Records Made Can No Longer Be Broken
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by user Ross K.
I feel very sorry for Chase Utley.
Why? Because he's playing well. Utley has a 27-game hitting streak going and in America, if you do that something that's good like that, life sucks.
In the (outstanding) movie 61*, the home run race between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle is the main subject of the film, but the underlying story is how the press got involved. The M&M home run race was the beginning of the end of record breaking.
Well, legitimate record breaking that is.
When a player starts getting even remotely close to approaching a standing record, media from all over the country start to swarm him (or her), showing no mercy until the player screws up. Then the media immediately removes him from the hero platform and places them never-so-gently in the loser bin.
A player doesn't need only the skill and luck to break a record, they need an unhuman-like amount of stamina and patience to deal with the large monkey-like media on their back. That is, of course, unless you have a hefty supply of Andro or Cream and Clear to boost your skill enough to balance out how much the media brings you down.
The catch is, even if someone manages to beat a record and the media, the media then questions whether that person player had Barry Bonds-like help in doing so. (See Lance Armstrong)
So good luck, Chase Utley. You're very brave to keep on this attempt at bringing down a legendary record. Sure, you're not even halfway there. But the media has their teeth bared and claws out ready to bring you down.
You're in a place where if your streak ends naturally, you'll be considered a failure. If your streak ends on purpose (oops, was I swinging with my eyes closed?), you'll be considered a coward. If your streak continues and you break 56, you'll probably be considered a cheater.
That's what you get for being better than average.
Date
Fri 07/28/06, 8:02 am EST
