Last night, in another wrinkle to Baseball Extravaganza 2013, I decided to go to the movie theater and see the premiere of the new Jackie Robinson biopic 42. It was a special screening that was put on by Warner Bros. that had to have been done to appease pure baseball fans, like myself, that didn't want to go to the midnight showing. In the annals of Baseball Road Trips, this was really unique, but I am so glad I went and I was thouroghly entertained.
Everybody knows the Jackie Robinson story. Breaking the color barrier in baseball was such a significant event in American history. He endured some insanely horrible actions and vitriol from society, but didn't retaliate. He set the stage for the larger Civil Rights Movement. Jackie Robinson is an American hero, and a wonderful inspiration.
The movie did a great job focusing on his baseball exploits as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, the overarching theme, and rightfully so, was the horrible abuse from racism Robinson took at the hands of many of the white ballplayers. I couldn't imagine being targeted with such hateful speech and actions like Robinson and his family endured. It really made the movie hit home and made you realize just how significant the action of him making it in professional baseball.
Harrison Ford nailed Branch Rickey to a tee. Chadwick Boseman played an exceptional Robinson. Christopher Meloni played Leo Durocher and Lucas Black played Pee Wee Reese. The movie will probably not win any awards or anything, but it was one of the best baseball movies I have ever seen. I highly recommend to everybody to go and see it.
In other news, my season has made a huge shake-up. I will no longer be going to Albuquerque at the end of this month. There are a lot of things going on with my other jobs right now, and I felt it best not to hop on a train for two days to New Mexico. That trip will still happen, but I'm going to bump it to the end of August when things really die down around here.
So, without a trip in April, budget season in May and June, and softball season starting at the end of May, I'm sidelined for a while when it comes to trips. However, I have decided to cash in my last few rail points and take the train up to Seattle for their game against San Diego over Memorial Day weekend. After a month off, at the end of June, I'm going to resurrect the always-enjoyable Puget Sound trip. I figure that this trip, which I have done multiple times, will really gear me up for the rest of the summer.
In the mean time, I have decided to do two things that are baseball-related: First, I want to chronicle my own personal "Spring Training" for my upcoming softball season. It will be a detail of what I am doing to prepare for another season on the diamond, essentyially my workout routines and the challenges that I will undoubtedly face. I haven't really figured out what I'm going to do exactly, but I will definitely keep all of you apprised.
Secondly, in kind of an opposite of the activity of Spring Training, I have been inspired by 42 to host a Baseball Movie Marathon on my one day-off in three weeks. I plan on spending the entire day in front of the tv watching every baseball movie I own. I'm going to order a big pizza, set-up a schedule, and basically make an event out of it.
That's what is going on with Baseball Extravaganza 2013. It has been fun, so far, and I expect more of the same in the future!
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment