Spittin' Sports and History

Poker tournaments are often on ESPN, and they are slow watching because the players are always thinking long and hard about what card to play. They also are wearing hoodies and sunglasses, so you never get to see much of the people. The audience knows what is the winning hand, so you often want to shout out, "Don't go all in! You'll lose!" But until we have televisions that will be more like Zoom, the players will never hear us. Sometimes I wish ESPN would broadcast a bridge tournament because I know how to play that game. I think Melba and I were playing bridge with some other gals the night Ray was born, so it's been in the family a long time. Even before that, Mother and Daddy played with my aunt and uncle.  Mother was the best bridge player I ever saw and didn't learn until she was in college because Grandpa Henry thought cards in the house were a sin. Never mind that dominoes were around and could be a source of gambling. It was those evil cards. Somehow ...

Image by  moerschy  from  Pixabay   The U.S. Open in tennis has been sort of interesting this year even after several of the big names didn't come to New York and play because of the virus. You might think this would make for a dull tournament, but it hasn't. Then Novak Djokovoc hit a lines lady and was disqualified. It was a sort of accident because he was mad at himself and swatted the tennis ball in back of him, not realizing the lines lady was standing in that spot. He argued with the officials, but they pointed to the rules book and showed him the exit even if he was No. One. Venus Williams lost in the first round for the first time in her career, and Victoria Azarenka mad e it along after being out of tennis for the last 4 or  5 years. She had been involved in a bitter custody battle with her son's dad, so that took up more time than tennis. All these tidbits gave the tv people something to discuss rather than the fact that there were no fans. I played ten...

This week a quarterback for the NFL, Kirk Cousins, was being interviewed, and he didn't stick to the old adage of thinking before you speak. He was asked about the virus and how some on his team were cautioning to be extra careful off the field if they expected to have a football season. Cousins, a talented player, began to ramble a bit and finally settled in to comments about how the virus really wasn't as terrifying as people have made it out to be. He said, "And just say that if it knocks me out, it knocks me out. I'm going to be o.k. If I die, I die." Simple enough for him to say since he is a healthy athlete who would probably be able to beat the virus, but his statement got so much backlash that he had to come back in the next day and try to show that he had empathy for anyone who had a medical condition or for his grandparents or anyone vulnerable including his own family. Words got him more than a big defensive lineman.  Years ago my great-niece Shannon(no...