Joe Buck can suck it.

...I choose to ignore yesterday's game... and the fact that the homeplate umpire is blind.

Instead, I wish to share my hatred affair with Joe Buck. Joe Buck was a terrible choice to comment the baseball post season (or fall classic, if you will) on Fox. I know Fox slobs all over Joe Buck, but he A. hates baseball and B. hates the Phillies. If you listen to his coverage of ANY Phillies game he is unabashedly rooting for Philadelphia to fall on their face in embarassment. Back during the NLCS, when the Phillies won away at Dodger Stadium for the first time all year, my best friend Joe Buck described Matt Stairs' homerun as "devastating." Um, not for Philadelphia!

Last night (I'm unignoring the game for the moment simply to Joe Buck-bash) when Shane Victorino made a spectacular in-field single which easily could have been more, and may have scored a run if it hadn't been for Iwamura, all Joe Buck had to say about it was what a wonderful 2nd basemen Iwamura is and how great of a play he made and oh yeah Shane's on base. Any time he could give Philadelphia a compliment, it's backhanded... and it somehow manages to spin it in favor of the Rays.

My favorite is how Joe Buck continues to harp on the past. EVERY game where Lidge comes in to close he brings up 2005 when Lidge blew a very important game. When he didn't play for Philadelphia AND IT WAS THREE YEARS AGO. The only blown-save that Lidge has this year was during the All-Star game in July, and he brings THAT up every time. And last night, what does Fox do? They show the Blue Jays beating Philadelphia in 1993 in Game 6. How many sports commentators does it take to piss off an entire city? One. Joe Buck. Seriously Fox, you aren't winning any fans in the city of brotherly love. Not only do you have Joe Buck AND Troy Aikman comment on Eagles games, but you throw 1993 in our faces? During the World Series? I'm waiting for Phillies phans to boo the crap out of Joe Buck, all of Fox, and the entire Rays team.

Rays fans, I'm sorry, but there were 5 of you before this year. And all 5 of you cannot compete with the passion that is Philadelphia sports phans. Go ahead and take your stupid cow bells that have nothing to do with the city of Tampa Bay whatsoever and shove it. We are the city that celebrates 10,000 losses. We are the city that parades Broad Street in the middle of the night. We are the city who builds personal shrines to Willy Penn asking for forgiveness for building something taller than him, and pleading with him to let Philadelphia win another championship.

The other thing that gets me all riled up while listening to baseball on Fox is that they keep saying "This is a franchise record for the Rays post-season." What post-season? This is their FIRST WINNING SEASON IN FRANCHISE HISTORY. Of COURSE it's a franchise record for their post-season...IT'S THEIR FIRST ONE.

If Fox wants to win back some favor with Philadelphia... you only need to do one thing. Let Harry comment. Just for a few innings. That's all we ask. And yes, he's an employee of the Phillies. But guess what? Harry's SON is an employee of the Rays (he's their commentator). This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Capitalize on it! Harry Kalas is a LEGEND in baseball. He has one of the best voices in broadcasting, and you have the chance to have a father-son broadcast from opposite sides of the WORLD SERIES and you don't take it? Come on! There is nothing I would have loved more than when Chase Utley hit his homerun in Game 1 to have heard Harry say "It's outta here!" I love that man. During the 7th inning, I had gotten so pissed off at Joe Buck that muted my television and put on 1210 so I could hear Harry.

Oh, PS... I ordered that shirt from Son & Heir on Wednesday... and it got here today! I was told it wasn't going to be here until Saturday or possibly Monday, but it's here now! And it's wonderful. Now I just need a shirt with Harry's face on it that says "It's outta here!"