Any Colorado Rockies fans here?

That are willing to admit they are? :-)
I mean, even with all this "Godly schtuff," they still play ball like shit! :D

Baseball's Rockies seek revival on two levels

DENVER - No copies of Playboy or Penthouse are in the clubhouse of baseball's Colorado Rockies. There's not even a Maxim. The only reading materials are daily newspapers, sports and car magazines and the Bible.
Music filled with obscenities, wildly popular with youth today and in many other clubhouses, is not played. A player will curse occasionally but usually in hushed tones. Quotes from Scripture are posted in the weight room. Chapel service is packed on Sundays. Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended. It's not unusual for the front office executives to pray together.

http://tinyurl.com/plk39

:dunce:

I don't care what or who you believe in, just do it privately. If I want to know, I'll ask.

Talk about a hostile work environment. I can't stand having religion or patriotism forced on me.

They're a rather strident anti-abortion religious group, they tried using ball players to promote their cause, but it fizzled out.

Colorado Springs gets all the press, but north central Colorado is rabidly evangelical "christian"

"They do preach character and good living here. It's a must for them, and that starts from the very top. But we're not a military group. ... Nobody is going to push their beliefs on each other or make judgments. We do believe that if you do things right and live your life right, good things are going to happen."

Who defines "right"?

"I had no idea they were a Christian team. ... I would love for them to talk about their Christianity publicly," says Tim Boettcher, 42, a season ticketholder for 12 years and an elder at the Hosanna Lutheran Church in Littleton, Colo. "It makes sense because of the way they conduct themselves. You don't see the showboating and the trash talking. ... They look like a team and act like a team."

So do the Dodgers, and they win more ball games. You don't need Xianity to "look like a team and act like a team."

And besides — in baseball, it's "ball club," not "team." :P

I'm just sayin', okay? But in the late '70s and early '80s, when the Giants had the "God Squad," they also had a hard time winning ball games. Contrary to what Mr. Boettcher believes, clubhouse proselytizing often divides ball clubs. And when you've got 10 guys playing for a deity and 14 playing for the pennant, the latter can be quite elusive.

to be GM and it became apparent they were running a bible camp instead of a baseball team, I quit buying season tickets. I now make it to one or two games a year if I get free tickets. O'Dowd has a fetish for "AAAA"-level utility players.

I like a few of the young players and Clint Hurdle, but the Gawdjeezis crap is pretty absurd. Back when they had a few actual ball players (Bichette, Galarraga, EY, Castilla, Walker, Burks, et al) I was a major fan. They have the worst ownership in baseball and seem to have no interest in actually winning.

I love baseball and I guess they're still my "team." I haven't really switched back to my old "team," the Cubs.

I'd say then they don't have a prayer. :rofl:

but I guarantee you he couldn't hit a big-league slider

But he no help me with curve ball."

"You tryin' to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curve ball?"

:rofl:

would be more help to them than their fundie Fellowship of Christian Athletes bullshit.

Especially Matty.

You just reminded me of the early '60s, when radio guys wouldn't say Jesus because it was "blasphemous." They called him Jay. :eyes:

I think it even said that on one or more of his baseball cards.

'64 Topps, if memory serves.

while packing for a big move--I was away skiing for 6 weeks at the time and the move was not planned far in advance . . .

ahh, the sacrifices we military brats made . . .

What're you waiting for?

Rockies are in my backyard (well, figuratively speaking) but I've never been able to warm up to 'em. I go to one game a year, when the Cubs are at Coors, at that's it. Otherwise...well...yeah.

And this just cements it.

Sheeeeesh...

:eyes:

Just so long as they can beat the Yankees.

I hate the Yankees.

<snip>
O'Dowd, who also received a contract extension, believes that their 27-26 2006 record has resulted from the active intervention of the Almighty. "You look at things that have happened to us this year. You look at some of the moves we made and didn't make. You look at some of the games we're winning. Those aren't just a coincidence. God has definitely had a hand in this." Or maybe the management that prays together gets paid together.

O'Dowd and company bend over backward in the article to say they are "tolerant" of other views on the club, but that's contradicted by statements like this from CEO Monfort: "I don't want to offend anyone, but I think character-wise we're stronger than anyone in baseball. Christians, and what they've endured, are some of the strongest people in baseball. I believe God sends signs, and we're seeing those." Assumedly, Shawn Green (Jew), Ichiro Suzuki (Shinto) or any of the godless players from Cuba don't have the "character" Monfort is looking for. Also, there are only two African-American players on the Rockies active roster. Is this because Monfort doesn't think black players have character? Does the organization endorse the statement of its stadium's namesake, William Coors, who told a group of black businessmen in 1984 that Africans "lack the intellectual capacity to succeed, and it's taking them down the tubes"?

Then there are the fans. I spoke with journalist Tom Krattenmaker, who has studied the connection between religion and sports. Krattenmaker said, "I have concerns about what this Christianization of the Rockies means for the community that supports the team in and around Denver--a community in which evangelical Christians are probably a minority, albeit a large and influential one. Taxpayers and ticket-buyers in a religiously diverse community have a right not to see their team--a quasi-public resource--used for the purpose of advancing a specific form of religion. Have the Colorado Rockies become a faith-based organization? This can be particularly problematic when the religion in question is one that makes exclusive claims and sometimes denigrates the validity of other belief systems."

The Rockies right now are a noxious reflection of a time in US history when generals speak of crusades and the President recounts his personal conversations with Yahweh. ("You're doing a heckuva job, Goddy!") If Monfort, O'Dowd and Hurdle want to pray on their own time, more power to them. But the ballpark isn't a church. ... And fans aren't a flock. Instead of using their position of commercial power to field a God Squad, the Rockies might want to think about getting some decent players. There was once this guy named Babe Ruth. Not too much for the religion, and his character was less than sterling. But I hear he could play some decent ball.
<snip>

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060619/zirin

Why on earth would God favor one team over another???

Do these people ever think.... oh nevermind!

worst ownership in baseball has afflicted the Rox since the planning for Coors Field.

Yes, don't forget that the ballpark is named after the most fascist family in Murka.

:applause:

Tits and Ass 3, God 0.




:hide:

Personally, I don't care what the Rockies believe in as long as you know your job between the white lines.