The Rented Mule Award - October 24, 2007
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by Woodsmeister
The Mule is back after a short hiatus, and boy does this one bring the pain.
Dishonorable Mention
It's too early for basketball, we've only had a week or two of hockey, and nothing stood out last week in the NFL. That leaves us with college football, where there's always a mule or two if you look hard enough.
- South Carolina - You're number 6 in the nation and you're playing at home. How the hell do you lose to Vanderbilt? I know, this is where all you SEC supremacists who don't believe anyone outside the SEC plays real football come out of the woodwork, but please, get over yourselves. Vanderbilt may be improved, they may be in the SEC, but they're still Vanderbilt, and if you're a serious football team that wants national respect, you just don't lose to them at home when you're ranked #6 in the country. It was a nice little run you had going there, Gamecocks. You can slide back into obscurity now.
- Central Michigan - Sometimes, you play those away games at the big school for the guaranteed payday and a miracle happens (See Appalachian State v. Michigan). Most of the time, however, something happens like Clemson 70 - Central Michigan 14. At least you got 14 points and a trip to beautiful Clemson, South Carolina. And, when you tell your kids about it, make sure you pronounce it Clemp-son. With a P. That will make it sound even more like you were actually there to experience the beatdown.
- California - Yes, you were playing in LA. Yes, you were coming off of a loss. But you were ahead 21 to 20 going into the fourth quarter. And then you blew it. Worse yet, UCLA lost to Notre Dame at home. Seriously. Right now, Notre Dame backers can say, "We beat UCLA, and UCLA beat Cal, so we're better than Cal." How sad is that for you? What were the rest of us thinking when we ranked you #2 in the country?
This Week's Rented Mule
Is there any doubt that it could only be my beloved Cleveland Indians? After jumping out to a 3-1 series lead, they proceeded to get thoroughly humiliated by Josh Beckett and their own alleged ace C.C. Sabathia in Game 5, thoroughly humiliated by home plate umpire Dana DeMuth, Fausto Carmona and J.D. Drew in Game 6, and then just flat out humiliated by the entire Boston Red Sox team, the Fenway Park magic, their own third base coach Joel Skinner, and second-base umpire Brian Gorman in Game 7. Congratulations, Indians. Your performance ensures that we continue to endure the insufferability of Red Sox Nation's continued hubris and insistence that they are not annoying and that they are not becoming as bad or worse than Yankees fans, two assertions the rest of us know to be flat out lies. Not to mention the soul-crushing defeat that you once again heaped on Cleveland fans.
