Paul Derengowski, ThM
Congratulations to the Houston Astros. The 2017 World Series Champions!
For those who do not have a clue what I am referring to, they are the champions of professional baseball. Yes, I know, big deal.
That said, there are many who asserting that the 2017 World Series was the “greatest battle-ever for the championship of Major League Baseball.”
Having watched all seven games, I can say (actually, write) that it was very entertaining. It was quite competitive. The teams were evenly matched.
But, to say it was the “greatest-ever” World Series or the “greatest-battle ever” is stretching it beyond credulity.
The 1975 World Series, with the “Big Red Machine” (Cincinnati Reds) against the Boston Redsox, which went seven games too, was pretty great.
Carlton Fisk’s late-inning homerun in Game 6 was a heart-stopper, figuratively speaking, for many.
Even at that, I would not judge it “the greatest,” because there simply is no standard by which to make such judgment.
To those who lived in the 1960s and were followers of the New York Yankees, which included a long run of World Series victories, they might assert that at least one of their World Series wins was “the greatest-ever.”
Other fans from other eras could make the same argument, including the Chicago Cubs, last year, who finally won a World Series, after waiting over a century!
What I think we have, when certain broadcasters, writers, and average, everyday schmucks make such broad, sweeping generalizations like “the greatest-ever” is more of the same short-sightedness that effects so much of society.
Too many cannot think beyond the ends of their noses. So, whatever is happening in-the-moment is by default either the greatest victory or tragedy to ever strike either the short-sighted individual or the collective consciousness of humanity.
How many claim that certain phenomena must be a “miracle,” just because of its astounding impact on their senses?
Forget about all the victories or tragedies of the past, what is going on right now is “the greatest-ever” or the worst-ever event.
Then, all of the sudden, “Boom!” Another experience, spoken word, or whatever happens, and the previous greatest or worst is surpassed by another greatest or worst.
The real problem with so much hyperbole is that before long there is no “greatest-ever”or the worst-ever, because everything is either the “greatest” or worst.
How about we simply conclude that the 2017 World Series was okay? It was played well, for the most part, and leave all the exaggeration out of it?
By doing so, it will not necessarily lengthen anyone’s perspective on reality, but it just might.
In our day and age of immediate gratification, cannot wait until tomorrow, knee-jerk decision-making, a lot less hyperbole and exaggeration would go a long way to solve many of our self-imposed problems.
And that just might be “the greatest-ever” compliment anyone could give to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Houston Astros, or the 2017 World Series.
