Rant #2,373: "Its the End of the World As We Know It" vs. "One Way Or the Other"

Today, May 26, should have been a great day for sports fans.

The 2020 Major League Baseball season was supposed to begin today, and all 30 teams were supposed to be active, including my favorite team, the New York Yankees, playing the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore this afternoon at 3 p.m.

All the pomp and pageantry of opening day was supposed to be there, with the red, white and blue bunting all around, a packed house, and lots of action on the field.

Well, just let's say that due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, that isn't going to be happening today, and it isn't going to be happening for the foreseeable future.

MLB keeps pushing back its opening day, and the way it might be going, they will be pushing back their opening day to oblivion, or something like that.

Sports, for what they are, exist as a diversion to our everyday lives, and we simply have not had much going on during this outbreak.

Pro wrestling--which exists in its own universe to begin with--is about the only thing going on now, and even the WWE has limited its scope, running its three weekly network shows in bare arenas, and with little action, although that has picked up in recent days.

Another pro wrestling group--Impact Wrestling--pre-tapes their shows, so they have run full, first-run shows since the pandemic began, with crowds and full action. Soon, those shows will all be shown, and I would think they would have to go the WWE route, maybe have their weekly shows in bare arenas with much less action than they are used to.

Pro wrestling is as much entertainment as it is sports, so they kind of tread the line between the two, and I have to say that both WWE and Impact, and I am sure the other organizations, including EAW, should be commended for trying to keep things going in the face of complete and total adversity.

What else can we do to keep our minds off of what is going on?

Yesterday, I put up a video on Facebook where I brought people into the room where I keep all of my records, which is a complete mess because I do not have the shelving needed to keep my collection all nice and tidy.

I showed people some of what I had, and then I actually showed them how I digitize my records, in this case, "Paul Revere and the Raiders Greatest Hits," of which I have both the stereo and mono versions, but decided to digitize the mono version of this 1967 release.

It was a fun thing to do, and the seven-minute video remains on Facebook, so please look for it if you can.

Then I thought to myself, if someone was making a musical playlist of songs that were "just right" to listen to during this pandemic, what songs would they listen to?

Well, you actually would have to have two different playlists, one for panic, and one to uplift you after you heard all the panic songs.

Here are my panic songs first:

1) R.E.M - It's the End of the World As We Know It
2) Jimi Hendrix Experience - Manic Depression
3) Elvis Presley - Surrender
4) Napoleon XIV - They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!
5) Herman Hermits - End of the World
6) Black Sabbath - Paranoid
7) Ted Nugent - Home Bound
8) Alan Price Set - I Put a Spell On You
9) Jan and Dean - Dead Man's Curve
10) Ohio Express - Mercy

Here are my uplifting songs:
1) Blondie - One Way Or the Other
2) Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
3) Monkees - I'm a Believer
4) Blues Magoos - There's a Chance We Can Make It
5) Graham Parker - Life Gets Better
6) Carl Carlton - Everlasting Love
7) Outfield - All the Love In the World
8) Paul Revere and the Raiders - Good Thing
9) Hall and Oates - How Does It Feel To Be Back
10) Melanie - Peace Will Come (According to Plan)

That is all I could think of, and maybe you have your own playlists. Even the panic songs are not all panic, as the R.E. M. song is actually subtitled "And I Feel Fine."

Yes, all of these things occupy time, and since I got a head start on the "time" aspect of everything going on, I am so used to filling up my time with things that I would not have the time to do if I were still working that maybe I have developed a knack for filling time with not much of anything.

But keep the faith. We are going to get through this.

It will take time, but we will beat this thing.

Speak to you tomorrow.