Radical Transparency

Have I mentioned on this blog how much I love Jimmy Rollins?

Well it's a lot.

Click here to download:

Game 4 Walk Off.mp3 (691 KB)

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I found out today that David Murphy, the Philadelphia Daily News sportswriter whose Phillies blog I've been reading this season, doesn't root for the team.

He grew up a fan, but he doesn't feel right, as a professional journalist, wanting the Phillies to win.

I'm a little bit shocked. And sad. And jealous that I don't get paid to write about the Phillies every day.

So I poked around the internets a bit, kicked the tires on a couple of other Phils blogs (something I've never done before, which surprises me), and subscribed to Beerleaguer.

It'll be fun to compare.

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I have no idea what's going on here.

Can anyone explain?

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Maybe I'm extra special partial to this because I've fallen in love faster with Raul Ibanez than any other baseball player, and it's a little unsettling to see him react so angrily to what I consider to be an understandably suspicious, imperfectly presented, but ultimately harmless blog post, but maybe my rapture runs deeper. Maybe the debate really does provide a totally fascinating angle from which to look at press and rumor and the evolution of information flow...



Good for ESPN for hosting the discussion. Good for Jerod the blogger for participating with cool and humility. And good for Raul for offering stool samples if requested. Radical transparency, baby.

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Jason and I recorded some postgame reactions as soon as we got back from the Phillies' game on Tuesday, but I was a little distracted by my cereal, and now I'm a little embarrassed about that, so I recorded some fully focused baseball commentary this afternoon...



Again, Joe Torre, thank you. I'm betting that was a brilliant move long term, the kind of move that makes a pitcher (and manager) great.

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[I originally posted the text and video below on April 18. Formatting got funky. I had to call in the Posterous founders. They found a bug and killed it. We celebrated. And then, a few days ago, after making another Phillies video, I noticed that the ninth inning rule post had disappeared. So here we are.]

By far the most important blog post I've ever made was a video response to the Phillies winning the 2008 World Series.

Here's a video response to my first game of the 2009 season...

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I love baseball fans.

I'm going to try to meet some new ones at every game I ever go to.

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If someone tells you they're officially turning their tinfoil hat inside out, rally cap style, should you worry?

Talk about a meat flavored candy mixed metaphor.

Damn.

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A bit of a silly conversation started on Ta-Nehisi Coates's blog the other day when he mentioned the fact that he's a Dallas Cowboys fan.

I commented, asking for an explanation, and, today, he responded, sparking a beauty of a comment thread.

After trying to imagine growing up without lovable home teams and reading TNC's explanation, I respect his love for the Cowboys.  I don't like it.  But I'm ok with it.  I think it's real, and I think real love for a team is something to celebrate.

Which reminds me of something one of my cousins said as we wandered around the ballpark before going in for Game 4 of the World Series.

Everyone was wearing red and chanting and singing for the Phils, and one of us noted the fact that it couldn't possibly be like it was in Philly in Tampa Bay.  Fans were probably way into it, but some of those fans were Phils fans, and that makes for a totally different dynamic.  There's tension there.  Home vs. Away.  Red vs. Blue.

In Philly there wasn't tension.  We were all Home, all Red, all Good Guys.  No Bad Guys would have come close to that pregame party.

And then came the observation.

We shouldn't be celebrating our exclusivity.  We should love the fact that there's no anger in the pregame crowd, but we should welcome Tampa Bay fans.  We should be excited to have rival fans in the house.  We should party together before the game.  We should make fun of each other during the game.  And we should party together again after the game.

We should be able to celebrate our losses as wins for other fans.

And that's a pretty powerful thought.  Mature.  Idealistic.  Symbolic of way more than professional sports.  And powerful.

Not an easy one to put into practice, however.  Certainly not in Philadelphia.  And certainly not when it pertains to the Dallas Cowboys.  But worth keeping in mind regardless.

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Too excited to write.

Love and the PhilliesA postgame reaction.

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