Top 5 Reasons to Root for the Holy Whites
1)
The 2002 Regular Season
Goddamnit, I have been checking out the site since the beginning
of the season and all I hear is garbage, complete garbage. We can
start wherever...how about Bob Banos being a bitch? How about Anthony
and Chris ruining a young team? How about the Road Warriors' possibility
of being contracted? How about Mike Walsh's decision to leave wiffleball
for a girl (yah, that's what I said!)? All of that is garbage that
ruined the 2002 regular season. So what does that have to do with
the Holy Whites going to the finals?
Easy,
it will be the Holy Whites vs. the Horsemen. The only rivalry that
has started in this league, and the only rivalry that will always
be a part of this league. The only thing I can think of to make
this season end on a high note, is to see a game five (in a best
of five series) between the Holy Whites and Horsemen go six innings
with a walk-off homerun. It's not going to be the same when Joey
strikes out the side to win game four against Wiffolution.
2)
Wiffolution, AKA Casey
Did you remember all the troubled things I mentioned that happened
this past season in reason 1? Well, I left one out. It would be
the great managing skills we have seen from Casey Sylvester. Now
is it me, or has this Wiffolution team pissed you off too? I can
handle Bob Banos leaving, I can handle Chris Keefer leaving, but
what I can't handle is the captain of a team make no effort to come
out and play. Jeff and Dean carried this team to the playoffs and
if you think for one second that I'm going to sit around and congratulate
all of them if they win the championship, you got another thing
coming.
Now,
we'll hear the excuse about work, school, etc, and that is all fine
and dandy, but the fact is that captains sacrifice things for their
teams. We show up late to work sometimes, we put off some school
work. We change our schedule around to benefit the team.
Last
year, when I was caption for the Road Warriors, there was a death
in the Creighton family, and Joey Creighton and I had to drive to
the bay area. Luckily for Joey, his team had a bye that week. But
the Road Warriors didn't. There was a little gathering Sunday night
before a Monday funeral that we wanted to go to, but first, I had
to play some wiffleball. I played two games before Joey and I left.
Why? Because I was the captain and even though I would be pushing
it as far as time goes, I had to an opportunity to play, so I did.
That
is what a captain does. Casey has done none of that this year.
3)
Ian Byrd Ian Byrd?
Yah, because you want to know something? What I just mentioned about
Casey, Ian has done the opposite. Now you have to realize that I
do not live in Chico anymore and do not have first hand knowledge
of any of this, but what I do know is that Ian Byrd has moved things
around to fit in wiffleball, and with a season that has been so
disappointing, Ian Byrd's 123 at-bats, looks pretty damn good. Include
the .374 batting average, the 2.14 ERA, and things look even more
better. If there is anyone who still hasn't given this guy any respect,
get off your high chair buddy, or else Ian might kick you off. (Yeah,
that sounded lame, but it fit.)
4)
Scott Carmichael
Why cheer for Scott Carmichael? He has done everything any wiffleball
player would ever want to do, so why would we want to see him battle
for another championship? Easy, look at his season? Marred with
non Scott-like stats (in batting that is), Scott is having a season
where you know he is going to earn his trip to the Series at the
Sac. Not that he hasn't before, but this season Scott's struggles
prove that he is fighting to win every game and it is not some piece
of cake he makes it seem like. That makes it a lot more enjoyable
to watch Scott these days. It would be like switching from watching
Barry Bonds to Jeff Kent. Both are great athletes, but with Kent,
you know that everytime he hits a homerun or a 2-RBI double, it
wasn't the easiest thing in the world.
5)
Once again, the Holy Whites/Horsemen series
Now, as I have stated earlier, we need to have these two teams in
the playoffs for there to be any excitement in the playoffs from
my stand point. I'm sure there can be some good games between Wiffolution
and the Horsemen, but we all know that the only ones enjoying the
games are Wiffolution and the Horsemen. We, the readers, obviously
aren't there, so we don't know how everyone started getting loud
and rowdy towards the end and how it made for a great game to play
in. We don't know that nor care about that. I know that with the
Holy Whites and Horsemen, there is going to be an evenly matched
game that is going to have a winner that deserves to win.
So
in closing, give me the Holy Whites, and give me the Horsemen. With
a regular season wallowing in such garbage, we need to go back to
the basics. We need to go back to why the previous seasons were
so much fun to play. Because of competition. Because of rivalry.
Because you know that when they took the field for each game, there
wasn't going to be any remorse for the other team, any sorrow for
the other team and there wasn't going to be any giving up.
At
the very end of the 2001 Byrd Awards, editor Joey Creighton put
a little tag that read something like, "Horsemen in 2002", well,
I have my own tag:
"Holy
Whites and Horsemen in 2002"
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