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Metroconservative defines deviancy down
An NRO reader, who finds the Yankees cleancut and the Red Sox disgusting, writes to John Derbyshire at The Corner:
I am not a Yankees fan—I despise the arrogance of the organization and the way they go out every year and simply purchase the best team money can buy. With the kind of money they throw around, they should win the World Series every year. That being said, I do like the fact that the Yankees maintain certain basic requirements in the area of personal appearance. When they acquired Jason Giambi, the first thing they did was make him cut his hair. Watching the Yankees-Red Sox series, I was struck by how trashy the Sox looked compared to their opponents. The Yankees looked like professionals and role models. The Red Sox looked like a group of homeless men who had been rounded up and paid with crack rocks to play ball. Red Sox players who didn’t look like they needed to be dipped in a flea bath were the exception, not the rule. So at least on that front, I tip my cap to the Yankees and hope that other teams will also adopt their standards in this area.To which Derbyshire replies:
Right on, Sir! To precis your point (if you don’t mind): The Yankees are a class act; the Bosox are a rabble. But we always knew that.A “class act”? Maybe to a self-described metroconservative. A female correspondent puts the exchange at The Corner in perspective:
This is defining deviancy down! The Yankees are actually a mess in their own right, but compared to the ultra-mess of the Sox, they look good! But one thing, have you noticed how fat the ballplayers are these days. Big behinds, big stomachs, big thighs, hulk-like shoulders, even breasts. No grace at all anymore, and the magnificently chiseled and modeled male middle section, designed by nature to induce female surrender, has almost entirely disappeared in favor of this great guts look that could be used to illustrate Rabelais.My correspondent might also have mentioned how in addition to their overweightness, their too-tight uniforms that emphasize their overweightness, their frequently unkempt hair, and the blank thuggish expressions on their faces, most of the players are unshaven. And the super closeups used constantly by the television coverage force the viewer repeatedly into those unshaven thuggish faces. Yechh. Is this a sports event, or a medical examination in a homeless shelter? And apart from the players’ demeanor and grooming and the closeups, another major annoyance is the way that the advertisement billboards are situated right behind the batter so that, as you’re watching the pitch, both the pitcher and the batter are framed against the advertisement. Buick. Budweiser. Rogaine. Why do fans accept this? How can anyone stand watching baseball on tv nowadays? I haven’t done so in years. It breaks my heart, as I love the game. But I find it literally unwatchable.
This kind of systematic degradation of our human and social environment is the true story of what has happened to American culture, and it’s barely been remarked on, even by “conservatives,” who are too busy celebrating their love affair with America. Email entry |