A stunt's a stunt no matter what; and Jeter's loss tough for fans

So if this space diver guy had landed in my front yard, I might have looked up to see what the ruckus was about.

Might have.

Now, if it’d been Evil Knievel jumping over buses or something …

Here’s the thing about the skydive from a kabillion metres or whatever it was that kind of rankled me. It was made out in some parts as some big deal yesterday afternoon and lauded as some kind of historical moment akin to Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.

Getting to the moon was a moment of historical accomplishment; a guy making, I presume, all kinds of money off a sponsorship from a drink company to jump out of a balloon was more a stunt than anything.

Sure, it was something no one else has done before and maybe it belongs in the Guinness Book of Records and good for him; as an historical achievement I cannot see how it expands the knowledge of the world’s great minds, it doesn’t open any new frontiers, it was little more than a lark when understanding how the universe works is concerned.

The Mars thing? The moon landing?

They contributed something significant to scientists.

This? This was a stunt, a cool stunt and, I guess, fun to watch, but it was Snake River Canyon, it was the guy walking across Niagara Falls; it was no a moment of huge significance in the world.

It seemed at times as much about the energy drink as anything else and that’s kind of off-putting.

But good on him, glad he lived, glad he finally got it done, now we can get back to not knowing or caring who he is.

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So the ACC was ready for Rush last night, we’ll get to see it set up again today and tomorrow getting ready for tomorrow night and then I hear they’ll be in Montreal on our off-night Thursday.

Since I’m apparently being stalked by them …

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Three things that would be good for the Raptors this week:

Andrea Bargnani makes some shots.

He’s a bit out of game shape, his shot is flat, I presume it come back, now would be a good time for him to start rounding into form.

Kyle Lowry plays

The point guard practiced Sunday, we’ll find out today how he came through it but it’s pretty important they get him in at least one game this week. With only four pre-season games to go, he needs to start figuring out what it’s like to play with his new teammates.

A rotation emerges

There are still too many guys playing too many scattered minutes and with four games left it’s about time to start figuring out who plays when. They need to settle on four bigs, maybe three wings and a couple of point guards and let them get a little used to their roles. Figure that starts happening for real on Friday in Montreal.

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Speaking of Montreal, kind of wish I was going to have more time in that great city because I’m sure there’s all kinds of nooks and crannies Irregulars could point out.

But a dinner time arrival on Thursday, Friday morning shootaround an early story to write Friday afternoon (we have wretched deadlines for the Saturday paper) and the game Friday kind of make it busy.

So, knowing that …

Whaddya got for me?

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Man, that sure sucks about Derek Jeter, doesn’t it?

(Yeah, I know, a little late but first chance we’ve had)

I don’t know that I’ve ever spoken to Jeter even in a scrum but he is one of those athletes you admire and to see him with a broken ankle and his season over right when the games were getting to the most important part of the year was, well, heart-breaking.

In this day and age, Jeter seemed to be one of the true greats in any sport who carried himself with dignity and class; he plays the game hard and extremely well (if he’s not a first ballot Hall of Famer they ought to do away with the Hall of Fame and you know how I feel about Halls of Fame and how easy it is to get into them) and he seemed to handle everything thrown his way with professionalism.

As a former fan of the Red Sox, he was supposed to be one of the Evil Empire guys you were supposed to loathe but you couldn’t. I can’t imagine it’s easy for anyone to be the face of a sporting monolith like the Yankees, to be the team captain carries a level of responsibility that doesn’t exist in too many other places and all Jeter did was act like a grown up, he knew what he was to so many people and I don’t know if he ever let them down.

He was, and is, the kind of athlete I think we can all appreciate, one team for his entire career, a distinguished career focused as much on team goals as individual accolades and it looked all the time like he took every game – and his place in the game – seriously.

There probably aren’t a handful of guys who could do what he’s done over a career spent in the media capital of world, where “gotcha journalism” is in full vogue and everyone’s life is dissected far too much.

To an outsider, he was a pro’s pro; a class act; an excellent player.

And with the best post-season I can ever remember unfolding before our very eyes, it’s really too bad he won’t be on that stage.

Even if you hate the Yankees – and more than a few of us do – I think you had to appreciate Jeter and feel bad that his season is over.

 

Comments

[LeeZ]

There is only one antidote for the horrible shrieks of your stalker, Geddy Lee, and that's a visit to L'Express, the best Parisian-style bistro this side of the Atlantic Ocean. It's open till 3 in the morning, so there's that. But the food is amazing, very reasonably priced, and it's soooo cool (checkered floors, high ceilings, zinc bar where you can dine if there are no tables available). 3927 rue St-Denis
Oh and just a thought: aren't the days of players arriving at camp out of shape and using it to get IN shape over? Shouldn't Il Mago have come to camp in excellent shape? Is the coaching staff overly impressed with this state of affairs?

Blogger's note: Probably wish it wasn't thus

[Scott]

Just a stunt with no value? I think that might come as a surprise to Dr. Jonathan Clark, the lead physician on the team and former NASA physician for shuttle flights. Dr. Clark lost his wife in the Columbia disaster.

I'm sure it will be of no interest to you that his wife and the rest of the Columbia crew were unable to eject from the shuttle because no one has figured out how to survive high velocity high altitude ejections, something which this mission is helping to do. Dr. Clark has devoted his career to resolving this issue. Of course, modern jet pilots owe a debt of gratitude to the drogue parachutes which were developed as a result of the lessons learned by the previous record setting jumps, but that wouldn't fit into your narrative either right?

I guess it's just easier to harrumph about the whole thing and remain barely informed. Much easier to dismiss the significance of a major achievement that way.

good work.

Blogger's note: Thanks

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:
Speaking of the troubles besetting the Evil Empire, based on what happened to them in last night's game, how do you feel about instant replay (not for balls and strikes!) in baseball?

Blogger's note: Probably some way to expand its use

[Kevin]

" I cannot see how it expands the knowledge of the world’s great minds, it doens’t open any new frontiers"

Except that it did open new frontiers, and expand our knowledge. As space exploration becomes more and more commercial (the recent X-flights to the space station being just the first example), more and more people will be heading into space, or to a region close to space. It stands to reason that with more people heading to space, there is a higher likelihood of incident, and a greater need for knowledge about how one might survive an incident in space that requires ejection.

Something like this is the first step towards discovering how people might be able to do something like this. The suit created was specially designed for this type of fall, and the data gathered from the fall can be used to determine more information about parachute systems, forces on the body with next to no resistance, among other things. It should not go unnoticed that the chief physician for the jump was the husband of an astronaut killed in the Discovery shuttle disaster.

That it was sponsored by Red Bull, and he made some money off of it.... who cares? What isn't sponsored these days? The NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL are all "brought to us" by something. I have no doubts that when a space ship lands on Mars with people in it, there will be a big, corporate logo on it somewhere. Also, in today's world it should be applauded that something that can provide us with valuable information was provided with little to no government $$.

[Kevin]

My apologies... the shuttle disaster was Columbia, not discovery.

[LeeZ]

@Scott: You know, I haven't paid any attention to this whole event. Just didn't register on my radar, so I really don't know anything about it. Just wanted to issue that disclaimer right up front. Let's assume everything you say is true (I have no reason to doubt it). Why not make your points in a factual, non-judgmental way? Perhaps Doug was unaware of the points you brought up; in which case, why not educate him and the rest of us, and we'd be appreciative of the added insight you gave us, rather than making yourself look like a classless jackass by tearing into him to score cheap points? Just a thought.

[LeeZ]

@Scott: Not to belabour the point or anything (although I am legendary for point belabouring...it's what I do), but have a look at Kevin's post. Covers a lot of the same ground yours did, but in a respectful way. You know, minus the doucheness of your post.

[Dan Smith]

LeeZ - wow!!! that statement is just plain stupid!! seriously stop grasping at nothing just to ass-kiss or see your name on here. Even Doug thanked him, so obviously it wasn't taken ANYWHERE near the way you accuse "Kevin" of acting. what was "classless" was your response.I for one think the info was intelligent, educational and insightful (actually there are more scientific advantages to that event which I won't get into), and it seems like that's the way Doug took it too. Why are most people so afraid to learn or educate, w/o showing such offense or restraint!??!

Blogger's note: Guess facetious doesn't come through. My bad.

[Lorie]

Morning Doug!
Barely 9am and already I've learned stuff here from other Irregulars. (Although seeing as it is so very early would have been nicer served up with a spoonful of kindly explanation rather than a tone of acidic haughtiness....) I was intrigued, horrified and then amazed watching the jump - but what was also interesting to me was how many people were watching this feat, globally and simultaneously on their phones, tablets laptops etc. There was some sort of cool universal connectedness surrounding it. And I don't know how many people have seen it yet, but Google Doodle has outdone itself today with its tribute to artist Winsor McCay and his "Little Nemo In Slumberland". Absolutely wonderful. Magical. And @LeeZ, you don't know the real pain of Geddy's horrible shrieks until you've shared a high school English Lit class with him and heard him recite Shakespeare....think MacBeth....the three witches....in tones of early Rush..."Double, double toil and trouble. (Kidding. Sort of. Surprisingly Geddy wasn't in class enough to be assigned to do much of anything...his excuse for being late or absent was always something to do with too busy playing his guitar. Too bad that never amounted to anything....) Cheers! And Go Raps! (Especially Jose's Hamstring)

[Peter]

Doug, you need to take a page from Dan Gilbert and write your facetious comments in Comic Sans. :)

Blogger's note: Have to try to make that work

[David in Oakville]

@Scott, @Kevin

With all due respect... what a load of malarkey.

Of course something was learned.. but nothing much new.

And to suggest that this guy's stunt has in some way made future space travel somehow safer... seriously?

How many people fly commercial airlines everyday and how many people die each year in crashes where the trouble starts at high altitude. Funny, no one is seriously working on making it easier to eject from a commercial flight or to survive a plane crash with a special suit.

At some point in the future something learned from this stunt will be useful to someone.. but for the majority of humanity (now and in the future), there is nothing gained by this weekend's stunt.

And really, the husband of someone killed in the Columbia disaster does not make this more legitimate.

I have to agree with Doug, this stunt took more off the table of human knowledge about space travel than it put back on.

[Jeff]

Your comments on Derek Jeter really hit home. I am not a fan of the evil empire, but his performance, dominance over a long period of time, and professionalism and class is reminisicent of someone else. Who you may ask? His teammate Mariano Rivera. Has there ever been two teammates who fit these various criteria in a more exemplary fashion? In any sport?

Blogger's note: David Robinson and Tim Duncan, perhaps?

[Steve]

Completely agree with what Scott and Kevin said on the matter. While it may come across as just a promotion for a company selling fizzy drinks the private money that goes into stuff like Stratos and X-Prize is very important to continuing to push the boundaries.

Sure, NASA (and the USAF) laid a lot of the groundwork for these kind of efforts in the 50s and 60s in particular but you might have noticed their budget in real terms is nowhere near what it was then these days.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

The thing about these various space ventures is that they're loaded with new learnings and new technologies that invariably show up in short order with applications in the medical field, aviation, avionics, all manner of high-tech breakthroughs, even our clothing (compound fibres, etc.). There actually is some serious science going on in and around the marketing stunts.
Of course, it tends to be like anything and everything else we do, being the humans we are. Every discovery, breakthrough and invention starts out with "the greater good" at the heart of it. Three seconds later, a thousand others are trying to figure out a way to cash in – damn the consequences – and the greater good gets buried in the sea change of cheating, shortcuts and even downright nefarious applications.
Witness gunpowder. Witness the "doping" game. Scientist invents new test. Fifty other scientists go to work very next day to conjure up next new drug that can't be tested. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Ad nauseum. Kind of a pointless exercise, that particular crusade.
Because we are genetically programmed to tinker that way. It's what has got us to this particular day in our long and wonky evolution. Who knows where that will end up... meanwhile, people will continue jumping from 25-mile-high balloons – because they believe they can.
And I believe the Raps can be entertaining. So there's that too. Cheers. Go Raps!

[john]

Hey Doug, are you sure about the ‘man on the moon’ thing? I await the contrarians amongst us to begin the debate…
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@Scott, If the guy was ejected from a pod travelling at 12,000mph you would have a point, but he didn’t. He stepped off a stationary platform after waiting for days for the perfect conditions and free-fell using technology that has been around for a long time in a publicity stunt that will earn millions of dollars. Thanks for the interesting bit of trivia about the lead Doctor and the Columbia though.

[Steve]

"Funny, no one is seriously working on making it easier to eject from a commercial flight or to survive a plane crash with a special suit."

The money there has gone into making it harder to crash the planes in the first place. Given the percentages involved they've arguably done a pretty good job.

Over the time we've been sending people into space something like 5% have been killed in the process. Meanwhile your chance of dying on a commercial aircraft is something like 1 in every 1.6 million.

[80s Leafs]

I watched "the Bomber's" jump and have to admit the thing that amazed me most was that Red Bull logos were NOT plastered all over everything within view of a camera angle inside and outside that capsule, as well as on his helmet and back of his suit for that "straight down" shot when he jumped out, and even all over the Mission Control desk. I assumed the RB logo would have been front and centre in every way possible.
Along the same lines, I'm amazed Detroit Tigers' pitcher Phil Coke hasn't received a lucrative endorsement offer from a cola company.

[Mark Whitney]

I've been wondering if Team Stratos and Red Bull approached the sporting world or the powers that be (Sportsnet / BellGlobe Media) approached them first? Seems to me, that Doug Smith (or any other ink stained wretch covering the sports beat) is unqualified to comment on the scientific value of this 'stunt'. As a sporting event, it also seems odd. My guess is two marketing genius' got together and tried to figure out how best to spin this to help fund it. Did they get some dollars from the scientific community. Maybe. But by marketing it as a sporting event, someone coughed up some cash they otherwise would not have had. And Smith was compelled to play 'the Science Guy' for one of his blogs.

Blogger's note: By sheer dint of what this I'm qualified to offer an opinion and I actually don't care an awful lot whether you agree or not. But thanks for reading

[Sam Rook]

Doug,
Could not disagree with you more on the Felix Baumgartner skydive. Life (and sport)is all about pushing our boundaries and achieveing new and once improbable things. We celebrate Edmund Hilary summitting Mt. Everest. We celebrate Usain Bolt running a world record. We even celebrate when Ed Davis hits a 10 foot jump shot. We should be celebrating that one of us rose to 130,000 feet above our planet then jumped out, risking his life, in order to do something never done by mankind before. We should celebrate that he travelled faster than the speed of sound in his freefall. Most importantly we should celebrate that he survived and was strong enough to pull himself out of a potentially fatal spin at that speed.
It wasn't landing on the moon but it was a pretty incredible and spectacular feat for humanity and one that a grumpy sports writer should be happy to have witnessed.

Blogger's note: I said it was a stunt, a cool stunt, actually. Celebrate it for that, like Snake River or whatever. One man's attempt at self-aggrandizement, and profit. Good on him, was still a stunt or else he wouldn't have waited a week or whatever it was for perfect conditions

[SheikYurbouti]

@john

Science is rarely about instant breakthroughs, but mostly about one step at a time. For example, man would never have landed on the moon if chimps weren't sent into space first.
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If one is able to look past the carnival/stunt atmosphere of this event, many scientists are apparently saying that new scientific information was gathered from this. I'm no expert in these matters, but I'd be interested in learning from you expanding upon your knowledge that this was all about old technology and nothing was learned.

[DSwho?]

Stick to sports beat Doug. You'd be perceived as a bit qualified, rather than a close-minded idiot. Stumbled upon your blog, big mistake.

Blogger's note: Then this will be the last of your brilliant insight we're able to read? Aw. We lose. Bye

[Mike kovacs]

@80s Leafs: further to what you suggest about Phil Coke, I believe that Scott Goodyear always drove on Michelin tires!

[sam]

The Big Jump - I thought it was a stunt as well - If something good can come out of it - great - but from the outside looking in...
I'm just amazed he landed on his feet....

Jeter's injury has sucked some of the life out of the Yanks. I'm not sure there is anyone who can fill the void. Perhaps Cano, I know it won't be ARod or Granderson....
Didn't Nix play for the Jays last season as a Johnny Mac lite type player?

Blogger's note; He did indeed

[Dennis Buchanan]

So...one giant leap for a man; one small step for mankind?

[Jc]

"good work.

Blogger's note: Thanks"

Fear not...the irregulars got it.