Let The Boycott Begin...

I just want to get something off my chest...
American football stinks. In fact, I am so sick of it, I have made a decision for the upcoming NFL season. (Actually, it applies to college football, too, but I never have cared about the NCAA season.) The decision: I will not be watching any football this year. I will not purposely watch any American football on Sundays or any other day of the week. Sure, I will continue to watch SportsCenter for baseball (and eventually basketball) highlights, scores, and stats, and I'm sure football highlights will be front and center. But where I can control it, I will be purposely missing the whole shooting match of the NFL. You may ask, "But I thought you played fantasy football & a pick-em pool with your Dad?" Well, that's true and I still will, but I will be doing it from a statistical standpoint only - and who knows, that may prove to be a better method. You may also ask, "So why would you boycott the great American sport, the most popular game in the US?" Well, here is your answer:
I have come to hate the game. It is an unintelligent, slow-paced mess-of-a-game, with more hype than entertainment and more time standing around than actually moving. It requires less athleticism than basketball and less strategy than baseball (by a mile). And, its fans are the most ridiculous on earth (no offense). In fact, they are ignorant in most aspects and it drives me nuts. With no research to back me, I would nearly guarantee that 75%+ of the viewership of the NFL doesn't even know the rules of the game. It is believed to be the most popular sport in America, yet it is not on the rise (unlike MLB, which has set attendance records now for four straight years despite smaller venues); and most importantly, that popularity is only driven by two things: money and timing.
The games are on Sunday, the only day 75% of the population still has off from work, and the only day they can afford to leave their tv's on for hours while they nap on the couch. And money, the king of all sport is the god of football. I once read (and I can find it if you need) that as many as 89% of viewers of the SuperBowl have money on the game. Betting is the ONLY reason why American football is so popular, so watched. In fact, that same article mentioned that the remaining 11% of the SuperBowl viewership are mainly women who care more about the finger foods being served and the conversation with other dis-interested wives than the stupid game. Football is based on money, betting, and fantasy more than any other game in this nation. It is sickening to know how many lives are ruined by those dumb games played on Sunday each week.
Disgusting.
And the biggest complaint against football for me is its watch-ability. It STINKS!! It is comprised of a 30 second play (if you're lucky), 1 minute of standing around after the play, another 30 second play, another standing around of a minute, then an eventual timeout. The game is ALL ABOUT THE COMMERCIALS. (As my Uncle Denny says, football is companies' favorite sport because it is their tv time more than the game.) Sustained playing of the game does not occur unless a team has no timeouts and the game is under the 2 minute warning. It is unbelievable the amount of time the actual game takes up. The NFL Network runs games during the week without ads and tv timeouts and guess what? The games are about 40 minutes of playing time - less than 1 flipping hour - are you kidding me!?! This is my main reason for boycott - it is so boring!
Let's quickly take other sports: basketball - quite a few commercials (not nearly as many though), BUT non-stop action, continual moving and athletic ability, and a game that has raucous comebacks, instantaneous plays of importance, and amazing physical ability; soccer (real football) - continual action with NO commercial breaks but halftime (that means 90+ minutes of actual game play), amazing athleticism, and one play (just one single play) changes the entire match and season; baseball - yes it has commercials but they are defined moments (between half innings and at pitching changes), continual cerebral battles of chess at each pitch, strategy upon strategy, unbelievable mental & physical ability, the only sport that is defined by a split second between pitch and contact, and it is not defined or confined by a stupid little ticking clock.
Get over it America, football stinks and no amount of the networks telling you otherwise (because they stand to earn the most money via football and its plethora of sponsors) should brainwash you of this fact. I have so much more to say regarding the financial situation of the NFL, the ignorant salary cap, and the absolute stupid notion of "parody" in the NFL (quickly, I can name a lock for the playoffs in every division but 2 of the NFL; in MLB, I could only lock 1-3 teams for the playoffs and I was wrong with one of them - hmmm, parody lies where?).
Anyway, the boycott is on. I might watch the SuperBowl, if the party is good enough and the Patriots aren't playing - but that will be a stretch. Join me if you dare. I'll spend my time on the other sports that are actually entertaining and fun (and I might even throw in a little golf for balance).

ESPN Stinks of Dirt

The Empire of Sports Paparazzi News is driving me nuts lately. If I have to sit through one more lead story of Brett Favre and all of his crap relating to retirement or reinstatement or whining & crying, I think I may throw up on the tv. Seriously, we are in the middle of a pennant race in baseball (several very close ones, I might add), the Olympics are nearly upon us, and we have to listen to this paparazzi junk! I mean really, that is what ESPN is becoming, nothing more than a reality show that follows around the personal lives of sports stars.

Count it up some night - they will have more stories about a guy in sports getting drunk than the importance of a pitching injury or crucial basketball series. Really, are we that shallow now? Do I really care if A-Rod is sleeping with a stripper or Madonna (oops, that was redundant)? Does it matter? It certainly doesn't affect him on the field of play - look at his numbers. And, why is it our business anyway? These people are just people too, and they are not perfect and they screw-up & fail just like we all do. Why should we have an interior look on their dirty lives while many of us are just as dirty? Because they play a game for a living? No. Sorry, that is not a right of the spectator. The right of the spectator is to be entertained by the game (or not), and to root for/against the teams.

Where did ESPN go wrong? They used to be a sports channel, who showed you everything from the "big four" sports to poker to billiards to karate. Now they fill their days with stupid reality shows, news talking heads bantering about nothingness (exception, PTI), and eventually stories about Brett Favre's travel arrangements, A-Rod's sleeping buddies, and another sports scandal that always involves baseball and never football. [I will rant about football on another day - and it will be long, passionate, justified hate.] The only shows of value are not SportsCenter (meaning specifics like Baseball Tonight, NBA Live, etc.) or the actual sporting events, except horse racing & horse basketball (oops again...I mean the WNBA).

Anyway, message to the Empire of Sports Paparazzi News - we are all sick to death of hearing about Favre, Bonds, Steve Smith, and NFL Camp Confidential for another last place football team when there are real sporting events still happening daily around the world.

Well, at least I am sick of it.

We Know Everything

"We've got everything down to a science, so I guess we know everything

We know everything
We know everything

We know everything was built to expire, so I guess we've done everything"
~ Modest Mouse ~

"We've Got Everything" from We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

As always with lyrics and art, you never know what was truly in the mind of the artist when he penned his words or lifted her brush. It's something you just try to decipher or you simply apply what you conjure to what they created. It is the true magic of art, of creation - it can hold meanings deep and wide, or it can simply be a catchy tune, a beautiful decoration. I quoted Modest Mouse above because I think I know what they are saying. I think I at least know what I hear them saying in this catchy refrain. And, it is something I have been contemplating the past couple of days.

Isn't it just like us, we desperately-grasping humans? We get everything down to a scientific explanation, then we back off. Why? Because then we know it. I mean we really know it. Isn't that exactly what we were taught? Find the answer, then be done with it. Find the law of thermodynamics, memorize it, then forget about it because now you know. It's a Western European idea of Enlightenment and Industrialization. "We can discover all there is in the universe, and then we can build a machine to manipulate it and do the work for us." That truly is a familiar refrain in our society, even if we don't say those very words. Or we take up the new banner of truth today - we know it is all destined for the dirt-nap, so why do anything more?

I do it. I put everything in a schedule, in its right place, then life is okay - it is tolerable. And, most importantly, I can control it. That's it, isn't it? The conundrum of our existence - control? We want it, we need it, we will do anything to have it. That includes self-delusion and the deception of reason & logic. Reason & Logic are in fact the bedrock foundations of our society and for most, our very lives. Not that we use pure reason, no that is part of the problem. We twist it to meet our needs. We even do that it scientific circles, using only data that supports our claims; ignoring the research and ever-expanding findings of others. We do it in relationships - reasoning away what you do to others, or even reasoning the abuse of others toward you. Logic says that if not this, then that - black or white - right or wrong. If you are here, you are not there. But somewhere in my coping mind, a deeper Truth seems to be peeking through.

But before that Truth bangs out of my head, often times I answer with my generation: "who really cares?" I mean, it's all "set to expire", so what does it mean anyway. This is a convenient purpose for apathy, for inaction, for cynicism. It is the tonic that takes away our fear of losing control, of living in a world we don't really understand. Our generation has figured out many of the old lies, and we have seen that we don't know it all, but our response is in two directions: the first seems to be a return to the temples of Reason & Logic. Or, the second is to adopt an unbreakable philosophy of "who cares...we'll never know anything...just do what you want." Both are devastating, and I can give testimony.

Reason & Logic should never be the pillars, though surely they are needed. Instead, Grace should be the foundation. Grace pushes us to experience more, to be "out there, and loving it". It makes us see that there is more to this world than meets the eye, and just when we think we have it all down, Grace shows us something or someone more. Grace is ensconced by faith, hope, and love. And I submit a profound element of all of these is Mystery. Because guess what kids, we don't have it all figured out. We don't have it all down to a science that is infallible. I mean, gravity is only a theory. Quantum mechanics threw a wrench in all that we knew of physics. Evolution is only a theory, and happens to have as many holes as the best swiss cheese. (Oh and by the way, so does intelligent design theory.) And on a personal level, we think we have it all figured out and planned, then life & environment step in. Friends are paralyzed for life, family members have cancer, your job disappears into the abyss of economy, and your best friend dies suddenly, tragically. But this is not a pity party, this is just an eye opener...we can get everything down to a science. And if we do, we will stifle all that is good in life as our findings will be proved wrong and our controlled experiments will be failed by an unthinkable variant.

And if you adopt the attitude of expiration, you will miss life too. If all you see is death and apathy, you will miss the entire boat of life's enjoyment. Reason, logic, and an understanding of our finite position are all good things, but they can't be the driving force. Discovery, creation, exploring, loving, giving - those are the forces that should drive our life. Fatalism & cynicism will only choke the sometimes minute, but oh-so-good that can be found in a world of pain.

The point is, we don't know it all, and we don't need to. Whatever modicum of control we think we have, is "just blowin' in the wind". And our knowledge of the fragility of life, and our Reason & Logic, they will never provide the peace we desire. But the answer is simply surrender. It takes a lot of guts to do (and I can't do it very well at all), but I know it is the only way. It's admitting we don't know everything. Now listen, the religious will tell you all of this surrender business as well, but then they will direct you to their by-laws and their litanies of control - and yet another institution will bow you to its altar, just like science, Reason & Logic. But there is One who is bigger than us in charge of it all, and He is even outside of it all. We won't quantify Father - we won't even box Him in with theologies & dogma, biblical science. I AM has no definition within finite terms.

So the next time we think we know everything and we grasp to control the corner slice of life that we were served, we must remember - He is the one doing the cooking here. Abba chuckles as we discover His creation, and weeps when we stop trying to find more of Him. And I have found, He is frustrated even more by our wish to control, our need to play the obstinate, independent child. Trust me, I do it more than any other. So despite all of our science, Reason & Logic, pseudo-controls, and knowledge of how it all ends, Grace still abounds and Mystery truly rules the day.

Begrudgingly, Father is the only one who has got everything down to a science.
And I guess He knows everything.

The Dark Knight Lives

AH YES!! Finally, a movie to be excited about this summer, and for good reason. If you haven't seen it yet, you must...The Dark Knight is amazing. One of the best films I have seen in quite some time (with respect to No Country For Old Men). (Notice I said "films", not movies - this is more than just an entertaining popcorn movie.) I say finally, because finally, someone has nailed the Dark Knight, the Batman of the comic world. Batman Begins was, in my opinion, the best comic book movie ever - but now, it has been upset by its very own sequel. Christopher Nolan is a masterful director (see Memento or Insomnia), but more importantly, he and his brother (Jonathan) are even better storytellers. They did not ruin the dark tales of the graphic novels by making it happy or goofy, and they kept the mood intense and realistic. As one review put it, this was a crime film (ie, Heat, The Deaprted, etc.) that just happened to be placed in the world of Batman. Also, they kept out the extreme CGI - my heroes! I am so tired of CGI at this point, I could puke. Yeah, I know there is a little in there (including one side of the coin), but overall, they avoided it and kept it real by doing so. Harvey Dent was perfectly cast, and again Bruce, Alfred, & Fox continued their perfection in the roles. The camera work, lighting, and set design continued the real world feel of the first flick. And the subtle messages regarding terror, human morality and violence were communicated wonderfully.

But with all of that said, there is one more reason for the legit hype...The Joker.

The Joker is as he has always been in the comics - purely evil, maniacal, unkillable, unpredictable, socio-pathic bliss - and my favorite. The opening scene (a spectacular robbery), sets his stage and The Joker delivers. Within thirty minutes of the film, I knew he was the greatest movie villain of all time (with respect to Vader & Lecter). And no, this is not hype because of Heath Ledger's death. Quite the contrary for me - I never really liked most of his movies. But he is unrecognizable in this role. His voices, his laugh, his ticks, his movements - perfect Joker. The character probably bothers some & makes them nervously uncomfortable; but for me, it is the best that has ever been played. Jack Nicholson should cry over his pathetic attempt by comparison. My favorite scenes in The Dark Knight all include The Joker, and most are because of him. Just as example, the tape of him in the meat locker with a Batman wannabe - absolutely bone-chilling voice changes - ridiculously eerie. Wow, if only he could revise this role in the near future...so sad. What a talent he showed himself to be.

So, if you have time, go see it. Go see it twice like Ashley and I. Go see The Dark Knight wherever and whenever. It is well worth it. Now I just can't wait to see what Nolan pulls out of his hat for the next installment...I am hopeful it will be superb.

Of Names & Titles

Well, why the title indeed.
It is quite simple, it is me in my full phases, waxing & waning.

Garrett being the area of my life that is normal, that is what I am and what you see. It is the mundane, the calmed, the typical of my existence.

Moony being the what I wish to be. It is the powerful and the fantastical. The me that I wish I was, the me that I wish I could be. It owes it's title to Lupin, and does imply my dual nature as well. The caring, unassuming man within me and the angry beast that lies under fathoms like the leviathan of Melville's deep.

And then JackMouth, the me that is ridiculous. In an ignorant, playful manner, and yet also a diabolical way, it is the stupid of my intellect, the anger of my mind, and even the humor of my personality. And in truth, a creation of my own dumb mouth.

In total, the names and titles are simple - they are the war of my inner being. Both my sinful and natural man, and my redeemed, grace-drenched spirit who is yet but trapped by this world of physicality and flesh. For a more clear picture, see the masterpieces of Robert Louis Stevenson & Mary Shelley. Or simply read the words of Moses, David, Paul, Augustine, Lewis or Manning. It is not an original thought, just my attempt to represent the existence I perceive and experience.

In the end, jackmouth is my silly and pain full side of true life; moony is my desire for something more and powerful; and, garrett is just simply me - the identity I claim and cling to here on this earth, because it is all I know.

Welcome to it all...my ramblings, proclamations, thoughts, fears, faiths, and soapboxes. I hope you enjoy some of it. I hope you cringe at some of it. And most of all, I hope it makes you think, reflect, laugh, and search. For the search is all we have until the ultimate adventure takes us home...