As everyone who read this blog knows, Texas Truth loves movies. There is nothing better than watching a movie and escaping to anotehr time and another place.The best types of movies, in my humble opinion, are sports and war movies. I absolutely love both. What red-blooded American man does not?
I was sitting in my favorite recliner this evening, surfing the channels and I came across one of my favorites, Field of Dreams.
Yes, I know it is a corny movie, but I LOVE it. It brings back so many memories of my childhood following baseball. You see, mu favorite team was the Pittsburg Pirates. I lived and died with the Pirates. I have the chance see them for the first time live as a sophomore in high school. I was on the high school band trip to Houston and we got to go to the Astrodome to see the Houston Astros play the Pirates.
Long before that, I loved baseball but after that, my love for baseball grew with every moment. I never was a good player. I played Little League as a youth but never was any good.
As I got older, I enjoyed the game more and more, and after a while, my interests went in other directions.
Recently, I have made complete circle and renewed my love of the game. As a teenager and young adult, I remember my father talking about baseball. I found out he played at the minor league level when he was younger. I know he never made it to the Bigs, but I remember to this day when I found out my father was, for a short time, a professional baseball player, made me wonder what else there was about my father I never knew.
I guess that is why I love the movie Field of Dreams so much. It is so much about America and family. It is so much about what makes this country that I love so much as great as it is.
There are two parts of the movie that really stand out in my mind. The first part is them Terrance Mann, played by James Earl Jones does the soliloquy about baseball. I have posted it below.Please read it and think about what it means to you.
Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack.
And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
No one else could have delivered this speech as Jones did. It was perfect. It really sums up what the country is all about. I will post more on this later.
The second part is when Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Kinsella, sees his father on their field and begins to talk to him. His reaction when he realizes that the catcher is his father is priceless,
At the end of the scene, there is a brief two-line part of the movie. It goes as follows:
Ray Kinsella: [choked up] "You wanna have a catch?"
John Kinsella: "I'd like that."
I do as many men all over America do when they see that part. I cry. Yes, I admit it, I cry like a baby.
One cannot be a red-blooded American man and not be chocked up by that part. Every time it comes on, I watch it, knowing that it is going to chock me up. I cannot help it. I guess it is like therapy.
In any case, Field of Dreams is one of my top 10 favorite sports movies. I bet it is one of your favorites too.
In closing, have a good evening and come back tomorrow for my post on the Super Bowl commercials of 2006
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