I Love Technology

I love technology. Just like Napoleon's brother Kip sings to his new bride during their wedding in "Napoleon Dynamite".

I sit in front of a computer all day. That's my job. It may sound atrocious to some, delightful to others. Some may tout the benefits of having access to the internet and several challenging programs while others are more at home pounding the pavement, hitting the road or working outside in the fresh air. No doubt, each has its pros and cons. I should know; I've been employed in all of these situations. But what's really great is that it doesn't matter which set of working conditions I end up in. Why? Technology.

While sitting at my desk, in front of my computer, I can check yesterday's box scores and game recaps. "Who needs technology for that?", one may ask. "I do," I answer. With technology, I don't have to buy a newspaper. And I can get a full box score and recap for every major league game, rather than just the "box score and blurb" found in print. Then, once I've finished piecing those in between my actual job duties, I can check out the noon baseball games. Live. Both ESPN.com and CBS Sportsline.com have pitch-by-pitch, electronic, real-time gamecasts. I love these things! I can watch as many games as I want, all at the same time. I can know exactly what is going on in any game at any given moment, even if I have to take a break find out when a train full of wheat is going to arrive in Stockton, California.

"Ooooh, I'm scared of the internet and intimidated by technology!", one may say. "Balderdash," says I. Just turn on technology's "Old Faithful", the radio. As mind-boggling as the internet and computer technology may be, the fact that peoples' voices can travel through the air for hundreds of miles is still nothing short of astounding. My municipality's baseball team can be heard clear as day pounding some other city's squad into submission, even while I'm sitting in my car.

And if I decide to go get some lunch at the local brewpub, the chances are in my favor that I could actually watch the game on TV. Live television is even more amazing than radio, especially the way it's produced in this day and age. You can see every play from every angle on every game.

"Things were a lot better back in the good old days," one might say. You know what I say? "Phooey!" Baseball is draped in nostalgia and rightfully so. Part of the allure of baseball is that you can compare what is happening right now to some player or some team or some era from long ago. Or a decade ago. Or a week ago. Sure, it may be nostalgic thinking about the days when games were only played in the sunlight. But how many games could you actually go to? Didn't people have jobs then, too? Now there's certainly something to be said for attending a ballgame in person. It is far better to sit in the park with all the sights, sounds and smells. But if you can't be there, don't you still want to know what's going on? I sure do.

And what if your favorite team is out of town? Or you root for a team that doesn't reside in your neck of the woods? This was the case for me yesterday. The Royals were playin in g in Detroit and the Yankees/Red Sox game was also under way in New York. It was nice to be able to needle my cranky, pessimisitic co-worker with updates of Runelvys Hernandez hitting his spots and Mariano Rivera melting down YET AGAIN against the Red Sox lineup.

Maybe I'm just a product of a society built on instant gratification. But you couldn't do this stuff 50 years ago. And I'm guessing that if the folks who pine for the old days had the opportunities then that we have now, they wouldn't have passed them up.

I love technology.