tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post2068955454066865621..comments2024-03-28T07:19:18.670-07:00Comments on the joy of sox: Book Review: The Red Sox And Philosophyallanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-88305469252265029942010-10-30T06:45:18.087-07:002010-10-30T06:45:18.087-07:00Coming back against the Yankees -- humiliating the...Coming back against the Yankees -- humiliating them as no team has ever humiliated another team before -- after what happened in 2003, and then winning it all, makes 2004 pretty sweet no matter when you got on board.allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-1800583685041577062010-10-29T22:26:31.610-07:002010-10-29T22:26:31.610-07:00I hear you, and I totally agree. Not actually livi...I hear you, and I totally agree. Not actually living through the shit really changes my perspective on the whole thing. Sure, I was around from 1999-2003 but really, its only a minute fraction of the frustration. <br /><br />I'm just lucky that it happened one year after 2003. I didn't choose when I was born! ;) (or where, for that matter, fuck nationalism, just had to throw that in) - by no choice of my own, I wasn't there for 86, I wasn't there for 78...I would love to have been, solely for the sake of enjoying 04 as much as everyone else, but still, 04 was great. Clearly not as great as it was for everyone else, but still. I'll take it.timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12041184236514293677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-30940297997783278962010-10-28T22:01:22.225-07:002010-10-28T22:01:22.225-07:00I mean this as a simple fact and not as anything n...I mean this as a simple fact and not as anything negative about you: Only a young person without the back history with the Red Sox would say that.<br /><br />I'll bet there is not one Red Sox fan in the world who lived through '78 and everything after that who would say that s/he misses any of the angst/sorrow/frustration/pain.<br /><br />I (and millions of other fans) said for so many years, "All I want is one." And the uncertainty of life being what it is, the sooner it happens the better.<br /><br />There remains plenty of excitement and drama with the team now. I like not having boiling anger and frustration over losses shaving any more months and years off my life.allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-87852557241924342012010-10-28T20:16:45.314-07:002010-10-28T20:16:45.314-07:00I've come to this conclusion after reading you...I've come to this conclusion after reading your excellent review of this book.<br /><br />If 2004 didn't happen, our lives would be full of so much more angst, so much more sorrow, so much more frustration, so much more pain....but so much more hope, so much more optimism, so much more INTEREST. Our watching of the games, our view of the games would be so much more INTERESTING.<br /><br />Yes, its probably for the best that furniture isn't destroyed based on a pitching change, and probably for the best that our entire sense of being isn't crushed every october, but as amazing as 04 was (and it was only one tenth amazing for me as i can imagine it was for you, Allan, or anyone else who followed the team through the decades of struggle), a teeny weeny part of me misses the angst/sorrow/frustration/pain from pre-October 2004.<br /><br />well, maybe its just missed because of what happened that month.timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12041184236514293677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-61960834003768607662010-10-28T17:50:17.381-07:002010-10-28T17:50:17.381-07:00Hey, just dropping in to say congratulations to Ti...Hey, just dropping in to say congratulations to Tim Wakefield (my favorite Red Sock) on his Clemente award.<br /><br />Go baseball!Critohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16116736412277252856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-73650465763258112002010-10-27T09:39:03.989-07:002010-10-27T09:39:03.989-07:00(but I remembered to bring scoresheets and pens!)
...<i>(but I remembered to bring scoresheets and pens!)</i><br /><br />As if that was in doubt!laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-85542935321861124912010-10-26T08:45:47.659-07:002010-10-26T08:45:47.659-07:00Rory, I apologize if I misunderstood your use of t...Rory, I apologize if I misunderstood your use of the phrase. Thanks for commenting!<br /><br />Random stuff:<br /><br />The editor was glad to see a critical review of the book and I emailed him and said it still felt superficial. I really wanted to get it done before I went to VT for the week and so I pushed myself at work on Sunday. It still seems like I went through and devoted a paragrph to each essay. Which is the easy way out.<br /><br />(jeez, john: thanks for the praise. i feel like you are about to ask to borrow a big pile of money!)<br /><br />I wish I knew something about the philosphers being discussed. Also, I worried that if I did not trust the writer's take on something Soxish, then maybe the philosophic reading was skewed, as well. Who knows?<br /><br />I still want to get into my attitude as a fan, which will likely use some stuff from a few of these essays.<br /><br />There was good stuff in there about choosing a team when you do not live near them. I do not think VT qualifes, since Boston and Montreal were semi-close.<br /><br />Hats: I have an 04 cap, which I love wearing. No issues there. Plus I have another mint one for years from now! It is odd, though. I thought about getting a replica cap from the 30s which had the socks logo instead of a B. But I went with the regular cap, though I think it is actually a batting practice cap; it is ventilated more than the usual one.<br /><br />Anyway, I hope the overall feel of the review matches the balance of how I feel about it. (I may post more about some of the essays later on.) Keep chatting and I will be back on Thursday night.<br /><br />I wanted to go back to threads for the WS, but I will be in VT at my friend's Ray's house for G1, sans laptop (but I remembered to bring scoresheets and pens!).allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-14861458665367098012010-10-25T17:07:35.049-07:002010-10-25T17:07:35.049-07:00but what a grand example this is of a writer in fu...<i>but what a grand example this is of a writer in full control of a huge amount of expertise wearing his learning lightly. I get the same feeling reading Bill James or Joe Posnanski--the feeling of being in good hands--honest, intelligent, sincere, curious, striving-for-truth, deeply knowledgeable hands.<br /><br />And, oh yeah, hands that know how to interest, amuse, entertain too.</i><br /><br />He's good, eh? Nice review of the review.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-14445797876409351502010-10-25T15:40:02.727-07:002010-10-25T15:40:02.727-07:00I did not want to be confused with someone who had...<em>I did not want to be confused with someone who had just discovered the team.</em><br /><br />I've been a fan since Walt Dropo moved in down the street and I went to summer camp with Mel Parnell's sons, but I never had a Sox cap until the spring of 2005 when my daughter gave me a top-of-the-line one. So, there I was In May 2005 in my brand new cap, hiking across the North Yorkshire Moors when a couple I later found were from Wisconsin came up from behind. <br /><br />The guy said, "Hey, Red Sox fan!" with that intonation that let me know he was a little amused and a little contemptuous that someone would be jumping on the bandwagon of the new World Champions with his fancy fresh ball cap.<br /><br />Half a world away from Fenway, I was still chagrined....johngoldfinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09322562737172405323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-33130188881494212322010-10-25T15:32:50.625-07:002010-10-25T15:32:50.625-07:00I really liked your review.
The way you include y...I really liked your review.<br /><br />The way you include your own biases is a masterstroke; they become points of sympathy between reader and reviewer and allow you free rein in your comments without your reader nervously looking for a hidden agenda. Nothing hidden, no tricks! Here I stand, says Allan!<br /><br />I'm working up an essay for my Advanced Nonfiction course, an essay that displays expertise--I'm having my problems even finding a topic, but what a grand example this is of a writer in full control of a huge amount of expertise wearing his learning lightly. I get the same feeling reading Bill James or Joe Posnanski--the feeling of being in good hands--honest, intelligent, sincere, curious, striving-for-truth, deeply knowledgeable hands.<br /><br />And, oh yeah, hands that know how to interest, amuse, entertain too.johngoldfinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09322562737172405323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-43822347413458239562010-10-25T14:05:06.940-07:002010-10-25T14:05:06.940-07:00Sorry I don't have anything else to add but gr...Sorry I don't have anything else to add but great job.mattymattyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08291132296368578632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-83464014478416967052010-10-25T13:09:38.336-07:002010-10-25T13:09:38.336-07:00So it is both inspiring and it frustrates the hell...So it is both inspiring and it frustrates the hell out of you?<br /><br />Yeah...that sounds like the Red Sox.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-19008802220015736212010-10-25T11:32:16.202-07:002010-10-25T11:32:16.202-07:00This was a very enjoyable post. A lot of work, bia...This was a very enjoyable post. A lot of work, biases up front, and well done.Zenslingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06040836002694584468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-8014856897301577682010-10-25T11:26:44.556-07:002010-10-25T11:26:44.556-07:00I liked the hat story. I know what you mean. My br...I liked the hat story. I know what you mean. My brother got me an "04 World Series Champ" bumper sticker and I agonized over whether put it on because I didn't want anyone to think that I'd just become a Sox fan (despite my License plate reading JWG SOX). Then in 07, I knew I was going to get a new car, so I saved the 07 sticker for the new one--but asked my mechanic if there was any way of getting the 04 one off and putting it on the new one,too. He looked at me like I was nuts, and he's a baseball fan, too.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10275164807141705059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-28061077373102474362010-10-25T09:44:38.561-07:002010-10-25T09:44:38.561-07:00Not to quibble too much, but the line is "al...Not to quibble too much, but the line is "allow 'Manny to be Manny'". I intended there to refer to the phrase "Manny being Manny" while bringing in one aspect of what that meant.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03280477047443477141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-70166466413131451632010-10-25T09:36:04.665-07:002010-10-25T09:36:04.665-07:00One more comment...
The parts of this book you li...One more comment...<br /><br />The parts of this book you like sound interesting. But the parts you dislike sound so completely vile to me that I would never buy or read any of it.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-21383209403058124872010-10-25T09:31:51.963-07:002010-10-25T09:31:51.963-07:00but I was not looking forward to putting on a cris...<i>but I was not looking forward to putting on a crisp, clean hat. And that hesitancy was mainly because of how I thought it might look to others. I did not want to be confused with someone who had just discovered the team.</i><br /><br />And this seemed so unlike you. You pride yourself on not caring what others think of you, and always encourage and urge others to do the same. But wear a new cap? What will other fans think? What if I'm mistaken for a post-2004 fan? Such an interesting exception to the way you normally think!laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-80919129361557998282010-10-25T09:29:40.545-07:002010-10-25T09:29:40.545-07:00Sander Lee opens his essay, "Why Are They Our...<i>Sander Lee opens his essay, "Why Are They Our Red Sox?": "Why do normally sane adults root for the Boston Red Sox?" His answer:<br /><br /> [B]ecause we choose to. </i><br /><br />But it doesn't feel that way, does it? Having left one side of the rivalry for the other - and being a total diehard on each side - I can say it never felt like a choice. It felt like all major life changes - something I was compelled to do.<br /><br /><i>There's no good way to explain the pleasures and pains of the true fan to those who choose not to enter the magical realm of sports.</i><br /><br />If most people you know are not into sports (as is my case), you really know this. People think it's cute, or silly, or low-brow, or whatever - but they do not understand.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-50124386310061853482010-10-25T08:34:31.748-07:002010-10-25T08:34:31.748-07:00Sounds like a book I will add to my Christmas wish...Sounds like a book I will add to my Christmas wish list. The study of the sports fan is an interesting one, whether they be Sox fans or not.<br /><br />Your story about your favorite Sox cap reminds of one that I had for years which I finally had to retire because the plastic tabs snapped. I've never been one for fitted caps - my cap size is 7-3/4 and, besides being nearly impossible to find caps in that size, they look ridiculous on my head. :-DFenFanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02348863925130603048noreply@blogger.com