Sponsored Content
« Mid-Morning Art Thread | Main | This Election Is Going To Be (Gas)Lit! »
October 13, 2020

The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

punk-monkey.jpg

As professional sports rush to become just another shrill screech in the cacophony of criticism of America and Americans by an increasingly remote elite, I am reminded of the bygone days of American sports. Players were accessible to their fans, they rarely spoke out on matters about which they had no particular expertise; they preferred to make their presence known on the field. That is not to say that they were ignorant of the larger world, but they understood that sports was the great unifier in contentious times.

2020 seems to have been particularly cruel to those baseball greats; the list of those who have gone is long, and curiously painful. Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, Joe Morgan, Tom Seaver, Al Kaline, Don Larsen. These are men who played a great game at the highest level imaginable. They were fierce competitors and comported themselves with dignity and grace...so unlike our current crop of "superstars," who demand respect while simultaneously denigrating the fans whose worship they expect.

As I look at those names my first thoughts are: Cardinal, Cardinal, Yankees, Reds, Mets, Tigers, Yankees. And then a jumble of memories, some good, and some bad (Joe Morgan destroyed the Yankees in 1976), but all a testament to what is uplifting about sports. And interestingly, no thoughts of race! It's as if color didn't matter between the lines.

I am not observing those bygone years through rose-colored glasses. Of course there was racial strife when these men were growing up. But integration of baseball was part of the solution, and the reality that American sports are colorblind, no matter what the race-baiters may say, is a fine commentary on Americans.

We have lost those unifying aspects of sports, and the collapse of TV ratings is a signal of something broken. Turning on a game used to be a respite from the real world...a few hours during which we could enjoy a little corner of the world that wasn't strife-filled and angry. But now? I refuse to be harangued and criticized and mocked by poorly informed millionaires who feel entitled to my attention to their political and social commentary as well as to their ability to hit a slider or throw a 99mph fastball.

Instead of watching them, I will reclaim the time, part of which I will spend on more important pursuits, such as marveling at Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA in the 1968 season, or Tom Seaver's 21 complete games in 1971, or Al Kaline's cannon of an arm, or Lou Brock's balletic base stealing, or Don Larsen's improbable capturing of lightning in a bottle during one magical World Series game.

Sports is still important, but its joys can be captured on a Little League field or a Pee-Wee hockey rink or during a pick-up basketball game. We simply don't need the ills of the larger world on the field. The games are enough!


digg this
posted by CBD at 10:55 AM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Piper: "229 The apple fritter seduces you and takes all ..."

Hadrian the Seventh: " The apple fritter seduces you and takes all your ..."

Mike Hammer, etc., etc.: "The risk of being willowed looms large. ..."

Piper: "I wonder how many more times he falls before he br ..."

Diogenes : "Non-First!!! ..."

Mike Hammer, etc., etc.: "------ Nonuncounterintuitive Posted by: Mike Ham ..."

Mike Hammer, etc., etc.: "uncounterintuitive Posted by: runner ------ No ..."

runner: "Dunno, it seems counterintuitive. Posted by: Mike ..."

Hokey Pokey: "I'd say it's a neo-Marxist victim cult that seeks ..."

runner: " I don't understand why Doctor Jill wasn't the one ..."

Diogenes : "The donut is the plain-looking sister to the much ..."

weft cut-loop[/i][/b] [/s]: "[i]Fabricated 'Pride' is gross rationalization to ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64