It's very easy these days for me to get worked up, what with going to second interviews and getting hopes built up about jobs that never pan out. I try to take my mind off the whole thing by distracting myself with such avenues as the Internet or television programming.
The whole thing might work better if I didn't end up being pulled into, say, reading or watching the news. As someone who has opposed the war in Iraq since the phony case was being made for an invasion, the past few weeks haven't failed to make me groan repeatedly.
In case you've been trapped underneath a giant rock for the past few weeks, the Democratically-controlled Congress passed legislation setting a timetable for troop withdrawal. And, of course, Bush is going to veto it ... because that's what the people really wanted when they went to the polls in November. Retarded.
I just love how those who were so gung-ho about this failed war are always the same people who are gung-ho about every war, yet usually fail to step up and publicly serve when their time called. It's even more disgraceful this time around to watch the same pundits never retract their shameless flag-waving enthusiasm as though it's some type of practical solution to a problem that, in all sad likelihood, will probably have to be fixed by the next president we elect.
Perhaps Oprah owes us another follow-up show that brings a little more immediacy back to the table, and then maybe I'll be less pessimistic about turning on the television.
So, I try to ease my mind instead by listening to the local sports radio station. You'd think this would most certainly be a safe haven. And most days, you'd be right. I'm listening to it more often than I ever turn on the television. Neither my girlfriend nor I have cable, but I don't complain about this as much as I used to back when I was in, say, high school.
But again, for those who might've been away for a while, there's a certain event looming in sports that I'm not looking forward to. I'm dreading it, actually.
I speak, of course, about Barry Bonds surpassing Hank Aaron as the all-time home run king. The moment, when it inevitably occurs, may become the saddest thing I'll ever witness. And if you've been following the coverage of Bonds this season, there's been some really stupid and terribly misguided opinions about this thrown out there.
Back to the radio, where quite possibly my favorite segment of the week is 5:00 p.m. on Thursdays when "Who Ya Crappin'" allows fans to call in and vent about any hypocritical or untrue statement made during the week on Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein's show. Yesterday, the callers came through in flying colors.
While "Whitley from Ravenswood" called in to appropriately crap Detroit columnist Rob Parker for his ridiculous assertion that Hank Aaron has anything to be ashamed of, the real tip of the hat has to go to the e-mail from "Paulie Peanut," who dedicated his crap to "Booyah Bozo" Tim Kurkjian.
Now, Kurkjian has been an avid supporter of Bonds as well as a fairly pathetic advocate of performance-enhancing drugs. According to the e-mail Bernstein read, Kurkjian's ridiculous pattern of thought hit an astonishingly pathetic new low on Wednesday evening:
"[Kurkjian] ranted about how Major League Baseball should do anything in its power to make sure Barry Bonds breaks Aaron’s record at home, so as to avoid a deluge of jeers as he maneuvers his giant head around the bases in his historic home run trot. He explained, ‘The judgment of how Bonds achieved this feat should come later, as no
wrongdoing on his part has yet been proven.’ Furthermore, he commented that
to have the memory of the record-breaking home run tarnished by an unforgiving road crowd would be ‘a tragedy’ and ‘would hurt the game of baseball.’
“Tim, do you know what’s hurt the game of baseball? Cheating! And the insane apologists that stand by telling us what we should be ashamed of for not reveling in the artificial milestones they create.
"You are one of the most despicable cases of this, and the fact that you can defend this man—despite an overwhelming amount of statistical, and visual, and anecdotal, and journalistic evidence—is laughable. To hear you suggest that baseball should go out of its way to accommodate a man that’s helped mount a growing sense of disillusionment with the game and its players is sad.
"I hope Bonds breaks the record on the road. I hope the boos are deafening. And I hope that after Barry crosses home plate, he takes some time to reflect on how it all came to this, and whether or not it was worth it.
"In the days, months and years following the breaking of that home run record, if the players, and fans, and agents, and managers, and journalists, and broadcasters watch that tape of Bonds leaving a legacy of humility … of shame, I hope that everyone will stop and consider whether the use, and cover-up, and excuses made for performance-enhancing drugs outweigh the importance of the game itself.
"Tim Kurkjian: Who You Crappin’?”
After Dan finished reading this, Terry muttered, "That's unbelievable ... that he'd say that." Bernstein quickly responded that no, it wasn't. "They don't know what to do over there [at ESPN, a.k.a. 'The Booyah Network']."
The moment was one that reaffirmed why I really don't miss cable. Give me a couple of satisfying callers on the radio, and it'll help me from getting "too" worked up about these things. After all, it has to better than what the issues cause some other people to do.
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