Ask USSM: How to fill the void?
DMZ · November 14, 2006 at 3:02 pm · Filed Under Off-topic ranting
What am I supposed to do with my free time?
No, really. The off-season kills me. I’ve tried to follow football, it just doesn’t take, and besides, part of what I miss is the daily nature of baseball. I can’t bike in this weather.. besides wacky sci-fi writing, what else is there? How do you get through this dead period and retain your sanity?
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Oh, Jesus. I know. I saw them. It was…crushing. I’m surprised they didn’t lose eight-nil. Never again. Never, ever, ever again. But I’d rather eat giant handfuls of decomposing leaves than root for Arsenal. Sorry. The English league is grat fun, though, and by far the most entertaining top league to watch, unlike, say, Italy’s Serie A, which is like watching chess-by-mail, only with bought-off players and refs.
This is in fact the worst weather to bike in, because wet leaves are more deadly and sneakier than black ice. Wait until the roads are clear, and get yourself some booties, and it’s not that bad.
You could work on your spy/ninja skills, sneak into the air ducts above Bavasi’s office, plant a bug on his phone and office, tap into his cell line via computer, and have the ultimate insider blog.
Oh, Jesus. I know. I saw them. It was…crushing. I’m surprised they didn’t lose eight-nil. Never again. Never, ever, ever again.
Where I was just happy that Reading finally got off the schneid by beating up on a London team.
It hasn’t been the best season so far for Reading, what with the poundings by Arsenal and Liverpool (twice). But at least they beat the Spurs.
The Spurs have way too much talent to play as poorly as they have this year. Teams to absolutely not root for: Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool.
The Spurs have a good balance of futility and ability. It’s sort of like rooting for San Diego or Houston. Middle of the road and never win the big one.
However I 3rd the EPL as a great way to get through the winter doldrums. At least 3-5 games a week on FSC. Get a DVR, record then all and go to town.
You could spend three hours each day trying to figure out how Mark DeRosa got a three-year, eight-figure contract. By February, you just might understand. Then again, maybe not.
I used to be against soccer. When I was younger, I was even prone to calling it a “Communist sport” for unknown reasons, even to me. Then I started to randomly watch some EPL games and, after watching a couple Arsenal games, I was hooked. The season is almost year long, there are a number of elite teams, a ton of tournaments, a lot of player movement, and its an exciting game once you get to know it. No timeouts. Constant action. Your local pub should have all the games on sattelite. Seriously, I love the NBA, I’m a fanatic, but soccer might be better.
You could spend the time figuring different ways to spend the 51.1 million the Red Sox used as the DM posting fee.
I fourth the EPL, especially with a DVR. I enjoy watching #54’s big four, they are televised more often so I get to know the players a little, and they play high quality soccer.
For cycling I’ve thought about cyclocross but haven’t taken that plunge yet. When I commuted, biking in the rain was easy and I got to where I enjoyed it once I had the right gear. Now that I’m not commuting, it is way too easy to think of reasons not go for a spin.
Another suggestion that might work for you is to take up an instrument, guitar or something. That is a great way to burn rainy winter evenings away.
You could travel to the East Coast and visit Dave, biking through Coastal North Carolina (it was in 70’s today).
Or you could sit inside and write various letters to Chevy explaining your distaste for the over use of the Mellencamp song.
The Spurs play in the NBA. The English League team is Spurs, or Tottenham, or Tottenham Hotspur, but never ever ever “the Spurs”.
I’m not allowed to hate Liverpool, as my wife is a longtime fan (stood on the Kop back in the 80s). But I will root against them when the opportunity arises. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Man Utd are beyond the pale, though: unadulterated evil.
Reading have little to complain about, being mid-table in their first season up in the Premier. Very enjoyable to see, as is the sight of former no-hopers Portsmouth doing well under Harry Redknapp.
If you get married and have kids, you don’t have to worry about free time anymore 🙂
But I’d rather eat giant handfuls of decomposing leaves than root for Arsenal. Sorry.
Strangely enough, the aftermath of eating handfuls of decomposing leaves is where Spurs got the idea for that brown uniform color scheme.
Arsenal may or may not be evil, but watching Thierry Henry when he’s at top gear is one of the privileges of having eyeballs.
Amen. Kids make it that you can’t just jump on your bike for a ride without getting a babysitter. Absolute zero personal time. When you have it, it’s a luxury.
How to train for the STP? They used to have meetings at REI (sponsored by REI or the Cascasde Bicycle Club, I guess) teaching you how to train. Heck, they probably have the info online now.
DMZ, do some home improvements. Adds value to your place without getting taxed on it, and score points with the wife. Or do anything you can that could get in the way of baseball watching/blogging/etc. once the season starts.*
*However, I don’t practice what I preach. One of these days, perhaps I’ll actually do my taxes by February instead of filing an extension and waiting until the playoffs are on.
38. Anyone read The Stranger article by Sherman Alexie this week on the state of the Sonics in Seattle? Quite a few Steve Kelley one sentence paragraphs, but otherwise a great read.
I usually dislike those sorts of random, stream of consciousness essays, but Alexie’s was a gem. There’s a lot more good baseball writing than good basketball writing, but his essay, which rambled over topics from Starbucks to the Sonics to basketball to fathers and sons, evens things up a bit. I hadn’t known that Alexie is a Sonics fan! The essay also gives a little insight into where he was coming from in his screenplay for “Smoke Signals”, the very fine independent film from several years ago.
BTW the column in The Stranger is here.
Derek, I think you should start a baseball book club.
Farm Animals?
Were you not able to schedule the crunch time for finishing the book to happen now rather than before the season ended? Maybe for the next super-secret book project you could run that past your editor. Doesn’t help you now…
Oh, but what about pulling a _High Fidelity_ and organizing your album collection according to your favorite baseball moments. Paging John Cusack…
Re #46: . . . though sodden toward sundown.
There’s also a lot more awful baseball writing (including some of the writing that’s often praised). There’s a lot more baseball writing, period. At least basketball writing rarely gets inflated with imbecilic pomposity the way that baseball writing is so prone to.
I’m all for the EPL, but finding games that matter on US TV isn’t the easiest.
However, if you like I’d let you help me in my job hunt, since you don’t seem so active in your own. I’m looking for a sports gig at either a radio or tv station. Lemme know what you come up with.
I was a gamer before I was a baseball fan, so I actually had to come to grips with the extent to which baseball cut into my gaming time in the summer.
In the winter, I also spend a lot of time arguing with people on the internet. My favourite topics are language theory and communism.
Up the Arse! I actually do support Arsenal. It was Dennis Bergkamp that first got me hooked.
And, as a Canadian, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out…
There’s always HOCKEY. You could learn Swedish and become a Canucks fan.
http://freedarko.blogspot.com/
Contrasting this with USSmariner will explain why the NBA has an appeal that is somehow captivating while being anathema to all that is decent about baseball.
The Spurs play in the NBA. The English League team is Spurs, or Tottenham, or Tottenham Hotspur, but never ever ever “the Spursâ€.
I’ll call them “the Spurs” until someone convinces British newsreaders and sports commentators that American teams have “the” in front of them. It is not “St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series defeating Detroit Tigers,” just as it is not “The Reading Royals beat the Arsenal 2-1.”
If you haven’t already, read the Neal Stephenson trilogy that starts with Quicksilver. Excellent to inspired writing, and it should take you most of the winter. Not books to be skimmed.
Granted I’m biased- I was a Seahawks fan a decade before I became an M’s fan- but its a shame you (DMZ) can’t seem to get into football. The Seahawks have played so many close, exciting, meaningful games the last 4 years. I guess if you can’t get into the Seahawks now, you never could. But anyway, the Seahawks, UW basketball, and geeky stuff like games and anime tend to help me bridge the offseason gap.
Oh and YTMND.com is good for silly-geeky fun when bored too.
Read Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun. The first time through the four books will go down easy. If you’re like me, you’ll enjoy it, marvel at it, think it’s one of the best things you’ve ever read. But something will tug at you…. You’ll reread it. You’ll be astonished at what you didn’t see the first time.
I’m still rereading it today.
How about designing and implementing a Legovision ™ feature for USSM to be used in next year’s game threads?
Wow, that bit by Alexie makes me want read more of his stuff…have you read his baseball themed short story?
And when is BCC going to do their “Baseball and American History” Class again?
Oh and Derek, you could fill one night a week at least by forming a Writers Group. That would be cool.
Learn to run lathes and mills. Or restore motorcycles — there’s something you can do in the living room. If your wife won’t let you, make her learn chess.
70. “There’s a lot more good baseball writing than good basketball writing”
There’s also a lot more awful baseball writing (including some of the writing that’s often praised). There’s a lot more baseball writing, period. At least basketball writing rarely gets inflated with imbecilic pomposity the way that baseball writing is so prone to.
Oh I agree 100% with both of your points: there is “more baseball writing, period”, and it is often “inflated with imbecilic pomposity”. Of the latter, my pet peeve is writers who blather about how wonderful baseball is because the foul lines extend to infinity; second place pet peeve is probably about how Platonically perfect the 90 foot distance between bases is.
But as with everything else, I try to bypass the junk and seek the gems. And there are more gems in baseball than in basketball (truthfully, I much prefer basketball as a sport to follow, but in terms of reading, I do more baseball reading and buy more baseball books than basketball books).
To fill the void, you should do a role-reversal of what I do. I am a football [soccer] fan who follows baseball during our offseason – so why not consider following English football?
I am a Manchester City fan, they are a team similar to the Mariners in quality and basic disillusionment. I would be honoured if my Mariner friends would start to learn and follow my team in the same way I have taken to theirs. 😉
http://www.mcfc.co.uk
Support Fulham!
We have several of your World Cup… heroes.
The beloved Brian McBride, who never stops running.
Carlos Bocanegra, who plays in midfield these days. And does his best at all times.
And maybe Clint Dempsey in January.
What’s not to like? A beautiful ground right by the Thames, with a 100 year old stand with old-style cramped wooden seats.
Here’s a video clip of some of our lads being affable:
http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2006/November/LGPodcastVideos.aspx
There, easy to like them. And I’m running a Fulham blog on WordPress, click on the title for that.
cheers
You may have McBride … but we have Claudio Reyner! And DeMarcus Beasley! It is your patriotic duty to become Man City fans, ‘o great people of Washington state! 😀