Tuner adapts The Ancient Mariner, Doc adapts Tuner. Result? Entertaining and apt.
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For da record (and said with a smile), my not watching was primarily driven by dumping all cable/satellite when we moved in with our daughter and son-in-law just before the start of the season. My intent to follow the Dodgers was because a smaller investment in MLBtv did not allow me to watch Mariners' games, otherwise I would have continued watching them. Alas, the state of economic and media affairs in MLB these days is woeful in this regard.
That said, I did invoke the deeply frustrating history of the Mariners, especially over the last decade and a half, and I made lemonade out of lemons by turning from my more recent loyalty to my original one. The idea was that at least I would no longer have endure the daily and annual suffering of longtime Mariners' fans. I did recognize the irony that this came just as the team finally seemed to have a GM worth his salt, and seemed to have a team fully capable of breaking the succession of playoff-less seasons.
As it turns out, when my son-in-law is home and awake (he works a graveyard shift) we are able to watch Mariners' games live using a VPN server based in Lower Slobbovia (Al Capp fans will recognize this location). So I probably see most or all of two or three Mariners games a week, and I have not followed the Dodgers at all.
The experience of watching games this year is different than most recent seasons in that the highs are higher. When this team plays up to it's capabilities it looks like the whole team is Zeus and the opponent nothing but a receptor for lightning bolts. Another comparison would be to the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals. You see games like this and you convince yourself the Mariners are poised to break out and demolish the league, surging into the playoffs (this could yet happen). I can't tell you how many times I have watched in awe of the Mariners' incredible offensive capabilities.
But the lows seem lower by contrast because of that obvious potential for greatness. Last night's game is a perfect example. Opposing meatball pitchers look like aces all too often. Our often awesome hitters take fastballs for strikes and flail at breaking pitches in the dirt. When they are bad, they are awful, so much so they become unwatchable for me. I can't tell you how many times I have excused myself from watching the game because I can't take it any more.
So I am Jeckyll and Hyde, just like this team is Jeckyll and Hyde. But the only team I have been following this year is the Mariners. I just haven't seen as many games as in years past.
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Back to The Ancient Mariner, highly entertaining. When you read literature from days long gone you are struck with the depth and genius of most of it.