Baseball Memories

Sunday September 21, 2008- Yankee stadium. Perhaps no other sports venue has been so revered in the history of sports. The Yankees have won 26 championships in Yankee stadium and untold number of Yankees stars have become sports icons while playing there. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Derek Jeter have spent their careers playing in the cavernous confines of Yankee Stadium. Today the last game to be ever played at the stadium takes place. For any sports fans this brings on a wave of emotions and memories. I am no different. My memories of Yankee stadium though are through the eyes of a Red Sox fan. When I think of the Yankees and their stadium I think of my Dad. He was an ardent Red Sox fan and an outspoken Yankee hater. My Dad loved baseball. He loved the Red Sox. He spent many summer evenings listening or watching Red Sox games. He lived watching Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and his favorite player Bobby Doer. He watched Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Longborg, and Rico Petracelli. He brought me to Fenway Park to see Carlton Fisk, Rick Burleson, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, and in 2004 we sat together watching Pedro Martinez, Curt Sculling and his bloody sock, Big Pappi Ortiz, and Johnny Damon finally defeat the “evil empire” Yankees to win the American League Pennant. It has been two years since my Dad died.
I have nothing but good memories of my Dad and our relationship. He was everything a boy would wanted in a Dad. He would take me to Fenway Park many times each summer and root for the Red Sox. He taught me to be loyal and loving even when things were not good. When you became a Red Sox fan it was for life. He live for 66 years without seeing a World Series Championship. He experienced many heartbreaks while being a Red Sox fan. The loss to the Cardinals in 1946. The impossible Dream of 1967 ending just short at the hands of the Cardinals. The hard fought World Series defeat by the Cincinnati Reds in 1975. The 14.5 game lead which the Red Sox blew to the hated Yankees in 1978, and of course the ball under Buckner’s legs in 1986. That all changed though in 2004. The Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS. The day of the 7th game my parents flew in to visit us in Texas, and in perfect serendipity we watched the Sox slay the hated Yankees. It is one of the greatest memories I have of my Dad. The Sox went on to win the World Series and erase a lifetime of heartache for my Dad. Sports are not always about competition. They are always about memories. As I sit and watch the Yankees play their final game in their stadium, I am thankful for all the baseball memories I have. They are memories of my Dad. Thanks for teaching me about baseball and making me a Red Sox fan like just like you. Here’s to the Yankees losing tonight and the Red Sox winning… I know that is the way you would have wanted it.

Still no electricity

Wednesday September 17, 2008- Day five and counting. Last night, for the first time we ventured out after dark and upon our return home I realized how dark our neighborhood really is. We obviously still have no electricity. I have stopped thinking that its return is imminent. I am reclined to the fact that it is off and for some reason we will be the people who go 2-3 weeks without it. I nor anyone I have spoken to or heard on the radio has any idea as to where it will come on or what kind of plan the electric company is working on. I am constantly reminded of a saying our principle quotes often, “In the absence of information people assume the worst.” If we knew a timetable I believe people would have an easier time dealing with the loss of power.
Dealing with a 14 year old son with no electric is not easy. The boredom that sets in is driving him crazy. His generation more than older generations or mine is one of constant stimulation. Television, cell phones, computers and constant access to technology is what they have been raised on. An immediate and total elimination of power and thus technology drives them crazy. He is not good at occupying time with books and reading. This storm is becoming costly due to entertaining him with something to do.
The cell phone companies, and in particular Verizon Wireless have been the most reliable entity through this storm. The service I receive has not once been interrupted. In the middle of the storm I called my mother at 5:30am to check on the status of the storm and the call went through with no difficulty. It is odd that they are so far ahead of every other infrastructure industry. Perhaps the energy companies need to look to them for some sort of guidance. It seems that in 2008 in the age of high tech materials and wireless communication and incredible technological advances that our electricity is still carried by thick above ground wires, which are held aloft by wooden poles.
We got news yesterday that school will be out until at least Monday September 23. This is wise decision. It would be very difficult to conduct business while a number of students are still without power. How these days will be made up is a question. It will be difficult to cram everything we need to teach into one less week.
Lets hope today is the lucky day that we hit the electricity lottery. I have hope. I am running out of clean clothes and am dying to watch just one meaningless sitcom.

Patience, are you kidding me

Tuesday September 16, 2008- Patience is an interesting thing. The idea of patience is usually preached by those who are not in need of what we are longing for. It seems that it is the catch phrase for those in charge of the post Hurricane Ike cleanup. It has been preached by the radio talk show hosts. It has been preached by Mayor Bill White and Judge Ed Emmitt and various other county judges. It has been preached by the spokesmen for Centerpoint energy. All of these people share one thing in common; they are speaking from locations that have electricity and gasoline. I am sure Judge Ed Emmit has not been sitting in the dark for the past 4 days. I am sure that Mayor Bill White has not spent 3 hours in line waiting to fill his gas tank. I am sure that the executives of Reliant energy and Centerpoint energy have slept in air conditioned comfort the past 3 nights. The people of Houston and Galveston do not need to hear any more politicians preach about patience. We need to see and experience a sense of urgency by our elected officials. As of Monday, FEMA had 17 POD centers set up to distribute ice and “food”. 17 locations? Houston has 5.5 million people. You do the math. It seems as if the government has learned nothing over the past 5 years. This decade will be remembered for the hurricanes we have experienced as much as anything else. It would seem that after 2 or 3 major storms the governments would learn how to cope with natural disasters. The situation in Houston is comparable to that of New Orleans for the simple fact of the number of people it is affecting. Houston is the 4th largest city in America and as of Tuesday September 16, 2008, approximately 4.5 million still have no power. Many people have no water. Storms will happen and people will be made to deal with hardships but it would be a little easier to handle if the elected officials were more competent and gave us a reason to have confidence in them. I think Ronald Reagan may have been right when he said, “The government is not the solution, the government is the problem.”

Time well spent

Monday September 15, 2008- It has been 48 hours since Hurricane Ike blew through the city of Houston. It seems as though for the most part Houston has weathered the storm relatively well. The most obvious result of the storm is the massive power outage which occurred and which is still a major problem in Houston. As of Monday at 8:30am some 1.5 million homes are still without power and it seems by all accounts that it will be at least until the end of the week until this number is reduced by any substantial amount. According to Centerpoint energy it may be 3-4 weeks for some power to be restored.
I imagine this is what life was like in the 1930’s. It is relaxing reading and listening to the radio. I have not missed the TV as much as I had thought I would. I actually survived the entire weekend without watching ESPN. My son and I though did go out and catch a bit of the Patriots game. I have realized how much our society is addicted to energy. The gas lines and the constant search for electricity which everyone is on so they can recharge their cell phones and lap tops is really quite ridiculous. Civilization went on for 5000 years with no energy(electricity and gas) and yet somehow accomplished great things. The Pyramids were built, the entire Bible was written, the Christian faith reached the entire world, and the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were all written without energy. I think 50% of our energy consumption is simply for the creature comforts of people. I read an entire book on Saturday. Granted is was short, Animal Farm, 145 pages, but it was still the whole book. I am far better off for reading it than I would have been for watching 2 teams square off in some meaningless football game. The Russian Revolution and subsequent establishment of the Soviet empire satired in a story centered around an animal farm is brilliant. There are so many great books out there that go unread because of our constant need to rush around and fill our times with meaningless minutia. One can imagine why society was more spiritually inclined in times past. Sitting and thinking leads us to contemplating life’s questions. Down times makes reading the Bible much easier. No television and no power makes our reliance on God and Christ much easier. It should not nor does it have to be this way but it is simply the truth. Our society has become far less intellectual and thoughtful due to the constant barrage of information and busy time we occupy our days with. Lets all remember that in tragedy and poor circumstances can come valuable lessons and reminders. Here is to a loss of power and relying more on our minds than on electricity and gasoline…now where did I leave my copy of War and Peace?