It's Just a Game

During my younger years (20's and 30's) I attended many sporting events.  I have been to over fifty sporting venues in four countries and the one thing that all of those experiences have in common is, it was just a game, nothing more.  So, last week when I saw the video of a New York Jets Fan punch a New Patriots fan, who happened to be a women, in the face, I was beside myself.

Sport fanaticism has existed since the time of Roman gladiators, to 1912, when Red Sox fans were ready to trash newly built Fenway Park because owner John I. Taylor suggested to manager Jack Stahl that he throw a World Series game so he could get more gate money during the series, which the Red Sox ultimately won. To a near riot in city streets when teams win a championship.

We love our teams, no doubt.  But at what point does the love of our team take us away from reality?  In all those trips to stadiums not once was I disrespectful to the people around me and never did I engage in a physical confrontation with rooters from the other team.  Because in the whole grand scheme of things, it just was not that important to me.  I don't need to defend multi-billion dollar organizations in a physical manner and I should not expect the same from fans of another team.

Several weeks ago I read that a twenty four year old Dodger fan, who had just left AT&T Stadium to see the Dodgers play their rival San Francisco Giants with his dad, was stabbed to death for being a Dodger fan. That is just perplexing to me.  The worst part of all is that this is not the first time that this has happened and it surely will not be the last.

• 2003, a Giants fan was shot and killed outside Dodger Stadium
• 2004, a skirmish between players at the end of a Pacer-Pistons led to a brawl between players and fans
• 2005 a Red Sox fan took a swing at Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield while he was making a play during the game
• 2011 a Giants fan was nearly beaten to death in the Dodgers Stadium parking lot, IN FRONT OF HIS SON
• In 2011 several arrests and injuries were reported at San Francisco 49ers vs. Oakland Raider PRESEASON game 

These are just to name a few.  Let's not forget the city of Vancouver nearly going up in flames after the Canucks lost game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins.  I won't even get into the soccer hooliganism, that's just not fair.

I love the local sports team and I root for them, that's it.  I have never had a problem with sitting next to a fan from another team at a sporting event and having a healthy debate about who has a better team and who will win the game.  It was also not uncommon for me to shake the hand of the person when leaving and thanking him for a great conversation.  I never threatened them and they never threatened me.  I hate to break this to all of Red Sox Nation, the Yankees don't "suck". 

It's just a game folks, nothing more.  We have been lucky as fans to see a large success in this area.  When the Red Sox won the World Series, The Patriots the Super Bowl, The Bruins the Stanley Cup or the Celtics the NBA Finals, think about what you personally gained from it, other than a few weeks of joy.

As you head out for a Patriots game, or go see the Red Sox in the World Series, or happen to catch the new season of the Bruins or Celtics, I have one bit of advice for you. Act like you've been there before.  Go Sox!

3D

If you don't take it from, ask my wife.

Getting What We Voted For

I owe Senator Elizabeth Warren an apology.  When she was elected and had her god awful first press conference I thought her tenure as Massachusetts Junior Senator (at the time) was going to be a disaster.  She couldn't even get through a basic congratulatory press conference without looking over to Governor Deval Patrick for cues.  To be honest it wasn’t shocking to me, but it was what the people wanted and I had to accept that.  Since then, I really haven't heard much from Sen. Warren, other than her call for a $22 minimum wage, but that isn't a bad thing.  She was supportive after the Marathon Bombings and she has been voting mostly along party lines.  Not what I really want in my senator but it is what it is.

Now that she is (gulp) the senior Senator I must say that although her votes may or may not be her true voice, she is at least voting, unlike our newly elected junior Senator.  I hate to say it people but this guy is going to be a disaster.  In his first real vote on Capitol Hill, in a committee nonetheless, Senator Ed Markey, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voted "present" on giving President Barack Obama limited authority to attack Syria with our military.

First off, the fact any elected official is allowed to vote "present" on anything is insulting to every voter’s intelligence.  It tells me one of a few things.  One, you were there and not paying attention. Two, you are waiting for someone else to tell you how to vote, and three that you have no clue and are truly in way over your head.

I am not going to speculate on what his reasons were but wouldn't a vote of this magnitude bring forward the thirty eight years of experience he touted in the special election?  Shouldn't he have taken charge and proved the leadership that he ran on as well?  This is what happens when a politician is conflicted with his personal views and towing the party line.  I wasn't looking for a "Yay" vote or a "Nay" vote; I was just looking for "A" vote.  Even extreme liberal U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern, who normally votes among party lines, is reportedly asking President Obama to not use military action in Syria.  That's because he is anti-war, that's what the people of his district have elected to do, vote, not just show up.  A trained monkey can do that.

So, Senator Warren I publicly apologize to you.  Your tenure as a Massachusetts Senator won't be the worst disaster, as I had thought.  It appears you are the only senatorial vote/voice the Commonwealth has.  Senator Markey is doing what the citizens of Massachusetts elected him to do, he's just showing up.

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife

Baseball Needs to Get it Right

I have been away from blogging the past couple of months as summer is an extremely busy time for me.  My family comes first, I umpire baseball games, for cash, and oh yeah, that 9-5 thing has me traveling all over the country for the first time in 6 years.

A lot has happened over the last two months that would have given me plenty of material to last me a lifetime.  Aaron Hernandez, Whitey Bulger, Rolling Stone cover blunder and the Boston strangler case came back to life, kind of.  All of these had my mind turning but I just did not have time to punch my thoughts out.

The year plus long suspension of Alex Rodriguez for his role in a steroid investigation got me thinking about the state of baseball and its history.  Baseball had had a black eye for nearly twenty years and it keeps getting bigger and bigger.  Baseball ignored years of obvious steroid use by its players to try and restore its image that darkened because of the 1994 players strike.

So now what does baseball do in this time of turmoil?  They really don't have a right to suspend Rodriguez for over two hundred games because he had never been suspended before.  Major League Baseball (MLB) can hide behind their claim of "best interest of the game" clause all they want, but they have been ignoring it all along, why now?

This year, for the first time in 48 years, there was not a living member inducted into the Hall of Fame.  How can that be? Barry Bonds was eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame last year.  He is the all-time Home Run leader with 762.  He holds the single-season record for home runs with 73.  Let us not forget he also stole 514 bases.  How can he be not elected into the Hall of Fame?

What about Roger Clemens? He won seven Cy Young Awards, had 354 wins and 4,672 strikeouts.  If he is not getting in the Hall of Fame then I have bad news for all the pitchers dominating the league, you aren't good enough to get into the Hall of Fame.

So I am being a little facetious right now if you haven't guessed.  Do I think Rodriguez should have been suspended? Yes, I do.  Do I think Bonds and Clemens deserve to be in the Hall of Fame?  That's a trickier question because they were well on their way before taking steroids.  The problem is much bigger than entrance into the Hall and suspensions.

Who is to blame in all of this? Everybody, we all bought in, but the baseball media are the ones that should come under scrutiny for this.  The hypocrisy that the baseball media shows is unbelievable.  They glorified these players as they were chasing records and titles.  They voted for them for MVP's and Cy Young's, then they don't vote those same players for entrance into the Hall of Fame.  I guess being on both sides of the coin is a safe place to be.

So if Bonds and Clemens can't gain entry into the Hall of Fame because of their possible link to steroids you would have to assume that their stats are null in void, right?  Wrong!  This is the worst part of the argument.  The career leader in Home Runs, not in the Hall of Fame.  The single season Home Run record holder, not in the Hall of Fame.  The single game strikeout record holder, not in the Hall of Fame.  Let us not forget about the career hits leader who was banned from baseball (as a manager) and is not in the Hall of Fame as a player, but that's a different argument.

What point is baseball trying to make with keeping Bonds and Clemens out of the Hall of Fame?  They want to rid baseball from any links to steroid use.  That's fine, I am on board with that.  There are currently two problems with the way they are going about it.  Baseball had not had a steroid policy when all these records were being broken, so technically no rules were broken.  It's not an excuse, just a fact.  Secondly, if you want to keep players out of the Hall of Fame, then you keep them all out, stats included.  Roger Maris should be re-instated as the single season Home Run hitter, Hank Aaron should be re-instated as the all-time Home Run leader and Kerry Wood would be your single game strikeout holder.  That would send the message.

It's time for baseball to right the ship and if means hitting the reset button then so be it.  The fact of the matter is that the MLB lost fans a long time ago and they really don't care that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are not in the Hall of Fame, I certainly don't.  I am a baseball purest and lost interest in the MLB a long time ago.

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife