Why Do I Watch Sports?

After I finished throwing a tantrum over the outcome of the Jets game and calmed down (with the help of Jack Daniels) I asked myself "why do I watch sports?".  It is a valid question considering the amount of anger, frustration, disappointment, loss, hurt, etc. sports in general have caused me throughout my 29 years of life (well not the full 29 considering I wasn't pulled from the womb in sports gear).

In order of insane fandom I follow the Jets, Yankees, Knicks & Rangers (the Knicks and Rangers are tied).  Out of those four teams I have have seen the Rangers win the cup once in '94 and the Yankees win 5 World Series titles.  The Jets have gotten to the AFC championship 3 times and 2 of those times have come in the last two years.  The Knicks last bit of prominence was in 2000 when they lost to the Spurs in the Finals, they have since gotten the excitement back in MSG since 'Melo and Stat joined the team this past season. 

All in all you can make the argument that the Yankees have more than made up for the ineptitude of the Jets and Knicks, and even lean years the Rangers had when they enjoyed signing over the hill big name players (I'm looking at you Lindros!).  However, one team cannot make up for the shortfalls of the others, so again I'm left with the question "why do I watch sports?".  Amazingly enough it didn't take my brain long to come up with an answer.

I watch for those magic moments...

I watch for Messier holding that cup after promising we'd beat the Devils and then finishing off the Canucks

I watch for the improbable way the ball bounced off the back of the rim and in

I watch for Jumbo Elliot capping off the Monday Night Miracle

I watch for The Captain and "The Flip"

So in the end, even though my sports teams have caused me grief, anguish and misery...they've also caused me joy.  I watch and we all watch, because at any moment we might see a moment.

90s Nostalgia with the X-Men

I recently decided to embark on a trip to memory lane courtesy of Netflix streaming.  I watched all 5 seasons (76 episodes) of the 90s X-Men cartoon.  The show aired from 1992 to 1997 and when it came out this 10 year old was glued to the TV.

I still remember when Night of the Sentinels first aired, Pizza Hut did a big promotion for the TV show and I made my parents take me to the only one near our house which was in Canarsie, NY (I lived in Brooklyn at the time the show came out).  I got a cup and a VHS tape out of that trip.  It was with that childlike enthusiasm that I sat down to watch the entirety of the X-Men series. 

 The series has aged, not terribly, but it has.  Everything is bright 90s blues, pinks and yellows.  The voice acting is shaky at times but not terrible and they didn't use the same cells for multiple scenes which the Spider-Man cartoon that aired at the same time did constantly.

When guys my age bring up the X-Men cartoon almostthirty they generally have one thing that drives them nuts.

Jubilee, with the power to shoot sparklers from her fingers!  Quake in fear Mister Sinister.  Shit your pants Juggernaut.  Fly into the sun Dark Phoenix.  As entirely unnecessary as she was, I honestly don't feel she was the worst part of the show.  A good portion of the action didn't even involve her because they left her whiny ass at home.  The character that really annoyed me might surprise you.

The character that really drove me nuts was Storm.  I know part of her character trait is that she at one time believed she was a Goddess which sort of explains the one thing about her that drove me nuts, but holy shit was it played up in this show.  Every single time she used her powers she had to explain to you what she was doing.  "Wind and rain heed my call!" "Arctic winds I command thee!" "Lightning come forth and strike this menace down!"  Holy shit enough already!

A few more quick observations:  I'm pretty sure Gambit was willing to die to get with Rogue just once, and with the way they drew her, I know every boy was right there with him (myself included).  Why did Gambit, Jean & Cyclops have that weird like hood type thing that covered the back of their head went around their forehead and left the top of their head and face open?  The voice of Wolverine will always be the voice I hear when I read a comic with him in it.  Morph was more of a waste then Jubilee.

With all that being said it was a damn fine cartoon and a wonderful trip down memory lane.  Sometimes when you decide to feed the nostalgia bug you're left disappointed, it is so hard for things to be as good as you remember them to be.

How Could I Forget? I Can't.

We are nearing the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, as well as the sacrifice of those on Flight 93 won't soon be forgotten. Soon, if they haven't already, our TVs will be inundated with specials surrounding the tragedy of that day. We will be subjected to image after image of that day. A burning tower. People running. People screaming.

I wish that wasn't the case. I wish that we can take a step back and instead celebrate the Twin Towers with specials surrounding its construction. Perhaps a documentary about the heroes that risked life and limb to save strangers. Retrospectives on those that lost their lives that day and interviews with their families. I cannot be the only one that would prefer these specials over images of horror.  

"But how can we be sure that we will never forget unless we relive that day every single year on the anniversary?"

Who can forget that day? I don't think I've met anyone that cannot tell you where they were, what they were doing, or how they felt on that day. I still get a very visceral reaction whenever I see the images or videos of that day. I think that we need at some point to move beyond the reliving.

I'll never forget, but please don't make me relive it.