Saturday, August 16, 2014

Latest Score

"I heard the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade..."

These, of course, are the opening lines to the Beatles iconic "Day in the Life". I don't know about you, but I certainly made the grade. Like most dailies, that you can still find around, they're a dying breed. In my youth, I use to spread out the Sports section and read almost every line. After listening to the Sox as I fell asleep the previous night in my sweltering bedroom, I was especially drawn to the box score of the game. For anyone who is not familiar in the baseball lingo, the box score is all the individual statistics of the game. It includes the lineup and the complete list of  all players who entered the game to any degree. the the number of times a batter came to the plate and whether he made outs, or hits and whether they were singles, doubles, triples, homeruns, sacrifices etc. It also tells you the exploits of all the pitchers that entered the game, including the number of batters faced, pitches thrown, strikes, and balls. The box score includes a lot more technical stuff that I won't bore you with, but I must say it was of great interest to a twelve year old baseball fan. I still check it today, alas on line. This stubborn guy ain't paying $2.00 a paper at the local newsstand! When I do find the morning news in my hands these days, the Local & State section seems to be the place I gravitate to first. 
Some people might say I've grown up.
I'll leave that to others to decide.
I still check out latest scores.
But I don't live and die with them.
Boy, when I was 12 the Sox were bad.
Those box scores were nasty to peruse.
I'm better now and so are my Sox... although the American League standings wouldn't convince you this morning.
55-66 this August 16th is not pretty.

17 comments:

  1. Online newspapers do not interest me one bit; I'm still a holdout for the real think in my ink-stained hands. I speculate that you still check those box scores.

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  2. It was years before I knew there was another section of the paper other than the comics. :-)

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  3. It's been years since I've held a newspaper in my hand.

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  4. Turns out I forgot to pay my latest bill so the morning paper stopped coming.

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  5. I don't really understand specatator sports but yesterday a commentator said he likes them because they reflect life with its ups & downs. J loves his PPH, delivered daily. We have a weekly midcoast paper: The Free Press. Great articles about local stuff, personal opinion essays (many of them nature focused), & a calendar of events. Nice color harmonies in your photo!

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  6. I remember being an avid newspaper reader but now I check online. I guess I'm part of the reason newspapers are in trouble.

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  7. i only get one local paper these days.

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  8. It was a little different with our football (soccer) scores, but not so much...

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  9. You give new meaning to the word, "fan-atic"!

    BTW, I hope you didn't get wet. I saw some really awful pictures of flooding in your city.

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  10. I still read the paper cover to cover every day. Most people I know don't get the paper because it is "liberal" and "biased." They tune in to Fox News to get the straight scoop. I used to follow the box scores. When I was about 9 I was a huge Red Sox fan. Probably the only one they had in the deserts of central Utah. Later I was an Astros fan. Now I hardly even watch a game. It is a lousy game for television is what I think.

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  11. Never understood the fascination with scores and statistics. An alien world to me. But . . . you're certainly not alone in that interest. As for newspapers, L reads 2 every day, cover to cover. . . Me, I'll skim the local and human interest bits. xx

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  12. I love newspapers - read one everyday and 2 on Saturdays and always buy a paper when I am travelling and read them cover to cover including the box scores!

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  13. I read several papers a day, some on campus, and generally buy at least one. I tend to leave the section I like most- entertainment and comics- to the last.

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  14. I have one foot in each world. I get the paper editions of the local paper and the Wall Street Journal every day and the New York Times on Sunday, but I check online news compulsively during the day.

    I'm going to see the Sox play the Angels Tuesday night. It has been a pretty bad year for them, but I have lived through worse Sox teams.

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  15. I am not a big fan of newspapers. I do pick up the Wall Street Journal from time to time.

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  16. Okay, you can talk about following a team who doesn't live up to expectations, but I'm a Cubs fan. I can only say one thing, "Wait until next year."

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  17. Our little local paper is so local and lightweight they almost cover whose dog had puppies...almost. Online news just doesn't do it for me. I'm considering a Sunday NY Times subscription to help fill the void.

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