Sunday, September 14, 2003
Navel Gazing (Are Red Sox Inny or Outey?)
Just when I was starting to get all cocksure, planning my little postseason TV watching schedule and all (and worse), I wake up to find the ball pein hammer of "there's no such thing as a sure thing" aiming right between my eyes.
… Colon, the best pitcher the Sox will face for the rest of the season, dumped water on those forward, autumn dreams. At least for the moment. Those who are paid to talk about such things can't help but think about how far the Sox will go in October. Those paid to play know that for all the glee and magic of 2003, the Red Sox haven't accomplished anything yet (Bryant, Herald).
But as I've said before, until the Red Sox are mathematically eliminated from the possibility of postseason play, the best thing to do is remain hopeful.
This is funny: reviews are starting to appear of "The Curse of the Bambino" movie on HBO and this one from the Chicago Daily Herald caught my eye:
The usual bunch of New England literary navel gazers gets rounded up to wax eloquent on the unique sufferings of the Red Sox in "The Curse of the Bambino," a new HBO Sports documentary debuting at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the premium-cable channel.
[Supposedly] the suffering of Red Sox fans is special, mystical, mythical - one man even has the gall to compare it to Sisyphus rolling his boulder uphill … (Cox, Daily Herald).
Heh heh I wonder if I'm the guy he's talking about? While I have no specific recollection of discussing Sisyphus when being interviewed for the film, regular readers will recall that Camus is in my bailiwick. Guess we'll find out on Tuesday.
Back to staring at my navel…
Over at Baseball Musings, Dave Pinto would like to be given a chance to join the Baseball Writers Association of America, but as a writer for an "internet-only outlet" he is persona non grata. Pinto wonders,
How is the writing of bloggers different than the writing of baseball columnists? They have a deadline and I don't? The [sic] get paid and I don't? How does that determine the quality of work?
I don't know if this blog could get past all [the BBWAA evaluation process], but I know I'd like to try. And there are many other fine baseball writers on the internet who deserve the chance.
It's a valid point, no? Jeff Jarvis gets at something similar for bloggers covering politics:
I'm waiting for the first, inevitable fight over blogger credentialing to a political convention or the White House press office or to a city police press room. You can see it coming: Blogger applies; blogger is rejected because he's not a "legitimate news organization;" blogger sues; blogger wins. For who's to say who gathers news and who doesn't? (BuzzMachine).
Blogs and their bloggers are becoming more and more legitimized as the days pass. It's probably only a matter of time before BBWAA takes that into account. However, I can't help but think of the famous Groucho Marx quote here, at least with regard to my own aspirations,
"I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."
