*Stunned Silence*
I’m going to sleep now, and when I wake up, I will realize that this was all a dream, and that the Red Sox and the Yankees have not yet played.
Because there’s just no way the best two relievers on the Red Sox could have given up six runs in one inning. Right?
Yet there is this incontrovertible text evidence in my cell phone:
Sarah to Coley, Sept 14, 11:15pm: Hold me.
Coley to Sarah, Sept 14, 11:17pm: I have Papel-blue balls.
Sarah to Coley, Sept. 14, 11:18pm: He is suddenly their Papelbitch.
And then there was the following evidence, in my g-chat archive:
Me: oh honey. this is terrible.
![[frown]](http://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif){kind=small}
Boyfriend: i’m too depressed to talk about it. i baked a red sox cake.
Me: was it really good for the first half
Boyfriend: yes.
Me: and then totally awful for the second half? did jonathan papelbon leap through your kitchen window and throw the cake in the trash and then swear into his glove?
Boyfriend: Sadly no.
Me: did it leave like 18 million pieces of frosting on base?
Boyfriend: yes.
Me: goddammit.
Boyfriend: but the cake has two layers, one red and one blue
Me: is it frosted with the broken dreams of an entire Nation?
Boyfriend: i don’t want to talk about the game anymore
Desperately in search of some bit of hard evidence that my beloved Red Sox had not, in fact, pissed away a game that they had clearly dominated through the first six innings (I could watch a lowlight reel of Giambi’s errors all day), I checked the box score, the play-by-play, even the photos. And that’s when I realized that this game couldn’t possibly have happened. No. In fact, there’s only conceivable explanation—I’ve gone back in time!
Now at least I can get some sleep. After all, I already know how this ends!
August 31st, 2007 at 12:05 am
Paul, what about Damn Yankees?
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August 31st, 2007 at 2:29 am
I actually saw that Edward Scissorhands musical, Paul. And I have to say, despite doubts similar to yours it was actually brilliant, and I’d highly recommend it.
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September 2nd, 2007 at 1:04 pm
And I am forced to add that clearly, some folks do think that music and sports go together. Namely, athletes and the pop stars who date them!
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September 8th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
It’s not really that I think I’m “being creative” – more that Gibson’s story, in all its magesty and tragedy, simply seems too great a match for any genre other than opera. It’s hard to tell from your post which you underestimate more, opera or baseball, but I feel quite confident that each is worthy of the other. Sure, opera is an easy target these days (to be fair, it always has been), but I still believe its power to relate tales of deep emotional depth is simply unparalleled. Gibson was a hero, and I’m confident that he’s as near to my heart as he is to yours. And I assure I’ve chosen to write this work not because I think it’s a cheap gimmick to gain notoriety, or that it’s a way “to be creative,” but rather because it seems to be the best way to channel my complex feelings about the man and his legacy, and to put forth an artistically framed argument about same. Also, the project has the not-so-fringe benefit of sharing Josh’s story with a segment of the population (fans of opera, particularly new opera) that have virtually no familiarity with the man, let alone the Negro Leagues. If in the meantime some baseball fans expand their own narrow conceptions of what does and does not constitute legitimate artistic expression, so much the better.
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September 9th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Also, the more I think about it, the more I just have to disagree with Paul when he says that sports and music don’t mix. What about the marching band at football games? What about “Eye of the Tiger”? What about Gary Glitter and Rock and Roll Part 2? What about John Fogerty’s “Centerfield”?!
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