The Magic Carpet

By Matthew

His Strikeout totals reach the Magic 3,000, his ERA is solid and the Postseason success and performances are Hall worthy to say the least. The weak areas of his resume have more to do with the health issues he dealt with that limited him to 8 full seasons from his 20 years in the game (1988-2007). Ordinarily, that would be enough to prevent his induction if he hadn't overcome the injuries to post dominant seasons when he WAS healthy and a look at the 8 complete seasons shows he was everything a HOF Pitcher should be, posting a 143-69 (.675) during those years. The fact that he had his most successful years later in his career and won championships as a lead performer in 3 of his final 7 seasons, in both leagues, with different clubs, cinches the HOF argument for me.

When physically sound, he was a durable #1 starter with pinpoint control, power fastball, devastating splitter, gutty and dependable on a Baseball mound. Everything you want in that spot.

Which concludes the discussion about his BASEBALL career.

Now I am going to talk about Curt Schilling, the Union member, the Media critic, the Political advocate, the citizen of the game, and the country...As I am an advocate for keeping the discussion of players focused on their ON-FIELD lives, I will explain that, for Guru - that is a right that extends to EVERY person - the right to be judged on your work, solely on that work.

However...

The criticisms of Schilling do not come from an intrusion into his private life, from the beginning of his career, he has made a point of speaking out on any and every topic and thus, moved his PRIVATE life and belief systems into the Public sphere. Schilling's OWN words make the point...

"...people with so little skill in their profession that they need to speculate, make up, fabricate, to write something interesting enough to be printed. What makes them bad people? I am sure I cannot nail the exact reason, but I know some. Jealousy, bitterness, the need to be 'different,' I am sure there are others, but those are the ones I know off hand. You just kind of have to realize that there are people that don't like you and, unfortunately, sometimes those people have a voice, disliking me probably matches my dislike for him (Gomez), but I have a problem with people who don't have integrity and principle, so that stuff happens. You just kind of just have to let it go."

It has been Schilling who has consistently inserted himself into the lives of OTHERS, be they teammates, opponents, fans of other teams, ownership, press, politicians...

The diatribe quoted above came from a dispute he had with Pedro Gomez and Jon Heyman, writers who 'dared' to point out the careful construct of image-making that Schilling engages upon and the diametrically opposed reality of who he IS. For such daring, Schilling responded with the above. It seems only fair to point out that Gomez and Heyman are, far from 'lacking skill' at the very APEX of Professionalism in Sportswriting - beyond reproach in terms of their personal and professional conduct and the writing they produce.

For Schilling, like the Bush administration he so admired, the job of the Press is to shovel his shit in the form he designs it and stand with him in his views - a careful look at the Press (and fans) who supported him PERSONALLY and have contributed to his 'legend' reveals that, just as the Fox acolytes who relentlessly and consistently stood with Bush despite the data - the ones who 'don't have integrity and principle' are the ones who ignore the reality of what Gomez noted made Schilling “the consummate table for one.”

Everywhere Schilling has played, the dynamic of Image-making versus reality has reared its ugly head, how YOU feel about the guy is likely to depend upon where you sit in the 'Culture War', and, if you are someone who finds themselves admiring him - chances are pretty good, you and Guru would quickly end up at each other's throats. He is a person who has invoked religious faith in his public life (like fellow bad guy, Kurt Warner) and actually had the unmitigated gall to opine the presence of God's 'will' in the Red Sox 2007 World Series victory - a series and year which marked the all-time low point for the Religious Right's destruction of America as two teams loaded with Right-Wing evangelicals squared off in a matchup largely ignored by those of us who live in Blue places outside of New England.

Thankfully, those days are O-V-E-R and like all people of conscience we can be grateful...the Worst day under Obama is infinitely better than the best one under Bush and treating a bigoted scumbag like Schilling as a good guy because of his charity work for ALS is akin to calling Bush a 'humanitarian' for the African AIDS funds he delivered - at the same time he was working with the Religious Right to stop family planning efforts globally that distribute life-saving condoms and sex-education to these same populations.

For pukes like Curt, Kurt and Dubya (Palin, Huckabee, Youkilis...), America is a Christian Nation founded by White Protestants that should echo the values of those puritans. Every time you see an Anti-Immigrant, English-First, Anti-Gay-Marriage, Anti-Intellectual, Anti-Secular mindset - you are seeing the 'values' this piece of shit holds and understand how damaging his public life has been for America.

He associated himself with the Anti-Immigration types in his native Arizona (he was born in Alaska, claims Pittsburgh and lives in Boston, but the bulk of his life and advocacy occurred in Arizona...) and, upon his arrival in Boston, the HEART of Blue State America and progressive political thought, ingratiated himself to the worst elements of New England society and split the Red Sox clubhouse apart - dividing the latinos and minorities from the Rednecks. Derisively referring to HOF Red Sox hero, Pedro Martinez by the anglicized 'Petey' and openly assessing his private clubhouse existence, Schilling made it clear he intended to be the Cock of the Red Sox Walk and created a climate that has made the Sox the darlings of the White-Boy universe just as that universe disappears forever - short term Q rating thus rising while long-term impact destined to lead to a severe decline.

For Boston, the days of finding a talented Latino player have ended - permanently. In the wake of the Pedro demonization/Curt deification and Manny fiasco - Theo can't get an ear in the DR and a look at this lily-white roster illustrates the conundrum. No mid-career Latino star will consider Boston again and no top-tier kid will sign there, they have created a white, evangelical ghetto that speaks to the worst of what America is and, while that makes sense in the cesspool that is the Rocky Mountain West with the Colorado Rockies - it is an unforgivable sin in the very places where freedom and secular thought found their greatest expression.

It is a shift that has turned the Red Sox from one-time darlings of the Dominican fans, during the heyday of Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz into a hotbed of Redneck thought and white-boy roster...where one once saw Red Sox hats by the hundreds in a latin communities, those hats have disappeared and been replaced by Los Angeles Dodger (Manny) and Cinncinnatti Reds (Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto) hats.

And it has also resulted in an erosion of Red Sox sentiments amongst progressives, even life-long Sox fans like our own Red Sox Steve have seen their joy dimmed by the move from the honorable Nomar, Pedro, Manny types to the current, Curt-inspired roster of douchebags (when Papelbon pops off, remember who taught him that was somehow acceptable and it might very well be - in TEXAS! (But in New England????). Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt can be pukes, because they live amongst human garbage - but the Garbage of Red Sox Nation are decided minorities and diminishing daily, their time has passed, but their damage will endure.

The Culture War is over, a surely as the Civil War ended with triumph for Enlightenment, and now, as then, those who remain on the losing side face lives of abuse and irrelevance...wherever there exists Right-Wing, Christian fundamentalists, bigots, homophobes, xenophobes...people like Curt Schilling...

...folks like Guru will be there to crush them with a 2 X 4 of TRUTH. Their days of destroying America and making us a source of derision throughout the World for parochial, ignorant, racist, supernatural thought are O-V-E-R. Americans of character cannot afford to let the worst of us continue to drag us down to their despicable levels.

For Red Sox fans, facing the end of their winning years in 2009, the inevitable demand for a trade from Big Papi and the beginning of an extended period of losing - you have Curt to thank. And, despite the fantasy of minor-league talent on the way, the Baseball season begins with Red Sox AA and AAA teams knowing they have no chance of competing with their Yankee rivals and, in fact, hoping to finish the season at the MLB, AAA and AA levels within 10 games of them.

At least you can be grateful you had Manny long enough to win the only two championships you will know in your lifetime.

Don't believe Guru? Stop back in October and let me know...