Take Me Out to the Brawl Game

The World Baseball Classic is in full swing (get it?).  The WBC, of course, is the baseball world's quadrennial attempt to inject the sport with the international appeal of soccer.  And while not yet managing to capture the thrill of the 0-0 tie decided by penalty kicks, the tournament has at least reached a level of respectability where top-tier major leaguers are willing to take part--which is more than can be said for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, so that's something.

Yesterday, however, the tournament was sullied by a bench-clearing brawl between the Canadian and Mexican national teams.  Tempers flared when a Canadian batter bunted for a base hit in the ninth inning, despite the fact that Canada was ahead by six runs.  According to baseball's famous unwritten rules, bunting for a base hit in this situation is considered poor form--piling on runs for no particular purpose.  At the WBC, however, the strategy makes sense: "Run differential" is a factor used in deciding which teams advance in the tournament in the event of ties in the final standings, so teams understandably want to score as many runs--even "meaningless" runs--as possible.

Despite this reasonable explanation for the strategy, the Mexican pitcher seemed to take offense: He hit the next batter with a pitch, which led to small onfield riot. Even fans got into the act, throwing water bottles and baseballs at players and coaches.  Whether this will prove to be a black eye for the WBC remains to be seen.  Indeed, some commentators speculate that this could be good in the long run, as it provides evidence to uninterested American fans (and players) that this tournament is something that players take seriously.

The deeper significance, though, may be a move toward elminating the inanity of Daylight Savings Time: After all, if springing forward makes Canadians cranky, imagine the effect it must have on the rest of us.

Worst Day Ever

Daylight Savings Time sucks.

That is all.
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Well, OK, that's not ALL.  I also wanted to comment on the ongoing outrage about NFL "bounties."

In case you haven't heard, controversy erupted a couple of weeks ago when it was revealed that Gregg Williams, the former defensive coordinatpr of the New Orleans Saints, encouraged a bounty system, whereby players would receive financial rewards--sometimes running into the thousands of dollars--if they tackled opposing players so hard that these folks had to leave the game.  The outrage arises from the fact that (A) players were being encouraged to cause injuries and (B) this behavior was encouraged by the team's management.

Frankly, there has always been something of a "Shocked! Shocked!" quality to this whole thing.  Yes, it's somewhat distasteful to think that players involved in what is, after all, a game, are not simply playing to win but to physically injure their competition.  But let's face it: Football is an inherently violent game.  When a defensive player tackles a quarterback or any other offensive player, he is trying to make sure that the offensive player goes down.  On every play, therefore, the nature of the game calls for violent, potentially bone-shattering or concussion-inducing collisions--and if players want to stay in the NFL, they know that they must make full contact at all times.  In other words, does a bounty system--which most players have admitted exist in every NFL locker room--truly lead to more ferocious contact? 

A playoff game between the Saints and the Vikings, wherein Viking quarterback Brett Favre was repeatedly pummeled, has become Exhibit A in the bounty controversy.  But had no such system existed, do people think the Saints defenders would have just gently lowered Favre to the Superdome turf?  Indeed, the very fact that the controversy only erupted when people found out about the existence of the bounties proves how much a standard part of the game such violence is.

Rules should--and do--exist to protect players from exceptionally violent contact, rules outlawing blows to the head and certain low tackles.  Outlawing "bounties" is somewhat pointless.  Even if management forswears such behavior, the players themselves will continue the practice informally.  It no more undermines the integrity of the game than high-fives, and it is arguable less offensive than endzone dances.

The Worst Day of the Year

Like the new layout?  Figured it was time for a change.

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Daylight Savings Time began today.  Or did it end today?  YNSHC has always had trouble keeping that one straight.  And the common mnemonic is useless: "Spring forward, fall back."  Easy, right?  But can't one just as easily fall forward and/or spring back?  No logic to these things.

More annoying than the mnemonic, though, is the whole concept of moving our clocks ahead an hour, thus losing that all-too-precious hour of sleep.  The first day of DST is truly the worst day of the year.  Name one that's worse?  Sure, September 11 and, for old-timers, December 7 have more sinister resonance, but those are DATES not "days."  They're significant for what happened on them--undeniably horrific but unlikely to be repeated.  They're days for remembrance.  April 15, likewise, has unpleasant connotations, but most of us have taken care of our IRS-related business long before that date rolls around (and more than a few of us get refunds anyway).

The first day of Daylight Savings Time, though, really has no redeeming characteristics.  Invariably, you go through the day somewhat groggy.  If you're one of those people who has to get up early in the morning to go to work, you can look forward to a week or so of getting up in darkness before the universe catches up with acts of Congress.

(Digression: Perhaps this can be seen as a silver-lining for those hordes of newly-unemployed--nearly 700,000 according to last week's news--who get to sleep through the later-morning darkness.  End of digression.)

"Sure, Solipsist," you may say, "but it stays light 'til way past 7:00 now!"

You're right, but so what?

Nobody really cares about the sun staying out later.  Nobody feels it in the bones.  What's going to happen tonight?  You're going to glance out the window at 6:00, and it'll still be light, but that won't register.  At 7:00, you'll look again, feel mildly disoriented as you glance at your watch, and remember what's going on.  And then you'll break into wild song and dance because it's 7:00 and the sun's still out, the sun's still out!

Well, of course you won't, and that's the point.

The Solipsist just glanced at his computer's clock and was shocked to see that it was already 5:27.  Except it isn't--it's 4:27.  And that, too, is the point.

Don't even mention the spike in traffic accidents and, apparently, as Father of Solipsist mentioned this morning, heart attacks we all have to look forward to in the next two weeks.

YNSHC would gladly surrender the best night of the year (the last Saturday in October) if he could be rid of the worst.  Join the crusade!