Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Tampa Bay “Devil” Rays?

I think Tim Carver just said, “back then they were the ‘Devil’ Rays.” It seems, once again, that something happened while I wasn’t looking. Are they just “the Rays” now?

Can someone illuminate that process for me? How did they go from being “the Devil Rays” to just being “the Rays?” I’m afraid that it was probably Christians, the new non-denominational Christians who are happy enough to eat Sara Lee with their fellow “saved,” and gloat about how happy they’ll be with god after the tribulation, but who have no patience with actual theology. Those people like to complain about Harry Potter or any innocent reference to witchcraft or the devil, while they themselves go about the devil’s work of racism, intolerance, and interfering in other people’s lives.

My Concise Oxford English Dictionary tells me that a “devil ray” is “a manta or other large long-tailed ray with a fleshy horn-like projection on each side of the mouth.” That’s innocent enough, and a fine, beautiful, semi-dangerous animal to name a team after. “Ray,” on the other hand, has lots of meanings, including “any of a set of straight lines passing through one point.” (Mathematics.)

A little help, please? What happened?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Disassociation is key these days. Must be becoming the new PC. I like the "D-Rays" but I'm no pamphlet slappin witnizz.

I got invited to a church the other day by three very nice Latina women. "Sen-yo's" is the polite respectful nomenclach. Nominclachur nomenclechur ? Well. They tell me the place is on Culver and Inglewood so I says, "St. Gerards?" but they say on oh no no "CULVER and INGLEWOOD" leaving me no clue and saying "St. Geraldos" or some shit. Funny stuff. I love it when they thump on the door. Stirs some emotional non entity I have which both loves and loathes the church concurrently.

OC