so im a buccos fan now!

I like the Bucs. This year, they’re not looking so good, but I think first the first time in over a decade they’re headed in the right direction. The have 3 very promising prospects (McCutcheon, Alvarez, and Tabata) who are pretty close to the majors, and will help make them decent (maybe even a winning record!!) by 2010 or 2011. They still need some pitching, though, and I don’t think it’s going to come from India.

Steelers, Pens, Pirates. I love the Pens but don’t know a lot about hockey (I’m not dumb, though), and I kinda like the Pirates, but know a decent amount about baseball.

Not a Basketball fan, but gotta go with the Pistons and Thunder when I do watch it.

Baseball was my favorite sport as a kid and played in highschool and was going to play in college (long story). But after a while I just wasn’t able to follow baseball like I had with the Pirates being so damned horrible. Season after season knowing your team has NO chance of competing for a playoff spot let alone competing for a title makes you a bit bitter.

Baseball was my first love even before football. I played baseball as a youngster through high school. Unfortunately my gene pool and skill level ended my ascension and I switched to softball which I played until about a year or so ago when all my years finally caught up with me. I’m still an adequate and dependable player I just can’t drag myself out of bed the next day.

Baseball lost me in 1994 when the strike ended the World Series. That and the unfairness of baseball drove me away, not the Pirates feeble attempt to compete in today’s market. The lack of revenue sharing and a salary cap make MLB inherently unfair. I love the Pirates still but hate MLB. NFL and NBA rock. In the NBA (Lakers season ticket holder and have attended most of the Championships since 85) a team from Sacramento or San Antonio can win a Championship. In the NFL a small market team from Pittsburgh or Green Bay can also regularly compete. In baseball, save an example or two it is always a team with big pockets going for the Championship.

My top Pirates memories from youth;
1) My buddies parents take us to our first baseball game at the new 3 Rivers Stadium at age 7. The Pirates lose to the Cards 4-3 but Stargell goes “Chicken On The Hill” 3 times.
2) The 71 season featuring an 0-2 comeback against the Orioles and their 4 20 game winners. Clemente rocked! Steve Blass was an ace.
3) Moose throws a wild pitch in the 72 playoffs allowing the Big Red Machine to come back in the 9th. The Pirates were the best team in baseball that year and should have repeated. A few months later The Great One perishes into the sea on a mission of good will. I cried and still get teary looking at Clemente documentaries. He was the greatest player I ever saw in person.
4) I think it was 77 or 78. The Pirates trail the Phils by like 10 games at the beginning of September but cut it to 3 with 4 games against Philadelphia left. Me and buddies attend a Friday night twin bill the Buc’s sweep. Ed Ott hits an inside the park grand slam in the bottom of the 9th in the first game as the Buc’s win 4-3. The Cobra (wearing a football helmet due to a broken jaw) helps the Buc’s in a game 2 win. We lose the 3rd game on Saturday and win on Sunday to finish a game out of first.
5) We Are Family. Pops, Scrap Iron, The Cobra, Mad Dog, Blyleven, Don Robinson, Foli and aging veteran Manny Sanguillen (brought back for one last season) lead the Pirates on a magical journey to the Championship.
6) 90’s chockers lose 3 straight NL Playoff series 90-92 the last one in heartbreaking fashion. “Hey Baroid, how do you not throw out Sid Bream?” Bonds rebuffs the Pirates offer of 6 million a year for an extra million in SF and the Pirates are jinxed ever since. Like the curse of the Bambino, we wait for competitive baseball to retrn to Pittsburgh.

during the littlefield years, and the hole he dug the franchise is going to require a few more years to recover from, as well as some good drafts.

Ross Ohlendorf is picthing tonight. You can listen live here:

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp?product=gameday&affiliateId=clubeditorial

As I said earlier in spring training ….ok maybe it was a week or two ago…I think he’s got his spot nailed down in the starting rotation.