Krauthammer - the joys of losing?

[tomterp]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/22/AR2010042205135.html


Not sure I share Charles' vision, but it's an interesting take nonetheless.

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, April 23, 2010

Among my various idiosyncrasies, such as (twice) driving from Washington to New York to watch a world championship chess match, the most baffling to my friends is my steadfast devotion to the Washington Nationals. When I wax lyrical about having discovered my own private paradise at Nationals Park, eyes begin to roll and it is patiently explained to me that my Nats have been not just bad, but prodigiously -- epically -- bad.

As if I don't know. They lost 102 games in 2008; 103 in 2009. That's no easy feat. Only three other teams in the last quarter-century have achieved back-to-back 100-loss seasons.

Now understand: This is not the charming, cuddly, amusing incompetence of, say, the '62 Mets, of whom their own manager, Casey Stengel, famously asked, "Can't anybody here play this game?" -- and whose stone-gloved first baseman, Marv Throneberry, was nicknamed Marvelous Marv, the irony intended as a sign of affection.

Nor am I talking about heroic, stoic, character-building losing. The Chicago Cubs fan knows that he's destined for a life of Sisyphean suffering and perpetual angst. Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, may have said, "Let's play two," but in 19 years he never got to play even one postseason game. These guys go 58 years without winning, then come within five outs of the National League pennant, only to have one of their own fans deflect a ball about to settle into a Cub outfielder's glove, killing the play and bringing on the unraveling.

The fan was driven into hiding and the fateful ball ritually exorcised, blown to smithereens on TV. Sorry, that's not my kind of losing. Been there. I'm a former Red Sox fan, now fully rehabilitated. No, I don't go to games to steel my spine, perfect my character, journey into the dark night of the soul. I get that in my day job watching the Obama administration in action.

I go for relief. For the fun, for the craft (beautifully elucidated in George Will's just-reissued classic, "Men at Work") and for the sweet, easy cheer at Nationals Park.

You get there and the twilight's gleaming, the popcorn's popping, the kids're romping and everyone's happy. The joy of losing consists in this: Where there are no expectations, there is no disappointment. In Tuesday night's game, our starting pitcher couldn't get out of the third inning. Gave up four straight hits, six earned runs, and as he came off the mound, actually got a few scattered rounds of applause.

Applause! In New York, he'd have been booed mercilessly. In Philly, he'd have found his car on blocks and missing a headlight.

No one's happy to lose, and the fans cheer lustily when the Nats win. But as starters blow up and base runners get picked off, there is none of the agitation, the angry, screaming, beer-spilling, red-faced ranting you get at football or basketball games.

Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You "take in" a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.

And for a losing baseball team, the calm is even more profound. I've never been to a park where the people are more relaxed, tolerant and appreciative of any small, even moral, victory. Sure, you root, root, root for the home team, but if they don't win "it's a shame" -- not a calamity. Can you imagine arm-linked fans swaying to such a sweetly corny song of early-20th-century innocence -- as hard to find today as a manual typewriter or a 20-game winner -- at the two-minute warning?

But now I fear for my bliss. Hope, of a sort, is on the way -- in the form of Stephen Strasburg, the greatest pitching prospect in living memory. His fastball clocks 103 mph and his slider, says Tom Boswell, breaks so sharply it looks like it hit a bird in midair. In spring training, center fielder Nyjer Morgan nicknamed him Jesus. Because of the kid's presence, persona, charisma? Nope. Because "that's what everybody says the first time they see Strasburg throw," explained Morgan. "Jeeee-sus."

But now I'm worried. Even before Strasburg has arrived from the minor leagues, the Nats are actually doing well. They're playing .500 ball for the first time in five years. They are hovering somewhere between competent mediocrity and respectability. When Jesus arrives -- my guess is late May -- they might actually be good.

They might soon be, gasp, a contender. In the race deep into September. Good enough to give you hope. And break your heart.

Where does one then go for respite?

[DPMOmaha]

I think we have a term for that...

"Not a Nats Fan"

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Just some old-fart political junkie going off the beaten path trying to broaden his audience with sickening sweet prose that John Updike would roll over in his grave for.

[Obed_Marsh]

Well fire up the loser bandwagon and head to Pittsburgh son.

I cannot abide fans who have a sense of entitlement from reliving their countless losses.

[Evolution33]

One day we all might miss having room to stretch out or legs and not be surrounded by the mass of plebiens filing into the ballpark to watch a win. But of course we will only consider it for a second when we remember how much we wanted to take a power drill to our eyeballs in 2009.

[PANatsFan]

If Charles Krauthammer recommended that I wait for the red light cross the street, I'd run right into traffic.

[spidernat]

If Charles Krauthammer recommended that I wait for the red light cross the street, I'd run right into traffic.

I'm pretty sure he would recommend/insist that you wait for the red light before crossing the street so why don't you go follow through on your declaration.

[raleighnat]

Krauthammer's one of my favorite columnists...clearly a bit tongue in cheek.  I think is point is that baseball is such a beautiful game, even losing baseball is a beautiful thing.  I have no doubt he's really excited about the organization's progress.  Proud he's a Nats fan!

[JMW IV]

I don't give two craps about Charles Krauthammer's desire to be a lovable loser.

I want my Nats to win.

[spidernat]

clearly a bit tongue in cheek. 

 


To me this was clearly facetious but some people can't separate politics from sports.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Isn't "tongue-in-cheek" supposed to be humour?  I didn't laugh.

[DPMOmaha]

Isn't "tongue-in-cheek" supposed to be humour?  I didn't laugh.

It means "not serious", but it doesn't necessarilly mean "funny". 

[Nat of the Living Dead]

I wonder if Kraut would have printed this when the team was actually, you know, 2009 losing? Cashing in just like all the other media-heads.

[spidernat]

I wonder if Kraut would have printed this when the team was actually, you know, 2009 losing? Cashing in just like all the other media-heads.

I think the point is that he, like a lot of us here are hoping, thinks the Nats may be turning the corner (at least to a degree). He could not possibly have printed that in 2009 because there were no signs that the team was improving.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I wonder if Kraut would have printed this when the team was actually, you know, 2009 losing? Cashing in just like all the other media-heads.

It does seem kind of appropriate right now given that Strasburg is in the system and the team is finally getting better.

Actually, this article did make me laugh.  There was some liberal over at Camden Chat whose head almost exploded at the proposition of an "evil partnership" like Kraut and the Nats.

George Will, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

[shoeshineboy]

I enjoy his columns, but was surprised by this. I see him in the stands regularly, and he is a fan. But the loveable loser thing is way off base. He's right that the initial history of the Nats faithful was to keep the booing to a minimum. But while we aren't Philly or NY in that category, the patience wore thin a while ago. Olsen may have received the obligatory polite applause from  smattering,  but these guys are indeed getting booed pretty regularly as well. This is a column that seems a few years old.

But as starters blow up and base runners get picked off, there is none of the agitation, the angry, screaming, beer-spilling, red-faced ranting you get at football or basketball games.

Perhaps since he has to hang in the handicapped area above section 128, he has been unable to witness my reactions. DCab was the worst. Only Dick Cheney heard more boos from the crowd.

[Obed_Marsh]

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, April 23, 2010

Byline sure is ancient.

I think I liked this guy better when he was talking about blood and treasure. That isn't political, I just like blood and treasure.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

I admit it: I like his name. "Krauthammer."

Sounds like a Viking.

[Ray D]

Sounds like a Viking.

More like a German tool.

[OldNatsFan]

I think he is Jewish. I always liked him on channel 26 on Friday night. He is the only conservative on the show and holds his own very well.

[PANatsFan]

It does seem kind of appropriate right now given that Strasburg is in the system and the team is finally getting better.

Actually, this article did make me laugh.  There was some liberal over at Camden Chat whose head almost exploded at the proposition of an "evil partnership" like Kraut and the Nats.

George Will, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

George Will is a good guy and made a ton of sense up until he blew his stack and started jabbering about blue jeans destroying humanity.

Krauthammer is a craphead shill. Day and night with those two.

[spidernat]

Krauthammer is a craphead shill. Day and night with those two.

[hammondsnats]

I think he is Jewish. I always liked him on channel 26 on Friday night. He is the only conservative on the show and holds his own very well.

A Jewish Republican ... you don't see that a lot

[Nathan]

I admit it: I like his name. "Krauthammer."

Sounds like a Viking.

I should have named my WoW character "Krauthammer"

[The Chief]

WoW discussion moved as requested by poster - http://www.wnff.net/index.php/topic,12677.msg549155.html#msg549155