Don’t let anybody try to convince you otherwise.
America is a fun country.
George Carlin knew it..
He was, also, pretty well known for his belief that there was nothing to come after this life, so we have no way of knowing whether he is enjoying the latest news to come out of the presidential campaign.
The Obama people are considering moving the acceptance speech from the basketball/hockey arena where the convention will be held (20,000 capacity) to what used to be called Mile High Stadium, where the Broncos play (75,000 capacity).
You have to assume that it’s entirely about image and symbolism.
And I suspect that no one would be faster to appreciate said symbolism than George Carlin.
The guy who wrote the classic piece about the difference between baseball and football:
Baseball is different from any other sport, very different.
For instance, in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs.
In most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he's out; sometimes unintentionally, he's out.
Also: in football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and all sports played with a ball, you score with the ball and in baseball the ball prevents you from scoring.
In most sports the team is run by a coach; in baseball the team is run by a manager.
And only in baseball does the manager or coach wear the same clothing the players do. If you'd ever seen John Madden in his Oakland Raiders uniform, you’d know the reason for this custom.
Now, I've mentioned football. Baseball & football are the two most popular spectator sports in this country. And as such, it seems they ought to be able to tell us something about ourselves and our values.
Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.
Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park. The baseball park!
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.
Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying.
In football you wear a helmet.In baseball you wear a cap.
Football is concerned with downs - what down is it?Baseball is concerned with ups - who's up?
In football you receive a penalty.In baseball you make an error.
In football the specialist comes in to kick.In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.
Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.Baseball has the sacrifice.
Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.
Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.Football has the two minute warning.
Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end - might have extra innings.Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.
In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness.In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.
And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:
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!
Like I said, I think no one would appreciate, or have more fun with, the Obama people wanting to start their “campaign” at Mile High Stadium than George Carlin.
And I’m willing to bet you that he would agree with me that it would, in fact, be a spectacular moment in American history.
Provided, of course, that we don’t have to listen to Howie, Terry and Jimmy do the after speech analysis.
God Bless America.
Rest in peace, George.
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