Softball: Embedded within the Broader Nutso Whole
Dear People,
In one of those transcendent paragons of competitive aerobic drama that restore one's faith in the intrinsic goodness of the basic human experience, Anthony's team staved off my own in 11 taut and magnificent innings, 19-18. The weather was awesome, there was virtually no bickering, the score was always close, neither side had more than two dozen errors, and in the end, clarity of raw athletic purpose was so utterly ubiquitous that I still get my knickers in a twist when I think about the fact that dumbass city labor laws prevent me from paying you for your irrefutable communal excellence (your ICE, if you will). Yeah, the law is an ass, and I think we all know that, although the real point is that I can't find the score card for the game, and truth be told, I don't really recall that many specifics beyond the general spine-tingling glory of it all.
Nevertheless, what I can tell you is despite all that ICE, I was thinking of not even organizing a match this week since the local zeitgeist is now being so battered by the multi-pronged downers of a possible BART strike, an AC transit bus strike and two 3.2 earthquakes in less than two weeks that were apparently centered about 30 feet under my kitchen (does this mean that Alameda County herself is about to fall into the Pacific?-I honestly don't know). Even more annoying, the US is on the verge of going into its first technical default since Hamilton got the full-faith-and-credit ball rolling in 1789, though just to be clear, I'm not about to take sides on this particular issue-Indeed, who can really say whether the general stability of the world economy is “more important” than the safety of John Boehner's speakership? Ironically, I'm just not sure that we'd be able to focus enough to play if a clean and successful vote to avoid becoming the stupidest country on earth still leaves all of us even more worried about good 'ol Boehnbutt's ability to survive an inevitable coup de loons.*
Of course I was only thinking like that for about 3-5 seconds when it suddenly occurred to me that this community rocks, and I'll be damned if I'm going to cancel a single inning, even if there is a 1 in 3 worst-case chance that come this Saturday night, I'm going to be clinging to the roof of the floating carcass of a heavily damaged BART train somewhere between the Berkeley pier and Angel Island as I drool pitifully over my stash of suddenly worthless 10-year US treasury bonds. No, my friends, we as a people don't do risk management, and therefore there will be a game at Grove Park this Sunday at 11 IF I get enough commits by this Friday Morning . . . Raymond
PS: Some recent worthwhile reading on issues of the day. . .
* http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/how-john-boehner-could-lose-his-speakership
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2013/10/darkness-in-washington.html
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/09/26/the-gops-demands/
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/10/01/the-nullification-party/
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/obamas-constitutional-imperative-98069.html
10/18/13
Softball: 90210
Dear People,
There will be a game at Grove Park this Sunday at 11 and as of now there are still four slots left.
Please bring $4 for the field, which for this week only includes a complimentary post-match snake venom facial with a clarifying green tea peel . . . Raymond 845-7552