Robert Francis’s poem “The Base Stealer” helps us appreciate the exquisite tensions between the base runner and the pitcher.
Tag Archives: Sports
Tiger Woods Needs Krishna as Caddy
Like the hero of “The Bhagavad Gita,” Tiger Woods has lost his way in the self. A truly epic drama would be whether he can relocate his “perfect swing.” By which I mean his authentic self.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Golf, Legend of Bagger Vance, Steven Pressfield, Tiger Wood Comments closed
A Poetic Game of Throw and Catch
In his poem, Robert Francis compares the interaction between poet and reader to two boys playing throw and catch.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Catch, Baseball, Poetry criticism, Robert Francis Comments closed
Roger Clemens, Greek Tragic Hero
Roger Clemens tried to bully his Congressional interrogators the way that Oedipus bullies witnesses. To say that he should have handled himself differently is to say that he should have been a different man.
Twice Left for Dead, Japan Claws Back
Two images came to mind as I twice watched the Japanese soccer team rebound from deficits. One was from Alain’s Renais’s film “Hiroshima Mon Amour” where we see grass clawing its way back in the city streets on the day following the atom bomb. The other was of the tortoise crossing the road in “Grapes of Wrath.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alain Resnais, Grapes of Wrath, Hiroshima Mon Amour, John Steinbeck, Soccer Comments closed
Cinderella vs. Jane Eyre in Soccer Final
In tomorrow’s World Cup finals, Japan is Cinderella going up against America’s Jane Eyre.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Albert Camus, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Any Given Sunday, Charles Baudelaire, Charlotte Bronte, Cinderella, Dead Poets Society, Guillaume Apollinaire, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Jean de la Fontaine, Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach, Sense and Sensibility, Soccer, Taming of the Shrew, Villette, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Spain’s Tiger Burning Less Bright
Did the god that made the elegant strokes of Roger Federer also make the bruising style of Nadal? Like William Blake gazing at the lamb and the tiger in “Tyger, Tyger,” we can only shake our heads bemused.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Tyger, Homer, Novak Djokovic, Odyssey, Rafael Nadal, tennis, William Blake, Wimbledon Comments closed
In Life as in Poker, Trust What You Know
Novelist Rachel Kranz talks about trust, both in poker and novel writing. Once you have the knowledge and the skill, she says, what remains is trusting yourself.
Golf Suddenly Seems Green Again
Something happened in the course of the recent U. S. Open tournament. Lucille Clifton’s poem is about the “damn wonder” of renewal, and golf is catching a whiff of something fresh in the boy-faced Rory McIlroy.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "there is a girl inside", Golf, Lucille Clifton, Robert Coover, Rory McIlroy, Universal Baseball Association Comments closed
