"Is this heaven?......."

If  Big Mac, The Sultan of Swat, The Wizard of Oz, The Rocket, or the Georgia Peach remind you of a sandwich, an Arabic King, an old movie, NASA, or a southern belle, you probably won't make a connection with this post.  If you immediately recognize this list as nicknames for Mark McGuire, Babe Ruth, Ozzie Smith, Roger Clemmens, and Ty Cobb, you are no doubt realizing that I want to talk about baseball.  Out of concern for my non-baseball loving readers, I would like to say that this post is not entirely about the game so even if you are not a fan I would encourage you to join in the fun.  If you have already dismissed this because I am a girl and therefore have no credibility to discuss such sacred things, then you are cordially invited to leave now.  There may be "no crying in baseball" but girls love the game for many reasons besides just the eye candy.

With the coming of October, many people start thinking about hayrides, colorful leaves and halloween, but I think about baseball.  Yes, I realize it is the end of the season, but for many it is the best time to be a fan.  The race for the pennant and the ensuing World Series are the pinacle of virtually every baseball dream ever dreamed.  This year as I contemplated the impending post-season, I began to consider the only thing that baseball fans feel as passionate about as their favorite teams and that is their favorite baseball movies.  If baseball is America's favorite pastime, then baseball movies are what Americans do in the off season.  Since the early days of the game, people have been so beguiled by it, that watching or playing was not enough.  They had to write stories, sing songs and make movies about it.  As early as 1899, Edison made a short film of the poem "Casey at the Bat".  Since then there have been, according to my exhaustive internet research, approximately 210 movies made with baseball as the primary subject matter, dating back to the early 20th century.   Compared to 119 football movies or 51 movies about golf......which would actually be 51 really good naps for me.   No matter how you look at it, we love our baseball and we love watching movies about our baseball. 

There are too many great baseball movies to discuss in any detail, so in an effort to determine which movies most people would want to talk about I set out to do more research.  In yet another high-tech, scientific, double-blind survey I tried to determine which are the all-time best baseball movies.  Sadly I did not achieve my goal.  You see, if you ask a fan who their favorite baseball team or player is, they will answer automatically with a great deal of passion.  But asking that same fan which is their favorite baseball movie, is like asking them which french fry in their large order is their favorite, or which of their children is their favorite.  They simply cannot choose.  I did, however, narrow it down to just a few all time fan favorites.  Before I get into those I want to give a nod to the funny, light-hearted, or satirical movies such as Major League, Angels in the Outfield, Rookie of the Year and The Bad News Bears.  I loved each of these movies at different times and for different reasons and will never stop watching them. 

On a personal note, I love the game of baseball because of my Dad.  I started playing girls fastpitch softball at the age of 9 and he was my coach until I quit playing in high school.  I was never a really great player, but because of him, I loved it.  Like many people, I can make an extremely personal connection with high points in my life that are intertwined to the game.  The best parts of my relationship with my dad revolved around baseball.  When we weren't on the field together, we attanded games whenever we could.  We watched games on T.V. and listened to them on the radio.  He understood what it meant to have it get under your skin.  To know the stats of every player on your favorite team and to be able to quote the batting averages of all major players back to the 1950's.  To remember the smell of the dirt and bubble gum, to hear the metal cleats on concrete or to feel the rumble of the stadium when the crowd goes crazy. (This would be a great time to watch the above video, just for affect).  It is the desire to hang on to memories like these that compel us to let our imagination be carried away for 90 minutes in front of a screen, living through someone else's experience.  So with all that said (I managed to get through that without shedding a tear......it's a miracle) I would like to state my top six baseball movies in no particular order. I'm using the random number six because I simply can't narrow it down any more than that.

 The Sandlot, is not only funny and light-hearted, but it gets to the bones of the game.  Almost every baseball fan started playing (or as in my case, attempting to play) as a little kid.  My favorite character is "Ham" because he acted just like a real catcher....all smack talk and attitude.  The Sandlot is not just a movie about kids playing baseball, but about how the kid's lives were forever changed because of the game.  It's a clean movie, pure with a few scandelous moments, just like the real game.  I mean, come on, who hasn't uttered the phrase, "You're killin me Smalls"! 

Kevin Costner made the list twice with "For Love of the Game" and "Field of Dreams".  Both of these movies are classic stories of men who loved the game and I love them both.  It's not just because Kevin Costner is in them, although that could be reason enough.  No, we love these characters and root for who they become because of baseball.  "A League of Their Own" is an obvious choice, not just because it starred Madonna (that was sarcasm) but because it IS about girls playing Major League baseball.  Some of the greatest movie lines came from that movie such as the ever famous, "There's no crying in baseball!", "Dirt in the skirt" and the ironic and inappropriate prayer from coach Jimmy Dugan before the championship game, "Dear Lord, may our feet be swift, may our bats me mighty and may our balls......be plentiful".   I have to say one of my all-time favorites is "The Rookie".  This is the stuff of baseball.  The fact that it's based on a true story only adds to its charm.  Dennis Quaid does an OUTSTANDING job of playing a humble man that seems utterly confused about the idea that he is back in the game after so many years.  This is the kind of dream that only a baseball lover can dream.  Besides, it's a Disney movie, how can you go wrong?

Now for the moment of truth, my all time favorite baseball movie is "The Natural" with Robert Redford.  Again, not just because it's Robert Redford, although I'm pretty sure that's why a lot of women like it.  It was also one of my Dad's favorite movies.  It has all the elements that make a great baseball movie:  there is a connection to Babe Ruth, it takes place during an era when attending a game was a high end social event, there is tragedy, triumph, good versus evil, and let's not forget the epic Soundtrack that soars your goose bumps to new heights at precisely the moment the homerun ball explodes into the stadium lights.  Roy Hobbs has the making of a baseball hero, the likes of which any admiring young dreamer could set their hopes on. ***sigh**** just thinking about it makes me wants to cheer and cry all at once.  OK, I know this flowery sentiment doesn't sound much like me but this is what talking about baseball, or in this case baseball movies, does to me. 

After my Dad passed away in the mid-nineties, I sort of fell away from following baseball on a regular basis.  I check in every year around September to see which teams are how many games out and what to expect in the World Series.  I hadn't lost my love for the game, simply found it too difficult to celebrate without him.  The movies, however, have kept my heart open and after writing this post I'm thinking it's time to make my way out of the bullpen and back on the field, metaphorically speaking of course.  I miss him terribly, but in our mutual love for the game of baseball, he left a legacy that will keep me connected to him for eternity.  Someday I hope to be with him listening to Harry Carry call a game while we sit with Bobby Thomson as he tells us about "the shot heard round the world".  Until then, I will watch the movies that make us all want to cheer, eat hotdogs and sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and dream about the day I can once again (like in Field of Dreams) have a catch with my dad.  

The Stand In

There is a 50% chance that you are a daughter.  If not, there is an even greater chance that you have a daughter, are married to a daughter, have a sister who is a daughter or if nothing else, you’ve had a mom who was a daughter.  By now you have, no doubt, figured out the topic for today.  Guys don’t make assumptions that this post will be a squishy, feely, chick thing.  This topic does affect you so you might want to give it a chance.

There are three girls in my life that are known as my daughters; one bio, one step and one grand.  I love them all whole heartedly and I hope someday to have an in-law and more grands, but I will try to be patient.  In addition to the daughters that I share my DNA or my last name with, there are some young girls that I consider to be my daughters, even if the state of Oklahoma or biology does not.  These girls bring me joy, pride, love and even the occasional heartache just like any daughters.  They were born daughters to others, but God has blessed me with the opportunity to help nurture and encourage them.  For this awesome gift, I am truly grateful.   However, the gift has come with a heartbreaking realization that not every daughter is cherished as she should be.  You see, I was brought into this world and raised by a mom who was fantastic at her job.  She was, and still is, loving, selfless and totally devoted to her children, three of which are daughters.  So it came as a complete shock to me that there are women who bring daughters into the world and then quit.  They don’t show love, they don’t cherish, they don’t mom.  This was completely incomprehensible to me.  Unfortunately our society has become somewhat accustomed to dads that aren’t there, but moms?  Uh, uh….NO….this isn’t supposed to happen.  Moms throw themselves in the path of danger to protect their babies, moms don’t eat so their kids can, moms wear thrift store clothes so their daughters can wear mall store clothes.  Which leads me to ask the question, “What kind of woman can walk away from her daughter”? 

Before you start thinking that I am being overly judgmental and must be utterly insensitive to the struggles of women, let me explain a few things.  I know that some women struggle with life to the point that it becomes too difficult for them to be who their daughters needs them to be.  When these women are true moms, they make the heart-wrenching, courageous decision to allow someone else to step in to be a temporary mom.  When these struggling women dig deep, and fight for the sake of their daughters, they will eventually overcome the struggles to be reunited with them, and rightfully so.  I have seen this story up close and I can tell you, it is a most precious thing.  These moms are true moms.

I’m most disturbed by the dead-beat moms, the women that give in to their struggles.  The women whose daughters ache to be a part of their lives, but there is just no room.  I have seen the pain in these daughter’s eyes.  I have held them on mother’s day when they cried.  They only want what every daughter wants.  They long to compare the lines of their hands with their mom’s hands, to learn their great-grandmother’s meatloaf recipe, to go shopping for their prom dress, to cry on her shoulder after their first broken heart.  Do these women even know what they are missing? It makes me so angry that I want to get right in their faces and scream, “what is wrong with you….you don’t deserve her”!  I apologize for the outburst, but how can you not feel the same way?

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is in Luke 8:43-48 when Jesus healed a woman that had been suffering and alone for twelve years.  She had faith that he would heal her and he did.  Afterwards, he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace”.  It was the only time in the bible that he addressed someone as daughter, so he must have known how special it was.   He knew that she was lonely and hurting and needed to feel like someone’s daughter.  He has a way of knowing these things.

There are some really great guys in this mix that have stepped up and taken on the role of mom and dad.  There are some awesome grandparents that parent.  Some extended families that have gone above and beyond.  Suffice it to say these girls are cared for by many and shrouded in love.  They are good girls that have hope in a future of happiness in spite of the pain they cope with.  They are brave in the face of adversity and yet I know them well enough to know that there is still an emptiness in their hearts that can’t be filled.  I will not stop trying to fill it.

 As I said, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a stand in mom to some really special girls.  There are most likely times when they wish I wasn’t quite so motherly, but they know it comes from the heart.  I’m not the only woman that God has placed in their lives and I hope that they see his provision as a means to show his love for them.  As for the women that can’t seem to overcome their struggles and have disappointed their daughters, there is a large part of me that wants to punch them in the uterus followed by a round-house kick to the throat (that’s for the guys).  But the part of me that wants to love like Jesus does, knows that those women are also daughters.  They are broken and they may not be doing the mom thing right, but they are worthy to be loved like all daughters are.  Maybe, with the help of some stand-in moms, these girls will grow to be strong women and can teach their own moms how to love, and cherish them.  Hopefully, with God’s love as their guide, they will all know what it means to be called daughter. 

THAT’S IT!!!!  I love you girls!

The WOOH Guy

Having been raised in a Southern Baptist Church during the 1970’s and 80’s, I tend to experience a bit of distress whenever someone gets too loud or “irreverent” in church.  It wasn’t too many years ago, when even clapping was frowned upon to show appreciation for a song, or as a response to a lively point in the sermon.  No sir, not even a spine tingling rendition of How Great Thou Art would invoke applause.  When the choir lady belted out the last high note, there were nods, smiles and maybe a few subtle “amen’s” from the deacons, but absolutely NO cheering or clapping.  No wonder I fell asleep so often.   For many years this practice confused me.  You see, I was allowed to clap, WOOHhoo, fist pump and jump up and down at my high school football game or at the Van Halen concert, but the next morning at church I was not to show God that same kind of enthusiasm.  We could WOOH for our Quarterback or for David Lee Roth, but not for God?  It didn’t make sense to me.  I will address the Van Halen years in some other blog, but for now it just makes a good illustration. 

I have made no secret about the fact that I watch a lot of bad television.  At the top of my list is the Dr. Phil show.  For that matter, I’ll watch almost anything filmed before a live studio audience, (except for Jerry Springer, which is too bad even for me).  At the end of every show, the audience claps and WOOH’s, WOOH’s and claps all the way through the goodbye’s of the host and all those closing credits.  Everyone knows about the “APPLAUSE” sign that comes on to tell the audience when to clap, but these audiences were taking it to a crazy new level.  They would carry on a LOT longer than they would have naturally.  So I asked myself what makes them continue on, when you can see in their faces that they want to stop?  One day when watching attentively as Dr. Phil walked across the stage to retrieve his bride, Robin, before exiting the studio, I noticed that every time the audience applause would start to fade, someone in the background, off camera, would begin to WOOH, which would result in the audience spontaneously following into more WOOH’s and bigger applause.  This happened time and time again.  Not just on the Dr. Phil show, but many others as well.  The Price is Right, Dr. OZ, they all had this mysterious WOOH guy that would keep the audience inspired to keep going.  This sort of makes sense, because no one wants to watch a show where the audience quits clapping and starts putting on their coats to leave.  No, we want to see these people excited, positive, and enjoying themselves.  Then we will surely tune-in again tomorrow to find out how Lindsey Lohan’s stepbrother is coping with the failure of his second tell-all book. 

I began to think about what life would be like if we each had our own WOOH guy.  Wouldn’t that be fantastic?  When we’re suffering on the fifth day of that sinus infection and want to give up, he pops out and starts cheering and clapping to help us want to keep going?  When trying on the 13^th pair of jeans that still won’t fit, she would WOOH and clap us right out there to try on just one more.  When our marriage starts to stale, our jobs get unbearable, kids make us nuts or our finances simply won’t cooperate, our WOOH guy lifts us up with some well placed “WOOHOO’s” or a “You can do this!” just to keep us going for one more day. 

It turns out we do have a WOOH guy.  Just like in the T.V. shows, he stays out of the limelight, but when you know him, you are aware of his presence.  I know this sounds a bit crazy, but when we lean on the Lord for our strength, he is there to lift us up and remind us that we CAN make it a little longer.  When Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:13, he was reminding us that Jesus is our WOOH guy.  He didn’t walk among us, give his life for us and provide us with eternal salvation just so we could live our lives defeated and tired.  He wants to be there for us, to encourage us, to help us keep going until we will be with him always.  He told us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me…. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 14:1;16:33)  To me, this is the same as saying, WOOHOOOO (fist pump) WOOHf WOOHf WOOHf, You Go Girl, We Will…We Will..Rock You!!!  You get the picture.  I’m thinking about telling the world about this revelation.  I mean if Ashton Kutcher can wear a ball cap that says, “Jesus is my Homeboy”, then I can where a T-shirt that says, “Jesus is my WOOH guy!” 

I’m not recommending that you stand up in the middle of a church service and start cheering and clapping, because that would get you an automatic glare from the nearest church lady.  But I do think that we can show our WOOH guy how much we love him by having the same amount of pride and enthusiasm in our relationship with him, as we do in our love for our football team or for Van Halen, or .38 Special, or Toby Mac.  Again, you get the picture.  So the next time you are watching a show that was filmed before a live studio audience, listen for the WOOH guy and remember, that no one can cheer you on better than the one true WOOH guy.  He is the way, the truth and life or as I like to think of him, the WOOH, the truth and the life!

Six Hundred Ninety-Five Thousand Three Hundred Ninety-One

695,391

This isn’t just any random number.  For one thing, it is the population of Memphis, TN.   It is the number of feet in 131 miles.  It is the number of minutes in one year and four months.  It is the cost of the new football stadium scoreboard at our local public high school.   It is the number of square kilometers in the state of Texas.  Wait…what?  Yes I said that right. It IS the cost of the new football stadium scoreboard at our local public high school.  No not the cost of the football stadium, the cost of the scoreboard.  In case you missed it, that number was $695,391.00.

There are a variety of things one could think or feel upon hearing this.  Perhaps shock, incredulity, even anger, but if your reaction was something more along the lines of pride or envy, I’ll give you a warning, this won’t be pleasant for you.   The first thing I have to come to terms with is that, being on the wrong side of a popular way of thinking immediately puts me in the category of “kook”, “closed-minded”, or the ole’ “poor thing just doesn’t get it”.  As if the fact that I disagree with the populace must mean that I am an angry, bitter radical that hates any form of fun.  But the truth is, I have had more fun with this particular subject than I’ve had in a long time.  In fact, thinking about spending nearly $700,000 on a high school field scoreboard makes me laugh till I get the hiccups.  Since there are roughly 85,000 people in this town, one can assume that there are roughly 85,000 differing opinions on the topic.  Mine is just one of those.    

There is the obvious opposition to spending $695,391.00 on a freakishly oversized metal structure with LED readouts that displas the score for all of twelve varsity and JV football home games a year.  The opposition might make the point that since the national average salary for a high school teacher is $43,000 a year, the school could employ many more teachers for that $695,391.00.  Just in case you got more math practice watching the scoreboard at football games than in your math class, it means the school could employ 16 additional high school teachers for a year.  OR every teacher in the entire district could receive a $750.00 Christmas bonus.  Maybe with that money, a program could be funded that teaches parents the importance of being fully engaged in their children’s education and not simply their extra-curricular activities.  Heck, we could hire scantily clad Hooter’s girls to strut around carrying huge number cards to display the score, for a fraction of the cost of this scoreboard……and it would make more sense.    

What is not so obvious is the subtle, slow, creeping acceptance that it is not only OK, but that it is necessary to spend this kind of money on something so insignificant.   Yes I said insignificant.  Let’s be painfully honest for a moment.  In the big picture of life, the scoreboard at your high school’s football field is not likely to be included in many of the defining moments of your life.  If it is, then you should seriously think about broadening your horizons.  Awkward!

Again, let me reiterate that it is not High School football that I have a problem with.  Actually I love it.  The screaming fans, the marching bands, the rivalry, the sense of community.  The old drunk fat guy with boundary issues sitting behind you.  The smell of pot smoke wafting up from underneath the bleachers.  These are the things that make America great.  BUT, I fear that spending $695,391.00 on a scoreboard cheapens the game, makes a mockery of it, says to the opposing team, “we can’t seem to make our team be any better, but boy howdy look at our scoreboard”.   Why not spend a measly $100,000 on a scoreboard and the other $590,000.00 on something that makes more sense, like heated stadium seats or valet parking.  I know this seems pretty absurd, but sometimes it takes the absurd to illustrate the absurd.  By my kooky, closed-minded, confused way of thinking, not much is more absurd than building a high school football scoreboard that costs (say it with me now) $695,391. 

I acknowledge the proponent’s justification that the money was donated by sponsoring corporations as well as other donations and not from tax-payer dollars.  They will also say that the football program is a big draw for other sponsors and therefore the money spent was worth it. Or that the behemoth collection of glowing lights will flash images of advertisements so large and bright that people prone to seizures will have to look away, and those advertisements will eventually pay for the scoreboard.   As soon as my wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare at their silly justifications has passed, I realize that laughter is the only logical reaction.  So there ya have it.  I may be finished with this particular rant, but this is far from over.  I will periodically be reporting in on all the things that one can do with $695,391.00 that WON’T make our town appear that we are showing out, or overcompensating, or simply saying, “mine is bigger than yours”.  Interpret that however you want.  I was talking about the scoreboard.