... thank you for DVD players, that will allow me to enjoy Ricky Bobby indefinitely.
Right before the lights go out, my friend D: "I think this is going to be life-changing." Mmhm. Really solid cast, a la Anchorman, with John C. Reilly, Gary Cole, whoever those two little kids were, and Amy Adams, my favorite Redhead in Hollywood (C).
Odd fact: John Irving writes great stuff involving characters who have strange injuries. There's always somebody around who has a missing finger, eye, nose, etc. It's hard to write about a freak injury in a way that seems totally plausible, and he does it pretty well (yeah, I'm trying to do the same thing).
Good to see the Sox get off on a roll against the good teams (5 of 6 from the Yankee$ and the Tigers), despite the derfman's constant noise about a sweep before it actually happened. I just think it's one of those things that you leave unsaid until it's over, like a no-hitter.
To whit: Last week's game against the Yankees, Randy Johnson (warming up before the game, above) is cruising into the 7th inning, and the Yanks fans in our section start chanting "no-hitter, no hitter!," which is pretty much a guarantee that you're going to lose it. No sooner than they settle down, then the Gooch strokes a sharp single to break it up. I heard later on that the Yankee broadcast team were even mentioning it on the air. Any sports fan worth his/her sand knows that you *never* mention "no-hitter" or "perfect game" until it gets broken up or it actually happens. Lady Luck and her loyal stepbrother, Mo Mentum, don't look kindly on being so brazenly called out. Just one example of some egregious breaches in sports fan etiquette I've been noticing lately. A public service announcement of acceptable conditions would be:
1) Know the basics about your team. Lots of "fans" don't seem to know the names of the players, or the name of the opposing team, etc. That's totally acceptable, you can't know everything. But you can't call yourself a fan of that team, then.
2) Understand what level of fan you are. For instance, if you've just started following a team, then start with the fundamentals, like learning the players' names, what positions they play, etc. like mentioned above. I'm doing this right now with Premier League soccer, with the help of our boarders (Tottenham and Liverpool are their faves). You cannot wade into more advanced topics of fandom until you've learned up the basics. For instance, a newly christened White Sox fan, caught up in the frenzy of last year's playoff run, should not be engaging in any Cubs/Sox debates for the time being. Brashness in a newbie is intolerable, because you'll most likely make the rest of us look stupid. (I.e. Caroline trying to make fun of Maximus for being a Cub fan by taunting him about the Sox's success, except she doesn't know anything about the Sox. Ugh.)
3) Only take middling interest in the success of other teams, unless it directly affects your team. If Detroit ends up winning the whole thing, then good for them, but I'm definitely not sitting around and watching that happen. I'm a fan of MY team, see, so what other teams do is irrelevant. This also means you can't be a fan of two teams; none of this "Cubs AND Sox" or "Mets AND Yankees" nonsense. What's the point? Monogamy is more satisfying, in real life and in sports fandom.
4) If you're taking someone to the game with you, and they're not a fan of the teams that are playing, or don't know anything about the sport, then help them out. I know lots of good female fans, so this is not meant as a stereotype, but I've gone to too many games where a dude brings his clueless girlfriend to the game, and then they're on the cell, or talking about work 75% of the time, or asking really inane questions like "how do they know which direction to run on the bases?" (the only exception to this is little kids). I can't help but think about more deserving supporters who would've really enjoyed those seats. Help your non-sports literate friends out at the game, for everyone's sake. Or just go to Wrigley, where they (mostly) don't care.
