Thursday

Lots of material today.

We have the Rhubarb Festival this weekend in one of the local Illinois towns. Not that I am making any reservations. I remember Mother having a couple of rhubarb plants by the small grape arbor in the backyard of the old house. Never had much taste for rhubarb since the time in my youth when I took a big bite of a piece of pie that I thought was strawberry, but was in fact rhubarb.

John's comment about an ND burial plot for me in response to Craig Wilson's Wednesday column brought a small smile to my face. I had read the article myself and my thoughts were about a fellow '71 grad whom I saw many times in the '70's and '80's at the same South Bend bar we had frequented as undergrads, Corby's. He ended up getting a PhD and teaching at ND, maybe even still. He certainly has earned an honorary spot at the bar (although Corby's has long since met with the wrecking-ball).

The Ottumwa lawyer whom I accompanied on my first-ever visit to ND as a high school junior, by rail, bought a condo near campus in his retirement and I think spent (still?) a lot of time each Fall in South Bend to get the full appreciation of the gridiron season. Most people with a second home might go a little further South. Winter in South Bend defines the term, "lake-effect snow".

Sports fans can be over-the-top in support of their teams. There are many stories about local team supporters, as well as college and pro fanatics. Whether it's where they are buried, or what they may be buried in (or with), people can make a statement with those decisions on final arrangements. It makes for good stories, but it's not like it changes the end results. When you're dead, you're dead.

A discussion of final resting places has made it to this blog previously. I do think that it is relevant for the immediate family to have a place to visit their departed loved ones (especially for those tragically called home early). It gets a bit sketchy for the 3rd generation, and becomes little more than history for the 4th generation. At least with a Mt. Rose destination, the girls will be able to celebrate with some kind of repetition, memories of the best of our times.

Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees made headlines for a couple of reasons yesterday. I'll leave the more salacious backpage gossip to the Enquirer, but the baseball story is worth a few comments. While running between second and third last night for what must have been a probable third out infield pop-up, he yelled something at the third baseman who was making the play (likely, "mine", or "I got it"), that caused the third baseman to back off, and the ball dropped for a hit. To my knowledge, A-Rod did not deny that he tried to confuse the third baseman.

The opponents and many commentators have criticized the play as "bush league", a term used to deride action that doesn't belong in "the show". This raises into discussion the whole concept of the "unwritten" rules of baseball. Actually, baseball probably has more unwritten rules than any sport. While each sport may have a few common "sportsmanship courtesies", baseball is rife with do's and don'ts. There are endless varieties of the "hidden ball" trick to get runners to step off base for an easy tag out. Fielders often fake base runners on who is covering a bag, or whether a ball has been caught or thrown. These are all "okay" and generally acceptable in terms of the "spirit of the game".

A pitcher attempting to "send a message to a batter aims below the shoulders with the inside pitch, while the shortstop making the relay on the double play aims at the head of a runner not starting his slide early enough in the play. As a runner, it's your job to "take out" the pivot guy on the double play. It's generally okay to steal signs, if you can. Bench jockey's "ride" the opposing pitcher. You don't say anything in the dugout to a pitcher tossing a no-no. You don't bunt for the first hit in a late game, no-no situation.

The list goes on.

I'm not sure if A-Rod's action falls into the definition of "bush league" conduct. It may be marginal. I want to say that it's not "old school", but it may not be such simply because the old guys didn't think of it at the time. I don't think many of those Hall of Famers lost much sleep on how they won, as long as they won. Think Ty Cobb or St. Louis' Gashouse Gang. They weren't choirboys. (Doesn't the NFL have some written rules that limit the defense's rights on yelling out signals designed to confuse the offense? And the NBA has at least had discussions about player conduct in attempts to distract a free throw shooter.)

Okay. I beat that to death. No wonder my readership numbers are down.

I'm off to the bike. Have a great evening. Buenos dias/noches.

Be careful out there.