Wang's almost perfect / Why ESPN Zone sucks balls.

« H E New York Yankees :: email
posted Sun, 05-06-07

Quote of the Day, from Chien-Ming Wang, who had no idea had a perfect game going until he was taken out of the game:

"I wondered why no one was talking to me."


Interesting fact about the game: Wang didn't throw a changeup until the moment he gave up the perfect game in the 8th inning. Jorge Posada is blaming himself for calling the pitch:

"You never second-guess yourself, but ... after it happens you do. You call a changeup - the first one all day - and it goes for a home run."


I was around Times Square and desperately needed to check baseball scores for my fantasy team. My laptop wasn't connecting to WiFi, so I figured I'd check out ESPN Zone since it was nearby. Plus, you'd expect a place like ESPN Zone to have sports tickers everywhere displaying the latest scores and sports news 24/7. But no. The only thing I saw scrolling on the electronic boards outside and at the first floor bar were birthday wishes, random old sports trivia, and reasons why you should go to ESPN Zone.

Inside, I stood by the bar, where one TV was showing ESPN News (which changed channels before I could find out the scores I wanted), 2 were set to NBC in anticipation of the Kentucky Derby, and one was on the Yankees game. That's when I found out Wang was pitching a perfect game, so I decided to stick around in hopes of seeing something special. A whole lot of people were gathered by the bar, focused intently on the Yankee game. And right after Wang finishes his 7th perfect inning, you know what ESPN Zone does? They change EVERY SINGLE TV in the building to the Kentucky Derby. And they weren't even starting the race yet... they were just introducing the horses, followed by a very long commercial break. I know there are a lot of people with money on the race, but why the hell have 4 TVs right next to each other if you're gonna show the same thing on every single one?!?!? A lot of people were complaining about this too. Who changes the channel near the end of a potential perfect game?!?!?

Thank you, ESPN Zone. If I believed in jinxes, I'd lay the blame on you. Aghh... I'll blame you anyway.