Farewell Chipper: Baseball and Memories

I can't claim to be much of a baseball fan anymore. I still play fantasy baseball, and I still check the standings, and every now and then I tune in for fifteen minutes of a game. But the sport is really at the peripheries of my consciousness. I mean, I couldn't even pick out Mike Trout (only the most exciting young baseball player since Doc Gooden) in a police lineup. To channel Rob Lowe's character on Parks and Rec, I literally have not seen one Mike Trout at-bat this year. The season is way too long, the games are way too boring, and besides, there's summer league NBA basketball to watch.

But I've still held onto the Atlanta Braves.

Indian Identity and Jesse "Cab" Renick, Captain of the 1948 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team in London

In London the scoreboard read 65-21 as the final gong mercifully rang out. Thirteen Frenchmen stood in a line opposite fourteen Americans watching the Stars and Stripes unfurl and listening to the band play the Star Spangled Banner. The final notes lingered as the United States’ players rushed forward and carried a six-foot two-inch slightly balding 30-year-old named Jesse Renick off the court on their shoulders, bringing an end to the 1948 London Olympic basketball tourney, an event which brought the United States their second basketball gold medal and cemented Renick’s unique place in history.

Renick (55) shakes hands with a member of the Red Cross.
Or a random Olympic basketball player from 1948. I can't tell. 

Best of 2012 Music (So Far)

I wear too many hats nowadays to also don the hat of amateur music critic. So I present this list with the caveat that I don't have the time, desire, will, and/or sense of self-importance to listen to all the new and notable albums that have come out this year. Of what I have listened to, these four albums stand out for the same reason: they are the only four which I consistently listen to from beginning to end. There are plenty of great individual songs that have been released this year. But only these four hold my attention for an entire album.

London Olympic Basketball, circa 1948

The 1948 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team played in London 64 years ago, winning the gold. This year's U.S. team will be trying to follow in their footsteps. I wrote an article over at Yahoo about that team, and why they deserve to be remembered (besides winning the gold, of course).

The 1948 U.S. men's basketball team. Key players: Bob Kurland (90), Jesse Renick (55),
Ralph Beard (12), Alex Groza (15), Don Barksdale (33).