Wednesday, October 08, 2003

God vs. the Red Sox ..is what it comes down to, sayeth Allen Barra.  Hear ye, hear ye.  Myself, I have nothing against the Red Sox, but it can get grating to hear from commentator after commentator why we're supposed to identify with the suffering of Red Sox fans when all available evidence, from decades of blatant racism in the front office to the thugginess of their fans toward visiting teams, indicates that they so richly deserve it. (Curse of the Bambino, my butt; the Red Sox passed on a chance to sign Willie Mays.) And I feel like I've read this paragraph before.  <g> The Cubs are a different matter, and the differences between the miserable histories of the Red Sox and the Cubs should not be misunderstood. The Red Sox are a rich team that whines about the Yankees being richer. The Cubs, on the other hand, are a rich team that has carefully cultivated the image of a poor one, playing the lovable losers to their fans when they should have been using the fans' money to hold on to players like Greg Maddux. But, don't let the reckless hatred of the Yankees stop you.  :) 12:03:30 PM    comment [] Funny papers I'm reading stories for critiquing this morning over at the American Journalism Review.  If you visit the site, be sure to check out "Take 2" on the right-hand side, a collection of humorous errors and clever headlines.  10:10:28 AM    comment [] Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side I'm discovering once again that I really don't have much of a clue when it comes to what real modesty and humility look like.  In case you've missed it, <g> it's the baseball postseason, when the airmchair experts start coming out of the woodwork, and pretty much every male worth his weight in chest hair has an opinion or some rooting interest he's picked up along the way, and none of them are particularly interested in considering another viewpoint.  (This isn't a post about "sports fans" per se, I try to distance myself as much as possible from that wide-mouthed, tube-tied section of the population while still maintaining interest in athletics.  Oftentimes it's quite necessary if I'm going to care at all.)  So what's this have to do with anything?  Well, I like to fashion myself as fairly knowledgeable about baseball (as well as a number of other things, so I get a little stinged whenever I feel like I'm being slighted.  I've developed a big "victom complex" where I feel like I have to wave my hands and yell to get people's attention, and then I have to succeed to impress them far beyond the normal requisite to earn their respect.  I get easily jealous when I see people around me who've got newspaper gigs or are generally widely respected for their aptitude in areas that I secretly think myself equal or superior. (Of course, this is largely due to the fact that I don't trust my God-given ability as much, only soothing myself in the comfort of my own home.) Well, of course this leads down a path strewn with disasters of all sorts, not to mention that it's not a very Christlike way to go about your life.  I'm like a piece of metal that's been heated and beaten together to make a coherent shape, it takes a lot of slow, arduous beating to make me look presentable.  This place doesn't read like a shiny personal ad does it?  You guys need to help me keep any prospective..er...clients from stumbling across this.  ; ) 1:42:32 AM    comment []

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