"Buy any outfielders lately?"

I have to say that there is an aid that works in the building who is from Wellesley that I hate, and I do not use the turn loosely.  Here is someone who has successfully found a way to irk me and get under my skin.  

When he found out I was from New York, the Joe Torre book had just come out and he would ask me about that.  I was reading it around the same time as he was, so our conversations were pretty civil and centered around the book.  Things turned sour in the months of May and June.  The former coffee table in the living room can attest to that. 

When the Yanks could not buy a win against the Sox this spring, he was there busting my chops.  If he wasn't such a douche bag, it probably would not have fazed me so much.  I am not quite sure, but my bet is the last athletic things this guy did was a wiffle ball game in college with his other fagola friends.  

When he commented on another Yankee loss last spring, I kindly told him that he was wearing women pants and walked out of my cafeteria duty. Not the most professional thing to do in the work place, but what is done is done.  Turns out they were not for women, but for preppy douches. 

When the Yanks won the World Series, he was subbing in for someone and asked if I was feeling pretty good.  "Probably as good as you did when you found a cheat code for Rock Band asshole"  Ok, I left out the asshole part, but the first part is true.  

When the Yanks signed Granderson, He made that comment to me in the hallway.   I will be honest, he looked legitimately disappointed when he said it.  Like he was in a class that was being punished but he didn't make fart noised behind the subs back.   I told him that I was pretty shocked by it, and that was the way the game worked.  If he didn't like it, don't watch.  He shook his head at me, and sulked off.

   For the last few weeks, the press hear having been sounding the alarms about the Sox and the Pats making awful front office moves. Everyday I looked forward to reading the Globe, and  it was some of the best radio that I could have been listening to.  The sound of New Englanders whining was music to my ears. 

All that gloom and doom talk seems to be gone now.  Hideki Matsui is now on the Angels, and there is a chance that Chien Ming Wang will not be back next year.  The Red Sox has made a move in the arms race against the Yankees by signing John Lackey.  Up here in Boston, the same people who were calling for Theo's head on a platter, are once again singing his praises.  

I guess thats how it works in sport, one minute your being recommended for special ed, the next your on the honor roll. 

David Ortiz Tests Positive for Steroids

While I was sitting in my professional development class this morning I thought that I would give into my borderline ADD and peruse the internet and see what else was going on in the world. So, like a good New Englander I went to Boston.com and in a large banner read: "Ortiz Tested Positive for Steroids in 2003" The article simply read more details to follow. I sat there feeling stunned but also vindicated. Slowly a grin crept across my face as I passed my laptop over to my colleagues who are all big Sox fans and relished in their disappointed and upset expressions.
I guess I should explain my vindication feelings. Like most Yankee fans, for me David Ortiz is synonymous with agida. However, I could never truly say I hated the guy. Schilling you could hate, he was pompous and was basically white trash with money. Manny you could hate, the guy seemed like a prick, and Pedro...well after flinging Zim on the ground, you get the point. Ortiz was different, he wasn't really cocky or arrogant, he just leaned over the plate and killed the Yankees. Anyway, what aggravated me about Ortiz was how in 2002 he was dropped by the Twins, which is liked being dumped by the ugliest chick in your grade, if that happens turn in your externals young man, you will not be needing them. The Sox pick him up in 2003, he has a "break through" year and suddenly John Henry, Theo, and Larry Lu are like the Father, Son and Holy Ghost of baseball. They knew of Ortiz's potential, and how he had the makings of a great hitter. It was all the praise of the Sox front office which really irked me.
My buddy Jim from Camp, came up to Boston and he got tickets to the Sox game, Lizzie and Scottie came as well. The conversation of Ortiz and his slump came up, and I said to Liz that well yeah he is off the juice, no wonder hes in a slump. That got her Irish up and she began to defend Papi. "Jesus Christ Liz, look how much hes slimmed down, the uniform is baggy on him. Hes almost batting his weight." (no folks I am no baseball prophet, just an observant wise ass). I made Jimbo look up his baseball stats to help win my argument:

2002 Minnesota 20 HRS 75 RBIS .272 BA .500 Slugging

2003 Boston 32 HRS 101 RBIS .288 BA .592 Slugging

2004 Boston 41 HRS 139 RBIS .301 BA .603 Slugging


Now, even though I presented cold hard facts to Liz she did not buy my argument like a faithful fan, she ignored it. Like a good drunk, Scottie argued that I was wrong and that he just came into his own.

With Manny's name on the list as well, it made we wonder about the 2004 playoffs. Wait, Ortiz tested positive in 2003 not 2004...oh don't give me that B.S. If it worked so well for him in '03, is he going to just say, "Yeah, that was fun but lets get back to hard work. Homeruns are not fun." Folks, if Claritin is working for you, are you going to stop using it and go back runny noses and water eyes. Not unless your a glutton for punishment.

"But the Yanks had roid users on their team in 2004 too" Yeah, well my needle pushers sucked in the playoffs. I argue that the impact Ortiz and Manny had for the Sox easily outweighs the impact Giambi, Rodriguez, or Sheffield had for the Yanks. If that was untrue, Fever Pitch would have had a much different ending.

I walk away with two truths from this whole experience:

1. the A-Roid shirts might not sell so well in Kenmore Square

2. How do you break and 86 year old Curse? You Cheat.

Riding the Rivalry: the images

Check out the full album here

Before you say it - Yes, there is a crazy number of flats.

All done and ripe for the recapping

Another journey is done and more lessons learned. The last two days were about as different as any two over the whole week. Thursday was rainy, miserable, and had four flat tires (the most of any day. Friday, on the other hand, was sunny, hot but not overly so, and had no mechanical malfunctions greater than a chain coming off. We were also done with the day earlier than any other, getting to Fenway before 1pm with almost the same mileage. Needless to say it was the best way to end our journey.

While not really fair to this trip, I can't help but compare it to last year's (again). One thing that was similar to last year was what it was like to arrive at Fenway. The stadium sneaks up on you as a part of the city and before you know it you smell hot dogs and everyone is wearing red, grey and navy blue. We were again greeted by Lucias bearing Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and again we celebrated by touching the plaque of Tom Yawkey. Once again we were also met with a sense of anticlimax as few people around seemed to notice that, while they arrived by SUV, we arrived by way of physical exertion and mental determination.

As much as discussion regarding the rivalry, this trip was also a learning experience for me in other areas. I am now much more confident in my bike maintenance abilities. I'm hoping to build a road bike in the next year, so this was a good intro for that. While I am no expert by any means, it was cool to have the tools to adjust brakes and change tires when in the middle of nowhere. I also learned a great deal about no budget doc filming. Of course, most of it was what not to do, but c'est la vie. Working with my footage from this and last year will be a good exercise in editing, but I'm not sure yet what the end product will look like.

As far as the Rivalry, it's still extremely interesting to me. I can't just make myself a baseball guy in a week, but I never fail to enjoy the heated "discussions" that are generated by the love of these teams. Walking around Fenway yesterday and today I noticed several couples and families representing both sides. It might be like other situations involving different groups of people. Those who continue to champion the impression that "Yankee fans are a-holes" or "Boston fans are d-bags" are probably people who haven't really spent much time with the other. Once they do, it seems that mutual respect over loving the game overcomes the dominant prejudices.

Now that doesn't mean there's less trash talking. In fact, there's probably more because it doesn't get personal as much. Over this week John didn't hide his dislike for Pedroia just because Liz was around. It just stayed there. It wasn't about Boston or Boston fans sucking. The only moment of that this week was yesterday when the cashier at the liquor store was giving John a hard time for being a Yankee fan and talking sh*t about New Yorkers being whiney. I'm no Yankee fan, but the guy was being a douche. I'd bet that this guy hasn't ever watched a game with a Yankee fan or really hung out with one.

There's nothing wrong with good natured ball busting, but the best baseball fans I've ever known are the ones who understand that can appreciate other baseball fans. Just as I enjoy debating politics with people who vote opposite of me, a great debate over baseball seems to be one of the best things about being a real fan. The personal attacks should be saved for those who deserve it -- fairweather fans.

Day 3 Where we leave the NY, enter the CT, and clear the 100 mile mark

I'm writing now from the wonderful Wake Robin Inn. It is in Lakeville, CT (the same town we stayed in last year) though it is much better than the craptastic Inn at Iron Masters where we stayed last time. First of all, the staff is uncomparably nicer, the rooms a bit smaller but, as you can see on their homepage, the place is beautiful. I'm thinking the breakfast offerred will be suprior as well.

But that's enough about tonight's housing. Today's ride had many ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. Leaving Hyde Park was not that hilly, but once we got on 199 (after some bike trouble which Billy Q will probably write about) it started getting a little hairy. It was especially mountainy when we got passed Milan, NY (aka Rock City) and there was a decent amount of stopping involved. Nevertheless we made it here in one piece and had a nice dinner delivered (thank god) which we ate on the inn's porch. A nice way to end the day.

On the filming front, I approached several people to talk to about interviewing for the potential doc, but no one wanted to take part. Most of them said they weren't big baseball fans. Maybe what Billy Q said the other day is right - people in the mid-Hudson Valley just aren't as passionate about their baseball. We'll see how CT feels about it. I'm definitely preferring the preplanned interview style of doc right now. Even with some trouble getting interviews I can see a decent 30-60 minute doc coming out of this.

One cool part about being in CT for this trip is that it is the focal point of a frequent question of ours. Most people think that Connecticut is divided across the middle between the teams, although some say that it's more Yankees. We'll do our best to crack that mystery.

Well I'm on the inn's computer, so I'll let Lizzie on next. Have a good day, please pass this on to friend and encourage them to donate with the button on the right, and I'll see you tomorrow (hopefully with pictures on here).

Some thanks for today: The guy at the Rhinebeck Bicycle Shop for some discounts and replacing Billy Q's tire, the woman who helped John rehydrate mid-way, the people at the Wake Robin Inn for giving us a bit of a deal (and being nicer than the other inn staff in town), the delivery guy for not making us ride for food, and to my good buddy Erik for some communication assistance for tomorrow's housing. Adios.

Day 1-2 It begins, stops, then begins again.

For those who followed us on the blog last year, this trip has been very different, though, in some ways, the same. We're still tired at the end of the day, getting too much sun at times, eating a lot of granola bars, and occasionally peeing on the great outdoors. Also the route is very similar, though not exactly the same. At the moment there are four of us blogging here in the Donnelly Hall computer lab at Marist College (three of our alma mater), so I'll focus mostly on my stuff with the filming.

As I may or may not have mentioned last time around, I made a documentary in my senior year here at Marist with a few other students. That, along with a short fictional film, a promotional video for a summer camp, and some minor personal projects, is the extent of my filmmaking experience. Last time John and I did this walk we didn't get as much interviewing done as we'd have liked and at the time we chalked this up to being totally exhausted.

The difference this time is that we have done more interviews, but still not as many as I might have liked. When I look back at the projects that I've done successfully I notice that they all had preplanned interviews which were scheduled and organized around deadlines (and also all for credit or money). This time around I have no such planned interviews or deadlines (or upcoming paychecks) so going about the filming is different. I don't typically like just going up to people randomly, interrupting their day. We did get some really good ones so far though.

To name a few: there was the group of girls in the parking lot for Yankee Stadium before Friday's game who had some choice words for Boston fans (and were starting some kind of fashion business called Gruvie), Bald Vinny of the Bleacher Creatures (which was a huge get), and three guys (one in Red Sox gear and two in Yankees) outside Yankee Stadium the day we left who had a great argument about the team for the camera.

I'm also excited to look back at the riding footage I've taken. [MOM - DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH] My new camera is small enough to fit in my pocket, so I'm able to pull it out a film the other four while I'm riding behind them. I'm still not sure how this will all fit together, but that stuff cut together should look pretty cool. It'll probably become a short YouTube video to go along with whatever is done more formally with all this.

We're almost done with Day 2 and will be ending in Hyde Park, NY soon. The housing situation is not as nailed down as it was last year, but we're doing alright so far. Last night was crazy trying to get to the place, but you can read the others' entries for that. We still need to figure out where we're staying in Worcester, so if you know someone please email me (alex.bea@gmail.com).

That's it for now.

A new, but familiar journey

I'm stoked about The Ride this summer. It's going to be different from The Walk that John and I did last summer in some ways, but the same in others.

• Different: There are 5 of us. John, myself (Alex), a Liz, and two Billys
• Same: Still mostly guys (be prepared for more mentions of peeing outside - #1 & #2)
• Different: 40-ish miles a day rather than 20
• Same: Generally the same route. Some towns will be good to see again and some not as much.
• Different: no more getting picked up by people. 5 bikes makes that difficult, so we'll be rolling deep up to their front doors.
• Same: just like Blanche DuBois, we're going to be relying on the kindness of strangers. Okay, not strangers, but the reference doesn't work with "friends."
  
• Same: representing both sides of the rivalry in our group
• Different: Yankee fans are definitely in the majority. I'm leaving it up to Liz to represent for the Sox since she's much more qualified. I'm still a fan, but not enough to live up to the responsibility. So Yanks 3, Sox 1, Loser who doesn't follow baseball much 1
• Same: still trying to film for a potential project later on
• Different: biking will allow for more time and energy to do so
  

I could go on, but... I won't. I'm looking forward to getting more into the belly of the Rivalry. It'll be a very different dynamic now that there are more of us, and a true member of Red Sox Nation to give better support to the team than I ever could.

I came to the realization that no amount of reading books on the teams (which I've been doing some of) is going to make me a baseball guy, and that's fine. That doesn't diminish my curiosity regarding the Rivalry and the people on either side. People who are passionate about anything interest me, and I don't know if there's a better example of populations who are passionate about something than those on both sides of this debate.

Recommendation: check out The Rooters. It's a documentary about the Boston fans, from the original Royal Rooters to today. It's pretty impressive what they had going from the beginning. I got The New York Yankees: Team of the Century from Netflix today. I'll let you know how that goes.

Correction: One of the Billys is a Mets fan, not a Yankees fan. It's good to have an impartial guy on the crew who actually knows something about baseball. Final count: Red Sox 1, Yankees 2, Doesn't like either 1, Idiot who doesn't even know who's riding with him 1 (that one is me)

Day 4 - where it doesn't sucks so much

Over a quarter of the way done! Yes, we have hit our first major milestone. I also feel like we hit a pretty good groove now. We made great time for the first three hours - which is the 3 mph goal speed - and we talked a bit more than usual the second half which helped the time pass better.

Another personal milestone for both of us passed today. We walked past our alma mater, Marist College, half way through the day. We actually skipped our usual first break three-hours in and instead continued a bit further to stop at the Quizno's where we spent many of our college dollars. It was nice having things around that we recognized all day from Wappingers Falls up past Hyde Park.

The stopping point today was most of the way through Staatsburg. Unlike all of our other stopping points, this one was, for all intensive purposes, in the middle of nowhere. There were no gas stations, stores, or even many houses within view. What made this worse was that we still hadn't heard from our host for the night and the number I had was not working. We eventually decided to call a cab to get back to Poughkeepsie. The first company we called, AAA, gave me the price for the trip then, after a pause, told me no cabs would be available for a few hours. Really? One of the biggest cab companies in the area has no cabs for hours. Or is it that no one wants to come out that far maybe? Jackasses.

We did get another company to send one out (at a better price I might add). The cabbie turned out to be really cool for us. I'll leave that to John to talk about.

Overall, the best parts of today for me were both that we made good time and that I'm not nearly as sore as I have been the other days. Hopefully this trend will continue.

This blog is brought to you by Brian, our host, and his girlfriend Jen, who likes the song "Party Like a Rockstar, and I'm okay with that.

Day two - where we actiually see how this is going to work

Day two done! Better yet, we're still on schedule. We started from our friend Katie's place around 7am after a delicious breakfast of some tasteless organic cereal John bought. Full of all-natural carbo-energy, things started well. The biggest difference between yesterday and today was that we were already sore. Honestly I had doubts last night, but once I got used to the constant pain it was all about looking forward.

The weather really came through today as well. The forecast was that we would get dumped on again starting around noon. We were walking in Ossining around then but since the skies still looked good we soldiered on. We got a few sprinkles but no heavy rain, thank crap.

The last stretch of the day was on route 9. Those of you familiar with the Hudson Valley know how 9 isn't exactly a pedestrian friendly road. While not an interstate by any means, there were trucks flying by us constantly. It was actually worse when the road was smaller around Sleepy Hollow (which John will discuss) and there was no shoulder. Initially cars speeding by a few feet away was disconcerting, but once the fatigue really set it I just took it for granted that they probably wouldn't hit me. And if they did... well it wouldn't really matter if I saw it coming or not, eh?

So far we haven't had extended conversations with too many people. I think we were still getting used to how this "insane amount of walking" thing works. Starting tomorrow we'll try to plan some in. We're still solidly in Yankee (or Mets) territory, though I did see one Sox hat so far besides my own.

That's all for me. John will blog a bit later. This blog is brought to you by our incredible friend Corey who is letting us crash tonight.

Day one in the bag

Day one is over and twenty miles are behind us. The day started out by leaving John's house at 5am and starting our walk around 6:30am. Things were going pretty well until about a mile in when the skies opened and crapped all over our plans. Did this stop us? Hell to the no.

But it did get us wet like all get out. The worst part was that our shoes got soaked, so we had to change socks a few times. We actually stopped a few miles later at a laundromat to dry our shoes and start a long day of Gold Bonding. We got the shoes a bit drier, took in some Walker: Texas Ranger and took off.

The physical end of it wasn't so bad until the last five miles. The sore feet really kicked in when we headed out of Mamaroneck. Our feet are about as beat as they've ever been and John has a blister as big as Jeter's head on his pinky. Fortunately moral is still high. We'll sleep at a friend's house in White Plains and get going early.

I would leave more color commentary, but it's time to eat, so I'll leave that to John if he writes later. My final message is this: there is hope for us - there have been more than twice as many Dunkin Donuts than McDonalds. High five for that.

My take

Last fall when John came to me with this idea my first reaction was, "Okay." Ever since Freshman year of college when I met John and the rest of our friends I have almost always been up for seemingly crazy things like this. We drove three hours in the middle of the night to go to the nearest White Castle (before Harold & Kumar, thank you), bought six ducks on a whim, and built stadium seating in our on-campus house as well as many tamer, but no less spontaneous things. So it wasn't a ridiculous idea coming from John and since I didn't have any commitments at the time I was in.

John expressed below how he doesn't want to be one of those people who doesn't follow through with things, and I totally agree. It's why I moved to Austin last year when people said I wouldn't follow through and why I don't always tell people my plans until I'm actually going through with them. Call it caution. Call it spite. Call it having too many stupid ideas. Whatever you call it, it seems we're doing it again.

As for the actual reason for me doing this, it is slightly more academic than John's. I'm not a huge Yankees or Red Sox fan (although I would fall firmly with the Sox between the two) or even a big baseball fan. The rivalry though, that intrigues me. As an outsider it seems... silly I guess, that baseball teams should cause this much turmoil between cities that really aren't very far from each other. I know that they do though and admittedly I do get excited every time they play each other in the post-season. Even as an outsider.

I'll stop myself before I ramble on too much, but I just have to say that I really look forward to seeing people's reaction to this. These teams are a huge part of what their cities are and it'll be cool to see how the people think right in the middle.

Defending the Walk

I am not the most articulate person, and my spelling is horrible. This, combined with my limited vocabulary will make these blogs on par with a middle school student.


When I told people about this planned walk I got many reactions. "You are crazy", "That is awesome!", amd "Why?" were the most popular. For the most part my friends were very supportive and my famiy had mixed reactions. The truth is, the reasons for the walk are complicated and I will try and explain them all, but not now.


I have needed to defend the walk from time to time, so here is one reason. I do not want to be the person that talks about doing things and never does them. In the words of Elvis "A little less conversation, a little more action please." You know those types of people. They went to school with you, or sit and talk at your lunch break at work. All talk, and no action. Excuses they have plenty of. I do not want that to be me. I have uncles that "could have" done this or "almost done that", it makes me feel that my family motto should be "Amost Had"...maybe it Latin it would sound cooler.


It has been more than 2 years since I had first thought about doing this. At first, I barely told anyone, out of fear that I could not accomplish anything. As time dragged on and I became more confident I slowley told my family, friends, and some co-workers. Now I have to do it. As people grew to like it I became a little relieved. When some rolled their eyes or gave me a look like "yeah right you'll finish", I became spiteful. To prove them wrong I will gladly do it. Spite can be a powerful thing even a motivator.