Bob Dylan, Theme Time Radio Hour #4 (baseball) (unlimited downloads)
We took a week off, recharged our Dylan battery after too much listening to "If You See Her, Say Hello" and "Idiot Wind." This episode on baseball is one of my favorites, a great subject dear to my heart and a quintissentially American one. Bob does not disappoint, choosing some great songs and adding his wit on a subject he clearly loves. A truly surreal moment comes on the 5th track; I shit you not, it's an interview with Charlie Sheen talking about baseball, where Sheen actually says, "It's really the only major sport that's not governed by time." You thought he was all about hookers and coke, huh?
I don't talk much about baseball here; not really sure why, as I do watch as many Phillies games as I can and I check the box scores for how Jewish ballplayers are doing. I played the sport for most of my life, grew up reading all the old biographies on Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, you name it. At some point, it just stopped being a passion. Maybe I burned out on it? Maybe it's just not as appealing to me today, too slow, too much of a time committment for a whole season? It kinda goes across the board; I just don't live and die with my teams, y'know? In fact, I kinda feel like it's a bad look, almost pathetic, to be a diehard. That's mostly a result of being in Philly and being around people whose lives depend on whether the Eagles win or lose.
How about you guys and girls? Do you find yourself still passionate about sports as you get older? Do you still get upset when your team loses? Have I killed the child in me for no reason?
4 comments:
I really enjoy these Dylan posts, the music is different, and his take on the subject matter always entertains. Gets you thinking. Thanks for the uploads.
Baseball, specifically Phillies baseball, doesn't do it for me like it used to. I think that the change happened sometime around when I realized that I was old enough to date rookies, and now that I'm too old for rookies, well, what's the point?
Seriously though, the inflated salaries and bad behavior of professional ball players takes away from the game for me. If the truly american sport contains foul mouthed tirades, domestic violence, and whining about $2M contracts, then it's no wonder that America is such a mess.
Jack
Thanks much! :)
Charlie Sheen must be a Dan Bern fan, or at least a kindred spirit. Reminds me of my favorite line in Bernstein's This Side of the White Line "If you get thrown out of the game and get sent on your way
You can come back the very next day
After having, having had your say
But that's on a field of nine
Which is not ruled by time
And it don't work out so fine
On this side of the white lines "
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