St. Matthew

In honor of St. Matthew’s feast day, we present El Greco’s portrait of him:

This painting is in the El Greco Museum in Toledo, Spain.

As you can see, El Greco’s figures are elongated.

The museum guide in the Prado in Madrid told us that all the people in El Greco’s paintings are 13% taller than they should be.

By the by…El Greco was indeed a Greek. He was from Crete. (He was a Cretan, though hardly a cretin.)

The Spaniards could not pronounce his name, so they called him “The Greek.” (No relation to Jimmy the Greek.)

Jean Poyet was a late-medieval illuminator who produced the beautiful image of the Mass you see below. He also drew a magnificent St. Matthew.

The picture of St. Matthew is in the “Book of Hours of Henry VIII,” which is in the Morgan Library in New York. Alas, I cannot find the image of St. Matthew anywhere on the ol’ internet, so here’s Poyet’s picture of the Holy Mass instead.

Happy feast day to all Matthews!

…With bad luck like this (see below), you are going to lose to the N.Y. Giants, even if you are the Dallas Cowboys in the home-opener in your billion-dollar new stadium:

…These old Bests are retired:

Forgive me for saying this…

…but, of all the sports action in greater NYC this weekend, I am actually more fired up for tennis than I am for the Redskins’ season opener.

(Click here for my predictions about opening the season against the Giants last year. I predict a similar outcome tomorrow.)

I know that American men are supposed to scoff at tennis and live and breathe football. Football is the more ‘manly’ game.

But:

First of all, I take Serena over Jason Campbell any day.

Secondly, these intriguing questions are swirling in the clouds over Queens:

Will Nadal rally and hobble his way to victory?

Will Federer Federer?

OR: Will Delpo carry the tall-man banner into the tennis stratosphere?

…There are not enough hours in the day to take in all the excitement, my friends.

From His celestial perch, high above the New York metropolitan area, the good Lord will watch all the tennis in Queens and all the football in north Jersey simultaneously.

The rest of us will have to be content with channel-flipping.

Eartha Kitt, RIP & Super Bowl

1927-2008

She was Cat Woman, Madame Zeroni in “Holes,” and many other things besides (not all of them altogether good).

I loved every episode of Batman when I was a kid. But the episodes with Cat Woman were the best.

May she rest in peace.

P.S. “Holes” is a seriously good movie.

2) Question: Who to root for to win the Super Bowl? (Now that the Redskins are done for the year)

In my opinion, we are bound by a debt of honor to root for the New York Giants.

Eleven months ago, the Giants gave the world the most excellent Super Bowl upset in a generation. It was one of the greatest things ever!

St. Andrew Day

St. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross

November 30 is St. Peter’s brother’s feast day.

It appears to have been the saint’s will to make us Redskins fans share a little bit in his suffering on his feast day.

What I really feel bad about is this, though… Today was a double-header for me: Redskins at 1:00, then a storied match-up between the Hoyas and the Maryland Terrapins for the Old Spice Classic consolation prize (third place).

I figure that of all the Redskins fans in Prince George’s County, probably MORE of them are Terps fans than Hoyas fans. I was hoping that somehow we could all have a little consolation after the agony of the early afternoon.

The Consolation of Other L’s

It only took 31 hours. The Redskins loss to the Rams has just about ‘come out in the wash.’

America’s Team fell, and they look like they are in disarray. The Super Bowl champs lost, too–in fact, they got KILLED. Losing to the Rams is a bitter pill, but when everything is said and done, NFC-East W’s and L’s are what matters, the ‘Skins L doesn’t look quite so ugly now.

Someone up there likes us.

Arizona celebrates upset win over Dallas Sunday

Also: Suddenly, this Sunday afternoon’s game against Cleveland looks a lot more interesting. Someone is going to have to stuff Edwards. Maybe certain people will find a way to focus themselves this Sunday.

Browns' Edwards can dunk AND beat the Giants

It IS too bad that two other teams’ losses are what it takes to chase the Redskins’ blues away. But we take what we can get in this life.

Was there a game at FedEx Field this past Sunday? I can hardly remember…

This has even inspired to me to add a song to the cheer-up list.

David the Shepherd Warrior Died in His Bed

 

After King David slew Goliath (1 Samuel 17), he did not get killed in his next battle (1 Samuel 18:14).

 

Can any of us football fans ever forget the thrill of February 3, 2008?  Goliath fell, hit by a rock from a little sling.

 

We Redskins fans should not, therefore, expect two miracles in a row in New York Giants’ games.  Let us resolve to be happy if the season opener Thursday evening is a solid effort.

 

Dan Snyder beat Senator McCain to the punch by eight months:  The Redskins owner made a bold move that looks toward a beautiful long-term future before the Republican nominee ever thought of any governor of Alaska.  Our beloved owner deserves credit for this, loathe as anyone is to give him credit for anything.

 

Let us hope that Coach Zorn fulfills the promise.  Even though I have no idea what I am talking about (like many football fans), allow me to opine on the art of coaching:  In the end, being a successful coach is a matter of bigness and nobility of character.  Everybody has the “science” of football; spiritual leadership is what makes the difference.  (Talented players, of course, do not hurt–but there are plenty of talented Redskins.)  If Jim Zorn is half as big a man as Joe Gibbs is, if he can be half the spiritual leader Joe Gibbs was, then the future is very bright.  If not…well, it is not a pretty scenario.

      

If you are reading, coach, here is some advice from someone who certainly has no right to offer any.  Meditate on this moment from last season:  The Patriots had just shellacked the Redskins.  It was an embarrassment of historic proportions.  As everyone left the field, reporters hounded the head coach for a comment:  “Who’s to blame?”  At one of the lowest moments of his life, at a moment when most men would grasp at every straw in the cup to find someone or something else to complain about, Joe Gibbs calmly said, “There is plenty of blame to go around, but it begins with me.”