Pineapple Karma...

I’ve seen a couple episodes of the new show “My Name is Earl,” and it is my understanding that the main character (played by Jason Lee of Chasing Amy and Mallrats fame) is trying to improve his karma by trying to right some past wrongs…

I think this show is ok, one of the better new shows given what else the networks have had to offer recently, so I’ve seen a couple episodes, or at least parts of them…

Anyway, the real reason I’ve brought this show up is that I’m a firm believer in karma…I’m also a strong believer in my faith, and I guess I’m pretty superstitious at times, too…but basically I think that it doesn’t hurt to try to do some things that would be viewed by most as ‘good’—while at the same time trying to right past wrongs whenever the opportunity presents itself—in an attempt to show your appreciation for the ‘good’ in your life now or perhaps even later…I guess some people might consider this ‘paying forward’…

I’m sure there are numerous definitions of karma—as I think this could vary from person to person—and some people even think they provide their own sort of karma, such as Jim Rome’s claim that athletes and coaches get some ‘Jungle Karma’ from appearing on his show…

Either way, no matter what you think karma really is, and no matter how seriously you take it, I believer in it, or at least I believe in my understanding of it…

Anyway, one person who I thought was in need of some good karma recently was Morgan Ensberg, so when a friend of mine told me he was coming on the Jim Rome show last Thursday, I had to listen. Anyway, I thought he could really benefit from some ‘Jungle Karma,’ as he had been struggling from the plate recently and I at this point I think anything could help…

Just a few days earlier in the week—after Ensberg continued to struggle at the plate in the NLCS—I decided to do some research on Ensberg’s recent perfomance at the plate, especially since I couldn’t sleep that night considering Albert Pujols had temporarily postponed the Astros’ trip to the World Series earlier that evening…

Now, I know that Ensberg had been hit in the hand during September, which led him to miss 10 games, but still I don’t think anyone expected him to struggle this much…Ensberg hit 36 homeruns during the regular season, which came out to one out of every 14.6 at-bats…However, as of last Monday night, his last homerun was on September 20, giving him 1 homerun out of his last 75 at-bats, and only 2 out of his last 93…

Thus, I was hoping Ensberg would get some good karma from the Rome show as the Astros headed into the World Series, and I thought I could help along the way…

After the Astros clinched the NL Pennant last Wednesday night, I went out for a few beers after the game, but nothing too crazy….Anyway, on my way home, I stopped for gas and while at the station, a homeless guy asked me if I had any spare change…Given the fact I had two or three dollars in change in my car—and since I was in such a good mood after the Astros win that night—I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give this guy a little money, so I gave $1.34 in change…

I didn’t think much of this until I ran into this same guy a couple nights later…I’d had a relaxing Friday evening checking out a band, and was looking forward to a good weekend of sports on TV…The weather was really nice, although it was beginning to get a little chilly out, so when I saw this guy again I gave him a couple bucks to make sure he could get some coffee and some food…

As I was leaving, he asked me which way I was heading, as he was hoping I could him a ride home…I told him I was heading south to Peden (for those of you Houstonians, this is taking place at the Chevron on the corner of Montrose and West Dallas). However, I was interested to see where ‘home’ was for this guy, considering the fact that he was homeless. Anyway, he told me that his girlfriend was sleeping in a house under construction down the street on West Dallas, and since I knew where he was talking about and wasn’t making something up, I thought it would be ok to give him a ride…

Before we got in the car, though, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to try anything crazy, so when I asked, he said no and that I have nothing to worry about because he believes in karma, which was the best thing he could have said in my humble opinion…I told him I was a fan of karma, too, and at that point, I felt it was fine to give him a ride, even if looking back it doesn’t seem like the smartest move…

Everything was fine, though, and when I dropped him off we shook hands and he thanked me…He then asked me what my name was, in case we ever crossed paths again, and I told him that my name was Tobin, but a lot my friends call me Scooter…He then said that he thought Tobin was a powerful name—at least more than Scooter—before telling me his name was Brent, but his friends call him Pineapple...

Anyway, I thought maybe with all the random variables involved over the last few days, I thought maybe the Astros—and specifically Ensberg—would have some good karma heading into Game 1, yet Roger Clemens could only pitch two innings and Ensberg was unable drive in Willy Taveras on two occasions when the Astros faced a one-run deficit near the end of the game, before losing 5-3…

After it was clear to me that there just wasn’t enough karma there to help Ensberg and the rest of the Astros out, I decided to tell a couple friends from law school when we went out that night about my conversation with Pineapple from the night before…

Then on my way home that night, I decided to stop by the Chevron to see if Pineapple was there, and to make sure he and his girl were doing alright, which they were…He then told me how his bag was stolen earlier that day, but he found it that night with nothing missing, as the thief was probably just looking to see if there was any money or valuables in there, which there weren’t…I then gave him another buck and went on my way, telling him I probably check back on him the following weekend…

Anyway, when Ensberg homered on the first pitch he saw in Game 2, I thought that maybe this karma thing was working out, and I even text-messaged the friends that I talked to about Pineapple the night before…

However, apparently I was mistaken about the presence of any karma here, or at least much karma, as whatever I thought we had wasn’t enough…and it has continued to not be enough throughout this series, as the Astros continue to struggle...

I really don’t know what the purpose of this entry is; it really just started out as some random thoughts I took down in class yesterday, and I guess my tendency to ramble-on took over and here we are…All I know is that as it turns out, maybe I really don’t have a solid grasp on what karma really is and what all it consists of and can pertain to…

Thus, as I pledge to try to gain a better understanding of what karma really is, for the benefit of the whole world, I think the best thing to do here would be to refrain from writing anything else in this entry and just move on...