Barra and I watched the movie Friendly Persuasion yesterday. It's a delightful movie starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, and Anthony Perkins. Set in Indiana, it's about a Quaker family who are confronted by the realities of the Civil War.
In an early scene, a Union officer visits their Quaker meeting house in order to recruit some men to help protect the area from approaching Confederate marauders. This encounter results in the sides struggling with many difficult questions.
Jesus' message as expounded in the New Testament is a “thinking person's religion.” Jesus tells us that we are “set right” with God through love and forgiveness, and not the law. This is one of the most powerful concepts. Unfortunately, it gets largely ignored today.
Friendly Persuasion presents an uncomfortable yet ultimately more just way of dealing with difficult problems as opposed to the easy knee-jerk fundamentalist Christian approach.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Pirates 2012: Don't Get Your Hopes Up, folks!
Pirate Closer Joel Hanrahan |
This year I'm predicting another 4th place finish, but several factors could make the team better or worse.
All Star Andrew McCutchen |
Neil Walker |
Third, rookies, especially Matt Hague and Starling Marte may be ready to crack the lineup and help the team.
Fourth, with Albert Pujols heading west and Prince Fielder heading to the Motor City, the perennially competitive NL Central could be even more so.
Finally, for the most important factor in their success – MANAGEMENT! Last year I expressed concern with the newly-hired Pirate skipper. Clint Hurdle, however, handled himself well, exhibiting a realistic amount of enthusiasm both when the Pirates were winning and losing. Hurdle also showed good on-field decision-making skills. Much as I have came to like the new Bucco manager, it still begs the question, “Can he win?” With nine major league seasons under his belt, he still has only one winning season and a overall 606-715 W-L record.
As for the rest of the Pirate management team (Owner Robert Nutting, GM Neal Huntington, and President Frank Coonelly), it still remains to be seen whether they are anything other that the worst in sports.
I titled last year's prediction blog post, “Pirates 2011: It’s About The Owners STUPID,” and the title of this post could very well be “Pirates 2012: It’s About The Owners AGAIN.”
Labels:
2012,
Pittsburgh Pirates
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