Feeling A Draft

Good 1st and 2nd round picks by the Patriots. I like Laurence Maroney. I saw him play against OSU. His speed and quickness torched the Buckeyes in the first half of that game. Good, strong pick for the Pats. I like Chad Jackson. Supposed to be a top notch receiver.

Honestly, I've never really seen either of them play other than Maroney that one time. Why? I hate college football. Hate. College. Football. Sure I'm intrigued by the draft. Probably more so because I don't college football. What's the point. You spend all year rooting for your team. They go 12-0, more likely 11-1. Pretty good year. Well, say that top 5 team you beat in the premier game early in the season, tanks it because you handed it to them. Your team destroyed their will to play. Well, that actually hurts you, it makes your strength of schedule not so strong. Top that off with two other teams who are slightly better at year's end. You don't get the championship bowl game. And it's all because 5 guys in Idaho didn't vote for your team like they should've. That's what it comes down to. That's ridiculous. College football fans need to get some perspective. You're essentially rooting to be one of the two best teams in the nation. But not according to record. According to the views of some few people. Thus, it's illogical to be a fan of college football.

The thing of it is: without college football, the NFL wouldn't have lived so long, or prospered so well.

If I Ever Come Back

I'm going to Fenway. The Mrs. and me. Why Fenway? Why not Jacobs Field this past week? Tickets were certainly cheaper than I what I ended up paying. Hopefully, the outcome will be better. But Fenway; the chance to see a game again at the oldest park in the league? Where the seats are rarely facing the plate? (Although ours are, it was a requirement)

Watching a game at Fenway is like taking a trip back in time. Sometimes you get that deja vu feeling in life; that you've done something you're doing before. That's heightened at Fenway. The small confines, the fans, the team, and the game itself, all contribute to this feeling that, while maybe you've not done this before, others have. That's the feeling; that's the experience you get watching a Sox game at Fenway. You've somehow entered into this collective memory, this united perspective, that so few and yet so many have been a part of over the years.

For instance, my dad, uncle and grandfather were at Ted Williams' last game. I once saw a one-hit shut-out. I've seen Pedro, Evans, Clemens, Rice, Vaughn, Ramirez, Garciparra and hundreds of others play at Fenway. Others have seen Williams, Yaz, Ruth, Doerr, Boomer (not Wells), Tiant all play at Fenway. Great players have graced the green grass, gazed upon the green walls, and stood atop the steps and just listened to the game, to the fans.

The sights are nothing new, I've been to hundreds of games. But each time, you get the feeling someone new, someone else has experienced it for the first time, or in some way new. And so your experience that day is different, enhanced. Fenway stores up those experiences for fans and players to call upon each time they see a game. Maybe that's why it feels so small sometime, because it's so much bigger and full of something more than just grass, walls and balls. It's filled with experiences. And seeing a game, just one game, at Fenway, is an experience.

That's why I love Fenway.

The thing of it is: this is the Mrs.' first trip to Fenway. My first trip in four years. Go Sox.

Questions in Heaven

So I've got some questions for when I get to heaven. Questions for God:

1. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a blow pop?
2. Why 86 years?
3. Where in the world was Carmen San Diego?
4. Is it less filling or does it taste great?
5. If a train leaves Chicago traveling 75 mph and a train leaves Des Moines in hour later traveling 70 mph, where will they meet?

Perhaps you many think me a little uncooth, perhaps even sacrilegious, for asking such trivial things of the Almighty. It's just that, those other questions, questions like: why is there pain and why even create a world, seem to me to beg the question. As for that question, it's answer is something I will only know then.

The thing of it is: I imagine it has some similarities to way I felt when #2 was answered. For that was a small publicity here, but, in heaven, I fear it will be the "gigantic secret".

But I Don't Want To Be a Pirate

In the newsroom today (I work, obviously, in a newsroom), Teri Hatcher having to wear an eye patch was a topic of discussion. On ESPN radio this morning, Barry Bonds perjury investigation was the topic of discussion. I seem to remember another perjury investigation years ago. But I don't think Bonds will be lighting up a cigar to celebrate the final outcome in this one. Thank you court of public opinion. But then again, can't say I think much of public opinion, though, when these stories dominate the headlines.

The thing of it is: both Hatcher and Bonds look much different as Pirates.

Where He Grips It

Who goes there? How about this guy. Meet Jonathan Papelbon. Closer. Gambler. Hair Afficianado. That's right, he's got a mohawk. Also: 9 Saves....as a rookie playing on the toughest stage in the game: Boston in April. So why the mohawk? Here's what he's saying. But, folks: The swallow may fly south with the sun, or the house maarten or the plummer may seek warmer climes in winter, but these are not strangers to our land! It's a simple question of weight ratios. The less hair, the more aerodynamic, the more speed he can generate. Of course, he does wear a hat when he pitches.

The thing of it is: if it were a fanned mohawk....he couldn't even wear a hat. Talk about dorsal guiding feathers on that fastball.

Nobody Beats the King

Living in Ohio, all I seem to hear about is King James. And there's good reason. He's the state's favorite son (now that this guy's more fond of wheat pennies). It's the first time the Cavs are in the playoffs since Shawn Kemp was pregnant with his fifth child (wait, Kemp wasn't pregnant? You be the judge). So there's good reason that I should hear about him even more. Though it's funny; they're playing the Wizards and nobody beats the Wiz (reason: #1, #2, #3, #4). LeBron has one of the ugliest looking jumpers I've seen. For the second coming of Jordan, he doesn't shoot like his Airness. Still, his all-around game, style and media verve make him the best talent in the league. And, like the best, he'll elevate his game come playoff crunch time. He's a guy you have to watch.

The thing of it is: King James will throw the book at'em. Cavs win in 5.

Something's Bugging Me

Two straight losses. To the Blue Jays? I know the Jays got much better in the offseason and VW is not as safe as they would make you think...at least not verse the Sox right now.

And speaking of VW's...have you seen those new commercials? Talk about jarring. Suppose that's good advertising but it takes a lot out of you when you catch it from start to finish. Still it is better than watching a car manuever around a tree-lined road with the hubcaps seemingly rotating in the opposite direction.

The thing of it is: you like to see that kind of panache these days. Much like you like to see your pitcher retaliating and protecting his teammates. Emotion is a good thing, but sometimes it bugs me.

Most Unneccessary Item

It's not the greatest invention of all time. But the iPod's probably the best example of "I don't really need it but now that I have it, it's the greatest thing ever!". We've owned one since September (Got it free with this). All my songs are in it, some 980 tunes. Everything from Derek Webb (see right) and Bruce Springsteen to the soundtrack from Newsies (highly underrated movie). Even Mrs. G's music's on it! And it's all at the push of a button. Plus I've got a stereo and car extension so I can listen to it anywhere. Again, it's not really that vital to my life, but I can't say it's not the best and coolest thing ever.

The thing of it is: if you don't have it, don't worry about it. But you might want to think about getting one.

An Unfinished Life

Since it's just about friday, I thought I'd write a movie review.

An Unfinished Life

Stars: Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez, Josh Lucas, Bart the Bear
Director: Lasse Hallström
PG-13

Great. Forget how you feel about J-Lo and/or Robert Redford. This is a must see. It's set in Wyoming in the present time. A down and out single mom (Lopez) name Jean is forced by abusive circumstances to return to Wyoming to live with her father-in-law. Einar (Redford) doesn't like Jean. He blames her for his son's death, something that happened a long time ago. Together, they most co-exist on Einar's ranch along with Mitch (Freeman), Einar's best friend and ranch hand, and Jean's daughter, Griff, named after her father, Griffin. Mitch is a cripple, recovering from a bear (Bart the Bear) attack the previous year. And Crane (Lucas) is Jean's eye candy.

The characters are complex and very flawed, especially Jean and Einar. But they're familiar and we can't fault them because we can't say we'd act any differently in their situations. Like many of Hallström's movies, the setting is also a character (see Chocolat, The Shipping News, and The Cider House Rules). And when bears aren't doing this, or being labeled as the number one threat facing America, they can be an amazing metaphor for a person's past. It's definitely a movie about the characters.

Essentially it boils down to this theme: facing your past and being set free from it. And the idea of an unfinished life is very appropriate and very challenging.

This is easily one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's humorous (in the cantankerous relationship between Mitch and Einar and that perception to a young girl), it's beautifully filmed (in Wyoming) and written, it's sad (in the unfinished relationship between a father and son), and it's ultimately redemptive. Plus it's well directed and extremely well acted.

With all that said, I highly recommend this movie.

FYI About the Blog

Just some info for those of you new to the blogging world. By clicking on the underlined text, you be taken to another webpage, one that either explains, emphasizes, or enhances in someway the said topic of that particular entry. For instance, this is my favorite team. Makes no grammatical sense right? Well, click on this is my favorite team. Aha! Isn't that cool. It's part of the fun of blogging. So check out the links, sometimes it'll help the entry make sense.

Also, at the end of each entry you can feel free to add your comments. You shouldn't have to log in to do that, but if you have to it's free, but let me know so I can fix it.

And in this blog, I'll comment on a variety of things, give updates on personal things and run some ideas past you, perhaps even a few stories I've written. But for the most part I'll address these topics:
1. Sports
2. Movies/Music/Television
3. News/Current Events
4. Theological Ideas
5. Things that are just going on

Again, these are my interests, so naturally I'll write about them the most. But I'll try and make it appealing to those who don't share such interests. Anyway, enjoy the blog.

For Mac Users

Since I found out this important information from a blog, I thought I'd pass it along.

If you're an MLB.tv subscriber (if not, you should be) and a Mac user, perhaps you've noticed some new changes for the media player. For instance, you can't select the player you want to view the game with. That in turn, makes you unable to view the game in anything larger than the 4 inch picture the MLB player allots. If you're using Safari as a browser, here's how you fix it:

1. Go to the HD/Library/Internet Plugins
2. Delete the Windows Media Player Plug-in.
3. Log back onto the MLB site.
4. It'll prompt you saying the plug-in is missing, but the Windows Media Player application can play the stream for you.
5. Click OK.
6. It'll open up WMP and you can re-size and enjoy!

It's just one of the things Mac users are constantly up against in this Bill Gates/PC world. But there's the trick.

The thing of it is: not to bite the hand that feeds me, but in order to blog correctly on Blogger.com, I can't use Safari. I'm left using FireFox.

Useless Information

It occurs to me that God knows the exact number of hairs on my head. And on top of that, knows the number of the grains of sand. Apparently, God and I have this common: we both know random things. For instance, watch a red sox game with me and you'll see all the pointless stats I can dribble off for each player. When asked why or how I know such and such, I say: I just know stuff. Try and beat me at this game. But sometimes I think my seemingly meaningless knowledge actually enhances the enjoyment of a sox game. Sometimes. Of course, every now and then, I'm wrong. I suppose God's seemingly useless knowledge does much of the same for life.

The thing of it is: I'm in a beach volleyball league right now and I'm constantly getting sand in my hair. Now you know something completely random and useless. Isn't that ironic?

Gospel of Judas

I don't doubt that this is an actual document (if you're not familar with the subject at hand). My problem has been that the Christ/Judas relationship as presented in this "new" text is supposed to present a challenge to orthodox (read: traditional (read: quod semper, quod ubique, quod omnibus et creditum est) Christian views.

In all the media reports, the GJ is presented as a viable threat. Of course, early church father Irenaeus discounted (in a seminal work that is outstanding) the original GJ text as being gnostic (read: a belief system that makes for a great movie). Archaelogists today say it is a gnostic text. Therefore, why is constantly presented as a threat to Christianity in media reports? As if in the hundreds of years the early church spent canonizing the current Bible, this text got overlooked? Please. If you're going to tell me about it, and you should because it is interesting, tell me what it actually is: a gnostic text written to express gnostic beliefs.

The thing of it is: I am a member of the media.

Self-Titled

Well. Here it is: my blog. It's not that I think I have anything of interest to say, at least nothing that truly appeals to the LCD. It's just that I think I should say something.


As for the title of this experiment in technology (read: blog), it's a song lyric.

The thing of it is: for most of life there's a lyric.