Bob Lobel: Hope and the Yankees Arrive in Boston

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

Starting with  a hypothetical: Who is more likely to return to the top of their sport, the Red Sox or Tiger Woods?  

I'm going with the baseball team because, at this very moment, they are playing their best baseball of the season. This may be the top of the mountain for them, and it may not be. Such is the nature of the local 9. 

Everyone is gearing up for a three-game Yankee series that brings A-Rod back. The Sox have started a modest four-game winning streak, but that’s all you can say.

It's better than no winning streak, but it could all turn to ashes if the Yankees have a 2-3 win weekend. 

The Red Sox need to win this series. Nice to have this old rivalry back in some form, if only for three games. Yes, I'm worried. When you have seen the castle being built and then being destroyed, you know the heart and soul of the Red Sox fan. 

So cowboy up, or whatever they do at moments like this. 

We await Brady. We think the Bruins and Celtics have improved themselves.  Everyone but the basketball team has a shot. Bruins, Red Sox, Patriots, in ascending order. 

I think that  #XforASG  might be the dumbest promotion ever. Most people have no clue what it means, and even fewer care. Others are horrified at the open marketing that is in your face. 

Think that puts any unnecessary pressure on the X-Man? Of course, it has to. Think his teammates haven’t gone at him with this foolish vote getting deal by the league? 

Some things you see and ask "why?" This is one of them for me.  It does promise to be a really good or really bad summer. We are right on the cusp and could go either way. By this time next week the #XforASG will have  been a distant memory. 

How can baseball screw up one of their best promotional events, the All-Star game?  

It's become a product marketing moment. The rest of the summer belongs to us. The dust settles around Labor Day and then it's all hands on  deck.  If only this brief weekend and then its over.   

It shouldn't be that way but precarious is the  position of the baseball team. They really have some great new players, with the potential to be stars for a long long time. 

Unfortunately, none of them play from the mound.  Hey, can't have everything.  Some times you get what you need not what you want. Seems a little unfair, but get a fantasy team, bet some money and have a little enjoyment while you can.