Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, April 14, 2009
Sports Some folks, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em
Posted by Chicago Fan on Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 7:45 AM
Louis Armstrong was reputed to have said this about jazz, but it applies to sports and the current slog comment-fest over sports coverage here.
The facts, as far as I'm concerned: sports are just like art, cooking, music, writing, or singing. Something people like to do and/or observe, where some people are much better at it than others. These folks get paid.
Which sports—or art or cooking or music or writing or singing—any given person likes is really idiosyncratic. No group has full ownership of any of these human endeavors (except maybe rich people and opera), and any attempt to label any particular sport or art form the exclusive property of a particular group is just projecting one's own distaste for the thing onto a group one also disparages (right-wing fucktard Republicans and most country music, for instance, in my own case).
Soccer is great, if you like soccer. Baseball is great if you like baseball. De gustibus non est disputandem.
But as resident alien baseball scholar, I'll try to post some stuff on the Mariners to balance the coverage for you baseball-lovin' soccer-hatin' types. Looking forward to Ichiro's return? I am.
2
"No group has full ownership of any of these human endeavors (except maybe rich people and opera)..."
What does this mean?
Surely you don't have any biases like what you are complaining others have.......
What does this mean?
Surely you don't have any biases like what you are complaining others have.......
3
@2 I think my biases are so obviously in this post that I needn't feel shame. I know Klingons like opera too, but aren't they all rich? And right-wing republican country-music fucktards don't overlap demographically too much with rich right-wing republican opera fucktards, but they all voted for Bush, that fucktard.
Sorry, I need more coffee.
Sorry, I need more coffee.
4
@3 -- yeah, please get that coffee 'cause you really aren't making much sense with that.....
Onto baseball please (BTW: they are all rich millionaires under contract with rich millionaire owners)
Onto baseball please (BTW: they are all rich millionaires under contract with rich millionaire owners)
5
i think we may all be witnessing a little mental convulsion on the part of the general sports world in which the label 'gay' can't be used as an insult within sports. "soccer is so gay" is being met with "meh, i know. it's great" which confused a lot of sports fans who for so long have been conditioned to mentally separate gay and athlete. to me it's very interesting...
7
"De gustibus non est disputandem"
One of my favorite Latin phrases. But you should have used the full form:
De gustibus non est disputandem, bitch.
In fact, any Latin phrase can be made better by adding "bitch" to the end. Try it! Hours of fun.
One of my favorite Latin phrases. But you should have used the full form:
De gustibus non est disputandem, bitch.
In fact, any Latin phrase can be made better by adding "bitch" to the end. Try it! Hours of fun.
8
I love baseball and always will but Slog could definitely use some more coverage of our local Rollerderby teams. Rat City is filling up Key Arena with 4k + fans each month to watch a truly exciting homegrown sports league where there are no millionaires. Just ladies who want to play.
11
Oh, and why insult Country music fans like that???? Talk about letting your biases show...
I may not be the biggest fan, but I've been known to enjoy the Country music on occasion.
And I may be a fucktard, but I'm certainly not a Repug.
I may not be the biggest fan, but I've been known to enjoy the Country music on occasion.
And I may be a fucktard, but I'm certainly not a Repug.
12
Sports are good for the city and no one sport is better than any other. Anyone who says otherwise is a child, plain and simple.
13
@12 actually some sports are better than others. nah nah, your wrong, i'm right, ptttttht, ha ha...
15
the question i ask myself is always "is it edifying?" sports is less so than great Art - it's TOO EASY to consume, like doritos. or cocaine.
16
Socially conscious people don't like sports because they're a drain on society. Your dumb, sometimes rapist athletes are being paid bojillions because sports fans couldn't give a shit whether resources are allocated fairly. If you can't get through your day without sports, then follow a women's sport where they aren't making billions of dollars. Like roller derby.
17
@17: Socially conscious people don't like movies because they're a drain on society. Your dumb, sometimes rapist actors are being paid bojillions because movie fans couldn't give a shit whether resources are allocated fairly.
(Plug in hiphop, rock music, television...)
(Plug in hiphop, rock music, television...)
18
@16- rather it's not because we give a shit about whether resources are allocated fairly, it's more that we don't have a choice to be taxed for another superfluous stadium.
19
@16 by your standard every vocation in the world ought to be vilified for those involved who have done something bad.
@15 if you think sports are "too easy to consume" then you don't understand sports. athletics aren't meant to be consumed, they're meant to be played. the consumption is a by product and a social event. sports are also created for a different reason than art, sports are competitive and spontaneous, they fit a different impulse than the arts do. ironically, if you pit art vs athletics, you automatically concede your point to sports by virtue of the nature of your argument.
@15 if you think sports are "too easy to consume" then you don't understand sports. athletics aren't meant to be consumed, they're meant to be played. the consumption is a by product and a social event. sports are also created for a different reason than art, sports are competitive and spontaneous, they fit a different impulse than the arts do. ironically, if you pit art vs athletics, you automatically concede your point to sports by virtue of the nature of your argument.
20
There's no arguing about taste, but there is arguing about grammar and spelling.
Checking out the link it turns out I was right, you misspelled it, it should be "de gustibus non est disputandum" unless for Latin reason the -em ending is somehow correct, too.
And adding bitch doesn't make it right, btw.
Actually, there is arguing about taste because every piece going into a ball game, or ugly stupid public art and writing big words about it that mean nothing, is in effect making an argument that this activity or work has some value.....and others may disagree.
Just like gibberish on the economy it's important to point out giberrish and bad taste and lack of quality on anything. And if you say there's no arguing about taste, then you can't argue with me about that either, so see how intellectually vapid that position is?
QED and over and out.
Checking out the link it turns out I was right, you misspelled it, it should be "de gustibus non est disputandum" unless for Latin reason the -em ending is somehow correct, too.
And adding bitch doesn't make it right, btw.
Actually, there is arguing about taste because every piece going into a ball game, or ugly stupid public art and writing big words about it that mean nothing, is in effect making an argument that this activity or work has some value.....and others may disagree.
Just like gibberish on the economy it's important to point out giberrish and bad taste and lack of quality on anything. And if you say there's no arguing about taste, then you can't argue with me about that either, so see how intellectually vapid that position is?
QED and over and out.
21
@20: "Actually, there is arguing about taste because every piece going into a ball game, or ugly stupid public art and writing big words about it that mean nothing" -- I'm sorry, were you saying something about grammar? How about sense? Any interest there? No?
22
I'm going to opening day today and look forward to it. On Friday I'm golfing and look forward to that as well. Golfing on a huge swath of land treated with pesticides. Deal with it, bitches.
23
@15, so you're saying it's not worthwhile unless it's really difficult? You must be fun in bed.
BTW, most people watching baseball, for instance, have no idea what they're seeing. Virtually every word spoken by the announcers, for instance, is false.
BTW, most people watching baseball, for instance, have no idea what they're seeing. Virtually every word spoken by the announcers, for instance, is false.
24
@20 are you talking about something grounded in reality, or are you having your own conversation? i'm not sure what you mean by 'taste'...
27
#7 is the word "bitch" nominative or accusative?
As for the M's, reasons not to get too excited about their early success:
1) Betancourt, Endy Chavez, and two other equally improbables are all batting above 360 currently. When they plummet to reality the M's will cease to score runs.
2) Rowland Smith gave up 4 hits and 4 walks in 3 innings and change, and somehow didn't give up a run.
3) Jarrod Washburn has yet to remember he's washed up five years ago.
4) Bedard will eventually miss his home on the DL.
As for the M's, reasons not to get too excited about their early success:
1) Betancourt, Endy Chavez, and two other equally improbables are all batting above 360 currently. When they plummet to reality the M's will cease to score runs.
2) Rowland Smith gave up 4 hits and 4 walks in 3 innings and change, and somehow didn't give up a run.
3) Jarrod Washburn has yet to remember he's washed up five years ago.
4) Bedard will eventually miss his home on the DL.
30
@28 You're joking, right? He'll average about 5 2/3 inning per start and get hurt and, eventually, give up. Just like he does every year.
31
Maybe he'll get hurt, maybe he won't, but if he keeps striking out 15 for every one he walks, he's going to be the best pitcher in the league. He destroyed Oakland the other day, pitching into the 9th with just 102 pitches -- an unhittable fastball with movement and a lights-out curve.
You're exaggerating his injury-proneness. Last year is the only time he's really missed a lot, all related to the same injury from late '07. And if he pitches as economically as he has this year, his chances of going down hurt again are much slimmer.
You're exaggerating his injury-proneness. Last year is the only time he's really missed a lot, all related to the same injury from late '07. And if he pitches as economically as he has this year, his chances of going down hurt again are much slimmer.
32
Yeah, and if Washburn pitched like he did his first time out, he'll be right there with him. I don't think either scenario is too bloody likely but you're right about his first game. He was lights out.
33
Second game, actually. He's still building up his strength, which is why he's on low pitch counts.
It was still a terrible trade, but now that we've got him, we can appreciate him for what he is. The KJR mouthbreathers have no frickin' idea.
It was still a terrible trade, but now that we've got him, we can appreciate him for what he is. The KJR mouthbreathers have no frickin' idea.
34
@23: Fnarf, what is this hidden truth of baseball that all the mere spectators are missing but you, the True Fan, can see? Is it perhaps the very Form, the true Knowledge of Baseball itself?
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