A Cure is Coming

Do you feel it? I’m sure at first you didn’t really know what it was. You see initially it’s no more than an itch, maybe a tickle - this minor disturbance frequenting your subconscious. Not a problem though, I’m sure that you, like I, can ignore with the best of them. But then it begins to grow. It begins to feel like something sending you to that uncomfortable place slightly off-centre. You start to acknowledge it, and that only makes things worse. It makes no sense; Family, Friends, Work, it’s all great, your healthy and happy and full of energy, but there’s something missing and for some reason it’s leaving you lost and alone and empty. I know, it’s terrible. It’s what Kurtz had in Heart of Darkness, Bateman had in American Psycho, Rose in Titanic (wait, that might have been something different… love maybe… either way, same thing), and whatever was happening to those goofs in Fight Club. The worst part is, you have no idea what’s wrong. That is until the pre-season starts and suddenly everything is okay again…

Is this your pain? Is this what you’ve been trying to turn into a white ball of healing light? Is this the trauma that’s making your smile quiver and your dreams dark? Is this the uneasiness that follows you around all day? Don’t worry, you’re not alone, there are others out there, just like you. And we can help. The first step is the hardest one to take, so as a group, say it with me, ‘My name is _________ and I am a Fanatic…’

Okay so I lied, there’s no cure, and it’s probably not going to be okay. Withdrawals are hell and other than an unhealthy love for Equestrian and maybe a solid case of the Nascar circuit bug, July and August are going to beat you down. All I can say is man up, put your head down, and set the alarm for September. Or maybe play your own sports, but let’s not get too extreme here. And although I mentioned the Horse and the Car thing, this is not a Hi-Jacked! approved remedy for your summer time sorrow. Horses? Really? No, come on, don’t be weird.

I’m ready for some hockey, God I’m ready. Maybe not 2 to 3 games a night (you have to train for that kind of commitment - it takes hard work to be able to handle full-fledged Stanley Cup Coverage), but I could definitely stand some highlights. And here’s the thing, you don’t need to OD on the Ice to get your fix. Sports are back baby, and they’re back in a big way. Don’t get me wrong Tennis has been fun, some of that golf was great, and World Cup was obsession worthy, but let’s face it, it’s been a quiet couple of months since the Vuvuzelas stopped. It’s time to get back into the real deal now.

MNF has been money in the bank, if I wasn’t before, I am now in 100% Football Frenzy mode and it’s only week 2 – gotta love those 4th quarter finishes! The other Footie is warmed up and ready for our attention too, and the PVR is more than happy to record the EPL’s early morning matches – bring on those local Derbies! And the other other Ball-o-Foot, well you can’t count out the chance at some classic crazy CFL climax (nothing beats a good Grey Cup disaster, am I right you Melon Heads – Go Red & White!). On the other side of the rivalry between America’s Favourites is the Diamond, which is about to toss the opening pitch on the start of the real baseball season (after that 160 game pre-season thing they do so well). Finally, to round out the Big Ticket Stadium Fun is the NBA’s 2010-2011 chapter. After this summer’s Bird-Magic Doc still fresh in my mind (and heart) – gotta love when HBO and ESPN make babies - I could get into another round of b-ball (why not have the All-Star Heat against the All-Star Lakers against the All-Star Celts? Why not?).

Classes are in full swing, the leaves are changing colour, there are new awful pilots for shows that won’t know what it’s like to be on the air in October, and blah and blah and blah. It’s fall! Time to get serious! Grab some couch, cycle through your favourite team apparel, and get ready for battle, cause when it comes to the these Stadium Stories, the only thing that’s certain is that next week you will have seen something incredible, you will have seen something new, you will have seen history writing itself. Unless of course you let life get in the way. Don’t miss it, be one with The Fanatic. It’s Sports Season baby!!!

the American Dream: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid...

Just another day, seen through your favourite pair of Hi-Jacked! goggles.

…across the inbox floats the following stream of thought from an Instapundit Reader:


I think the notion of the American Dream needs to be recalibrated — especially the whole question of whether your kids will be better off than you.

The standard-of-living floor has risen so much over the past 60 years or so that it’s difficult to quantify an increase, or to set realistic expectations. It’s kind of like my grandmother who passed away at 93 — as I got older I told her I was jealous of the advancements she witnessed, from seeing her first car while riding in a horse-drawn cart to indoor plumbing to the moon landings, and that I didn’t think anyone outside of her generation will ever see such a radical change. My father immigrated from the middle east and his arrival to the US may as well have been to another planet.

Given that past and the fact that the “poor” in this country have microwave ovens, cable TV and cell phones, and technological advances seem focused on laptops and phones, what does an increased standard of living look like anymore and how does that translate to thoughtful and achievable “American dream”?

This will be a critical concept as we try to pull ourselves out of this financial mess.

Geez. And all this he says as he stares at the ‘half full’ glass and decides it’s not even there. Boohoo, everything is so good, I can barely handle it, what do we have to look forward to? More of that ‘so good’? Forget it, this sucks, I give up… Look, I can understand the amazement of the advances that certain generations have seen, and it could be true that even though I was around before the internet and can now call someone on the other side of the planet on a wireless video phone that would probably blow Captain Kirk’s mind wide open, it’s possible that I won’t get to witness the same leaps and bounds that the horse drawn carriage generation experienced when space travel became a reality. But we don’t know that for sure. And even if we did, why would you write an article that makes it feel like life’s not worth living because the poor don’t have it bad enough? Microwaves, televisions, cell phones, it’s all too much, I need a second to regroup, I can barely believe it’s real, it’s like fantasy, it’s like a dream… it’s like the American Dream, and it’s like it’s come true.

Hahaha, I love crazy people and their opinions. This guy is probably suffering from the Office Space syndrome:
- “So, wait a minute, you’re saying that every day is the worst day of your life?”
- “Yes”
- “Is today the worst day of your life?”
- “Yes”
- “… ugh, that’s messed up…”

Half Full? Half Empty? Or maybe there’s no glass at all, dundunduhhhhhhh… I think the American Dream is when you have to start worrying that times are too good and that life can’t get any better. That we might not be able to win ‘Most Improved’ anymore and might have to settle for the ‘MVP’ award. When we’ve reached that point, BAM, like right now, well then, there you have it, American Dream accomplished. Congratulations, time for back patting, back-pats all around.

I know it can be a scary thought, but sometimes you have to take a chance, step out of your comfort zone, and take a look at what might be a glass that is half full…