As my friends will tell you, if it's a sport, Gil will watch and somehow Gil even knows something about it. "What does Gil do all day" might even run through their minds...
Well, one of my favorite yearly traditions is keeping up with the Tour de France and this year was going to be pretty easy as I spent the last week in bed and I had it on TV in front of me.
On a side note, my 7 year old watched a bit with me on Saturday and she had a 'unit' of French in FIRST GRADE this year and she pronounced 'Tour de France' in perfect French diction and corrected me when I said France like an "American". She also asked me if they were in "Paris (pronounce PA - REE) yet"? Note to self - too smart, need to re-think this Private School thing :)
Back to the Tour and these idiot riders. A couple of days ago I watch this AWESOME ride by some Italian guy named Ricco. He is young, dynamic and according to the announce team, at 22, he can one day look to winning the Tour and live up to his idol Marco Pantani. Well, yesterday he reached his idol MUCH SOONER than he thought because he got kicked off the Tour for DOPING. Yes, despite the fact that these guys know that EVERY DAY they will be tested they still do it!
To us as Americans, who are watching the steroid battle in baseball and all the other crazy things people do to get ahead it's not shocking it's just DISAPPOINTING. My girls, Cydney in particular, have become fascinated with sports like I have. She might not be the world's best female athlete but she will love sports for the reasons I do, I can see that already. The other night we watched the beginning of the All Star Game together and they were announcing the 3rd basemen. Out comes Chipper Jones, who plays for the Braves (Cydney's favorite team) and they had all the Hall of Famers out at their positions so there next to Chipper was my childhood idol, Mike Schmidt (3rd baseman for the Phillies). I looked at Cyd and saw her at 7 and a 1/2 and I looked back in my mind to see me at the same age in 1977 and sitting at the Vet watching "Schmidty" and the Phils start to turn things around that would lead to a World Championship in 1980. It was a very cool and humbling experience. I also realized I did not get enough of those experiences as a kid so I have vowed to change that for the girls. I HATE the Braves but I will 'suck it up' and take them to more games. In fact, I am starting tonight and taking Rachel out to see the Nationals and next Tuesday I will take Cyd to see the Cardinals (I think I'll even teach her how to keep a score book). I even promised the girls that as long as the Braves are NOT playing the Phils I will root for the Braves, BUT I WILL NOT DO THAT DAMN CHOP - EVER!!!!!!!!!
Rest assured I'll have one eye on the out of town scoreboard seeing how my boys are doing but I'll be with one of my girls!
Showing posts with label Veteran's Stadium. Chase Utley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Veteran's Stadium. Chase Utley. Show all posts
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Legend of Josh Hamilton
Over the next few days, even if you are a casual fan, you will see story after story about Josh. In case you missed it last night, Josh had his coming out party at the MLB All-Star Game's Home Run Derby.
Early in the night, I was bored by the event. After Chase Utley disappointed I was ready to run a 'remote marathon' and check out everything from HBO to Food Network. By good fortune I was drawn back to ESPN for Josh's 1st round and that's all I needed to see.
ESPN has beeb hyping Josh for good reason. He has 95 RBI at the break and his story of personal recovery is amazing. I'll leave that to the professionals but trust me, just google Josh Hamilton and heroin and you will find plenty of information. I heard my favorite reporter, Erin Andrews (that's a post for another day) interview Josh and heard him discuss his dream of being in this derby. I listened as they discussed he was using his 71 year old American Legion Coach to pitch to him and then I watched in awe as he hit 28 BOMBS out into the night including 13 in a row!
This is where the sports part of the story ended and I hope I didn't lose my readers who don't like sports.
What I witnessed was transcendent of sports. It truly was the triumph of the human spirit. As I sat, nauseous from the anesthesia and wishing it was time for another dose of pain meds I watched one man triumph where he was doomed to fail. I watched 50,000 fans of baseball rejoice in the moment and I watched Josh's fellow MLB Players watch with delight like I did as an 10 year old in Veteran's Stadium as my heroes did the same for me. They gave me hope. Last night, Josh gave me hope. Not just hope for the things that I can do, but hope for what we all can do.
Josh has dragged himself up from the bottom; from a life of drugs and addiction. So far, he has overcome his own personal obstacles to reach the pinnacle of his profession. I thought of my father and his addictions, I thought of lost friends and a future that is unclear. I thought of my recovery and what I want in my next phase. All of those things ran through my head as a 25 year old hit baseball after baseball, and people will tell you sports are not important.
Early in the night, I was bored by the event. After Chase Utley disappointed I was ready to run a 'remote marathon' and check out everything from HBO to Food Network. By good fortune I was drawn back to ESPN for Josh's 1st round and that's all I needed to see.
ESPN has beeb hyping Josh for good reason. He has 95 RBI at the break and his story of personal recovery is amazing. I'll leave that to the professionals but trust me, just google Josh Hamilton and heroin and you will find plenty of information. I heard my favorite reporter, Erin Andrews (that's a post for another day) interview Josh and heard him discuss his dream of being in this derby. I listened as they discussed he was using his 71 year old American Legion Coach to pitch to him and then I watched in awe as he hit 28 BOMBS out into the night including 13 in a row!
This is where the sports part of the story ended and I hope I didn't lose my readers who don't like sports.
What I witnessed was transcendent of sports. It truly was the triumph of the human spirit. As I sat, nauseous from the anesthesia and wishing it was time for another dose of pain meds I watched one man triumph where he was doomed to fail. I watched 50,000 fans of baseball rejoice in the moment and I watched Josh's fellow MLB Players watch with delight like I did as an 10 year old in Veteran's Stadium as my heroes did the same for me. They gave me hope. Last night, Josh gave me hope. Not just hope for the things that I can do, but hope for what we all can do.
Josh has dragged himself up from the bottom; from a life of drugs and addiction. So far, he has overcome his own personal obstacles to reach the pinnacle of his profession. I thought of my father and his addictions, I thought of lost friends and a future that is unclear. I thought of my recovery and what I want in my next phase. All of those things ran through my head as a 25 year old hit baseball after baseball, and people will tell you sports are not important.
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