Well, it seems, uh, like we've done this before. And uh, this time, unfortunately for me, it's much more serious than last time. I've never had, um, a doctor look at me in the face and say, uh, that I may never be able to play Beat the Streak again. And I was, uh, I was told that yesterday. Of course, you know I, it's not something that I believe. But the fact is it's something that I have to deal with. This game has taken it's toll on, on my body.
Well there's uh, one thing about me is I can't do anything halfway and I, and I come here and I hear the people and they chant uh, Buster's name or they chant Robinson's name or they chant a lot of peoples' names, and one thing's for sure, you're going to have all of that in the future, um, and that's what I want for the Streaking In Public fans. In spite of, uh, what people may think about me, what I've always wanted for all these people is, is for them to have a good time and to enjoy themselves.
I've always tried to be the one to provide it whether it was on the good side or the bad side. But what was always important to me was the performance, was the performance so that these people, each time they reached in their pocket, they read a BYC article, they didn't regret it because they knew that if they saw my name on the header they could yell, they could come and they could cheer and they could boo and they could do whatever they wanted as long as they had a good time.
Over the last couple of months, uh, there's been a lot of talk of people, uh, having bad attitudes and a lot revolving around this streak. Uh, all I know today is that one thing that's not going to revolve around this streak, for a long time, is going to be me. I don't know where I'm at right now. I have to, uh, I have to have everything checked. I may have... I may be beyond reconstructive surgery. I may, or may not be able to fix it. But if I can't come back and perform at the level I performed at, before... I can't, I can't perform. I can't come out here and just go half-ass. I have to come out here and I have to romp and stomp and I have to get tossed around. I have to toss people around and I have to have fun.
The schedule over the last month I took on because I didn't feel like I could say no. I wanted to do everything. I wanted to enjoy my life as a winner. I wanted to, I wanted to ride in Lear jets and ride in limousines and I wanted to be on TV shows and I wanted to do autograph sessions and I got to do every bit of that. If nothing else, I have all of that to take with me. Again, and I know right now we're in the middle of a time where toughness is real big here at Bleeding Your Colors, and unfortunately all I've got right now for you is a lot of sorrow, a lot of tears, and a lot of emotion. I don't have any toughness for anybody, so I guess, here you go, I'm back at zero.
What I'm going to do is go back home and see what's left for me; whether it'll be in this article... whether it'll be out of this virtual realm. I know that over the, uh, the last month I've lost a lot of things and one of them has been my smile. And, and I know it doesn't mean a whole lot to everybody else, but it means a lot to me. So I have to go back and fix myself, and take care of myself, and I have to go back and I have to find my smile because somewhere along the line I lost it and I don't care, really, I don't care if it's unpopular, and I don't care if, uh, people want to make fun of me because I'm an emotional guy. But, um, this is all I've ever wanted to do and uh, over the last month I got to do it and whether you like me or not, I just want to tell you that, uh, last year was the most wonderful month of my life. And, uh, if I never do get to do it again, it'll be okay because I got to live one full year as being the number one guy in this business and it was the single greatest month of my life. And I have you to thank, and I have everybody here to thank, and it means a lot to me and, uh, I'm gonna go home now. Okay?
Well, the tides have turned. The somber side of Streaking In Public has become the bright and bubbly one. A nice 2-for-2 to start the month will do that to a man. I will look to make it a nice green W3 this evening with my one pick for today, the Angels over the Astros. The crop of FIBA World Cup games don't really do anything for me and neither do the two U.S. Open matchups. I scrolled through all the baseball selections and I came across one that I just couldn't pass up. It seems I have been overtly picking on Brad Peacock here on SIP. That has burned me before but I doubt he'll bite me in the ass again tonight. Alas, I also doubted that Jason Hammel would shut down Robinson Cano. Wonderful, the bummer cloud made its way over to the Streak for the Cash half of the proceedings. I am going to stop now before I get any more blubbery and snotty. Pick the Angels, or don't. I don't care. Quote the Utley, nevermore.
Image Credits: Beltre/Peralta (mlb.com), Streak pick (espn.com)