Chris McCaughan (Lawrence Arms, Sundowner)
SPB: I take it by the multiple baseball references in your songs that you're a fan. What are your thoughts on the recent doping scandal?
McCaughan: Hold up! There's cheating and steroids in baseball?!! C'mon. Are we really so surprised by all this?
It's certainly unfortunate, as I think a lot of us felt like the doping era was slowly becoming history. But alas… What I love most about it all is just how full of shit guys like Braun and A-Rod are. Amazing!!! I love baseball for the tradition, the folklore, the history. For me sports are, in essence, about narratives and characters and baseball is filled with both.
But I should be clear about something here. I love sports (as a side note I can't stand the cynical internet dicks on the day of some big game who post… yay sports!!! or something equally witty. How droll!! Yeah, we get it, you're too cool for sports) but I don't watch baseball so much these days. Perhaps, growing up a Cubs fan has slowly eroded my desire to watch. I feel like it should be noted here, since I don't get much of an opportunity to talk sports in this forum, that basketball has always been the sport I loved, and played, the most. The NBA is the major American league I care most about and follow religiously. I live and die Chicago Bulls basketball, man. The rest… well, I'm just a sucker for a good storyline.