While I’m completely addicted to the DVR, sometimes tape-delaying a game can have unintended consequences.  For those who know me, I am thrilled at seeing my childhood team, the Tigers, in the playoffs for the first time since 1987.  Of course, with TV dictating the start times, the end of these games is at an unnatural time for me to still be up for a weekday.  Between putting my daughter to bed right around the start times and trying to avoid as much commercials and also the mad ravings of a psychotic and senile Tim McCarver, I am FORCED to watch the games an hour to 2 hours later in order to fast forward through all the fluff.

With that being said, Wednesday’s game in Oakland was initially set to be shown on F/X since any Fox affiliate not in Detroit or Oakland would show the Mets-Cardinals matchup.  Unknown to me at game time, the New York game wound up being rained out and all the Fox channels showed the Tigers-A’s.  Unfortunately for me, they took it off the F/X channel I had recorded.  So when I got to trying to watch the game, it was already the 6^th inning and the Tigers were already up 7-3. DOH!!!  But that is the price I pay to be afforded the convenience of never watching a game or event live.

I had set tonight’s game to record at the usual 8 PM start time but 2 events have now precipitated the Tigers-A’s game to move again, this time to 4 PM.  One is that the weather is supposed to be awful in Detroit tonight and there’s a better chance to get the game in if they play it earlier.  The other underlying factor is that while, to me, the Tiger’s-A’s is a much more compelling matchup, chances are the Mets-Cardinals will easily draw in the higher ratings.  Thankfully Megan will be home in time to chance the DVR recording so I don’t miss the start of two Tigers games in a row!!!  It’s not like my team is the Yankees and I can just wait until next year safe in the knowledge that my team will buy, I mean, make, the postseason.

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The Chicago White Sox have unveiled one of the few non-annoying marketing plans that should have minimal impact on the game next year.  7-11 will be paying the Sox 500K a year for the rights to have the start time moved to 7:11 PM.  Most 7 PM games start between 7:07 and 7:09 so impact to the fans will be minimal and it allows them to have an extra revenue stream.  Kudos to both companies for an innovative campaign.  I can’t believe no other team has done this before.

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This news is a few weeks too old but it involves an erroneous report that tied Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, among others, to the names that Jason Grimsley (the Diamondbacks pitcher who was caught ordering HGH to his house) supposedly told the Feds in regards to players who he knew were using steroids.  It was right around the time Roger threw his (for the third time) last game as a pro.  The problem is, with all the Canseco/Bonds/McGwire/Sosa/Palmeiro hullabaloo in the past few years, my first inclination was to assume they were guilty.  With not only baseball players being caught with human growth hormone (like track stars Marion Jones and Justin Gatlin, biking star Floyd Landis, among others), we all have been soured on what records truly were broken in a “natural” state.  I doubt we’ll ever know who was clean at the time (did Brady Anderson use roids for his only 50 HR season?) in the past 20 years, but the damage has been done in terms of public opinion.  You are now guilty until proven innocent.

Even as early as 2 years ago I would have never even thought of a Hall of Famer like Clemens as guilty.  Now, like the state of Missouri, you have to Show Me that you aren't hopped up on the sauce/cream/clear/roids/juice.