White Sox Win!!!
88 years is - apparently - long enough. That's how long it has been since the Chicago White Sox had clinched a World Series title.
Truth be told, I'm even more happy for this club than I was for their American League rival, the Boston Red Sox, after that team's exorcism of the Curse of the Bambino last year. That's probably just cuz the Pale Hose hail from nearby Chi-town and, even more relevantly, are a division rival to my own Cleveland Indians. The nature of this year's World Series champs also adds to my enjoyment of their victory since my C-Town Tribe is constructed along the same lines: excellent pitching, decent power 1-9, and aggressive defense. Now if our manager can just learn to play Smart ball like Ozzie Guillen has coached his club, next year might be more than only the two most common words spoken here in my neck of the sporting woods.
Regardless of the how's and why's of this professional sporting phenomenon's importance to me personally, the thing that really stood out in Jason Stark's ESPN.com story was this historical tid-bit:
Actually, while I was aware that such things as National Anthems and the Pledge of Allegiance (shudder) have been propagandistically incorporated into daily life since time immemorial, having such a stark historical fact as when this particular bit started pointed out in the midst of a sports Championship report really lent meaning to this reality.
Sports is about competition. It is a zero sum game where there can, of necessity, be only One winner. It isn't Capitalism or Socialism or Nationalism in any type of sheep's clothing. It is for fun! Survival doesn't mean you're the only one left alive in sports.
It most certainly does in Reality though and that is why things like national anthems are immoral on at least the same level as abortion or war or religious fundamentalism. Like sports, each of these things has, at their core, a disregard for any equality of the right to grow and thrive the other may have in relationship to the self. Unlike sport, their full acceptance results in the absolute death of the other. There is no next year when one dies or loses in Reality. If you're not the Champ, then you are dead. Period. End of your story.
I've always risen and removed my hat when the Star Spangled Banner was played at the start of a ballgame I was attending.
I may just have to seriously reconsider doing so again. I'm not sure about it yet though, but it is certainly important enough to give some more thought.
* emphasis mine
Truth be told, I'm even more happy for this club than I was for their American League rival, the Boston Red Sox, after that team's exorcism of the Curse of the Bambino last year. That's probably just cuz the Pale Hose hail from nearby Chi-town and, even more relevantly, are a division rival to my own Cleveland Indians. The nature of this year's World Series champs also adds to my enjoyment of their victory since my C-Town Tribe is constructed along the same lines: excellent pitching, decent power 1-9, and aggressive defense. Now if our manager can just learn to play Smart ball like Ozzie Guillen has coached his club, next year might be more than only the two most common words spoken here in my neck of the sporting woods.
Regardless of the how's and why's of this professional sporting phenomenon's importance to me personally, the thing that really stood out in Jason Stark's ESPN.com story was this historical tid-bit:
The last time the Chicago White Sox won a World Series, there were no radio stations to listen to it on. And no such thing as a national anthem to sing before every game*. And no such animal as a commissioner of baseball to hand them their trophy.WOW!!! You mean Nationalism hasn't always been a key component of my nation's past time?
Actually, while I was aware that such things as National Anthems and the Pledge of Allegiance (shudder) have been propagandistically incorporated into daily life since time immemorial, having such a stark historical fact as when this particular bit started pointed out in the midst of a sports Championship report really lent meaning to this reality.
Sports is about competition. It is a zero sum game where there can, of necessity, be only One winner. It isn't Capitalism or Socialism or Nationalism in any type of sheep's clothing. It is for fun! Survival doesn't mean you're the only one left alive in sports.
It most certainly does in Reality though and that is why things like national anthems are immoral on at least the same level as abortion or war or religious fundamentalism. Like sports, each of these things has, at their core, a disregard for any equality of the right to grow and thrive the other may have in relationship to the self. Unlike sport, their full acceptance results in the absolute death of the other. There is no next year when one dies or loses in Reality. If you're not the Champ, then you are dead. Period. End of your story.
I've always risen and removed my hat when the Star Spangled Banner was played at the start of a ballgame I was attending.
I may just have to seriously reconsider doing so again. I'm not sure about it yet though, but it is certainly important enough to give some more thought.
* emphasis mine
1. Never use "Sox" in naming a sports team.
ReplyDelete2. I wish people could separate aggressive jingoism - is that the right word, I hardly ever use it - from love of country in the sense of love of place and home. That sort of love of country doesn't diminish or take away from our love and concern for the wider world that out country's a part of.
Jinx - I just blogged about the same thing. You owe me a coke.
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteaggressive jingoism - is that the right word
Precisely the right word amigo!
T,
No Pepsi, Coke it is.
(I haven't heard that phrase in a while! Sehr kuhl.)
Now to read your post.
Thanks for the tip Tonya. It is well worth the read.
ReplyDeleteThe game starts at 7:00 and of course they play the Nation Anthem. Like you could start a game without it. In fact, you'd probably get your school burned down if you even thought it and someone found out.
Absolutely on point Lady. I'll have to think about it the next time I'm at a game.
I just love singin' that melody so much though! {sigh}