Wait ’til next year

I have mixed feelings about the outcome of the World Series. Maybe it’s a product of getting older, but I found myself not caring who won the extra inning affairs; I just wanted them to be over so I could go to sleep.

Naturally, I would have preferred the Mets to beat the KC Royals, but on the bright side, it saved me from having to listen to extra game coverage by FOX. Really, I hated the way they had Rob Lowe voicing over the syrupy “baseball is great” opener to the pregame shows. Why him? Why not someone with more gravitas? Because Lowe stars in “the new FOX hit The Grinder…” Hmmm.

And don’t get me started on the guys in the booth, both before and during the games. A number of sports media critics have saved me the trouble, including Phil Mushnick of the New York Post. Brian Lehrer had this excellent interview with Ron Darling, who, along with Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen, does the TV side for the Mets during the regular-season. I’ve long believed the networks who carry games during the postseason should use the people who cover the teams for the long-haul, rather than trot out their “stars” like Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds, and Tom Verducci, who basically offer cliches, “Captain Obvious” observations, and cold statistics without grokking the heart and soul of what they’re doing.

So now all the “eulogies” and post-mortems begin. Shoulda-woulda-coulda. (Did you notice that a recent issue of Sports Illustrated featured Daniel Murphy on the Nov. 2 national cover? (Yes, a regional cover had the Royals’ Lorenzo Cain. So what? Shut up.) You knew then it was all over but the crying. Murphy had a six-game home run streak in the League Division and League Championship series, but none in the fall classic and made a couple of Series-altering errors as well.) After so much talk about the SI cover jinx (similar to the John Madden curse), would you want such a dubious honor? Thanks, but I’ll pass.