meta name=”robots” content=”index, follow” Meschery's Musings of Sports, Literature, and Life Meschery's Musings on Sports, Literature and Life: 2016-04-03

What my musings are all about...

Blogging might well be the 21st century's form of journaling. As a writing teacher, I have always advised my students to keep a daily journal as a way of organizing their thoughts for future writing projects, a discipline I have unfortunately never consistently practiced myself. By blogging, I might finally be able to follow my own good advice.

The difference between journaling and blogging is that the blogger opens his or her writing to the public, something journal- writers are usually reluctant to do. I am not so reticent.

The trick for me will be to avoid cluttering the internet with more blather, something none of us need more of. If I stick to subjects I know: sports and literature, I believe I can avoid that pitfall. I can't promise that I'll not stray from time to time to comment on ancillary subjects, but I will make every attempt to be interesting and perhaps even insightful.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

The Key is and always has been, DEFENSE

Every player and every coach know what KISS means: Keep It Simple Stupid. The Dubs need to follow this simple advice and focus on their defense. From the beginning of competitive sports, defense, not offense, wins games. It is the spine of the team. I have watched every Warriors game from the start of the season, and even though I've consistently been proud of my old team, these young Warriors, I'm more proud and impressed by them when they play smothering D, which leads to Turnovers, which leads to easy fast break points, which rattles the opposition, which ensures victories.

As an ex player, I know how hard it is at the end of a season, with the standings in place, to get down and dirty on D. It takes lots of will power.

I am confident that the Warriors will muster the will power needed to see them through the last four games and into the playoff to a second NBA title.

Win or Loose: IT WILL BE ALL ABOUT DEFENSE.

My Blog title reads Sports, Literature, and Life. Here's something about American Life: Let's hear it for the Treasury Department for enforcing a law put in place by President Obama and the Democratic Party that blocks American companies from going overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Removing the incentives, the U.S. drug maker Pfizer and its Irish rival Allergan decided to drop their plans to merge. It is my opinion that companies and their corporate boards should be tried for treason if it is proved they moved their companies overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes like every American citizen is required to do. There is no wiggle room here. No rationale. No excuses. IT'S TREASON.

I was looking through a book of sports poem for a baseball or basketball poem and ran across this lovely little quatrain about tennis.

From Adulescentia   by Robert Fitzgerald

Miraculously, through prayer to Saint Anthony,
The lost tennis ball was found in the alders:
That dun, worn, airy to-be-bounced
Treasurable and humble sweller in closets.


Monday, April 4, 2016

Come on, Scottie, come on you guys!

What is all this stuff about the Jordan led Bulls beating the Curry led Warriors? There are a number of teams, of course, that I can think of that would give the Warriors a run for their money. The Russell led Celtics, the Wilt led 76ers, and West led Lakers, the Bird led Celts, The Bad Boys Pistons, Magic led Lakers, Kobe/Shaq Lakers. and certainly your team Scottie led by Michael Jordan. And before you get your shorts in a twist a nod to the Bucks led by rookie Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but only a maybe because who the hell on that team is going to guard Curry and Thompson, not you Oscar. Sorry, not quick enough. Enough said, but the question remains SO WHAT?

So what if there were some amazingly good teams in the past? What is it about these Dubs that brings out this kind of childish jealousy? You never heard Larry Bird says, well, gee, our team could have killed Kobe's Lakers.

We're watching a magnificent professional basketball team doing spectacular things on the court.

We're sitting at a table in a fine restaurant enjoying our meal and along comes someone who says, hey, you're in the wrong restaurant, the Beef Bourguignon in my restaurant is better than your Beef Bourguignon; my Cabernet is tastier than your Cab. Do you see how petty this sounds? Grow up Scottie, Oscar. Oops, I guess you have grown up - as in "old timers."Well, take it from this old timer, you both sound like grumpy old men. Not very appealing.

Go take a nap and some prune juice, boys and let us watch the Dubs in peace having fun on the court shooting deep threes.

Here's another in the series of Haiku I'm writing for Steph Curry.

Steph #15

Hits the second three
   Does the shimmy shimmy
Ko ko bop two step