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Thursday, Jan 8, 2009
Readers bust a gut on fat guy story; it's time to give up on baseball; sick of hearing about Harmony Korine's shockfest.
Oct 22, 1999 | "Fat guys kick ass"
BY STEVEN A. SHAW
(10/15/99)
Thanks for nothing, Shaw. Could you have written that article about 20 years ago?
I'm a 35-year-old very fit man who was a fat-ass kid. As the fat Jewish kid from a fat Jewish family, I used to revel in my food: potato latkes, kishke, chocolate chip cake, even the common Suzy Q used to fuel my tank.
Now, I watch every fucking fat gram and work out daily. I'm already married, and sure, theoretically, I could just let myself go -- but when I joke around with my equally fit wife about devolving into a fat bastard, she invariably says "OK, seeya."
Great. "Pass the fat-free ranch, hon."
-- Aron Solomon
Mercersburg, Pa.
I'm so glad Steven Shaw is fat. But I'm so sad he's straight!
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool chubby-chaser, thin as a rail, and have always been dismayed by the large gay men who do not share Shaw's views about the virtues of size. Do you think being fat among straight men is stigmatized? Honey, just multiply that stigma by the vanity of gay men, and you'll describe this mostly reviled, somewhat community-less, much-misunderstood subgroup within a subgroup -- so many members of which I've fallen over myself to chase down, and few of which are as satisfied as Shaw is with their rare beauty.
Welcome to fringe sexuality. It's always been scandalous when other queers find out someone like me (in my 20s and considered cute) prefers chubby boys, but I've discovered hundreds of other chasers via the Web. Without enough examples like Shaw in place it's no wonder people (both queer and non) don't understand -- yet. Tell Shaw thanks for writing, and for shakin' his sexy stuff!
-- Andrew Glines
Cute piece, but I don't know what gay world the author's friend, David, is living in. Most of the gay guys I've encountered would clamor over the last thin guy with a sore on his lip before they'd go for any of the healthy fat guys standing alone against the far wall of the dance club. That's assuming that any fat guys would even have enough emotional strength left to brave the certain rejection of a gay dance club in the first place. Take it from a very single gay fat guy.
-- Darren Sage
Baltimore
Shaw is right -- people who develop obsessions with exercise and dieting are generally unhealthy and unhappy. But what about us normal people in the middle? I love exercising; it releases endorphins and gives me pleasure. The fact that I do not live inertly allows me to pretty much eat whatever I want, whenever I want, and still look good. I am healthy but not skinny, tall and voluptuous and feminine. I love food, and I am a fantastic cook.
And as for sex -- yes, sometimes I like being on top, but other times I don't. I cannot even fathom being turned on by a guy that is going to lie there like a lump. The best thing about sex is variety and options. Flexibility is highly desired (in attitude as well as body).
While I do enjoy a healthy appetite in others, there is a difference between enjoying food and eating away one's self-esteem problems. Maybe it is better to be fat and happy than thin and fretful, but I don't see those as the only options. I am "normal" and happy now, and I'll probably be happier than you 30 years from now. Shaw will probably not enjoy life because of diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and other problems, while I will probably be like my grandparents were -- healthy and mobile well into their 80s.
Shaw enjoys eating, and what else? I must have missed that part. I enjoy just about everything life has to offer.
-- Tsipi Erann
Baseball must die
BY ANDREW O'HEHIR
(10/15/99)
As a longtime Pirates fan, I can bear witness to the economic havoc that a few stupid, arrogant, deep-pocketed owners have wrought. By continuing to bid up salaries paid to "superstars" or even marginal role players, they have created an environment wherein smaller-market teams cannot compete either on the field or off. Their fans have to endure "minor league" ball, as the typical roster consists largely of 20-something rookies who, for the most part, should still be learning their trade at the "AAA" or even "AA" level. But it is more fiscally expedient to field these guys than to be outbid in the free-agent market.
Of course, once these players attain major league viability or, in some cases, stardom, their next move is usually out of town -- logically following the money trail to George Steinbrenner, Ted Turner, et al. Then the cycle starts over again and we face yet another "rebuilding" year.
The argument in justifying salaries has always been that they are merely "reflecting the marketplace." But baseball remains one of the lowest-rated televised events. No one watches anymore, other than the cities involved in the playoffs and World Series. Attendance at the games themselves isn't anything to write home about either.
So, maybe it is best that baseball does die out, or just disappear for a while. Go ahead, go out on strike again. Maybe this time we'll finally show the players just how sadly irrelevant the game has really become.
-- George A. Fuller
Warren, Ohio
Nowhere in an article reviewing a book on baseball should I read the phrase "cheap Latino talent from the Caribbean." What exactly is cheap about Orlando Hernandez, Ramon and Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, Ramiro Mendoza, Bernie Williams, Rey Ordonez, Sammy Sosa or countless others? How is recruiting these men stopping little boys in Oakland from pursuing baseball?
The history and legacy of Latino baseball stars in the Major Leagues is rich and deep and deserves to be honored. The Latinos who are playing in the Major Leagues are doing so because they have the talent to be there. They are not, in any way, cheap labor stealing jobs. Bernie Williams' talent doesn't come cheap.
I can understand and appreciate Morgan's and O'Hehir's dismay that less and less talent is coming from America's inner cities. But they needn't make their point by denigrating a group that has more than earned its place in the sport. If more talent is coming from the Caribbean, it may just be because the Caribbean nations revere the sport more than America's inner cities.
-- Dina del Valle
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