Morning Mailbag 3rd August 2007



Reading the mail this Friday morning
In the bag; Gambling, Wade Boggs, Disney, MLB on TV in Ireland, Geography and more gambling!





Dave (from 'the coffin corner') said;
(Regarding Ireland v USA - Round Three - Rolling the dice)

''Oh man, did you hit this one on the head. The Puritanical view this country takes on gambling drives me nuts. I loved that in Ireland I could place a bet using my television remote. Here it's having to know a guy who knows a guy to place a sports bet. Ridiculous.''

Reply;
Thanks Dave, I agree 100%. To me, the double standards are incredible. Living in Ireland, it's funny how it's the exact opposite to the States in terms of, you can't own a gun but you are allowed place a sporting wager. Forcing the 'industry' underground as you mention -
''Here it's having to know a guy who knows a guy to place a sports bet.'' - merely plays into the hands of organised crime. Nobody, bar Tony Soprano, wants that.

anonymous said;

''Can you tell me what bookie gave you 6/4 on Matsuzaka?''

Reply;
My bad, obviously there are some morons out there who have nothing better to do than leave anonymous comments on peoples blogs taking things out of context and ignoring the overall slant of a piece, which, in this case, was that it's nice being able to choose to place a bet in Ireland over being told you can't, as is the case in the States. You know, seriously, either go write your own stuff, stop reading mine, or go take a flying jab at a rolling donut.

''Personally, I like being able to take a stroll into Boyle Sports, Paddy Power, Joe Byrne's or any other bookie, place $20 on Matsuzaka to beat CC Sabathia, and then enjoy walking back in to collect $50 after the Sox squeak home 1-0. It's one of the little pleasures in life.''
from Ireland v USA - Round Three - Rolling the dice

Obviously, the sentiment still stands. It's nice being able to do that, instead of having some corrupt Republican tell me I can't.

soxfaninny said...

That's great. I've always wanted to get a hold of the Disney commercial after they won and I can't find it anywhere. Let me know if you come across it.
Reply;
This got me searching. I tried for a while but couldn't find the commercial anywhere. I'll try again this weekend though. This is from back in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox trio of Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz and Curt Schilling appeared in the popular 'I'm going to Disney World' spot after their World Series victory last fall.

While searching I did uncover this gem though, Eric Wilbur's piece on the Sox wining the World Series.

Chris O'Brien said;

''Glad to find the blog. I'm an American ex-pat newly moved to Dubs (after spending 3 years in London). I lived a decade in Boston and watch almost all the games on MLB.tv. Anyway, great blog and how do you watch the games? I know Setanta shows a few, but is there some cable station I don't know about? ''

Reply:
Thanks Chris, You would be absolutely amazed how big the 'ex pat' community is here in Dublin. Do you play baseball? If so, go to the baseball Ireland website and find out more about joining up, or click here for more information either. As for watching games, I do use MLB TV but there are other stations, I will be posting an entry on that soon, stay tuned.

The moderator said;
(regarding; ''
Iraq/Japan - how to tell them apart..'')

''
How do you expect American's to tell Iraq and Japan apart, 55% of New York High School students can't find Africa on a map! Sad.''

Reply;
Originally I was just poking a bit of fun at a comment that looks pretty funny on first view, but, the deeper you delve into that one, the sadder and more depressing it gets.

Dad said;

''Think I am the only punter with The Ethiopian doubled with the Detroit Tigers???''

Reply:
Frankly, yes. 'The Ethiopian' was a horse running in the Galway races, tipped to win by my brother. He stormed home at 3-1. Not so sure about the Tigers that night, think they lost in extra innings. The thing is, Dublin bookies have to double take when they see accumulators like that.

Brings to mind the single most disappointing bet of my life. In early 2004 I placed the following Yankee.
  • Boston Red Sox to win World Series 9/1
  • Sunderland to win Championship 10/1
  • New England Patriots to win Superbowl 9/1
  • Miami to win NBA 10/1
A yankee means you get 11 bets in total, one accumulator, 4 trixies and 6 doubles I think, anyway if all four won, between the Yankee and some other side bets I stood to win $40,000. Incredibly Boston won, New England beat Philly and Sunderland romped home. Miami were leading Detroit in the crucial deciding game with 2 minutes left and on the threshold of the finals, when disaster struck. I guess three out of four aint bad.

One final follow up, a 'did you know' kind of thing. On the night the Yankees went 3-0 on Boston, prior to the biggest sporting choke job in human history, Boston were available at 200/1 to win the World Series. Oh boy. I wish I had, is all I can say, I wish I had!

Miguel Valentino said;

''Best Red Sox video that I've seen in awhile.''

regarding; ''QUANTUM BOGGS'' - Check out the original, extended pilot episode of Quantum Boggs, the only show where Wade Boggs goes back in time to help Dan Marino win Superbowl XIX.




papi's fat head said;

''you epitomise all that is detestable about this red sox nation BS - this blog probably wouldnt even exist if they hadnt won the world series in 2004''

reply;
Thanks for dropping by! It's always nice to get feedback from the fans! An observation though, this 'papi's fat head' fella has left about 10 comments since 'I didn't know....'s inception, my basic question to him would be, what on earth are you doing reading the blog if you hate it that much? I don't get it.

Anyway, as for the inane little jab, the blog is actually largely there to help create awareness and provide information on baseball in Ireland. The Red Sox, MLB and other stuff is just my opinion. So, the blog probably would have existed without the Sox win in '04.

Thanks for the comments though, keep them coming.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Re papi's fat head:

Yankee fans are so cute when their season is over months early. What a scamp!
Cormac said…
It's kind of fun having my own hate-stalker! Kind of unsettling and yet oddly enjoyable. He tried to post another three comments today. I think he loves me.