July 23, 2005

Armstrong Poised to Take 7th Tour de France

Finally, some good news, and its about sports and (perhaps most amazingly) France. We've been following the Tour with baited breath, as some of our editorial staff are in Austin and almost all are in Texas (surprised?). We haven't posted anything for fear of "jinxing" Lance. It looks like our efforts have paid off, as Lance is poised to win tomorrow.

I wish I could be in Austin tomorrow when he does win, making history and possibly putting down a record that will never be beat. Way to go Lance (and to all you in Plano, a big PTTHTHTP for running him off in the eighties ... nice shoot'n, Tex).

Update

Lance wins for a seventh consecutive time! He's set a record that will likely stand for a long, long time (hey, at least seven more years). The SJR salutes a true American hero who over came cancer and "Old Europe" prejudice to win the top cycling trophy for seven years running.

Posted by Steven at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2005

The Final Word

The Pope makes a ruling from overtime. I don't have any special reaction to the recent death of Pope John Paul II. He seemed to be a man who tried to do good while constrained by dogmas and doctrines that ran counter to making things better for all peoples. He made an impact, and that's rare. Nonetheless, he's gone, hopefully to a well-earned rest, or whatever happens on the other side.

But he leaves us with one, rather secular thought, one I hadn't heard before though he expressed it more than 20 years ago (perhaps it never before was made public).

Pope John Paul II regretted not praying for his native Poland during the national team's run to the semifinals of the 1982 World Cup, according to the team's star player.

Zbigniew Boniek told the Polsat television station that the Polish team had met the pontiff before the finals in Spain and asked for his prayers.

"God does not have favorites in football," the pope replied, according to Boniek.

Granted, JP2 was talking about the sport commonly known in the USA (and practically nowhere else) as soccer, but I think that this is a statement that really should get distributed more widely. After all, this is the Pope making this advisory. That's a pretty high standard in terms of quality reliable information as these things go. Let's get this on some official NFL letterhead and distributed to all the teams and players, and next season, maybe, just maybe, there'll be a lot less gratitude to divine intervention (after all, if God favors one team to win, he must be waxing exceeding wroth upon the other, and that just doesn't fit with omnibenevolence). Players can go about with thanking God for their natural talents and abilities, but face it, He had no influence on scoring that winning touchdown. And we have the Pope's word on this. That's a referee who is very difficult to challenge.

Posted by at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2004

Finally, it IS Next Year

Congratulations to the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

Oooooh -- just gotta type that again.

2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

I've got champagne drying in my hair (but will shower before hitting the sack). My cheek muscles are sore from the smiling. I've had more post-midnight calls than ever before, friends and family wanting to share the moment.

The Red Sox have won the World Series.

So this is what it feels like.

God Almighty, this is sweetness. The frustrations and agony of much of my forty years, not to mention the 86 full that weighed upon all New England, are gone -- gone! -- with a little comebacker to the pitcher Foulke.

And such a storyline to it: sweeping the Angels with the extra-inning home run clinch; coming oh so close to falling to the (Hated) Yankees before battling all the way back in historic fashion, and then sweeping (sweeping! did anyone predict that?) the mighty Cardinals, wrapping it up on a lunar eclipse night. The heroic hits by Ortiz, the grand slam breakthrough of Damon, the pure-guts efforts by surgically rebuilt Schilling.

Mission accomplished, gentlemen and Idiots. We cannot thank you enough. One in our lifetime is what we asked, and you, at long last, delivered.

And thanks to you, Kid Theo, and Mssrs. Henry and Lucchino.

A Red Sox championship in our lifetime.

I love and loathe the World Series. It's the biggest show in baseball, where the entire season is boiled down to two tall-standing teams dueling it out for the trophy, the right to brag and strut, to be champions. The Series is also, alas, the last baseball of the season, the closure to the lingering scraps of glorious high summer and the annual days of the nation's pastime, that tonic that keeps us feeling young and alive and full of hope. And then it leaves us to face the winter alone.

Every year it has left Red Sox Nation, the throaty and burdened collective of Sox fans, with a bittersweet taste in the mouth. We're used to it, the Sox's failing, whenever it happened (April, July, September, October). We've seen them lose; we don't like it, but we can take it.

But this year -- this year -- we face the winter with a different point of view. This year, our guys are champions.

Champions.

Winter won't be so bad this year.

It's a sweet feeling.

No more "1918", no more "Curse of the Bambino", done in by the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

Step up, Cubs. Step up, White Sox. It's your turn next. If the Red Sox can win the World Series (did you hear? The Red Sox won the World Series!), then any team can. We got our one. We got our one.

There is joy in Mudville.

Posted by at 01:03 AM | Comments (0)