Tag: Baseball

40. It’s going to be a long year…

40. It’s going to be a long year…

by scruffyrube ♥ 1 Comment

I love sports, they just don’t always love me back.

Dear Boys,

If sports loved fans, the way we loved sports, everyone would always win and achieve a noble victory. But that’s not the way of things.

Before I wrote this blog for you, I wrote one about baseball with your mom. It was a way to be silly and talk with each other and share our love for the local team. (Before we acknowledged our love for each other)

The sad part is, while we watched some good games and cheered hard, the Twins always fell short. Sometimes they were the worst in baseball, sometimes the were the best…but still got beaten handily en route to another playoff exit. [As they were…AGAIN…this week]

Don’t think twice it’s alright….(Inside Hook)

Our expectations were always high and our disappointment was, correspondingly, deep.

Our attention to Alebrijes de Oaxaca hasn’t lasted nearly as long, but this numb, depressing, losing streak has still hurt. At a time when small clubs are struggling already, seeing Oaxaca suffer defeat upon defeat just compounds the pain.

With defeat and loss so common, it’s fair to wonder, why pay attention at all? Why put your heart out there if it’s probably going to end up in pain.

I’ve already said that trophies aren’t as important as learning from it. But if, like the jinxed Twins and the forlorn Alebrijes, you never seem to learn from your mistakes or change the cycle, then why?

Because learning loyalty is rewarded with loyalty of its own.

You don’t have to blindly adore them. You don’t have to spend money on them. But if you show your gratitude, show your concern, and offer your support you get so much back.

We will stand by the Twins even in the heartbreak of a record setting losing streak.

Another long, sad, walk home (Medio Tempo)

We will stand by Alebrijes even in a cellar dwelling campaign.

We stand with teams in the bad times and the good and we learn to do the same for others. Every time you show loyalty, your friends, neighbors and fellow fans will learn to keep the faith in you too.

Loyalty to losers is how we build community for the bad times. Hard as it is, this is a good time to love the Twins and love Alebrijes. This is a good time to build loyalty.

18. Distracting GOATS

18. Distracting GOATS

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Dear Boys,

Cooped up as we are these days, it’s tempting to chase after distractions with an almost reckless zeal.

Ooh an oral history of the making of a movie I haven’t seen, better read that!!

Twitter tells me to choose three of nine Disney villains to keep: allow me to carefully analyze my options for the next two hours!

Hmm what was the name of that guy in that thing with that hat I liked? Let’s start the googling!!

In this unplanned off=season for sports, those kind of distractions are even more inviting and attention grabbing. Without the steady stream of results and data points to analyze, fans around the world have begun to fixate on debates over who was the Greatest of All Time (or GOAT).

Which triple crown winning horse would beat the others? Which World Cup winners from 2019 would make the legendary 1999 squad (and vice versa)? And, of course, Messi or Ronaldo? Jordan or Kobe or Lebron? Gibson or Maddux? Messi or Kobe or Maddux?

Let’s be clear: GOAT debates are fun, but they are also pointless.

I’m not saying that you should never indulge in a little thought experiment. If you love a sport and it’s history, It’s quite amusing to wonder whether Ruth & Gherig’s Murderer’s Row of the ’27 Yankees could beat Jeter, Clemens, and the ’98 Yankees.

Easy Content Creation

I’m also not saying that you have to eschew these questions in favor of weightier debates over say: universal healthcare, or whether the role of the state can ever be expanded (even temporarily) without impinging on civil liberties.

I’m saying that GOAT debates aren’t the ultimate arbiter of athletic excellence.

I’m saying that fixating on these questions or righteously defending our answers to them is not the fans equivalent of a championship game.

I’m saying subjective evaluations distract us from appreciating accomplishments in and of themselves.

Which was the more monumental accomplishment: Roger Bannister’s 4 Minute Mile, or Nadia Comaneci’s Perfect 10 at the Olympics? Here’s a better question: have you SEEN THESE!?!?

Bannister’s Four Minute Mile
Comaneci’s Uneven Bars Routine

I mean…who cares which I think is better. No offense, but, I don’t care which you think is better. Let’s not compare, let’s just enjoy. Enjoy watching Bannister churn his legs into a sudden burst in the last 300 meters. Enjoy watching his form wobble as he realizes what he’s about to do. Enjoy watching Comaneci’s hands slap and swing and swiftly switch between bars. Enjoy watching her speed and grace and strength beyond what any one else could do.

Sure, it’s fun to debate these things. It is a great distraction. But it doesn’t change the fact that both accomplished incredible things. Nor does it stop us from admiring the athletic skill in each case. Watching those accomplishments its much more fun to relish the moment rather than rehash infinitesimal differences to support an irrelevant argument.

The same is true for all those other questions: which all-time great line up would win a game? Pfft. How much fun would it be watching Gherig stretch at first to get Jeter by a whisker?

Megan Rapinoe needs a trophy case
THIS BIG

Which 2019 star could keep up with the ’99-ers? I have no clue, but man, imagine Rapinoe and Hamm running roughshod over every field between here and the Moon.

We don’t have to live in an either or world: you get to watch Messi ping-pong, and Ronaldo lash thunderous free kicks; you can tremble at Gibson’s fast ball and gawk at Maddux’s control; you can swoon at a Jordan scoop, a Kobe step-back, and a LeBron stuff; and when that’s all done you can also thrill at a triple in Kickball, or shout about a saved slap-shot, or stare in disbelief at any number of lesser-knowns far from the GOAT debate.

You’re going to be pushed in life to pick sides or argue for one thing over another. Sometimes you should, but when it comes to debating “Greatness” remember, everything has a touch of greatness.