getting back into it

Middle of the 9th. Phils have just scored 6 to go up by 3. Miraculous, kind of. I am at (what I shall always call) Pat's Pub in Haddon Twp, NJ. I turn to my buddy and say, "I hope they don't fuck it up." Thus is the plight/mindset of the consummate Philly sports fan.

Got a text this morning from Chris D. He said he loved watching Johan Santana dominate only to be foiled in the end once again.

So, moving toward "the point."

Santana is a great pitcher who often seems to find himself in the unfortunate circumstances of pitching superbly, only to have his Mets blow it and leave him with a loss or a no-decision.

Gut question: do you feel sorry for him? (Try not to let your allegiances, wherever they may be, influence your answer.)

Another scenario:

I play hoops with a bunch of guys every Monday night. Mostly, everybody is around the same skill level. Mostly, it is friendly competition. Competitive, but friendly.

There's one guy who is a little slower, a little less athletic than the rest of us. Nice guy. But slow, not a great basketball player. However, he has a little 8 foot jumper that is quite consistent. If you slack off of him, he hits it. If you get up in his face and play hard D, it is very easy to shut him down.

Again with the gut: what would you do? Would you ease up on him in light of his slightly lower skill level, or would you exploit it?

Me and a couple of the other guys have been discussing this conundrum recently. At times we think that as it is friendly competition among 30-something guys who are just trying to fend off the beer gut, it probably isn't necessary to get up in his grill and shut him down. It seems like this is unnecessarily assholish behavior that's just going to make him upset and ruin his Monday workout. But then, at other times, everybody on the court is trying to WIN, and you should do whatever you can to help your team do so, even if that means blocking this guy into next Tuesday every time he puts up a shot.

Probably, as with all things, the answer is somewhere in the middle. Play him tough sometimes, ease up sometimes. As we are all in varying stages of fitness, that's how everybody pretty much plays defense on everybody else anyway.

But the fact remains that most of us could, without exerting too much effort, shut the guy down. If we wanted to. Hence, the question.

This discussion has meandered naturally to a discussion I've had with another friend over the years regarding dodgeball on elementary school playgrounds. She is against it, I am for it. You can probably figure out the arguments for both sides if you think about them for a second, but I'll gove over them anyway.

Her: dodgeball is barbaric, lord-of-the-flies-ish. Kids don't need to get pegged by a ball at that age.

Me: the world is a tough place. They're going to get pegged, in one form or another, sooner than later. They might as well start toughening up early.

Her: there's plenty of time for that. Let them enjoy their childhood.

Me: if left to their own devices, kids will "enjoy their childhood" by playing competitive sports or, worse, being outright mean to each other. Fighting, hurling insults. We are an inherently aggressive species, and that starts off early.

Her: well, adults should not contribute to kids hurting and abusing each other by encouraging dodgeball on the playground. They should be fostering more community-centered activities.

Me: I think adults chaperoning dodgeball games is just what the doctor ordered. We ARE aggressive creatures. Rather than letting that aggression run rampant, channel it. Let the kids be competitive with each other, but teach them how to do it with rules, and respect for the game, and respect for each other.

And on and on. Obviously, I've painted my own arguments in a more positive light because, well, I am doing the writing. She ain't here to defend herself, so I am capitalizing on that advantage. Does that make me a bad person?

So to recap, think about the questions:

Do you feel sorry for a pitcher who plays well but whose team often blows it for him?
Would you play aggressively against a weaker opponent in a competitive/friendly weeknight basketball game?
What are your thoughts on dodgeball on the playground?

try again to put a link up . . . .

yes, we can

Maybe gonna start working on this again. For now, check this out:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1yq0tMYPDJQ