Editor’s Update: On Saturday, April 21st, 2012, Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox pitched the 21st Perfect Game in Major League Baseball history. Another moment in baseball history when perfection was achieved, making the analysis below of Billy Chapel’s accomplishment appropriate to one more man who has taken the mound in the quest for perfection.

In a year when three of my favorite/most critically acclaimed films were tributes to the nostalgic era of 1920s cinema, film’s impact on America’s culture of leisure is quite clear. When people weren’t captured by the moving pictures, they were enraptured by Jack Dempsey and the sweet science or by Murderer’s Row dominating America’s pastime. News reels of Babe Ruth aired before Douglas Fairbanks graced the silver screen.  In America’s pantheon of heroes and icons, movie stars and athletic all-stars have always filled the hallowed halls. So, with spring training upon us, Opening Day weeks away, and a new film season before us, it’s time to turn to our past.

In the recent B.S. Report podcast where Bill Simmons interviewed President Obama in the White House, President Obama spoke about the power of the myth of sports, how it can bring people together who may agree on nothing else, and how it may be one of the truest meritocracies in our society.

Every winter when the Academy Awards graces the small screen, we get movie stars gushing about the history of film, how it has captured their imagination since childhood, and how it expands our horizons while carrying us to far away places and pushing our minds to think about things in ways we’ve never thought about them before. Read more