I graduated from college in 2005 - which of course feels like a decade ago to me now. To any New Englander or Sox fan, you know this year. It was the year. September and October of my senior year ('04) was spent staying up to watch the Red Sox inch their way into the play offs. By the time the Sox came back to win four straight against the Yankees and advance to the World Series the entire UNH campus - professors included - were totally sleep deprived. As graduation came around in May the class of 2005 was elated to here that Tom Werner would be speaking at our graduation. Tom Werner was the Chairman of the Boston Red Sox.On graduation day I sat with anticipation among my fellow classmates as we waited to hear from the man who had delivered. We had carried the burden of our forefathers - passionately watching the Sox lose year after year - until now. As Tom Werner got up to speak and donned a Red Sox cap, we all relaxed a little. The future couldn't be that scary - the Sox had one the World Series! And yet it wasn't until the end of his speech that he connected with me personally.
While organizing some school files, I came across a copy of his speech. And I copy it below for your enjoyment:
"Before closing, I wanted you to know I've been reading Shakespeare of late. The great English playwright is always someone to go to for insight. Now, before this year, I had the general impression that baseball is a little over a hundred and fifty years old , and that Abner Doubleday had invented it. Imagine my surprise to know Shakespeare was a great baseball fan and it was he who first wrote about baseball.
For example, in Anthony & Cleopatra, he wrote: "My arm is sore."
In Macbeth: "Fair is foul and foul is fair."
Taming of the Shrew: "You may go walk."
In Hamlet: "A hit, a very palpable hit!"
In Henry V: "And so I shall catch the fly."
In Julius Caesar: "O Hateful Error."
In Henry VIII: "You have scarce time to steal."
And finally in Romeo and Juliet: "I have no joy in this contract."
...You all can guess how the English Teaching Major section erupted into large cheers of applause and a standing ovation.
2 comments:
Are you the fair weather type that has only followed the Red Sox during their rather illustrious recent history? Or, do you recognize the struggles they faced the previous 100+ years leading up to their 04 World series title?
Honestly, I don't think anyone my age can truly understand what the team has been through; I just don't have the perspective of someone who has lived through it longer. I enjoyed the Sox before the 2004 season but was really infected by the Sox "bug" then. So, yes, I cringe to say it - you could call me a fair weather fan. ::cringe::
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