The mass media might
make you feel as if the planet is doomed. But that’s just egotistical paranoia.
Earth has been around billions of years, and I’m certain it has endured
seemingly catastrophic times like ours before. Believe me, we’re nothing
special. Life is the same as it ever was. Obstacles confront humanity, and
people choose to be miserable or happy. I choose to be happy.
I’m happy that the
Rochester Institute of Technology looked into joining the ECAC Division I men’s
hockey league when Vermont announced it was leaving after this season.
Unfortunately, Quinnipiac University (Hamden, Connecticut) was extended the
invitation. The ECAC conference features a collection of top American colleges:
Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton, RPI, St. Lawrence, Union,
Clarkson, and Colgate.
Rumors circulated
that RIT submitted a formal application, but RIT Center for Human Performance
director Lou Spiotti says school administrators only inquired about the
opening. Regardless, the interest means that the school recognizes the valuable
exposure a Division I program brings to institutions, even with a more obscure
sport such as hockey.
Spiotti tells me RIT
will continue looking to use athletics to enhance its national reputation
without affecting academic credibility. The school could go Div. I in only one
sport, but likely would not be allowed to offer full scholarships. That’s OK.
It’s time the community had a Div. I program anyway. There’s even something
admirable about taking the non- or limited-scholarship route: The school wants
to attract a sport’s best and most intelligent participants, without selling
its soul.
I’m happy Puerto Rico crushed the American men in Olympic basketball during the preliminary round.
Puerto Ricans are Americans too, so America won no matter who lost.
I’m happy the Twins
are the Red Wings’ parent club. The other day I watched Minnesota beat the
Yankees and it was refreshing to see former 2004 Red Wings Justin Morneau and
Lew Ford contribute to the win. As of August 22, Morneau had 12 home runs in 42
games and Ford was tied for second on the team with 58 RBIs. When Baltimore was
Rochester’s longtime affiliate up through just two years ago, it seemed as if
Cal Ripken was the only Red Wing since 1980 to do anything for the parent club.
Red Wings president
Gary Larder said the Twins regularly send somebody to Rochester to watch or
work with the players. The Orioles, on the other hand, rarely sent anyone.
According to Larder, the Wings practically had to beg Baltimore’s front-office
people, people like Syd Thrift, to come here toward the end of their
partnership.
I’m happy I live in
New York State. People complain about the tax burden, but I say, hey, if you
want to live in the best state, you’re going to have to pay for it. If you want
to drive a Mercedes, you have to pay for that too.
I’m happy former
Bills offensive lineman Jerry Ostroski once told me that it takes about a
preseason for the five offensive linemen to jell. I had been under the
impression that it took longer — perhaps even several seasons — a myth that
coaches and players perpetuate, as if jelling an offensive line is far more
complicated than occupying Iraq, removing its leader, and introducing a
democratic government in about a 15-month span. The NFL tricks you into
thinking that only the highly IQ’d can participate in its just-so-complex game.
If you knew former Bills tight-end Bobby Collins, you’d know that’s just not
the case.
Collins played for
Buffalo in 1999 and 2000. Not too many reporters talked to him, mostly because
they couldn’t understand him. But I understood him enough to learn that his
favorite TV show was Divorce Court,
that he liked playing pool, and that he had an unashamed fondness for chewing
tobacco.
Collins was a jovial
Alabaman, and I liked him. He had a habit of peppering his speech every
half-second with, “You know what I’m saying.” During his second year with
Buffalo, someone from Bills PR must have told him to stop that. So, he stopped…
and instead started saying, “You know what I mean?” which wasn’t much of an
improvement.
Collins is out of the
game, come to think of it. So perhaps there is a correlation between
intelligence and NFL participation, but for God’s sake, players don’t have to
be Nobel Prize winners in chemistry.
I’m happy National
Geographic just did a piece on
global warming. Ten generations from now, Rochester might be the new Miami, so
I’m currently looking for property around the Port of Charlotte.
I’m happy that
outsourcing jobs to other countries is forcing US workers to retrain themselves
and find niche jobs that no other country’s workers could possibly do. That
means there should be more competition for jobs that really can’t be
outsourced, such as coaching pro and college sports. If you think that industry
is competitive now, the system should start producing even more geniuses than
the few Belichicks and Parcells that exist today. Think of all the great
football we’ll be watching in a decade or so.
Of course, the day
some guy in an Indian call center sends in plays from half a globe away, we’re
all doomed.
But I’ll go down
happy, I swear.
This article appears in Aug 25-31, 2004.
