[lbo-talk] Fwd: Rick Warren should be in prison

John Thornton jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net
Sat Sep 22 14:00:38 PDT 2007


Carl Remick wrote:
> But I'll say this much for TV: Due to illness and fatigue I've logged
> a lot of boob-tube time this summer. Since the regular network fare
> is execrable, I have for the first time in my life sought refuge in
> sportscasts. And I have finally gained a grasp of what all the
> excitement about Major League Baseball is about. For the first time I
> see MLB stars not as pampered multi-millionaires but as performers
> with really tough jobs who face extraordinary psychological and
> physical stress. I can also see that winning the game depends on
> *genuine* one-for-all-and-all-for-one team spirit -- not the bullshit
> "teamwork" I'm used to in the corporate world, where folks evince all
> the camaraderie of galley slaves.
>
> So in conclusion: Go Yankees!
>
> Carl

What I know about Brittany Spears I could write on a postage stamp.

I do equate pop culture with sports but only in a sort of "where-else-would-I-classify-it" sort of way.

I detest ball sports and think them children's games played by adults. Certainly at a higher level of proficiency. I realize this view is historically inaccurate but I feel this is what most of these ball sports have become. Tennis is mildly interesting to watch but my only real sport passion is auto racing of a very specific type. Formula One. It is the consummate 20th century (now 21st century) sport in my mind with little ties to history since it was inconceivable much before the previous turn of the century. Obviously it has no analog to children's games unless you consider the recent introduction of children to extremely small bore motorsports an analog. It is my only pop culture vice as it were but I do love it. It is a terribly misunderstood sport by those who do not watch it and I imagine that may have played no small part in my adopting it as a child. Most people are well enough aware that in spite of having played baseball in school they could no sooner play in a Major League game than climb Everest yet so many seem to think that because they drive an auto they should be able to give a decent accounting of themselves behind the wheel of a racing car. It is to me the ultimate team sport. The person who is most equated as responsible for wins or losses is in the car and for all purposes invisible yet the team is partially visible in the pit lane and are seen as quite peripheral to a victory. It is sometimes rather inconvenient having to view the races at locations other than my home since we do not possess the means to do so but it makes a grand excuse to get together for an entire evening and we always prepare many dishes that would be indigenous to the location of the particular event we are watching. It's hard to imagine doing that for a baseball game but I'm sure everyone feels something similar to whatever sport they feel an affinity for. I really tried hard to be a Yankees fan when I lived in NYC and I tried hard to be a Cardinals (football and baseball) fan when I lived in St. Louis but I could never make whatever transition was necessary.

John Thornton



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