Winding Down to Spring

This week we find New Orleans in the rinse cycle and about 2 million people on the road fleeing hurricane Rita. Sport goes on as usual though, with just some delays and relocations. Perhaps thinking is that people in misery and flight need the distraction of men in tight colorful pants running up and down the field.

Base is crushed that the Yankees are in first place again. A few tools assist with the writing of these columns. There’s a scrolling widget on this computer that tells me that the Yankees are now leading 4 - 0 against Toronto, batting in the bottom of the 7th, one out, runner on first, and the count is 2 and 1. The Red Sox are leading Baltimore 4-3 in the top of the 6th. Baseball has figured out a lot of ways to communicate with its fans. Maybe it’s simply the fact that fans can actually carry on a conversation during a game, or have it on in the background while doing other things. Yankees have runners on 1st and 2nd now.

Barry Bonds is back, and hitting home runs. Writers (and fans) can be glib when they’re right about projections, and can say, “Oh well” when not. Why is it that we can’t love Barry and recognize his achievement and acknowledge his skills? Last week Bonds threw down the race card. Could it really be that we fans and (white) sportswriters are racist? Base can’t speak for everyone else, but no, that doesn’t play here. Perhaps it’s the petulance, the tax evasion, the mistress, or the questions about his physical transformation over the last decade. Base is an equal opportunity critic: Jason Giambi, Kenny Rogers, and Rafael Palmiero.

Speaking of Raffi, he publicly blamed a teammate, Miguel Tejada, for slipping him a mickey and causing him to fail a steroid test, thereby ending his career in disgrace. Anyone who saw the video of him at the Senate Hearings would have thought that he would explode out of that custom tailored suit at any moment to reveal a big S on his chest.

Widget says: BOS 6 BAL 3, and NYY 5 TOR 0 (final).

Base doesn’t want to hedge his bets (nor encourage sports betting), but thinks that a “Rollerball” series might not be so bad. Rollerball, the original movie, not the pathetic nearly made-for-TV remake would be a good match-up. Set in a futuristic world run by The Corporation. Rollerball is a game loosely patterned on roller derby. It plays out on an oval track with players on skates and motorcycles. Add medieval uniforms, spiked gauntlets and a heavy steel ball launched from a catapult in the opposite direction and you begin to get the feel of the game.

The movie depicts a world completely controlled by The Corporation wherein workers must recognize the futility of glory. Women are considered little more than a reward given successful managers. Casual use of narcotics is viewed as a minor acceptable evil. Our hero Jonathan (James Caan) has become a sport hero. He is an accomplished and fair player in the late stage of his career, and has become an admired (adulated) sports hero. The Corporation wants him to retire. He doesn’t want to leave on those terms. The Corporation doesn’t want heroes in this entertainment venue. This already violent sport undergoes a rule change designed to allow his elimination lethally. The championship game: Houston vs. New York. Who Knew James Caan could skate so well?

Okay, it’s a stretch. Widget says Astros 4 Cubs 5, final.

Wild card teams consistently make it to the big showdown, but seldom from both leagues at once.

Further along the emotional tenets of predictions the long shot of a Houston championship chance, facing insurmountable odds scenario is that in Base’s perfect prediction world there would be much emotional joy (if only for s few moments) in the darkest of times. There’s always baseball, and hope for 9 innings and for a couple hours.

Jonathan! Jonathan! at off.baase@gmail.com
Rent the movie and see why.

Tuesday Update: With 5 days left in the regular season only one division title has been decided.