Shoot baby bow your neck out there!   Hon now!  Hum baby!

I awoke this morning speaking infield chatter to my wife and daughters.  They are used to these bouts of regression and tolerate me knowing it wil pass in six to fortyeight hours.  Until my return to normalcy they are subjected to hand clapping, motivational encouragement in their daily routine of keep your head up and glove down.  Lay off the high stuff.  Swing from your hips and keep the trademark up.  Find the sweet spot baby.  I'm not sure they understand the meanings of these ramblings, hell who does, but they respond to them and enjoy their chores as I rant on.  The best moment of my life was when I was headed out the door and my five year old daughter swatted me on the butt and said "go hell bent for leather out there today."  The tears welled up and my heart almost burst with pride.

I'm not sure of the origins of baseball chatter or if it is still spoken on big league or little league fields.  I do know that it was passed along to me by several coaches who insisted it would keep you loose and your head in the game.  My high school coach was a master linguist and started every sentence with shoot baby.  Shoot baby back in fifty four when I first broke in with the Dodgers....  This phrase was music  to my ears because a thirty minute story always followed about how he roomed with the Duke or caught hell from Leo.  I hung on every word.  I run into former teammates and the first words out of our mouths are shoot baby how's it goin'?

Please pass along your favorite chatter phrases if you have any.  Remember don't sack your bats til the game is over and don't spit your seeds on the carpet.  This is not a dugout!

Does any one really watch sports?  Lisa H. posed a question a while back about bloggers and their effects on sporting events.  Questions of this sort tend to stay with me during the day and into the wee hours of the morning where true reflection competes with sleep.  Sorry to say sleep is not a worthy opponent these days.  I pose this question because of the recent NBA finals which I watched on t.v. with my wife and all of you bloggers who shared your passion for the game.  I enjoyed these finals more than any I can remember.  I felt as though I watched the game with a third eye, sometimes 20/20, sometimes legally blind.  Always entertaining.  I remind myself of my father yelling at the t.v. during a baseball game the way I laugh and yell at some of you and your comments on the computer screen.

My favorite question during these finals is who is the greatest of all time?  Is it  Kobe or MJ .?  Wilt or Russell?  Magic or Bird?  The Beatles or the Stones?  Does it really matter?  The game itself is the important thing.  No one player is greater than the game.  They may be good enough to have an impact on how fans perceive the game.  They may be good enough to impact the rules of the game.  Bob Gibson in baseball.  Lew Alcindor (Kareem to the youngsters,) to name a few.  I plan on living forever and so far so good on that one.  I hope that I have not seen the greatest of all time as of yet.  It would be similiar to already living the best moment of your life and just hangin' out waiting for the reaper.

Yes there is a point here.  Do we really watch a game anymore or just catch the highlights or read about it on the computer and allow a reporter or sports writer or even a blogger to shape what our perception of the game was without experiencing a moment.  My favorite moments are the "I have never seen that before" moments.  Last year in the heat of the wild card race the Mariners vs. Yankees.  J.J. is pitching to A Rod. 98 mph fast ball high and inside.  A Rod turned on it and it went into the left field seats.  I have never seen such hitting before.  This truely is a gifted athlete.  The headlines the next day questioned if A Rod would get the Yankees into the playoffs and if so would he produce?  Not one mention of the I have never seen that before moment.

I no longer attend live sporting events, I watch on t.v. or listen to the radio.  My reasons are mainly comfort related and the fact I have witnessed too many great moments and my appreciation and passion, until recently, have turned to cynicism of what sports has evolved to in my life time.  I witnessed Steve Prefontain run in high school and the night he set the american record for the 10k then was killed by a rock in Hendricks Park.  I saw Pistol Pete put on his pre-game show when LSU played the Beavers in Corvallis.  I have seen Nolan Ryan pitch a no hitter.  I have seen the Doors and Janis Joplin at Hayward Field.  I have seen a lot of those "I have never seen that before" moments and they all belong to me.  I am always willing to share them. 

I would like to thank all you bloggers for a great NBA finals and I look forward to the baseball playoffs and world series followed by college football and the NFL.  Keep the third eye open and to quote a line out of a book I just finished.  Grab the day before the day grabs you.