The Hygiology Post ®

Forty Years Ago

On June 1, 1978 the Ashtabula Star Beacon published an article titled “4 Streaks Honored All Star Team? Color It Blue“.

On June 1, 1978 while in Columbus this author was a player on the St. John Heralds Baseball Team asked the Head Coach of the Ashtabula St. John High School Baseball Team about why nobody on the team was selected to the NEC All Star Team. The only thing he said (even when asked additional questions by players that evening such as why he did not go to the meeting) was that he did not attend the meeting held to pick players and coaches.

This author does hypothesize that not wanting there to be transparency and/or shielding at least one player was the motive for the eventual fact that not one Ashtabula Saint John Herald Baseball Team person in 1978 was on the NEC Baseball All Star Team in any capacity in 1978. Had there been transparency The Ashtabula Saint John High School Baseball Team in 1978 would with very little doubt have had at least one player who would have been on the first team if not MVP of the NEC.

And, I believe that had certain apparently planned and vile events that transpired not had happened the Saint John Baseball Team could have been continued to be carried to a state tournament victory or at the very least a win on June 2, 1978 by yours truly had the unfortunate apparently planned and vile events that night not taken place. But clearly, this Sports Mission Creep has never been about winning a game or for that matter, playing it well,…maybe it is about what is humaine, decent, fair….

It was nearly 40 years,  ago. I remember waking up the next morning on June 2 tired and sore apparently due to

1. Sleeping with a mattress placed on the floor by the head coach when he brought in a person late that night when I had already laid down to sleep who was not on the team to sleep in the room that both the equipment manager and I were already in

and

2. The non player refusing to quit talking with no way way identified to contact the coach (as the equipment manager and I and later along with the student not on the team in some type of storage facility looking room) or security (there was no telephone) resulting in few hours of sleep (after hours of travel to Columbus and then trying to sleep in what I learned was a type of overflow equipment room that had extra beds and was segregated from the rest of the team) on the night of June 1, 1978-June 2, 1978.

I woke up hoping it was all a dream. But as I stared down into the mattress placed on the floor realized the hard reality.

After a few moments I also realized the game was soon set to be played. All I could do was my best. It never crossed my mind to not play. It had been repeatedly thought about the night before when I realized I would not have optimal enough sleep and it did cross my mind again that morning to try my best to mitigate error.

This all happened nearly 40 years ago.

Baseball game playing went instantly from a positive reinforcement to negative reinforcement paradigm.

A sort of torture.

I could not correctly answer the baseball game posed to me.

This has certainly been not forgotten or lessened through time.

But certainly all true.

If given a choice between words like  “You shall know the truth and The truth will set you free” (common saying in academic circles) and a common spoken ending poem (“Late Lament” written by Graeme Edge and read by Mark Pinder) of the Moody Blues for their perhaps most well known (Knights in White Satin) song (written by Justin Hayward and recorded on the album Days of Future Passed which was released in November 1967) it seems the latter currently has more explanatory power in this instance, remembering 40 years ago: