Sports Talk

As troublesome as the world can be, we always have sports as our diversion back into gladiator mode. The first round of NFL pre-season is upon us, and the news media wants us to know that the high school and college football players are hitting the turf. My game has always been baseball - a number junkie from the time that i learned that rolling dice could be used for strat-o-matic. We even corrected obvious mistakes on the cards.

Herewith as a Mets fan - i think this season is in the books for my team. In shopping for a new favorite I've realized that i got too far away from the game this summer. This is likely the first season that I didn't read daily boxscores and get the flow of the whole game. Sort of adrift, just like my team.

Baseball is a game of pure statistics - performance criteria is very obvious, but the skill sets of the players are highly diverse. I can relate to the John Kruk's of the game - but i have no idea who that player in the majors is today. It seems insane to pay athletes to play games, but if the entertainment dollars are to be spent, then the talent deserves to have part of the revenue stream. We value actors, rock stars and athletes for the diversion they provide from a reality that we cope with, but don't thrive upon.

Imagine if we rated our personal performance in terms of baseball type statistics. Gee - I was seven for twenty last month in opportunities to take out the trash - .350 . But really - if a batter hits .350 that's pretty awesome. Why do we demand that our kids get 90% or better for an "A" and hold them to such an absurd standard of measurement? No wonder they are confused. They can get better math experience by watching baseball with an adult that by the drone of a teacher talking algebra at a chalkboard.

So to end this stream of conscience, I will formally adopt a new team for this pennant race. Santana and Cain are going at it later today - perhaps attaching allegiance to the Giants for the rest of the year will keep me entertained by the pennant race. When the series is over, the trailer will be rehitched.

(Cool photo, Steve : you look pensive)