Here are some thoughts and musings from what can either be the happiest or most depressing (for a Red Sox fan) moment of the season: the Yankees post-World Series on-field interviews. (A side note: I'm trying to never let the thought of A-Rod as half-man, half-centaur leave my mind.)
• My friend first pointed something out quizzically during an in-game interview, and it was confirmed postgame: Joe Girardi is rocking a healthy looking set of braces. Why not Invisalign, Joe? Seems like the target market for the product — a high-profile guy who doesn't want to look like a teenager on national television. Seriously, pitch this to one of their executives, and they'll probably give you them for free. It's not like you don't have time to think about these things, Joe. You are a baseball manager.
• Hideki Matsui and his translator smirking their way through his interview as they're asked unbearably dull questions. The guy took 20 seconds translating 10-word sentences. There's no way Hideki wasn't cracking poop jokes at his translator and forcing him to come up with answers on his own. Also, Hideki seems like the only Yankee who's a decent enough guy to ever make a joke.
• George Steinbrenner is clearly on his deathbed. Not only did his sons, now running the team, repeatedly mention their father and how this one was for him, but Jorge Posada felt obligated, when asked whether this championship felt like one of the late 1990's championships (Pettitte and Rivera pitching, blah blah blah) to respond with, "Let's not forget about George." As much as it pains me, if you're a baseball fan, you've got to respect Steinbrenner; he never hesitated to do what it took to field a winner. Baseball is a little worse off without the Boss' presence.
• A-Rod's exclamation: "We're gonna party!" Never before has an athlete so desperately wanted and needed to be accepted by his peers and failed so completely because he comes off as blatantly self-serving as A-Rod. Even with an impressive postseason performance, does he really think a championship will change anything? He's still the same guy who posed kissing himself in a mirror and commissioned paintings of himself as a half-man, half-centaur, and I refuse to believe this changes anything. A-Rod, your teammates still don't want to party with you. Get over it.
• Derek Jeter spent his time holding the World Series trophy by using it to cover up his crotch area. What? Why? Was it too heavy for your girly little arms, Jeter? Then it all made sense. A-Rod had his arm wrapped around Jeter during the group interview. And come on, who wouldn't get a little excited when in the presence of such a gorgeous human specimen? Or something like that.
• I was completely and utterly shaken to my core. Something I had never experienced or even anticipated happened as festivities were wrapping up: Tim McCarver said something that was not only insightful, but that actually continues to intrigue me. And it has to have been his first coherent thought in 25 years, right? Either way, he pointed out that Brian Cashman, the man who assembled this team, was nowhere to be found in the celebration. A little curious.
• CC Sabathia's adorable six-year old son, when asked what it was like to see his father win a championship, responded, "I think he's gonna be the best pitcher in the world!" Come on kid, just answer the question. No one likes a smartass.
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Ethan Frigon is a junior majoring in economics and International Relations. He can be reached at Ethan.Frigon@tufts.edu.
