There is confusion in the land. New York, NY is a baseball town. That's just the way it is and for good reasons.
1. The NY Yankees are the winningest franchise in US sports history and they symbolize the cities majesty and power.
2. There is a symbiotic and intense rivalry between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox that is probably the greatest rivalry in sports (I know, I know, Packers/Bears, Lakers/Celtics, Mich/OSU, Tide/War Eagle... I'm just gonna stop there, but screw all of you nay sayers the depth of animosity and civic pride that rests upon the annual contests between these two great baseball teams is unmatched in the USA)
3. The Brooklyn Dodgers were (are still) a team that fired the imagination of many hardball fans in the 5 boroughs and they talk about them to this day as though the team never moved to LA.
4. The NY Giants (now SF Giants) were a storied team that competed fiercely with the Yankees and Dodgers winning 5 World Series contests and playing in the 1951 The "Shot Heard 'Round the World" grudge match with the Dodgers which will live on in the psychic imagination of every baseball fan forever.
5. The Mets.
For the purposes of this blog post I'd like to focus on #4, and specifically on the location the NY Giants played baseball - the Polo Grounds. This hallowed site hosted many sporting events and could accommodate both baseball and football which, it just so happens, it did up until 1957 which is the year (not the approximate date but THE YEAR) when America stopped being great again - at least it was if you were a 11 year old boy living in NYC. For years it was home to both the New York baseball Giants and the New York football Giants and though the two sports couldn't be more incongruous they can be played in the same arena. This is a lesson that every New Yorker knows and Donald J. Trump took this lesson to heart.
In politics the Democrats mostly play football and Republicans play baseball. Football is about taking territory, is played on a grid and is based on teams 11 men to a side executing plays. It's played against a clock in all kinds of weather and requires heavy padding and helmets because it's a violent and relentless game with all kinds of weird formations like the on-sides kickoff, the punt, flea-flicker, blitz, prevent defense and sudden-death overtime. Baseball is about keeping your eye on the ball and is focused on defense where your primary defensive player (the pitcher) is kind of playing offense too. It's pastoral and lazy and played on irregular fields with no time limit and extra innings and rain delays. It's got it's own set of strange rules and customs like the infield fly, bunt, stealing bases and other oddities but nothing that requires too much padding unless you're the catcher. The game usually goes something like this - the GOP batter steps up to the plate awaiting the pitch, the dugout filled with anticipation and anxiety, and he gets mauled by a bull rush sack by the Democrat linemen. Naturally the Republicans spend a lot of time playing defense and that means guys spread out all over the field looking for a fly ball while the Democrats line up in tight formation and hand the ball off to a running back - 3 yards and a cloud of dust. But the thing that really sets football apart from baseball is the ability for the Defense to convert an errant Offensive play into a scoring opportunity via a fumble recovery, pass interception or safety and that's something the donkeys do to the pachyderms all the frigg'n time.
Now Democrats feel good about themselves while pummeling the the stupid Republicans by saying things like, "when they go low, we go high" or "it's all about our children" but forgetting (or ignoring) the fact that they're in full pads and playing by a different set of rules. It's all about power and deep down they know it so the fact of the matter is that the "Liberals" go low and then the "Conservatives" usually back off but if they choose to "go lower" then the Democrats hold together and go lower still until the GOP gives up. It's just what happens and it's the way they shamelessly stay in power - until now. The thing that Democrats hate about Donald Trump - the thing they really HATE - is that they see, in him, a guy who plays the game just like they do. In other words, they see themselves. They go low and he goes lower so they go lower AND THEN HE GOES FUCKING LOWER STILL - Jesus! How can you go lower than Crooked Hillary, Crazy Bernie, Pocahontas Warren, Crying Chuck, etc. He's making fun of them, he's accusing FBPOTUS of spying, he's insulting their cheerleaders in the media, he's... he's... he's a Republican playing football.
Will Trump throw out the first-pitch at the Nationals game? - No he won't.
Will Trump stop tweeting? - No he won't.
Will Trump walk-back his wire tapping accusations? - No he won't.
Trump is not playing baseball sports fans because he's in it to win and that's going to require the GOP to huddle up, step up to the line of scrimmage and fight.
1. The NY Yankees are the winningest franchise in US sports history and they symbolize the cities majesty and power.
2. There is a symbiotic and intense rivalry between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox that is probably the greatest rivalry in sports (I know, I know, Packers/Bears, Lakers/Celtics, Mich/OSU, Tide/War Eagle... I'm just gonna stop there, but screw all of you nay sayers the depth of animosity and civic pride that rests upon the annual contests between these two great baseball teams is unmatched in the USA)
3. The Brooklyn Dodgers were (are still) a team that fired the imagination of many hardball fans in the 5 boroughs and they talk about them to this day as though the team never moved to LA.
4. The NY Giants (now SF Giants) were a storied team that competed fiercely with the Yankees and Dodgers winning 5 World Series contests and playing in the 1951 The "Shot Heard 'Round the World" grudge match with the Dodgers which will live on in the psychic imagination of every baseball fan forever.
5. The Mets.
For the purposes of this blog post I'd like to focus on #4, and specifically on the location the NY Giants played baseball - the Polo Grounds. This hallowed site hosted many sporting events and could accommodate both baseball and football which, it just so happens, it did up until 1957 which is the year (not the approximate date but THE YEAR) when America stopped being great again - at least it was if you were a 11 year old boy living in NYC. For years it was home to both the New York baseball Giants and the New York football Giants and though the two sports couldn't be more incongruous they can be played in the same arena. This is a lesson that every New Yorker knows and Donald J. Trump took this lesson to heart.
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| Play Ball!!! |
In politics the Democrats mostly play football and Republicans play baseball. Football is about taking territory, is played on a grid and is based on teams 11 men to a side executing plays. It's played against a clock in all kinds of weather and requires heavy padding and helmets because it's a violent and relentless game with all kinds of weird formations like the on-sides kickoff, the punt, flea-flicker, blitz, prevent defense and sudden-death overtime. Baseball is about keeping your eye on the ball and is focused on defense where your primary defensive player (the pitcher) is kind of playing offense too. It's pastoral and lazy and played on irregular fields with no time limit and extra innings and rain delays. It's got it's own set of strange rules and customs like the infield fly, bunt, stealing bases and other oddities but nothing that requires too much padding unless you're the catcher. The game usually goes something like this - the GOP batter steps up to the plate awaiting the pitch, the dugout filled with anticipation and anxiety, and he gets mauled by a bull rush sack by the Democrat linemen. Naturally the Republicans spend a lot of time playing defense and that means guys spread out all over the field looking for a fly ball while the Democrats line up in tight formation and hand the ball off to a running back - 3 yards and a cloud of dust. But the thing that really sets football apart from baseball is the ability for the Defense to convert an errant Offensive play into a scoring opportunity via a fumble recovery, pass interception or safety and that's something the donkeys do to the pachyderms all the frigg'n time.
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| Trump's Helmet |
Will Trump throw out the first-pitch at the Nationals game? - No he won't.
Will Trump stop tweeting? - No he won't.
Will Trump walk-back his wire tapping accusations? - No he won't.
Trump is not playing baseball sports fans because he's in it to win and that's going to require the GOP to huddle up, step up to the line of scrimmage and fight.
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