Saturday, December 20, 2008

... be a real hero.

I was reading the paper the other day, and before you make any fucking assumptions, I get both the "Rag Sheet" and the "Boring Broadsheet," so don't label me one way or the other, but that's another blog. And Howie can kiss my ass, cause he's all like the Globe sucks, but you never hear that the Herald has less of a circulation and a 5th grade reading level, but he has a point that no Globe reporter has had the balls to challenge him to a cage match. Anyway, Howie thinks all public servants are on the take, but nobody talks about his pay rate, and what he contributes to society (another blog). I digress again.
So the list comes out for what the pay rate for these Red Sox players get. I get pissed off.  I like sports, but I believe these guys don't know how fucking lucky they have it. I also believe they snowed a whole shitload of people. They play a game for a living. They get paid to work out, and, with some exceptions, they live the spring in a warm climate and play through the fall. They get performance bonuses, and have the winter off, most living somewhere warm. If they win a series, they get more money and admiration. It took like 50 fucking years for people to realize that the guys in WWII were the greatest generation ... just ask Hank. People have just accepted over 30 years later if you got shot in the ass in Viet Nam, you were deserving of recognition. Firefighters fight for a cost of living raise every fucking year, and I have yet to see a ticker tape parade for them. Sure, a firefighter gets killed, and they give a great send off.... too late. And look at the poor asshole firefighter from Lancaster who died and the town didn't want to give his wife survivor benefits ... wait, Darryl Strawberry just wrote a book, he was arrested and did drugs ... boo hoo. $26.99 list price, visa and mastercard accepted, but he just wants people to understand him ... He might have even beaten a wife or two ... I'm not sure about that assumption, but stuff like that is usually based in truth. Maybe he'll try to sue me and get more press. Anyway, I have a really intelligent friend who works in an afterschool program with kids ... educating. I tell him my feelings and he starts to defend the boys of summer. Blah blah blah, they have talent. Yeah, don't talk about molding the youth of America, or pulling someone out of a fire, or saving a heart attack victim. Then he starts talking about supply and demand. I remind him that when there was a baseball strike, people got used to it and found different shit to do. And that teachers, cops, and firefighters can't strike by law.
I don't think "sports" and "hero" belong in the same sentence. Oddly enough you don't usually hear "sports hero" in the context with a Olympian, usually only a "professional" sports figure . And you know what, anybody from any fucking country who has qualified for the Olympics is higher in my book. They had to put in their whole heart to get there. Not just get there, get a good manager and then work the contract ... I'm mad, I'm not showing up at spring training, go ahead, try to make me cut my hair..."oh that's just Manny being Manny." Any other dumb fuck that tried that with a boss would find his ass out on the street. Bite a guys ear off, rape a girl, cheat on your wife with Madonna ... whatever.
My kids' teacher tutors during the summer, buys supplies with her own money, spends time off the clock adding to curriculum, and listens to every "guess what I did over vacation," "look my tooth fell out," and "my dog had puppies story" like it was the first time it happened in history.  That's a hero.
A good friend once coined the term with humor that a firefighter was the "Greatest American Contemporary folk hero." He of course used it sometimes with a sly grin, but like Darryl beating a wife or two, it has a ring of truth. In general most firefighters will give a tour to some kids, hand over a helmet for them to look at, blow the air horn, and wave. They raise money for charities, suffer injuries from helping others, and raise money, awareness, or give of themselves to help a fellow firefighter or their family. So ... I hope Manny, Barry Bonds and A-Rod open up their wallets and buy poor Darryl's book ... help a brother out, would ya?
Oh and don't read to much on that either ... if you are in a union, you are a brother, or a sister, or a band of brothers in the military... 

1 Comments:

At May 8, 2009 4:25 AM , Blogger P said...

I don't want to seem all cocky, but A- Rods book just was announces..boo hoo, my daddy made me a jerk.

Oh, and Manny ..he's just being Manny, it must have been a frame job, but if not look for his book next year he's got to make up for some cash losses, unless of course it's in his contract that he still gets paid while suspended...which I can believe.

 

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