Home runs and the c-word

First of all, I don’t know if this is true. I have not looked at the data. But say it is. It could be that the ballparks are smaller, or that the pitchers are worse, that the hitters are better or stronger. Perhaps the bats are different. Yet, some researchers at the University of Rhode Island looked at the balls. Pretty neat. Surely there’s a more comprehensive article about this. In any case, a home run is among the most boring way to score in all of sports, but TV news loves showing them. Bummer.

A few nights ago I watched an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David used the “c word.” Yeah, I know, he’s a dumb ass. Still, he had a point that there’s a double standard, there being no equivalent word for male anatomy that is so offensive. I mean, the c-word is the worst, much worse that the f-word. But why? It really packs a punch. And then there’s the whole censorship thing, as if words carry some strange magical power. Anyway, I should look into why the c-word has its status, and for how long it’s been this way … are there equivalents in other languages, or in England, Australia, or other English-speaking countries? Does each language have a word that carries the most taboo? Hmm.

The Language Instinct, Moneyball, and Janet & Justin

I’ve added two new booknotes files: The Language Instinct, by Steven Pinker and Moneyball, by Michael Lewis.

So this Superbowl half-time show hubub is still in the news. The FCC is up in arms, and there are lawsuits. Ideally, how should this work? I am not so sure. Here are my thoughts, that maybe mistaken.

I guess there would be no FCC, and this would be a civil issue. There could be a breech of contract between those responsible for the “exposure” and MTV and/or CBS. So that’s a civil issue, and damages can be assessed. As it is, perhaps CBS has some kind of contract with the (illegitimate) FCC, by which the FCC “allows” them to use “its” airwaves.

Is there also some kind of contract violation between CBS and the viewers? What are analagous cases? If parents take their children to a Chuck-E-Cheese’s, and instead of the mechanical mice on stage, there are mechanical naked people-like figures, then I suppose the parents would have a case against the eating establishment for misrepresentation of a product. Is the Superbowl incident so far off? Perhaps not. I have not read the arguments for the lawsuit, but they might be similar.

When we root for the Cubs and Sox, we’re not rooting for the players

As I write this, both the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox are one or two wins away from being in this year’s World Series. This is significant because the Cubs have not won the Series since 1908, and the Red Sox since 1918. Most people I’ve talked to, with even a passing interest in baseball, share my preferences: they want to see these teams in the series because it has “been so long for both of them.” After all, if they are both in the World Series, one of them teams *has* to win.

Yet, is this a rational reason to root for the Cubs and Sox? Each team has consisted of the predominately the same players for at most ten years, so why all the fuss? Perhaps there’s a team culture that can be traced back to the last championship team, as surely there are a finite N degrees of separation between the newest member of the current Cubs or Red Sox and the oldest member of their respective World Series winning teams of many years ago. With this connection, teams to some extent inherit attitudes and ways of doing things.

Clearly we are not rooting for individual players. Most of those I’ve talked to who are rooting for the Cubs or Red Sox are, like me, not familiar with the players. For all we know, they Cubs and Red Sox could consist of predominately unsavory people, while their opponents, the Marlins and Yankees players, may be quite admirable.

So what are we rooting for? The idea perhaps, that if we keep on trying, we’ll eventually succeed? We see the Cubs and Sox as symbols of this hope. It’s not a huge leap to conclude (and surely I’m not the first) that we identify with the Cubs and the Red Sox: that we see ourselves in them, and perhaps if they win, each of us can accomplish the personal goals we’ve struggled to accomplish for so long. With that said, go Cubs and Sox!!

a fine softball moment

First softball game of the season, and I still can’t believe I caught that pop-up. I was at short stop, Greg at third, and it’s a foul pop behind third base. Greg is uder it, sort of, but I had a better angle to see the depth. I’m running to it, see the ball, and Greg planted under it, realize that it’s over his head, and next thing I know I’m on the ground, with my glove on the ground, and the ball is in the glove. Total “Self 2″.

Turned a great double play, Bear Peak hike

Hiked Bear Peak today, and took some good photos, which should look something like this, but with a clearer sky. I also took a nice one of an airplane at eye-level, and pretty close.

Softball was great. A double-header, and I was not really looking forward to it. But both games were close, and, playing 3rd base, I turned a double play on a weak foul-ball pop-up. The guy, a good player who should have known better, was napping off of first base, and when I realized my throw would get him easily, I was so excited that I yelled out “yeah yeah!”. Fortunately, the other team did not take it the wrong way.

The best is the enemy of the good

This is really embarassing. I can’t remember the last time I did this: I struck out looking, in softball. Just watched two pitches go by. First one, inside and short, nicks the “fang” of the matt. Second one, inside and long, but catches the edge. There was that split second of “oh crap” after I’d decided not to swing. I’d gotten three hits before that, and two of them were on outside pitches, so I could really see the ball well. So I was looking for outside pitches, and I guess the pitcher changed his strategy, or maybe he had none. Or maybe I have no excuse, and mentally zoned out.

Lesson: Perfection is the enemy of the good. According to an article I found on-line, it’s “The best is enemy of the good”, and Francois Voltaire said it, and yes, he has a first name. He had some other good quotes, too, and if this article is accurate, I might like his politics.