geekster wrote:I have to say that I really do admire the Red Sox fans for the way they stick through thick and thin. Cubs fans are the same way. The Cubs vs the Red Sox would be a tragic series because one would have to loose.
I think people admire determination and what comes through with the fans in Boston is that the team is more than a team, it is a real part of the life of many of people there. It is a cultural icon, it is a piece of common ground that binds the lives of thousands of strangers. In that respect a thing like a ball team can be amazing. What hurts most and what I hope you never have to experiance is when greed gets in the way and poisons that. The Baltimore Colts sneaking out of town in the dead of night after just saying they had no plans to leave comes to mind. As in all relationships, with sincere devotion comes the opportunity for severe bitterness when you learn that the bond you feel isn't shared in the reverse direction.
Best of luck to Boston in the coming days.
cowboyangel wrote:
thanks....don't worry, the American Revolution started in Boston, and even now, the Red Sox would never entertain the idea of leaving...but as far as greed goes......I see that there must be was some way to even out the pay disparities in the leagues....it's way too out of balance now, there's gotta be some way of sharing the wealth, and I don't give a crap how socialistic that sounds....a little socialism is not so bad... (invites the expectant negative diarrhea from corporatists and republicans)
so, what you are saying is... limit workers (baseball players) salaries?
anyway... due limited exposure to baseball, i take myu cues from someone more knowledgeable than i... George Will, who lived in the same area I currently work/reside in.
May 15, 1998
George Will tells Washington University graduates:
"Don't let your babies grow up to be Cub fans"
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and essayist George F. Will delivered the 1998 commencement address this morning at Washington University in St. Louis and also received an honorary doctor of letters degree. Speaking before more than 2,200 graduating students and 12,000 guests seated in the university's Brookings Quadrangle, Will offered solemn comments on how many of society's ills, such as poverty, teen pregnancy and unemployment, could be solved if each of us follow a few simple rules of life. He also offered a few anecdotes on baseball that may be entertaining to the readers of sports briefs. He approved these excerpts for distribution:
"A few years ago, as was mentioned, I wrote a book on baseball. One of my subjects now works here in St. Louis, Tony La Russa, the manager of the Cardinals. I may say parenthetically that Tony is here in the quadrangle this morning - if any of you can pitch, please see him before tonight's game.
"From Tony La Russa, I have learned that there is only one way for a team to win consistently over 162 games. It is all very well to have some prodigies of nature like Mark McGwire, who can hit the ball into another Zip Code. But Mark McGwires are rare and even they, like all ball players, fail more often than not. Remember that the best hitter in baseball this year will fail 65 percent of the time. So the only way to win consistently is by doing the little things, obeying the little rules of baseball, such as . . . with a runner on second and no outs, try to hit behind the runner . . . .
"However, as I speak here in St. Louis, just a medium-length Mark McGwire fly ball from where the Cardinals play, I want to dispense one more dollop of advice. It is, take care of your children. In particular, do not let your children make momentous decisions at too young an age - I speak from bitter experience.
"I grew up in Champaign, Ill., midway between Chicago and St. Louis. At an age too tender for life-shaping decisions, I made one. While all my friends were becoming Cardinals fans, I became a Cub fan. My friends, happily rooting for Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst and other great Redbirds, grew up cheerfully convinced that the world is a benign place, so of course, they became liberals. Rooting for the Cubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I became gloomy, pessimistic, morose, dyspeptic and conservative. It helped out of course that the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, which is two years before Mark Twain and Tolstoy died. But that means, class of 1998, that the Cubs are in the 89th year of their rebuilding effort, and remember, any team can have a bad moment.
So fellow members of the Class of 1998, my last piece of advice is - Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be Cub fans."
Background on George Will: An avid baseball fan, Will is one of the nation's leading political commentators and essayists and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 10 books. His widely acclaimed newspaper column, syndicated by the Washington Post since 1974, now appears twice weekly in nearly 500 newspapers in the United States and Europe. Will is often mentioned as a potential next commissioner of Major League Baseball. His own baseball career began in the sandlots of Champaign and culminated in 1992, with his induction into the Little League Baseball Museum Hall of Excellence. His 1990 book, "Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball," rose to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list and earned praise as one of the decade's best "nuts and bolts" books on baseball. A collection of his new and previously published writings on baseball was published this month under the title "Bunts: Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Pete Rose and Other Reflections on Baseball."
He credits baseball with shaping many of his core beliefs, including respect for hard work, fair play, and in fact, his unique brand of conservatism.
i am in good company...
