Hey, did you see it? My dirtdogs headline prediction came true: Hurt Schilling. And I was joking! Come on, DD, how about a liiiiitle thought?

As for tonight's game: Pedro did well. But as per usual, we just couldn't score against [whoever pitches against him].

Is that new U2 song on those commercials annoying as hell or what? I hate when bands just do whatever's currently popular when their career is going down the tubes.

Oh, right, I was talking about the game. Uh, yeah, we're down 2-0, but going to Fenway. I still say it's far from over. And even if it is over, you know we'll get to see the tying run on base in the ninth in every game, and get to feel that nice sweat feel on our hands and feel that heart pound in our chests, which is more than can be said for soulless, robot yankee fans. Sorry, I'm just a little pissed right now. And even if we'd won, I'd still be pissed at Fox. I'm gonna write them a nice long letter this winter because this coverage is like taking calcium without phosphorus: preposterous. (If that commercial isn't national, you're just not gonna get that joke.)

Ninth inning, two out, tying run on base. Rivera pitching to Millar. Between pitches, Fox cuts to a shot of a woman's face in the crowd. All one people who are watching the game for the purpose of a homework assignment in their Abstract Baseball Telecast Production 401 class LOVE this shot. It really shows the drama that can only come from the face of a woman who's favorite team since 1996, god forbid, might not get it's 27th world championship. However, me and everyone else who are watching Fox at that moment because A. we didn't have tickets to the game, and B. we want to SEE it, and no other network is carrying the game, are saying, "Show the pitch, show the pitch!" As we're all estimating that the pitch surely must be ABOUT to be thrown, Fox cuts not to the field, but to ANOTHER fan, a young boy who has a life of NOT getting made fun of to look forward to, as he'll most likely always end up rooting for whatever team has won the most recent World Series, or has just changed it's uniform to the current hip color. At this point, the scholarly types are revelling in this high drama and study in human emotions, while I'm now screaming, "Show the goddamn pitch!!!!!"

Finally, the camera angle switches to old reliable, that center field camera. For a SPLIT second, we see Millar, bat already wrapped around body, and Posada starting to take the ball out of his glove.

Kind of a key pitch, and one I would have very much liked to witness. Me, and the rest of the nation. But no one saw it. We saw that kid. We didn't see the pitch. And that's the camera with the delay. And they still couldn't cut to it in time! And this happened several times!

The Mueller (or Bellhorn? I forgot) at bat, where there were like 17 pitches, they showed "Pitch-by-pitch" before the at bat was over. Not a smart move to think that they could show 17 taped pitches in a row between two live pitches. But they went for it. Of course, the next pitch was the one where the ball was finally put in play. And of course, they barely caught the tail end of the swing--because they HAD to show EVERY previous pitch of that at bat AGAIN at that moment, and refused to cut away from the replays to get to the live pitch. Cute, guys.

Baseball is a sport where there's a lot of time to kill between bits of action. Which means that you've got plenty of time to finish up what you were showing before getting back to the action. But I guess it's just too hard for them to figure out. Here's a hint, Fox: When the person holding the sphere is standing on the dirt hill, looking intently toward the squatting gentleman, possibly moving his head up and down or side to side, this man is about to throw the sphere. The throwing of the sphere and what transpires afterward IS the game. Not the crowd, not the guy on first, not a graphic, not an interview done previously, not a commercial, not highlights of an entirely different game, and certainly not Derek Jeter's face. Please learn this and soon.

There was one play where Bellhorn picked up a grounder, and threw to first. Fox stayed with a close up of Bellhorn, then went to an ad for something. We literally never saw the play at first base. I've deducted that the runner was called out.

And the delay was noticeable to even the drunkest viewer, when Ortiz struck out in the ninth. The center field (delayed) camera stayed on Ortiz after he struck out, starting to zoom in on him. Then they cut to a non-delayed camera, which was already zoomed in on Ortiz' face. So you saw his face go from 'starting to scowl,' with his head pointed up, to looking down, with head down and 'completed scowl.' But again, they topped that delay nonsense with all the missed action tonight.

Good thing I've got all this to think about, because I definitely need to block out the memories of these first two games. But I'm just sayin', the further behind we get, the sweeter it will be when we win it.