Somebody agrees with me about the Red Sox Nation's weird relationship to losing.

Frankly, if the Red Sox ever do win the World Series again, I'm not sure Red Sox fans will be able to go on, because they'll lose their raison d'etre, which I believe is French for "no starting pitching other than Pedro."

Also, since the comments software isn't working, here's my answer to Steve's question at PragueBlog. He points out that the Cubs, until last night, had not won a post-season series since 1908. "I did not know that," he writes. "That is wild, wild stuff. Anyway, the curse of the Bosox isn't anything like that bad, is it?"

Objectively speaking, no. And I didn't know that about the Cubs either.

But perhaps you're misunderestimating the nature of the Bosox curse. It's not that they've been a bad team that never wins for all these decades. It's precisely the fact that they've gotten so close so many times and have always, always, always choked, often in the most dramatic fashion possible. Google "Bucky Fucking Dent" if you don't believe me.

My girlfriend thinks it's really weird that I follow sports at all. Though as I've said, I actually don't. But I'll definitely be on the lookout for news from Oakland tomorrow morning.

Speaking of California, I'd also like to take this opportunity to make scottymac.blogspot.com's first political endorsement: Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor of California. Yes, that's right, a Republican. Mind you, I know as much about California politics as I do about different cuts of beef (remember, I'm the kinda guy who says OR-A-GONE) but what are blogs for if not airing uninformed opinions?

Yeah, I suppose it's true that part of me is secretly hoping (OK, not so secretly anymore) that Arnold will lose, because there are few things I enjoy more than seeing a Republican humiliated. I'm also not jumping on the bash-the-LA Times bandwagon for airing those groping allegations. The fact that the paper published this just days before tomorrow's election is a total non-issue, as far as I'm concerned; this was a lengthy and professional investgation. The fact that the reporters sought the women out, not vice versa, makes the allegations more serious, not less, since the only one you could really accuse of mudslinging is the paper itself (until Gov. Gray Davis opened his mouth, that is). And frankly, this is serious stuff worth investigating. It's long been common knowledge that Arnold was a lecherous beast, and now the facts are laid bare. Somebody had to do it.

Yet Arnold's public apology was probably one of the "biggest" (in the sense of "that's very big of you") political acts I've ever seen. And frankly, when I read comments like this -- "What he's doing is not only offensive; it's illegal" -- some rather unwholesome thoughts flit through my mind. Stuff like, "Shut your fucking trap, you hysterical bitch." No, no, I didn't really think that.

The Hitler comments were taken completely out of context, and I'm inclined to dislike Davis for even mentioning it. I'm really surprised both issues have gained so much steam.

Finally, author and filmmaker Roger L. Simon ("Prague Duet") put it best:

What an election we're having between two pathetic extreme political hacks (Davis and Bustamante), a hypocritical witch (Huffington, now resigned), a right-wing ideologue with a mullah-like religious fanatic campaign manager (McClintock) and a libertine (Arnold). I guess in the end I'm sticking with the libertine.

UPDATE: Here's another view on whether the LA Times really sought those people out on their own.