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On Monday, a group of Senators, in a bipartisan act, headed off a showdown over the so-called “nuclear option”, which would have radically changed the rules of the Senate concerning the filibuster process. While the two sides reached a compromise, I still think the Democrats should have held out, although I can see why they struck the deal that they did.
Being a minority party in Washington during these days of bullying from the hard right and the Puritan’s peanut gallery (occupied by the likes of James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell) is not an easy position to inhabit.
While these religious zealots issued much blather and bluster post-compromise, not all the dissension was reserved for the side of our current day Elmer Gantrys. Democratic Senator Russ Feingold issued a statement in which he said that this compromise “is not a good deal for the U.S. Senate or for the American people.” I would concur with the Senator from Wisconsin.
It’s nakedly apparent how drunk with power the majority party is, in particular leaders of the Republican Party such as Bill Frist, Tom Delay, and it runs upwards all the way to the oval office. This recent tactic, filled with gall and hubris shows that they desire only to run roughshod over the traditions and institutions of government that have worked well for over 200 years.
While the filibuster might be unwieldy and certainly causes government to grind to a halt, it is a necessary and even essential part of maintaining our proud tradition of opposition in our country. Personally, I’d like to see the Democrats become even more of an obstructionist party, but I know that won’t happen. For Independents like myself, there really is very little to be happy with concerning our current state of governance.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
The end of the line
The 2005 Wheaton College baseball season came to an end, with a 6-4 loss to the Trinity Bantams. Trinity won their record 35th game of the season, as they go to Appleton, Wisconsin and the Division Three World Series, with a 35-7 overall record. The Lyons finish with a 33-12 mark, their second most wins in a season.
For my son, it’s been quite a year. As a junior, he became an everyday player for the first time in his college career and finished with a batting average of .340, with nine homers and 49 RBI. He also was named to the All-New England All-Star team as the first team DH.
While the season was a successful one in so many ways for my 21-year-old son, he made the final out of the season, as Wheaton had one last opportunity to win it in the bottom of the ninth.
I spoke to him briefly on the phone earlier in the evening. I had received a detailed account of the game from a fellow parent at the game. I called him to just let him know I was thinking about him and to see how he was doing. Having played a lot of baseball, I know how tough it is to deal with failure. But dealing with failure is a big part of sports and ultimately, life. I could tell by the sound of his voice he was a little down in the dumps.
As Rabbi Harry Sky says, one of the keys to life and living a life that’s meaningful is “learning to sit through our troubles. Suffering is a part of life,” says Rabbi Sky. “You become its master, or it becomes yours.”
My son has achieved more in baseball than I was able to—playing for the opportunity to go to a College World Series—yet, he’s also faced with new adversities different than some of my own. He’ll get over this and learn from the experience. Just like my own failures in the game I’ve come to love (and at times, hate), this lesson will help make him the person he is to become.
He’ll be home tomorrow after his end-of-the-year meeting with his coach. Then, he and I will have possibly our last summer to spend together. I’ll be coaching him as his dad, one last time. He’ll also have the opportunity to play ball again with some of his former buddies and high school teammates. Despite all the hassles and headaches for me of being involved with local baseball, that opportunity will be priceless.
For my son, it’s been quite a year. As a junior, he became an everyday player for the first time in his college career and finished with a batting average of .340, with nine homers and 49 RBI. He also was named to the All-New England All-Star team as the first team DH.
While the season was a successful one in so many ways for my 21-year-old son, he made the final out of the season, as Wheaton had one last opportunity to win it in the bottom of the ninth.
I spoke to him briefly on the phone earlier in the evening. I had received a detailed account of the game from a fellow parent at the game. I called him to just let him know I was thinking about him and to see how he was doing. Having played a lot of baseball, I know how tough it is to deal with failure. But dealing with failure is a big part of sports and ultimately, life. I could tell by the sound of his voice he was a little down in the dumps.
As Rabbi Harry Sky says, one of the keys to life and living a life that’s meaningful is “learning to sit through our troubles. Suffering is a part of life,” says Rabbi Sky. “You become its master, or it becomes yours.”
My son has achieved more in baseball than I was able to—playing for the opportunity to go to a College World Series—yet, he’s also faced with new adversities different than some of my own. He’ll get over this and learn from the experience. Just like my own failures in the game I’ve come to love (and at times, hate), this lesson will help make him the person he is to become.
He’ll be home tomorrow after his end-of-the-year meeting with his coach. Then, he and I will have possibly our last summer to spend together. I’ll be coaching him as his dad, one last time. He’ll also have the opportunity to play ball again with some of his former buddies and high school teammates. Despite all the hassles and headaches for me of being involved with local baseball, that opportunity will be priceless.
Baseball on the Cape
After last evening's 7 pm game was over around 10 pm, I drove 3 1/2 hours home from Harwich, Mass. on the Cape, in order to try to start my week with some measure of order. With a son playing college baseball, the last month has been topsy-turvy, trying to get to conference playoff games and then, this weekend's regional tournament on Cape Cod. Needless to say, my book, just two chapters from completion, has been rudely batted aside by travel, my son's schedule, as well as trying to serve multiple roles in my summer commitment as coach and now, president, of our local college summer league, the Twilight League.
Having never been to the Cape, I was looking forward to seeing what it is that makes it such a popular destination point, particularly during the short New England summers. When I arrived Thursday afternoon at the hotel in Yarmouthport, the weather was sunny and warm and I enjoyed some time with my fellow Wheaton parents on the back lawn of an older motel overlooking the ocean. Being offseason, the motel was virtually deserted other than about 8-10 Wheaton College families.
Friday night's weather was quite cool and then, a northeaster moved in for Saturday, with winds and lots of rain. Needless to say, there was no baseball. My wife and I made the best of it and actually had a nice visit with friends of my parents, who have a condo in Brewster. My parents, not known for their willingness to travel, had made the trip down also for the tournament on Friday. My parents are neo-Luddites, but to my mother's credit, they've purchased a pre-paid cell phone which made contact and direction-giving so much easier. It was rather humorous at times trying to guide them to places via the cell phone, but things worked out well due to the presence of some modern communication tools.
My wife and I were able to see my son's team win two straight games to open the tournament, including the 3-0 Friday night win in which Mark drove in the winning runs. They lost yesterday at noon to Trinity, 8-2 and then came back and won a nail-biter last night, 3-2. At this stage, Wheaton must win two games today in the double-elimination tourney. Trinity College, currently undeafeated, must be beaten twice today by Wheaton, if the Lyons and my son are going to make it to the World Series in Wisconsin.
I'll be anxiously awaiting the call from a fellow parent to find out how they do in today's noontime game in Harwich.
My thoughts on the Cape? I liked it. Being from Maine and only about 30 minutes from our own coast, it’s not as exciting as it probably is for those who live in Boston, or other urban environments. I liked that the Cape oozes with history, with the town like Yarmouthport where we stayed, being incorporated in 1639. Most of the surrounding towns of Dennis, Dennisport, Harwich and Hyannis have similar dates of incorporation. Some of the old homes were gorgeous and most of the towns have an abundance of small locally-owned businesses, versus the ubiquitous Wal-Marts and box stores of the mainland.
I don’t think I’d enjoy the tourist crush, which is right around the corner. This time of the year is slower and much easier to navigate. My wife and I talked about going back in the fall, after the tourists clear out, and possibly spending a long weekend.
In closing, there is a fascinating book about Cape Cod League baseball, covering one summer in the life of this summer brand of baseball. Played by some of the best college players in the country, in the tourist communities that comprise this area of Massachusetts, Jim Collins' The Last Best League, chronicles baseball on Cape Cod.
Having never been to the Cape, I was looking forward to seeing what it is that makes it such a popular destination point, particularly during the short New England summers. When I arrived Thursday afternoon at the hotel in Yarmouthport, the weather was sunny and warm and I enjoyed some time with my fellow Wheaton parents on the back lawn of an older motel overlooking the ocean. Being offseason, the motel was virtually deserted other than about 8-10 Wheaton College families.
Friday night's weather was quite cool and then, a northeaster moved in for Saturday, with winds and lots of rain. Needless to say, there was no baseball. My wife and I made the best of it and actually had a nice visit with friends of my parents, who have a condo in Brewster. My parents, not known for their willingness to travel, had made the trip down also for the tournament on Friday. My parents are neo-Luddites, but to my mother's credit, they've purchased a pre-paid cell phone which made contact and direction-giving so much easier. It was rather humorous at times trying to guide them to places via the cell phone, but things worked out well due to the presence of some modern communication tools.
My wife and I were able to see my son's team win two straight games to open the tournament, including the 3-0 Friday night win in which Mark drove in the winning runs. They lost yesterday at noon to Trinity, 8-2 and then came back and won a nail-biter last night, 3-2. At this stage, Wheaton must win two games today in the double-elimination tourney. Trinity College, currently undeafeated, must be beaten twice today by Wheaton, if the Lyons and my son are going to make it to the World Series in Wisconsin.
I'll be anxiously awaiting the call from a fellow parent to find out how they do in today's noontime game in Harwich.
My thoughts on the Cape? I liked it. Being from Maine and only about 30 minutes from our own coast, it’s not as exciting as it probably is for those who live in Boston, or other urban environments. I liked that the Cape oozes with history, with the town like Yarmouthport where we stayed, being incorporated in 1639. Most of the surrounding towns of Dennis, Dennisport, Harwich and Hyannis have similar dates of incorporation. Some of the old homes were gorgeous and most of the towns have an abundance of small locally-owned businesses, versus the ubiquitous Wal-Marts and box stores of the mainland.
I don’t think I’d enjoy the tourist crush, which is right around the corner. This time of the year is slower and much easier to navigate. My wife and I talked about going back in the fall, after the tourists clear out, and possibly spending a long weekend.
In closing, there is a fascinating book about Cape Cod League baseball, covering one summer in the life of this summer brand of baseball. Played by some of the best college players in the country, in the tourist communities that comprise this area of Massachusetts, Jim Collins' The Last Best League, chronicles baseball on Cape Cod.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Mass. bound mix tape
Music has always been a big part of my life. Baseball, riding bikes and around the age of 8, discovering rock 'n roll via my cheap transistor radio and WPNO (AM-1590). For today's post-modern travelers, AM and rock 'n roll are like oil and water. However, for someone of my advanced age, growing up in the late 1960's/early 1970's, hearing Blue Cheer's version of "Summertime Blues" on our local AM rock station was not uncommon.
One of the cool things about WPNO was their weekly top ten list that you could pick up at some of the local retailers like Sparks Department Store, or Kresge's in Lewiston. My mother, who always drove to Lewiston on Friday to grocery shop, received a weekly request to pick up the latest 'PNO offering. For an eight or nine-year-old, first embracing the medium of rock, I had a sense of empowerment--I thought I could influence the DJ's and place my favorite songs on the list. For instance, when Grand Funk did a cover of Little Eva's "Locomotion", I called the station multiple times for a week and sure enough, the "hot track of the week" was none other than my fave song. Was it coincidence? I think not!
My love and fascination of rock has not dampened over the years. Even though I'm in the process of doing a million things in order to get myself out the door and off to the Cape, one of my priorities is a mix tape for the drive south. In this day of high tech devices, Ipods, satellite radio and other gadgets, my '98 Taurus wagon is equipped appropriately, with a tape deck. Hence, if I want to listen to something other than bad FM rock via the stations south of here (personally, I don't find the Boston stations any better than Maine--just more bad choices available), I have to provide my own selections via a mix tape.
Having become a regular traveler south on those 2 3/4 hour trips to Wheaton and other ball fields, certain bands have been frequent fellow passengers. Swervedriver, a British band with an affinity for books and effects pedals, has been a favorite soundtrack for the past three years. Their Rave Down LP, with songs like "Son of a Mustang Ford", "Pile-Up" and "Sandblasted" seem to be the perfect music to navigate the crazy traffic in and around Boston. At 85+ mph and drivers who have no understanding of lane management, I often feel like a stock car driver at Darlington or Daytona.
On this trip, I'll also have Matthew Sweet, Idlewild (the perfect post-modern group of blokes, literate and possessing the caustic wit of all great UK bands), as well as a truly great and typically under-appreciate U.S. band, Swearing at Motorists (how appropriate, seeing that I'll be fender-to-fender with some of the craziest drivers around).
Gotta' go and get Bernie (my trusty Sheltie companion) to his weekend lodgings, finish the mix tape and throw some clothes in the travel bag.
Please send some positive energy my way and towards the Wheaton Lyons. Let's hope they can play up to their abilities and that the seniors, as well as big #24 stays hot. If that happens, I may be reporting from Wisconsin next weekend! Peace out.
One of the cool things about WPNO was their weekly top ten list that you could pick up at some of the local retailers like Sparks Department Store, or Kresge's in Lewiston. My mother, who always drove to Lewiston on Friday to grocery shop, received a weekly request to pick up the latest 'PNO offering. For an eight or nine-year-old, first embracing the medium of rock, I had a sense of empowerment--I thought I could influence the DJ's and place my favorite songs on the list. For instance, when Grand Funk did a cover of Little Eva's "Locomotion", I called the station multiple times for a week and sure enough, the "hot track of the week" was none other than my fave song. Was it coincidence? I think not!
My love and fascination of rock has not dampened over the years. Even though I'm in the process of doing a million things in order to get myself out the door and off to the Cape, one of my priorities is a mix tape for the drive south. In this day of high tech devices, Ipods, satellite radio and other gadgets, my '98 Taurus wagon is equipped appropriately, with a tape deck. Hence, if I want to listen to something other than bad FM rock via the stations south of here (personally, I don't find the Boston stations any better than Maine--just more bad choices available), I have to provide my own selections via a mix tape.
Having become a regular traveler south on those 2 3/4 hour trips to Wheaton and other ball fields, certain bands have been frequent fellow passengers. Swervedriver, a British band with an affinity for books and effects pedals, has been a favorite soundtrack for the past three years. Their Rave Down LP, with songs like "Son of a Mustang Ford", "Pile-Up" and "Sandblasted" seem to be the perfect music to navigate the crazy traffic in and around Boston. At 85+ mph and drivers who have no understanding of lane management, I often feel like a stock car driver at Darlington or Daytona.
On this trip, I'll also have Matthew Sweet, Idlewild (the perfect post-modern group of blokes, literate and possessing the caustic wit of all great UK bands), as well as a truly great and typically under-appreciate U.S. band, Swearing at Motorists (how appropriate, seeing that I'll be fender-to-fender with some of the craziest drivers around).
Gotta' go and get Bernie (my trusty Sheltie companion) to his weekend lodgings, finish the mix tape and throw some clothes in the travel bag.
Please send some positive energy my way and towards the Wheaton Lyons. Let's hope they can play up to their abilities and that the seniors, as well as big #24 stays hot. If that happens, I may be reporting from Wisconsin next weekend! Peace out.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Some baseball R & R
The past two weeks have been absolutely crazy. I often forget how much work there is to getting a Twilight League season off the ground. Usually, it's just my own team and the administrative details of putting a competitive squad together. Added to that this year is my role as league president and the work that's gone into getting the new Lewiston/Auburn team off the ground.
On top of all of that, I've been trying to finish my book. I'm so close--just two chapters left. Actually, less than that, as I've written about half of one of the remaining two chapters.
I'm planning on spending a few days away from the blog altogether. I'm headed to Cape Cod to watch my son's team, the Wheaton Lyons, as the play in the Division Three baseball regional in Harwich, Massachusetts. My son has had a stellar year and was recently voted to the All-New England Team, as the First Team Designated Hitter. Needless to say, his Dad (as well as his Mom) are very proud.
I'm planning on enjoying the ballgames and will probably have some pictures to post over at the other site, next week.
On top of all of that, I've been trying to finish my book. I'm so close--just two chapters left. Actually, less than that, as I've written about half of one of the remaining two chapters.
I'm planning on spending a few days away from the blog altogether. I'm headed to Cape Cod to watch my son's team, the Wheaton Lyons, as the play in the Division Three baseball regional in Harwich, Massachusetts. My son has had a stellar year and was recently voted to the All-New England Team, as the First Team Designated Hitter. Needless to say, his Dad (as well as his Mom) are very proud.
I'm planning on enjoying the ballgames and will probably have some pictures to post over at the other site, next week.
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