Backstreet’s back

Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer roused former columnist Bill Lyon from his retirement so that he could write a piece about why we should hate the Rays. Only problem was, Lyon couldn’t think of a single reason.

Fortunately, the Daily News’ David Murphy picked up Lyons’ slack, and posted this item on his blog, High Cheese:

I know most Phillies fans out there don’t need any more provocation, but I feel obligated to point this out. The Rays have announced the identity of the performers who will sing the Star-Spangled Banner prior to the start of Game 1 of the World Series.

Drum roll please. . .

The Backstreet Boys.

Not sure how they arrived at this choice. But apparently, O-Town was not available.

Then there’s this item from Orlando Sentinel blogger Jim Abbott, who is such a die-hard baseball fan that he thought the World Series started tonight:

Apparently, the team is ditching B.K. Jackson, the 17-year-old sax player whose renditions seemed to bring the team some luck in the playoffs, in favor of an act with more mainstream appeal.

What are the Rays thinking? They’ve got a lucky sax player and they’re kicking him to the curb in favor of the suckiest “band” in the history of suck?

The Phillies have yet to announce who will sing the national anthem at Game 3 in Philadelphia. Last week, we asked you who you’d like to see perform — and so far you’ve favored Boyz II Men over other Philly-born artists like Doctor Dog, Patti LaBelle and The Bacon Brothers (Frank Stallone was also on the list because he’s, like, Rocky’s brother and all).