100 years: The Titanic...(a rant)

[MaineDolFan]

...and Fenway Park.

Coincidence?  It ain't pretty.  I'm kind of liking it.  Karma, baby.  Ain't it a bitch.  It shouldn't be long before the "sell out" streak is over.  I'll be able to walk into my stadium again for face value.  Step one of bringing this ownership group a little more under control.

By the way, in other "Maine is still really disgusted with Red Sox ownership" news:

Fenway celebrates it's 100th home opener tomorrow.  Red Sox ownership, in all of their brillance and glory, actually had the gall to ask Terry Francona to be there (story here: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2012/04/terry-francona-fenway-centennial-celebration/1).

You know, after firing him.  Not just firing him...but having someone smear him on the way out the door.

AFTER firing him, John Henry took six months to return to guy's phone calls.  When they need something from HIM, however, they send guard dog Lucchino on the prowl to try to back Tito into a corner?

Screw you, John Henry.  Screw you, Larry Lucchino.  Screw you, Bobby Valentine.

Really, for that matter, screw any one who had a hand in getting this guy fired.  Should not have happened.  I have cleared a spot, anxiously, on my hat rack for whatever team Tito goes to next.  It does not matter WHO the team is.  If the team is good enough for Tito, they become mine.  THAT is how much this man means to me.

THAT is how much this man SHOULD HAVE MEANT to the RED SOX.

[Landshark]

Didn't Francona leave on his own?  If I recall correctly, he went to senior management and told them not to pick up his option. 

I'm guessing you being a media member and in the area, there's a lot more to it than what's printed.

[Brian Fein]

What if he signs with the Yankees?  Will you then become a Yankees fan?

[MaineDolFan]

Didn't Francona leave on his own?  If I recall correctly, he went to senior management and told them not to pick up his option. 

I'm guessing you being a media member and in the area, there's a lot more to it than what's printed.

He was fired.  I haven't been a member of the media for a long time at this point, I only have friends "left behind."  But Tito has given interviews where he has basically come clean and said it wasn't mutual.

[Brian Fein]

^^ Interesting, I don't believe you've publicly discussed being a member of the media since Landshark joined the forums in July, 2010.  I wonder where he got that info from.

[MaineDolFan]

I will always be a fan of the Boston Red Sox.  I am still one, even now.  Don't mistake my post.

If Tito becomes manager of the New York Yankees?  Yes, I will buy a New York Yankees hat and support them.  The man meant a lot to me professionally (he saved my ass more than once when he didn't need to) and means that much to me as a fan.  I don't know if Red Sox fans have any idea how much Tito was involved in bringing in key members of '04.  Players who would not have been here had he not been involved.  Tito did more than manage the team to it's first WS in 2004.  Ownership damn well knows it, which makes the way he was treated out the door even worse.

[MaineDolFan]

^^ Interesting, I don't believe you've publicly discussed being a member of the media since Landshark joined the forums in July, 2010.  I wonder where he got that info from.

I haven't muttered a word about media since I "retired" in 2008.  I've left the world of media happily behind.  It's like an abusive relationship.  Cut the cord.

Well, kind of.  I came out of retirement this past fall and did play by play for "Super Saturday" and promptly vanished back into the abyss...

[Brian Fein]

^^ Agreed.  Even I thought the way he was treated was BS.  But there's a clear delineation between supporting the guy and supporting the team which is a hated rival of your life-long die hard fandom.  I love Dan Marino, but if he had gone to the Jets, I'd not become a Jets fan.  See also, Jason Taylor.

In any case, I am enthralled by your analysis of the Boston Titanics Red Sox.  But curious, why do you hate Bobby Valentine?  He had nothing to do with it, but just filled the opening.

[Landshark]

^^ Interesting, I don't believe you've publicly discussed being a member of the media since Landshark joined the forums in July, 2010.  I wonder where he got that info from.

I used the search feature to look up some info on a thread I had posted in and right under it, there was a thread saying Maine was on the air.  If he's not a current media member, then my mistake.

[MaineDolFan]

I have never liked Valentine.  I hate the "I have to be the smartest guy in the room" guy.  I couldn't stand him as a Ranger, hated him as a Met, refused to listen to him on ESPN and he makes my skin crawl as the Red Sox skipper.

I was in Stamford a month or so ago.  My sister in law brought me to Bobby V's for lunch, she thought I would like it.  There are some cool things hanging on the wall.  He is also hawking some Red Sox gear there.  There was a really cool Red Sox shirt I thought was really sharp.  Long sleeve, the retro "old on purpose" look (faded, etc).  $40.  I was about to buy it...and then I saw it was autographed by Valentine.  I told the waitress to please put it back.  

Regarding supporting a team Tito manages:  My loyalty runs deep.  I've learned one thing with age, I only have certain things to my name.

[Dave Gray]

I think Francona should go.  ....stick it to management.  He's still loved by the fans, which is really what matters.  It would probably be better closure than he'd gotten to that point and it would leave management with egg on their faces.

[SportsChick]

I miss Tito

[Brian Fein]

For the record, Maine, I wasn't questioning your loyalty.  I was more intrigued by your lack of hatred for the Yankees.  Most Sox fans I know would sooner jump out of a moving car on the highway than put on a Yankees hat.

[MaineDolFan]

Dave - after the way the Red Sox treated Tito?  No way in hell.  I don't blame him.  Wounds are too raw.  He would be managing the Cards right now if it hadn't be for the Red Sox "inside source" who leaked the "pill" and divorce story.  How do you do that to a legend?

Brian - I have a burning hatred for all things Yankee.  If Tito puts on a Yankee hat, that would be good enough for me.  I would wipe my back side with it and burn it the second he left.  Thing is, it would never happen.  He will manage again, and soon.  Rumblings about him going back home to Philly.  There was even talk about if he would slide into Miami should the Ozzie thing get out of control.

I love the man.  I still have the text message on my phone from three days after he was let go.  I'm never deleting it.  He meant a lot to me.

It's one thing to be fired.  No playoff wins in three years and a locker room which seems to have fallen apart?  People have been fired for a whole lot less.  The Red Sox were within their rights to move along.  No hard feelings there.  Tito was willing to take a bullet for the team, right up to the end.  Even at the press conference AFTER he was fired.  "It was all my fault."  Who does that?!?  And, still.  The smear.  The PR war machine at Yawkee Way had eyes larger than their stomachs and it back fired. 

Everyone could have parted as friends.  Thanks to Henry and company, that didn't happen (1), Tito lost out on a job (2) and they damaged their trust in the fan base.  Trust me, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Thank freakin' God I don't cover the team any longer.  I simply have no ability to remain objective any more when it comes to Tito, especially after the Bob Hohler piece.

Anyone who doesn't know of what I refer, here is the original article that started it all.  Check it out.  Hohler, by the way, is a fantastic reporter.  I am sure 100% of his article passed vetting.

http://articles.boston.com/2011-10-12/sports/30271654_1_jon-lester-josh-beckett-terry-francona

[Sunstroke]

^^ Interesting, I don't believe you've publicly discussed being a member of the media since Landshark joined the forums in July, 2010.  I wonder where he got that info from.

I'd have to look it up, but I think he may have mentioned being a Professor of Boston Sports Media History...