Reviews - GEORGE VECSEY

Scientific Fact: Watching Super Bowl Makes Time Pass – 6

1/31/2014

R.A. Dickey Reminds Us of Knuckleballs (Photo, 2013)

I have consulted with noted Talmudic and Jesuit scholars and am assured it is all right to watch the Super Bowl as long as one thinks pure thoughts of spring.

Say to yourself:

“I am watching it for the ads.”
“I am watching it for Renee Fleming.”
“I want to join the water-cooler conversation on Monday.”
“The TV just went on by itself.”

It looks as if the blizzard I predicted for this week hit the South instead. Oops.

New York is unscathed. Gov. Christie hasn’t shut down any bridges or tunnels, so far.

And six of us were on the East Side of Manhattan the other night, had a lovely meal at Teodora on E. 57 St. – and there was not a trace of Super Bowl in that part of Big Town. Not one button or chant.

Just repeat: Pitchers and Catchers. Pitchers and Catchers.

Ed martin

2/1/2014 04:50:41 am

see Dickey in a Toronto uniform reminds menof "knuckleheads."

(those who traded him.)

George Vecsey

2/1/2014 07:29:53 am

They didn't bring back Hawkins this year, either.
Different...but the same.

Alan D. Levine

2/1/2014 05:27:57 am

George--You've said it all. Just fifteen days to go--and counting.

George Vecsey

2/1/2014 07:33:10 am

Alan:
I'm going to do a baseball riff most days from now til then.
Like throwing a log on the fire.
Or lighting a candle in the darkness.
Thanks
GV

Alan D. Levine

2/1/2014 08:24:09 am

No, thank you.

Alan Rubin link

2/1/2014 08:01:04 am

George

No better way to get past the end of winter. It is snowing in Hinsdale, MA right now.

Just got home from a youth soccer session at the Fieldhouse in Canaan, NY. A baseball group came after us. Both sports are there most days of the week.

http://www.thefieldhousecanaan.com/

A nice trip down memory lane.

Ed Martin

2/1/2014 08:59:40 am

Here's a photo/memory to help out in the cause.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=554307294632694&set=t.100001939736590&type=3&theater

George Vecsey

2/1/2014 10:07:58 am

Ed, that is nice. I've been flipping through photos for my current series on baseball. It's interesting (or sad) to watch the evolution of spring training sites from funky old parks to moderate-security institutions where players sign autographs through fences. But still, the warmth and pace of spring training will be welcome....Thanks for the addition. GV

Brian Savin

2/5/2014 12:32:26 pm

Thank you for this.

Yepi Group link

6/1/2014 09:46:55 pm

I enjoy reading through your article..

Comments are closed.

QUOTES
“They may hate the cultural context they now find themselves teaching in, but they love their work. The Achilles’ heel of schoolteachers, one all too easily exploited by politicians, is that they love their students.”
(One of the best reads in the NYT these days is Margaret Renkl, in Nashville. In her latest post, Renkl describes the dedicated core of “born teachers” – the majority, she submits.)
***
(From Madeleine Albright in one of her final interviews in February):
“Putin is small and pale,” I wrote, “so cold as to be almost reptilian.” He claimed to understand why the Berlin Wall had to fall but had not expected the whole Soviet Union to collapse. “Putin is embarrassed by what happened to his country and determined to restore its greatness.” – Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, recalling her first meeting with the relatively unknown Vladimir Putin in 2000. – The New York Times, Feb. 23, 2022.

Scientific Fact: Watching Super Bowl Makes Time Pass – 6

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