I’m flat fed up
Call me a hypocrite if you must, but, recently, the sporting world has become less of a place of release, relaxation and escape, and more of one that fills me with disappointment, frustration and shock. First, and foremost, I am nothing but frustrated with the supposed professional baseball team which is playing in the nicest park in the country. If there’s a way to lose a ball game, the Pirates have lost it.
Whether it’s base-running gaffes, an offense that at times makes you wonder if they’re holding the right end of the bat and an “ace” in Zack Duke that may not even be able to pitch in AAA, it’s clear the Bucs have little idea of what it takes to be champions.
However, despite the season-long blooper reel on the field, the one thing that gets my goat more than any is the attitude of seemingly complete indifference that has become prevalent over the front office and manager Jim Tracy.
It is NOT okay to play the Angels close and pat yourself on the back because you took them to extra innings. Those are the games that should infuriate a coach the most.
Next, turning locally, I am sick and tired of grown men who play recreational sports that take them more seriously than the Pirates take their jobs.
As a member of a church softball league games, it both frustrates me and saddens me to hear tales of near fights, petty bickering and cheating in a league that is designed to bring churches together and provide fun for all who compete.
It is NOT a place to try to reclaim former glory, guys. Leave the past in the past, and take a gander at some of the younger guys on your teams. They seem to remember just what the games are about.
Last but not least, sport or not, the horrific double-murder-suicide of pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and son was an amazingly shocking event for an industry that actually tries to shock and surprise its fans.
With several deaths of relatively young active or retired wrestlers, Vince McMahon, the leader of World Wrestling Entertainment, must do something to ensure the physical and mental health of his athletes.
Would this tragedy have happened had Benoit not been on the WWE roster? Who knows. However, he isn’t the first to have a catastrophe like this befall him and he probably won’t be the last.