--Hickey, Act III, The Iceman Cometh
The above quotation is from Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh, and it begs men and women to give up their dreams and their hopes for tomorrow, to live solely for today. The philosophy, in fact, reduces life to the moment and removes the idea that individual lives are headed to something bigger and more meaningful. Taken to its utmost, a life without a future becomes a living death, frozen in a zombie-like existence in which only the Skip Bayless' of the world would thrive.
The Hickey's, Skip Bayless', and stat geeks of the world squeeze perspective as if it were an orange. All they want from the world, life, and their sports is the juice, ignoring the peel, the slices, the pulp, and the seeds. They miss life's layers. They miss the way life reveals itself, and they miss how the devouring of one orange leaves behind the seeds for the next orange. They miss the mythology that makes life worth living.
Well, the battle against the pessimistic haters and the analysts who wear lab coats and not their favorite player's jersey is about to take a dramatic turn in favor of the fan who, like the parks and rec soccer player, devours the whole orange.
LCB is pleased to welcome Iceman AD as its newest writer. Skip Bayless will look at Iceman's name and believe the AD simply stands for Athletic Director, but those who laugh through orange peels like teeth know that AD also means "Anno Domini."
In the year of our Lord, Iceman AD is here to deliver the following message:
"What's it matter if the truth is that their favoring breeze has the stink of nickel whiskey on its breath, and their sea is a growler of lager and ale, and their ships are long since looted and scuttled and sunk to the bottom? To hell with the truth! As the history of the world proves, the truth has no bearing on anything. It's irrelevant and immaterial, as the lawyers say. The lie of a pipe dream is what gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or sober."
--Larry, Act I, The Iceman Cometh
LCB is looking forward to hearing the Iceman's pipe dreams.
4 comments:
Iceman if your ever hurting for material, don't hesitate to blast ESPN. It always works for us.
August 18, 2009 at 3:01 PMWill do, early and often. We do the same over at the SBNation.
August 18, 2009 at 4:14 PMYeah, I think I mentioned Skip Bayless in the post because my first memory of Bayless involves Iceman, in college, getting off the couch, with a bowl of cereal and wearing only his boxers, and saying, "Screw this. I'm taking a dump and then it's off to class, suckers."
August 18, 2009 at 8:20 PMI think skip was talking smack about Duke, and I had eaten tacos the night before. And I had a class scheduled. Therefore I left Skip Bayless and Teach sitting together (figuratively)on the couch.
August 19, 2009 at 11:18 AMPost a Comment