Sunday

Well, that was pretty much a lost
Saturday for all the teams that the fam follows. Hawks, 'Clones, Sooners, Irish all lose. None by much, but all on the short side. Is it a victory if ND covered? Meh.

There's a decent article in last week's SI about retiring baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. It is a largely complimentary piece about a guy whom I've never considered that great of a chief executive. He's overseen the steroid era, that notorious tie in the All-Star game, and a seemingly diminished position of baseball as "America's pass time". On the other hand, as the SI story points out, the economics of the game are very strong, and both the players and owners are making big money. Even though you have people always be saying that the game is too slow to watch, the later games in the regular season, and the play-off games are great theater.

Baseball terminology continues to thrive in business. Commentators are always being asked what inning it may be in terms of Fed policy easing (most go with the 8th these days), or the stage of the bull market (7th seems popular now), or the growth left in the China economy (few takers on this one). Government litigators of Wall Street bankers may throw a fastball in one situation, or a curve in another, but may also issue a pass in a less-clear case.

Even the football games yesterday had their share of baseball-coined words and phrases. I heard several times of an offensive lineman who "whiffed" on a block, a quarterback who threw a fastball to a receiver, or that same quarterback who swung for the fences by throwing the home run ball. Passes can be picked-off by the defense, an offensive or defensive coordinator can change-up their schemes, or the head coach can go to the bullpen and change quarterbacks.

(As I write this, I am reminded of 3's recitation of the poem comparing baseball played in a park to football played on the gridiron. Still makes me smile, Kiddo!)

Another interesting read in the SI issue was a typically progressively slanted do-gooder article on homeless high school athletes. The article featured several specific cases of individuals for the reader to digest in between providing statistics on the broader societal problem. One of the recurring themes was that sports provide those kids with a safe-haven, an oasis from their other misfortunes. There's oversight, structure, companionship and goal-setting in the sports activities that are largely absent elsewhere in their lives. Makes sense to me.

I am struck with the dichotomy on the far, other side of the sports spectrum where you have coddled athletes who have grown accustomed to the privileges of their stardom. Phony efforts in class, police blotter appearances, and poor displays of citizenship. There is a ripple in the force when the player moves from the dynamic of the game giving to the individual, to that individual taking the benefits and acclaim derived from success on the field. It ain't always pretty.

SI's moralizing continued on the back page column that lamented the lack of honest problem-solving by the country's divergent political interests. The writer heartened back to simpler times (as today's print industry writers like to do...who wants bloggers and TMZ?), when true public servants could go into a room and come out with a decent compromise. (I'm betting those old guys had just as many partisan postures and skeletons in their closets, but I'll give the guy a pass (drink for baseball analogy) on that one.)

But an interesting point he did make was that live sporting events (and live broadcasts of same) do tend to bring people of all persuasions to the game. Fans of any team can come from every walk of life and every political party. While you may have more liberals cheering for Cal Berkley, and more conservatives rooting for Texas, both places have room for all. (I say that with some doubt about Berkley.). Maybe we need to set up the Cotton Bowl for a Red and Blue game ( a la Texas-OU) and lock the politicians inside until they figure a few things out. (We could do it at the Rose Bowl or Yankee Stadium if Dallas was too far to the right. All of those places should be neutral politically.)

Which brings me to my previously expressed belief that I think my liberal/progressive pal Terry O (he doesn't like being categorized...get over it, friend) and I could go into a room and come up with an answer of some sort to a tough question. Of course, we're not trying to get (or keep being) elected to anything.

Too deep of a discussion. Sorry.

Moving on...

With the passing of that last tax filing date, I hope to reestablish some regularity with the blog. I want to get that story done on Daddy, and there are a few other loose ends to close. At times, this thing has become more of an extended Twitter account, and my current life just isn't that interesting. Not that my history and philosophy are all that great either, but the landscape is a bit more diverse.

Thanks for reading. Make it a great week in your neighborhood.

BCOT






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