« Bridge | Main | Tears of Joy »

February 06, 2005

Comments

I don't normally like football at all. Basketball is much more fun to watch, for me.

You are a sick, sick girl, hilzoy, but it's OK: we're here for you.

Dibble, dribble, shoot,dribble,dribble,shoot. I know I'm a Phlistine---but for me basketball seems like a particularly inane sport.

Today's the Super Bowl? Excellent, that means no lines at the hardware store. Maybe this would be the day to buy that router I've been thinking about...

And for the record, I'm bored silly by amost all sports.

I'm not a football fan, but I enjoy watching a good game in the company of friends. And I always enjoy watching good athletes of any stripe performing at the top of their games -- there's something thrilling about it, whether it's football, golf, curling or javelin, seeing someone exercising their skills at their peaks. Just last night, I joined a group of friends to watch, of all things, Ultimate Fighting Championship on pay-per-view. Not my cup of tea, but still interesting to watch.

Anyway, although I don't have a dog in the fight, since I grew up in an AFC city and am a loyal person, go Patriots!

I'm actually more looking forward to the premiere of "American Dad" tonight than anything else.

I've never really watched American Idol, so when they had Kelly Clarkson performing on a pre-game segment, I sat down and watched. Wow! Was that horrible. The song was horrible, she looked horrible and sang horrible. Petula Clark, where are you? Hell, I'll take Ann Murray. Vickie Carr?

And I always enjoy watching good athletes of any stripe performing at the top of their games -- there's something thrilling about it, whether it's football, golf, curling or javelin, seeing someone exercising their skills at their peaks.

Amen to that.

I'm a one-sport guy and baseball is it. It's a grace-filled combination of individual effort and heroics on the one hand and team/group selflessness on the other hand, though I would prefer a few more sacrifice bunts and a few less three-run homers, which have become so common as to be boring.

But, Hilzoy, I can understand that major-league baseball does not do much to heal the broken heart. If you could find a minor league team, semi-pro team, or even a good wood bat adult league to watch, you may learn to love again.

John: The tragic history of me and baseball is here. The heartbreak that began it all, and should have tipped me off about the future, is in the fourth comment. Last summer was a minor lapse. I have been Red Sox free since then (and no one gets to point out that they haven't played since then), and do not intend to relapse. My theory is that there are enough Red Sox fans like me who had gotten wise to their ways that they had to win the series so that we would think it was conceptually possible for them to win something. But I will not be so easily taken in. She snarled.

I'm glad you like it, though. I hope it brings you nothing but joy.

Well, Hilzoy, I can't think of any words to sooth the Conigliaro loss; that is a sad story. But you mustn't become the Miss Havisham of lost baseball love, if that is anywhere close to a fair comparison. ;)

On the other hand, I can't watch Julie Christie movies any more since she threw me over for Warren Beatty and Jack Warden in "Shampoo".

There is something achingly delicious about baseball loss. A friend of mine (a teammate, as it happens) attended Carl Yastrzemski's retirement ceremony at Fenway all those years ago and tells this story: The ceremony began late because of a torrential downpour. No one left the stadium. A dias and microphone and some seats were set up at second base. Time passed. Finally, the rain began to let up a bit, and then, without announcement Yaz appeared on the top step of the Red Sox dugout, knees and ankles taped, anti-glare black beneath his eyes, cap pulled down over his forehead. It took a few minutes for everyone to notice and then the sustained roar began and lasted for many, many minutes.

My friend looked to his left and two elderly men, caps over their hearts, were sobbing like children.

Everything came hard for Yaz. He changed his batting stance constantly; he played hurt much of the time, he spent more time practicing caroms off the Green Monster than most players spent practicing all facets of the game. He rarely smiled. Baseball was work. It was fate. He loved it grimly.

He wasn't as handsome as Conigliaro.

Politics is my sport. The few things I can say about the physical sports are trivial, including my personal history as a (mostly) clumsy nerd (with, okay, the normal number of clung-to personal triumphs of childhood, small and childish as they are).

However, I take enjoyment from many things far sillier than championship sports, so for those to whom it rings their chimes, $DEITY bless you. (I'm cranky about the, expected as it was, cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, just as it finally hit its mark, thanks to Manny Coto, but that's because I'm a classic nerd, perhaps.)

I used to watch football when I was married to a fan. I could get into it at least a little becuase there is a narrative (basically the Illiad), with heroes and an uncertain ending. My beloved Paul watches basketball but I can't share his pleasure because there is no narrative. Any randomly chosen ten miutes is exactly like every other ten minutes, so why play the whole game? Why not just cut to the last ten minutes? But he says I am a Philistine and that basketball is like a Tom Robbins novel ie no plot but lots of interesting episodes.
I do understand that there is an immense amount of dedication and talent on display at any professinal sports event. However the sport I find most aesthetically pleasing is ice dancing, followed by gymnastics. It's like watching Dr. Suess come to life. People doing stuff that seems impossible.

Huh. This was kind of a craptacular game.

I thought the second half was excellent, and the first half was at least well-balanced. Don't understand Philadelphia's "Five minutes to score ten points? Sure, let the clock tick" attitude. But most importantly, the commercials were lame. Thanks so much, FCC.

Quite interesting thread tonight Hilzoy, thanks for your impressions and all the ones that followed. Everyone has their own (American, it seems for an international blog) experience but here is mine. I love athletics but America and much of the world is passionate about Sport, meaning Nationalism in disguise.

I love athletics, exhibited in baseball, gymnastics and tennis but loathe the supposed contact sports like football, basketball and boxing.

I am a gay man and i love the idea of competing with yourself and challenging yourself to do better. The idea of beating someone else means that we all lose because for us to 'win' someone has to 'lose' whereas if you compete against yourself the template changes completely and herein lies the difference between Dems and Repubs, let alone Neoncons. The reason men want to pummel each other is that they can't deal with loving each other and where are the women in this equation? We live in a society where one can knock an opponent into unconsciousness but it is unforgivable to love him into ecstacy.

The old saying 'make love not war' is a truism, not a cliche. When one can't own up to a truth, please step aside and not add to the garbage pile.

We represent a nation that relies on a stockpile of rapidly aging weapons (like our baby booming populace) with 'Waste' we don't even know how to dispose of (and if you think Yucca Valley is a real solution then let's talk about a cool cruise to the Arctic ice shelf). Whenever i hear talk of 'disposable culture' in America i chuckle heartily because we have very little notable culture created recently here (music,film, architecture?) and so much like nuclear waste that we haven't a clue of how to dispose of.

In a contest set up under artificial constraints to compete for an essentially token prize and bragging rights, and in which even the guys who score fewer points take home millions of dollars in bonuses and extra salary, I don't find it real easy to get broken up over sorting them into "winners" and "losers."

In any case, I just spent the evening in a room full of Democratic football fans. (And one Republican.) How that plays into wilfred's thesis I don't know, but there it is.

phil, i think it has much more to do with fitting in than it does with Dem/Rep etc. these days. Many years ago it was about being yourself and being your own person and those concepts are pretty much out of the vernacular/out of the mainstream culture these days. If you were around that mileau it could easily be that you live in that basic culture day to day.

To give a very sad example i saw a news report on the ABC station in LA last week about cars and the newswoman said "you are what you drive.... well of course you are!" when promoting a news segment, i hurled at the suggestion. Why don't we just say "BAAAAAAAAH" and be done with it. If you all happen to agree with the mainstream on something, then cool but if you don't ever step outside that to just be who you really are, then welcome to American Idol which is the total mainstream hit of what was "Star Search", a 4pm sydnicated joke starring Ed McMahon ("YESSSSSSSSS... do you get that reference?) from the 80's.

Baseball is the only sport really worth thinking about.

John Thullen is right about the charms of minor league, or lower, levels. Go see a minor league game and you will appreciate how difficult the sport really is. Watching a big league game on TV a grounder to the shortstop is boring and routine. Why, anybody could pick the ball up and throw the runner out. But watch a minor league game in person and you see how hard and terrifying it really is to do that. The same applies to most defensive plays, and also to batting. Up close it's not a video game. There's a nasty, dangerous, rapidly moving rock coming at you, and you can't just jump out of the way. You have to hit it with a stick. Not easy.

I've been reading some sabermetric discussions of baseball lately, and the sense that fundamental info about the game is emerging after 100+ years of play is really exciting. Something that really caught my eye is the contention (the basis of the DIPS system) that pitchers are unable (or just barely able) to influence the likelihood of hits on balls in play - that good pitchers have better strikeout, walk allowed, and home run allowed rates, and the rest is noise.

But watch a minor league game in person and you see how hard and terrifying it really is to do that.

Same reason I love college football: strategy and skills become far more important because of the disparities and unmitigated potentials for disaster. There's just more at stake.

February 7, 2005 12:14 AM
February 7, 2005 01:06 AM
[insert this comment's stamp here]

Where's the nightshift?

Going to bed. :)

Yes, it may have been Superbowl for you, but in my house it is the return of the tensions that is the Six Nations tournement. And this season I have hope. Because Gavin Henson just seems to be amazing. Those Tackles!!! And beating the English. My weekend was sublime.

Many years ago it was about being yourself and being your own person and those concepts are pretty much out of the vernacular/out of the mainstream culture these days.

I disagree with both theses here, actually. If there's one thing American society and culture has been predicated on since day one -- indeed, if there's one thing that's pretty much necessary even for the idea of a common culture to exist -- it's conformity. Even the so-called "radical" '60s and '70s were largely defined by which group you chose to conform to.

On the other hand, our culture today offers more opportunities for people to make themselves into exactly who they want to be as individuals than ever before. One can argue about whether individualism (or dissent or choice or departure from the mainstream or whatever) has been commodified and whether that's a good, bad or neutral thing, but I believe those choices really do exist.

Damn your eyes 4-time Superbowl winning Patriots! Damn your eyes!
*sob*

George Will once remarked that American football combines the two worst aspects of modern society: It's violence broken up by business meetings. Which is probably why I like it so much.

phil, i agree with many of your comments. On sober reflection (it was Marg Sunday) there was a certain amount of conformity in the 60's/70's but the main thrust was to 'tune out' the machinery and listen to yourself, to go within. For blacks it was reclaiming pride in their appearance instead of trying to look like white people (the Natural look). The one area that this doesn't apply is music, top 40 pop has always been the mainstream except when it was dented in the 70's by album oriented rock but most other forms of music have thrived. I think music is where people express themselves most individually (in their youth anyway).

Regarding conformity in politics something that scares the Bejesus out of me is this talk of "One Party Rule' in America. The Republicans are openly saying that they want to be (and already are in some areas) the only party. I wouldn't even want that for the Democrats let alone the Republicans. If one party rule was palatable to me i'd move to Russia. I'd prefer we have several parties with some clout but that's for another thread.

The comments to this entry are closed.