This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
—T.S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”
The last line of this poem might be the most quoted line of poetry out there — it’s been completely decontextualized into the vernacular, and is used to describe pretty much anything disappointing. You’ve certainly heard it, and probably even said it yourself, to describe the last detumescent week of White Sox baseball.
It’s a week that started within dreaming reach of improbable postseason glory, and ended with the team being a righteous laughingstock:
The Guardians having fun with “Fire Tony” is a clear reveal what was already known: Every single person in baseball knows how much the White Sox bollocksed up what was a young, fun, talented team potentially on the cusp of something special.