Falling Down

Another night at the Mos Eisley Cantina on another dog day of summer. The guys aren't watching Travolta movies but I could hear the Colonel in the background walking up to the bar lecturing everyone on the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

You see the Colonel is very fascinated about the Ottoman Empire because he loves the movie Lawrence of Arabia which of course is based on T.E. Lawrence's efforts to help Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. When I walk into the bar I could hear the Colonel lecturing the bar about Religion in the great Empire.

"Christians and Jews were second class citizen in the Ottoman Empire," says the Colonel as I walk up, greet the other patrons, and order a beer. "Christians and Jews couldn't carry weapons or testify against Muslims in a court of law. And some Christian boys were conscripted into the Muslim faith in a system known as Devsirme of Blood Tax."

"Christians though were able to worship to their own religion. The Empire was tolerant towards the Christians and Jews."

"Is there a point to this conversation?" I say because I've heard these stories many times before.


"I feel like people should know the history of the Ottoman Empire," says the Colonel. "We learn so much about Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union but we ignore the Ottoman Empire or the Shogunate's that used to rule Japan in history classes."

I never realized this point before. Why don't we learn about other countries/dictatorships/Empires other than Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or the Confederacy? Or is there too much source material here for the high school level? Then when I think about it, I took a couple of history classes in college and never learned about the Ottoman Empire. To be fair though, one of the classes was military history. But still, you'd think I would have learned about the Ottoman Empire in that class because of their involvement in WWI.

There are just some of things you learn or wonder at the Mos Eisley Cantina.

The Giants enter the second game of their series at home against the Diamondbacks on a four-game losing streak and are only one game ahead of the serpents in the NL West. Lincecum is on the mound for the Giants but his performance won't matter if the Giants offense doesn't pull their heads out of their collective asses.

"The Giants offense needs to score more than you know two runs a game," says the Colonel.

"The defense as well needs to pull their heads out of their asses," I say. "How many runs have the opponents scored against the Giants in the last four games that were ground balls that found a hole because the defense wasn't fast enough to reach the ground out?"

And that is when you realize how much the Giants miss a guy like Freddy Sanchez and how much somebody like Aubrey Huff can age in just a year. I know defense has been devalued in preference of good hitting, but for crying out loud you need guys who have a little range playing defense.

"Keppinger is slower than molasses," says the Colonel. "He just doesn't have Sanchez's range and that has hurt the Giants a couple of times this year."

Indeed. Meanwhile in the third inning of the game Lincecum is throwing hard but is very wild and has thrown over 60 pitches in just three innings. Of course in typical Lincecum style he hasn't given up a run and in typical fashion the Giants hitters they don't have a hit in through 2 innings let alone a walk.

In the fourth inning the Giants take a 1-0 lead and of course they strand two runners at third and second with just one out. And in typical fashion the opposing team blasts a home run with a man on to give them the lead. And the guy who hurts the Giants is a rookie first basemen.

"Imagine that," says the Colonel. "A team actually allows their rookie first basemen to actually start a game and he produces immediately. I wonder if the Giants have any players like that?"

The Colonel of course is sarcastically talking about Brandon Belt who sits on the bench while the buzzards eat the remains of Aubrey Huff's carcass. As Giants fans it's frustrating watching a guy like Belt, who is actually patient at the plate unlike the rest of the hackers on the team, while Huff continues to ground out to second base.

Of course the Giants don't score the rest of the game while Justin Upton hits a home run and flips his bat. The Diamondbacks are now tied for first place in the division and can sweep the Giants on Wednesday afternoon.

"This team is so lifeless," says the Colonel.

Indeed it is. Just another pissed off night at the Mos Eisley Cantina.