Death, Taxes and Sports Whimsy

Whether sports shall turn out to be heroic in our lives, or whether that station will be held by any other endeavor, these pages must show. To begin our sports fanaticism with the beginning of 2012, we record that we can hardly wait for the fetid events of 2011 to fade away.At twelve o'clock on January 1st, we may remark that a new clock will start on the Sports Circus Maximus.In consideration of the near pleasantries we have catalogued in this volume, we may cry over spilled milk, or we could notice the smell coming from the fireplace indicates a rally squirrel fell down the chimney after Santa Claus departed. None of these is as pungent as the aroma that remains from the ending of 2011.A few unlucky fans in Boston sports still smell the stench of fried chicken and spilled beer. Sports fans are generally destined to be unlucky in life. One's favorite team rarely wins the championship. And second, we have been privileged and cursed to see the hobgoblins and ghosts attached to the venal and vain athletes in all sports. Our sports fanaticism is instructive at worst. We are taught by drop-outs of high culture.This year provided more rot and garbage than usual, ranging from lockouts in two major sports, sex abuse scandals at two major universities, and endless examples of venal sin from major athletes, including an NFL player doubling as a drug kingpin in Chicago, and the Antichrist seemed to be everywhere on the playing field.We have been reduced to the pathetic cry of, "Wait till next year!"No one could have predicted how eventful the year has been. Our values may have been verified by the result, but our sports heroes have been falsified by history.We have been exposed to exposing athletes, more than can be found after an oil spill or last call at the saloon. Monta Ellis, Michael Vick, and Shaun White have taken 'l' out with their pubic hairs.As we wait for the New Year and the clock to strike twelve, providing us with new hope, we may also wonder if a Houston Asteroid could be in our American League future.