Racial bias down the baselines.
The bean-counters have struck again-- this time in the sports pages. Two New York Times sport writers have discovered that baseball coaches from minority groups are found more often coaching at first base than at third base. Moreover, third-base coaches become managers more often than first-base coaches.
Thank God for the NY Times! I have been watching baseball for over 40 years and I never noticed this. One would assume since I am a tea-bagging racist bent out of shape because the president's black I would be aware that whitey rules the third base coaches box.
Then again MLB's bean counters are just as bad. Carl Crawford of the Rays (and the left fielder for the 2011 Yankees) is considered black. David Ortiz of the Bosox isn't. I know kids, he looks black, but in racial accounting his name goes into the Hispanic column.
Which brings us to an amusing story from Eric Gregg's autobiography Working the Plate about his days working winter ball in the Dominican back in the early 1970's. Rico Carty comes out to argue a call and calls Gregg the N-word. Gregg laughs and says, "You're blacker than I am!" Carty replies, "Yeah, but I'm Spanish".
Back to these NY Times sportswriters. If you are watching baseball and you notice the skin color of the base coaches, you don't live on the same planet with the rest of us. And you wonder why your industry is dying.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 05, 2010
I can watch football in Sunday night again.
Kief lost his weekend gig.
This is not letting me cut-and-paste. NBC had no comment whether or not Olberman being a race-baiting SOB was a reason for letting him go. I don't care about the reason, but now I can watch Football Night in America and keep my dinner down.
This is not letting me cut-and-paste. NBC had no comment whether or not Olberman being a race-baiting SOB was a reason for letting him go. I don't care about the reason, but now I can watch Football Night in America and keep my dinner down.
Friday, June 11, 2010
It's come to this
The Phils recent slide is driving preschoolers to drink.
On Monday a video surfaced showing a young boy taking a swig from what appears to be a beer bottle during the Phillies' loss to the Padres on Sunday.
The six-second clip of the boy, donned in a home Phillies jersey, has now drawn the attention of the team.
On Tuesday, Phillies spokeswoman Bonnie Clark said the team hasn't identified the tot or the adults next to him. Clark said it appears to be "a very brief event, probably involving an empty bottle."
I hope the bottle was empty. Where's Mom and Dad?
See the video here.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Not so fast
Andrea Harris has a favorite stop of mine in blogworld. (You can see her off to the side there in the Pantheon.) This post of hers, about tourists having mental meltdowns when their real trip abroad destroys their romantic notions of the destination, brought brought out a comment that is making me scratch my head a bit:
Since images and feelings are more immediate, most art aims for those instead of thoughts. No argument on that point. I do think that to simply call the whole thing "lies" by design is to miss the point, however. One of the earliest moving pictures was in fact used to truthfully answer a question: does a horse pick all four feet off the ground at once while galloping? (Turns out that they do.)
Look - I'm a storyteller by nature, if not by profession. (And there's a long post brewing about that conflict: stay tuned.) This is my passion. I would be willing to go on a limb and say that for most creative community, that passion is a primary motivation. They have turned that passion into a job.
Once you turn a passion into a means of commerce, things change. As long as I'm just writing, I can just write. Once I am also selling, then the writing has to meet the demands of those to whom I wish to sell. It's a dilution - not much of one, since an audience wants a compelling story above all, and storytellers are nothing if not compelled. Still, they may have no taste for the story struggling to free itself from my mind. At that point it's the old familiar choice: give 'em what they want or say what I need to say?
Here's the thing, though: that tension exists in EVERY business. Some people's passion is food. They become amazing chefs. They also have to consider: will people pay money to eat this? How much? Again, the dilution is slight. People want great food, chefs want to cook great food. But people can scarcely afford $100 meals every night, not in great enough numbers to keep the chefs themselves fed. So ingredients are swapped, flavors change, and viola - Chili's. Or Wendy's.
I won't pretend that line cooks at a chain restaurant give two shakes of a rat's patoot about Great Food in the abstract, but they care at least about how the particular food they're actually cooking, that it should be done properly and please the customers. And the people who develop the menus care much more about that abstract, the ideal of flavors. Even Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, cared a great deal about it, even if it was just burgers and fries. He may not have been a chef on the par of a Gordon Ramsay or Julia Child, but he cared. He had to. Ultimately, if you make too many changes for commerce - too much dilution - then one loses both the passion and the commerce.
You will find the same tension in every walk of life: in education, in politics, in construction, in sports. There is a perfect ideal, that drives everyone with a passion, and then there is the economic reality. It would cost too much to make every teacher an Ivy League-quality professor (and not every one of them could be, anyway), though the children would benefit. It costs money to campaign, money to run a government - too much to run unelectable candidates no matter how great they may be at governing. Should my house get obliterated by meteorites or something, it would cost twice as much to construct the way it was originally built vs. using modern materials like sheetrock. And the greatest players in the world command a great deal of money, more than any one franchise could pay (even the Yankees or Red Sox); so they make do with affordable players rather than pursue the perfect ideal of 162-0.
Yet those ideals exist. Those passions are real. Every teacher wants to teach as well as possible, every politician hopes to govern, every housebuilder (and homeowner!) wants the home to endure, and every team wants to win every game, or at least their league's chamionship. Without those ideals, that passion, there would be no point in even starting.
That's why I say again that filmmaking is about ideas and stories, not lies. Based on some of the loopier things that movie-folk say and do, it's easy to believe that Hollywood is full of narcissists who dictate What is Acceptable to the rest of us, when in fact they are full of crap. There is some justice in the claim, perhaps, in certain examples. Certainly Tim Robbins and Sean Penn have done more than their share of loopy lefty proselytizing. But they didn't become actors to be able to dictate What is Acceptable, they did it because their passion is in the stories they tell. Those who have lost that passion are usually the worst at their profession, and again, this holds across all walks of life.
Not surprisingly, when singers and athletes and kindergarten teachers also lose that passion, they become fairly useless in their fields as well. That doesn't mean that music, sports, and knowledge itself is intended and designed only to convey lies, does it?
(Funny how this comes up when I'm working on a story that indirectly touches this idea - that of the storyteller as a professional liar. Reality keeps anticipating me. Bad reality! No cookie!)
Pity they didn’t bother to read about Paris (especially material not put out by the travel industry) rather than rely on a medium intended and designed to transmit lies.I object to this, and I will explain why. (At length - lucky you!) Movies are not a medium intended and designed to transmit lies, any more than television, or novels, or plays, or art, or video games. All these are media intended and designed to transmit IDEAS or STORIES. Some of those may well be outright lies; some of those are excellently-crafted. There are also truthful stories, and beautiful ideas, and nobility and kindness and grandeur.
Since images and feelings are more immediate, most art aims for those instead of thoughts. No argument on that point. I do think that to simply call the whole thing "lies" by design is to miss the point, however. One of the earliest moving pictures was in fact used to truthfully answer a question: does a horse pick all four feet off the ground at once while galloping? (Turns out that they do.)
Look - I'm a storyteller by nature, if not by profession. (And there's a long post brewing about that conflict: stay tuned.) This is my passion. I would be willing to go on a limb and say that for most creative community, that passion is a primary motivation. They have turned that passion into a job.
Once you turn a passion into a means of commerce, things change. As long as I'm just writing, I can just write. Once I am also selling, then the writing has to meet the demands of those to whom I wish to sell. It's a dilution - not much of one, since an audience wants a compelling story above all, and storytellers are nothing if not compelled. Still, they may have no taste for the story struggling to free itself from my mind. At that point it's the old familiar choice: give 'em what they want or say what I need to say?
Here's the thing, though: that tension exists in EVERY business. Some people's passion is food. They become amazing chefs. They also have to consider: will people pay money to eat this? How much? Again, the dilution is slight. People want great food, chefs want to cook great food. But people can scarcely afford $100 meals every night, not in great enough numbers to keep the chefs themselves fed. So ingredients are swapped, flavors change, and viola - Chili's. Or Wendy's.
I won't pretend that line cooks at a chain restaurant give two shakes of a rat's patoot about Great Food in the abstract, but they care at least about how the particular food they're actually cooking, that it should be done properly and please the customers. And the people who develop the menus care much more about that abstract, the ideal of flavors. Even Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, cared a great deal about it, even if it was just burgers and fries. He may not have been a chef on the par of a Gordon Ramsay or Julia Child, but he cared. He had to. Ultimately, if you make too many changes for commerce - too much dilution - then one loses both the passion and the commerce.
You will find the same tension in every walk of life: in education, in politics, in construction, in sports. There is a perfect ideal, that drives everyone with a passion, and then there is the economic reality. It would cost too much to make every teacher an Ivy League-quality professor (and not every one of them could be, anyway), though the children would benefit. It costs money to campaign, money to run a government - too much to run unelectable candidates no matter how great they may be at governing. Should my house get obliterated by meteorites or something, it would cost twice as much to construct the way it was originally built vs. using modern materials like sheetrock. And the greatest players in the world command a great deal of money, more than any one franchise could pay (even the Yankees or Red Sox); so they make do with affordable players rather than pursue the perfect ideal of 162-0.
Yet those ideals exist. Those passions are real. Every teacher wants to teach as well as possible, every politician hopes to govern, every housebuilder (and homeowner!) wants the home to endure, and every team wants to win every game, or at least their league's chamionship. Without those ideals, that passion, there would be no point in even starting.
That's why I say again that filmmaking is about ideas and stories, not lies. Based on some of the loopier things that movie-folk say and do, it's easy to believe that Hollywood is full of narcissists who dictate What is Acceptable to the rest of us, when in fact they are full of crap. There is some justice in the claim, perhaps, in certain examples. Certainly Tim Robbins and Sean Penn have done more than their share of loopy lefty proselytizing. But they didn't become actors to be able to dictate What is Acceptable, they did it because their passion is in the stories they tell. Those who have lost that passion are usually the worst at their profession, and again, this holds across all walks of life.
Not surprisingly, when singers and athletes and kindergarten teachers also lose that passion, they become fairly useless in their fields as well. That doesn't mean that music, sports, and knowledge itself is intended and designed only to convey lies, does it?
(Funny how this comes up when I'm working on a story that indirectly touches this idea - that of the storyteller as a professional liar. Reality keeps anticipating me. Bad reality! No cookie!)
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Yogi Berra @ D-Day
Before he was a Hall of Famer, before he won a gazillion World Series with the Yankees, Seaman Second Class Lawrence Berra was a part of the D-Day invasion 66 years ago. He talks about it here.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Having a gayer-than-thou attitude..
Update: I really need to get out more.
...in sports.
Three bisexual men filed a lawsuit in Seattle, Washington against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) claiming they were discriminated against for not being gay enough to participate in the organization's Gay Softball World Series, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday evening.
The three men who filed the suit, Steven Apilado, LaRon Charles and Jon Russ, claim their softball team, D2, was disqualified from participating in the softball championship because the alliance ruled they were "nongay."
I don't even want to think about the kind of evaluations needed in order to determine if you are gay enough to play in the Gay Softball World Series.
But wait, there's more! In politics.
Veteran Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.) last Thursday accused her primary opponent, Gregg Kravitz, of pretending to be bisexual in order to pander to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender voters, a powerful bloc in the district.
"I outed him as a straight person," Josephs said during a fund-raiser at the Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant, as some in the audience gasped or laughed, "and now he goes around telling people, quote, 'I swing both ways.' That's quite a respectful way to talk about sexuality. This guy's a gem."
Kravitz, 29, said that he is sexually attracted to both men and women and called Josephs' comments offensive.
A straight guy pretending to be bi? What would Rock Hudson think of that? Maybe I am a male lesbian, a woman attracted to other women, but trapped in a man's body.
I really need to get out more.
...in sports.
Three bisexual men filed a lawsuit in Seattle, Washington against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) claiming they were discriminated against for not being gay enough to participate in the organization's Gay Softball World Series, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday evening.
The three men who filed the suit, Steven Apilado, LaRon Charles and Jon Russ, claim their softball team, D2, was disqualified from participating in the softball championship because the alliance ruled they were "nongay."
I don't even want to think about the kind of evaluations needed in order to determine if you are gay enough to play in the Gay Softball World Series.
But wait, there's more! In politics.
Veteran Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.) last Thursday accused her primary opponent, Gregg Kravitz, of pretending to be bisexual in order to pander to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender voters, a powerful bloc in the district.
"I outed him as a straight person," Josephs said during a fund-raiser at the Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant, as some in the audience gasped or laughed, "and now he goes around telling people, quote, 'I swing both ways.' That's quite a respectful way to talk about sexuality. This guy's a gem."
Kravitz, 29, said that he is sexually attracted to both men and women and called Josephs' comments offensive.
A straight guy pretending to be bi? What would Rock Hudson think of that? Maybe I am a male lesbian, a woman attracted to other women, but trapped in a man's body.
I really need to get out more.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Lord's Own Hockey...
...in Liberia.
The booming and controversial used-clothes business in Africa means hockey jerseys can be found sprinkled throughout this war-torn West African nation.
Bizarrely, the authentic hockey jersey has become a status symbol among the poor for its "premium-grade" rating and high price tag ($4 CDN).
Bizarrely, the authentic hockey jersey has become a status symbol among the poor for its "premium-grade" rating and high price tag ($4 CDN).
"It is tough, tough material," street vendor Evelyn Togbah raves. "If you buy it, you can wear it for 20 years."
The bright NHL sweaters outshine the dirty, ripped and torn T-shirts hanging off many struggling Liberians who are forced to repeatedly wear one or two shirts. More than half of Liberians live on less than $1 a day.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Please Come to Boston..
...and sweep the Bosox!
At 4-9, including 1-6 at home, the Red Sox are off to their worst start since 1996. Not since the 1932 team went 1-9 at Fenway has a Red Sox team started this poorly in Boston.
The Rays are en fuego, winning seven straight on the road include shaming the Sox in their own house. The starting pitching mowed down the beanbeaters. Big Papi may have to start taking steroids again.
I should enjoy it while it lasts. This team is made for this year alone. At least 4 guys (Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, the closer Soriano and Pat the Bat) will be gone next year.
At 4-9, including 1-6 at home, the Red Sox are off to their worst start since 1996. Not since the 1932 team went 1-9 at Fenway has a Red Sox team started this poorly in Boston.
The Rays are en fuego, winning seven straight on the road include shaming the Sox in their own house. The starting pitching mowed down the beanbeaters. Big Papi may have to start taking steroids again.
I should enjoy it while it lasts. This team is made for this year alone. At least 4 guys (Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, the closer Soriano and Pat the Bat) will be gone next year.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Rays pitchers and catchers report
The bad news is that owner Stuart Sternberg says that the current $70 million payroll is unsustainable. Which means that I need to hustle to the Trop before July 31 to see Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena before they become Yankees.
The good news is that Fan Fest at Tropicana today features Cowboy Troy, the 6'8" black country rapper singing his hit, "I Play Chicken With the Train".
The good news is that Fan Fest at Tropicana today features Cowboy Troy, the 6'8" black country rapper singing his hit, "I Play Chicken With the Train".
Monday, February 08, 2010
Super Bowl quick hits
So this is what the feminazis were wetting themselves over?
I knew the Saints had this when they went onside to start the second half and got the ball. That took kugeln.
The Saints became the first team to lose to the Buccaneers and win the Super Bowl in the same season.
Does Sean Payton look like country singer Kenny Chesney?
Confession: Thirty years ago I owned a Tshirt that said, "I'd Walk Over You To See The Who".
additions from the 'fly - True story: at the end of the first quarter I asked everyone at our Super Bowl bash, "What are the odds that they blow this lead the way the Broncos coughed it up against the Redskins?"
I thought the goal-line stand would be the key sequence in the game. Instead the key sequence came when the Saints held the Colts to three-and-out, forced the punt, and kicked the field goal at the end of the half. Had they kicked the short field goal instead, they would have been giving the Colts the ball back at the 25 or so with two timeouts and 1:35 or so on the clock - in other words, they may have been looking at 17-6 instead of 10-6 at the half. And then with the onside kick they were saying pretty clearly that they weren't rolling over in awe of Indy.
Halftime - Is it really that hard to get a current act to do this? Was Jimi Hendrix too dead to return their calls? The Who were doing farewell tours back when the NFL had TWO franchises in Los Angeles. Sure, the music sounded all right, but when you've got a full backing band of young folks you don't need Townsend to do all that much - except hit the notes during his measly three lines in Baba O'Reilly. Couldn't even do that. And of course Daltry didn't even try to go above middle C, if that. It was pretty rough. At this point I'd rather see Doctor Who do the halftime show, at least they get a new one of him every five years.
Pick Six! And the best part of it was the return of the Classic Manning Face. It's amazing. None of us doubted for a second that the Colts were tying the game: that's how clutch Peyton's been since finally defeating the Patriots in the playoffs in 2005. That INT may have been the worst pass he's thrown in five years. Are we sure that Brett Favre didn't sneak onto the field in a Manning jersey for that play? Manning was bright red - it was like he'd gone to Miami Beach at halftime and gotten sunburned. Incredible turn of events.
Huge party on Bourbon Street after the final gun. I wonder if they even knew the score, or if they'd just been partying since Thursday.
Overall, one of the better games, especially after the early deficit where it looked as if New Orleans had started Mardi Gras early. Things really picked up after that.
I knew the Saints had this when they went onside to start the second half and got the ball. That took kugeln.
The Saints became the first team to lose to the Buccaneers and win the Super Bowl in the same season.
Does Sean Payton look like country singer Kenny Chesney?
Confession: Thirty years ago I owned a Tshirt that said, "I'd Walk Over You To See The Who".
additions from the 'fly - True story: at the end of the first quarter I asked everyone at our Super Bowl bash, "What are the odds that they blow this lead the way the Broncos coughed it up against the Redskins?"
I thought the goal-line stand would be the key sequence in the game. Instead the key sequence came when the Saints held the Colts to three-and-out, forced the punt, and kicked the field goal at the end of the half. Had they kicked the short field goal instead, they would have been giving the Colts the ball back at the 25 or so with two timeouts and 1:35 or so on the clock - in other words, they may have been looking at 17-6 instead of 10-6 at the half. And then with the onside kick they were saying pretty clearly that they weren't rolling over in awe of Indy.
Halftime - Is it really that hard to get a current act to do this? Was Jimi Hendrix too dead to return their calls? The Who were doing farewell tours back when the NFL had TWO franchises in Los Angeles. Sure, the music sounded all right, but when you've got a full backing band of young folks you don't need Townsend to do all that much - except hit the notes during his measly three lines in Baba O'Reilly. Couldn't even do that. And of course Daltry didn't even try to go above middle C, if that. It was pretty rough. At this point I'd rather see Doctor Who do the halftime show, at least they get a new one of him every five years.
Pick Six! And the best part of it was the return of the Classic Manning Face. It's amazing. None of us doubted for a second that the Colts were tying the game: that's how clutch Peyton's been since finally defeating the Patriots in the playoffs in 2005. That INT may have been the worst pass he's thrown in five years. Are we sure that Brett Favre didn't sneak onto the field in a Manning jersey for that play? Manning was bright red - it was like he'd gone to Miami Beach at halftime and gotten sunburned. Incredible turn of events.
Huge party on Bourbon Street after the final gun. I wonder if they even knew the score, or if they'd just been partying since Thursday.
Overall, one of the better games, especially after the early deficit where it looked as if New Orleans had started Mardi Gras early. Things really picked up after that.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Is this why you're a Giants fan, Fly?
Before Tim Tebow, there were these guys.
This is really over the top. Gloria Steinem would burst a blood vessel if she saw this.
This is really over the top. Gloria Steinem would burst a blood vessel if she saw this.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Recent baseball transaction
I'm not talking about Gary Matthews going to the Mets, or Rick Ankiel to the Royals, but Athletics prospect Grant Desme going to the Padres.
Not the San Diego Padres. The real Padres.
Desme is leaving the game at a time when his fortunes seemed to be rising fast. He batted .288 with 31 home runs and 89 RBIs in 131 games last year. Then he starred in the Arizona Fall League, where some of the game’s top prospects compete. He likely would have started this season at Class AA.
“Here’s a kid that’s on the brink,” Fai said over the phone from Vancouver, B.C., where he works as the assistant general manager for the Oakland affiliate there. “This would probably be an easier decision for someone who was maybe going through the motions in the minors. “But if you know Grant, the spiritual side of his life has always been a priority. I don’t know if there was a tipping factor that made him wake up and say, ‘Today’s the day.’”
Regardless, today is the day: As first reported by FOXSports.com, the 23-year-old star prospect has informed the A’s that he will retire and become a priest.
As the article said, this would be an easier decision if the kid stunk on ice. But Desme may be giving up a legitimate shot at the bigs. That's renouncing the world for you.
Not the San Diego Padres. The real Padres.
Desme is leaving the game at a time when his fortunes seemed to be rising fast. He batted .288 with 31 home runs and 89 RBIs in 131 games last year. Then he starred in the Arizona Fall League, where some of the game’s top prospects compete. He likely would have started this season at Class AA.
“Here’s a kid that’s on the brink,” Fai said over the phone from Vancouver, B.C., where he works as the assistant general manager for the Oakland affiliate there. “This would probably be an easier decision for someone who was maybe going through the motions in the minors. “But if you know Grant, the spiritual side of his life has always been a priority. I don’t know if there was a tipping factor that made him wake up and say, ‘Today’s the day.’”
Regardless, today is the day: As first reported by FOXSports.com, the 23-year-old star prospect has informed the A’s that he will retire and become a priest.
As the article said, this would be an easier decision if the kid stunk on ice. But Desme may be giving up a legitimate shot at the bigs. That's renouncing the world for you.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Tiger Woods, Job Creator
Full disclosure: the guy posting this flunked out of the Accounting Department at Rutgers.
Tiger Woods is a job creator. Would Nike even have a golf division if Tiger didn't exist? Nike pays him millions because he moves product. People need to be hired to make and sell the product Tiger moves. Tiger, therefore creates jobs. Sadly, Tiger's current issues prevented him from going to the White House for the jobs photo op and tell this to a president who appears to be ignorant of these things.
Tiger Woods makes money for the other golfers he beats. There are many people (I am one of them) who only watch golf to see Tiger. Tiger sells more tickets and gets more eyeballs watching commercials. Tournaments get more revenue from sponsors and ticket sales. Organizers can raise the prize money. You may have finished fourth, but you made more money than if you finished third in a Tigerless world.
Two things I think of when I hear chuckleheads saying higher taxes for those making $250K per year or greater won't affect them. First I wonder which commandment talks about coveting what is not yours. Then I think, "You chuckleheads! Obama's taking money from the customers of your employer!" A central air system installed right starts at $5K. Fewer people are going to be able to pony of that kind of dough if they have to hand more over to the US Treasury. What does a tax increase on the rich mean to guys like me? Bye-bye overtime, and maybe 40hrs per week as well. And chucklehead wonders why he got laid off.
You guys who know more about this stuff are welcome to correct any faulty thinking I may have. Remember, I flunked out of Accounting at RU.
Tiger Woods is a job creator. Would Nike even have a golf division if Tiger didn't exist? Nike pays him millions because he moves product. People need to be hired to make and sell the product Tiger moves. Tiger, therefore creates jobs. Sadly, Tiger's current issues prevented him from going to the White House for the jobs photo op and tell this to a president who appears to be ignorant of these things.
Tiger Woods makes money for the other golfers he beats. There are many people (I am one of them) who only watch golf to see Tiger. Tiger sells more tickets and gets more eyeballs watching commercials. Tournaments get more revenue from sponsors and ticket sales. Organizers can raise the prize money. You may have finished fourth, but you made more money than if you finished third in a Tigerless world.
Two things I think of when I hear chuckleheads saying higher taxes for those making $250K per year or greater won't affect them. First I wonder which commandment talks about coveting what is not yours. Then I think, "You chuckleheads! Obama's taking money from the customers of your employer!" A central air system installed right starts at $5K. Fewer people are going to be able to pony of that kind of dough if they have to hand more over to the US Treasury. What does a tax increase on the rich mean to guys like me? Bye-bye overtime, and maybe 40hrs per week as well. And chucklehead wonders why he got laid off.
You guys who know more about this stuff are welcome to correct any faulty thinking I may have. Remember, I flunked out of Accounting at RU.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The lot was cast, and the lot fell upon...
....Father Andrew Trapp.
Known as "Father Rambo" for his passionate paintball play, the poker priest pulled out all the stops, at one point holding rosary beads while in a big hand against Salley. Then after dispensing of the former Detroit Pistons Bad Boy, Trapp then shocked Rousso, before taking home the six-figure prize when poker star Negreanu misread the strength of Trapp's cards.
Before we question his vow of poverty, all the winnings are going to help his parish build a new church.
Still, I'm trying to wrap my mind around the idea of asking Jesus to help you draw an inside straight
Known as "Father Rambo" for his passionate paintball play, the poker priest pulled out all the stops, at one point holding rosary beads while in a big hand against Salley. Then after dispensing of the former Detroit Pistons Bad Boy, Trapp then shocked Rousso, before taking home the six-figure prize when poker star Negreanu misread the strength of Trapp's cards.
Before we question his vow of poverty, all the winnings are going to help his parish build a new church.
Still, I'm trying to wrap my mind around the idea of asking Jesus to help you draw an inside straight
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Rush, one more time.
I'm going to try and keep this short, because I'm trying to think happy thoughts and not use any of those words that I picked up in Germany that Frau Fineberg never taught us at Absegami High.
Rush website has a full compilation.
Checketts approached Rush as a partner in buying the Rams. Rush warned him that this would happen. Checketts said he could deal with it. Well, Checketts couldn't.
The One's fingerprints are on this. The NFL Players Union head is DeMaurice Smith, who used to work for the current attorney general and was on his lordship's transition team.
But this was just a dry run for next year. The labor agreement between the players union and the NFL expires in 2010, and the owners are thinking about locking out the players as leverage. On the players side will be Revvums Jesse & Al, the Congressional Black Caucus and The One. What has transpired was a test to see if the owners can be mau-maued. Take a look at General Motors Mr. Goodell. That's your future.
This race-baiting crap really gets the Sisko angry. Think happy thoughts.
Rush website has a full compilation.
Checketts approached Rush as a partner in buying the Rams. Rush warned him that this would happen. Checketts said he could deal with it. Well, Checketts couldn't.
The One's fingerprints are on this. The NFL Players Union head is DeMaurice Smith, who used to work for the current attorney general and was on his lordship's transition team.
But this was just a dry run for next year. The labor agreement between the players union and the NFL expires in 2010, and the owners are thinking about locking out the players as leverage. On the players side will be Revvums Jesse & Al, the Congressional Black Caucus and The One. What has transpired was a test to see if the owners can be mau-maued. Take a look at General Motors Mr. Goodell. That's your future.
This race-baiting crap really gets the Sisko angry. Think happy thoughts.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Quarterbacks, Black and White
I was talking with a guy at a bus stop about the travails of the hapless Bucs when the recent QB change came up. He said to me, "I have nothing against black quarterbacks, but starting Byron Leftwich was a mistake."
I found this amusing for two reasons. 1) It's been a long time since the concept of a black quarterback was an issue. 2) The guy who felt I needed to know that he had nothing against black QBs was himself black.
I run into this guy all the time. I may have a chance for a follow-up.
If your curious, all three of Tampa Bay's QBs are black.
I found this amusing for two reasons. 1) It's been a long time since the concept of a black quarterback was an issue. 2) The guy who felt I needed to know that he had nothing against black QBs was himself black.
I run into this guy all the time. I may have a chance for a follow-up.
If your curious, all three of Tampa Bay's QBs are black.
Monday, September 07, 2009
The Rays
Update: Carlos Pena hit by pitch vs NYY today, out for the season. Garza goes toe-to-toe with Sabathia, Garza leaves the game tied 1-all, Rays bullpen gives it up easier than Paris Hilton AGAIN and Rays lose 4-1.
The Rays are fading late in the season. They are 7 games behind the Bosox in the AL Wild card race. Unless the Sox and the Rangers get the swine flu the Rays will be home for the playoffs.
Carlos Pena has 39 homers and 41 singles as of Monday morning. The only two players to hit over 30 homers with more homers than singles in a season are Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire.
Anything else these two have in common?
Pena was non-roster invitee to the Rays camp in 2007. He has hit 116 homers in a little less than 3 seasons. In the six seasons before that he hit 86 homers. To be fair, some potential singles have been taken away by the three infielders most teams put on the right side for Pena.
Pena is also from the Dominican, where A-Rod got his stuff.
Nowadays you just don't know.
The Rays are fading late in the season. They are 7 games behind the Bosox in the AL Wild card race. Unless the Sox and the Rangers get the swine flu the Rays will be home for the playoffs.
Carlos Pena has 39 homers and 41 singles as of Monday morning. The only two players to hit over 30 homers with more homers than singles in a season are Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire.
Anything else these two have in common?
Pena was non-roster invitee to the Rays camp in 2007. He has hit 116 homers in a little less than 3 seasons. In the six seasons before that he hit 86 homers. To be fair, some potential singles have been taken away by the three infielders most teams put on the right side for Pena.
Pena is also from the Dominican, where A-Rod got his stuff.
Nowadays you just don't know.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Bucs secondary was thin anyway...(Update)
.....before safety Tanard Jackson got suspended by the NFL for getting high.
Jackson will miss the first four games of the regular season without pay after an unspecified violation of the league's substances of abuse policy, leaving the Bucs without a two-year starter and one of the defense's most feared hitters. The penalty will cost Jackson $108,235 in salary.
Also. this doesn't help either.
A Tampa Bay Buccaneers player is accused of resisting arrest without violence and simple battery.
Cornerback Aqib Talib, 23, posted $300 bail this morning and was released from the Pinellas County jail after he was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol. Both charges are misdemeanors.
The police report said that there was " an indication of alcohol influence". Really?
My big brother, the Chief, is a Jaguar season tix holder. I will be joining him Saturday night in Jacksonville to watch those Buccaneers who aren't getting high or beating on cabbies.
Update: Local sports talk is presenting the theory that the cabbie may be trying to cash in on this - that he may be trying to take advantage of a rich, sobriety-deprived athlete.
Jackson will miss the first four games of the regular season without pay after an unspecified violation of the league's substances of abuse policy, leaving the Bucs without a two-year starter and one of the defense's most feared hitters. The penalty will cost Jackson $108,235 in salary.
Also. this doesn't help either.
A Tampa Bay Buccaneers player is accused of resisting arrest without violence and simple battery.
Cornerback Aqib Talib, 23, posted $300 bail this morning and was released from the Pinellas County jail after he was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol. Both charges are misdemeanors.
The police report said that there was " an indication of alcohol influence". Really?
My big brother, the Chief, is a Jaguar season tix holder. I will be joining him Saturday night in Jacksonville to watch those Buccaneers who aren't getting high or beating on cabbies.
Update: Local sports talk is presenting the theory that the cabbie may be trying to cash in on this - that he may be trying to take advantage of a rich, sobriety-deprived athlete.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
City of Brotherly Love
Maybe this guy was a Mets fan.
Police say a group from the bachelor party got into a fight with other patrons at a sports bar and restaurant in the Citizens Bank Park complex Saturday night. The trouble started during the closing innings of a game between the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The groups were told to leave McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon, and the dispute moved outside to a parking lot.
Police say 22-year-old Lansdale resident David Sale was assaulted there and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The World Series champion Phillies say they won't comment until arrests are announced.
Police say a group from the bachelor party got into a fight with other patrons at a sports bar and restaurant in the Citizens Bank Park complex Saturday night. The trouble started during the closing innings of a game between the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The groups were told to leave McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon, and the dispute moved outside to a parking lot.
Police say 22-year-old Lansdale resident David Sale was assaulted there and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The World Series champion Phillies say they won't comment until arrests are announced.
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