New look to site, same crummy content!

You will notice that the ol' wildcardz blog has a different look and feel to it today...sleeker, faster, more efficient, able to leap tall bounds....actually it is just a new logo, color and font, but I thought I would hype it up a bit!

The new logo was an idea that I bumped across by accident. I loved the mosaic look, and I was looking for something new to coincide with my new collecting MO. Thanks to Joe at Priceless Pursuit this mosaic vision became a reality. I am still fiddling with some of the colors and fonts, but am really happy with the new design.

So I have not written much in the last several days. I have mostly been making single-card purchases to fill up some binder sleeves, but the sellers are a bit slow sending the cards, so not a whole lot to scan and show you all. I am in a bit of a funding crisis at the moment, and may end up cancelling plans for Series 2 and Ginter (GASP) until a later date. Although if I had to choose between the two, I would rather aim for Ginter at this point and pick up a Jumbo of Series 2 later on down the road to complete my set.

So collecting aside, I thought that I would spend this post giving my thoughts on a couple sporting issues...

First up, the demise of the Red Sox...or so many radio and television sources would have you believing.

Yep, that's right, they're done.

Really?

NO.

Part of the problem with being a fan of a team that is always a top-four in payroll spending, is that the expectations are enormous every year for "the best pitching staff in baseball" or the "most feared defensive alignment in the league". You get off to a slow start, and 35 games in the pundits are ready to write you off.

"I fear that the Red Sox have just dug themselves too big of a hole to climb out of" spoke one radio reporter. Really? I have to agree, that six games out with only 127 left to play is just asking too much of these guys, because clearly the Rays and Yankees are going to be able to keep up their pace for 120-130 victories EASILY. Might as well mail it all in. I deal with these ridiculous statements every year, comes with the territory of being part of Red Sox Nation.

Let's just pull the finger back from that panic button though for just a second. Think back to another team that started off slowly and....won the World Series that year. Hmm, who was that again. Same thing, everybody wrote off the Yankees and said they were finished.

The problem is that because so much of our sports media is located on the East Coast, the focus tends to be the NL East and the AL East and then the other guys. It's unfortunate, but the East-Coast bias does exist.

Let's look at what is really happening in Boston. Slow start? Yes. The pitching staff has been inconsistent. Run scoring down? Yep. Boston has been without its lead-off hitting and stealing threat Jacoby Ellsbury since April 15th, and a somewhat speedster and power-hitter in Mike Cameron for about the same length of time. Big Papi is pretty much done, and while it is a sad thing to see, he is not the only DH in the league that is struggling these days. However, Mike Lowell, in an awkward situation, has stepped up and filled that gap considerably.

The Red Sox are also pretty streaky at the moment. Sweep one series, get swept the next. Run production has been streaky as well, but really, there have been some nights where BIG numbers are put up.

So it really comes down to this once again. The fate of the season will be decided on the arms. If you truly believe that a rotation of Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz, Dice-K, and the occasional crusty old Wakefield is going to continually struggle all season and not come into form, then so be it. But writing a team of in early May is just insanity and newspaper filler.

I am Mike, and I approve this message.