Fucking bite me

Fair warning - me ranting about baseball below.

For those of you that do not follow baseball, particularly Yankees baseball, let me tell you about Joba Chamberlain. Joba Chamberlain is a 22 year old relief pitcher for the New York Yankees. Joba posts super-human numbers most of the time and is content to help his team in any way he can (read: he is not at all bitching about the fact that he doesn't start, unlike the Yankee owners...). Joba is an intense guy. After Joba strikes out the side, strikes out a batter to end an inning, gets out of a jam, etc. Joba tends to pump his fist in the air and scream. Joba did this last year, Joba has continued to do it this year.

In a Yankees/Indians game a few weeks back Joba was pitching to David Delucci. David Delucci hit a home run off Joba, thus causing Joba's first blown save all year. When the Yankees and the Indians played again a few days later Joba and Delucci faced each other again. This time Joba would win the battle, striking out Delucci to end the inning. LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES Joba pumped his fist and screamed and headed toward the Yankee dugout.

Well, the fucking sports pundits can not shut the fuck up about it. They think Joba was out of line showing emotion after striking out Delucci. They think it was a way for Joba to show Delucci up (note: When Joba fist pumped and screamed he was looking at the Yankee dugout. He didn't so much glance at Delucci). Even former Yankees and various Hall of Famers are adding their two cents, saying it was out of line for Joba to show emotion the way he did.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?! First of all, why does this matter, at all, on any level? Second, what about the fact that Joba does this ALL THE TIME - what makes this time so goddamn different? Third, in general all baseball players show emotion in baseball all the time - Players routinely celebrate home runs - there are often scores of high fives and butt slaps awaiting the player at the plate. Pitchers will routinely fist pump or scream when outfielders rob the opposing team of a home run or when infielders turn a double play. There are first base coaches whose job is basically to congratulate the team member for getting a hit. If a player is having a particularly good game it is not uncommon for him to tip his hat to the crowd in acknowledgment. Are these shows of emotion also unacceptable? Are all these things examples of one team showing up the other? Should we ban all these things as well?

No. The answer is no. Want to know why the answer is no? Because intensity is what makes the game great. Intensity shows that you want it. Intensity shows that you are going to play your heart out because you love the game and because you want your team to win. Manny Ramirez could learn a thing or 87 about intensity.

Look, I'm not saying that bad sportsmanship is OK. In fact, I think it really cheapens the game. Throwing inside intentionally, starting fights, retaliation pitches - all stupid things that grown men should be bigger than. Showing emotion because you have dedicated you life to the pursuit of a goal - a goal of playing major league baseball - a goal that so many want to achieve and so few do - well, I think celebrating a little bit when that goal is going well is ok. In fact, as a fan I want to see it. I want to see every player on my team want it so bad that they will play sore and bruised and spend countless amounts of time away from their loved ones because they want to win. And yes, I get that there is the fame and fortune aspect of things as well (again, see Manny). But Joba - Joba wants to win. Joba is not complaining that he is not a starter. Hell, Joba is not even a closer. Joba is middle relief, but Joba is ok with being there because Joba just wants to help his team win in any way that he can. Oh, and Joba's salary - less than 350K a year (and duh this is more than any of us could possible dream of making in our lifetimes, but for a baseball player it is paltry, particularly for someone of Joba's talent).

So to the sports pundits - SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Apt 20I Thought of the Day
Is there not ANYTHING else in the sports world to talk about besides this? I believe both the NBA and the are in the middle of playoffs right now....and oh yea, how about that Tampa Bay is a measly half game out of first in the AL East - ALL THINGS MORE IMPORTANT THAT A PLAYER DOING WHAT HE ALWAYS DOES.
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