Hell Freezes Over!

[Fax]

I know this might be more than a little alien to some of you guys but last night the Boston Red Sox won the World Chamionship for the first time in 86 years...
It comes with all the cliche's, the sun rising in the west, dogs & cats slepping together, etc.
This is proof that a Morgan could win the 24 Hours of LeMans...
John

[Steve Pyro]

Now's the time to sponsor them then  

[BigH]

Hi Fax,
Now I don't want to come over all xenophobic, nothing could be further from the truth, but I have to tell you that in the UK baseball is generally held in about as much esteem as spending Sunday morning unblocking a drain. There's nothing more guaranteed to get a Brit frothing than mention of the "World" Series. Here, it's called rounders and played by schoolgirls in short pleated skirts, and surprisingly, that's where my interest starts. Although I admit to having problems getting into the skirt these days and the farmers don't look quite right, either.
But I know where your coming from mate. Since birth I've followed a second rate second division football (soccer) team, and every fixture usually means disappointment and embarrassed mumbles to my mates on a Saturday night. It's all that pain and the history of general ineptitude that makes a victory soooo... sweet. Have a cold one for me, and hone those stories for relaying to your grandchildren. Come on you Sox!!!
H

[Fax]

Hi H,
No offence taken, I've been reassured by most of my English friends that they have about as much interest in Baseball as Americans have in Soccer. I'm also well aware of the reaction that the title "World Series" triggers (thats why I avoided using it in my first post).  It's Red Sox near century of futility that makes the story intriguing.  This is a team that has scaled unprecedented heights finding new ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Personally I'm a Cincinnati Reds fan.
Fax  

[Steve TTTD]

There's nothing more guaranteed to get a Brit frothing than mention of the "World" Series.

One of the common misconceptions that we British love to spout about American sport this one.

The reason it's called the 'World' series is after the newspaper that sponsored the first challenge. I think it was called the Chicago World, but I'm likely to be corrected.
Had it been sponsoredby the New York Post it could have been called the 'Post' Series. But them we wouldn't have had the joke..

[BigH]

I've read that that one's a bit of an urban myth Steve, maybe fax could clear it up.

It was most likely the Baton Rouge Trombone, but it just didn't catch on...

To be fair I've never really had a good honest go at getting into baseball (well, there's not exactly a lot of coverage over here) and think I should do. I tried with American Fooball, but was eventually exasperated by the ads and interupted flow of the game. Aussie Rules I reckon is a great game, and urge anyone to give it a go. Beach volleyball was the subject of close scrutiny, but I reckon it'll never catch on in Brighton. Besides, my pleas for a kit inspection were ignored.
H

[Fax]

Actually guys the idea that it was named after the New York World newspaper is a bit of an urban myth.  It was called the World Series simpy because the American and National leagues each had their own respective championships and a "bigger" title was needed.  It was also hoped that baseball would spread to the rest of the world and that someday it would really be a true world series.  Got to remember this was in the very early 20th century and at the time America was very isolationist so to the average Joe Blow in Nebraska a game between the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds might as well have been the World Series.  Baseball is like soccer in that there are alot of complexities to the game that would be invisible to the uneducated eye.  Both would seem as thrilling as watching paint dry if you didn't really understand what you where seeing.
John

[Steve TTTD]

Actually guys the idea that it was named after the New York World newspaper is a bit of an urban myth.  

If something else I've always believed is a myth, does that mean that Big Foot isn't real either?

[Fax]

Ah yes! The legend of the north woodlands.
Come to think of it, you never see Bigfoot and Canada Phil in the same place at the same time...Hmm, kinda makes you wonder.
John

[Steve Pyro]

Come to think of it, you never see Bigfoot and Canada Phil in the same place at the same time...Hmm, kinda makes you wonder.
John

Hmmm.  Tall.  Facial hair.  You may have something there John.

[Canada Phil]

Hi Fax & Steve,
                       Here in Canada I Am/ He is known
as Sasquatch
 
 
 


  Heroes of Lore and Yore  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CANADIAN HEROES IN FACT AND FICTION

 
 
 
 
Are they real, or are they myth? The name "Sasquatch" is an anglicized version of the term "sesqec" that the Coast Salish Stó:lõ people of the lower Fraser River use to describe giant reclusive hairy creatures who inhabit the forests and mountains of Canada's Pacific Coast.  While most Canadians consider Sasquatch mythical creatures, for the Stó:lõ they are very real. They exist, however, within a Native zoology that includes creatures that non-Natives tend to think of as "mythical" or "supernatural."1

Several other northwest coast tribes (including the Tlingit, the Haida, the Tsimshean / Nisga'a, Nuxalk and Kwakiutl peoples) also consider these hair-covered manlike and nocturnal beings as creatures that exist in the mountains and the forests of coastal areas, often times with spiritual connections.

For the more than 1000 Canadians who over the past fifty years have found giant footprints near their campsites, or reported having direct encounters of various kinds, the Sasquatch remains a mystery that continues to fascinate and baffle anthropologists, zoologists and the general public alike.

Keith T. Carlson, University of Saskatchewan



 
 

[Fax]

Hi Phil,
You need to stop wearing that Chewbacca costume when you go fishing, its freaking out the locals!
We missed you at the Petit buddy, hope all's well with our northern neighbors.
Fax