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A handful of Mainframe groks on the subject of being full of your(it-)self :- )
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1. If you are a Cam Newton fan: live long and prosper to you, comrade. There have been a whole whale of a lot of athletes more offensive to Dr. D than is Cam. ... that said, when he gave up that strip-sack fumble to lose the Super Bowl, and sat there on his knees watching, sick look on his face, John paused the tape carefully to put a screen shot onto his phone for wallpaper.
It takes a lot to make Dr. D glad when justice is served. But: I've got my PayPal card right here. Where is the T-Shirt with a guy opening a seam in his britches via the Superman motion?
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2. We have some old-school amigos here. Do any of them bask in Peyton Manning's "Respect for the Game" vindication? That old 39-year-old dude with the UFO forehead, he sure 'nuff backed into this win. But maybe fate owed him one.
Were that he were smart enough to realize. Everybody comes to the end of the line. That's EVERY body. Peyton is one of the gifted few who can end it with a fairy tale. The fact that he's hesitating is pathetic. I don't mean "pathetic" like, "disgusting to watch." I mean "pathetic" like "arousing pity through sadness."
He is SO lucky that his season worked out this way. Now wave to the crowd, acknowledge the applause, and let the next guy take his turn wouldja.
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3. Watching Oklahoma City play basketball makes me feel bad. It's like, My turn to score, now Your turn to score, now back to My turn ... 1-on-5, taking turns. On the contrary, watching Golden State brings tears to your eyes. There is SOMETHING that they do on the court that is better than it has ever been done before. Can't quite place it.
Johan Cruyff, maybe the best soccer player who ever lived -- not that Dr. D would know! -- wrote about Total Soccer. The evolution of world-class soccer into a Next Phase where the striker can play holding midfield, and vice versa, and the other team never knows where the amoeba will stretch its pseudopod. Maybe that's what I love about the Warriors. I dunno.
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4. Is it okay to take a moment to appreciate that our quarterback is old-school respect for the game city?
Very often, not always, old-school Core Values are more resilient. It's one thing to glide into RFK stadium before a football game with an entourage of 50 people, camera bulbs popping,* like you were Lady GaGa about to give a concert. It's another thing to shoot over the top of the foxhole to defend your buddy in there with you. I think unselfishness produces a longer-lasting troop morale.
Is Dr. D just getting old? Or is this a core human virtue, that it is better to give your life in war, for your loved ones, than to give it in trying to climb Mt. Everest so you can say you did?
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5. Is that not one of the greatest things about being a baseball fan? That narcissism is practically impossible on the field?
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6. I love Felix' personality in this respect. Not even sure exactly why. He's a little bit Griffey in his love of fun, a little bit Freddy Garcia in his huggability, a little bit Ernie Banks in that he likes baseball more than he likes winning, I dunno ...
Robinson Cano's smile withstands any amount of pain and grind. Hisashi Iwakuma defines humility and discipline. Kyle Seager simply defines "respect for the game." I'm saying, he defines it. :: seth rogen voice ::
But then, many baseball players do. And Dr. D is grateful for this nightly display of human virtue.
Tell me, did you like Fernando Rodney's arrow? Or was there something a little bit non-baseball about it? (Am not grousing here, just musing.) Would it be a better MLB if it had more Colin Kaepernick-itis? Is Edgar Martinez what makes baseball the fabric of Americana where the NBA is not?
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7. Sports IS life.
When M's vs Angels, 7:05 pm Friday --- > loses its capacity to reflect our values, it will have lost its usefulness. It will then be reduced to 2-D soulless entertainment, like a halftime show with three mega-acts, saying nothing of value while kids jump up and down in a mosh pit.
But! Peyton Manning ain't there yet, and neither are Russell Wilson or Pete Carroll, and neither are ANY of the Seattle Mariners.
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Life is good,
Jeff
