My man-crush on Rick Reilly

I never liked reading Sports Illustrated. My brother and I had a subscription when I was a kid and I could never get into the articles. They didn't seem to be about sports, they seemed to be about athletes... and their mothers... and their dogs... and their mortgages, troubles, achievements, and hair-styles.

But, I loved the last page. It was always worth reading.

Some years ago I got a subscription to The Mag. I loved it, but it was always missing something and I let my subscription lapse.

About a year ago my brother gave me a subscription for some note-worthy gift giving event and I was excited when I finished reading the magazine and noticed that the article on the last page was a Rick Reilly article! A month later, there it was again! ESPN had stolen Rick Reilly from SI (though, I admit I have no knowledge of the details surrounding the transfer of power).

Rick Reilly never really "writes" articles, and I never really "read" them. It always seems like Rick is just chatting with a bunch of friends over a beer and I have a seat at that table.

It seems that he has a grasp on the reality of sports. He understands that sport is not about salaries, ratings, or endorsement deals. Sport is about competition. It's about the game. It's about skill, effort, and it's about the team.

I loved the metaphor in his most recent article: "[Houston Yates High School head basketball coach Greg] Wise is to sportsmanship what tsunamis are to beach chairs." (...or is that a simile?)

Rick Reilly writes how I wish I could write. He knows what I wish I could know, and he's not afraid to try something new, or admit when he doesn't know something.

I hope someday to buy that man a drink and enjoy what must be a steady commentary on sports, life, and sports-life.

Climb down from your cross!

Pat Robertson is holier than you are. If you don't believe me, just ask him.

He commented that the Caribbean earthquake was God's vengeance due to the Haitian's pact with the devil. Apparently, back in 1804 (when America was only on their third president) the Haitian locals sat on ole' Beelzebub's lap and said "Please, help us win a bloody revolution against our colonial masters across the Atlantic."

History is an evasive mistress. Giuliani forgot about the Septemebr 11th terrorist attacks ("We had no domestic attacks under Bush...") and Robertson forgot about America's own revolution.

In Robertson's defense, he may have sincerely thought that Americans negotiated their freedom over afternoon tea in Boston.

Pat Robertson reads the Old Testament and sees God's wrath, but stopped before he got to the New Testament where God shows his love for the world. If Pat Robertson didn't get to 33 A.D. he sure doesn't have time to read about 1776, 1804, or 2005.

Actually, I feel bad for Pat Robertson. He thinks that God is so vengeful that if you screw up he'll kill you. And he won't just strike you down with lightning, he'll send a force that will kill you, your family, your neighbors, a fair number of citizens in your town, 3 random tourists, a stray dog, and that plant hanging from the rafters on your porch.

I'll conclude with a page from Pat Robertson's book (don't read the whole Bible, just quote the parts that reinforce your point). Read Hosea 14:4 and Matthew 6:14.

During the BOS @ LAA game... Mid 8.

Do I hate the Angels for keeping the Rangers from the division, or do I hate the Bossox for keeping the Rangers from the wild card? Or am I just sick of being a Rangers fan? They sure as hell don't make it easy.
Any way you cut it, 163 games is a helluva season. I've been a Twins fan since about a week from the end of the season. God knows Detroit needs to see some athletes (there aren't any playing for the Lions), but Minnesota made 'em work, and the they made 'em cry.
Not only did the Twins make the Tigers worry about the end of the season... the Twins made the Tigers worry about the end of game 163. That - my friends - is why I'm a baseball fan.
...and since I like the Yankees as much as my dad likes Notre Dame (see: none). ...and since I'm upset with the Angels and the Sox for keeping the Rangers out (although that's like being upset with the cop that wrote you a ticket for speeding - which is to say that the Rangers are the reason that the Rangers are out)
...if the Twins go home, maybe I'll defect and root for the National League. My brother does, and he's pretty smart - although he is a Padres fan.
Torre defected to the National League (from the Bronx Bummers). I can get behind that. Lasorda is a baseball genius... right? Maybe I'm a Dodgers fan.

Some other thoughts...
>Watching Teixeira in a Yankees jersey is like watching your girlfriend kiss another guy. It just gives you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.
>My only real problem with the Angels is that I keep seeing Tony Danza and the crazy scientist from Back to the Future.
>I'm glad that there's more coverage of Romo in the sports page than the entertainment page... that's not been the case in the past.
>Am I the only one who recognizes the genius of George Harrison? A guitar that weeps; and does so gently? That's phenomenal!

Great Lines

From time to time I hear quotes that I find interesting. I thought I'd include a few of them here... I didn't do much research or checking, so I can't tell you that these quotes are extremely accurate. Please, correct any errors or comment about any quotes that pique your interest.

"Only the dead have seen the end of war" - Plato. This line is quoted at the beginning of the movie Tears of the Sun with Bruce Willis. I love Bruce Willis, and I love war movies (except Hart's War). I won't go into the details of the movie except to say that the internal battle between Bruce Willis' conscience and his instinct to follow orders is as thrilling as the battle between the Navy Seals he commands and the Nigerian rebel soldiers intent on genocide.
The quote itself is pretty self explanatory (which is what makes it a good quote). I don't want to get into an argument about heaven and hell, but this quote seems to indicate that death - and subsequent existence in the heaven of your own god - is the only escape from war. Living in this plane inherently begets war; whether that war is between the north and the south, the Sunni's and the Shiites, the Indians and Pakistanis, the religious right and the ACLU, Dave and HAL, or man and nature.

"He died to make men holy; let us die to make men free." - The Battle Hymn of the Republic. I've always loved this line from The Battle Hymn. It recognizes two distinct and important roles in the world. It's obvious reference to Jesus alludes to his role as God incarnate and his death on the cross - which was the ultimate atonement of a sinless man for a guilty man-kind. He allowed all of us to be free from the law, and free for the law. The second part of the line refers to man's duty - specifically American patriots - to fight and die for the flag, the republic, and the freedom that we hold so dear. I love the contrast. We can't atone for our sins in death - only Jesus can do that - but a soldier's death can be in service of other men; and that's all Jesus asked us to do anyway (see Matthew 25:40).

I hope to have more quotes for you in the future. I try to carry a journal, so any quotes I hear I'll begin to write down and reflect on them here. Again, please, don't hesitate to comment with agreement, rebuttal, or your own reflections about quotes that make you think (though, don't be angry if it takes a day or two for me to moderate the comments so other's can read them).

Movie Quote

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

The Credit Crunch and the AIG Bailout

I don't own a house. I can't afford a house. Sure, I can afford a mortgage - my mortgage broker says so. But, I'm smart enough to know that I can't afford as much of a mortgage as my mortgage broker tells me. I also know, that when I say I can afford a mortgage it means, "...as long as nothing ever breaks and has to be repaired or replaced."
What I mean is that I don't have enough cash to pay a mortgage and have a cushion for things like food, doctors, broken refrigerators, cracked foundations, flood damage, or any other catastrophic force majeur. I don't earn enough to save that kind of cash either.
That's exactly why I don't have a mortgage... but now I have to pay some one else's mortgage. My hard earned tax dollars aren't paying for nuclear weapons systems or local parks. My tax dollars are paying for the mortgage of someone with my budgetary constraints who said:

Oh Sh!t... I can't afford my mortgage. I didn't think lying about my income would cause such a problem. The mortgage broker said it would be OK.
I knew I had an ARM, and I knew it would adjust up, but I didn't know it would adjust so high - even though the mortgage contract said it could... and I didn't think the first five years would go by so fast. I thought it was a problem I could keep putting off.

Dear Uncle Sam - Can you help me? I don't want to lose my house. That might teach me to be more frugal in the future - hell, I might even read stuff before I sign it. But, that's not fair. Instead, I want other tax payers who were smart enough to stay away from this kind of problem to foot the bill for me.

My tax dollars are also making me into an unwilling customer of AIG. Until tonight, I hadn't been an AIG customer. Sure, I thought about it. When I shopped for car insurance, they had decent rates. But, their customer service was crap. I couldn't get anyone to answer the questions I had and one customer service rep even flatly stated, "whatever" and hung up the phone.
I chose to be a State Farm customer (mostly because of how well my wife was treated by her agent after an auto accident). And, it seems that plenty of other people felt that AIG was not a good choice for their insurance needs (that's why State Farm and GEICO are both still in business without a government bailout).
But, Uncle Sam said, "Gee, I'm sorry that you can't attract customers. There's no need to improve the quality of service... how about if I write you a check for $700 billion dollars? Will that help?"
So now I'm paying your mortgage, and living in an apartment. And, I'm paying State Farm for auto insurance and customer service, but I'm also paying AIG - and they won't pay me if my car catches fire... and their customer service still stinks.
I'm just glad I don't work for the Dallas Independant School District or the State of California. Although, they'll both probably get bailouts, too.
What forms do I have to fill out to get my bailout? I don't need $700 billion like AIG, $7 billion like Arnold, or even $84 million like DISD. I just need a cool million.

That would suit me right down to the ground.

Alumni Support

Below is the letter I wrote to the President of my college regarding the recent termination of a beloved religion professor...

Dr. p

I was stunned and appalled to read comments from fellow alumni, fraternity brothers, and from x indicating that he had been deemed a dangerous, aggressive, or abusive person and subsequently dismissed from the x College faculty.

I have not been in contact with x since my graduation in May of x, but the four years I spent on campus and in class with x were spent with a loving and caring professor. Dangerous, aggressive, and abusive would not have been appropriate words to describe the man I knew.
I understand that you must be receiving messages like this from hundreds of students and alumni that would be willing to attest to x's caring and loving demeanor. If that is what is needed, I would be more than willing to write, call, or visit the campus to share my testimony.
My concern, however, is not that there is a lack of support for x. In fact - I suspect that the opposite is true.

Instead, I am concerned with what appears to be a lack of disclosure about the issue. X's comments have indicated that documents regarding the investigation into this matter have large sections or important information that has been blacked-out or with-held.
I understand the desire to protect the identities of students or faculty that may have made complaints; but when the issue involves termination of a tenured professor who has more than a decade of service, the investigation should be thorough, solid, and completely transparent.

I have the highest respect for you, Dr. p. My freshman year at x College was your first year as President. I have always felt that you strive to provide the highest education standards as well as a lively and productive campus environment. I'm angered as my conscience tries to process this situation and my mind tries to determine which side is right in a matter of which I have little knowledge.

The intent of this letter is to offer my plea that you take a personal interest in this case and ensure that the correct action is taken on the part of x College. Since I have little knowledge of the situation and no access to the complaints or investigation notes, it would be presumptuous of me to advise or direct you as to a course of action. I have no envy for the situation you are in. My sense is that you have a love for x College that - much like my own - will remain with you long after you leave campus.
If you are personally involved with this issue I trust that you will have done everything in your power to ensure that the right course of action was taken. I pray that you will be able to look back on this situation and feel the same.

My prayers are with the x family in what must be one of the most difficult times in their lives. Dr. p, I also pray that God guides your hand and provides for the best outcome for the x family and the x College community.
If there is anything I can do to provide my support for x, for you, or for x College please, don't hesitate to call on me.

Sincerely,

me