Thursday 8/20/20
* The seagulls outside early in the morning actually get quite loud. Not that there are seagulls inside, though one sometimes comes through the automatic doors at North Station. Then that seagull has a kind of adventure learning a means of egress. The loud pre-dawn seagulls say to me, "Rockport, Rockport, hear us there," and I go from finding their caws irritating to using them as a kind of motivational alarm clock. The same species of bird, the same cry, but I would hear gulls differently on a morning such as this, were I back in my house in Rockport, windows open, sea breeze coming in, a day of art-making in front of me with what felt like a purpose--that is, the knowledge that it would soon be widely seen, and fresh impact was to be had. What would that look like? I wouldn't know each time, with the latest of the "new ones," but it'd be exciting to see.
* People say that they "don't do drama," or that they want someone free of drama, and they live a life without drama. Life is inherently dramatic if you actually live it.
* The Bruins advanced yesterday. I think they have a real shot to win the Cup, their soft spot being in net. Halak is fine--but I don't know that he can be the guy over the course of four rounds. He was bad in his first game--the scouting report is clearly that his glove hand is weak, especially if you catch him at that midpoint where he has to decide which way to turn his wrist. Do you ever see a catcher stab down at the ball in the dirt rather than turn his palm up under it? Halak gets caught in-between like that. I read a lot of comments about Rask opting out. Every reaction was simple. People need either/or. They're fervent about something being this enormous One Or The Other. I don't know the medical history of Rask's children, and I think it's creepy to look that up, so I don't. But I believe I've ever encountered several news items about his little girl being the recipient of an organ transplant. I completely understand a parent leaving a sport to care for their child and their family. At the same time, yes, I don't think Rask is this ultra-competitor. There's a reason he hasn't won a Cup. There's a reason Tim Thomas did. One truth does not cancel out the other. Could Rask have won this year? Sure. Could he win in the future? Yes. But I believe this is better for this year, even if Halak does not have Rask's talent. The latter had checked out mentally. I was concerned about the Bruins after seeing some of their round-robin games, then much less concerned after reading quotes from what sounded like a confident group to me. They treated those games as exhibition games. Someone said to me recently that maybe they were trying to position themselves to gain favorable match-ups, but I don't believe that was true and in my view this is a loser's mentality. If you're good enough to win, built to win, fully buying in to the prospect of winning, you'll beat who you need to beat or else you'll lose fair and square to someone who deserved to beat you. So if you truly believe you're the real deal, none of that matters. I wouldn't want to be on a team that tries to jockey into a position because of not wanting to face another squad. Just tell me what time to be at the rink. Which is also a good way to live your life.
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