've never really been a sports fan. My read-the-paper-in-the-morning
ritual rarely includes the sports section. But a few weeks ago something
changed.
It all began without me really noticing it. I was actually anticipating the arival of professional baseball. How could this be? Since the Gulf War, my view of professional sports was something like that of Noam Chomsky's. Namely, that they are nothing more than modern ritualized arena blood baths designed to make more people drink Budweiser, buy Chevy Trucks, and distract the masses from Bosnia, the Freemen, and Proposition 187. But that pinko-commie-neo-liberal part of myself seemed to no longer exist.
Now I find myself listening to KNBR (the sports leader) on a regular basis and actually caring about what they have to say. One night I came very close to calling the station to argue why baseball is more important than football. Do I really care about this stuff?
I'm picking up statistics and the names of players and journalists. But why? Why am I suddenly so intrigued by this stuff? Am I suddenly reliving my little league years of rude parents, being baffled by the one pitcher in the league who could throw a curveball, and never being able to hit a ball farther than a wet sock? Is it the fact that most of the pro players are now younger than I am?
I have a casual phone conversation with my father about our usual topic Netscape. In mid-sentence I blurt out: "You know the Red Sox are having the worst start since 1932. That was the year they finished 64 games behind the Yankees. Sixty-four games back. They were mathematically eliminated by July! I mean, what the hell happened in 1932?!"
My father was in shock. I was talking about the American League for Christ's sake. These are sick times for me. Times when I begin to care about stories.
It's the stories of Cal Ripken's "little streak" of 2,191 consecutive games played. The stories of Roberto Clemente being sent out for fried chicken by Dusty Baker in the '60s, then getting kidnapped by a random bunch of street thugs. The stories of Dwight Gooden throwing the first no-hitter of his career after people said he was washed up. There's something about these stories. Something non-market about the way they happen. Then I find my own story.
Forward
