‘Small Ball’ Production
OK, so it’s Monday morning, and I have yet to resort to diving out of any windows in despair over the heart-wrenchingly early departure of the Phil’s from the 2011 Post Season. That said I’m reeling, and still feeling more than a little frustration over the whole debacle that was Friday night. It might’ve felt better if we got blown out…it might have felt better if we lost 1-0/2-1 in extra innings, given the pitching match-up…perhaps the frustration may have been rivaled if we goofed and blew some sort of huge, cushy lead. But alas, none of those were the case. Instead, we limped offense-lessly through a disparaging nine innings of torture!
My brother put it succinctly (as he’s often able to do with the Phil’s when I’m struggling to find the logic), when he addressed the fact that the Phil’s have never been a good ‘small ball‘ club. And it’s true, they’re just not. Rather, they’re at their best when exhibiting an awe-inspiring performance, and lack the steady attention to the fundamentals of the game. In their recent playoff success stories, they rode the long ball all the way to the World Series for two straight years. Since then, with injuries prevalent, they’ve been unable to capitalize on the basics and principals that make most baseball teams successful. Now granted, two things are a given: 1 – I’ll feel a heck of a lot better if the Card’s ride their late season hot streak all the way to a parade, and 2 – I’ll be sporting my Phil’s caps all through the year, anxiously awaiting them to take the grass @ Citizen’s Bank in April. I cant help it…I’m a lifer!
Having said that, and as I’ve often done this past season, I started to see correlations to the film production industry here in Philly…another often frustrating situation. The fact of the matter is, all major film markets (New York & L.A. first among the list) witness a sustaining, year-round level of consistent ‘small ball’ production activity. Episodic TV, reality-based TV, indie level feature film production, and big budget studio offerings all balance the slate. Here in the CoBL, however, it seems we’re more ‘flash in the pan’ when it comes to our annual production docket, with typically only a handful of big-budget films swooping in for short stints before leaving the scene vacant for even longer stints. And just like the Phil’s, with their impressive collection of Aces, Philly has all of the key ingredients to be a perpetually strong film market, making it all the more frustrating that it cant seem to capitalize on them.
I’m as loyal to the Greater Philly film region as I am to the Fightin’s, but sooner or later the draw up the turnpike will prove to be a sweeter temptation than I can ignore. And while I’ll no sooner become a native New Yorker than a Yankees fan, there’s no arguing that the fruitful production-sustenance of the Big Apple is an appetizing proposition.
