One of the most stringent rules of being a baseball fan is respect the tradition of the game. Not just the rules, but the aesthetics of the game. Specifically, it`s gotta look right. The grass, the brick, the scoreboards…it has to look like baseball. Together, they make you go ‘OK!’
Well the Marlins new stadium doesn`t look like baseball to me. On the outside, it looks more like a shopping mall in Stockholm. Where`s the brick? Where`s the iron? You hear that it`s got a bunch of neat stuff inside, and they say ‘look at the sculpture in the outfield!’ but when you see it you`re like…’Oooh…okah.’ But here`s the thing: this is all in Miami and you`re not. Miami`s just a different place, and stuff, like this sculpture and this stadium probably fit in Miami just fine.
It`s all about location and context!
The cops show up wearing a white linen suit with no belt in Chicago and it`s ‘Uh? okah.’ But in Miami it`s ‘Oh! Okay!’
If I`m headed out to do a liveshot in front of a car accident, the pink seersucker suit is gonna bring the (puzzled) ‘Ooooohh…okah.’ But move me into the crowd at the Kentucky Derby and it`s ‘Oh, okay!’ The setting makes all the difference! Like blue body paint at a Duke basketball game or a Mohawk at a punk rock concert, it`s all stuff that looks way out of place when it`s not in the right place.
Like a set of really bad teeth…all brown and crooked and (squints) ‘Aaaaah…okah.’
But then someone`s like ‘Hey, the guy is British!’ and then it`s ‘Oh! Okay!’ They`re still bad teeth, but somehow when you put `em in context they`re not so bad…maybe they`re even good!
You catchin` my drift, here? It`s all about the setting.
You go out to the pool at your apartment and see a man like this it`s ‘Uuuuuugh…okah.’ But if you`re in the Caribbean around a bunch of Europeans it`s ‘Eh…okay!’ I hate to have to be so vivid, but to understand context, you have to see context.
I`m Andy Fales, and that`s What`s Bugging Me.
