crest fallen, dejected, bewildered, disappointed, biter, angry and woeful to describe me right now. The beloved Wahoo Warriors just fell on the field of battle to the Boston Red Sox (the team that gave up on Tris Speaker, the "Grey Eagle"). It was a great ride for a group of young and talented Cleveland baseball players. The ride has unfortunately come to an end. And while the Indians look to have a bright future, they end on yet another disappointing note for Cleveland sports fans.

You probably don't want to hear a woe-is-me rant from a broken down Cleveland fan, but it's all I've got. My pro sports teams are the Browns, Cavs, Indians and Sabres. My noble alma mater(glorious to view), does not have big time sports, but did manage to tear my heart out against Duke in the National Lacrosse Semifinals this past May. Yeah, my teams are painful. Maybe you Mets fans can take some form of solace in reading of the atrocities endured by a simple man from Erie, PA. Erie, by the way, doesn't bring much in the way of sports glory besides the great Freddie Biletnikoff, Mark Stepnoski, some high school state championships and this classic moment. Eriesistible!!!!!!!

In the rankings of painful losses I've endured during my career as a sports fan, this ranks some distance behind the losses deadlocked at #4: a. The Indians defeat in the '97 World Series to the Florida Marlins (Joe Table, a part of Erie's Scribe died that night nearly ten years ago). b. The Cornell Lax team comes all the way back from 7 goals down to tie the National Semifinal Game against Duke, only to lose it with 3 seconds remaining. c. The Buffalo Sabres lose the Stanley Cup in Triple Overtime of Game 6 on a cheap ass goal by Brett Hull that should have been disallowed by the rules in place at the time. d. MJ, Ehlo, Game 4 1989. Lucky they don't play that on the devil box over and over ad nauseam.

Anyway, this is much closer to the Cavs loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals. Blowing a 3-1 lead in the ALCS is terrible. Not World Series terrible, but still terrible. Losing sucks. I hate it. I hate it in real life, I hate when my favorite teams lose and I hate it when my fantasy teams lose (yeah, add fantasy dork to my other list of superlatives). But, the Cavs and Indians' losses are a little easier to swallow. The Red Sox, like the Spurs, were the better team. You gotta give them credit. The Indians, like the Cavs, are a young and talented team (sure most of the Cavs talent is tied up in one player, but they are young) on the rise. Good foundations for both squads and they're both at the beginning of their window of championship opportunities.

Luckily, I can now turn my attention to the Cleveland Browns and the offensive juggernaut they've become under Chud's expert guidance. At least I know the Brownies won't break my heart?!? Hey, the Colts had the worst run defense in the league last year and they won the Super Bowl!! Bark like a Dawg.