A little comment(ary)...

Battle of baseball beliefs
USA Today

When the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies meet in tonight's WorldSeries opener, it will be a clash not just of the American and Nationalleague champions, but of two baseball ideologies. In the starkestterms, it's buy-a-team vs. build-a-team.

Thebuild-from-the-bottom philosophy, personified by the Rockies, isbaseball's future. The Red Sox, with their bloated free-agent salariesand baseball's second highest payroll — $143 million vs. the Rockies' $54 million — represent the era when rich teams squeezed the middle class.

Since the mid-'90s, the big spenders have generally ruled. If the New York Yankees ($207 million payroll this year) weren't in the mix, then some other team that knew how to throw around a checkbook was. All that money could buy talent and even victories, but baseball's economics became self-destructive, sapping the game of competition and the magic that comes when any team just might win the big one.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20071024/cm_usatoday/battleofbaseballbeliefs;_ylt=Ajo0Tnn3gZkIvPVXwcj6hGms0NUE

Sportswriter records Red Sox Nation's joys, woes
By JEANNINE GUTTMAN

You have to live in New England to appreciate the craze known as Red Sox Nation.

Outsiders simply don't get it. They are immune to the contagion. They never seem to succumb fully to its spell.

An illustration: A few years ago, at the annual New England Newspaper Association awards convention in Boston, out-of- state judges told a room full of editors and publishers that they were astounded by the degree of Red Sox coverage in the newspapers.

The team didn't make it through the playoffs that year, but still the coverage was wall-to-wall. It seemed excessive, the judges remarked.

"What are you going to do if they ever win the World Series?" one judge asked rhetorically.

The room erupted. Editors and publishers began speaking on top of each other. "What would we do? What do you think we'd do?"

The idea of the Red Sox breaking The Curse, obliterating the dreaded Yankees and winning a World Series title, was a far- fetched concept at the time.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=137178&ac=Insight

COMMENTARY
Quite a place to be
By KEVIN THOMAS
Blethen Maine Newspapers

BOSTON -- With the TV cameras ready to roll, and the shiny World Series trophy perched next to him, Boston Red sox owner John Henry tried to light his victory cigar.

But the thing was huge, probably needing a blowtorch on one end, and the equivalent of a Hoover providing suction on the other.

Henry could not get it to light.

Oh well, kids, there is a lesson there. You can't have everything, even if you do own two World Championships in four years, the second-largest payroll in the major leagues, and the admiration of that growing phenomenon known as Red Sox Nation.

Fans of that Nation numbered in the thousands at Coors Field Sunday night.

http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/sports/stories/4422064.html

Missing that underdog mentality
Can there be pleasure in rooting for baseball's best team?
By BILL NEMITZ

I admit it. I need help.

Like the rest of Red Sox Nation, I sat on the edge of the couch Sunday night not quite believing what I was seeing:

Our beloved 2007 Sox, a finely tuned a machine if ever there was one, stepping over the Colorado Rockies as if they were a minor league molehill.

The champagne-spattered World Series trophy passing from hand to hand inside the Sox' clubhouse for the second time in four seasons.

Kenmore Square, deprived once again of a World Series clincher at nearby Fenway Park, overflowing with Sox faithful chanting, "We're Number One! We're Number One!"

Three years ago, I'd watched the same scenes unfold with tears in my eyes, a lump in my throat and my long-gone grandfather in my thoughts. The Curse, all 86 years of it, had just crumbled before my eyes.

This time? Not so much.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=144202&ac=PHnws

A conversation with George Mitchell
Click here to read the full transcript of the senator's interview with the Press Herald.

Former Maine Senator George Mitchell spoke Tuesday to the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram about his investigation of baseball’s problem with performance-enhancing drugs. Here is the interview transcript:

Portland Press Herald: I wanted to start by asking you about your decision to agree to lead this investigation. At the time you agreed to do so, a lot of people looked at the situation and said, “He doesn’t have subpoena power. The player’s union isn’t going to cooperate.” And so in light of those factors, why did you take the job?

Former Sen. George Mitchell: I knew it would be difficult. But, if you don’t try, you never get anything done. I knew it would be difficult when I went to Northern Ireland. I knew it would be difficult when I went to the Middle East. And I hoped that I could make a positive contribution.

PPH: Is it a relief now to be finished?

Mitchell: In one sense yes, of course. Whenever you finish an important assignment that takes some time, I think it’s a relief to be finished. In my case, as you know, I’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer. And I will begin a program of radiation in early January, starting in a couple weeks, that will last for 10 weeks. And so in a sense … I feel relieved that I have completed one task and will be able to tackle the next one.

PPH: Going back to the report, what level of confidence do you have that the recommendations you made in the report are going to be adopted by Major League Baseball?

Mitchell: As the report makes clear, I’m not an apologist for either the Players Association or the commissioner’s office. But I think if you look back over the past several years, there’s reason to believe that they have taken this issue seriously and will continue to do so in the future. Let me point out the factors which cause me to say that. First, of course, it was the commissioner who requested this investigation. He had the courage to say to me he wanted a complete and thorough and independent investigation, and that he gave me full authority to … follow the evidence wherever it led, and to report whatever I found fairly and accurately and thoroughly.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=156551&ac=PHnws

Pats fans the losers in this game
By BILL NEMITZ

What's wrong with this picture?

One week from Saturday, assuming they roll over the hapless Miami Dolphins this Sunday, the New England Patriots will be poised to make sports history.

If they beat the New York Giants on Dec. 29, they will be the first NFL team to go undefeated in a 16-game regular season. It will be, for any New England sports fan, a sight to behold.

Or not.

There's a high-stakes tug of war going on between the NFL Network and Time Warner Cable. And you, poor fan and subscriber, are the rope.

It seems the NFL Network (which is owned by the National Football League) holds the exclusive rights to telecast the Patriots-Giants game -- part of the network's eight-game "Run to the Playoffs" package that began just after Thanksgiving.

But alas, the NFL Network is nowhere to be found on Time Warner's endless channel guide. Ask either side why and, not surprisingly, you get two very different answers.

"Time Warner is taking advantage of faithful fans' passion and trying to extract more money out of them," NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky said Thursday.

Palansky said the NFL Network would love to be on Time Warner Cable -- provided that Time Warner's customers don't have to pay extra for it. Attaching a premium to the NFL Network, he said, would run afoul of the network's commitment to provide widespread "affordable access to our product."

To which Peter DeWitt, Time Warner's spokesman in Maine, replied, "My dream Christmas gift is to have our customers see that game on Dec. 29."

But that won't happen, DeWitt said, unless Time Warner can pass the cost directly on to the fans who want to watch the NFL Network -- and spare those subscribers who have no interest (yeah, right) in the Pats.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=156980&ac=PHnws

For Gorham teen, just attending Super Bowl is perfect
By STEVE SOLLOWAY
Portland Press Herald

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The ride in the limousine was cool. The red-carpet treatment, the smiles and caring words from strangers were appreciated.

But Josh Kramer's eyes really got big when he walked onto the turf at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Friday. He turned around, imagining the New England Patriots standing on one sideline and the New York Giants on the other.

Bright lights, noise, and the electric feeling that comes just before the start of the Super Bowl. Kramer tried to imagine it all, knowing he would be part of it all come Sunday evening.

Wow. He'd have something to tell his friends and teammates when he returns to Gorham High School next week.

"I'm just amazed," said Kramer, 16. "I always wanted to see an NFL game and now my first is going to be the Super Bowl."

He's picking the Patriots, by the way, 28-14.

Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Kramer is one of 12 teenage boys invited to this year's game.

Kramer first made his wish in 2006, but too late to be considered for last year's Super Bowl.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=166639&ac=PHnws


John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Finally, the game
From teams to TVs, preparation for the Super Bowl is over
By KEVIN THOMAS
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald

When Mike Cloutier sits down with friends in his Cape Elizabeth home today, they will scream, moan, high-five one another and maybe giggle at a commercial or two.

The big day has arrived. Super Bowl XLII will be played this evening.

Today's story line is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. The bottom line is that the New England Patriots are aiming for their fourth title in seven years, while hoping to make sports history as the only NFL team to finish a season 19-0.

In their way are the New York Giants, which used to be the one and only beloved football team in these parts, until the Patriots came into existence in 1960.

For some fans, it is hard to switch loyalties. Cloutier, who never considered rooting for the Patriots, became a Giants fan because his dad was.

Still, Cloutier can't deny the Patriots' talent. He may start to squirm when the Patriots' No. 12 breaks from the huddle.

"My biggest concern is Tom Brady," Cloutier said.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=166944&ac=PHnws


Staff Photo Illustration by Michael Fisher

Amens, omens, history in the making
For most fans, the margin of Super Bowl victory doesn't matter. Some even will be happy no matter who wins.
From Portland Press Herald

PHOENIX — The three-legged dog ambled along the city sidewalk, tugging at its leash. Barry Carus, a New York Giants fan, noticed.

Omen?

"Absolutely," said Carus. "It can only mean the Giants win the Super Bowl."

Two weeks of chest-beating, analyzing and predicting are all but over. Fans of the New England Patriots and the Giants seem to have co-existed peacefully as they flocked to the Valley of the Sun over the past two days. They've come to see one team beat the other.

Keith Gustin and his companion, Jen Pearson, came down from Seattle to witness something else. "Either way, said Pearson, "we're going to see history. The Manning brothers are going to win back-to-back Super Bowls or the Patriots get their perfect season. We win either way."

She's right. It won't matter if the score is close or not, if the drama is heightened or not. It won't matter if the commercials are hilarious or dumb or if Tom Petty's halftime show is the best ever or not.

Late Sunday night, the Patriots will either be perfect or more flawed than anyone thought.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=166945&ac=PHnws


The Associated Press

A Saturday night date like no other
Quarterback Matt Ryan's longtime girlfriend, a former Catherine McAuley basketball star, is attending the NFL draft.
By STEVE SOLLOWAY
Portland Press Herald

She never paid much attention to that unique part of American sport culture known as the NFL draft. Watch the selections on television or follow them over the Internet? Buy a ticket and actually go to Radio City Music Hall to see the draft in person?

It wasn't on Sarah Marshall's to-do list.

Until now.

Sarah Marshall and her father, John, left Boston on Thursday aboard an Amtrak Acela bound for New York City. Not only do they have tickets to Saturday's NFL draft, they have prime seats. Sarah, a former Catherine McAuley basketball star and three-year starter at Boston College, has a connection.

His name is Matt Ryan, the former Boston College quarterback. People who are paid to pay attention to such things say he will be the first quarterback chosen in the draft. He's at the top of his class. His signing bonus alone should make him an instant millionaire.

He's also Sarah Marshall's longtime boyfriend.

"It's funny how sports can take your life in a different direction," John Marshall said before he left the family home in Falmouth. "I haven't really given (Sarah) any advice. She's mature beyond her years."

To those who know Sarah and Matt, it was a nice story when it first started more than four years ago. "Being on campus as an athlete, you start to see the same faces," said Sarah Marshall. "I saw him a lot at Conte Forum."

Until the nearby Yawkey Center was built for the football team, Conte was the hub for BC athletes. Most teams had their offices and locker rooms and training facilities there. Marshall and Ryan passed each other in the corridors. They noticed each other. Soon, friends encouraged them to meet.

"He's a really nice guy," said Marshall. She didn't elaborate further, conscious of the intrusion on a private relationship.

She doesn't know what to expect Saturday. More people have the opportunity to meet the nation's president than to be front and center at the NFL draft. The media, including the all-seeing eyes of television cameras, love the background stories of the players chosen in the first round of the draft.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=183721&ac=PHnws


Family photo

The Associated Press