Monday, April 02, 2007

the national past-time

the baseball season starts sometime this week . . .
or month . . . or whatever.
i don't care anymore. and this saddens me.
i grew up following and loving baseball.
mickey and roger, sandy, ernie, pee wee, dizzy,
stan the man, whitey, yogi . . .
even curt flood.
but after the free agency fiasco, baseball lost its lustre.
it changed.
one of my fondest memories was getting busted in junior high school, with a transistor radio and earphone, listening to an afternoon cubbies game in class, and having my radio confiscated by the teacher,
and put into a darkened closet.
where i was free to listen--undisturbed--to the rest of the game
until school got out, on my hidden spare radio.
i learned a lot about baseball in that closet,
free to unleash my imagination, to focus all my senses
on the words of pee wee reese and dizzy dean,
and the images they evoked.
[here's one great example: "Diz (Dizzy Dean), you've watched this pitcher out there for four innings, and he's doing a great job. What would you say he's been throwing out there?" Dean replied, "Well Pee Wee, I have been watching him for four innings and I believe that's a baseball he's throwin."]
but the greed of owners
and the consequential spiraling salaries of players,
and the ever-expanding number of teams,
has allowed me to no longer care about the, what,
162-game season, is it now?
the strike and lock-out a few years ago put the sport on life support to me.
but now, with the lion's share of games on either espn,
or pay-per-view, or big $$$ packages,
the only game in town for ME is the i-cubs at sec taylor,
preferably with a 1205 opening toss.
THIS is how to play ball.
.
@ # $ % & * + ?
on a strictly personal note,
nothing casts a pall on the advent of the cycling season
like the possible return on chronic lower back pain.
i am doing everything i can to prevent THAT from undoing all
the delightfully hard work i've put in the past several months.
hope to see you at the finish line SOON!
cast an aspersion for me.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rev,
I might be able to help you controll you back pain if you would like me to help you.

Ryan

the mostly reverend said...

whatever it takes!

Anonymous said...

I just won't rub you butt

the mostly reverend said...

fortunately, THAT'S not the locus of the pain: it's a pain in the back, NOT a pain in the ass.
L4-L5. whew!

Anonymous said...

but you trully are a pain in the ass

the mostly reverend said...

ahh, but at least not a pain in MY ass!

Brett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brett said...

OK, 3 posts, 3 responses, and 3 strikes so you're OUT!

john said...

Kim - tell us about your Fair Ground Crit - your race and of course your pain. You got away from me and then you were gone.
John