{"id":2239,"date":"2016-04-13T19:47:59","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T19:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2239"},"modified":"2016-04-13T19:48:49","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T19:48:49","slug":"congo-syria-politics-and-the-mariners-equal-troubled-times-in-the-boneyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2239","title":{"rendered":"Congo, Syria, politics and the Mariners equal troubled times in the Boneyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Terry<\/a><\/p>\n

TERRY MOSHER<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m off to the Boneyard today. The mess that is the political season coupled with the madness in the Congo, the savagery of Syria \u2013 all of which should make us all ashamed to be human beings \u2013 has driven me to have maddening thoughts that swirl about in my head like a bullet ricocheting about trying to find a way out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a crazy and extremely ugly world we live in and sometimes I think it best to get rid of all the electronic things, including TV, that feed me so much in this our informational age so I can just live simply and be oblivious to all the terrible things that are happening.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, there are good things and good people in our world. But it\u2019s true that bad news sells so we (I) get swamped with all the bad news possible, and it makes me feel not so much sad but guilty that I at least have some semblance of balance and civility to my life while millions of others live in constant fear of being brutally beaten, killed and raped.<\/p>\n

Take the Congo. I was reading a story in Time Magazine that called the Congo \u201cThe Rape Capital of the World.\u201d I won\u2019t detail here what I read because it\u2019s too terrible to even think human beings would act this way (but they do). Roving gangs of various tribes, for example, go around killing all the males so they don\u2019t grow up to be enemy fighters and the women \u2013 very young and old \u2013 are then left to the desires of the attackers .<\/p>\n

I was reading an on-line story \u2013 The Assad Files _the other day and it drove me over the emotional edge. There is no official count of the people that have been killed in this civil war, but estimates put it at 250,000 and often the killing is done slowly in prisons with unmentionable torture tactics that would make anybody with even just a tiny bit of human decency lose it.<\/p>\n

These killings are approved from the highest level of the Syrian government, and that means president Bashar Al-Assad. I refuse to believe he is human. No human would oversee what is being done there.<\/p>\n

What is even more depression to me is that Assad was rescued by the Russians, led by another guy who is not human, Putin. Without the Russians, Assad would likely be gone by now.<\/p>\n

Why is all of this done? Why does the supposedly civilized world allow this to happen?<\/p>\n

Then there are the terrorist that pretend to act in the name of a religion that are going around killing innocent people just because they want to. Wow.<\/p>\n

I could go on and on because war is not limited, it is almost everywhere you look on a globe. And it\u2019s often an inhuman war that knows no boundaries. When you look at the world like it really is, the political season we are in that may be the ugliest season I have been witness to in my life, seems tame in comparison.<\/p>\n

I was amused today to see the Trumpster complain about the unethical means the Republican Party is using in its delegate politics to possibly take away the presidential nomination from him.<\/p>\n

Well, Donald, welcome to the dirty world of politics. You are waking up too late. Maybe you are not as smart as you think you are. While you slept in your castles the party was going on without you.<\/p>\n

The Donald may have to mobilize his \u201cBrown Shirts\u201d and march on Cleveland come mid-July to overthrow the Republican Convention and the party. And he may do just that.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t this a wonderful world?<\/p>\n

On the other side of the aisle, I hear from lifelong die-hard Democrats that if Clinton wins the nomination they will vote for the Republican nominee, even if that is the Donald.<\/p>\n

Wow. This really is a wonderful world.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m beginning to think it\u2019s time for me to leave this world. It may no longer hold my interest. I\u2019ve either gotten too old or too wise, or maybe both, and what I see from the Congo to Syria to Russia to China, to North Korea, to Yemen and other festering hot spots in the world, to our 2016 presidential race makes me want to take the first boat out of this world.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m afraid, though, I have to wait on word from God before I can leave. It\u2019s a good thing I can always go to the Boneyard to get rid of useless and dangerous thoughts.<\/p>\n

Which reminds me, what happened to the dreamy new world of the Seattle Mariners? Weren\u2019t they under new baseball management? Didn\u2019t they overhaul the roster to fit the spacious confines of Safeco Field? Wasn\u2019t this supposed to be the first steps on the march to the World Series?<\/p>\n

Ok, ok, I know, it\u2019s only eight games into a 162-game season, but, wow, these 2016 Mariners look an awful lot like the 2015 Mariners. Weren\u2019t they supposed to cut down on strikeouts and put the ball in play more? Well, where is that at?<\/p>\n

The Mariners play 81 home games and is it possible they will lose them all? If so, they have a good start on it, having lost their first five games at spacious Safeco with a lineup built for its spacious confines.<\/p>\n

Hey, I\u2019m just being sarcastic. That is what I get to do in the Boneyard So calm down. Maybe they won\u2019t lose them all. Just don\u2019t hold your breath until they do.<\/p>\n

Tonight is the big night for NBA followers. I don\u2019t want regular season NBA Games. That\u2019s because I\u2019m jealous. I couldn\u2019t dunk in high school (I could hit the back rim) and I don\u2019t like to be reminded of that by watching NBA players repeatedly dunk. Which reminds me, does anybody play defense down deep? It seems to me that when a dunk is coming defenders get out of the way. Why is that?<\/p>\n

Anyway, the big night tonight is when Memphis visits Golden State at Oracle Arena. Game time is 7:30 p.m. and you can watch it on ESPN.<\/p>\n

Golden State will be attempting to set the regular season record for wins at 73 with a victory over Memphis. The record has been held by Michael Jordan and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls when they went 72-10.<\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s important, although it pales to what is going on in the Congo. But I\u2019m sure millions will be watching, although not me. I\u2019m pretty sure Stephen Curry and the Warriors will win. Why wouldn\u2019t they. They are not going to choke now.<\/p>\n

Their pursuit of the record has dragged up a discussion on who would win in a showdown of the \u201995-96 Bulls and the Warriors. A Seattle Times columnist writes that the Warriors would win, hands down.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think it is a valid discussion. I believe you can\u2019t compare sports teams and boxers from different eras and predict with certainly who would win. The game of basketball has changed too much to make a valid determination.<\/p>\n

Years ago I played a video basketball game with my teenage son. He took the San Antonio Spurs and I had a collection of Hall of Famers from bygone years. I even had Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson and others and my son easily beat me. It wasn\u2019t even close. I remember Wilkens missing layups one after the other.<\/p>\n

Years ago somebody matched by computer heavyweight boxers in a tournament and Jack Dempsey beat Muhammad Ali in the title match. I\u2019ve been a so-called boxing expert for many years and I doubt that the slow-footed Dempsey would come close to beating Ali. And that makes my point. You can\u2019t compare teams and athletes from different eras. Jim Thorpe is considered one of the best all-around athletes of all time, but how would he do in today\u2019s world? Not so good, I\u2019m guessing.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that\u2019s enough of that. My wife wants to go to a free cooking show. I better hustle. Later.<\/p>\n

Be well pal.<\/p>\n

Be careful out there.<\/p>\n

Have a great day.<\/p>\n

You are loved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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