The Year in Review - Because Hindsight is 2020

Ah,  those last precious few days before the calendar changes.

A time of reflection, of looking back over what turned out to be, as future historians will no doubt call it, the beginning of the end, or, as it will be more commonly known by those of us who survived, The Great Fuckening.

Here are some of the things I failed to notice this year and some of what I learned. 

Carboard Cutouts

While I actually enjoyed the cardboard cutout fans, particularly when the crowds contained Easter Eggs like Connie Mack and Ben Franklin in the stands at Phillies games, (and I can’t believe no one tried to slip Waldo anywhere) I failed to notice that Gary Sanchez had been replaced by a cardboard cut out at mid-season.  Passed balls, strike three looking, how did I miss that?

How Much I Require Watching Sports On TV

I have always loved sports. I think part of its appeal is that it is non-contrived drama. There is no writer, no editor, no guiding hand. If the best player on the team hits a home run it is because he did. If he strikes out in a big moment, ditto.

We just don’t know until it happens.

For me it’s an opportunity to turn that part of me off that tries to guess endings or figure out how I might have done it differently. Or just that sense of dis-ease I get when the math is off. Sports is what it is, and I love it for it.

I just never realized how much until it was taken away. Suddenly I had three-hour gaps in my day. No point on the clock to look forward to.  No reason to be home by four PM. (PST). 

I started filling the gaps with stuff I normally wouldn’t watch like Boxing on Showtime, or reruns of North Carolina HS basketball tournaments from 2006 on Stadium. 

Just for the record, I never got so desperate as to watch the Masked Singer. I want to make that PERFECTLY CLEAR.  Ok, once. 

So, when we got baseball back, even with its seven inning games, or starting a runner on second in extra innings, or pretty much every single fourth inning of a Yankee game when the starter, who was pitching a no hitter, goes walk, single, double, three run HR. I was happy.

A respite from politics. A respite from Covid. A respite from myself.  

The Yankees Are Boring

Not the team. The entity.

I don’t mean this as heresy. I am a Yankee Fan. My faddah was a Yankee Fan. My son… not so much.

As I wrote above, watching them is part of the fabric of my being but, if there is anything that can be learned from this blog, aside from (CONTENT REMOVED BY AUTHOR) it’s that the team is owned by a soulless corporate entity and not by a fan.

I get it. It’s a business. But I don’t root for Burger King to beat McDonalds. I don’t root for Disney Plus to out subscribe Netflix.  The closest I come is wanting Rachel Maddow to beat out Hannity in that all important 35-50 demographic.  

But I do root for the Yankees.

The last few weeks I’ve been reading articles about the Mets. Let’s face it having an owner that cares is a lot more interesting and a lot more fun than having an owner that doesn’t.  It’s why I can watch the NY Giants even though I enjoy virtually NONE of the games.

I know that the Maras and the Tischs care. They just suck at it. But I’m willing to forgive that and take small joys when… wow were they bad yesterday… I can’t even think of anything they… I don’t think Daniel Jones fumbled… I sort of spaced out towards the end.  

You get the point. So, back to the Yankees.

Yes, they will sign someone, hopefully DJ, but in the end, as we often say here, it will be just enough to make the playoffs (and because it’s a crap shoot – maybe a championship every once in a while) but there is no passion for winning.

As Duque pointed out, the Dodgers are the new Yankees. The Mets have the new George Steinbrenner. The San Diego Padres just traded for Blake Snell, and we wait for the Yankees to get a bargain when they re-sign Gardner for $4M (a savings of 6M over last year!!!).  Brain has turned us all into accountants.

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I’m sure there are other things I learned this year, how much I took my lungs for granted comes to mind, but I’ll save them for another post, or maybe I'll just write something along the lines of “Ten Candidates for Yankee Third Base Coach.”  Candidate Four will blow your mind!”  

Either way, just in case I don't...

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!!!!!!