May
7
More good new from jolly old England
May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
My apologies for turning this blog into a report on what’s being written in the Telegraph, but I couldn’t pass up this horrible story.
Two pilot studies where women were offered medical abortions outside normal hospital conditions have been successful.
The findings could lead to early abortions, before nine weeks gestation, being offered in much more widely as the Government battles to control Britain’s teenage pregnancy epidemic. [ed: ah, lovely. Not only are we dealing with an epidemic, evidently the only way to deal with it is to get these girls abortions - STAT! But at least the Brits are kind enough to acknowledge that abortion is just another form of population control.]
Ministers want to extend access to early abortions, which can be carried out with drugs in the early stages, as it is safer [ed: well, not for the little murdered child] and could prevent many late terminations.
Well, whatever we can do to reduce the inconveeeeeenience that all must surely face. And it’s good to know that we have only the mother’s best interests at heart.
Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: “Our priority is to reduce the time women have to wait for an abortion at what is already a very difficult time for them.
“We want to investigate whether patients can be more comfortable and feel as supported in a less clinical setting such as in a large community contraceptive centre.
“However, the safety of patients must remain paramount and we will now consult with the local NHS and patients to find out whether there is a demand for such a service and how it could best be delivered.”
Man, don’t you just love the language here. It’s as though these women were going in for root canals, and we need to find ways to make them feel a little more comfy. And yes, it is a diffcult time, and while I don’t want to be too facile about it - it’s because of their own damned decisions that it’s a difficult time for them. Instead of treating them like poor victims that need an extra cushy bed to lie in, why don’t we - oh I don’t know - actually treat them like adults and expect them to take responsibility for their own actions.
And of course they don’t dare talk about this is any way that would suggest this might be in anyway a morally troubling issue. Oh no. Goal number one is creature comfort. Can’t have the lady wait a little before she has the child growing insider her massacred.
Man, and I thought the culture of death permeated our country.
May
7
Laaaaaame
May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I was excited to hear the “Red” Ken and his Labour party got their arses whipped in the mayoral elections in London earlier this week, but this news kind of saddens me:
Boris Johnson today unveiled plans to ban drinking of alcohol on all the public transport in London, one of his first acts as the capital’s mayor.
Mr Johnson was elected last week on a manifesto commitment to ban drink from the Underground, part of his wider pledge to cut down on violence and anti-social behaviour in public places.
Trams, buses and Docklands Light Railway will also be covered by the ban, which will apply from the start of next month.
After I arrived in London for the first (and only) time I travelled overseas, I took the Underground from Heathrow. The first thing I noticed was a gent drinking a can of beer on the tube train. It was my fist bit of mild culture shock.
In all seriousness, it’s probably a rational approach, though I wonder if it will really do much to drive down crime in London.
May
7
Father of the year, indeed
May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
An Austrian man believes he should be credited for not killing his children:
Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who fathered seven children with his daughter while keeping her imprisoned in his cellar, has complained of receiving a bad press and not being given credit for keeping his family alive for more than two decades.
Fritzl, 73 claimed that media coverage was “unfair” and “entirely one-dimensional”, given the fact that he did not kill his daughter and the children he produced with her during 24 years of sexual abuse in a subterranean bunker in Amstetten.
“I am no monster,” Fritzl said though his lawyer Rudolf Mayer, according to the German tabloid newspaper Bild.
“I could have killed all of them, and no one would have known. No one would have ever found about it.”
All I can think of right now in response is a little Bob Grantism: “They’re sick out there, and they’re getting sicker.”
May
7
D’oh! A deer!
May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
So I was running this morning on my usual path - over by the canal path by the river. I was on the go-home stretch, Metallica ringing in my ear, when over to my left - the canal side - I saw what I thought was a splash. Well that was too big for any of the fish that swim in the sewer, errr, canal. And sure enough I saw something floating along. A duck or goose, perhaps?
Moments later, another splash. I was getting closer - maybe 1000 feet away - and it looked bigger. Pirates?
I saw the first creature emerge from the water, and for a split second I thought it was a goose, but clearly I was wrong. A beautiful deer was suddenly on the path in front of me, followed a few seconds later by another.
My first thought: cool. My second: oh shit.
Now deer don’t tend to take to kindly to us humans, and I wasn’t necessarily anticipating becoming a headline: “Local Man Eaten by Insane Carniverous Deer.” But I was a tad worried. What if these two knew that my dad was a hunter? What if these were the children of some buck my dad shot 20 years ago and dragged through New York City on the hood of his car? What if they were out for revenge? Look, I’m Italian, I can’t help but think this way.
As I got to about 500 feet or so from the deer, they bounded off. No doubt by now they have swam accross the Potomac and are terrorizing some family in Alexandria.
And as I jogged past the point where they had been, I just couldn’t help but think, “Venison steak would be real good right now.” Hey, I need protein after these runs, you know.
By the way, though it is surely coincidental, that particular happened to be the fastest mile I have ever run in my life (8 minutes, 12 seconds).
—————————–
On a side note, do you think James Hetfield pronounces all -ar ending words in -o? I was listening to Metallica’s “Whiskey in the Jar,” and that thought came to me? Look, weird crap comes into my head after 5 miles of running, especially when killer deer cross my tracks. Anyway, do you think he tells his buddies he’s driving to the bar-o (okay, maybe not after rehab) in his car-o? And how does he pronounce Sbarro? Is it Sbarro-o? Have I taken this joke too far-o? Yeah, maybe it is a bit bizarre-o.
May
6
What on earth has happened to John Derbyshire?
May 6, 2008 | 2 Comments
Martin Cothran dismantles the Derbmeister’s review of Expelled, a movie Derbyshire hasn’t even seen.
Considering that Derbyshire has had to rely on Wikipedia in order attack on the Church, his intellectual laziness should really come as no surprise. No wonder Sullivan suddenly loves the guy.
May
6
Burke!
May 6, 2008 | 2 Comments
I have to admit there are times when I get really burned out on the blogosphere. I was unable to read anything on the internet for four days last week, and I can’t say I really missed it. But then there are discussions like these (scroll down to the bottom for the links to the rest of the discussion) that renew my appreciation for the blogosphere. Great stuff.
May
5
No one?
May 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I was flipping through and caught a bit of the Cardinals-Rockies game, and the Rockies’ broadcasters were discussing Rick Ankiel’s transformation from pitcher to outfielder. They talked about how a lot of guys have made the opposite change, going from everyday player to pitcher - such as Hall of Famer Bob Lemon. But nobody has done what Ankiel has done.
No one? Oh really.
Well, to be fair, he was kind of an obscure player.
May
5
Shea Memories - October 16, 1999
May 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
After having witnessed the Mets go down 3-0 in the 1999 NLCS, I was slightly less enthused to attend game four, but we made the trip nonetheless. It was a bit like going to a funeral - only one where the corpse wasn’t quite dead yet. The series was, for all intents and purposes, over. We were just there to hopefully see the Mets regain some of their dignity.
Luckily, Rick Reed was on top of his game. It was a second consecutive pitchers’ dual, this one involving Reed and John Smoltz, who was making what would turn out to be his final start until the 2001 season, and one of his last starts until moving back into the rotation in 2005 (before moving back to the pen in 2008, before presumably moving back into the rotation later in 2008).
Reed was even more dominant than Leiter had been the previous night. In fact, Reed only allowed a single base hit in his first seven innings on the mound, and that batter (Brett Boone) was erased on the basepaths, so he faced the minimum through seven. The Mets fared little better against Smoltz, but Olerud connected in the bottom of the sixth to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
And so we nervously held our breaths as the Braves came up in the top of the 8th. Tragically, Reed’s brilliant performance - and seemingly the entire 1999 season - was ruined in the space of two pitches. Brian (fucking) Jordan, Met killer extraordinaire, led off the inning with a jack to center, and that was immediately followed by a Ryan Klesko homer to right.
And that just about killed the mood. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to sit there and witness the Mets get swept by the Braves at Shea. I honestly thought it was over.
In the bottom half of the inning, things got underway with a Roger Cedeno single. Ordonez followed that up by doing what he did best - popping up. That was all for Smoltz, as Mike Remlinger came in. Remlinger k’d Agbayani, and the clock was ticking on the 1999 season. Only four outs to go.
It was then that Cedeno did what could have been a silly thing if he got caught - he stole second. That energized the crowd, and we got even more excited when Melvin Mora walked to put the go-ahead run on base.
Enter the villain: John Rocker. Oh what he would have given to end the game and the Mets season. Oh what we wanted to give to make sure that didn’t happen.
More daring on the basepaths: Mora and Cedeno pull off a double steal. Ah, those crazy kids. And now we just wanted a hit.
And then John Olerud hits a ball that seemed to have bounced several hundred times. Just past Boone - and I mean juuuuuust - and Cedeno and Mora score to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
Bedlam. Rocker got Alfonzo to strike out, and as he walked off the mound he signalled to the jeering crowd that the series was still 3-0. Granted. But the asshole blew the save. Good enough.
In the 9th, Benitez made it look easy. Ah, if only he could have repeated that performance later on, but for now he locked down the game, and the Mets were finally on the board.
We still thought the series was basically over, but now we had some hope. And the following evening the Mets played what might have been the most exciting game in their history - the only home game during the series that I did not attend. Naturally.
I forget what happened after that. I guess they just skipped ahead to 2000.
May
5
Stuff Catholics like
May 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Courtesy of Southern Appeal, I have found my new favorite website: Stuff Catholics Like. I particularly got a kick out of number four - Simon Says.
May
5
Quack Quack
May 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I can now end my radio silence as I have made it back from Memphis unharmed. It’s a remarkably small city, or at least the fun part of it is rather tiny in radius. Even Beale Street, which I suppose was designed to be a mini Bourbon Street, is only about three blocks long - or at least the “club” part of it. It is a fun little town, with lots of great music and even better food. It’s hard to beat big, charcoaled 14 and 16 ounce steaks for reasonable (compared to DC) prices.
The music festival was in town, and evidently all the big names were staying at my hotel - the Peabody. Sheryl Crowe was even rumored to have been staying on my floor. Unfortunately I just missed bumping into her at the gym, so I missed my chance to tell her that I really hate her music. That may not have gone well.
I also failed to make it to Graceland. I didn’t feel in the mood to take a 20 minute cab ride in order to spend $27 to see a really big house. I did, however, see an Elvis impersonator perform on Beale St. And all I had to do was spend $5 for a Big Ass Beer. Much better deal.
Speaking of Big Ass Beers, I was sorely tempted to purchase a 100 ounce cocktail. Seeing as how I did not want to end up face down on Beale Street or, worse yet, in Sheryl Crowe’s room, I declined.
All in all, good times.
Apr
29
Off to Memphis
April 29, 2008 | 2 Comments
The Mississippi Delta was shining
Like a National guitar,
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war,
I’m going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland
I’m outta here until Saturday. Have fun, and stay out of trouble.
Apr
28
Shea Memories - October 15, 1999
April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Six days after attending the thrilling game four of the NLDS, I wound up with tickets to games three and four of the National League Championship Series against the Braves. The Mets had dropped five out of six against the Braves in September, not only knocking them out of the division race, but nearly knocking them out of the playoffs altogether.
The Mets started out the NLCS much as they had played in September against Atlanta - not well. The Mets dropped the first two games, meaning that game three was a must win. Luckily they had Al Leiter on the hill matching up against that Tom Glavine guy.
Even before we entered the stadium we could tell the crowd was pumped. We heard from outside the starting lineups being announced, and a big “LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARY” chant was mustered by the 56,000 or so in attendance. We were ready to party.
Unfortunately things did not start well. Leiter walked Gerald Williams to open the game, then threw away Brett Boone’s comebacker to put runners on first and second. After Larry popped out, Williams and Boone double stealed, and then Williams scored after Piazza threw the ball into the outfield. Two throwing errors, and the Mets were already down 1-0. Melvin Mora made up some for the poor defense by nailing Boone at the plate from centerfield after a Brian Jordan flyout.
Well, certainly the Mets could makeup for that run at some point.
They threatened mildly in the second when Mora and Ordonez (!) singled, but Al Leiter lived up to his reputation as a terrible hitter, striking out to end the inning. Again in the fourth the Mets put runners on the corners with two outs, but Ordonez grounded out to end that rally. In fact the Mets put at least a runner on in every inning, but Glavine - this being before he sucked - managed to worm his way out of trouble every time.
Leiter, meanwhile, was once again dominant. After the first inning ugliness, he shut down the Braves. But the Mets’ failure to get to Glavine meant he remained on the hook.
By now we were really sweating. The Mets could not lose this game. but as the game went on it seemed that a loss was inevitable. We just could not beat this team. Ever.
Franco and Benitez took care of the 8th and 9th innings. In the bottom of the 9th, the man who had quickly earned his place as near the top of all-time New York sports villains, John Rocker, made his way into the game. It was one thing to lose to the Braves, but the thought that this schmuck was going to get the save was simply revolting.
The Mets got lucky to start things up as Benny Agbayani reached on a Walt Weiss error. Unfortunately, that was as far as Benny got. Pratt struckout, Mora flew out, and then Rey Ordonez hit a soft grounder to Weiss. Time stopped as Weiss fielded this one cleanly and simply stepped on second for the forceout to end the game.
The Braves were up 3-0, and this series was, for all intents and purposes, over.
Apr
28
R.R. Reno on the death penalty
April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
R.R. Reno manages to write everything I have ever thought about the death penalty. It’s a perfect encapsulation of my own sentiments. Some choice excerpts:
Although I’ve come to think capital punishment wrongheaded, I welcomed the decision to uphold lethal injection. The death penalty is not a simple matter of justice or injustice. As Avery Cardinal Dulles argued in First Things a few years ago, the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church has affirmed capital punishment. In his considered judgment (and when is his judgment not considered), “to vindicate the order of justice and to sustain the moral health of society and the security of innocent people against potential criminals it may be appropriate to punish certain crimes by death.” Clearly, from a Catholic perspective, capital punishment is not like abortion or racism. It’s not intrinsically evil, and its use is not, on its face, a sign of a deeply unjust society.
Acknowledging the moral legitimacy of the death penalty is important, because the rhetoric of a “consistent ethic of life” tends toward a simplistic view that makes our bishops, priests, and leaders seem morally untrustworthy. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that condemning the death penalty as a “violation of human dignity” involves making no distinction between guilt and innocence, a failure of moral reasoning that is rightly repugnant to any well-formed conscience. The same line of reasoning will cause us to reject any and all uses of lethal forces for the protection of the common good from assault. It’s a conclusion that troubles anyone who has a sense of civic responsibility.
Yet recognizing that capital punishment is morally permitted does not rule out a practical judgment that it ought to be set aside. In Evangelium Vitae, John Paul II’s encyclical on the Christian commitment to life, the late pope affirmed the formal legitimacy of capital punishment but argued against its use. The death penalty is materially just, he wrote, only “when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society.” In other words, there is a prudential judgment to be made. Capital punishment is like going to war. The state can use lethal violence only to defend the cause of justice—and only if no other realistic options are available.
He then enters into a deeply philosophical examination of the death penalty and what it says about our society. Rather than being a sign of our depravity and lack of respect for human life, the support of the death penalty signifies the exact opposite.
We live in complicated times, and I’ll admit that I have found it reassuring that American voters have resisted the sirens of moral relativism, soft-headed liberalism, and rhetorical simplifications. The popularity of the death penalty is not a function of primitive desires for revenge that overtake beer-drinking guys with guns in their pickups. Support for capital punishment is not a sign of a latent lust for violence in American society. It no more reflects a culture of death than does the Book of Deuteronomy. On the contrary, persistent support stems from a collective confidence that some acts are deeply wicked, and that as a society we need to respond with the firmest possible “NO!”
I share the sentiment. I think any person with a sense of our collective responsibility to moral truth should. But I also worry that times have changed. In his First Things essay “Christians and the Death Penalty,” Joseph Bottum meditated on our modern political condition. As he observed, the secular state is not vested with the same divine purpose as the older sovereignty of Christian kings. In fact, one feature of our American consciousness is the conviction that the older view of sovereignty was overinflated and dangerously sacred in its self-image. If this is so, then perhaps we wrongly look to the courtroom and prison and other instruments of the state for fullest expression of our shared moral vision. The expectation is especially suspect when it comes to what Bottum calls “high justice” of a properly authorized and painstakingly orchestrated execution on behalf of justice.
Reno continues, and the entire thing is well worth a read.
Apr
25
Forecasting November
April 25, 2008 | 5 Comments
My former professor, Alan Ambramowitz, has an article on TNR that preaches cautious optimism for the Democrats. Ambramowitz is as good as it gets when it comes to analyzing political trends, and I agree with much of what he says here. Clearly the trends favor the Democratic party for the upcoming election, and we could see a blowout of epic proportions.
But I have to disagree with him on one point:
As Jonathan Cohn recently pointed out, the fact that Obama is running even or slightly ahead of McCain in the polls after enduring weeks of relentless pounding from Hillary Clinton is itself rather remarkable and speaks to the underlying realities of the 2008 election. And once the Democratic nomination is settled and the party unites behind its nominee, those realities should become readily apparent, even to the Washington pundits.
Obama is taking a beating from Hillary, and he’s certainly had his share of issues to deal with over the past month. But he still curries favor with a vast majority of the media, and I don’t think the public is fully aware of all the issues related to Wright, Ayers, and Rezko. More importantly, the public is especially unfamiliar with Obama’s voting record. The myth of Obama’s centrism will rapidly disappear once the nomination is secured.
Obama has only recently had to deal with controversies, and it always seems that the Clintons are ready to bail him out of trouble with a misstep of their own. It is unlikely that Obama’s approval ratings will go up with greater familiarity. He may get a nice “unification” bounce post-convention, but that will be mitigated by closer examination of his record. And despite all of the GOP concerns with McCain, he, too, will get something of a post-convention bounce.
The political atmosphere certainly favors the Democrats in this election, but McCain is, in my view, still the favorite to win in November, regardless of his opponent.
Apr
25
Of hobbyhorses and obsessions
April 25, 2008 | 7 Comments
For an ex-Catholic, Rod Dreher evidently spends a LOT of time writing about the Catholic Church. Normally I just don’t read Dreher, aka Andrew Sullivan-lite, but I was pointed in his general direction by Pauli at Est Quod Est, and I was also treated to this gem, (written by a colleague of Dreher’s):
They are the majority of worshipers every Sunday (and through the week), and they make up some 80 percent of the more than 30,000 lay ministers (and growing fast) serving in the nation’s 19,000 parishes. There are more of them working in U.S. churches than there are priests. They distribute communion, raise the next generation in the faith, and younger versions of themselves serve as altar girls. Yes, they are Catholic women. And yes, they were nearly invisible during last week’s Pope-a-palooza.
Really? Speaking as someone who was, you know, actually there, I saw a lot of women - a lot of happy women joyous to be in the Pope’s presence. Maybe Rod (Dave) just needed some cool x-ray glasses to see them.
Oh, he means this of course:
Benedict got an eyeful of the American church while he was here, but not from up close. No women were allowed to distribute communion (nor lay people for that matter–only ordained dudes) nor were any girls allowed as altar servers.
Yes, from what I understand any female would-be EMC was physically restrained and placed deep in the caverns of both Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium. Allowed only bread, water, and an Ipod filled with liturgical music penned by Marty Haugen, these women were finally released only after they promised never to look a priest directly in the eyes again.
Of course the actual explanation is that there were approximately a thousand Priests in attendance, and it may have been inappropriate - nay, it would have been canonically wrong - to have EMCs of either sex distribute Communion.
In fact, the liturgies that American Catholics are used to, with women and girls playing important roles, had to be re-gendered for the papal masses.
Yeah, you couldn’t find a woman at all playing an important role.
Pay no attention to that female cantor on the big screen. Or the women who read the Scripture readings. Or the petitions.
Now many people will see this as just so much whining by wannabe women priests. But the reality is that women, especially lay women, make the church run “on the ground.” This has some critics fearing a “feminization” of the church.
Yet it is simply the reality that was not acknowledged or even discussed last week. And it is one of those realities that we are left to grapple with as we move beyond the visit by the pope.
There is a lot to entangle with this comment, from the weird psychoanalysis to thhe notion that women are underappreciated in the Church.
Look, women are never EVER going to be ordained. Get over it already.
You know what’s sad? I now have to turn to Mark Shea as the voice of reason, as he deals with Rod in the comments section on Rod’s post.
And my point, Rod, is that what you call an “abstract theory” may in fact be something constitutive of the sacrament of Holy Orders as it was established by Jesus Christ, which the Pope does not regard himself as competent to just breeze past with the stroke of a pen. Until that possibility has really been grappled with, the actions of the Pope will continue, I think, to be enigmatic and perverse to you, just as his “refusal” to ordain women continues to completely baffle certain folk who simply regard it as his personal sexism and not as having anything at all to do with the nature of the sacrament.
And as for Rod’s bringing up the potentiality of a Paraguayan Bishop being defrocked for being elected to office, contrasted with the non-removal of Bishops for covering up the scandal:
I repeat: this does not mean that “bishops exist in some special mystical state that the Pope shouldn’t threaten”. Bishop can be and have been removed. But it does mean that such actions are not going to happen at “the stroke of pen”. Not even when the bishop is begging for it and demanding it. Some explanation [other than] “circling the wagons” has to be found to account for the Pope’s actions. And I would start with the nature of the sacramental office the bishop has and his *real* relationship with the Papal office, not the Innocent III fantasy that seems to dominate so many people’s minds. The Constantinian papacy is loooooong gone. You will not make any headway at all analyzing the actions of either Benedict or John Paul so long as you continue to do so politically first and do not take *seriously* into account their understanding of the theology of the sacrament of Holy Orders. For the matter of that, you won’t understand many of the actions of your own bishops till then either.
Dreher and his minions lament the fact that the Pope can apparently defrock Lugo much more easily than those Bishops who played a part in covering up the abuse scandal, but this ignores the fact that the cases are different as the Lugo case involves the willful disobedience of a Bishop to canon law.
Reading Rod’s comments in the combox is even more amazing, turning to an abuse victim’s suicide note when cornered with evidence that refutes his original argument. Look, when you make Mark Shea look like the voice of reason and charitable dissent, then you might just have gone off the rails a little bit.
As for the McCarrick case - I refuse to condemn a man before the facts are in. I hope to God that the allegations are untrue, but if they aren’t - then shame on Cardinal McCarrick. But let us see where the evidence leads before casting stones - a concept evidently foreign to Dreher.
Update: Egads, I mixed up my authors. Dave Gibson wrote the post on the lack of women at the Papal events, and Rod Dreher was focused more on the McCarrick-Lugo controversies. I actually did think it strange that Dreher would have made an issue of the lack of women. My most humble apologies for the error, and I have updated the rest of the post accordingly. Thanks to Tom in the comments for pointing out the error.
Apr
24
Bleg
April 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Is anyone out there familiar with Fr. Gerard Sloyan’s theological writings? If so, please share, preferably by email, but also in the comments section if you prefer.
Apr
21
John Adams
April 21, 2008 | 2 Comments
I have not mentioned but in passing the fantastic HBO mini-series that concluded last night. John Adams the mini-series was adapted from David McCullough’s excellent biography. If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch it, grab it as soon as it comes out on DVD, or else it might still be available right now on HBO On Demand.
It reaffirms the fact that Paul Giamatti can act. The first time I ever saw him he was playing Pig Virus (or Vomit, in the movie) in Private Parts, and I seriously thought he should have gotten an Oscar nod for that. His portrayal of John Adams was spot on - or at least spot on with how I would imagine Adams would be. He caught that combination of vanity and jealousy that seemed to be the marks of Adams’ character. The series itself was frank - not exaggerating Adams’ importance or overlooking his many faults, but also generous and hopefully making a new generation of Americans appreciate a man who was one of our greatest intellectuals (and whose political philosophy was markedly superior to his rival Jefferson’s).
There were some minor historical innaccuracies and omissions, as would be expected. The series neglected Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman, who were with Adams, Franklin and Jefferson on the committee to draft the Declaration. I guess HBO, like much his history, simply forgot them. A more serious problem was the timeline regarding Jefferson and Adams’ continuance of their old friendship. In the miniseries, Adams only got in touch with Jefferson after Abigail had died, but in reality, Adams and Jefferson had begun communicating six years earlier. In fact, Abigail prodded John to re-open the lines of communication, and Abigail and Thomas wrote letters to each other as well.
But these are basically quibbles. I thought they did an excellent job in relaying the major theories of the great thinkers - placing in dialogue form ideas expressed in letters. I marked out during the conversation betweeen Jefferson and Adams in Paris, explaining the major philosophical differences between them, and really between the left and right for all time.
I highly recommend seeing this if and when you get the chance.
Apr
21
Shea Memories - October 9, 1999
April 21, 2008 | 2 Comments
Mojo rising
Mr. Mojo rising
Gotta keep on rising
The Mets almost choked away their chances at making the playoffs in 1999, but a final weekend sweep of the Pirates mixed with the Reds losing 2 out of 3 to the Brewers led to a wild card playoff game, which the Mets won 5-0. Leiter was masterful in that game, but it did mean that he was unavailable to pitch until game four of the NLDS with Arizona. Which leads us to today.
I could have gone to game three, but in the days before I had a cellphone, my brother was unable to get a hold of me, and I had to watch as the Mets slaughtered the Diamondbacks 9-2 to take a 2-1 series lead in the best of five.
Well at least I could attend the series clincher. I went with my brother’s friend, and we parked a little bit offsite over by the exit of the Grand Central. Not only was it free, it was a lot easier to get back onto the GCP after the game than from one of the parking lots. It did entail walking about a mile, including a stretch underneath the parkway. There was a little divider there, and I attempted to jump it.
You ever have one of those slow motion moments in your life where you realize you’re falling, and there is not a thing you can do about it? Well, I had one of those moments. My foot caught on the divider, and I could just see myself tumbling down, landing hard on my right leg. My brother’s friend was sympathetic, but clearly mocking. I bounced right up, and felt fine for the moment - and would for about four more hours.
The last time I attended a Mets’ post-season game I was freezing in the mezzanine on a cold October day. I was wearing shorts for this game. It was a bit different.
Anyway, it felt great to be at Shea for a post-season game again. The crowd was as electric as you’d expect it to be. And Al Leiter once again gave the fans reason to be happy, facing the minimum after four innings. In the bottom of the fourth, the great Edgardo Alfonzo, already the hero of game one, launched one over the left-field wall to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, Leiter gave up his first run on his firs hit allowed in the very next inning, as Greg Colbrunn tied up the game with a solo shot to left.
The Mets grabbed back the lead in the 6th on a Benny Agabayani double, and it looked like they were ready to close out the Diamondbacks as they entered the 8th inning up 2-1 and Al Leiter still in control. Leiter got the first two outs quickly, but he walked Turner Ward and gave up an infield single to Tony Womack. So that meant one thing: Armando time.
I am not sure if we really appreciated the Benitez curse. We were vaguely familiar with his previous body of work, but he had been so dominant in the regular season, we figured this game was as good as over.
And of course Jay Bell promptly doubled to left, scoring both runners and giving the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead.
Sadly, that would not be the only time Benitez would blow a crucial game for the Mets. He was just getting warmed up. But for the moment the Mets were still alive, and they immediately went to work in the bottom of the inning. Eddy walked, and then the Mets got a big break when our old friend Bernard Gilkey misplayed an Olerud flyball to right, putting runners on second and third with none out. A batter later, Roger Cedeno hit a sac fly to tie the game, and then the Diamondbacks intentionally walked Robin Ventura.
What followed was one of the most bizarre double switches I have ever seen. Buck Showalter showed exactly why he’s one of those “genius” managers that might just be too smart for his own good. He put in Matt Mantei, and then took out his cleanup hitter Matt Williams and put in Lenny Harris in the 9th spot in the lineup. How any manager can take out his cleanup hitter in the 8th inning of a tied playoff game when a loss sends his team home for good is a mystery to me.
Anyway, up came Todd Pratt, starting because Mike Piazza was hurting. He hit a grounder right back to Mantei, who threw home to nail Olerud at home. Up came Darryl Hamilton, and that sparked one of the more humerous and strange moments in Mets history. Hamilton hit a pop fly to left that, quite frankly, looked foul from the stands. However, Mets’ third base coach Cookie Rojas thought it hit the chalk, and I really am not capturing the essence of what followed when I say that Rojas lost his frakking mind. He went absolutely pyscho on left-field umpire Charlie Williams, hopping up and down, and then finally getting ejected after chest-bumping the ump. It was hysterical to watch the little guy get all angry. It’s just too bad he was, you know, wrong.
Anyway, Hamilton wound up walking to load the bases, but with Rey Ordonez coming to bat next, it looked like the game was going to stay tied - and it did.
Benitez got the Diamondbacks 1-2-3 in the 9th, but the Mets failed to win it in the bottom of the inning. With that, “Johnny B. Good” blared over the loudspeakers and the former closer and now setup man Johnny Franco came in to work the 10th. It was good to see Johnny pitching in a playoff game. He had suffered through some miserable seasons, and though he also made us suffer through some of his outings, I think we were all happy for the guy. And Franco rewarded us by pitching an easy 1-2-3 tenth.
My legs still felt good - as far as I knew - but we wanted the game to end. Ventura flew out to start the tenth, bringing up Todd Pratt. Obviously Piazza must have been really hurt or else he’d be pinch-hitting here. Perhaps Todd Pratt could play the hero in his stead.
Before I continue, I should tell you where I was sitting. I was towards the left-field line, about halfway between home and third, all the way up in the upper deck. So I had a pretty clear view of center and right. So when Todd Pratt lifted a fly ball towards Steve Finley in center field, and when Finley leaped to make the catch, I saw right away that the ball had just managed to elude Finley’s glove.
And so I pumped my fist and jumped up in excitement a split second, or it seemed, before the rest of the stadium roared. The most unlikley guy did get to be the hero after all. With that, the Mets were on their way to the NLCS to play that team from Atlanta.
As for me, when we started to make our way to the car, that’s when I realized I hurt like hell. Sitting for four hours turned out not to be a good idea. My bruise stiffened, and I was limping pretty badly back to the car. In fact, I wasn’t able to walk properly for about a week, if I recall. It didn’t help that I had a job that required a lot of walking.
But, it was a small price to pay - much smaller than the $50 I paid for the tickets.
Apr
21
Laying Low
April 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Between finishing up (hopefully) my draft of the dissertation this week, and travelling on business next week, posting might be light for a couple of weeks. I’ll write when I can, but don’t think I’ve gone away if you don’t see many posts.
Apr
20
Enough
April 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Jimmy Rollins won the MVP award last year? I didn’t know that. It’s a good thing ESPN spent the last thirty minutes discussing it.
By the way - Joe and Peter, you both have something on your chin. It looks a little sticky. You might want to check that out.