Red Sox 11, Guardians 7

 

A win is a win is a win, but WTF was that all about? The Red Sox won the game, 11-7, but blew a four-run lead when pitching ace Garrett Crochet gave up three homers for six runs in a single inning, the sixth, giving Cleveland a two run lead. Fortunately, Rafaela hit a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the game back up, and then the Sox erupted for four more runs in the eighth to win the game, but our faith in Crochet has been shaken.  

Garrett Crochet hasn't gotten a win since August 23 in New York, and has scored only one win in his last five starts. Hope everything's okay with our main man.

Meanwhile, the Yankees crushed Houston, 7-1, and Toronto beat Cincy, 12-9, so nothing's changed in the standings - New York and Boston are still tied for second, 2½ back from the Blue Jays. We need to keep on winning, and rely on the difficulty-of-schedule disadvantage New York and Toronto have coming up to make the difference for us.

You hear that, Brennan Bernardino? Wins, we need wins. Bernie (4-2, 3.05) pitched a perfect hitless ninth inning against the Tribe the Guardians last night, getting Nolan Jones, Austin Hedges, and lead-off batter Steven Kwan to all fly out, but is still our designated started tonight despite the lack of rest. He'll be facing Cleveland's Joey Cantillo (3-3, 3.93). Way back on April 27, the only time he faced Boston, Cantillo  struck out Devers, Story, and Refsnyder but gave up a three-run homer to Rafaela in two innings of relief. The Sox won the game, 13-3.

Georgia Moves to No. 4

 

Now that Week 1 of the 2025 CFB season is complete, the AP has come out with the first sportswriters' poll of the season. 

To pretty much no one's surprise, after beating Texas, 14-7, on Saturday, Ohio State moved up from No. 3 to the No. 1 spot, hopscotching Penn State, who stayed at No. 2. 

No. 4 Clemson also lost Saturday, a 17-10 game with No. 9 LSU. But even though No. 5 Georgia won their game, 45-7 over Marshall, and two higher-ranked teams lost, Georgia did not move up to No. 3 in today's poll. Instead, the AP vaulted LSU past Georgia to be the new No. 3, and the Bulldogs moved up only one spot to No. 4.

No. 4 is not a bad place to be in the first week of the season. There's some 130 other college teams that aren't ranked that high. Yes, I'm biased, but I still think that Georgia should have moved from No. 5 up to No. 3, and LSU from No. 9 up to No. 4.

It could be worse. Arizona State, SMU, and Michigan all won their games this weekend but were each dropped one spot in the rankings because of reasons.

What else? Notre Dame lost, dropping from No. 6 to No. 9, and Carson Beck's Miami team was rewarded with the No. 5 spot for their service. Unranked Florida State entered the rankings at No. 14 for beating No. 8 Alabama, who dropped all the way down to 21. The Tide hasn't been that low since like forever.

It's a long season. We have a 12-team playoff system. Early season polls are close to meaningless. In fact, any poll other than the Selection Committee rankings are meaningless. But still, this is a sports blog, and talking about this kind of shit is what we do.  

   

     

Yeva, Afloat Again

 

Good news! At 11:00 am local time today, Ella was reunited with Yeva thanks to the Canadian Coast Guard. The Yeva is free of the shoal on which it ran aground, and after some thorough checks, it was determined that the Yeva only sustained minor damage during the Coast Guard’s attempts to come alongside on Sunday night in difficult conditions. Ella is in good spirits and is able to continue safely as she now continues onwards under her own sail.

She has sailed around the north side of Pullen Island to avoid any more shoals and shallow water between the island and the mainland to the south (Tamara Klink safely passed the south side of Pullen on Sunday, before Ella ran aground). 

Speaking of, Tamara and the Sardinha 2 have made it all the way to Alaska! Welcome to the USA, Tamara. The Canadian Ice Service charts, which kindly also include the Alaska coast, shows that the sea ice that was near Prudhoe Bay has drifted out to sea away from the coast, but now you have a new type of ICE to worry about. Be careful!

Patriots Preview

 

These past several years have felt like the diminishment of a once-great franchise. The disappointing seasons were marked by a sense of loss - loss of a star quarterback, loss of a legendary head coach - not to mention losing seasons. So after Belichick's disastrous debut last night at North Carolina - the Tarheels were blown out, 48-14 -  and before the start of the 2025 NFL season this Sunday, I went and threw the I Ching to see what we could expect this year from the New England Patriots. 

Tom Brady's last game as a Patriot was over five years ago - the AFC Wild Card game against the Tennessee Titans on January 4, 2020. We've been through at least four starting QBs since then, but the Pats still feel like "Brady's team." The Patriots lost that Wild Card game, 13-20, and Brady's final pass as a Patriot was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, but we tend not to remember that part of his legacy.

Bill Belichick's last game as the Patriots' head coach was on Sunday, January 7, 2024. He had been unable to achieve any real success in New England with star QB Cam Newton or with rookie QB Mac Jones, and then snapped a 15-game winning streak against the Jets when New England lost that last game, 17-3, to end the season. But we tend not to remember that part of his legacy.

I don't bring this up to shit all over the Patriots' many achievements. Far from it, I bring it up to remind myself the decline had begun before Tom or Bill's exit. We've been diminished for a while, even as the fans' self-image has remained a championship caliber franchise. 

Today, the hexagram I threw was Sun, the 41st hexagram. The lake above, the mountains below. Curiously, no moving lines. The hexagram is titled "Decrease." The stoic mountain drains its excess waters to the lake below, just as the wise person curbs his anger and sheds his desires. To be frugal and content is to possess immeasurable wealth.

The Pats start this season with new head coach Mike Vrabel, a former New England linebacker from the glory years of 2001-2008. The starting QB is second-year player Drake Maye. Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson has the speed to potentially be the team's most potent offensive weapon. Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson are also solid running backs, so this should be a good rushing team.

Like the Georgia Bulldogs, one of the Pats' biggest problems last year was the o-line. First-round tackle Will Campbell may improve things but there's a lot of room for improvement. The Patriots’ top two receivers are Stefon Diggs and DeMario Douglas, although the depth chart beyond those two is pretty thin.

The Sun hexagram reminds us that we do not experience loss and diminishment without having first experienced gain and plentitude. The decrease is simply the other end of the curve of gain and loss. While for many other teams a fresh new season with a new head coach and a promising young QB might be a time of excitement, to some Patriot fans nothing but another NFL championship would suffice. The hexagram reminds us to not let the glory of the past detract from those successes we achieve in the present, or the promise of the future.     

The Pats will start the season against the Raiders, a team in almost the exact same situation as New England. Both teams finished 4-13 last season. Both teams have veteran coaches making their debuts with new teams (Pete Carroll will be coaching his first game for the Raiders). Both have relatively new QBs. Former New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is returning to the team as OC after a couple seasons as head coach for the Raiders. The Patriots are favored to win by 2½ points.

To be frugal and content is to possess an immeasurable wealth, the I Ching advises. It is an auspicious time to shed dependency.

What Are They Doing?

I hope everything's okay. It looks like Ella Hibbert and the Yeva (top picture), after a long rest near the Reindeer Islands off the Mackenzie River delta, has turned back around toward Tuk. Maybe it's just a course correction or tacking with the wind, but I hope it's nothing worse.

Meanwhile, for some reason, Tamara Klink and the Sardinha 2 (second picture) sailed past the Reindeer Islands and then apparently turned around herself and sailed back a couple of miles, only to turn around again and back to her original bearing. Could she have turned around to assist Ella in some manner, only to be called off when Ella decided to return to Tuk instead? 

The Canadian ice charts show open water in the area, so ice pack shouldn't be the problem. I don't see any weather alerts for the area. 

Until we get a vlog update from either ship, we won't know the specifics, but I worry that the Yeva may have took some sort of damage during Saturday's wind storm, something that requires her to be in port to repair.

Update: On closer examination and over time, it appears that Ella is not heading back to Tuk, only moving around in her anchorage off the Reindeer Islands.  Still no clue what Tamara's doing.

Update 2: At 9:00 pm local time on Sunday, August 31st, the Yeva ran aground on an uncharted sandbank created by the violent storm of the previous day. Thanks to Ella’s quick actions, Yeva avoided damage to her hull. 

Ella alerted her shore team, implementing her Crisis Management Plan, and the Canadian Coast Guard responded promptly. At their insistence, Ella went ashore for her own safety.

She is safe, well and in good spirits. She’ll be reuniting with Yeva today and, following system checks, plans to return to Tuk to give Yeva a thorough inspection. She thanks the Coast Guard for their support.

Red Sox 6, Guardians 4

 

Hell, yeah! Back to back wins, baby! Bello picks up number 11!

If it sounds like I'm a little overexcited for a single, non-playoff game, it's because this is our moment - the opening we've been waiting for all season. We have a week and a half of playing .500 teams, while New York has all division leaders. Toronto has a challenging schedule coming up too, including New York and Houston, and lost to the Reds today. We're only 2½ back from first place, and while we may not win the division, we can clinch a playoff spot and (added bonus) eliminate New York from the post-season.

Bregman got another hit last night and Story was 3-for-4 at the plate, including a second inning RBI and a sixth inning homer. Bello struggled a bit and reached 100 pitches by the fifth inning, but still managed to strike out four along the way.  

And it only gets better, because tomorrow's Crochet Day! Garrett Crocket (14-5, 2.40) will take the mound tomorrow against the Guardians' Slade Cecconi (5-6, 4.41) to try for his 15th win of the season. He might not get a 20th start this season, but if anyone deserves a 2-win season, it's Crochet. Just give the man the Cy Young, already. He's earned it.