Opening Day 2010
Today marks the start of the 2010 Major League Baseball season. Best of luck to all the teams out there, especially to my Pirates, who need lots of help! There’s something about heading out to the ballpark on a summer day, at least for those of us who like baseball. If you aren’t a baseball fan, that’s fine… this post isn’t about baseball, per se. Here at TrueManhood, we wanted to do a “compare and contrast” between baseball and manliness.
- Baseball is a game. Manliness isn’t.
- Baseball is played during the summer. Manliness is always.
- Baseball players can “mess up” 7 out of 10 times at bat over their entire career and be considered a Hall of Famer. Manliness can’t sustain those numbers.
- Baseball is about trying to win most of the time. Manliness strives to “win” all the time. (“Win” here means to be a TrueMan.)
- Baseball allows men to throw tantrums, kick dirt, scream, cuss, chew and throw drink coolers. Manliness never stands for that sort of behavior.
We could continue on for hours with this sort of thing. I’ve got nothing against baseball, I enjoy baseball, especially when I get to play the game. I grew up playing from an early age into my adult life, I take my family to the ballpark regularly and I really enjoy the playoff season. What we need to be careful about, and this goes for everything in life (other sports, the Hollywood mentality, the online community, etc.) is to take baseball in using moderation. Manliness, however, we should take in with excess! (Remember, manliness means living a virtuous life!)
Man up!
Opening Day (Holy Week)…Opening Day (MLB)
April 6th, 2009… opening day for two important institutions. One, as you will read quite obviously, is much more important than the other. [The other simply lasts much longer than the first.]
The first “opening day” is Monday of Holy Week– the week leading up to the Triduum and Easter Sunday. Technically, Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday. Holy week signifies a time in our lives where we remember (commemorate) Christ’s passion, death and resurrection from the dead. It’s incredibly important. Easter begs us to ask the ever-philosophical “chicken or the egg” question – is Christmas or Easter more important? I won’t get into that here. Easter, whether more/less important than Christmas, is incredibly important for us because it signifies the culmination of salvation history in Christ’s conquering of death on the cross. Christ – the ultimate servant leader. I encourage everyone to make special time this week to take part in the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday – actually one continuous liturgy). Open your heart and your mind to what God is calling you to. The end of Lent can still be a fruitful time for you. Give it a great deal and you’ll receive a great deal in return.
The other institution (although, a bit difficult to talk about following that Holy Week piece) is Major League Baseball. MLB has been a part of my life since birth. Now, I’m not trying to convince the baseball-haters of the world that baseball is a great sport – heaven knows that soccer fans won’t convince me that soccer is a great sport – I simply want to call to mind that opening day for the 2009 season is today. This marks a special day for baseball fans everywhere when we know that basketball is ending soon 🙂 and we have sunny summer days at the ballpark to look forward to. Double-plays, stolen bases and home-runs.
A thought… if the Pirates win today, I suggest that they end the season early and end their pitiful 16-year streak of playing sub-.500 baseball. It would be a great thing for us Pirates fans to have a “winning season”. Just kidding – I guess.
Either way – Man up!
