Can't write anything today, folks. I'm feeling conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I'm giddy as a schoolgirl over the possibly impending announcement of the Expos' move to Washington. (Fair warning: If this move goes down, look for this blog to become a DC baseball fest for the foreseeable future.) I'm all too aware of the hurdles we still have to cross, and yet... and yet... it's so close. As I warned Papa Shaft yesterday: "Just please God don't let anything stop this or I'm going down to the Stadium/Armory stop and throwing myself on the tracks, dammit. We've suffered enough."
Speaking of Papa, he offers this assessment of the mood down at Camden Yards in light of recent developments.
One thing I noticed today in Baltimore is that some people seem to be running scared, while others are just shrugging their shoulders and trying to ignore it all. I don't think anyone expected any of this to happen, especially after the head of our department was told that Angelos had been told that it wasn't happening...
[T]he people who have been there for several years seem to be the ones shrugging their shoulders and ignoring it. From them, there's talk about it in hushed whispers, but no one's seriously upset over it. I think people are more concerned with (or more accurately, interested in) whether Angelos sells out after all this gets settled.
The part-time employees who are young (ie, college age) don't seem to care much one way or another. On the other hand, the older part-time employees seem to be spouting the Angelos lines about how DC can't support a baseball team, how it's going to hurt the Orioles, how the DC team is going to fail, etc. I've come to regard these people as complete idiots. I was about to say something to this one 60-year old guy, but thought better of it because he's a rather dumb provincial Baltimorean who wouldn't have listened anyway.
The end game is so close... so close... I can hardly bear to wait for further development. To pick up on my Christmas analogy from last week, it's Christmas Eve right now, and it seems like the night just... won't... end. My inner 6-year-old won't sleep a wink until it's time to look under the tree.
While Washington baseball is making me jubliant, Washington football is making me want to throw myself under a bus. Cowboys 21, Deadskins 18, and the game wasn't as close as the score suggests. Yes, the Skins got hosed on some bad calls, but we more than merited our defeat with our poor play. The mental errors continue: We lost all three timeouts in the second half for no good reason (lost one on a botched challenge, and two because we couldn't get the play to the field in time). One reason the game was close: the Cowboys secondary repeatedly quit on their coverage before the play was over. This is a matter about which Dallas fans might wish to be concerned.
Oh, and a special thank you to Frinklin, who put a big ol' hex on the Skins by picking them to win last night. Hey, buddy, next time pick someone else, okay? Not that I blame Frinklin for the defeat; if we're casting blame, I'll start with Chris Samuels' extremely loose interpretation of "blocking."
At any rate, enough of my truncated thoughts. Pray for baseball! See you tomorrow.
Posted by Fred at September 28, 2004 07:26 PMI must admit, Chris Samuels perplexes me. I've heard great things about him -- he's been lauded as a fantastic young player -- but everytime I saw him he was sort of standing around watching everything happen.
The last thing you want to see when your quarterback heads violently to the turf is an offensive lineman standing there, hands on his hips.
Posted by: Zygote at September 28, 2004 10:03 PM