Here we sit, two or so weeks until spring training and our local papers are running all sorts of real optimistic material such as:
- Rays could be spenders, we could've brought in Nixon or Alou! (My question to the author, why? Gomes, Rocco, Crawford, and Young are all better than both, and Dukes is younger with an unlimited ceiling.)
- From that same article, the Rays could have fans who blog...uhh...hello? I guess we're not noticable to the author, Mr. Gary Shelton, but hey it's understandable...it's not like he's supposed to actually know the fanbase.
- Nope, Mr. Fennelly found a Yankee fan, and then once he stopped looking in the mirror he found an ex-Yankees fan who jumped on the Rays bandwagon...excellent...this is the stuff that our local media produces two weeks before the pre-season really starts?
As you can tell folks, I can careless for this 'hypothetical dreamland' and 'ex-Yankee fan loves the underdog lifestyle' crap stories, you want to know who has worked their tail off from what I've seen? Marc Lancaster, everyday he's providing an article and keeping his blog up, the same can be said with Marc Topkin.
So how is it again that the two Marcs in the city can actually keep things fresh and not have to go on some wild goose chase for some heartwarming, or blood boiling story while in reality, the story is right on that field. You want an underdog story? Go talk to Jonny Gomes, the man survived a heart attack, came from Junior College, and is the heart of the Rays.
You want fantasyland? Well then just stay put, but I'd much rather see the majority of the Tampa media step over the line and take a stand for their city's team for once, even if that means putting their other team aside for a day.