Baseball, Football, and George Carlin (by Duane Shank)
Comedian George Carlin died this week. While his humor could often be profane, there was one of his standard pieces that I loved the first time I heard it and have ever since. It was titled "Baseball and Football," and hilariously summarized the difference between the two sports. For a lifelong baseball fan, it confirmed my passion. The piece ended with:
In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!
Read the entire monologue (and find an audio link.)
Duane Shank is the senior policy adviser for Sojourners.
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Comments
I enjoyed George in several settings although I would never spend money to see him in concert.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Just wondering with all that is happening in the world much less the US - is this the best that Sojo and Wallis can come up with for articles? The Mississippi is flooding all the way down the river and nothing about the people being displaced? We had all kinds of articles on New Orleans. Fires in CA - things seem to be going well in Iraq - surely you can find someone that can write about how bad it is. S. Court and made several rulings in the past few days - no comment?
Must be a slow day/week in the news room or they are on vacation for the 4th of July.
Blessings -
.
Posted by: Moderatelad | June 27, 2008 12:46 PM
I remember the first time I heard George Carlin's bit about the difference between baseball and football. Just about died laughing. Carlin really captured the wierd yin and yang in America's favorite sports.
Wow, something I agree with Duane Shank about! What's next, the Rapture?
Wol--
Posted by: Wolverine | June 27, 2008 1:19 PM
The thing I remember most about Carlin was his news broadcast parody, espeically the "hippy-dippy weatherman with the hippy-dippy weather, man": Tonight's forecast--dark.
But how sad that Roy would have to smear Duane's mini-tribute to George Carlin with his tirade here. I suggest, Roy, that before you post again, you read Another nonymous' latest comment on the "Rhetorical Accountability" thread (Posted by: Another nonymous | June 27, 2008 12:47 PM).
Peace,
Posted by: Don | June 27, 2008 1:36 PM
I was at a Pearl Jam concert the other night. Eddie (the lead singer) is a big fan of George Carlin and offered up a George Carlin quote to the entire Madison Square Garden crowd. It went something like "We need to keep the church and the state apart since they do such a good job of screwing up everything on their own."
-Ted Goas
www.SkepticalMonkey.com
Posted by: Ted Goas | June 27, 2008 2:43 PM
The man made me laugh, take a second look at myself and then lighten up on my opinions: both of myself and those around me.
Surely that was worth something.
Posted by: Tom | June 27, 2008 4:30 PM
The place of eternal punishment where one burns is not "hell." It is the Lake of Fire. Jesus used "Gehenna" as a metaphor for the Lake of Fire which is in the Book of Revelation. Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew place of the dead which is "Sheol" where all folks went after they died. Jesus only used "Hades" once and that was in his parable of the "Rich Man and Lazarus." In Jesus version there were two levels where the departed went. The upper on was Abraham's side and the lower one he called "Hades" where it was scorching warm.
"Gehenna" is the Greek spelling for the Valley of Hinnom, the trash dump outside of Jerusalem's walls where fires burned 24/7.
One needs to be careful when they say someone is burning in hell or they say that they hope the person is burning in hell. Jesus does forgive people of their sins when they are about to die if they just ask him. Remember the repentant thief on the cross to whom Jesus said, "Today, you will be with me in Paradise"?
Posted by: Joe Allen Doty | June 27, 2008 4:39 PM
I watched some of Carlin's monologues in HBO's round-the-clock tribute earlier this week. I've always thought he was funny and insightful, as well as outrageous. I saw a lot of familiar material, but had never seen Carlin's take on death, part of an early monologue, judging from his appearance.
It was much less in-your-face irreverant than, say, his more widely known "7 Words."
Carlin examined our fear of death gently and sensitively. He didn't poke fun at pompous folks who act as though they will somehow be immune (like folks who are so willing to usurp God's power and declare who will "burn in hell.")
Carlin suggested that maybe when we die, we go where we expect to go. And he said he hoped that people who are dying get a "two-minute warning" to wrap up their lives, or at least savor their last few seconds.
For all his iconoclastic reputation, Carlin seemed a lot less afraid of what comes after death than many professed Christians. I hope he got his two minutes to savor and that he has discovered that God's grace is more than any of us can expect.
Posted by: Virginia Gilbert | June 27, 2008 6:10 PM
It was a long time ago that Carlin was funny. But he was certainly funny enough 30 years ago to be iconic. I did enjoy a bit he did on Indians (Native Americans), done within the last 10 years. I hope he got his 2 minute warning and he made the most of it.
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff | June 27, 2008 6:40 PM
For those that never understood what Carlin stood for (Roy): He was a self-proclaimed neither agnostic nor atheist. He believed in the "great atom" as he called it. He was a believer in metaphysics and he did had a reverence for a being that was greater than our mind could conceive. His problem, like Bill Maher and other like minds such as myself, comes when people try to define the will of this great matter. Wither or not Jesus was the way or the truth, the lesson that we should have learned comes from the spirit of what he taught which was unconditional love. Though I consider myself Unitarian now, I still find what he had to say sometimes speaking for me (as Im sure you do too but you are just too afraid to admit out of personal fear). Lets all face the facts, none of us know what happens to us when we die. Anyone who claims they do is a liar. We all theorize. Its not our theory or the rejection of another theory that determines what happens to us in the next life, only what type of effort we gave to discover it. After all, God knows how hard we try.
RIP Geroge
"Be excellent to each other"
Posted by: Joshua | June 28, 2008 12:59 AM
hmm, quite a mind. the use of parable, the use of irony, the prodding to examine the world and the things we take for granted. the search for truths, the gentleness of humor, the anger of the spiritually betrayed. the courage of the free man. George shares some qualities with a carpenter i like to read about. thanks duane for not being afraid to mention your admiration and expressing your loss. i can get pissed off anytime. a good laugh is hard to come by.
grace and peace,
chas.
Posted by: chas | June 28, 2008 2:06 AM
My favorite George Carlin quote:
"People think in words."
Posted by: justintime | June 28, 2008 11:43 PM
This is a little prayer dedicated to the separation of church and state. I guess if they are going to force those kids to pray in schools they might as well have a nice prayer like this:
Our Father who art in heaven, and to the republic for which it stands, thy kingdom come, one nation indivisible as in heaven, give us this day as we forgive those who so proudly we hail. Crown thy good into temptation but deliver us from the twilight's last gleaming. Amen and Awomen.
Posted by: george carlin | June 29, 2008 12:03 AM
I credit that eight years of (Catholic) grammar school with nourishing me in a direction where I could trust myself and trust my instincts. They gave me the tools to reject my faith. They taught me to question and think for myself and to believe in my instincts to such an extent that I just said, "This is a wonderful fairy tale they have going here, but it's not for me."
Posted by: george carlin | June 29, 2008 12:15 AM
Instead of school busing and prayer in schools, which are both controversial, why not a joint solution?
Prayer in buses.
Just drive these kids around all day and let them pray .. . . . . .
Posted by: george carlin | June 29, 2008 12:24 AM
I have as much authority as the Pope,
I just don't have as many people who believe it.
Posted by: george carlin | June 29, 2008 12:26 AM
I've begun worshipping the Sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the Sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to God are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate.
Posted by: george carlin | June 29, 2008 12:36 AM
As someone who writes comedy and has ego enough to say that he thinks for himself, Carlin was a hero to me. He was another in the grand tradition of the American maverick. A man who went his own way from a fairly young age because that was the only way that he could.
As much as people like to think that George was a leftist pinko, he tended to tick off people on both sides of the aisle equally, especially in his later work. I usually find this to be a sign that you are onto something.
Perhaps the thing that I admire most about Carlin, more than his individualism, more than his insight and even more than his brilliance is how he seemed to never lose passion. So many artists say everything worthwhile that they will ever say in their twenties.
Passion and creative fire are burdonsome weights to carry into middle age and beyond. But the truly great ones, men like Carlin and W.B. Yeats find their muse grows stronger as their bodies fail around them.
Yeats railed against what he felt was an indignity that men of his stature and genius did not deserve. Carlin accepted it, just working and speaking his truth until it was time to go. And in the end, what could be better than that?
Posted by: Colin | June 29, 2008 3:01 AM
I have to add my sadness at the passing of George Carlin. I remember fist hearing him as a young christian many years ago and feeling uncomfortable with his language but what fascinated me was his dead on accuracy he had in his opinions and tirades. Many of the [ most I think]went against my conservative upbringing but it made me open my mind to THINK for myself; something I am sure that God intended for us to do.. think. We don't have to agree, just think.
Selah
Posted by: Kris | June 29, 2008 9:07 AM
We should weep for George Carlin and those like him.
His ridicule was not limited to hypocritical Christian practice. He shook his fist at any thought of a Biblical God, and mocked Christ.
I can only hope that he had a last-minute moment of repentance.
That this blog would choose to mark the passing of Carlin with a superficial reference to his baseball/football sketch says more about Sojourners than anything else.
Posted by: John | June 29, 2008 9:20 AM
I'd much rather laugh than weep over George Carlin.
Perhaps the thing that I admire most about Carlin, more than his individualism, more than his insight and even more than his brilliance is how he seemed to never lose passion. So many artists say everything worthwhile that they will ever say in their twenties. Colin
Many won't remember when the SF police came to arrest Lenny Bruce for obscenities in his performance, Carlin mouthed off and was hauled away in the same police van with Lenny Bruce.
Now that's passion in comedy and Carlin kept his to the grave.
Posted by: justintime | June 29, 2008 2:31 PM
Rather than passing judgment on the final disposition of George Carlin's immortal soul (God's business, not ours by the way), I'd suggest disengaging emotionally and actually listening to Carlin's articulate critiques of Christianity. Doing so, one finds his complaints against the faith are the complaints of many outside the faith. Listen to him and you will discover what drives people away from us (which includes endless and incessant arguments over issues we cannot hope to resolve this side of heaven) and allows us to adjust our rhetorical ways to attract more people to Christ and the Good News.
Posted by: J.S. Brooks | June 30, 2008 6:39 AM
War offends me. Hunger and homelessness in a wealthy nation offends me. Ending welfare for our poor to finance "tax relief" for the rich offends me. Arrogance and bullying offend me. The 7 Dirty Words don't offend me. I don's use them -- not because I was told they were no-no's, but because they would be purely counter-productive in daily life.
That said, I will always be grateful to George Carlin for showing me, by example, how to remain reasonably sane during the most insane of times.
Learning to see the absurdities of politics (and life), something that Carlin truly mastered, will get you through even the darkest of times.
Posted by: DHFabian | June 30, 2008 9:51 AM
Perhaps God will raise up another George Carlin.
Posted by: canucklehead | June 30, 2008 7:43 PM
He's already here, just waiting to be discovered.
Posted by: justintime | June 30, 2008 8:58 PM
I recall listening to the George Carlin record "AM and FM" in high school with a couple friends and laughing our heads off, and thinking I certainly couldn't listen to or talk about this with the kids or leaders of my church youth group. Actually, I felt like I was deviating from how the church and my Christian parents expected me to act, just by listening and laughing. Little did I predict I would be reading eulogies to GC by a Christian organization 28 years later.
"We'll snatch the pussy and put it in a box and put in on the airplane!"
Posted by: I and I | July 1, 2008 9:52 AM
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