THE WORLDWIDE LEADER IN ART

"Don't you ever watch anything but sports," I was asked by a player who shows up to my game all the time.
I don't like sitcoms -- I can't stand reality TV and voting people off things. I don't watch the news. I watch ESPN, only. At one point I had a physical addiction to Mike & Mike, First Take, and the daytime lineup. And I get all my news from Sportscenter.
A while back, some Sportscenter analyst said it was ridiculous for the ballpark not to sell out the game when griffey was at 599 homeruns. But he's the one who's ridiculous. Why would anyone take a family to a major league baseball game? What would be the point -- its just a waste of hundreds of dollars. It's more fun to go to a minor league game -- more cost effective, too. He's completely out of touch. And if I did, for some reason, pay a lot to watch a major league game, I doubt it would be the Cincinnati Reds.
So I haven't looked at that analyst the same way since. I follow sports news developments the way old housewives follow soap operas. The sportscasters are just part of the cast of characters.
Big Brown didn't win the triple crown, and that same analyst said that America needed a triple crown winner in this time of economic and social strife, so that the country could come together and rally around something. That's -- there's nothing I can add to that. Whatever.
So there's a lot that I love to hate about the shows -- and I love to hate certain TV personalities. But the real reason I like to watch sports is the purity and honesty of the content -- and the tightness of the paradigm. There's something profoundly wholesome about sitting through an Ultimate Fighting event. Nothing happens that I don't understand. The framework is all there, and that makes all sporting events good art, because framework is the most important part of art.
I'm not really a sports nut. I'm an art lover. So when I watch ESPN Classic, I'm an art historian, which is one of the most fulfilling things to do in life that doesn't involve jazz piano or the military.
That player needs to concentrate more on the cards and less on what I watch on TV. So do I.