ON THE MARK.

NEIL YOUNG.  THANKS FOR NOTHING.

Instead of staying home to watch playoff baseball, I went to see Neil Young in London ON on Saturday night.  Bad decision.   While the opening act, Los Lobos, rocked and rolled their way through a lively, but shortened 40 minute set, Young was at his worst, toying with the audience and testing their resolve.  I won't go into the whole show, because I didn't stay for it all, opting to bail after an hour in search of a bar with a big screen so I could drink, eat and watch sports.  Young, who is 66 years old, reminded me of a stubborn old man who will do whatever he feels like.  It just so happens that some people were paying 200 dollars a ticket to be a part of this.   Now, I love Neil Young, but I'm not a blind loyalist.  Some people think he can do no wrong because he's Neil Young.   Let me tell you, when you turn your back to the audience for 15 minutes and play the same hard, crashing note over and over and over again, you're testing the patience of your fans.   We couldn't take his self-indulgent crap any more, so we left.  


Have you noticed how many fine players have folded under the pressure of the baseball playoffs so far?  It's like an epidemic.   Like the 162 game regular season has absolutely nothing to do with the post-season.  It's where veteran players suddenly start playing like rookies again.   40 year old Chipper Jones throwing a ball away at 3rd, leading to a St. Louis victory over Atlanta, and a terrible swansong for a first ballot Hall of Famer.   The Braves made three key errors in that game.  Must be the incredible pressure.    We've seen dropped fly balls (Josh Hamilton, Coco Crisp)  awful pitching performances from "lights out" relievers (Jim Johnson, Baltimore and Joaquin Benoit, Detroit) and even screw ups by umpires (Sam Holbrook's infield fly rule) 

Let's face it.  Baseball is a pressure packed game, especially when it gets cold and the games really mean something and the baseball itself resembles a wet bar of soap, difficult to grip on and even tougher to throw accurately.   Routine ground balls become an adventure.  More wild pitches are uncorked, with balls ricocheting off the shin pads of catchers after kicking up dirt a few feet in front of the plate.   A guy who was in complete control in June and July can't find the plate in October.  A guy who was hitting line drives all summer now swings at the first pitch and pops out with the bases loaded.  A guy who would catch a fly ball 100 times out of 100 (Crisp) can't make that 101st grab when his team really needs it.

I would love to see the Bluejays do something about their managerial situation, but they need to wait to see who becomes available.   Jim Tracy resigned as the manager of Colorado.  Ron Washington might get the boot in Texas.  Sandy Alomar Jr. was in the running two years ago, but the Jays hired John Farrell instead.  And how did that work out?   Besides, Farrell will end up going to Boston and the Jays will try to get some decent compensation out of the Sox in return.   Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos has to look after the managerial situation first and foremost.   Any attempt at signing free agents or trading for veteran players will be stonewalled unless the player knows who the manager is.  Want to attract the big names?  You'd better have a "name" manager.