Winless In Seattle
Steve Sauro
Elliott SmithMariner baseball and Sports Night
June 17th 2011 16:52
:
Hits and Misses
Isaac: Dana, they're talking about bioengineering animals and terraforming Mars. When I started reporting Gemini missions, just watching a Titan rocket lift off was a sight to see. Now they're going to colonize the solar system.
Dana: Are you obsessing about this?
Isaac: Yes.
Dana: Why?
Isaac: Because I won't be alive to see it
That is Isaac Jeffries talking to Dana Whitaker in Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin's brilliant precursor to West Wing. Sports Night had it all. Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Molina, Robert Guillaume, and Sabrina Lloyd. At a super bowl party in 2001, I talked about the brilliance of Sports Night. I had not seen West Wing and I hadn't associated the greatness to Aaron Sorkin (yet), it was just a show that was being rerun on Comedy Central, and it was a show that I loved. I couple of guys started chatting with me and low and behold, they were writers for a TV show called "Sliders". I am ashamed to say, to this day and especially after what happened, I have never watched "Sliders". But these great guys were writers for that show, and after professing my love for Sabrina Lloyd, 6 weeks later I had an autographed picture of said actress in my mailbox. People like those two writers of "Sliders" should be bronzed for future generations. They had no reason to go out of their way and ask an actress to send a random fan a picture, but they did, and 10 years later it still puts a smile on my face. If you can do anything in your life that makes another person smile after ten years, you should do that immediately, and then you should pat yourself on your back because you finally figured out what life is really about.
Sports Night is one of those forgotten shows that only get brought up when doofus' like me push our TV shows on people like you. I always feel embarrassed when bringing up Sports Night because I think of all the TV shows I haven't watched that people I really enjoy being with beg me to see. I still haven't seen an episode of Weeds, so what right do I have to tell you what to watch? But Sports Night was different for me. I had just moved to California, I was alone in a tiny one bedroom apartment in Brea, Ca, and I was single for the first time since my hormones had kicked in (roughly 9 years). It was being reran on Comedy Central, and (because Tivo didn't exist), I bought a VCR for the sole purpose of recording episodes (I forget the times, but I think they were like 2 PM and 12 AM, so either I was at work or going to bed and couldn't watch the show). There was this great, snappy dialogue that had been shown in movies like "A Few Good Men" and "Malice" (both Sorkin), but he hadn't approached his peak yet (like he would with "The West Wing"). The story lines were there, the heartfelt moments were there, the dialogue (of course) was there. What stood out, most of all, was the loyalty.
Sports Night lasted two seasons. During season 1, Robert Guillame (you would know him as "Benson" the butler, sadly (?) another show I've never seen) had a stroke and was away for a while. Rather than replace him, Sorkin wrote him into the rest of the episodes as the top executive of Sports Night who had had as stroke. The shows were based around his ability to recover from a stroke while he was recovering from a stroke. William H Macy (who is in like 7 episodes and leaves far and away the greatest character in TV history), Joshua Molina, Peter Krause-these are all guys Aaron Sorkin has loyalty towards and continues writing pieces for. Peter Krause was a bartender at some theater that "A Few Good Men" was playing in (back when it was a Broadway show) and now he's a household name because Aaron Sorkin liked him. The last few episodes of Sports Night revolved around the sports show it depicted trying to get picked up by another channel, all while the actual show was trying to get picked up by another channel. There were numerous scenes where the "powers from above" would tell the producer (Felicity Huffman) how to run her show, followed by her and her staff proclaiming that it was "a good show" and that it deserved the chance to keep being made. Sorkin never shied away from letting the audience know how tough it was to explain to the network that the show they were doing was good, but nothing they would do could get it watched by more people.
Sports Night died a quick death, and almost all involved went on to bigger things. Sorkin himself won an Oscar for "The Social Network" last year. And he won (By my calculation) every Emmy available for "The West Wing". But the 45 episodes of Sports Night live on, despite that terrible laugh track in season 1 that he fought so hard to remove. And it brought the quotes at the beginning of the page. Isaac, sitting in his office, reading an article about space exploration. A man who had just battled death and won; at least for the time being; reading about things he will never see with his own eyes. A poignant observation about life in general. Experience as much in life that you can, because you never know when your opportunities will cease to exist.
Mariner baseball isn't life and death (and thank God because, wow, can it be boring), but it is I love. And at the time of this writing, it is a team that is only a half a game out of first place. So, starting now, I will give a write up of each series from now till the end of the season. Seattle may tank, Seattle might make a run at the division, but I will be there. And hopefully you will too. We'll call the column "Hits and Misses", and we'll go over the good and bad of the series. It'll go something like this:
Hit: Dustin Ackley. Calling him up now is perfect timing for all involved. It gives Mariner fans something to be excited about while simultaneously gives Chone Figgins a chance to see how baseball is played while watching from the dugout. Actually...
Miss: Chone Figgins. Who would have thought that the guy who weighs 120 pounds couldn't get a ball out of the infield? At least he's a crappy fielder.
Hit: The Texas Rangers. A five game losing streak? Thank you! Given that Seattle is about to score 4 total runs during the series with Philly, a continuation of that streak would be much appreciated.
Miss: Venoy Overton. I wasn't exactly shocked that he (of my beloved UW basketball team) got nabbed by the cops, but the fact that he was "pimping" is a bit sad. When my cousin told me it was a Class C felony, I asked if the C was for Cougar. Nope.
Miss: Me. I had my first big scoop during the Lakers collapse in the playoffs, but my source wouldn't go on the record. Just know this: It absolutely involved Gasol's girlfriend except none of the stories you heard were correct. Expect a player from that team to get traded soon. I've said too much already! Speaking of the playoffs...
Hit: The Dallas Mavericks. Sure, they beat the hated Lakers and the hated Heat, and good for them. But make no mistake; their biggest win was beating Oklahoma City. I hadn't watched basketball all season until given the chance to watch Clay Bennett get demolished by Dirk. Now we just need Nate Robinson to get traded off that squad so I can like him again.
Big Hit: For the Mariners still being in the race. Usually by this time, we Mariner fans are thinking about next year. But despite an Ichiro being in the biggest slump we've ever seen and Chone Figgins doing Chone Figgins things, they're still in it. I keep waiting for the wheels to come off the bandwagon, and they keep finding ways to stay above .500. It's nice to care about baseball again, and especially this late in the season (and it's only mid-June!). Hopefully the offense will do start doing something with Ackley in it so they won't have to continue relying 100 percent on their pitching. But for now, we get to watch a team with a shot at the playoffs, and you really can't ask for much more than that.
3 games against Philly, we'll see you all here Sunday night/Monday morning!
Dana: Are you obsessing about this?
Isaac: Yes.
Dana: Why?
Isaac: Because I won't be alive to see it
That is Isaac Jeffries talking to Dana Whitaker in Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin's brilliant precursor to West Wing. Sports Night had it all. Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Molina, Robert Guillaume, and Sabrina Lloyd. At a super bowl party in 2001, I talked about the brilliance of Sports Night. I had not seen West Wing and I hadn't associated the greatness to Aaron Sorkin (yet), it was just a show that was being rerun on Comedy Central, and it was a show that I loved. I couple of guys started chatting with me and low and behold, they were writers for a TV show called "Sliders". I am ashamed to say, to this day and especially after what happened, I have never watched "Sliders". But these great guys were writers for that show, and after professing my love for Sabrina Lloyd, 6 weeks later I had an autographed picture of said actress in my mailbox. People like those two writers of "Sliders" should be bronzed for future generations. They had no reason to go out of their way and ask an actress to send a random fan a picture, but they did, and 10 years later it still puts a smile on my face. If you can do anything in your life that makes another person smile after ten years, you should do that immediately, and then you should pat yourself on your back because you finally figured out what life is really about.
Sports Night is one of those forgotten shows that only get brought up when doofus' like me push our TV shows on people like you. I always feel embarrassed when bringing up Sports Night because I think of all the TV shows I haven't watched that people I really enjoy being with beg me to see. I still haven't seen an episode of Weeds, so what right do I have to tell you what to watch? But Sports Night was different for me. I had just moved to California, I was alone in a tiny one bedroom apartment in Brea, Ca, and I was single for the first time since my hormones had kicked in (roughly 9 years). It was being reran on Comedy Central, and (because Tivo didn't exist), I bought a VCR for the sole purpose of recording episodes (I forget the times, but I think they were like 2 PM and 12 AM, so either I was at work or going to bed and couldn't watch the show). There was this great, snappy dialogue that had been shown in movies like "A Few Good Men" and "Malice" (both Sorkin), but he hadn't approached his peak yet (like he would with "The West Wing"). The story lines were there, the heartfelt moments were there, the dialogue (of course) was there. What stood out, most of all, was the loyalty.
Sports Night lasted two seasons. During season 1, Robert Guillame (you would know him as "Benson" the butler, sadly (?) another show I've never seen) had a stroke and was away for a while. Rather than replace him, Sorkin wrote him into the rest of the episodes as the top executive of Sports Night who had had as stroke. The shows were based around his ability to recover from a stroke while he was recovering from a stroke. William H Macy (who is in like 7 episodes and leaves far and away the greatest character in TV history), Joshua Molina, Peter Krause-these are all guys Aaron Sorkin has loyalty towards and continues writing pieces for. Peter Krause was a bartender at some theater that "A Few Good Men" was playing in (back when it was a Broadway show) and now he's a household name because Aaron Sorkin liked him. The last few episodes of Sports Night revolved around the sports show it depicted trying to get picked up by another channel, all while the actual show was trying to get picked up by another channel. There were numerous scenes where the "powers from above" would tell the producer (Felicity Huffman) how to run her show, followed by her and her staff proclaiming that it was "a good show" and that it deserved the chance to keep being made. Sorkin never shied away from letting the audience know how tough it was to explain to the network that the show they were doing was good, but nothing they would do could get it watched by more people.
Sports Night died a quick death, and almost all involved went on to bigger things. Sorkin himself won an Oscar for "The Social Network" last year. And he won (By my calculation) every Emmy available for "The West Wing". But the 45 episodes of Sports Night live on, despite that terrible laugh track in season 1 that he fought so hard to remove. And it brought the quotes at the beginning of the page. Isaac, sitting in his office, reading an article about space exploration. A man who had just battled death and won; at least for the time being; reading about things he will never see with his own eyes. A poignant observation about life in general. Experience as much in life that you can, because you never know when your opportunities will cease to exist.
Mariner baseball isn't life and death (and thank God because, wow, can it be boring), but it is I love. And at the time of this writing, it is a team that is only a half a game out of first place. So, starting now, I will give a write up of each series from now till the end of the season. Seattle may tank, Seattle might make a run at the division, but I will be there. And hopefully you will too. We'll call the column "Hits and Misses", and we'll go over the good and bad of the series. It'll go something like this:
Hit: Dustin Ackley. Calling him up now is perfect timing for all involved. It gives Mariner fans something to be excited about while simultaneously gives Chone Figgins a chance to see how baseball is played while watching from the dugout. Actually...
Miss: Chone Figgins. Who would have thought that the guy who weighs 120 pounds couldn't get a ball out of the infield? At least he's a crappy fielder.
Hit: The Texas Rangers. A five game losing streak? Thank you! Given that Seattle is about to score 4 total runs during the series with Philly, a continuation of that streak would be much appreciated.
Miss: Venoy Overton. I wasn't exactly shocked that he (of my beloved UW basketball team) got nabbed by the cops, but the fact that he was "pimping" is a bit sad. When my cousin told me it was a Class C felony, I asked if the C was for Cougar. Nope.
Miss: Me. I had my first big scoop during the Lakers collapse in the playoffs, but my source wouldn't go on the record. Just know this: It absolutely involved Gasol's girlfriend except none of the stories you heard were correct. Expect a player from that team to get traded soon. I've said too much already! Speaking of the playoffs...
Hit: The Dallas Mavericks. Sure, they beat the hated Lakers and the hated Heat, and good for them. But make no mistake; their biggest win was beating Oklahoma City. I hadn't watched basketball all season until given the chance to watch Clay Bennett get demolished by Dirk. Now we just need Nate Robinson to get traded off that squad so I can like him again.
Big Hit: For the Mariners still being in the race. Usually by this time, we Mariner fans are thinking about next year. But despite an Ichiro being in the biggest slump we've ever seen and Chone Figgins doing Chone Figgins things, they're still in it. I keep waiting for the wheels to come off the bandwagon, and they keep finding ways to stay above .500. It's nice to care about baseball again, and especially this late in the season (and it's only mid-June!). Hopefully the offense will do start doing something with Ackley in it so they won't have to continue relying 100 percent on their pitching. But for now, we get to watch a team with a shot at the playoffs, and you really can't ask for much more than that.
3 games against Philly, we'll see you all here Sunday night/Monday morning!
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Comment by Winless In Seattle
UnSportsman
His value has probably never been higher as a Mariner. We could turn him into an intermediate "right now" (Swisher?) bat and a top prospect (Montero?)? Slide Pauley to his spot in the rotation? Yankees are for sure in the 'buying' mood (Swisher? Montero?), which in turn puts Boston and TB in that same mood. I've also heard Arizona kicked around as a potential suitor.
Then again... we are in the best contention/position we've been in in years (decades?). If this team can get a break and win the West - because let's face it, wildcard ain't an option - would you want to be the team that has to face Felix, Pineda then Bedard in a best of 5? Moving Pauley out of his 'spot' might mess with his psyche and he could turn into another Morrow (Mariner's version). Don't change what ain't broke?
I dunno... Maybe I'll have to grow out my horseshoe stache to get a better clubhouse feel for the situation. Not too mention trade deadline is a month and a half away...
Also - All-Stars. You have to consider Felix and Pineda as locks at this point, correct?. Ichiro keeps it interesting - but is a usual late vote getter - especially considering his pace after 'the benching'. Last I checked League is the AL leader in saves, is he not? Remove that 4 day period in May and he's damn near untouched. And Pauley has to at least cross the manager's desk as a potential option - though at middle relief/set-up it's long shot. So do I really see 3 possibly 4 All-Star's on this squad?!? Am I that crazy?
Comment by Elliott Smith
As for your all-stars, Ichiro is a lock because Japan will flood the internet voting. Felix is a lock because no manager would dare leaving him off the roster. Pineda deserves a nod, as does League, but I'm fearful that 4 guys from a .500 ball club might be pushing it. Pauley would be a good story, but highly doubtful simply because I have to take a nap every time I type his name.
Here's a question: Given that every free agent we sign for offense ends up sucking, and given that every potential free agent knows that, will Seattle ever sign a worthy player again? Or will we have to move the fences in 70 feet to start drawing interest?