We do not put the blame on you in this house

06/20/08: Cardinals 5, Red Sox 4

Yeah, we were there.

We were there before and after the rain, there to watch the Celtics' duck boats get soaked and still there, a little damper, when they returned for the ceremonial first pitch. The Truth threw some high heat, but Jason Varitek couldn't handle the ball and had to chase it all they way to the backstop He managed to find the ball, though, and walked it back to the mound, where he shared a Captain to Captain handshake and a few hugs with his taller, lankier brethren.

That was pretty much the highlight of the evening. Well, that and Pap & Manny's music video debut. We seriously spent the entire time it was playing alternately staring, laughing, and turning to each other and saying, "That's so special, it's like riding the bus with Rosie O'Donnell's sister." If that video's not up for a MTV Music Video Award* next year, we're going to pitch a fit.

The game itself was mostly forgettable, if exciting enough in a give-and-take way. There was a bit of confusion in our section when loud cheers could be heard after a Cardinal home run; turns out there was a relatively large crowd of Cards fans in attendance, which just isn't something we're used to at Fenway. We've been spoiled, we know, but it was still a strange experience.

So, yes, there was a game. Wake was serviceable, if not great, and Oki continued to alternate moments of brilliance with moments of BP pitching. And then there was Aardsma. He's been frustrating this season, combining that fastball of his with an inability to throw strikes, but last night he was perfect. One-two-three strikeouts, beautiful strikeouts, and the baseball highlight of the evening by far. By that time, much of our section had cleared out (there were lots of families with small kids, and it was getting late), and we turned to each other and said, "We're glad we stayed, not just because it's right. Because we got to see that."

Let's not even mention today's game, okay? The PawSox are winning! Watch the PawSox hit home runs! Thrill as Jed Lowrie turns yet another double play! Do not think about Julio Lugo. Ignore him and he'll go away.

*Do those still even exist? The last time we saw a Video Music Award, it was being stolen from its rightful winner by a Beastie Boy.

We do not know the name of the NBA championship trophy in this house*

Look, we are not huge Celtics fans (by which we mean this: we are not NBA fans, though since reading Let Me Tell You a Story we've maintained that the one team we'd root for would be Red's team). We're more college hoops people, to be perfectly honest, and women's college hoops at that (Big East represent), so it'd be a lie to say we've watched more than a few** regular season C's games this season. And it's not like we watched every post-season game, either.*** But, still, we--like so many others before us--have been sucked in by the drama and the "Beat LA!" chants at Fenway and the happiness on our Actual Celtics Fan friends' faces, and we were thrilled that the Celtics finally decided that, you know what, this historical comeback and trading off leads stuff was all fine and dandy, but it was time to stomp all over Not Jordan and his band of not-so-merry men.

So, yes, we too found ourselves giggling for joy when KG started screaming incoherently, and we're still not over the moment when he hugged Russell and said, "I hope we made you proud." Sports can be really amazing sometimes, you know? Congrats to the Celtics on number 17.

Moving on to the actual subject of the blog, we're heading down to Fenway on Friday, and while we're bummed that we won't get to see Albert Pujols in action, there's a part of us that's more than a little relieved that we won't get to see him go deep off our favorite knuckleballer north of Pawtucket, one Mr. Timothy Wakefield. We'd also been assuming our favorite Cardinal, Yadier Molina, won't be playing after sustaining a concussion--and holding onto the ball!--in that collision at the plate a few days ago, but we're really not sure of his status at the moment. Anyway, needless to say, we're excited. It'll be our first Wake start of the season, so here's hoping the knuckler will be all knuckley and Manny and Youk will be back in the lineup.

Coming soon: we talk stolen bases, ESPN, Jon Lester, and the direct statistical correlation between weddings and an increased workload with a decided lack of blogging. "This has been Sports Night on CSC"-- oh, wait, never mind.

*Naismith is something else, right?

**Translation: more than one. We watched part of a game when down in Florida for spring training, and a few minutes here and there, mostly while flipping channels or when we knew it was late enough in the game to actually matter. We're pretty sure that all adds up to one total game. Like we said: not big NBA people.

***Once the weather turned, however, Jennifer could follow the action by the shouting of her neighbors. It was kind of awesome.