And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

... that I tried to watch a little of the World Cup soccer action while the USA team was still in action, but could not really appreciate the game.
And like so many others in the United States, I lost all interest once the USA lost.
Those “many others” I suspect are those maybe 30 years old or older. American kids seem to like the game, and American mothers who don’t want their young sons to get hurt playing that rough game of football also like soccer.
It might help if I knew the rules.
But I have always felt that what I dislike is the lack of scoring action. However, on the same day the USA was losing 2-1 in overtime, I later became aware that I had heard the Chicago Cubs also play a 2-1 baseball game that lasted about three and a half hours... longer than the soccer match!
All depends on what we have grown up with, I suppose.
Speaking of the Chicago Cubs, we long-suffering Cub fans were suffering once again when the Cubs gave away two starting pitchers, one with a team-leading number of wins, and the other with a team-leading earned run average.
That happened after we were teased by the best success the Cubs have enjoyed this season, maybe for a couple seasons. They had won 25 and lost 19 during the stretch, and had closed to just eight games under .500 with a four-game winning streak. There were hopes for a winning season.
Hopes dashed by the trade.
Did it affect the rest of the team? Next day, they lost 13-0!
In return for those pitching stars, the Cubs got a sore-armed pitcher who was sent down to AAA and where he had an ERA of nearly five. They got a shortstop prospect who has been injured, and who is being slated for only Class AA action. The Cubs already have an all-star shortstop and a highly touted AAA league shortstop. They also got an outfielder of single A league quality. Plus a player to be named later.
So why make such an apparently unfavorable trade? Reports say they “shed” about $5.5 million in salaries. Hmm! That’s about one year’s salary for a top notch major leaguer. It gives them about $20 million with which to acquire someone for three or four years... someone as good as the two they traded away?
Even if the weather improves, and today’s forecast holds no promise of that, it is going to be a long summer.
Speaking of weather, I had something happen when I mowed the lawn last week that I have never experienced before. As soon as I started the first cut with the riding lawnmower, I noticed a bird zoom from behind and fly across the front of the mower. When it kept happening, I noticed that the bird had a forked tail, similar to what swallows display. Soon, there were a couple of them. And when once one came flying straight at me, I thought maybe it was large enough to be a Purple Martin. But on further reflection, I still favor a swallow.
I suspect the mower was disturbing insects which I could not see, but the birds obviously could.
More power to ‘em. There are lots of bugs this summer.