New in sports
“Baseball parks are vastly improved. … The new parks combine the charm of the best ancient parks with the comforts we baby boomers demand. The mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s (of which Washington’s RFK was a precursor) — shared-use with football, lack of intimacy, symmetrical outfields — have all been avoided.
“The game is much better understood now. Thanks to the work of Bill James and others, a reasonably well-informed fan arguably comprehends important aspects of the game better than the average general manager of the 1950s did.
“Instant access to statistics has also enabled many fans to double their baseball pleasure. … In the 1950s, baseball was consumed almost exclusively on the radio. Fans in many major league cities were limited to a few televised games per week and only when the team was on the road. Fans in cities without major league teams had to settle for the Game of the Week.
“These days, fans usually can view several games per night, and can follow every game in real time online.”
— Paul Mirengoff, writing on “Is More Less?” March 31 at the Power Line blog
New in movies
“MTV’s antiwar picture, ’Stop-Loss,’ bombed at the box-office, taking in only $1.6 million on its opening day. This comes in spite of near universal fanfare and loads of free media. A studio exec dismisses the poor showing anyway, saying, ’No one wants to see Iraq war movies.’ That’s not quite right. What people don’t want to see are preachy antiwar movies about how awful their country is. At least not while we have 150,000 troops in Iraq.
“During World War II, plenty of war films did extremely well, and they did so by telling inspiring stories about the very best our country and allies had to offer. Hollywood’s most talented directors made films about U.S./British moral superiority, not its equivalence. One of my favorites is William Wyler’s ’Mrs. Miniver,’ which Winston Churchill called ’propaganda worth 100 battleships.’ …
“Even the Vietnam War, which inspired some great work, can be distinguished from ’Stop-Loss’ and the like. The antiwar movies of that era … all followed the conclusion of hostilities. What we’re seeing today, with Hollywood actively tearing this country down from within, is quite unique.”
— Jaime Sneider, writing on “Another Anti-War Movie Nobody Wants to See,” March 29 at the Weekly Standard blog
New in circus
“It used to be that the circus was an affair no one would dare miss. A train rolled into town in the dead of night and a red and white striped big top was mysteriously erected by morning. Before going under the main tent, people would nervously shell out money in order to witness the freak show and peek out from between their fingers at the bearded lady, tattooed man, and Siamese twins hidden away from daylight. …
“Those days are long over, as most Americans are no longer mystified by trains, tattoos can be found simply by stepping outside, and the bar for what’s considered absurd or grotesque is no longer set at someone who weighs as little as 350 pounds.
“Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has had to change with the times. … Today’s circus is a kid-friendly production, full of song-and-dance numbers and more pratfalls from clowns than appearances by animals — something akin to a children’s version of the Super Bowl halftime show.”
— Lia LoBello, writing on “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus,” March 31 in Radar magazine
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