> I mentioned the magazine (and its online site) “First Things” last time. In the October issue, the theologian (some say “ethicist”) Stanley Hauerwas writes about the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre. I guess all involved knew I was taking a seminar on MacIntyre. Nice of them.
> N.T. Wright will be at Baylor in October. His massive study (the 3rd in his series on Christian origins) “The Resurrection of the Son of God” makes the historical case - using just about every tool available - for the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. I’ve been looking forward to meeting Wright for over 9 years…have read at least 10 of his books, scholarly and “pop,” and I still have no idea what I will say to him.
> Random recommendations from the music archives at the home embassy (now that I’ve recovered from a strange 2 year hiatus in my otherwise uninterrupted 18 years of intense jazz listening): Miles Davis “Nefertiti”; Wynton Marsalis “Live at Blues Alley”; Duke Ellington -anything from the late 1930’s; John Coltrane “Crescent”; Michel Camilo “Live at the Blue Note.”
> Remember that you can leave comments here (a quick registration is necessary) and, hopefully, start a conversation with others.
Soccer
> The Women’s World Cup 2007 is proving more dramatic than most people expected (those few, sadly, who are payng attention). The U.S. will play its final game of the group stage - against Nigeria - in about 8 hours (Tuesday, 9/18, ESPN 7:55am Eastern). If the U.S. wins, we won’t have to play Germany in the first knock-out stage.
Teams to watch (set VCR’s/DVR’s):
> North Korea is a huge surprise. Against the U.S. they were machines - velcro touch, constant movement, inch-perfect passing, tight marking. They are a threat.
> Germany is Germany, dammit, but there are chinks in the armor - possibly internal tension - and not as much swagger.
> England looked better than ever. Like the N. Koreans and many of the European teams, they’ve obviously been training with excellent men’s and boy’s teams (an observation Julie Foudy made, so don’t get P.C. on me). The dark horse.
> The U.S. is not firing on all cylinders. But…we have Lily, Wambach, Pearce, and Boxx. If you are a student of athletics or an observant fan, you cannot look at Wambach and Lily without recognizing that look that tells you: no matter what, her team has a chance to win while she’s in the game.
Positives: unlike the painful and dreadful approach that April Heinrichs used in the semifinal loss to Germany in the last World Cup (”drive up the flank, cross the ballinto the box, no matter how many times Germany just clears it away” and then I’ll wait to put Tiffeny Millbrett in until it’s too late), Greg Ryan has the team prepared to vary it’s attack! It’s beautiful!
Negatives: the technicality of the U.S. players - see above for “velcro touch, constant movement, inch-perfect passing, tight marking” - has not progressed as it obviously has for N.Korea and England. This is distressing, because if we had recruited for this and trained for this, nobody could touch us.
The single thing that will win this World Cup: confidence expressed as bold, almost arrogant swagger. It wins championships.
Next time…Flannery O’Connor.