June 5th - 6-13

What the hell? I got no check from anyone yesterday. Something ain't right about that.

Slow day at work. Got some hours in, but spent the bulk of my time arguing with a coworker about why athletes should be allowed to celebrate during games, that it's rarely "stroking their ego" (you ever see a football player celebrating a touchdown by himself?), and that stomping off a field or court is a good thing. Seems I'm more and more alone in my belief that athletes should play with passion, and that part of that expressing that passion, good or bad.

Although...wait a minute. I'm speaking directly about the NFL here, but does it seem they punish players for being happy, but reward them for being upset? If you score a touchdown or make a sack and celebrate too much, you're penalized. Can't dance. Can't joke around. Just get your ass off the field. You're not celebrating your performance, you're mocking the other team's performance, and that's WRONG. But if you screw up--say, if you drop a TD pass--and you pound your fist in the turf, you walk away from your teammates instead of towards them, you bang your hands on your helmet, then that's fine. Be disappointed in yourself, and express it. Be proud of yourself, and you'd better just keep that bottled up inside until after the game.

Conversely, you're allowed to be as happy as you want after the game. After the game, you can jump around and smile and dance and, effectively, taunt the opposing team all you want. They're losers, winner is you. But, after the game, you can't be mad and hit your helmet. You can't just walk off the field as if nothing happened. You have to stand before the press and show just the proper amount of remorse. Be sad, but no too sad. Criticize yourself, maybe, but no one else. No officials. No opposing players. Here's your stock list of things to say; don't stray from the list. Don't talk like you're a fan of the game, because fans are idiots. They speak with emotion, not with PR firm coaching.

It baffles me, really. As a fan, I want the players to feel and react the same way I do. I want to see that emotion...the celebrations, the anger, the despair. I think this is mostly because I don't see this big separation between myself and the athletes. I don't think the game is bigger than the people playing it, or that they need to feel lucky or privileged to be doing so. Dude has talent, dude worked hard, dude got drafted. It's not like a professional athlete is just handed his jersey. He had to work very, very hard to get there. The game should respect him. Yet, if he shares the level of emotion that I do, reacts to losses and mistakes the same way I do, that's somehow disrespecting the game, and, therefore, me. Does that make any sense?

Perhaps it's because so many people have a tinge of jealousy towards athletes. The older players who are now commentators and see the punk kids breaking all their records. The analysts and fans who had dreams of playing the game, but just didn't have the talent or drive to get there. These athletes are millionaires. What does Lebron James have to be so unhappy about when I'm selling a house at an $18,500 dollar loss and continuing to work 13 hour days to get back up out of debt? Screw you, Lebron, right? Shake Howard's hand, you bastard, my ticket money is paying your salary.

[This is not true. I've never paid for basketball ticket or any NBA license merchandise, and likely never will.]

Orlando Brown of the Cleveland Browns had a penalty flag thrown into his eye during a game. When the ref who threw it came over to see if he was okay, Brown pushed him to the ground. He was crucified by the press and by fans. My boss said he'd never take his kid to a football game again because of that. Never mind that Brown's career was ended by that stupid mistake from the ref. Never mind that...hell, eye injuries hurt. Badly. Someone pokes me in the eye then gets in my face to see if I'm okay, I'm shoving the bastard down, too. Doesn't matter how much bigger the football player is than the poor old ref, the football player is the one in tremendous pain.

I've stolen to much from Jividen's Blog of Revelation already. So, I'll stop here with this thought. Sports fans like to believe that there's a romanticism to these games. That the fun and purity of playing as a kid, and their view of professional athletes at that time, somehow remains as players work their way up to the professional level. When that doesn't happen, when professional athletes behave like adults, those who didn't get through and don't understand what it means to be a professional athlete hold that against him. Heaven knows I wouldn't act like that, right? If I were given that opportunity, I wouldn't push down a ref or dance in the end zone, and I'd certainly shake everybody's hand and give everyone an autograph.

'Cause you know, that's exactly what I do as a web designer. I don't celebrate a new client, I send cards of congratulations to other web development companies when they take one of my clients, and I never push down my boss when he throws a computer mouse into my eye.

Life punts, fair catch.

My ball: 1st and 10 on my own 37.