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MY LITTLE DAY
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10/12/04: My
Asshole Yankee Heart Begins to Beat Faster
*** I spent the first year and a half after college drifting in confusion. OK, maybe I've spent the first twelve years after college drifting in confusion. But specifically, that first year and a half was spent working low-paying jobs and half-assedly trying to find my way in the world. OK, that goes for the full twelve years as well. But these first couple were particularly aimless and unproductive, which was actually a very respectable thing to be back then. And since my low-paying jobs weren't stressful, and for the first time since I was 3 years old I had no homework to put off until the last minute, I needed something to feel anxious about on Sunday nights. I was drinking a lot in those days, and if you know me, you know that drinking too much tends to make me real anxious. I think I also felt pretty bad to see all my friends moving on to real jobs as real members of society while I spent my days slinging hash at the UW Hospital. The point being, I managed to get real nervous on Sunday nights. Another weekend wasted, another shit week fast approaching. As the hours ticked by, I got more and more restless. Life was zooming by. I had to get up early the next day. I had an upset tummy from too much booze and bad food. So what did I do to assuage my Sunday Night Jitters? I stayed up late watching TV. I'd watch some Discovery Channel and I'd feel a little better. Then some nice early 90's SportsCenter. And finally, I'd settle in with my trusted roommate Scott, and we would watch the one program that always cleared my head of bad thoughts. NFL Films Presents. It was on at maybe 1:30 am Sunday nights. Just a 30 minute show featuring selected bits and pieces from the NFL Films archives. The footage was so good, and the stories were so compelling, it convinced me for that half an hour that NFL football must surely be the greatest game there is. Just an awesome organization, NFL Films. They've got footage of everything. Some backup tight end would be telling a story about some night in 1968 when Don Meredith came into a game drunk and led the team on a touchdown drive without remembering to fasten his chin strap. As the guy's telling the story, they'll cut to the footage of that particular game, and there you'll see Meredith, helmet wobbling around, tossing a TD pass. The stories are matched up with the corresponding visuals, and often you'll have some great sideline audio from the vaults as well (Hank Stram and Jerry Glanville are two personal favorites). The show was so good that it soothed me and sent me into the work week on a high note. Today I didn't have to be at work until 1pm, so I stayed up real late stressing and wondering what I was going to do with my life. Now that I've entered the five-figure salary club, it's hard to just chuck everything and start over. I knew I was going to have a hard time falling asleep, so I just sat there flipping through the channels. All of a sudden it came on, NFL Films Presents. It was a special about officials, and it rocked the house. The NFL is the best. Steve Sabol, you have my respect. The highlight of the show, of course, was Ben Dreith discussing the "giving him the business" call from 1986. For my money, that is the greatest moment in sports history. *** OK, I got three out of four first round series right (OK, not down to the number of games), so I may as well keep picking. My dad has an Oscar pool every year, and on the ballots he prints a reminder known as O'Malley's Law*: Don't bet with your heart. Sorry, I can't follow that law right now**. There is too much emotion involved from here on out. I have to put aside logic and pick these from deep inside my filthy, Yankee-loving soul.
*** For diehards Replacements fans only: in one of the least predictable intersections of humanity in recorded history, Paul Westerberg went on Jim Rome's show last week. You probably hate Rome. I used to as well. He sounds like an overeager fraternity pledge when he speaks. But I have come to respect him over the years, the Chris Everett incident notwithstanding. The guy knows his sports and he's actually a pretty rational thinker, especially compared to our local WFAN boys. The best part of this interview (other than the fact that Rome's favorite band turns out to be the Replacements -- wtf?) is that Westerberg's mom dated Ted WIlliams. * Named after my dad's troubled comedic genius of a best
friend, Tom O'Malley |
