You would've been proud of me. Really.
Just days after revealing my voyeuristic tendencies towards notes and letters that I find lying around, I hit the motherlode.
As I was walking the mutts this evening, I spotted a backpack and purse lying in front of the middle school. Didn't think much of it at the time -- there's a track and a handful of basketball courts nearby, so I just figured that the owner had just wandered away for a few minutes.
But when I doubled back around the school, there was no one in sight. It was getting dark, so I decided to take a closer look. I opened up the backpack and pulled out the notebook on top -- bingo, the young lady who owned it had put her name and phone number on the inside cover.
But instead of indulging my vice, I simply took the items across the street to the elementary school (there were no signs of life in the middle school) and dropped them off with a staff member. Ah well.
Came home and watched a few seconds of the Pirate season finishing its slow swirl down the commode. The '04 Bucs sucked, once again. Much like the '03 version sucked, which didn't suck quite as bad as the '02 Bucs. The '01 Buccos -- hey, those guys SUCKED. And in '00? Suck. '99? Suck. 98? Suck. The 97 team almost achieved mediocrity, but their inner suckitude came through, and they ended up sucking. '96, '95, '94, '93 -- suck, suck, suck, and suck.
At some point, you have to ask yourself -- if this franchise can't compete, EVER, then what's the point? As I've mentioned ad nauseum, I attended fewer games this year than probably any year dating back to '71. A whopping total of three -- and two of those three were memorable only because I went with some friends that I don't see often enough, and the third was young Adam's first visit to the ballyard. As for what happened in those games, I'm not even sure. I imagine the Bucs sucked. (Actually, now that I think about it, game #2 was a gem -- a nicely pitched game by Josh Fogg, of all people, and I think a 1-0 victory.)
I said I'd had it with this team BEFORE '04 -- but after the outright mishandling of this franchise from everyone from the front office down to the manager, I've truly and honestly had it. Until there's a regime change, I am done with the Bucs.
Much like Montreal is now done with the Expos. Shame, that, but inevitable I suppose. But I still have countless "Boots Day" baseball cards and the memories of the old Expo announcer at Park Jarry, who used to announce one of their scrubs, John Boccabella, with the single greatest intro in the history of baseball...."Now batting....Jooooohn Bocccccc....aaaaa.....BELLLLLLLLaaaaaaaa."
(Update: Just read a note somewhere that today is the 32nd anniversary of Roberto Clemente's 3000th hit. Just when you think you've completely divorced yourself from baseball, something like this comes along and reminds you of why you loved the game in the first place. RIP Roberto.)
