Let's Compare

So while Roger Clemens basks in his own awesomeness back at his sprawling estate in Texas, Curt Schilling, barely younger than Clemens and just as talented, is in Fort Meyers, on time for Spring Training, working his butt off. Even though he's a seasoned veteran and still an ace at that. Somehow, he's even managing to enjoy himself. Because, you know (cough*Roger*cough), some people actually DO want to play baseball.
Let's compare the attitudes of two guys nearing the ends of two very similar careers. Schilling is humble enough to realize he can still learn at this stage in his career. "I'm trying to learn a little conversational Japanese," he said. "[Matsuzaka]'s got a whole different gig going. There are 200 people here just for him. He gives off the impression that he doesn't want it to be an inconvenience to other people, which is, I think, a pretty neat thing." He admires humility in others as well, and accepts the fact that other exceptional pitchers exist, too. He's still making adjustments, and he cares about his teammates; he realizes that a championship is a team effort, saying, "I'll be ready to go Opening Day. This is absolutely a World Series-caliber ballclub. We need to be ready right out of the chute, and I feel like I am. The preparation changes more on time [demands] than it does anything else. It takes more time to do things now than it did in the past. Warming up is just one of them. It takes me a little bit longer to get it cranked up and going, but it'll evolve over the spring. I'll tweak it as we go." He admits that he has dreams of another World Series ring or two, but "as far as that stuff goes, I really do not think about it." Because there are more important things to worry about right now. Like getting ready for a season, meeting new teammates, and getting in tip-top shape. Unless, of course, you're Roger Clemens and nobody's interested in seeing you before May, and you don't even want to play baseball. I'm not going to repeat my Roger quotes. You can reread my earlier I-hate-Roger post if you would like.
Anywho, now that I'm finally getting back into the swing (no pun intended) of baseball stuff, I have to leave for a few days. It's February vacation and I'm headed for Vermont for some skiing and snowboarding. I probably won't have any Internet access there, but I look forward to returning to a ton of comments and Sox news. Don't disappoint me :)