Why
do football announcers whine about a “late flag”?
Just because the official was cautious or slow, or that the
announcer didn’t notice it immediately, doesn’t
make it a poor call. Surely it’s the frustration of
having a successful play called back; it’s so irritating!
If it happens more than once (against our team), then the
officials have taken over the game, and “won’t
let the players play.”
The more often a baseball manager changes pitchers, the more
the odds increase that he’ll find one that doesn’t
“have it” that day. I suspect the wise managers
tend to stick with pitchers who are throwing well and are
smart enough to ignore seeing-eye grounders and bloopers that
drop for hits.
What
is the purpose of making statements such as: “Our goal
is to compete with the New Yorks, Baltimores, and Bostons
in our division.” Why not just say that you want to
compete with New York, Baltimore, and Boston. Why did it become
common to use plurals in these types of pronouncements? How
many teams does New York have in the AL East?
Sometimes I realize that I am much too critical, but there
is so much to criticize.
Often
I hear high profile leaders complain that there is too much
violence in today’s world. I suppose that I agree, but
at the same time I wonder how much violence they think is
just right. Perhaps just the violence against the people they
don’t like?
An
honest person’s first reaction is to trust, and a cheat’s
first thought is to suspect. After getting tricked, the naive
can become wary, but it is a slow process--which makes the
world a fertile place for charlatans.
How
can we explain the phenomenon of paying for bottled water
when fountain water is available? It seems to make sense only
when one is away from home and would want to avoid the risks
of drinking “strange” water. Could it be that
bottled water appeals to our desires for ownership and control?
It seems strange to me to pay for something that is available
at no cost. Or is it that something that is free has no value,
so we like to pay for things to make them valuable? Again,
perhaps spending money makes us feel important.
The
announcers for PGA golf tournaments often express surprise
that a particular golfer hasn’t won a tournament, or
hasn’t won often enough. I suspect that if one counted
those comments over the course of a season, there would have
to be two or three hundred tournaments, rather than forty-eight,
to accommodate all their expectations. Likewise, they are
baffled that the top players are inept at closing the deal
in a major. If a dozen or so players separate themselves
from a field of the world’s best golfers on a course
many announcers and writers couldn’t break 90 on, is
it fair to suggest the ones who fell just short are to be
found lacking of some basic fundamental that makes a champion?
Come now, four majors a year on a planet with millions of
golfers, thousands of them gifted, and a near miss is failure?
It
occurs me that there is something exactly backward in the
manner in which we are treated throughout our lives. When
we are infants, and accomplished nothing except to fill our
diapers and scream for attention, attention is what we get.
Moreover, we are treated as if we are the most important item
in the universe. This continues throughout childhood, although
with diminishing intensity and frequency, and then happens
only rarely if at all in adulthood, unless one is a gifted
athlete in one of the marquee sports, or worse yet, a pop
entertainer. In most cases we receive no accolades in our
“declining” years, until our funeral.
I
don’t know who gets credit for this one, but my wife
and I have shared a few chuckles when we sing “O for
a thousand Tongues,” because (in my opinion at least)
some clever person dubbed it “the international women’s
hymn.”
It
often strikes me that our Lord taught us to say “Our
Father,” but so many Christians, hymns, etc. speak of
“my savior.” Just today I saw a sign in front
of a church that said, “Jesus was thinking of me as
He hung on the cross.” Perhaps it’s an emphasis
on making Jesus a “personal” Savior. Let’s
see... “Jesus loves me, this I know...”
Should it be “Jesus loves us”? |
