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| Home Front: Politix |
| The End of Sports |
| 2020-09-08 |
| [PJ] Turning on the TV the other night for my ailing mother-in-law, a devotee of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team, we were pummeled by the public address announcer’s sanctimonious spiel about Black Lives Matter, the social sickness of "systemic racism," and how these issues were "bigger than the game." Some of the players were featured delivering solemn, not-entirely lucid homilies about justice for the oppressed and the need for brotherhood among the races. One could sense Saint Kaepernick kneeling in the background. I must say I did not appreciate being enlightened by an announcer reading a script he’d been provided by a cadre of sycophantic officials or lectured by a platoon of semi-literate multi-millionaires who had just presumably discovered they had a social conscience. They were being paid, I’d assumed, to play the game of hockey and entertain their fans, not preach like Savonarola to the sinful multitudes. Recovering from a serious operation, my mother-in-law needed something to distract her, and her revered Canucks served the purpose. But I swore off hockey from that moment forward since it wasn’t hockey anymore, it was politics. Would others feel the same way about football or basketball or baseball? The abandonment of the game was by no means a tragedy but it was a kind of sacrifice. I have always been, like a good Canadian, passionate about hockey. Raised in a small town in snowy northern Quebec, I was ardent about the game to the point of infatuation. Indeed, so devoted was I that I sacrificed my bar mitzvah studies to the sacred art and devotional practice of tending goal for our local teams. In later years I followed the seasonal exploits of my beloved Montreal Canadiens, suffering deep depression when they began regularly missing the playoffs, sympathizing with puck-peppered Carey Price, and contenting myself by hurling fiery imprecations at brain-dead management. Sports is a way of shutting out the world of everyday concerns, of boredom on the job, the usual money worries, and the various tribulations that come with ordinary life. Sports creates an autonomous world with its own rules and pleasures and functions as a necessary distraction from the complex and insoluble world "out there." It was never meant to be corrupted by the politics of the day, as is now the case. Commenting on the televised NFL draft, author Jeff Reynolds says "it was nice to have a little bit of football back while we’re still under quarantine." American Thinker blogger Bill Hansmann sits in his den, "staring at autographed baseballs," and wants "to hear the crack of the bat." Didn’t I want to hear the thwack of stick against puck and see the net bulge and the red light go on? |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #35 **just considered, if you do CG777, please put something memorable in the subject line, I get plenty of bulllllshit I wouldn't want to miss good advice. Thank you. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 23:14 |
| #34 *Just remembered how much fun the William Tell moment of holding up a Vehicle of Altitude was when someone took aim... Flinching was a re-shoot, previous damage applied. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 23:08 |
| #33 My absolute favorite real space game was Lego Mechwarrior. Certain weapons had a certain construct. Had to have an appropriate power plant, crew capsule, leg length determined mobility, everything else was designer's choice. Fire round would include various projectiles, from rubber bands to throwing objects such as marbles for rocket pods. The PPC was a bolt made of Legos launched from a toy crossbow. Accuracy was how much time from ready to aim-fire one had. Those were the not-outside days. Outside days were much more spectacular. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 23:02 |
| #32 Now, I'm not saying kids are giving up sports; on the contrary. I'm just done giving up the time, attention, and money courting a business who think that the business exists for the consumer, rather than that the consumer sets the business model. CG777 not quite sure how to do that, one of them does know how to reach me; I do know that there are excellent models out there. I even inquired about those ship models which do combat. My favorite construct was the Missouri which I waterproofed to the point I could sail it down the gutters after a good rainfall. If you have ever played the board game Top Gun, I had enough airplanes left from aircraft carrier models to fit whatever the call for figurines was. Now son and I did a Lego Technics helicopter for which the blades of the helicopter would pitch correctly while the power train operated. Quite satisfying. Second favorite, F-14. Did a number of others including soviet fighters, and did the Top Gun Game in real space. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 22:50 |
| #31 It will take a LOT of work to build right. Lots of planning and perfect execution to do it RIGHT. Now I may have to go find the damned thing. I bought it for my kids 30 years ago, but they were overwhelmed. |
| Posted by: Chuckles Gream777p7419 2020-09-08 21:52 |
| #30 swksvolFF hey throw me a link. Use Fred or TW if you want. I may have a model you have never seen. Museum quality. |
| Posted by: Chuckles Gream777p7419 2020-09-08 21:49 |
| #29 Boycott all there sponsors and stations that carry the crap. |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2020-09-08 21:07 |
| #28 What my kids will miss: - learning how to lose gracefully, in a public setting - meeting weird and wonderful characters from the community who have much wisdom to give and whom my kids and I would never have met otherwise - the experience of legendary exploits on the field, both positive and negative, such as when Bobby G. scored five touchdowns in one game, or when Smyke [no first name needed] made six errors in one inning - the experience of marvelous exploits off the field, such as when MaryAnn A. gave Timmy D. a bl0wjob under the bleachers between the sixth and seventh innings - the joy of p!ssing off one's elders with irreverent snark, silly songs during boring and repetitive practice, and cunning subversion - ice cream after every game-- win, lose or fall on your face, stink up the joint lose What my kids will not miss: - boring and repetitive time-wasting practice sessions - eating godawful junk food in forced outings to crap fast food joints - weird and creepy characters from the community whom they would have avoided otherwise - the experience of being harassed and bullied by the odd pompous overbearing unfulfilled compensating quasi-fascist coach What I will miss: The chance to relive my youth and share my precious memories and experience as an American man to my American sons. To hell with these fools who would destroy our memories and godawful junk food in forced outings to crap fast food joints |
| Posted by: Snomolet Hapsburg6746 2020-09-08 20:38 |
| #27 I grew up on Baseball and followed my team for many a lean year. And I don't miss it. I was pumped to see if Ovechkin would break records and lead The Caps to another Stanley. And I don't miss it. I watch NBA until LeBron made soccer flopping popular. And I don't miss it. My football team just won the Super Bowl, but they have shown themselves to be willfully ignorant to actively deceitful. And I won't miss it. Instead of those three hours of mostly gossip and commercials, I will: Learn to fly in Flight Simulator 2020. Work on plastic models with the kids. Teach the kids olde school Car Wars, D&D, Battletech. Get a good Racing Game, Wheel with Stick, chair. Teach the kids to drive the cart and golf, weather permitting. Get good at making Carne Adovada, other new dishes. Read the kids a classic book, especially the ones hollywood has butchered. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 19:43 |
| #26 Yeah, Raj. THAT guy. An example: Boog Powell late in his career getting worked by the first base heckler. Powell is a known big eater, clearly overweight and not moving like he used to. There’s lots of history so lots of material to work with. Then, late in the game a gift from the Gods of Heckling. Some knuckle head steals the ice cream guy’s concession box and runs down through the seats towards first base throwing out ice cream bars with the concessionaire chasing close behind. Play stops while everyone takes in some drama in an otherwise slow game. One of the bars lands on the field. The first-base umpire trots over and picks it up. At that moment, the heckler belts out, “Give it to Boog!” That got at least a third of Fenway laughing. |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2020-09-08 19:43 |
| #25 Its been a few years, but the Marlins IIRC had a fan who could absolutely chatter. He was so good, he was showing up the announces. Absolutely fantastic to hear even when he was obviously in my team's head. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 19:24 |
| #24 A classic, Raj. Bill Haller had some zingers of his own there. Saw a game in Cleveland where Weaver ripped up the rule book. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-09-08 18:34 |
| #23 Growing up a sports fan in Boston I learned to appreciate the value of the heckler with a booming voice and an encyclopedic knowledge of the opponents’ weaknesses and history. Dude - I lived with a guy who was exactly that. He'd get seats off of 1st or 3rd base for maximum effect. This being Boston, you know how it goes - he'd hit this place and get good & liquored up before he cruised in. Probably had a sausage roll with onions and peppers so he can half belch out his abuse, but he was good at that shit. Encyclopedic knowledge of baseball history, great heckling voice pitch and volume, very good timing - this cat was a five-tool player. I'm pretty sure he just directed it mostly at the players, but it'd be funny to take cheap shots at MLB umpires Joe West and Angel Hernandez because these two umps are awful and suck big hairy donkey balls. Anyone remember this one? |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-09-08 18:20 |
| #22 Helluva race on Sunday, especially for a McLaren fan (me)! That was a blast, wasn't it? McLaren bagging a podium with Sainz and 4th with Norris was fun to watch. It's a nice change from the usual top four of Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen and LeClerc. Also - I spotted a McLaren in my hometown (Quincy, MA) two months ago - same nice orange paint job, a magnificent car. My cousin ran one (and a Ferrari) on the Loudon, NH NASCAR track last month, the lucky bastard! Clem - I'm a Liverpud supporter, so that's about all the PL I'm gonna watch but you're right - they're just trashing the sport. It'll be fun watching NBC renegotiating the TV rights with them (that's the main reason for the massive increases in salaries the past eight years they've been showing the matches stateside), because that's about to happen after about six more months of shit ratings unless they drop this bullshit yesterday. To me, that's the only way they bail out of this shitshow with some level of grace (thin reed, I know). Then the players are gonna see seriously lowered contract offers because 'hey, we don't have the cash coming in anymore', and it'll get even worse if top upcoming talent says 'fook this noise - I'm gone because the effort's not worth the reduced payoff'. Thus they'll trash the EPL (and many other pro sports franchise setups) and it'll be on life support for a decade, at least. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-09-08 18:04 |
| #21 Growing up a sports fan in Boston I learned to appreciate the value of the heckler with a booming voice and an encyclopedic knowledge of the opponents’ weaknesses and history. There is no possibility of canned heckling... |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2020-09-08 17:56 |
| #20 Canned Fan Noise has been a thing for a couple years but got away with it because the illusion of attendance even with the occasional glitch in the matrix, such as a full stadium roaring in applause after a big play.....by the visiting team. The lack of booing, especially by some crowds, and even cheering.....when the home team does something boneheaded |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 16:53 |
| #19 @ #14 - When PL footballers donned "Black Lives Matter" on their jerseys in place of their names, that just about did it for me. Then the patch and also the kneeling, even the referees, before kick-off. Pathetic. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-09-08 15:26 |
| #18 #15 - The debt is growing so absurdly astronomical that it will eventually be not just defaulted upon but repudiated as well. Whether the debt holders will be able to make war over it or are also in over their heads by that point remains to be seen. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-09-08 15:19 |
| #17 ...and Formula One Helluva race on Sunday, especially for a McLaren fan (me)! |
| Posted by: Angeang Slong7378 2020-09-08 15:16 |
| #16 FYI - I bugged outta that match at 7:40 because the product sucks. Way to go, assholes - you killed it dead. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-09-08 15:06 |
| #15 Step One in destroying (E. Burke's) Social Compact: destroy the bonds between the living (by destroying the uniting force of religion, common language, shared culture). Step Two: destroy the bonds between the living and the dead (by trashing our national and cultural heritage and by erasing our collective memory) Step Three: destroy the bonds between the living and the generations yet unborn (by mortgaging the future to oligarchs and Chinese commies and by piling tens of trillions of unfunded, impossible-to-fund debt on those future generations) |
| Posted by: Spike Brown8099 2020-09-08 14:36 |
| #14 I mean having F1 in a good way; missed that bit of subtlety there by Iblis. I'm gonna turn on a footy match in a few minutes - Denmark vs. England in this UEFA Cup bullshit. it's basically pre-season stuff now, but it's a drag watching this stuff with no crowds; throw in the political crap and it's no wonder most everyone here's bailing on it. They did this to themselves. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-09-08 14:25 |
| #13 ...and Formula One. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-09-08 14:22 |
| #12 Part of the war on masculinity. At least we'll always have soccer. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2020-09-08 13:42 |
| #11 I call this a win by the far left. The left have tried to destroy the middle class. The one thing the middle class had as a bonding event was pro sports. Every blue collar worker had his teams, the bet on them, went to bars and cheered them, and on and on. It was a base for the blue collar culture. Now its gone. Our ties between cities, the rivalries, the link is gone. Culturally they have finally divided us. The other cultural unifying event is church, gone for the most part as well. Step one complete. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2020-09-08 13:37 |
| #10 Good one Matt. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-09-08 11:03 |
| #9 "I went to a lecture and a hockey game broke out." |
| Posted by: Matt 2020-09-08 10:56 |
| #8 Back when it became the No Firearms League I was done with it. Seeing how it's gone downhill since then, I have no regrets in turning away. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-09-08 10:30 |
| #7 You know, I always thought that Ahab just imitated the neighboring kings - and when called on it, blamed his foreign born wife. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-09-08 09:23 |
| #6 /\ Yes, it would appear the human condition has not changed a great deal over the years. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-09-08 08:20 |
| #5 Interesting piece o Jezebel Besoeker. The line that stood out was about her 'surrounding herself with eunuchs and false prophets'. The Left is nothing if not infested with tranny's and bull horn prophets these days. |
| Posted by: Cesare 2020-09-08 07:06 |
| #4 Sam Goldwyn said: "If you want to send a message, use Western Union." |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2020-09-08 06:53 |
| #3 Bread and circuses. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-09-08 01:46 |
| #2 Opiate of the masses ... in a good sense. (Better than fentanyl or meth, anyway) |
| Posted by: Black Bart Smith5248 2020-09-08 01:37 |
| #1 The American Thinker had this article today regarding "irredeemable cultures." Related? You decide. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-09-08 01:14 |