Michigan 38, Notre Dame 0
Went to the game (again) on Saturday. While it’s nice to see the home team win for a change, I have more fun watching the crowd when they lose. On the other hand, this rout was not so much a sign that Michigan is back on the top of their game as a sign of just how bad Notre Dame is. Their total rushing yards for the game? -6… yes, that would be a negative sign.
On the other hand, their marching band was better than the Wolverines. One particularly impressive formation had them in the shape of a car “driving” across the field, complete with exhaust provided by fire extinguishers set off by the bagpipers. (And yeah… they have bagpipers as part of their band, which makes them that much cooler.)
Yankees 4, Red Sox 3
I have two new housemates from Massachusetts who are both die hard Sox game. A few weeks ago we gathered up a collection of Sox fans to watch some Red Sox-Yankees action at a bar where we were the definite minority — the Tigers were the main attraction that night. Last night we had an impromptu outing to watch the big match up at Buffalo Wild Wings. I showed up a little late and when I got there, I had reassure myself that I was still in Michigan. With both the Red Sox and the Patriots on the various TVs, there were former Bostonians everywhere. The bar even erupted into chants of “Let’s go Red Sox” at various points. I was filled with nostalgia for the days of hanging out at the A-side or Frogstar watching baseball with good friends who were all cheering for the same team.
Despite a near comeback in the bottom of the ninth that had Big Papi up with the bases loaded, the Sox couldn’t quite catch up with Derek Jeter’s jeer inducing 3 run homer in the eighth. Papi popped up, the game was over, and we went home disappointed. But still, it was nice to once again be surrounded by friends who were Sox fans.
…
Later, I was wondering to myself why I enjoyed being one of the Red Sox fans and yet I don’t feel any predilection for Michigan football. It could be that one is baseball and one is football, but I think it’s a little deeper than that. Being a grad student, I still don’t feel like Michigan is “my” school and “my” team, despite having been here for two years now. On the other hand, I still feel like MIT is “mine” in some odd sense of the word because that’s where I was when I truly became an adult. Because MIT’s sports were laughable (I was a varsity athlete for crying out loud), the Red Sox became my “college” team. And thus, I’ll always feel at home in Red Sox nation… even if my true love is Justin Morneau.

Whoa, hold on!
Who the heck is Clay Buchholz?!?!
(Not paying attention to sports today? He’s a pitcher called up for his cup of coffee who, in only his second major league start ever, pitched a no hitter for the Boston Red Sox.)

The no-hitter that should have been… 17 strikeouts in eight innings… 17.
It was a rainy day in Minneapolis, which of course meant that it was a great day to go to a ball game. (This is the sort of reverse logic we get with an indoor stadium.) Not only was the weather cooperating, but my very first favorite Twin, Gary Gaetti, was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame, partly because this weekend was the 20 year reunion of the 1987 World Championship team. Adding to the day’s potential was the fact that Johan Santana was on the mound. Thus, it made sense that my family opted not to go to the lake and went to the Metrodome instead.
This is the third time I’ve seen Santana pitch this season. Both of the previous times I thought to myself, perhaps I’ll see a no-hitter today. Both of the previous times, nothing close to that happened. But yesterday… yesterday Santana set a team record of 17 strikeouts in a single game (and with Joe Nathan’s appearance in the 9th, the Twins pitched a total of 19 strikeouts), and only gave up two hits, both to Sammy Sosa. He mowed down the side in three separate innings and only had one inning in which he didn’t strike out a batter. In fact, it was the only inning in which he didn’t strikeout at least two batters. So dominant was his performance that it didn’t matter that the Twins could only muster a single homerun from Michael Cuddyer.
This is also the first time I’ve ever seen a Metrodome crowd boo Joe Nathan, the reigning King of Twins Saves. The major league record for strikeouts is 20, done by a few people, including Clemens and Kerry Wood. After mowing down the side in the 8th to bring his total to 17, it seemed to me that the smart move was to bring Santana in in the 9th and let him go for the record. If he gave up a hit or even a non-strikeout out, then sure, bring in Nathan for the save. But at least let him go for the record… the man was on fire yesterday. Luckily for Nathan, the boos died down quickly and he was able to pitch a hitless 9th with two strikeouts of his own to end the game.

I’m going to ignore the steroid controversy for a moment and copy-paste the following IM conversation I just had:

Harvey: guess where i was last night?
me: don’t tell me AT&T Park
Harvey: ok, talk to you later then

For those not aware, Harvey Jones is currently bumming around the country visiting as many baseball stadiums as he can. We saw one of those games together in Cincinnati after Martine and Dave’s wedding (which I never blogged… I really should do that). Apparently he’s home (San Francisco) for the week, and was going to every game until Bonds hit it, meaning that he was at last night’s game sitting in section 102, row 10.
That kid is living out my dream summer and it is unbelievably unfair.
(As for Bonds and the steroids… when you look at pictures of him from early in his career and then look at pictures of him now, it’s really hard not to believe that steroids were involved somewhere. And given that, yes, I think it cheapens the record. The real tragedy is that prior to the suspected steroid use, an argument could have already been made that Bonds was the greatest player of the era, and now that has been tainted forever.)