It's good that you're back, brother.
OK, I read that article. What I am going to say, and the conclusion I am going to make is going to be lost because I hate Rick Reilly so much. And that's unfortunate. But I'll try.
Rick Reilly is a talentless hack, but - BUT! BUT. He is also incapable of doing the basic writing required to
be the hack that we so despise.
I want to drive this home: yes, he's absolutely fucking terrible at his job and he is the least valuable sports writer in America. But he literally can't write a story at the level of a college graduate starting his or her first gig with the local Roswell Shitler.
It's no wonder. This was the first softball game in Marshall history. A middle school trying to move up to include grades 6 through 12, Marshall showed up to the game with five balls, two bats, no helmets, no sliding pads, no cleats, 16 players who'd never played before, and a coach who'd never even seen a game.
Really? That's odd. Why's that, Rick? Why do they have no equipment? Why has the coach NEVER SEEN BASEBALL BEFORE? And none of these people can put a video game in an Xbox and show the kids what it's about? HMM, that's really odd! WHY, RICHARD?
That's when Roncalli did something crazy. It offered to forfeit.
Yes, a team that hadn't lost a game in 2½ years, a team that was going to win in a landslide purposely offered to declare defeat. Why? Because Roncalli wanted to spend the two hours teaching the Marshall girls how to get better, not how to get humiliated.
"The Marshall players did NOT want to quit," wrote Roncalli JV coach Jeff Traylor, in recalling the incident. "They were willing to lose 100 to 0 if it meant they finished their first game." But the Marshall players finally decided if Roncalli was willing to forfeit for them, they should do it for themselves. They decided that maybe -- this one time -- losing was actually winning.
What? So who forfeit? Marshall or the other team?
Roncalli wasn't done. Traylor asked all the parents of his players and anybody else he knew for more help for Marshall -- used bats, gloves, helmets, money for cleats, gloves, sliders, socks and team shirts. They came up with $2,500 and worked with Marshall on the best way to help the program with that money.
This has nothing to do with Rick, but this symbolizes girl's sports in a nutshell. Hey honey, can you leave work early to watch your daughter play softball? Yeah. Against a team that has literally never seen a softball before. Oh, and they're gonna pass a plate around at the end, so bring cash.
OK, so, I want to draw attention to this following paragraph. The one he ends it with:
Anyway, it's not an important story, just one that squirts apple juice right in your face. And who knows? Maybe someday, Marshall will be beating Roncalli in the final inning, realize how far it has come, and forfeit again, just as a thank you.
Rick Reilly, you incompetent MOTHERFUCKER. I can't even begin to express how much this fucking offends me. This is a guy who has been
given the easiest job in America for decades now and he does nothing bit sit back and spit in the face of the country that has allowed him to skate free for DECADES.
So, he gets done writing this unreadable piece that nobody cares about. He ends it with, "and maybe when the team gets good enough... to show their appreciation and gratitude for sportsmanship.... then maybe they will forfeit AGAIN."
You fucking worthless hack!
How the fuck do you write an unreadable article on sportsmanship, on
doing something for someone without expecting anything in return and then ho-hum gee-willikers about how GREAT it would be if this other team
returned the favor someday?? What level of complete disconnect with not only life but your - scare quotes, no SNEER quotes - "PROFESSION" do you have to possess to not even be able to write the same motherfucking worthless article for the 1,000th time well?
God, he sickens me. Rick Reilly sickens me. If he had spent two seconds thinking about what he had written, he would have understood that his closing statement didn't remotely mesh with the point he was trying to make. Instead, herp derp, cheesy ending, cash another paycheck. I can honestly say that the fact that this miserable son of a bitch's life is remotely comfortable in ANY way is the greatest evidence for the failure of the United States of America there is or can possibly be. A man writes, for literally the thousandth time, complete dreck and can't keep it internally, consistently terrible. I am literally almost-angry at what a waste of space he is.
It's good that you're back, brother.
OK, I read that article. What I am going to say, and the conclusion I am going to make is going to be lost because I hate Rick Reilly so much. And that's unfortunate. But I'll try.
Rick Reilly is a talentless hack, but - BUT! BUT. He is also incapable of doing the basic writing required to [b]be[/b] the hack that we so despise.
I want to drive this home: yes, he's absolutely fucking terrible at his job and he is the least valuable sports writer in America. But he literally can't write a story at the level of a college graduate starting his or her first gig with the local Roswell Shitler.
[quote]It's no wonder. This was the first softball game in Marshall history. A middle school trying to move up to include grades 6 through 12, Marshall showed up to the game with five balls, two bats, no helmets, no sliding pads, no cleats, 16 players who'd never played before, and a coach who'd never even seen a game.[/quote]
Really? That's odd. Why's that, Rick? Why do they have no equipment? Why has the coach NEVER SEEN BASEBALL BEFORE? And none of these people can put a video game in an Xbox and show the kids what it's about? HMM, that's really odd! WHY, RICHARD?
[quote]That's when Roncalli did something crazy. It offered to forfeit.
Yes, a team that hadn't lost a game in 2½ years, a team that was going to win in a landslide purposely offered to declare defeat. Why? Because Roncalli wanted to spend the two hours teaching the Marshall girls how to get better, not how to get humiliated.
"The Marshall players did NOT want to quit," wrote Roncalli JV coach Jeff Traylor, in recalling the incident. "They were willing to lose 100 to 0 if it meant they finished their first game." But the Marshall players finally decided if Roncalli was willing to forfeit for them, they should do it for themselves. They decided that maybe -- this one time -- losing was actually winning.[/quote]
What? So who forfeit? Marshall or the other team?
[quote]Roncalli wasn't done. Traylor asked all the parents of his players and anybody else he knew for more help for Marshall -- used bats, gloves, helmets, money for cleats, gloves, sliders, socks and team shirts. They came up with $2,500 and worked with Marshall on the best way to help the program with that money.[/quote]
This has nothing to do with Rick, but this symbolizes girl's sports in a nutshell. Hey honey, can you leave work early to watch your daughter play softball? Yeah. Against a team that has literally never seen a softball before. Oh, and they're gonna pass a plate around at the end, so bring cash.
OK, so, I want to draw attention to this following paragraph. The one he ends it with:
[quote]Anyway, it's not an important story, just one that squirts apple juice right in your face. And who knows? Maybe someday, Marshall will be beating Roncalli in the final inning, realize how far it has come, and forfeit again, just as a thank you.[/quote]
Rick Reilly, you incompetent MOTHERFUCKER. I can't even begin to express how much this fucking offends me. This is a guy who has been [i]given[/i] the easiest job in America for decades now and he does nothing bit sit back and spit in the face of the country that has allowed him to skate free for DECADES.
So, he gets done writing this unreadable piece that nobody cares about. He ends it with, "and maybe when the team gets good enough... to show their appreciation and gratitude for sportsmanship.... then maybe they will forfeit AGAIN."
You fucking worthless hack!
How the fuck do you write an unreadable article on sportsmanship, on [i]doing something for someone without expecting anything in return[/i] and then ho-hum gee-willikers about how GREAT it would be if this other team [b][i]returned the favor someday??[/i][/b] What level of complete disconnect with not only life but your - scare quotes, no SNEER quotes - "PROFESSION" do you have to possess to not even be able to write the same motherfucking worthless article for the 1,000th time well?
God, he sickens me. Rick Reilly sickens me. If he had spent two seconds thinking about what he had written, he would have understood that his closing statement didn't remotely mesh with the point he was trying to make. Instead, herp derp, cheesy ending, cash another paycheck. I can honestly say that the fact that this miserable son of a bitch's life is remotely comfortable in ANY way is the greatest evidence for the failure of the United States of America there is or can possibly be. A man writes, for literally the thousandth time, complete dreck and can't keep it internally, consistently terrible. I am literally almost-angry at what a waste of space he is.