2 posts tagged “sport”
So Specter isn't letting this go...
"[Goodell] issued the discipline as quickly as he could to send a strong message to teams that this wouldn't be tolerated and there'd be a severe penalty if you violated the rules," Aiello said. "The discipline included they had to turn over everything they had related to that taping procedure."
Specter heard that explanation from Goodell on Wednesday. On Thursday, Specter said, "The words absurd and ridiculous keep coming to my mind because he [Goodell] says it with a straight face." (From ESPN.com)
Dude, are you kidding me? How can Specter say that with a straight face?
Look, the Eagles had a bad season. I'm a Bears fan, we had a bad season too.
Get. Over. It.
Deal with it like all the other fans out there. Make up some stupid storyline about how "long-suffering" you are. How you are cursed. How your quarterback is going to defect, blah blah blah... But stop spending millions of our hard earned tax dollars on your petty grievances over how bad your team is.
It's late September, and your team has been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. You don't recognize the name of the starting pitcher, or the guy that replaces him in the 4th inning, or the guy that bails out that guy after he gives up 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning... because they're all late-season minor league call-ups just getting their feet wet on the big stage. Your team goes down 9-3 at one point. Your team's been beaten by this opponent 15 straight times.
Why are you still at the ballpark? For that matter, why did you even bother going to the park at all?
It's the passion man. That's why.
Yesterday night, I watched passion prevail over cold hard calculation, and it reminded me of what sports is really about. Sure, I like crunching numbers and keeping track of stats as much as anybody... it appeals to my analytical nature. But a number doesn't feel anything. A number doesn't get your heart racing in the bottom of the 9th when you're still down by 3 runs with their killer closer on the mound. Passion does.
I screamed my lungs and vocal cords out for two innings as somehow a bunch of scrappers tagged a guy with 36 saves on the season for not one, not two, but three runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game, as our closer, who earned the spot through hard work and perseverance during the season struck out five out of the six guys he faced in the 9th and 10th, and as the leadoff man for our side made it a 5 of 6 night with an infield single, beating out the throw from the shallow 3rd base side by a whisker, as the pressure (and impassioned screaming of the few, few fans left?) got to the opposing pitcher on a wild pick off attempt that got our man over to 2nd, as we bit our nails as the next two guys went down, as the cold calculations prompted the opposing manager to walk the next guy to get to a guy that a fan behind me yelled "they don't respect ya!" for, as that guy went down two strikes, and as that guy who they didn't respect slapped strike three into shallow left center for his only hit of the day, scoring the winning run easily.
Passion won that game. By all the numbers, it was over. But that's why you fight for every last inch. That's why you run hard even on a routine infield hit. That's what's awesome about baseball... unlike any sport with a clock, it truly ain't over until it's over. If you have one out left, if you have just one strike left, you still have hope even if you're down by 10 runs.
Yesterday night was the best baseball game I've ever attended, perhaps the best sporting event I've ever attended. In the end, it probably won't even go down as a footnote in this lackluster season. Everybody else in this town probably didn't even notice, what with their attention focused on the broken foot of a certain NFL MVP. But it's all about the little guy. It's all about passion. And yesterday's game, while the 10-9 final says little about that, was everything that sport is about. Yeah!
