We could get into analysis and background and hyperbole about Kyle Drabek, but there's plenty of that out there already. (Who would have figured Parkes to be the early bird!)So we'll just say this: For someone who spends entirely too much time worrying about the Blue Jays and trying to talk a significant faction of you back off the ledge when you're certain that the team is headed to the league basement or out of town to Portland or whatever, this is the sort of fun night towards which we look forward with ridiculous anticipation.
(And for goodness sake: Would you look at that face? Doesn't that just make you want to buy the kid a beer and give him some sage advice like a wise old uncle? Advice he'll inevitably ignore, because really, what the fuck do you know, you drunken old uncle?)
None of this is to say that we expect to see Kyle Drabek toe the rubber and unleash the entirety of a Hall of Fame career in five innings or so tonight. But getting our first opportunity to see him in a Jays jersey with number 4 on the back is a treat.
(And we're genuinely sorry that for many of you, the whole Sportsnet One thing fucks this up for you. We think it would be a real solid gesture for Rogers to bump this one game to one of the four regionals to give folks a shot at seeing it, but given Bell's acquisition of CTV and the holy heck that's going to be raised with four Broadcaster/Distributor Voltrons battling one another for every fraction of a slice of the market over the next few years, we're not sure how sanguine the kids on Bloor Street are going to be about showing weakness in these ongoing carriage negotiations.)
(LATE AFTERNOON UPDATERY! Shaw is going to pick up the free preview of Sportsnet One, so hopefully, the levels of western alienation will be tamped down just that much. And if you are wondering, yes, we at the blog are taking full credit for making this happen. With my good cop and The Ack's bad cop routine, you had to know this would come together. You're welcome.)
If nothing else, we hope everyone is able to at least catch a glimpse of Drabek with the big club tonight, and that it helps to feed your warm fuzzies for the long winter ahead.
I have a drunken uncle. We call him Drunkle Daniel. I do not think Kyle Drabek is interested in his advice.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or does Drabek look like Adam Linds' kid brother with cooler facial hair?
ReplyDeleteNo-hitter.
ReplyDeleteI think this is my favourite Jays blog.
ReplyDeleteSportsnet One has royally arsed me this season, right after I worked out a deal with my neighbour to get Bell TV just to see the Jays. You could say Rogers isn't my favourite.
Have fun watching!
I thought the exact same thing, jtblacker. Over/under on how long it takes for Cito to get them mixed up?
ReplyDeleteI can't watch it either, but I live in the Nova Scotia, so I'm used to it. We just got these new chicken McNuggets last week. Now waiting for them to ship some sauce.
ReplyDeleteBest ju-ju to Drabek. The Force is strong in you.
@ Priesty: I'm curious, and I've wanted to ask you and Mr. Ack this: do you guys get Jerry and Alan on the radio for every game? And if you bought MLBTV, would you get all the Jays games?
ReplyDeleteHey Navin, we get the Fan in the area, but the coverage doesn't come in at my house. Not sure what you mean by MLBTV -- the internet one or as a package on my cable. The last time I looked, the MLB package on my cable wasn't showing the Jays game that was on Sportsnet One. As for the internet option, I've never looked into it.
ReplyDeleteGames like Drabek's debut are few and far between and that's the kind of thing I like to watch on TV. Listening to sports on the radio is fine if I'm in the car or transported back in time to the 1940s, but I don't listen to that stuff much.
So, I've typed a bunch and haven't really answered your question; mission accomplished!
eyeb: local radio coverage for the Jays is spotty at best (no FAN, but most games are picked up on an obscure rural radio station (complete with bad reception), if you can believe that), but I get Jerry & Alan through the audio component of an itouch app - MLB At-Bat I think it's called.
ReplyDeletere: MLBTV, I think all of Canada is subject to the local black-out stipulation, so I've never bothered to subscribe. And even if I wasn't subject to a blackout...it's just not feasible for me (with a newborn and a toddler) to lock myself in the ol' office and watch ball on the computer for 3 hours. That's why streams/"illegal" feeds don't work for me either.
In short, fuck Rogers.
@Sarah
ReplyDeleteWhen you get to a certain age, you end up being someone's drunkle. And you just gotta wear that title with pride.
@Gareth
What do you mean you "think" this is your favorite Jays blog. I need a bigger commitment from you.
@Darren
I like to dip my McNuggets in both the Barbecue and the Sweet and Sour. One day, you'll get the sauces in Nova Scotia, and you'll understand.
@Navin
The Jays' territory for the purpose of MLBTV is all of Canada...coast to coast to coast.
@JimBriggs
You are a lucky son'bitch. Email me your thoughts and observations from the game (100 words or less), and I'll post them tomorrow.
I live in Ohio. I will be hitting a bar with MLB Extra Innings to watch him start.
ReplyDeleteWinkler, MB....Home of the Jays. They won't pre-empt country music for the Jays on getaway days though.
ReplyDeleteI never looked into the MLBTV thing before. Wow that is ridiculous let's just go ahead and black out the entire country. Good on them. Selig needs to go. Maybe he and the manager can do this farewell tour together.
ReplyDeleteBy the way excellent post. For the record you are my favorite Jays blog, though if it weren't for the resident yahoos and trolls it might be DJF.
Thanks for all the insight, folks. I get Sportsnet One, hence not much of the "FUCK ROGERS!!!1" coming from my corner. For the GTA folks complaining, I've always wondered: perhaps it's a blessing in disguise. Put on Jerry and Alan, and don't be bothered by "Encarnashyown." I don't know, maybe that's me. I listen to a lot of games on radio, even if I'm at home. As for MLBTV, I was wondering about the internet package, as I may be bidding Toronto adieu in the coming months.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, Tao, this place is tied with Ghostrunner on First for my favourite Jays blog. I refuse to pick between the two. Can't do it. Won't do it. But it's my goal to write as consistently, and with such quality, as you two mother fuckers.
But now that Bruce Dowbiggin has pointed out that you guys put no research into your work, I'm done with these blogs and such. Just going to stick with Cox, Simmons, and Dowbiggin.
See you in hell.
eyeb....leaving Toronto? Whoah. Sports in Another City?
ReplyDeleteAlso, rejoice, Shaw customers pretty much everywhere except Winnipeg - you now have SN1. We here in the middle of the continent? Not so much. Being a born and raised 'Pegger (well, 'Toban anyway), my surprise factor at this wrinkle nets out at approx 1.8/10. We're genetically programmed to deal with disappointments like these. And yet, we soldier on.
/melodrama
As noted in the Update, Shaw's going to pick up the free preview of Sportsnet One in time for tonight's game.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
@TheAck
ReplyDeleteWait: Why are you saying that Shaw in Winnipeg isn't picking it up?
@Navin
ReplyDeleteI love the idea that Drew and I are battling everyday over your very soul. It's like Locke and the other guy battling through a full season of Lost. (Says the guy who has never watched an episode.)
That's just the sort of motivation I need to keep my work up to snuff around here.
Apparently, only being rolled out in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton today, with other markets to come "in the following days."
ReplyDeleteGoes without saying, a hearty FML to me.
You are in our thoughts, Ack ...
ReplyDelete