Thoughts on the WBC

[Oklahawg]

Do you remember back in gradeschool when some pipsqueak punk picked a fight with the class jock? It was one of those moments when everyone looked around nervously, worrying about the jock leaving the punk in a pile of blood and bones on the playground. Lo and behold, the punk whips up on the jock. No one gets it.

The jock isn't embarassed, and simply shrugs. What good would it have done for him to beat the punk to a pulp? And, the punk wanted it a whole lot more.

That is the message from the WBC. The other countries have pointed to this for a long time. A lot of these places have pro leagues (or hybrid leagues for pros and top amateurs, like some of the winter leagues in the Caribbean) that are a huge source of national pride.

Guys who play in these leagues and in MLB know where their bread is buttered but blood is thicker than money, er, water. They enjoy the opportunity to represent the homefront and take on the monster.

Its a pyschological game that we lost. This was a tune-up for the regular season for so many USA players. I suspect that the chemistry was so awkward, so all-star game-like, that the USA might have been better off sending the White Sox out there.