Relative Something

*this* John W. Hays' take on things and experiences

Posts Tagged ‘MLB’

Twins Win

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Looks like I’m going to need to split my attention between two spectator sports this October. On Tuesday, the MLB Minnesota Twins snapped a record 18-game playoff losing streak with a win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Yesterday, the Twins sealed the deal with a second victory to sweep the series and earn a spot in the American League Division Series.

My attention this weekend will be bouncing between baseball and football. The UofMN Gophers will be up against the powerful second-ranked UofMI Wolverines on a national TV broadcast and the MN Vikings will face last year’s Superbowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs.

It does not escape my Minnesota-sports-fan sensibilities that all these high-profile events could end badly for us, making a potentially exciting weekend an opportunity for multiplied crushed hopes in the end.

One form of preserving a healthy attitude that I employ is to hope for nice surprises but prepare for the more likely outcome of each team getting embarrassed. It’s a perspective developed over a lifetime of experience as a Minnesota sports fan.

There is a lot of potential for good or bad outcomes this weekend. I’m looking forward to suffering through all of it. I may even take up the fine art of nail-biting.

Go, teams, Go!

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Written by johnwhays

October 5, 2023 at 6:00 am

Posted in Chronicle

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Witnessing Progress

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Sometimes, progress moves pretty slow in societies. Resistance to change is not easy to overcome. In the world of professional spectator sports in the US, we are seeing some rather impressive progress of late. Movement from entrenched mindsets that were blatantly white supremacist and discounted people of other races, toward decisions that show respect and inclusion.

Of particular note, the NFL team from Washington has dropped their “mascot” name; the Cleveland MLB club is changing their “mascot” name; and this week, Major League Baseball has announced they are reclassifying Negro Leagues as major league, bringing the statistics from the past into the MLB record books.

MLB has said it is “correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history” by elevating the Negro Leagues on the centennial of its founding.

I understand how some can express criticism over the fact this should have happened a lot longer ago than just now, but I feel that now is better than never, so I’ll accept this progress and celebrate it.

May these changes be mere samplings of greater advances toward equitable social justice to come at increasingly rapid rates.

It feels so refreshing to experience a broadening hopefulness for the possibilities of greater love, truth, and justice in this country again.

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Written by johnwhays

December 17, 2020 at 7:00 am

Posted in Chronicle

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