March Madness is supposed to refer to the frenzy surrounding college basketball. To a lesser degree, we can throw the pros in the conversation too…as their season winds down, teams are busy either cementing or vying for a playoff spot.
Instead of round ball fascination, somebody must’ve rung the bell for grumpy, old men, several decades beyond their heyday to come out and completely unleash on stars of today’s game. No sooner had Oscar Robertson’s shady outlook gone the proverbial route of in one ear and out the other…here comes MLB Hall of Famer Goose Gossage with a profanity ridden diatribe listing his happiness for the millions made by players alongside the many things that make him unhappy….
I’m not certain what it is about evolution that appears to offend, but it is real gentlemen, it is indeed real!
First and foremost, the extraordinary amount of salt detected in his voice is a clear indication of how happy Goose isn’t for player salaries. He touched on the labor strikes of previous years. If the first one wasn’t ill-advised the second should’ve been…either way they rest solely on the shoulders of those players only—as such, those players should govern themselves accordingly.
Throwing Hall of Fame credentials about as if it were an automatic pass to dole out disrespect is maddening. It ties the hands of present day players who choose not to disrespect their predecessors. Taking the high road is shaping up to be a terribly one-sided game of “Thank you sir, may I have another?’
No player made a beeline from the womb to the Hall. Although it has had its share of struggles, baseball didn’t stop as soon as Goose crossed Cooperstown’s threshold. Should his career continue on its current path, Bryce Harper will find his name in those hallowed halls as well. Bryce must know at least a little bit about the game. Unless something has changed tremendously since Goose’s days, National League MVP honors aren’t doled out recklessly.
In a matter of minutes Goose disproved the pairing of age and wisdom. His assessment of Jose Bautista swerved so far out of his lane that if he were driving instead of talking, an accident reminiscent of the opening scene of any CHiPs episode would have ensued. The idea that Bautista is an embarrassment to the Latin community is so asinine it makes my head hurt imagining how Goose arrived at such an ignorant conclusion!
The lack of self-expression in baseball is a problem….not to mention hypocritical, if tales of Babe Ruth standing in the batter’s box using the bat as an indicator on where the pitched ball was sure to land, are accurate! Don’t take my word for it….ballpark stands don’t lie, they just don’t!
Professional basketball, football, hockey nor soccer appear challenged to keep its fan base while picking up the youth demographic along the way. Tradition and self-expression can co-exist peacefully. Darn it, there goes that evolution thing again!
Before the next grumpy, old man panel reconvenes, here is a newsflash: no one is interested in how far you walked to school, how many hills you climbed to get there, nor how much snow was on the ground during your journey!
Now can we all turn our attention back to March’s regularly scheduled program? Bracketology anyone?
