Saturday, January 08, 2005 |
The Madness Of King Paul
My girlfriend in college was positively nuts about royalty; to this day I think she's the only person I've ever met who could recite, from William the Conquerer on down to the present monarchy, the names of every last king and queen of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, in order. But without a doubt, her absolute, all-time favorite monarch had to be Ludwig II of Bavaria, or as she liked to call him, Ludwig the Looney. (Some of his contemporaries indeed called him Ludwig the Mad.) 
Distant and ineffective as a ruler (he rose to the throne at 19 and shortly ended up on the losing side of the Austro-Prussian War), he gained lasting fame for his construction of Neuschwanstein Castle. Neuschwanstein turned out to be so over-the-top -- a hopelessly romanticized ideal of teutonic castledom -- that it provided the archetectural spark for Disneyland's eternally kitschy Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
Ludwig, never one to choose small projects, had the castle built over the ruins of Hohenschwangau overlooking the Pöllau gorge, something that could have inspired this dialogue in a possibly familiar movie.
Which brings us back to the present situation at Chavez Ravine.
You may have heard that MLB has granted another window for the Shawn Green talks, and now we await the possible signing, not of Esteban Loaiza, but ... Derek Lowe, for four years and $36M?
Okay...
DePodesta: Listen, Shawn. I built this ballclub up from nothing. When I started here, all there was was Juan Encarnacion, Jason Romano, and a couple bucks I found in the stands that Frank overlooked! Other GMs said I was daft to build a team out of that, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. I tried to get Vazquez from the Yanks -- but I fell into the swamp and gave up on it! So, I made a second trade -- this time with you in it, son. That sank into the swamp when you told the Snakes how much you wanted. So, I'm making a third one. The fans are gonna get the strongest team in the division, lad!Okay, so it's not that funny.Green: But I don't want any of that. I'd rather--
DePodesta: Rather what?!
Green: I'd rather... [Nancy Bea plays "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"] ...just... play! [takes a cut at an imaginary 3-2 count fastball]
DePodesta: Stop that! Stop that! You're not going to play in Dodger Stadium while I'm here. Now listen, lad. In twenty minutes, you're going to Arizona, where you can keep that other gimp, Troy Glaus, company. Don't you want someone to commiserate with?
Green: B-- but I don't want sympathy.
Yes it is.
Can't blame the man for trying.
Newer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.