The Useless Tree

Sports

  • The New York Yankees and the I Ching

         There was happy and sad news last week.  The happy news was that the New York Yankees qualified for the Major League Baseball playoffs, for the thirteenth consecutive year.  The sad news was that they did not win… Continue reading

  • Scooter

         I have been posting more on baseball these days – it just happens that way.  But I beg the indulgence of readers not interested in the game for yet another post today.      Phil Rizzuto died.  … Continue reading

  • Brian Cashman, Taoist Sage, Again…

         The New York Yankees are winning again.  But just a month or so ago, there was much anxiety among the Yankee faithful – the team was losing then, the trade deadline of July 31 was looming, and it… Continue reading

  • Friday I Ching Blogging: Hope for the New York Yankees!

         I have been holding off on this question for some time, waiting for the right moment to consult the oracle.  Today, I went ahead and asked: will the New York Yankees win the American League East?   And the… Continue reading

  • Chien-Ming Wang, Taoist Sage

         I watched the Yankee game last night, a brilliant pitching performance by Taiwan’s pride, Chien-Ming Wang, in an 8-2 victory over the Mets.  I have blogged about Wang before, noting his Confucian filiality, but last night something else… Continue reading

  • The Tao of Losing

        As I have said before: I am a Taoist Yankee fan.  And it is in Taoism that I find solace for the current Yankee losing streak.  How about this passage from Chuang Tzu: Birth and death, living and… Continue reading

  • Manny Ramirez, Taoist Sage

         You knew I had to do this.  The profile of Manny Ramirez, outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, in this week’s New Yorker, (hat tip Jeremiah) gives me another chance to point to Taoism in a modern context. … Continue reading

  • Chinese Football

        Another mark, albeit modest, of the continuing transformation of Chinese-ness in the face of globalization: Chinese football players.  No, not international football (soccer) but American football: The Chinese athletes Gao Wei, Ding Long and Shen Yalei are being… Continue reading

  • Why The Bears Lost

         OK, so my prediction, based on a Sun Tzu-inspired analysis, of a Bears victory in the Super Bowl failed.  Does this mean Sun Tzu is somehow flawed in his strategic outlook?  I think the answer is clear: No. … Continue reading

  • Sun Tzu and the Super Bowl

        The final American football championship, the Super Bowl, will be played on Sunday.  I have been contemplating the contest, between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears (as did several of the young men in my recent Winter… Continue reading