Bad Decision

"It is hard to appreciate good books if you don't read something crappy every once in awhile." -- JEN

That about says it.  I read Life is Perfect When You're a Liar, by Kelly Oxford, but I need to give context... in short, I blame George R.R. Martin.

In this, our Year of The Big Book, I have been reading some great and heavy stuff.  David Foster Wallace, Alexandre Dumas and George R.R. Martin have had me in a 3-on-1, steel-cage match for the better part of the last two months.  Those guys are heavy hitters and it has seemed a bit much... and I started to feel like Mick Foley taking bumps.

I finished A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin in what I can only describe as my divide-and-conquer strategy.  I isolated Martin in the corner while DFW and Dumas were distracted only to eliminate Martin with a steel chair and tighten the odds to 2-on-1.   Bloodied, I looked for a reprieve, especially after the patented Martin end-of-book gut slam (and he did it again).

When I knock out a big book, I like to take a break with something light.  Call it a reward for perseverance.  I usually choose a sports book or a comedy book.  I follow Kelly Oxford on Twitter because she is funny and has been billed as a Twitter phenom.  She made me laugh enough that I decided to give her book a shot.  Impulse purchase, and I wish I had just let it be.

Buckeye!

So Joe handed me a book back around Christmas called Buckeye. It's an overview of Woody Hayes and the Ohio State Buckeye football program, published in 1974, it covers alot of ground, from Woody's personal bio to some of the more controversial moments in Woody's behavior.  

Most of you know, I'm a loyal OSU fan.  Having been raised on at least a passing rooting interest in OSU football as a kid, in late high school, I was able to begin to properly understand and respect the greatest college football program in the country.  Woody was long gone by then (he passed in 1987), but his impact on the Buckeye football program is massive, and he among all others helped build OSU into an perennial challenger.  

Let me be clear.  Woody Hayes is fantastic! He's so much better than Bobby Bowden could ever be.  Significantly more authentic than pretty much any of the coaches out there today.  A man of integrity and a true icon in the sport.  I'd also bag on some coach from Virginia or CU if they'd ever been any good at anything besides powderpuff football, but as we all know, that's not necessary.

I love how the writer bags on Lee Corso too.  Made me crack up when I read his brief two sentence overview of Corso's coaching style. 

I also was very happy to read some of the other background politics and organization structure, as it really helped me connect some dots with the way the OSU machine runs its outreach.  We all know the Senator got himself in trouble because of some stupid stuff that Pryor got away with, and his attempt to ignore the rules without realizing the NCAA was gunning for a scapegoat.  But understanding how the recruiting system works for OSU helps explain how Clarett, Pryor, and others really got recruited, and some of the rumors swirling around some of their mis-deeds.  

One of the fun things too was reading about Woody's temper.  He was famous for his temper.  He did some just fantastic things in his rages.  One of the ones I love is this. 

Clemson deserved that!

One last blurb.  Go listen to Urban Meyer explain how tough Woody Hayes was, back when Urban was a fresh faced coach.  Start at about the 3 minute mark.

Go Buckeyes!

Monte Cristo 2: This Time it's Revenge!

March 23 met with a snowstorm, meaning we braved the elements to get Jacob to his promised Laser Tag Birthday celebration.  It also meant cancellation of last week's book discussion about the first 1/3 of the Count of Monte Cristo.  It was rescheduled for Saturday, March 30, and I got to go.

As always it was a good discussion and enlightening.  And, as with all discussions, I revisited it many times in my mind.  However, what I thought was an understood and widely-accepted maxim turned into the crux of the debate. It turns out that revenge has more sympathy as a motive than I ever expected.  I always believed (and still do) that revenge, although a very tempting motive, is ultimately a bad motive.  In my mind, the discussion got turned on its logical head and I've been trying to set it right in my own mind these last few days.

Two concepts raised in the discussion gave me pause.  First was the assertion that "forgive and forget" is selfish and that revenge (as opposed to justice) should be used as a protection for others.  The second was the assumption that anyone's feelings of "forgive and forget" should understandably fall aside once an "extreme" (undefined) injustice happens to a loved one.

I disagree with these points and feel more comfortable giving thorough reasons after reflection.  Forgiveness is gracious, but revenge is selfish, and this should hold true in the face of any injustice suffered.  But, as I will try to explain, I think the confusion resulted from a mixing of revenge and justice (two very different things).  I think we are tempted to fill in the gaps of our always-imperfect system of justice.  Some seem to allow or at least tolerate that those gaps may (or even should) be filled with revenge.  I just cannot go there.

The clip below from Les Miserable is one of my favorite.  The act of kindness and forgiveness from the bishop allowed Jean Valjean a level of self-reflection that inspired actual change and removed a criminal from the lives of others in a way temporary imprisonment never could.  It is also an example of the benefits of grace over revenge.