Some kind words from an SFgate.com commenter about Jon Miller:
Nobody calls a game better than Jon Miller. He could call a totally imaginary game and keep the listeners glued to the broadcast.
Agreed. When I became a Giants fan in 2009, the first time I heard Jon Miller’s voice, l was so impressed that I thought he might be English! Coincidentally, he’s recently been on vacation in England. Go figure.
By the way, Mr. Miller is more than welcome to visit Our Ballpark and call a game in here. And, no, that whole defamation thing was a one-time deal…
Today, my parents dropped on me the suggestion that they might want us to go on a little family trip to Philly. My dad, who claims he was following the World Series, made no mention of how interesting, and interestingly awkward, a trip this would be. I made no mention to them either, but in my head I was already imagining myself walking down the streets of Philadelphia donned in Giants gear and ready to do battle. Plus I’ve always wanted to see the Liberty Bell.
Baseball is such a vastly complex sport that I expect to spend my whole life learning about it. I also need to catch up with the culture of sports and a being a sports fan. Since 2009, out of all the books I’ve read and all the movies I’ve watched — and believe me, I’ve watched many of the classic baseball movies ranging from The Natural and Field of Dreams to Mr. 3000 (which I thought was adorable and funny and RIP Bernie Mac) — the most interesting “assignment” of my studies so far has been watching the TV show Friday Night Lights. I’m only slowly getting into football, but even if I don’t completely understand football just yet, Friday Night Lights is still an amazing show. To me, it’s the Battlestar Galactica of high school football. Both shows are crisis-oriented (the former was about getting home, the latter about winning games) and both had those neat handheld camera shots. But what they have in common on a deeper level is amazing character architecture: it’s so rare that you watch a TV show, even the most well-written ones, where you root for the fate of the characters. Fake people, and yet, so gorgeously crafted that you believe that they could exist in real life and in fact mirror real life: that’s the beauty that is Friday Night Lights.
So, over the weekend, I finally watched the Lost series finale, thus completing a journey that I began over the summer. I also finished the first season — 22 episodes, people! — of Friday Night Lights. And, oh yes, I finally got around to the part in my Netflix queue where I can start the third season of Gossip Girl. All right, so that last show is a total guilty pleasure, like candy that you shouldn’t eat but it tastes so damned good that you can’t help but suck every last ounce through your teeth until the candy wrapper is practically coating your lips.
