jonathan sanchez

Last night after midnight I was watching espn's recap of the events of the day.

I wrote in the Madness of March how espn has been a godsend for sports fans. Fifty somethings tell thirty somethings about a time when sports news consisted only of five minute sound bites in the nightly newscast. Now a staple of each fan's day is viewing the highlights of that sport's day.

There is a theory in communication studies that argues that who we are in terms of our relationships, culture, families, and society is constituted by how we communicate. That is, communication is not simply something used to convey information: for example, "The Red Sox won", but a process that has as its residual effects the formation and reformation of our society and our relationships. ESPN and other dedicated sports channels have had the effect of satisfying fan's desires for information, creating some desires, extending the scope of fandom, and creating the agendas for our days.

At about 1 a.m. eastern time espn took viewers live to a ballgame being played in San Francisco. A player named Jonathan Sanchez, who had recently been demoted to the bullpen, had been given a start for the Giants because another player was injured. Going into the 8th inning, Sanchez had a perfect game. An error by a third baseman eliminated the chances for a perfect game, but the opportunity for a no-hitter still existed. In the 9th inning the first play was a ground out. The second batter hit a tremendous shot to center field that was hauled down by an excellent outfield play. The third batter was called out on a Don Larsen-esque third strike (if anyone knows what I mean by this, contact me at a.zaremba@neu.edu). Sanchez embraced his catcher and then nearly everyone on the team. His father who was at the game came down from the stands to bearhug his son. The last outs were played over and over again on sportscasts. Overnight, Jonathan Sanchez and the feat, and the emotion surrounding the feat, became part of the collective consciousness and subconscious of our society.