All Things Bubba

It was starting to look like the Red Sox would do it again...that they would once again claw their way back from the brink of elimination. After coming back from being down 0-7 with two outs in the 7th in Game 5, then winning Game 6, momentum, if not destiny, seemed to be on their side. Especially after Game 7 started with a first inning home run.

It was a great game, if nerve-wrackingly close, but in the end, the young Tampa Bay Rays prevailed. The Red Sox have a history of rising from the dead, but the Rays finally put a stake through their hearts. (Or, as Brendanukkah put it, gave them a "Steve Irwin Special.")

The Rays, who never even had a winning season before this year, are headed to the World Series.

In other news...Joba Chamberlain was arrested for DUI back home in Nebraska. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.134 (legal limit is 0.08), and spent the night in the drunk tank.

This New York Times article points out that the Yankees have reason to worry. One, if you're actually caught driving drunk, you probably do it a lot. Two, Joba may have a genetic predilection toward substance abuse; his mom Jackie, it turns out, was very much a part of his life, and did help raise him...but is now estranged from her children, because of her past drug addiction.

The article suggests that we've gotten the Disney version of the Joba Chamberlain story, and I'm inclined to agree. What I found kind of creepy was that Joba's father was a family friend of his mom's - "as close as family." He was 13 years older, and helped her learn her catechism. And ended up knocking her up. She was of age when she had Joba, but it still seems kind of icky, in a Celine Dion kind of way. Particularly since Jackie was clearly a very troubled and immature adolescent.

This blog takes Bubba's name in vain while poking fun at Joba's arrest:

Have you ever taken a shower with a guy named Bubba (and I don't mean Bubba Crosby)

At least he's still remembered, more than two years after playing his last game in pinstripes.