Voices in the night, wide awake and dreaming for America

In early morning hours of a local radio station that only exists in my imagination, "Rapping with Rocky" occupies the sporting fan insomniacs:

"OK, 15 after the hour on WJOK-The Jock. We've got Manny from Manalapan on the line.

"What's happening, Manny?"

"Hey, how you doin', Rocky. First time, long time."

"Thanks for offering that piece of information, Manny. I don't know how I could proceed with this conversation absent the knowledge you have listened to this show for quite a long time and are just now calling for the first time. Very pertinent. Quite a service you've provided to me and the tens of thousands of listeners out there. This must be quite a moment for you."

"Um."

"No, really. I can't think of anything more crucial than discerning you are in fact a sports-talk-radio virgin as it relates to this show. You must be treated with respect. I will be gentle."

"Why are you ragging on me?"

"Nothing. Sorry. What's on your mind?"

"Yeah. OK. I've been wondering about A-Rod, and —"

Click.

"— Thanks, Manny. Next caller is Eddie from Edison. Eddie?"

"What's up, Rock? First time, lo—"

Click.

"— Kenny from Kearny is calling from a cell phone. Go ahead, Kenny."

"Why are you hanging up on everyone tonight, Rock?"

"Must be something I ate. What's your question, Ken?"

"All these people complaining about Chad Pennington's arm —"

Click.

"— And, let's see . . . We've got Alan from Allamuchy calling in. Speak to me, Alan."

"Yeah. Well. Um, is there something maybe you want to talk about?"

"Nope. Next up is Sanjeep from Sea Girt. Hit me, baby."

"Honestly, I can't think of a thing to say to you."

"Sounds like a nonstarter to me, Sanjeep. We'll go to line three with Tanya from Tewksbury. Go."

"I think you might need a vacation or something, Rocky. You've got an itchy trigger finger on those phone lines."

"You're right about that. What's on your mind, Tanya?"

"I was just thinking about how after 9/11, there was all this talk about how we could never take sports so seriously anymore. How in comparison with all the death and danger it would be absurd to place so much importance on who wins or loses some stupid game."

"Interesting. And now what?"

"And now it's like 9/11 never happened. Everyone has gone back to the way things were before. And I'm one of them. Every day after the Mets lose, I walk around with a knot in my stomach and yell at my boyfriend."

"Is this a bad thing?"

"That's just it. As far as I'm concerned it's my great privilege as an American to drown myself in the relative silliness of sports. If there's anything worth fighting for in this country, maybe that's it."

"And not our freedoms? Not the rule of law? Habeas corpus? Civil rights?"

"Of course, those are important. Crucial. We can't take those for granted, even if our leaders might work to take them away. And we need to stay vigilant against our enemies. But what I'm saying is America's greatness lies in the things we can happily take for granted. The joy of frivolity. Those things we thought were lost forever after Sept. 11."

"I see what you're saying, Tanya. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, and some of the best things are the things you don't need to begin with. Like this show for —"

Click.