Random Thoughts On A Sunday Morning Updated To 7-28

[Jim825]

Let's see. You hate New England, you hate Philadelphia, you hate Minneapolis. The list keeps growing . . .

[Yankee4Life]

1 minute ago, Jim825 said:

Let's see. You hate New England, you hate Philadelphia, you hate Minneapolis. The list keeps growing . . .

Is that all you took out of this latest posting?

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 3-25

 

...Even though the calendar says it is the last week of March, baseball in their inexhaustible wisdom has decided to begin the 2018 season this Thursday with a full slate of games while completely ignoring the fact that five cities have a very good chance of playing in temperatures in the thirties or not at all.  Kansas City, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Detroit and the New York Mets all must be wishing they can be opening up on the road instead of at home because of this. And considering that a few days ago New York City got hit by another bad snowstorm it's going to be a minor miracle that they get the Mets game played. It's kind of hard to play baseball when your playing field is the same color as the ball. If the fans approach these games as if they are going ice fishing in Minnesota and not drink too much coffee I don't see any reason why they can't sit through four innings of baseball with no problem. Five at the most.

 

...Good news for Marlins fans. Their team opens up at home and there are a lot of good seats available. All of them, actually.

 

...I did not watch one Yankee spring training game because it is too early for me to listen to Michael Kay's voice and with Ken Singleton retiring at the end of the season it is only going to get worse.

 

...The Red Sox could not resist making head shaking news over the off season because that's just how things are done with them. These are the kind of people that can screw up a free lunch by complaining that they didn't get enough bread before the meal. Now they want to rename Yawkey Way, the street in front of Fenway Park, back to its original name which was Jersey Street. The reason why they want to do this is because current Red Sox owner John Henry said he was “haunted” over the racial past of the team. The Red Sox were the last team to integrate in 1959 when they had their first black player. Oh, I get it now. Change the name of the street and by magic people will forget this. What John Henry really needs besides a slap in the head is an exhaustive history lesson of Tom Yawkey and how he saved the Red Sox. Yawkey bought the Red Sox in 1933 after the worst period in their history. From 1920 (the year after Babe Ruth was sold) to 1932 (the season before he bought the team) the Red Sox finished in fifth place twice, sixth place once and dead last nine times. Once Yawkey took over the Red Sox started to improve and in 1937 posted their first winning season in years and in 1938 finished in second place behind the Yankees. Yawkey's money and willingness to spend it (buying Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove for example) made the Red Sox fun to watch again. Nothing like that was mentioned in their petition to rename the street.

 

But since he was unable to resist sounding like an idiot by bringing this up to begin with what he said next confirmed it, at least for me. Asked if the decision were only up to him, he would rename the street "David Ortiz Way" or "Big Papi Way" after David Ortiz. He sure would. And I bet he never heard of someone named Ted Williams. But to know that meant reading more history about the team he owns.

 

...For a long time now it was my opinion that today's high school and college kids were only concerned about their phones, the latest on Facebook and themselves - not necessarily in that order. But after watching what those kids down in Florida have been doing after the latest school shooting my opinion has changed about them because of their stand against guns. They made Marco Rubio and the mouthpiece of the NRA look stupid because they did not accept their unabashed attempts to avoid answering their well thought out questions about what should be done to keep assault weapons out of the hands of people that have no business having them. The way I see it the only people who should have access to these kind of weapons are the people in the military or the police. If you don't fall into those two categories then you don't get one. I am a private citizen and I have no need for one and neither should anyone else. What business do I have owning something like that?

 

I think the NRA is underestimating these kids because I don't think they are going to go away and if that's the case all I can say is thank God. What happened when something like this occurred in the past? Tears were shed, people got angry at the politicians and the NRA, new gun laws were demanded and then the lawmakers bided their time and shuffled their feet until the public stopped talking about it. It happened with Columbine and Sandy Hook and especially with Sandy Hook  I still can not believe that no laws were passed that made owning a gun harder to have after what happened there. And then before long you'll hear that tired, stock cliche when one of them says they are sending their "thoughts and prayers" to the surviving family members and students. These people have turned what on the surface is a nice gesture into a dismissive, empty and callous statement, something that was not lost on those Parkland students.

 

One comment that stood out to me was from a politician who I believe was from Florida. He said that the students who were demanding changes with the gun laws were just kids and not registered voters. In other words their opinions didn't matter. It was my hope that every one of those kids heard that or read about it because while it is true that they may not be voting this year some of them who are high school seniors will be as soon as next year and more and more of them will be when the 2020's arrive. Time has a way of sneaking up on you and before we all know it that generation will be the ones in charge and I just hope the NRA is unable to buy off those politicians like they have been for all these years now.

 

...I don't know why but I get a kick out of these waitress stories that I read on the internet where they try to get people to feel sorry for them for something that happened while they were at work. The latest one is from Florida and involves a poor, abused young thing who complained that she did not receive a tip on a takeout order when a nearby church called to order $735 worth of food from the Outback Steakhouse where she worked. According to this waitress they “take the order over the phone, put the order together, take payment and then take order to the car.” Then I gather that once this is finished they all have to go in the employee break room to sit down for forty-five minutes before someone passes out from this amount of work to avoid a trip to the emergency room.

 

Before they had a chance to pull out of the parking lot and return to the church with their dinners this waitress jumped on Facebook to complain that she didn't get a tip because she really could have broken a nail putting the orders in the car and then where would she be then? Her weekend would have been ruined. A friend of hers told her to delete the post but it was too late, it was already viewed. The church called the next day to apologize to the Outback because they had a volunteer pick up their order because Outback’s delivery service was delayed and the person didn’t realize that a tip is customary on takeout orders. When the waitress came into work the next day she learned two things. First, the church was given a full refund of their order because of the post she made and in addition her services were no longer required. She found out the hard way that freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. I don't know why anyone thinks whining on Facebook is a good idea. The funny part is that the church called the following day to try and straighten things out and leave a tip and not to get the waitress in trouble. Little did they know she took care of that herself.

 

...Like most people I am interested in seeing how this Stormy Daniels story ends up but when the subject turns to Melania Trump and how she is dealing with this scandal I can't help but wondering this. How is this a surprise to her considering this guy cheated on his previous two wives and what made her think that it wouldn't happen to her?

 

...How to be popular, Dept: A fourteen-year-old Vancouver girl threw a house party last week that she somehow paid for by using her parents credit card without their permission. When the police responded to a call that reported an “uncontrolled party” at a neighborhood home they witnessed nearly two hundred teens running away once they arrived. It was if someone made an announcement that a store in the mall was giving away free laptops but only for the first few hundred people. That's how fast the house emptied. Left behind was evidence of the destruction they caused to the house -  to walls, furniture, and artwork all of which the girl's parents will be held accountable for to a tune of $20,000. That is where I would have lost it. If there was a military school for girls somewhere I would have sent her there.  I would have called the police and had her taken away for theft of my credit cards. No amount of crying would fix this. She may as well apply at Burger King or McDonalds when she becomes working age because her college fund just got spent on one party.  I hope they have the money to cover this or else their refrigerator and pantry will be pretty scarce for the next ten years or so.

 

...Goodbye Toys-R-US. I'm going to miss you like I miss Christmas movies. The last time I was in one of their stores was when my niece was very little and I bought her a toy that she was asking for. I can still hear the screaming of the kids while I was trying to find the damned thing. I don't know how much it cost but I would have paid anything to get out of there.

 

...It's been slow in the airline industry lately. No one's been kicked off a plane in awhile and the TSA people haven't been harassing any old people. Like a noisy child who's been too quiet for too long, I can't help but thinking something is going to happen.

 

...What the hell, Dept: Singer Katy Perry playfully gave a contestant on American Idol his first-ever kiss after she found out he had never kissed a girl before and because of that is facing some backlash because the guy said he was "uncomfortable" because he was saving it for "someone special." Just when you think you heard it all you discover that you haven't. As far as first kisses go getting one from Katy Perry is not going to keep you up at night tossing and turning. I personally like her as a brunette with longer hair instead of the short blond look but that doesn't mean you'd hear me complain if she decided to kiss me. Instead of crying about it I'd kiss her back. Maybe the guy was hoping for Justin Bieber instead. Who knows?

 

...Did you read where Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett, who at 6'4'' and 274 pounds, someone who certainly is no pushover but did just that to a sixty-six-year-old paraplegic woman in a wheelchair during last year's Super Bowl all because he wanted to run on the field when the game ended to congratulate his brother Martellus Bennett, who was a member of the victorious New England Patriots team who defeated the Atlanta Falcons in last year's NFL Championship game? The woman ended up suffering a sprained shoulder as Bennett shoved her aside just so he could be close to his brother. Bennett stated that he saw that the old woman had an autograph book in her hand and he was worried that she would ask him to sign it so he got away from her as fast as he could and it was just a reflex reaction that he tackled her like he would a quarterback.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 7-29

 

...While many people in here have told me more times then I can remember how happy I should be because of the Yankees start to this season I just can't buy it. If one looks close you can find underachievers all over the roster. Forget Gary Sanchez for a second. I've been pointing out how worthless this guy's been since opening day. And you know what? I was right. The most he ever hustled was his half-ass run to first base in Tampa last month that landed him on the disabled list. When Greg Bird got injured again in spring training I said to myself that I wouldn't have been shocked to find out he wasn't coming back until next year. I got a laugh when Mark Teixeira said that the Yankees  should be “very concerned” about Greg Bird’s inability to stay healthy. This is a guy who couldn't stay healthy if his kids lives depended on it and he's the one who talks about Bird? This team gets hurt so much that sometimes I am afraid to read the papers the next day.

 

It hasn't been all bad, I'll even admit that. It's been nice watching Luis Severino and rookies Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar play but I can't say the same about Aaron Judge. I have seen the guy go games without getting close to hitting the ball but as soon as he hits a home run it's all forgotten. Since I have been watching baseball I have watched players before him that I thought were strikeout machines, for example Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, Alfonso Soriano and Adam Dunn to name a few but Judge in his second year has a better than average chance to pass them all up. He's one of the most inconsistent hitters I have ever seen but the hype on this guy is what saves him. And that right there is the problem with this year's Yankee team. They are inconsistent because they are not good enough.

 

...Not that it means anything to me, well maybe it does a little because I respect baseball history but not to long ago the Boston Red Sox renamed Yawkey Way outside the ballpark back to its original name of Jersey Street because of allegations of racism in the namesake’s past. Red Sox owner John Henry asked to change the name of the street, which before games becomes a pedestrian walkway, to distance the franchise for Yawkey’s racist reputation. I feel he is doing this as a publicity ploy because besides him and a few others that think like him most people could care less. That's the problem I have with this.Yawkey turned around that horses*** franchise when he bought it but that didn't matter. To their credit a lot of Red Sox fans are upset about this because Yawkey was a beloved figure around Boston and the foundation that was founded a year after his death in 1976 has given away $453 million in grants since it started. Not bad for a man they want to sweep under the rug now. If they had to go as far as changing back the name of the street because of cries of racism then maybe then the charities should give back the millions he donated and call it even.

 

...I've heard of bullpen miscommunications before but what the Indians pulled right before the All-Star break was simply stupid and borderline lazy. During a game against the Reds Terry Francona got on the phone to Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis and he asked him to warm up “O.P.” in the bullpen, meaning lefthander Oliver Perez because that is who he wanted to match up against lefty hitting Joey Votto. Instead, Willis heard “O.T.,” which meant that right hander Dan Otero was to warm up. So Otero said sure, why not? And when Francona made the pitching change in trotted a puzzled Otero while Perez remained in the pen as an interested observer. When Votto saw that a righty was coming in he smiled and said to himself that he was going to make the Indians pay and that's exactly what he did when his bases clearing double helped Cincinnati to come from behind and win. I don't know if this will happen again, at least not in Cleveland. It would have taken Francona an extra millimeter of a second to saying the player's full name instead of his initials. Maybe he can get one of his coaches to call down for him just in case one of his players is batting out of order again.

 

...Last Friday I went to see Jurassic World:Fallen Kingdom and not that I am going to give any spoilers away for those of you who have not seen it yet but I am very, very happy that this was just a movie because if those dinosaurs went after me I'd have no chance.

 

...No pictures please, Dept: I guess if you really had to you can file this one under the category of "thinning the herd." A man in India was driving people home from a wedding when he suddenly realized that having a lot to drink at the reception would eventually catch up to him and if he didn't find a restroom soon the pants he was wearing would become soaked in one certain area. With no port-a-pottys around he then decided to pull over to the side and take care of business. While he was doing that he looked around and saw a bear not to far away from him that was obviously injured in some way. Stupid is as stupid does, he got the idea of walking over to the bear to try and take a selfie with it. It was his bad luck that this was an extremely shy bear because the bear gave him one warning in the form of a growl and when that didn't work the bear mauled him to death. The people that were with him tried to get the bear off of the guy but the bear wasn't having any of it. Not even the picture that the guy was able to take before the bear swatted his big paw at him was clear enough to post on Facebook. That got them madder because it would have got a lot of likes.

 

...Ok, ok. Just one more selfie story and that's it. A British woman and Australian man fell one hundred feet to their death when they were attempting to take a selfie at beautiful Pescadores beach in Portugal. They probably wouldn't have had a problem with it but they tried to take the picture at night and then at one point they dropped their phone. As they bent down to get it they both fell over the side straight down to the beach below. It's anyone's guess as to who hit the ground first. Maybe the man. He weighed more. It would not be a mistake on anyone's part to assume alcohol was involved here but it would certainly answer some questions. Like why are you taking a selfie at the edge of a cliff in the dark and why lean over that same cliff trying to retrieve a phone? Anyways, it's good to know that Australian and British tourists don't have any more good sense than American ones.

 

...A kid's meal, literally Dept: A leopard at the Queen Elizabeth National park in Uganda snatched and ate a park ranger's three-year-old son recently when the kid wandered out to the unfenced staff quarters in the safari lodge at the park. The child was under the care of his nanny and she was unaware that he followed her outside until she heard him scream and by then it was much too late to do anything. Leopards, like most good predators are fast and this one was no different because it disappeared back into the wild as fast as he came out of it. This was a terrible tragedy and I feel for the family but I can't help wondering one thing. Why were the staff quarters unfenced? Something tells me they are now. I read about this park. People come here from all over to watch leopards roam around and after this if I were one of those tourists I'd ask myself while I was watching those animals walk around, thrilling as that may be, could it be that they are watching you too at the same time?

 

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles vs. Yankee4Life: A spoiler alert for everyone. I lose and I lose big. I had no chance here. On Wednesday on the 11th of this month I went to the DMV to apply for the enhanced driver's license because I heard that after October of 2020 you could not board a plane without one. In New York you need four things to accomplish this. (1) Your current driver's license (2) your social security card (3) a utility bill and (4) your birth certificate. I also had my DD-214 with me so they can put a veteran's status on the licence for me.

 

Anyhow, I am in line that day with all of my paperwork and I was confident that, because I had everything required, I would be able to complete my business there that day. After waiting in line just to be seen for almost a half hour I was able to talk to an employee there. She had a new employee by her side as she was giving her on-the-job training, presumably teaching her ways to look for things to screw the customer. Well, everything I had was perfect and I had a feeling that this was bothering her because of her intent to impress the new trainee.

 

Then it happened. Her frown was immediately erased by a look of self satisfaction as she told me that my birth certificate was not acceptable. When I tried to explain that this was the one issued to me when I was born she said that she was sorry but my paperwork did not have an official stamp on it and if I wanted to get one with the required stamp I would have to go to the Vital Records office to get one. Oh and by the way that will only cost me thirty dollars. She was done with me as I left and went home. But I had to wait another day for round two.

 

Thursday morning I went to the Vital Records building and sure enough I had to pay thirty dollars for a Xeroxed piece of paper with a stamp on it. These people who work here obviously have nothing to do with the DMV because I was in and out of there in less than ten minutes.

 

After that it was back to the DMV and this time I only had to wait about twenty minutes before I was helped and unlike the day before everything I showed them was in perfect order and for my reward they gave me a ticket and I sat down and waited to be called. And I sat and sat and sat. Any one of you guys who have had to wait at your DMV will agree that these are not the most motivated people holding down a job. One guy in particular that caught my eye would help someone and then when they were done he would look or walk around for about five minutes before calling on the next customer. Everyone else who worked behind the counter with him also did some form of this song and dance but this guy did it after every person and he did it longer than anyone else. He must have been the one with the highest seniority.

 

It took me over two hours of waiting that day but finally I got everything done, or rather they did. The good thing about all this is the the licenses last for eight years. The bad thing was having to go through all this for two days which took over three hours of my time. The next time I feel the need to be tortured for that long I'll tune into a Yankee game.

 

...Lately it seems that black people and other minorities across the country have been getting in a lot of trouble for simply living their lives and minding their own business. Each time these incidents have taken place the police have been involved and each time no charges were brought against the person or persons in question. Keep in mind these are all recent occurrences and have nothing to do with each other except for the fact that none of the people were white and if they were white the police would have never been called.

 

           In Rialto, California, a group of four women, three of them who were black, were met by seven police cars as they checked out of their Airbnb that they were renting. An elderly white woman alerted the police because the departing guests didn't wave or smile at her. They were kind of busy as they were dragging their luggage to their car when police showed up and the next thing they knew they had their hands in the air and by then it was too late to wave. The old busybody only called the police on the "three suspicious black people" and didn't bother mentioning the white girl. The three women are suing the Rialto police and the old woman later said that she'd have never reported them if they'd only waved and done a little dance for her and taken out her garbage.

 

         Two Chicago CVS employees found themselves out of a job after one of them called the police on a black woman who presented a coupon they suspected was fraudulent. They refused to accept the coupon and told the woman to leave before they call the police. She told them to go right ahead and she'll wait for them to arrive. The man wasn't joking either because the Chicago Police Department confirmed the call saying it was reported as an “assault in progress.” CVS backtracked faster than you could have imagined. Besides firing the two employees they apologized to the woman for what happened and just to show that they are really nice people once you get to know them, they honored her coupon. Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?

 

         In another example of wasting the police department's time the Grandview Golf Club in York, Pennsylvania called the police on and then later apologized to a group of five black women that they said were playing too slowly and refused to leave the course. The women, who were all members of the club were told they were not keeping the pace of play on just the second hole by the owner of the club. They told the owner that they were keeping pace with the group ahead of them and they didn't understand what the problem was. After they finished the front nine three of the women left because they were upset about what went on and before they started the tenth hole they were once again met by the owner and also by some of employees. This time they gave the women five minutes to leave the club and that police had been called. The reasoning, they said, was that they had taken too long of a break on the turn. The police arrived, asked questions, conducted interviews and when it was all done no arrests were made and the only damage that was done was by the officers when they attacked the buffet table at the club.

 

         In California recently a woman brought out her inner Donald Trump as she chided a Mexican landscaper for being a "rapist and a drug dealer." Showing amazing restraint this man asked her who he raped and what drugs has he sold. She said that the president said that is how Mexicans are and that was good enough for her because as everyone knows Donald Trump never lies and is never caught in one either. Caught in dozens of them, sure. But that's another topic. The woman was attacking the wrong guy here because this so-called rapist and drug dealer has a full-time job Monday through Friday and on weekends he does landscaping and construction. What the hell, if that guy did either one of those things maybe he'd get a day off once in awhile. One day one of these Trump worshippers are going to go up against someone that is not going to show remarkable self-control that this man displayed and is going to get his nose broke over even worse. Their hero is protected and can say what he wants. They're not.

 

        This one was pretty recent and it involves a dangerous criminal disguised as an eight-year-old girl selling bottled water near AT&T park in San Francisco. The girl, who is black, was running her con out in front of her apartment building when the eagle eye of a woman named Alison Ettel caught what was going on and immediately called the police on her because she told her she did not have a permit to sell water. The backlash was strong with this one because as it turned out this woman owned her own cannabis company and after the video of her calling the police on the child went viral stores all over the San Francisco area stopped carrying her products. A few days later she got herself all dolled up, well at least as much as she could, and went on TV to apologize for her actions and that she was embarrassed by it and as if she were following a set script, she cried at exactly the right time. For the little girl it ended very well. She's still able to sell her water and the lady who turned her in got all wet.

 

        Finally at Yale University a graduate student was writing a paper and while she was preparing it she got tired and fell asleep on the couch in the common room of their dorm. When another student came in the room and saw her sleeping she woke her up and told her she didn't belong there and was going to call the police. True to her word the cops showed up and it took them around twenty minutes to come to the conclusion that the woman did belong there and did live there. They went as far as having her prove that she lived there because a black woman going to college is something they weren't familiar with. She opened her dorm room with her key and showed them her student ID. Even after she did that the police told her that they were in a Yale building and they just wanted to make sure she belonged there. What else could she have showed them, her tuition bill? Yale's response was as you would expect from a stuffed shirt institution like theirs. They said they were going to be putting into action "listening sessions" so students can talk about these problems when they arise and they lightly scolded themselves to become "truly inclusive" for all students. I would think a place of higher learning should have been that way already. We’ve turned into a selfish society where common decency and courtesy no longer exist. When that student saw that woman sleeping she should have just left her alone. How hard would that have been?

 

         In all these examples I believe what we are seeing right now in the way people of color are being treated is tied to the rise of white supremacy. And it's not just black people. Mexicans and other Latin Americans are included here also. White supremacy is erupting, in part, because of Trump's words and actions — his seal of approval. There’s renewed energy in racist behavior — and it’s showing up in everyday life. Just ask Starbucks. This hit them were it hurt the most - their pocketbook. They closed the doors of more than 8,000 company-owned stores for racial bias training that cost them twelve million dollars in lost profit. A steep price to pay for calling the cops on two black men who were waiting patiently and quietly for another man to show up at one of their Philadelphia locations. If it was a white guy who was talking really loud on his cell phone for a half hour they'd of never said a word. Serves them right.

 

...Last week MTV announced that Bristol Palin was going to be the newest member of the reality show Teen Mom OG. The OG is short for Oh God, I'm pregnant! Palin is a very odd choice to join this show since she is twenty-seven, has three kids and has yet to master birth control. Her mother Sarah is very excited for her daughter to have this opportunity because she said that she is going to become a great messenger for overcoming a little bit of challenge and doing well in life. Well that's true. The challenge was so little for Bristol that she met it head on three times as she popped out three kids with two different guys and she did well because she had a mother rich enough to help take care of them. Not everyone that has an unexpected pregnancy can say the same thing. Of course Sarah is ok with her daughter being on this show. She's a publicity seeker herself, and has trained her daughter well. The only thing Bristol can say to these other girls on the show that will help them is that the next time they are getting it on with their boyfriends is to make sure to tell them to pull out.

 

...A waitress from Missouri lost her job and was kicked out of the Air Force reserve just days after her enlistment after a Snapchat video was released when she and some friends of hers had rifles and were laughing amongst themselves because they were going out “n----- hunting.” Her excuse was that she was drunk at the time and that she was really sorry and besides she had black friends and didn't mean what she said. Well, she used to have black friends. Not anymore. Maybe she was telling the truth and she was drunk but when you record yourselves when you are intoxicated you're eventually going to say or do something you regret. It seems you can say anything nowadays as long as you say you're sorry. You can fluff it up if you want and say you went a bit too far or that you were taken out of context but that won't cumulate a lot of sympathy for you. Every word you write on social media and everything you say in a video you are answerable for these days. For a twenty-year-old woman who was raised on the rules of social media she should have known better. She knows now. All it did was cost her her job and military career.

 

...I compare social media to the dog that people warn you to stay away from but because the dog looks so nice and friendly you find yourself reaching out to pet it and the next thing you know the dog has made a meal out of your hand. I'm not on social media myself but from what I have noticed and read about it over the years is that there is very little room for error on it. One mistake, one lapse in judgment on your part and you are looking at a lot of unwanted attention directed at you and it won't go away until the next person messes up. The good news is that this usually takes place the next day or the day after. That's why no one cares about this woman from Missouri anymore. She's still not getting her job back but no one cares about her.

 

But then there are cases where I believe people use social media to scrutinize people needlessly. Take Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers. In only his second year in the major leagues Hader made the National League All-Star team. He didn't enjoy it as much as he should of because someone uncovered some "racist" tweets that he made seven years ago when he was seventeen. This is what it comes down to? People reading and pouring over old tweets from a seventeen-year-old kid? I don't know what Hader said and I don't care because I don't care what any seventeen-year-old has to say whether he is saying it on Twitter or not. If I were Hader I would want to find out who had it in for him because these tweets were brought out into the open at just the right time so the entire country would find out.

 

...And finally I have one question to the mother from Texas who sent her kid to school wearing this shirt. Where did you get it?

                                            

[sabugo]

Praia dos Pescadores is about a 20 minute drive from where I live. That story was all over the news. People were asking 'was it an accident?', 'was it a crime?', 'were these people stupid or just careless?'
Truth is, we'll never know. Ever since I read that story about the woman who fell to her death while searching for the newest pokemon, I'll believe anything.

Speaking of race relations, I did notice there were very few interracial couples while I was in the US. Maybe it was just the places I visited, but there's definitely more here in Portugal. 

 

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 11-18

 

...For those of you who have thought I have been bemoaning the Yankees loss in the A.L.D.S. last month you must not have been reading my shoutbox posts since the start of Opening Day. There wasn't one day that I was sold on this team. Sure, they had that hot streak in May but that ended and so did the last time they played consistently for the rest of the 2018 campaign. When other people saw nothing but all those home runs I saw weak starting pitching, inconsistent hitting with runners on base along with too many strikeouts game in and game out. It's like the entire team didn't know what the hit-and-run play was about. All they knew was the hit a homer and trot play and when that didn't happen that's when the strikeouts became a problem. The Yankees struck out 1,421 times. Only the White Sox and Rangers were worse. Giancarlo Stanton struck out 211 times all by himself. Just knowing that the Yankees have this guy under contract for the next nine seasons should cause a sleepless night or two during the off-season for their fans especially with rumors that Manny Machado may or may not be Bronx-bound. Pitching should be the main focus from now until pitchers and catchers report in February. The Yankees employ enough people that spend most of their time striking out and they don't need Machado to make one more. At the end of the end of the 2000 season Baltimore's Mike Mussina and Cleveland's Manny Ramirez were free agents. The Yankees knew Ramirez could hit but they went after pitching because they felt in the long run it would make them a stronger team. They need to do the same thing this off-season.

 

You stay, you go and get lost Dept: It didn't take long for the Yankees to make their first questionable move as the Hot Stove League season approaches. Before the calendar turned into November they brought back outfielder Brett Gardner on a one-year deal. Gardner's a guy who plays well up until the middle of July and as soon as the All-Star game is done it's like his bats immediately stop working until spring training the following year. Now if I had my way (and I don't and I am not going to pretend that I do) I would have bought out his contract and told him to scram. Same goes for C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees brought him back too so maybe after these two klunkers they'll stop resigning guys that were past their prime six years ago. I'd get rid of Gary Sanchez too but who the hell is going to take him? Sanchez is the typical Yankee prospect who is full of hype and unlimited potential until you let him play and you see for yourself that he's not the second coming of Yogi Berra but rather Yogi Bear.

 

I would keep Greg Bird around another year just out of curiosity. I'd like to see what injury he can come up with next to keep him out for two months. I liked Jacoby Ellsbury but if the Red Sox had the sense to release Hanley Ramirez back in May then the Yankees can do the same with Ellsbury. The other guys on the team I can see keeping around but who knows who is going to be used as trade bait?  Pitching should be the first concern for them.

 

If they don't get the pitching before Opening Day next year I can only see them having more of the same kind of year they had this season. 100 wins was good but it didn't measure up to a Boston team that had career years out of everyone including the ushers. They are already going into 2019 worse than they did this year because Didi Gregorius will be out half the year and his glove and bat will be missed.

 

...One thing I forgot to mention in the last random thoughts I posted in here was something that I kept on noticing when Masahiro Tanaka is on the mound and Gary Sanchez is catching him. Have you seen these two guys be interviewed by the press? Both of them have to have interpreters next to them to translate but when Sanchez goes out to the mound to talk to Tanaka they both have no problem understanding each other. I am sure that they can understand some English words like "fastball" "curve" or "passed ball" but Sanchez is yapping away at Tanaka and he seems to discern every word. Just something I was wondering.

 

...The only thing I am going to miss about Mike Scioscia retiring is the confused look he has on his face when he throws his hands in the air after a call goes against the Angels. Other than that, no.

 

...Thanks to Boston being there and having the games on FOX I did not watch a lot of the World Series. I just couldn't take long periods of Joe Buck praising the Red Sox for everything they did. I don't know if he is intentionally annoying or that it just comes natural to him. Either way he's Joe Buck and as long as he and FOX are around October baseball will be hard to watch.

 

...Oh, and did you happen to catch the new thing that they did during the series? As the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher they showed a commercial while at the same time allowing us to keep our eyes on the game. They did the same thing when a batter was walking up to the plate for his turn at bat. Instead of these people trying to somehow improve the telecasts of the games they had the idea to add more commercials.

 

...I don't know who the Red Sox fan was that hit Alex Cora with a beer can when the team had their victory parade but whoever it was I wish they had a better aim and would have hit him right in the head.

 

...Doesn't it seem that the Christmas season gets longer and longer every year? To me it does especially back on November 2nd when I saw a lady wear a red Santa hat when I was driving home.

 

...Gravity always wins, Dept. An Indian couple who lived here in the United States fell to their deaths recently in California's Yosemite National Park when they were trying to take a selfie. Their family said that the couple was known for taking risks when they took photos from dangerous locations. The couple fell almost 800 feet in an area surrounded by steep terrain and rescuers had to use a helicopter to recover the bodies. Their phones were also found near the area where they fell and after a quick inspection were given the last rites also.

 

       This is not the first time this year that an accident like this happened at Yosemite. Not too long ago an eighteen-year-old kid from Israel was hiking in the park and decided to take a break because he had the bright idea of taking a selfie at the edge of Nevada Fall, a place that has an 820 foot drop, which was 819 more than this kid bargained for.  There are signs all over the park that tell visitors to watch their step. They're not to be taken as suggestions. They should be taken as serious as a sign that tells you to not walk on train tracks or not to drive the wrong way on a one way street. One thing is for sure though. These three people are not going to make the same mistake twice.

 

...The happiest people in the world have to be Ariana Grande's parents after she told them that she would not be marrying Pete Davidson. Watching those two has been like watching a couple of high school freshman. I've had head colds that lasted longer then those two were together.

 

...A little boy from Arizona was going to be turning six years old and his parents invited his entire class to a pizza party to celebrate. As it turned out only he, his mother and father and a waitress bothered to show up. His mother took the opportunity to take a picture of him sitting alone at a table with a sad look on his face and then she promptly posted it to Facebook so everyone could see what took place. And they did. This story got a lot of attention and soon people from all over the world were sending this boy gifts to help cheer him up. Now the mother is saying that she wishes she had never shared the picture and in no way wanted all the attention it received or the gifts that were sent to her son. Wait a second. Now she didn't want the attention? Then who gave the media her address to send the things to? I am sure that Good Morning America and the Today Show had to have her blessing to give out their address on the air. Good going Mom! At the expense of your young son you got your fifteen minutes of fame.

 

...Of all the things that I did not need to happen to me, having additional knee pain would be near the top of the list but, like having to sit next to a person on a plane that insists on telling you their life story, sometimes your luck is so bad you can't figure out what you did to deserve it. It all started with a pile of leaves that the wind blows up to my garage and for the past week or so I have been looking at it as it sat by the mailbox waiting patiently for me to pick them up. I took the bait on Monday and twenty minutes later I had them bagged up and thrown away. After patting myself on the back for five whole minutes I discovered that there was something seriously wrong with my left knee. Laying down for a few hours did not help and it didn't get any better the next day or as the week went on. The longer I have had this pain the more terrified I have been. I've had knee surgeries before and I have another one scheduled in February on my right knee but this pain is something I've never experienced. I am not walking but I am rather limping along holding on to chairs or walls or tables just so I can get from one place to the other in my home. I never appreciated the gift of walking without pain until the right one started acting up and now with this one I am afraid I am not going to be able to ever again. I called on Friday to try to see my knee doctor but I won't be able to get in until November 28th. I ended up going to an Urgent Care place and I did get urgent care since I was the only one there. X-rays were taken and it showed that I have a left knee strain and a knee effusion, whatever that is. My hope is that it heals up and I don't need surgery. I already have one of those on my calendar and I don't need another.

 

...The story of actor Geoffrey Owens is a rare as far as social media is concerned. Usually when an actor or well-known person finds him or herself displayed on celebrity websites without their knowledge or consent it is because they did something that they shouldn't have done and usually it's pretty embarrassing. Owens was on the Cosby Show in the 1980's but when that show ended he was not receiving steady work. Which in turn brings him to a few short months ago. To make ends meet for his family he took a job at Trader Joe's, a national grocery store chain. It helped pay the bills as he continued to get some acting jobs on the side. And that is how it was for him until one day a woman came into the store and saw Owens bagging groceries and snuck a picture of him as she was cashing out. She said later on that she used to watch Cosby when she was younger and she looked up to him when he was on the show. It's a good thing she thought so highly of him because if she hadn't there would have been no telling what she would have done.

 

Her excuse for doing this was that "everybody does it." Quite a thing to say for someone who is fifty-years-old and should know better. If this woman has kids all I can say is God help them. Or us. This woman was denounced on social media, the same place she wanted the attention of being the one who took his photo. She began to get hate mail to her own social media accounts from both normal people and celebrities, accusing her of “job shaming.” As for Owens things took a turn for the better. Acting gigs have become more steady now. Recently he did a guest spot on NCIS and is finishing up working on two movies.  I have nothing but respect for a man who doesn't think himself above any job. Working at that grocery store just showed that he has his priorities straight. As for that woman, maybe next time she'll think twice about taking someone's picture because the only one she made look bad was herself.

 

...Every time it's time for me to think about the Thanksgiving football games on TV I am always reminded about a guy I used to work with. His wife would not let him watch any game all day long. And he never said a word year after year. I don't know if they are still married but if they aren't I don't blame him. Anyway, for the rest of us who are allowed to look at the TV here is the schedule for Thursday the 22nd. The first game is the Chicago Bears at the Detroit Lions. The NFL should give their fans a gift next year by removing the Lions from the Thanksgiving schedule until they become serious contenders in the NFC North, something that won't happen until at least 2026. The next one is in Dallas as the Cowboys host the Washington Redskins. This one is going to be on FOX and while this game sounds good because it brings back memories of some classic games between these two teams don't be fooled. The Redskins are the only team in the division with a winning record and they are to put it mildly, a mediocre team. The Cowboys at 4 - 5 still can go on a run but they don't have it in them. Finally the evening game will be the Atlanta Falcons visiting the New Orleans Saints. It's going to be on NBC and they are going to be taking a financial bath on this one because no one outside of those two states will be paying any attention five minutes into it. Football on Thanksgiving is a great way to pass the time or take a nap. It sure beats watching Christmas movies on Hallmark.

 

...As I close I would like to wish everyone here at Mvpmods a very happy Thanksgiving. And that goes for everyone around the world even if you don't celebrate it yourself. Wherever Trues is I wish him and his family a wonderful day and also to the rest of the staff here. And I have a request to the people who have kidnapped KcCityStar. Just let him go so he can come back here. Have a good holiday and a good weekend everyone. Take care!

[Gordo]

Wow, the Lions AND the Cowboys on Thanksgiving day ..... I am shocked and amazed!  😏

[laroquece]

12 hours ago, Yankee4Life said:

Sanchez is the typical Yankee prospect who is full of hype and unlimited potential until you let him play and you see for yourself that he's not the second coming of Yogi Berra but rather Yogi Bear.

This line man, you nail it...

[sabugo]

7 hours ago, laroquece said:

This line man, you nail it...

I second that

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 12-23

 

...Well today's the 23rd and that means Christmas is almost over and not a moment too soon if you ask me. I am not someone who hates Christmas but I sure as hell don't embrace it anymore. Over time this holiday has somehow taken over the last two months of the year in preparation for the big day. And if by any chance that anyone needs a reminder that there are only two shopping days until Christmas each store and restaurant you go into until the 25th will be playing holiday music. You'll be so fed up with listening to favorites like Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland even listening to the best of  Taylor Swift would be a better option. Same for the Christmas movies. How many times can you watch the same ones over and over again? In my case I reached my limit five years ago. That was the last time I watched White Christmas and I don't miss it one bit. It snows at the end and Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby get back together. Sorry if I spoiled it for the remaining three people in the world who haven't seen it yet. Christmas for me is all about family and friends and not about a Walmart special. It's not going to be a good one for me because this will be the first one for me without my mother. It's going to take me quite some time to get that Christmas spirit back again but every so often I can still feel it inside me. I just wish she was still here.

 

...Ramsey Bearse, the former Miss Kentucky pageant winner in 2014 was recently arrested and charged with sending nude photographs of herself to a fifteen-year-old boy who happened to be a former student of hers when she was teaching at a Charleston, West Virginia middle school. She admitted sending four topless photos of herself via Snapchat to him from August to October of this year. The boy's parents found the photos on his phone and told police about them last week. Now as soon as I found out how the parents found these pictures I had a good idea what went down. This kid gets a set of topless pictures dropped in his lap from one of the hottest teachers he is ever going to hope to have for his entire school career and he couldn't keep his mouth shut about it. Chances are he told one or two kids who were jealous of his good luck and they told their parents until word got back to his folks who then found the pictures on his phone. Bearse was charged with four counts of distributing obscene materials to a minor, which is a felony. If I were her I would object to the word "obscene" because one look at her in a swimsuit will prove to anyone that there is absolutely nothing offensive with this woman's body. Trust me, I looked. 😉

 

...That SOB Manny Machado let everyone know that he is not going to make his decision on where he wants to play until the new year arrives. This means for the entire Christmas week it will be in the back of mind that he could be a Yankee next year. I just hoped that the meeting that the Yankees had with him did not go well and that there was something, however small that it was, that will influence the Yankees not to sign him. I just keep going back to what the Orioles have said and not said about him. Above anyone else Baltimore should know best on what kind of person Machado is. However noteworthy his talent is on the field off the field he seems to be the complete opposite. I feel that the Yankees have a good chemistry right now and their future will be even better without someone like Machado. Sure he'll win some games but at what cost? Didi Gregorius will be back sooner than we realize. So let Machado make a big announcement after the new year. I think he will look wonderful in a Phillie or White Sox uniform.

 

...Now for the other selfish SOB who has been rumored to be going to the Yankees just because they are the Yankees. Even though the Yankees have enough outfielders; in fact they have so many that one of them didn't play at all last year and he wasn't even missed. Despite that Bryce Harper has been rumored to be going to New York to play first base notwithstanding that he has only played one game at first during his entire seven year career. Whomever came up with that little scenario should next time be sure to sleep it off before coming up with something like this. Harper is another guy that I have never heard say he was a good teammate. It's easy to see his talent out on the ball field. Even his fiercest detractors will grudgingly admit that. But like Machado he gives off the feeling of aloofness that many fans do not like.

 

But thanks to the Dodgers and the Reds the "you never knows" about Harper going to the Yankees may finally have been put to rest due to that seven-player deal two days ago. The Dodgers traded Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig and two others to the Reds for Homer Bailey and some prospects. Bailey will take his 1 - 14 record and a 6.09 ERA to the west coast where his goal will be to win at least five games. Kemp and Puig are talented but could be used as trade chips by the Reds to get younger and cheaper players. Besides, Puig would never fit in in Cincinnati. As a Dodger he can lick his bat all he wants because no one cared. In Cincinnati they expect you to act professionally which is something Puig has never done since he joined the Dodgers back in 2013.

 

...I have not missed one episode of the reboot edition of Magnum, P.I. that started back in September. I like this one as much as the Tom Selleck version as I saw all those shows during the eight years they were on. It  also doesn't hurt that the show is filmed on location in Hawaii because if there is any place in the world that is meant to be seen on an HDTV it's Hawaii. While the new show is faithful to the original there is one very big difference. On the first one the role of Higgins was played by a man, English aristocrat Jonathan Higgins. In the reboot Higgins is still English but then things take a big turn. It's Juliet Higgins now instead of Jonathan as the role has been taken over by a woman (Perdita Weeks) and she is just as resourceful and perceptive as John Hillerman was in the part. It's not a bad show and I hope it stays on for a few years. The big difference for me occurred in the first few minutes of the pilot episode when I first laid eyes on the new Higgins. This Higgins was hot, and if  I would have said this when the 80's show was on people would've looked at me like I was nuts.

 

...Is there any woman that Cubs shortstop Addison Russell has been with that he hasn't beat up? If he doesn't watch out he will out of a job and probably out of the league too. His one saving grace could be in Boston where players like him are appreciated by the fans because their actions mirror themselves.

 

...I don't think I have seen anyone more resolved and relieved to be going to prison than Michael Cohen. And he's going away for three years! When prison life is more appealing than working for that guy that is really saying something. I don't feel sorry for the guy at all since he put the gun in his hand, so to speak, but I got to admire the way he came clean.

 

...I read a lot of funny comments about my blood pressure during the baseball season because of my lack of patience towards the Yankees when they do something stupid, which for them begins on the first day of spring training. The truth is my blood pressure holds up pretty well despite the workout that you all seem to think I give it for six months. Baseball is a wonderful game that draws you in each spring and holds on to you until the last out in the World Series is made. That's what it does to me because I pay more attention to this sport then all the others combined. At the same time I welcome the break because while I still enjoy spending time watching it like I always have I don't love it as much as I had in the past. I blame it on rule changes and FOX. Those two combined make it painless for me each winter to take a break and walk away from baseball and what gets me really worried is this is getting easier and easier for me to do. Pretty soon after they add more teams and extend the season and post season I won't recognize one name on the Yankee roster. That is of course if I bother to look.

 

...Laugh instead of crying, Dept: Its been another dispiriting season if you are a fan of the Oakland Raiders. People sometimes laugh when I tell them I am an Oakland fan because most of the ones who do the laughing were not even born when the Raiders were the class of the NFL. These days I have to settle with the rare win that they get on Sundays and rejoicing in the failures of teams that I can't stand. So far this year there's been two games whose endings were so shocking mainly because they both ended up in last-second defeats for two teams that in my opinion have been overrated for years. The first one I am talking about was when the San Diego Chargers made that two point conversion with four seconds remaining in the game at Kansas City to beat the Chiefs. What a fearless call that was especially in Arrowhead where all the calls go the Chiefs way. Those farmers were so mad at the end of that game that they were shooting at street signs and knocking over mailboxes until the early hours of the morning.

 

The next game was down in Miami where the Dolphins executed a perfect double lateral sixty-nine-yard touchdown with no time remaining to beat the New England Patriots 34 - 33. Any time a Boston team loses is cause for a celebration for me but this one was special. It was just as good as the catch David Tyree made against them in Super Bowl XLII. That catch and Plaxico Burress’ wide open thirteen-yard touchdown reception that won the game for the Giants compare to what Miami did to the darlings of the NFL back on December 9th.

 

I realize these are just minor victories for me to appreciate and it is no substitute for a Raider season to be proud of but I'll take what I can get, especially when with tomorrow's Monday Night game against Denver it could be the last time the Raiders play in Oakland, which is a tragedy in itself.

 

...Before I sign off for another year I want to wish everyone here at this wonderful website a very Merry Christmas. I think we had another good year and a lot of mods were released for two games that have been out of circulation for a while now. It's the credit to our modders that if you want to buy Mvp '05 or MLB 2k12 you are going to have to pay a lot for it from eBay or Amazon.

 

I hope you all have a relaxing Christmas with your family and friends and that you are where you want to be. A great many of our service people are all over the world and won't be able to make it home so if any of you know of someone who is in the armed forces let's salute their service and appreciate what they do for us all. Christmas, and I mean the real Christmas, is not a gift you can order online or pick up at a store. The real Christmas is still something that the commercialization of it that we see all around us can not touch. That is what I wish for you and your families. Merry Christmas and also have a safe and healthy 2019.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 4-28

 

...Many years ago but then again not that long ago players like George Brett, Eddie Murray, Reggie Jackson, Alan Trammell, etc, would play in the majority of their games year after year. No one was surprised when they did because it was to be expected. These days and especially with the Yankees it's a cause for celebration when they can go two games without adding someone to the disabled list. I have never seen anything like it and I am hard-pressed to come up with an answer. Part of it has to be with getting limbered up and training down in the Florida sunshine and then going up north to play games in weather forty degrees colder than you've been used to. But looking at it closer that's only part of the problem because why don't other teams who train in Florida and Arizona have the same problems? They've played in just as cold weather as the Yankees.

 

The injury that is really going to hurt the most is Aaron Judge's oblique injury. The Yankees said it was such a significant injury that there is no timetable for his return. In other words if you want to see Judge swing a bat in the coming months watch videos of him online. Same for Aaron Hicks. I think if he wasn't given that new multi-million dollar contract his back wouldn't be hurting right now. And if Greg Bird were a horse they'd have taken him behind the barn and shot him by now. If these guys would spend as much time preparing themselves for the long season as they do remembering the hundreds of different ways it takes to shake hands they would be better off.

 

So far Brian Cashman has been defending his medical and training staff but if you know anything about the Yankees something's got to give. They always find a way to reprimand someone because they are masters at delegating blame.. I'd start with the strength and conditioning coach because it seems to me that he forgot the "conditioning" part of his job title. Something needs to be done. The Yankees have put too much time and money in this team to watch them fall apart this fast after less than three weeks into the season.

 

...Yeah, but can she cook, Dept: A thirty-five-year-old   Japanese man married a cyber celebrity named Hatsune Miku in probably the oddest wedding ceremony that I have ever heard of. You may not have heard of Hatsune Miku but she is very popular in Japan. She also happens to be a hologram. The guy first fell for her about ten years ago when he first heard her sing and then it was love at first pixel. The couple got married in front of thirty-nine friends and relatives, none from the brides side of the family. Your first reaction probably would be to have a good laugh at this guy but I think he's crazy like a fox. Say he and his wife are having an argument. All he's got to do is unplug her and just like that the fight's over. And maybe they're watching TV and he sees another hot looking hologram that he wants on the side. All he has to do is put a blanket over her and she won't know what's going on. To each his own they say but this is really stretching it. I wonder how this guy would cope if the power went out in his neighborhood and he couldn't talk to his wife? He may have to resort to talking to someone with a pulse for awhile.

 

...The people running the Royal Caribbean Cruise line must have seen all kinds of people come and go over the years and the stories they must have would make for some fascinating reading but I don't know if anything could top what happened on one of their trips recently. A group of men were banned for life when one of them decided to jump from the eleventh floor of the ship while it was docked in the Bahamas. The man was not suicidal nor was he jumping into the water to save someone else who had fallen in. He jumped because he wanted to become a viral hit and be famous and jumping off an ocean liner sounded like a good idea at the time. After the cops picked him and was brought back on the ship to gather his things to leave he was asked about his fall. He told a reporter that his feet felt pretty good but it was his neck and tailbone that really hurt. He was barely able to walk for three days and was hardly able to sleep from the pain. That's a shame. Maybe after some time passes he can book passage on another cruise line company and try for another jump. Maybe that time he'll get it right. 😶

 

...Things people do just to post on social media, Dept: Sadly the woman known as the "Bikini Climber" is no more thanks to a sixty-five foot drop down a ravine and a discernible lack of common sense. GiGi Wu, a thirty-six-year-old Taiwanese woman, better known as the Bikini Climber because she was known for sharing photos of herself on mountaintops in bikinis, fell to her death in Central Taiwan’s Yushan Mountain when she stumbled down a ravine and injured her leg and was unable to move. Despite her calls for help the emergency responders were not able to immediately reach her due to the dangerous weather conditions. Finally after twenty-eight hours she was air lifted out but by that time she was pronounced dead. The cause of death was over exposure to the elements brought on by a terminal case of attention seeking disorder. Not many people can say they died freezing to death on a mountain in a bikini. GiGi Wu had a big following on social media as she chronicled her bikini climbing adventures and it isn't hard to understand why. Who wouldn't want to see a young, attractive woman take photos of herself wearing skimpy bikinis mixed in with an element of danger? That's why she was a big hit. People were waiting for this to happen. Well, they got it. And she got it too.It is amazing in this day and age of knowledge and warning labels that natural selection continues finds a way.

 

...I hope that whatever NFL team you happen to follow had a very good draft except of course if your favorite team happens to play in the AFC West and is anyone except the Oakland Raiders. I didn't watch any of the draft because I don't think waiting around for teams to make their selections makes for riveting television. However there are many people who would disagree with me and who find the draft one of the most exciting and suspenseful events of the year. This year the draft was held in Nashville and that meant that the city was invaded by over two hundred thousand fans hoping to get a glimpse of some of the new NFL draftees and hobnob with the NFL greats that show up. That's all well and good but recently Nashville has gained the reputation of being a go-to place for bachelorette parties and when the football guys showed up they were not too happy about it. Some of them accused the NFL of swooping in at the last minute to hold their draft there and ruining their ability to have fun. The NFL announces a year in advance where the next draft is held and that is news that is hardly on a need-to-know basis. One lady was so furious she threatened to take out her frustration on her husband when she said she was not going to watch any football with him this coming season including the Super Bowl. That's right, hit him where it hurts. Make him watch the game alone so he can really concentrate on it and maybe even enjoy it since you won't be there running your mouth the entire game. That's the best gift she could ever give him but she thinks she's really sticking it to him. One bride-to-be had similar feelings. She didn't want to "hang out with a bunch of football guys" because she already has to watch football on Sundays. Really? I don't know of any man that tells his wife or girlfriend that she has to sit with him all day on Sunday watching football. Maybe the reason why she is mad at the NFL and all of the "football guys" that were there was they ruined her chances of hooking up with as many musicians as possible before getting married. 😄

 

...When a parenting blogger (yes, there is such a thing. That's a woman who has a kid and then thinks she has to go to social media and let other women know how to raise their own child because no one knows how to do it better than her.) was on a cross-country flight with her two-year-old daughter, she noticed a passenger sitting nearby getting upset when the child started getting tired and began to act up by fussing and crying. The man, who was under the assumption that he paid for a quiet flight began to lose his patience when the child, who was sitting behind him, began screaming in his ear. The woman wrote later that the man turned around a few times to express his annoyance but that did not stop the toddler because as anyone knows who has been around an exhausted child once they start crying it's almost hard to stop them. Luckily a flight attendant stepped in and saved the day much to the appreciation of the man whose ears were beginning to hurt and to the other people who also had the bad luck to sit near this mother and daughter. Immediately after the flight attendant gave the child a cup and a straw to play with she calmed down and stopped crying for the remainder of the flight. It appears to me that this flight attendant that came to the rescue to give the little girl something to play with is a better parent than her mother the blogger because she provided activities for the kid while her mother brought her on a cross-country trip with nothing to keep her engaged. Maybe in the future if she spent less time on social media and more time looking after her kid, she would find that she doesn't have as much to "blog" about.

 

...For a few days I was confused as to why people were talking about Nipsey Russell again because from what I had remembered he had been dead for years. Then I found out they were talking about some guy I never heard of named Nipsey Hussle and I thought he was a relative of his, but he wasn't. Anyway, R.I.P. whomever you were.

 

...All I can say is leave it to the Red Sox. Last Tuesday night baseball's first all-female radio broadcast team took to the airwaves to announce Boston's class A Salem Red Sox game. I would have loved to been a fly on the wall between innings of the game to hear what they were talking about. Where'd you get your shoes?...Don't  you just love Amazon Prime?...That third baseman's cute. What team does he play for?...Can we leave after nine innings? 😄

 

...When this year began I had no idea who Jussie Smollett was nor did I care. It was a pretty stupid thing that he did and yet he had a lot of people coming out to support him which I could not understand. Aesop's Fables had a famous story called The boy who cried wolf and I'm guessing Smollett never heard of it or never got around to read it. If this ever happens to him again and this time without it being set up he'll know first hand what that story was about.

 

...Finally, this. Political correctness struck again last week and this time they targeted a woman who has been dead for thirty-three years. An unidentified person discovered two recordings done by singer Kate Smith back in 1931 and proceeded to waste no time reporting it to the media so they could have their fifteen minutes of fame. Well they got it but it cost the reputation of a woman who up to recently was highly regarded and respected. Her recording of “God Bless America” has been used by the New York Yankees during the seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium since 2001 but when the news came out about the recordings she made so long ago the song was removed faster than another Yankee player joining the disabled list.

 

When the Philadelphia Flyers saw what the Yankees had done they said to themselves that they could do even better and sure enough they did. The Flyers used her version of the song as an almost unbeatable good luck charm when it was played before their games but they stopped playing it too. Smith also had a statue of herself that the Flyers covered up and then had taken away. That'll teach her!

 

I did not hear these songs nor did I ever hear of them until now but just based on the titles of the two songs (“That’s Why Darkies Were Born” and “Pickaninnies’ Heaven”) you can immediately tell that they would not make America's top 40 playlist in the past fifty or sixty years. And that's my point. These songs were recorded back in 1931, eighty-eight years ago. Most people alive now that were around back then were only new borns. They had no idea what it was like then just like us. The songs that Kate Smith is taking flack for were also recorded by a black man named Paul Robeson. Robeson was far from an "Uncle Tom" character. This man was a famous singer, athlete, lawyer and social activist. Robeson also played an important part in bringing black baseball players, including Jackie Robinson, into the major leagues when he headed a delegation of blacks who met with commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and the major league owners in 1943 to bring black players into baseball.  In attendance that day was Branch Rickey, who was there listening to Robeson and he left determined to make his plea come true.

 

It should be noted that while it was brought out that Robeson did record these songs in question he is not being denounced by any leader of the black community. The reason could be because it's been eighty-eight years and things have changed for the better since then and there is no sense in going back that far to find something to be offended by because there is more than enough things today going on to keep you occupied for quite some time.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 6-30

 

...The Yankees have a way of ruining the month of July for me every year despite my attempts of trying to remain positive which, for me, can sometimes be too much to ask for. For me July has it all. There is nothing like baseball in the summertime. So's a picnic on the Fourth and lemonade and iced tea and catching a game on the radio in my backyard at night when the weather cools down some from the heat of the day. But then, as I said, I am a Yankee fan and that means for the entire month you have to worry that they will trade away a valuable piece of their future to get a quick return on the present. This year Clint Frazier is the player I am concerned about the most. All he did when Stanton and Judge were out step up and play well while delivering key hits. He's a good young player that I don't want to see wear the uniform of any of the team. If Frazier survives not being traded I can see him returning in September when the rosters are expanded and having a permanent role on the Yankees next year after Brett Gardner is gone. Gardner is someone that I don't understand was brought back this year. His bat disappears after the return from the break and the Yankees are fooling themselves if they think this year will be any different. He's about a .230 hitter now and for someone as fast as he is he hardly steals any bases. I get that he has had a good career with the Yankees but they can't keep on bringing him back on one-year contracts. Jeter was a good player too but you wouldn't want to see him play shortstop now. Pitchers didn't want to see him play shortstop five years before he retired. I just want Frazier to get a chance and until the trade deadline ends July 31st that's what I'm mostly going to be worried about. I know I can't control it and I shouldn't worry about it but without fail the Yankees do this to me every July. They almost make the hot dog I am going to have not worth it.

 

...For whatever reason the Nominating Committee of the National Radio Hall of Fame has decided to nominate New York Yankees color commentator Suzyn Waldman for membership in their Hall of Fame. It's obvious that the twenty-four person committee has never heard her screech during Yankee broadcasts or else her name would have never been considered. This is the same Hall of Fame that has already admitted people such as Mel Allen, Red Barber and Vin Scully. If Waldman somehow gets in it should be fair to say that anyone who has ever spoken over the airwaves at any time should at least be nominated also. If any of you who have never heard her and have the MLB package give her a listen one day. I promise you you won't even last an inning.

 

... Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Tommy Pham brought up a very good point recently about big market teams having an advantage in All-Star voting. And for those of you who think he's just complaining about nothing you don't have to look any further than the Yankees Aaron Judge. Judge has played in less than thirty games this year and yet he finished fourth in voting for American League outfielders. The names may change but each year one thing remains constant and that's the fans have no idea what they're doing. Pham is having a better year than the Yankees Brett Gardner and Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr. and yet he is way behind in the All-Star voting simply because he plays for a small market team. What Pham is saying has been said before by other players in the past who's home address was not New York, Boston or Los Angeles. Toward the end of his career Derek Jeter made the All-Star team on his name alone and not for what he did on the field. Most of the blame for this lays at the feet of ESPN and Fox because of their willingness to broadcast Yankee- Red Sox games as much as they can get away with. It's always been a popularity contest. Pham's just reminding everyone of this again.

 

... In Denver recently police were called to break up a fight between parents at a youth baseball game played between seven-year-olds because they were unhappy with the calls made by the umpire who at thirteen was not that much older than the players on both teams. The police said that several people have already been cited for disorderly conduct. There's a video of this online and in it the children are seen running off the field when the fight broke out. You can only imagine what was going through their heads when this was going on. Billy Martin has been gone for thirty years now and I don't even think that he would approve of what those parents did. Then again, maybe he would. One thing is certain and that's if that thirteen-year-old kid wants to continue being umpire he already has the experience of dealing with a rioting crowd. Grab his mask, run and let the crazies fight it out among themselves.

 

...If I were the city of Montréal I would tell the people who run the Tampa Bay Rays thanks but no thanks even if it means hosting major league baseball in Québec again. The Rays said that they received permission from the commissioner to explore a plan in which they would play home games in both the Tampa Bay area and Montreal and they went on to say that this is the most feasible way to save baseball in the Tampa Bay area. If this plan is approved the Rays would play early season home games in the Tampa Bay area and the remainder of the year in Montreal. To sweeten the pot both cities would get new stadiums. Why? If that happens one city is ultimately going to have a new stadium and no team. No matter how you look at it this plan makes no sense at all for Tampa and Montréal. What do the Rays consider early-season games? April and May? How does this supposed to help save baseball in Florida?

 

Montréal was a good baseball town and after their growing pains years of the 1970s they built themselves a pretty good team. While hockey is number one sport there and always will be baseball has had a long and proud history there also. I understand that Montréal wants to return to the major leagues and honestly they should of never left but if they allow Tampa to do this they are just going to be taken advantage of again. My guess is that the Rays are doing this to gain an advantage in the stadium talks or they are indirectly saying that no matter what the city of Tampa does they are eventually going to leave no matter what. Let Tampa deal with their own mess. Montréal is too good of a city to have baseball walk on them again.

 

...For as much as I like him sometimes Paul O'Neill drives me crazy when he's in the Yankees broadcasting booth. The next time he's doing a game listen to how many times he says "I'll tell you what" when he has something to say. He does a good enough job but if if he can get out of that habit he'd be so much better.

 

...So sorry, but we shot the wrong guy, Dept.:A lot of people in the Dominican Republic are not accepting that the reason why David Ortiz was shot back on June 9 was because he was mistaken for somebody else. At 6'3'' and 240 pounds it's hard to mistake him for anyone. Eleven people were arrested in this murder-for-hire plot. The gun man's story was that the man sitting with Ortiz that day was the original target. He said he got confused because the two of them were dressed similarly but even that explanation makes no sense because the intended target is smaller and thinner than Ortiz and also has a lighter complexion. Try to picture Ortiz standing next to someone with the same build as Dustin Pedroia. This is the story that the Dominican authorities want everyone to believe and I think it's because they don't want to make other Dominican players nervous when they come home. It's too late for that because if a hit was put on someone is popular as Ortiz it could happen to anyone.

 

Ortiz is doing better now and is out of intensive care at Massachusetts General Hospital after being flown up from the Dominican for additional surgery. It's worth mentioning that the doctors down there were the ones to initially work on him. They saved his life and made him stable to be flown to Boston.I'm sure he's grateful to the doctors in his country who helped him out but at the same time I'm wondering what he thinks of those officials who are trying to tell him that the other guy was supposed to get shot and not him?

 

...Tourism represents more than 17% of the Dominican Republic's economy and officials there are beginning to get concerned that travelers may become very reluctant to book their vacations because there have been at least ten American citizens who have died from apparent sudden health issues since June of last year. The United States Embassy in Santo Domingo has been actively working with Dominican authorities to ensure that American citizens are safe but it still makes you wonder if it's actually worth to go down there to begin with. Some people who have visited the Dominican Republic and returned home to tell about it brought home more than souvenirs and pictures when they got off the plane. Stomach cramps, diarrhea and other illnesses that lasted a long time after they returned home have been reported. What no one can explain is why many of the tourists died while they were in their hotel rooms. While the Dominican may be a very beautiful area with some of the nicest beaches in the world it's still a very poor country with a high crime rate. Not even David Ortiz who is a living legend down there is safe so I wouldn't want to gamble with my life there in or out of my hotel room. But this concern about traveling to the Dominican will soon be forgotten as soon as the travel prices to visit there are cut in half. Just like in a lot of cases money can clean up and fix just about anything.

 

...Sure I watched the FIFA women's World Cup games. Right after I watched a few Lifetime movies, read a romance novel and viewed Boston's World Series highlights from last year. Then I made sure to tune in.

 

...Last week Andrew Dice Clay and Roseanne Barr announced a new comedy tour called "Mr. and Mrs. America". What a combination those two are for a comedy duo. Barr, who thinks she is funny except when she is telling a joke and Clay who is famous mostly for pornographic nursery rhymes. Before hearing about this I didn't even know if Andrew Dice Clay was still alive since his last hit was the Adventures of Ford Fairlane which was almost thirty years ago. Clay said that the reason why they decided to start this tour was because of the current national obsession with political discourse in addition to the alleged policing of comedians’ language. I don't know if any comics have their language policed but I'm sure that Clay knows better about it than I do. He was funny at one time but that was a long time ago but having Barr around means that this little tour that they're going on is not going to last long because it's going to be hard to be funny to a bunch of empty seats.

 

...Amazon's highly successful Prime Day promotion will be running for two days this year starting at midnight on July 15 and will last for forty-eight hours. Amazon says the event will include more than a million deals around the world, such as steep discounts on Alexa-enabled devices. Prime day is used by Amazon to spotlight their own products and to get more people to subscribe to their prime service which costs $119 a year. This will be the fifth year that they have promoted this discount holiday and while they will have a lot of things for sale I have noticed that the things that they have marked down aren't really worth buying to begin with. I've been a prime member longer than five years now and I still have not purchased anything on Prime Day. The chances that you do find something to buy they only have twenty of and they're already sold out before you get there. But if you want a Kindle fire or a reader or an Amazon Echo wait until the middle of next month. Anything else I found it to be a waste of time.

 

...I am a baseball traditionalist and in being so it leaves me open to criticism that the game has passed me by. Maybe it has. While I still love baseball at the same time I can't help but think that they are changing the rules just because they can and not for the better. For as long as I can remember the rule above all others was no association with gambling. There was no way around it. Gambling was verboten. Ever since the 1919 World Series scandal the word "gambling" has always made baseball executives nervous. Not so much now it seems. In exchange for a cut of fans’ guaranteed gambling losses, MLB is requiring teams to submit their starting lineups fifteen minutes before game time for betting purposes. And to push it a little further the Chicago Cubs are considering adding betting kiosks inside and just outside Wrigley Field for easy and added in game action. If this is a big success in Wrigley it won't be long before you see them in every other major league park.It didn't take much for baseball to change their mind about gambling. All the game needed was a big cut out of their fans wallets and suddenly the over and under on the Atlanta - Milwaukee game for instance is not a big deal. Hey, who's it going to hurt? Just the game itself but don't listen to me. I'm just a traditionalist.

[Jim825]

On 6/30/2019 at 12:07 AM, Yankee4Life said:

...Sure I watched the FIFA women's World Cup games. Right after I watched a few Lifetime movies, read a romance novel and viewed Boston's World Series highlights from last year. Then I made sure to tune in.

 

 

That's too bad.  You've missed some good games.  They were certainly more entertaining than the Yankees / Red Sox beer league softball games in London this past weekend.  Don't get me wrong -- I am very happy when the Yankees win, especially against the Red Sox, but those two games were painful.

[Yankee4Life]

4 hours ago, Jim825 said:

 

That's too bad.  You've missed some good games.  They were certainly more entertaining than the Yankees / Red Sox beer league softball games in London this past weekend.  Don't get me wrong -- I am very happy when the Yankees win, especially against the Red Sox, but those two games were painful.

Maybe I did miss some good games Jim. And you're right about those two games in London. The only good was knowing that the Yankees won both games but both those games took over nine hours to complete. That was too much!

 

By the time the game ended yesterday afternoon I was completely worn out. For me it was painful. I punched my leg so hard on Saturday afternoon after they tied the game in the first inning that I have a bruise there right now. I'm happy to say that I broke nothing in my house during both games but if a Red Sox fan would've knocked on my door while those games were going on someone would've had to bail me out of jail.😕

 

Yeah it sure was painful. I'll be feeling it for a few days now!😄

[sabugo]

I have been a fan of Gardner thorughout his carrer. That being said, I can see that he's getting old and become less and less of a threat on the offensive end. Still, I think it was a good idea to have him for one more year, for his clubhouse presence and maybe to teach some defensive skills to the younger guys. I just don't think he was supposed to be on the field this much, but with so many injuries, he's been basically forced to play a lot more than it was antecipated. Oh, and he doesn't steal bases anymore but he's still a pretty good base runner.

The All-Star voting is a joke. As it is in many other sports. Guys used to play in all-star games to prove something, or at least the game was interesting or competitive. Now it's just a huge event that accounts for nothing more than popularity.

I teach and coach kids. Fortunately I have a great group of parents who refrain from looking like assholes. I'm really lucky in that regard but I also enforce some respect. I have actually had a mother tell me that if we weren't so relaxed with the kids that she would have pulled hers out of our class - she had just witnessed a mother and a coach scream all the forbidden words during a 7 year old match. Just this weekend I had kids competing, and in one instance, the referee completely screwed up - not a matter of opinion, he just got it wrong - I chose not to say anything, not a word (this kid's dad is also a student of mine). No point in arguing with referees when there's 6 year olds involved. It's definitely not the message that I want to deliver to my kids. But yeah, some parents are the worse. I have personally seem them threaten referees and even other kids!

As for the London series, I was at a tournament for most of the weekend and missed it. I happened to ask my wife for the score at one point and she said something like 15-7 and I figured she misread or something. I guess the lack of familiarity with the field accounted for a lot of those runs.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 10-6

 

...I’m not here to defend Domingo German or to make excuses for what he did because the way I see it you don’t go around hitting a woman. But I don’t understand why he could not have begun to serve his suspension at the beginning of next season. By not letting him play in the post season it penalizes the entire team. The Yankees post season roster is weaker because of this and I do not see a good reason why this had to occur. Yes, suspend him for what he did because he was in the wrong but don’t make the other players suffer.

 

...I don’t know about any of you but I am so tired of hearing the words Statcast AI Powered by AWS come out of the words of baseball announcers after someone hits a home run. It’s obvious to me that these people paid Major League Baseball a ton of money and in return every announcer or color commentator must say those five words right after another ball flies over the fence. Then we get the launch angle and exit velocity of the home run because if we don’t have that information we won’t be able to watch the rest of the game. Maybe it’s me but I miss the days of watching baseball without all of the unnecessary things being thrown at you.

 

... Bryce is nice Dept: Bryce Harper recently completed his first year in Philadelphia after the Phillies spent three hundred thirty million dollars to bring him over from Washington with the intent to help improve their ball club and to be fair that is exactly what he did. The Phils finished with an 81 - 81 record which was a one game improvement from 2018. If they keep it up at that pace the Phillies will win ninety games by 2028. That's fine by Harper since he's not planning on going anywhere because the city and its fans compliment his sulking and discontented attitude perfectly. The only time he cracked a smile recently was when he realized he didn’t have to play baseball this month like the rest of his former National teammates. But it’s not like he is going to have anything to do this off season especially after he and his wife welcomed their first child into their home in late August. He told his wife that because of the new baby he wanted to show his appreciation to the kids in the Philadelphia area by making their Halloween and Christmas something to remember before it was time to head back down to Florida in the spring. He said that any kid who came to his house for trick-or-treat would get Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons instead of candy and if any of them objected he would let his dobermans out after them and in the weeks heading into Christmas he plans on visiting sick kids in the Philadelphia area hospitals to give away baseballs, sign autographs, pose for pictures and most importantly, to let all of them know that there is no such thing as Santa.

 

..Not that the Yankees have asked, but if I had a wish list for things to do before spring training starts it would be something like this:

 

1. Buy out the remaining year of Jacoby Ellsbury's contract and wish him well. This guy for whatever reason has not played in two years. I don't even remember if he got a plate appearance back in spring training. His time on the Yankees has passed and other players have shown that they can be more dependable and healthy than him.

 

2. Release Greg Bird. You all remember him don't you? Left-handed hitting first baseman with a decent glove? That's him! But his problem was he got hurt as much as Ellsbury and guys like Luke Voit and Mike Ford showed the Yankees that Bird was no longer an option. In fact he’s not even a consideration.

 

3. I know I may be in the minority about this but I would love to see the Yankees get rid of Gary Sanchez. The guy has to be one of the most stupidest and laziest ballplayers I've seen on this team since Alfonso Soriano and Robinson Cano left. The guy has not shown one bit of hustle since being called up to New York but a few weeks ago he got it into his head to try and steal second base. He was out of course and immediately after that he had another groin pull. If I had it my way I'd of kicked him in the groin because then at least I would've known I had his attention because hitting him in his head would've done nothing. He's a terrible catcher and I feel more comfortable with Austin Romine behind the plate.

 

4. Yeah Sabathia is gone and what I most like about this is how he finished his season because he ended it so bad that there is no way he's going to change his mind and come back for one more year and if he still wants to do that the Yankees should tell him to do it in Kansas City.

 

5. Brett Gardner is another story. He actually had a great year and his homerun output was unbelievable. But it is better to get rid of a player one year too soon than one year too late. That's something that Branch Rickey used to say when he was running the Cardinals and Dodgers and it is still true today.

 

...Now if you all want to know what a definition of a pipe dream is just read that last entry over again. 😀

 

...If there is one thing you could say about the Cubs collapse this year is that you can't blame this one on Steve Bartman. Whether you are a fan of theirs or not you have to agree that they fell apart as the end of the season got closer and closer. After they destroyed the Pirates at Wrigley Field they couldn't seem to do anything right. And just like always when players fail to play up to their potential they let the manager go. Joe Maddon did a wonderful job with that team and his reward for leading Chicago to their first championship in over 100 years is his walking papers. Already there are rumors about Maddon going to the Angels. Another article I read had him going to the Padres and if that's true he will fit in perfectly with all the young talent that San Diego has. Wherever he goes I know one thing and that's he deserves much better than Chicago.

 

...No matter what the Tampa Bay Rays do in the playoffs they have already proven that they're a team to be reckoned with in the foreseeable future. They won 90 games last year and this year they did even better by winning 96. And what's most impressive is that they're doing this on a payroll that is a fraction that the major market teams have like Los Angeles, Boston and the Yankees. They are an impressive young team and they do not quit. As a Yankee fan I always pay attention to them and at the same time I wonder how they would be if they had an owner who spent a little bit more money on bringing in players.

 

...I don’t give a damn how good a player Ronald Acuna, Jr. is supposed to be. The guy has proven twice recently that he is someone that only wants to make himself look good during his home run trots. Unfortunately two times that he was loafing the ball stayed in the ball park and he ended up looking foolish to everyone but himself. To me, I don’t care what this guy can do. It’s what he doesn’t do that really sticks out. For too many years I watched the lethargic play of Alfonso Soriano and later on Robinson Cano and I see the same thing in Acuna. Acuna’s going to hustle for awhile but then for no reason at all he is going to do the same thing all over again.

 

...There are many problems and issues that cities in the United States must deal with every day such as traffic, housing, pollution and crime just name a few. But for Berkeley, California all these things have taken a backseat to more important matters as they are banning some commonly used words in favor of more gender-neutral alternatives. From now on there are no manhole covers on the streets of Berkeley. They're still there but they will now be called "maintenance holes." Gone are the words sorority and fraternity. They've now been replaced with the term "Collegiate Greek system residence." This should now give every frat boy a built-in reason to sleep over at his favorite sorority since they're all the same now. If you have a brother or sister you cannot refer to them as that anymore. From now on they are your sibling. Isn't it refreshing to see a city tackle the real problems of the day? Drugs and crime will always be around to deal with but taking care of those manhole covers could not wait another day.

 

...Last month Sarah Palin's husband Todd filed for divorce from her after thirty-one years of marriage citing an “incompatibility of temperament between the parties such that they find it impossible to live together as husband and wife.” In other words he had enough. Coincidentally the filing was made on his fifty-fifth birthday because he probably figured he wanted a birthday present this year that he can really enjoy. He deserves the medal of freedom for staying with her for that long. Don't feel bad for Sarah though because now she is free to go on the lecture circuit with her daughter. While Bristol talks about abstinence while conveniently the neglecting to mention that she had two pregnancies and was never married once, Sarah can talk about the sanctity of marriage. It's funny when you think about it than eleven years ago she almost would've held the second highest office in the country had John McCain won in 2008. Now she's battling to try and keep the big screen TV and dining room set.

 

...Recently a couple that was vacationing in New Orleans saw a McDonalds and decided to stop inside to get something to eat because they figured they knew what they were facing there and not what was in the chicken gumbo. When they picked up their order and walked back to their table the guy noticed that his fries were cold and he went back to complain to the staff about it. Apparently grumbling about your fries doesn’t go over so well down there because the employee yelled at the man to get out and when he didn’t do it fast enough he pushed him and put his hands around his neck and punched him in the head. The guy stood there and let it happen because he knew a lawsuit when he saw it and not all the Big Mac sandwiches in the world was going to get McDonalds out of this one. Speaking of Big Macs, that’s what he ordered but he got a fish sandwich instead. I don’t know what he did for the rest of his vacation in New Orleans but I do know that he was able to turn cold fries into cold cash.

 

...Last week motorists driving through a Detroit suburb along Interstate 75 were stunned to see a pornographic video playing on an electronic billboard. Police from Auburn Hills said the video played on the billboard for about thirty minutes before the images were removed. As you can imagine many people called 911. Some to complain and others to ask if they knew the name of movie. A tour bus driver bringing back a group of senior citizens after a day trip pulled over to the side of the road claiming that he was “lost.” The men didn’t seem to mind but the women were a bit put off. Many people thought the billboard was advertising for a strip club and were angry that an address was never posted. What happened was that two men broke into a small building and loaded porn on a laptop that’s connected to the billboard. The amazing part about all of this was that for the length of time the video was being played there were no accidents of any kind reported. You’d at least think one car would get rear-ended but the drivers were really safe. The rear-ending only happened in the video.  😁

 

[sabugo]

I see your point about German, but these matters must be addressed quickly and if the Yankees lose a player, no matter who, because he acted in a criminal way, so be it. He just can't go on playing as if nothing happened. 

Statcast data is fun, and sometimes even interesting but yeah, it's getting to a point where they use it too much. Players can't get a bat on the ball without a couple of minutes of analyzing everything about that. I guess it will reach a point where they'll dial it down to more manageable doses of 'baseball science'. At least I hope they do.

Ellsbury gave the Yankees one good season. ONE. Smartest man in baseball since Bobby Bonilla.
I do hope the Yankees win the World Series so that they can give CC and Gardner a proper retirement party. CC is nowhere near what he once was, but he was very good for a very long time in New York. Gardner took more than a decade to figure out how not to suck after the All-Star break but this should be his final season. We're lucky that he played so well this year, let's not push it.

Joe Maddon is a heck of a manager, and it just proves how smart Tampa Bay has been throughout the years. They deserve all the credit. If the Yankees don't make it, I'll be rooting for them.

Whoever runs Berkely... I'm at a loss for words. Science has not yet invented a measure unit that is big enough to quantify how incredibly retarded that is. And that is all I'm going to say, because I'm one continent away and I feel like punching through my monitor. Next week I'll be in London where they no longer say 'Ladies and gentleman' on public transportation for fear of offending anyone. I guess I'll channel that anger when I compete.

Thirty one years married to Sarah Palin. What's the american award for wounded soldiers now? Give this man a purple heart and a front door key to the Playboy mansion. He definitely took one for the team😂

[Yankee4Life]

25 minutes ago, sabugo said:

Thirty one years married to Sarah Palin. What's the american award for wounded soldiers now? Give this man a purple heart and a front door key to the Playboy mansion. He definitely took one for the team😂

 

Hahahahaha!!! You said it better than I did! 👍

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 11-24

 

...For those of you reading this edition of Random Thoughts  you may want to breeze past this first passage since I plan on getting my Yankee bashing out of the way before I move on to other more important things. It has been over a month now that the Yankees were eliminated in the ALCS and I'm not even close to being over it, which should surprise no one. I am as curious as anyone else to see what they will do in these coming months but the only thing that I am certain is that whatever happens this winter and when spring training starts do not believe the hype that this team will try to start selling you when they get the Tampa next February.

 

But I am happy that C.C. Sabathia will no longer be pitching anymore. He had a 5 - 8 record with a 4.95 ERA in 107 1/3 innings for the Yankees but also was on the disabled list four separate times. That means he lasted a little over twenty-six innings on on the mound before he got hurt again. I'll never accuse the guy of being a bad teammate because he wasn't but his body quit on him over the season and the Yankees were still obliged to send them out there. Having him retire improved the pitching staff immediately. I wish him a lot of luck and the next time I hope I see him out on the mound at Yankee Stadium will be at an old timers game.

 

I’m glad they parted ways with Jacoby Ellsbury and Greg Bird because we all know how much those two helped the Yankees win games over the past two seasons. But I have a feeling that as soon as Bird signs with another team he will suddenly get healthy and hit .320. I’ve said enough about Sanchez. The Yankees won’t get rid of him because like everyone else they are in love with the home run and as long as this slug can keep doing that he will keep playing. I’d like to see them nab Gerrit Cole but I am not optimistic. All I want for them to do is not do anything stupid and there is a better chance of it being 85 degrees with a warm breeze on Christmas day than for this to happen.

 

...There is something I don't understand about what happened at the World Series last month with those two girls who lifted up their shirts to show everyone what they had hiding underneath them. They were thrown out of the ballpark and were banned from attending any major league game for the rest of their life. I read one article where it said baseball had to do this because of the kids watching the game. I don't know if the baseball official who said that said it with a straight face but I can just picture someone like Joe Torre saying that to a reporter because he can say this crap with a straight face and believe it. Baseball does not care about the kids because this happened in the seventh inning of game five and they were in bed long before this little peep show took place. This was all about their image and kids had nothing to do with it.

 

Anyway on with my question. How is major league baseball going to enforce the permanent ban of these two women? The way I see it there is no way they can. If they want to go to a game someone else would buy the tickets. I can see that happening because all they got to do is not lift their shirt up again and they will be able to sit in the box seat tickets or anywhere else and if they want to make sure that they are not recognized all they have to do is dye their hair. The point I'm trying to make is baseball has more security issues that they have to go through for every game than looking for two bimbos who showed their natural assets on national TV.

 

...From all I have heard about the investigations on the sign stealing cheating scandal that the Houston Astros were involved in is that they are going to be facing some very stiff penalties handed down by baseball. I will believe that when I see it because I have a hunch that whatever the Astros are going to be slapped with the one thing everyone is going to agree to is that they got off easy. My idea was to have a representative of Major League Baseball sitting in their dugout for all of their games for the next few years or so making sure that everything was on the up-and-up there and no cheating took place. And if the Astros complain that only they are having a MLB babysitter the answer to that would be that they were the ones who did the cheating and they should try to win a home game without the aid of someone banging on a garbage can.

 

...Because of the Astros sign stealing issue the news about how Tyler Skaggs died and what led up to it has almost been forgotten. Almost. Mark my words we are going to hear a lot more about this and probably before the start of next season. When it was discovered that one Angels employee gave Skaggs oxycodone and along with taking the drug with him he provided federal investigators with the names of five other players who he alleged to be using opiates. So what we have are five players out there who are waiting to be questioned by federal authorities about the abuse of oxycodone and their possible link to Skaggs' death. Something like that makes sign stealing a very minor offense. When Skaggs died many wonderful things were said about him and I'm sure he deserved all of it. But the last time I checked the age of twenty-seven is old enough to know what a person is doing and if it is right or wrong and it also made me wonder how many of those guys on his team when they found out what happened knew exactly why he died? There is no way some if not all of his twenty-five teammates did not know what was going on. Maybe they were protecting Skaggs' image and the five players who were also doing this by staying silent. So far it's still working but eventually it's going to stop.

 

...What is it with professional sports and the city of Oakland? Now baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is warning the Oakland city officials to drop their lawsuit over the Coliseum land sale to the Athletics or they can risk the team moving to another city. The commissioner pointed out that Bay Area fans will soon be going to Las Vegas to see the Raiders and that unless things changed, Bay Area fans may be going to Las Vegas or elsewhere to see the A's as well. If that doesn't sound like a form of extortion I don't know what does. Oakland has already lost the Raiders and the NBA Warriors. Many years ago they even had a hockey team called the Golden State Seals. That team moved to Cleveland to become the Barons and then they merged with the Minnesota North Stars and now that team is now known as the Dallas Stars. Maybe Oakland didn't want them but neither did anybody else. If the A's leave Oakland will have nothing and even if you aren't a fan of any of their teams you have to see the injustice in that.

 

...Of all the major sports leagues the National Football League has probably the most rules and most of the dumbest ones. I'll give you one example. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was fined $5,000 by the NFL for wearing an Apple watch on the sideline in a game he didn’t play in and could not have played in after the season-ending elbow surgery that he had. All he was doing was watching the game and keeping one eye out to make sure that no one knocked him over. Roethlisberger was upset about the fine because he didn’t receive advance warning that he had violated a rule. All he got was the letter stating he’d been fined. But that's how the NFL works. Fine first, answer questions later. If I can ask the NFL one question about this it would be this. How come they can see a watch on a man's wrist but cannot see a blatant pass interference call?

 

...Oh and that reminds me have you ever noticed when you are watching your favorite NFL team play that just about every time the opposing team throws a long pass and it gets broken up or the ball was overthrown that a pass interference call will be called? But when your team does the same thing no flags are ever thrown? I think I have seen this and every single Oakland game I have ever watched in my life.

 

...Lately I have been watching an old 1980s crime drama called Crime Story. It was only on for two seasons and that was only because NBC, for reasons known only to them moved the show to Tuesday nights opposite Moonlighting, which was a very successful show on ABC at the time starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepard. Anyway I bought the complete season on Amazon for $15.99. It's pretty rare you get a good deal on a series like this but that's because after over thirty years a lot of people have never heard of it. The show starred Dennis Farina, a man who had a scowl that can intimidate an entire room and Anthony Denison who later starred in The Closer and Major Crimes. A lot of famous people today guest starred on this show like Julia Roberts, Gary Sinise, Andrew Dice Clay and many more. Many shows have been described as being before their time but this one really was. So if you're looking for something different to watch this winter give this one a shot. It won't even cost you twenty dollars.

 

...Colin Kaepernick tried again to rejoin the NFL fraternity recently and once again was given a polite thanks but no thanks by the big shots who run the league. If he plays again or not is not my concern because I am neither on his side or the NFL’s. The league promised him he’d have a workout in Atlanta where twenty-five teams were going to show up to see if he had anything left worth looking at but before that took place they wanted him to sign a waiver that went beyond the standard injury protections that are typically afforded to the NFL and its teams. In that waiver they snuck in some legalese that may have ended up giving the league reason to argue that he would also sign away some of his employment protections. In other words if he took a kneel again they could give him the boot. Kaepernick did not sign the waiver and his workout was moved sixty miles away and instead of twenty-five teams showing up only eight decided to make the hour-long trip. During the workout Kaepernick wore a Kunta Kinte t shirt that made me ask myself if he actually knew who Kunta Kinte was. (Watch the ABC miniseries Roots from 1977 to find out who he was or read the book.) You see, it is hard for me to be sympathetic to an athlete wearing the name of a slave on his shirt when he has earned forty-three million dollars in six years playing for the 49ers. The NFL has done their best keeping this guy out of uniform for the past 2 1/2 years and in the end they’ll probably win because it’s their game and their ball and you can’t play unless you play by their rules. It may not be right but it is going to be very hard to find someone to go against what the NFL wants because the pressure they’d apply is something you’d never read in the papers.

 

...As if his life was not screwed up enough, Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Felipe Vazquez, who was arrested back in September for soliciting a child for sex now has received twenty-one additional child sex-related charges during the investigation into his contact with minors. We all know what that means concerning his future in professional baseball. Babe Ruth has a better chance of suiting up next year than Vazquez and he’s been dead for seventy-one years. Despite all that I still expect someone to request a cyberface for Vazquez sometime during this off-season.

 

...It’s about time, Dept: To the San Antonio homeowners association that sent a letter to one of their neighbors demanding that they take down their Christmas decorations until it got closer to the holiday, THANK YOU!!! The neighbors in question decorated their front lawn back on the first of November and I don't care how much holiday spirit you have that is way too early for anyone to have to look at Santa and Rudolph and company every time they go out and throw out their trash. Every year Christmas is pushed on us earlier and earlier in the last thing anyone needs to see is a plastic Frosty waving at them for two months.

 

...Finally, the Thanksgiving day football schedule because it’s never too early to change the channel. As usual it's a lousy one but that really isn't a surprise. The NFL owns this holiday so why bother attempting to make it interesting? The first game is the Chicago Bears at the Detroit Lions. The way these two teams are playing their own fans may not even watch it. Next up the Buffalo Bills go to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. I think it bears repeating but I think it's good that Dallas plays on Thanksgiving because when you're done with dinner you can sit in front of the TV and have the Cowboys put you to sleep. Works for me every year. And finally the night game is the New Orleans Saints at the Atlanta Falcons. A lot of tickets remain for that game in Atlanta because all the good 'ole boys down there will be hunting deer instead of watching football. Have a good Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy your weekend!

[laroquece]

7 hours ago, Yankee4Life said:

Despite all that I still expect someone to request a cyberface for Vazquez sometime during this off-season.

hahaha you know this will happens at least once during Spring Training, or maybe they should ask for a updated Jail´s uniform for Vazquez...

[sabugo]

I'll post a longer comment later, but I just had to come in here and say 'Crime Story' was a heck of a show! And that intro song is one of the coolest memories I have from my childhood. Man, I remember watching it with my dad so many years ago. Decades!

I also liked 'The Closer' and 'Major Crimes', both pretty good shows.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 12-22

 

...Next month the 2020 Hall of Fame inductees will be announced and while it is always hard to surmise as to who will be lucky enough to give their speeches next summer in Cooperstown, one guy, namely Derek Jeter, is considered a shoo-in. He will get enough votes on his first try to get in but I believe that unlike Mariano Rivera he will not get in unanimously. Believe me I am someone who can recite the Jeter hype material chapter and verse. Rookie of the year, five-time World Series champion, World Series MVP, multiple All Star, 3,000 plus hits and on and on. All Hall of Fame material and I can’t argue with any of it. But he’s also the same guy who has never won an MVP award or a batting title and his defense that was scorned so much during his career is what I really think is going to cost him some votes. And there’s one other thing. When Alex Rodriguez first came to the Yankees in 2004 Jeter did not want to move to third base so that Rodriguez, the better shortstop of the two, could play that position for the Yankees. Rodriguez was forced to learn a new position at third base and no one to my knowledge ever came out publicly to criticize this move. Had it been the other way around and Rodriguez refused to change positions we all would have heard about it. Ted Williams cost himself a few votes for his bad relationship with the Boston press during his playing career and some of those writers resented him so much that they got even with him by not voting for him when he became eligible. Jeter was not like Williams personality-wise but he was just as hard an interview as he was and all I’m saying is this could become a factor. Jeter’s fans are going to be happy for him next month but just don’t expect a clean sweep.

 

...I know it may seem that I am an odd sort of Yankee fan because I never seem to be satisfied with anything that they do and I seem to hate more than half the team at any given moment starting with the has-been who’s behind the plate. I’m happy with the addition of Gerrit Cole as I am sure anyone would be had he gone to their favorite team instead of the Yankees. But I am really concerned about the loss of Didi Gregorius and Austin Romine, to Philadelphia and Detroit respectively. I’m not sure what loss is going to be the hardest. Gregorius is a great shortstop and he played the position so much better than Derek Jeter did. He had range that Jeter never had even in a video game. Romine may not have the home run power that Sanchez has but that’s all that he had on him. Romine’s a decent hitter and an outstanding defensive catcher. I never worried about passed balls behind the plate. With Sanchez it was just a matter of time.

 

These are just two of the many reasons why I am not going along with the sudden declaration that the Yankees are the team to beat. It’s December and championships are not won before the arrival of Christmas. I don’t believe any of the hype that is said about this team now or in the spring. I’m hoping that Giancarlo Stanton can play in more than eighteen games next year but that remains to be seen. It’s been a long time since they’ve won and I just want to see them do that and any bit of buildup that surrounds this team is going to be ignored by me. I’ll celebrate just like anyone else next October. I just refuse to start early.

 

...I watched the Gerrit Cole Yankee press conference and when he put on his pinstriped uniform I had my first look at the Nike Swoosh logo on the front of it and I hated it. Sure, it’s a small addition that will be on every uniform but it doesn’t belong there and I had to wonder to myself what logo is going be next after Nike? Major League Baseball said that they agreed to have Nike logo on the uniforms so it “would appeal to younger consumers.” How thoughtful of them. And if by chance their younger consumers don’t fall in line to start buying jerseys at an alarming rate, the league can still rest easy because of the ten-year one billion dollar deal that they made with Nike to have that logo on the uniforms. In other words who needs the kids when you already cashed a one billion dollar check?

 

...I’m pretty used to watching players switch teams during every off season but it still looked pretty odd to me seeing Madison Bumgarner in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. I hope the Giants knew what they were doing when they let him go.

 

...Greed Rules, Dept: It was one week ago today that the Raiders played their last home game in Oakland. It was a day that I erroneously thought I’d never have to see again after they returned home in 1995 but twenty-four years later they did it again and this time there is no going back. The need for a new stadium was not the problem because everyone agreed that is what had to be done but once Mark Davis started looking at other places for the Raiders to play it wouldn’t have mattered if the city of Oakland built it themselves and given him the key to the place. Fan loyalty means nothing to the NFL who, when they mention something being all about the fans you should immediately look for additional hidden surcharges because money is the only thing that makes them stand up and take notice. The Raiders will be around next year but not the Oakland Raiders and the identity of the team will slowly fade away as the years go by. Once the novelty of having an NFL team in Las Vegas begins to wear off Davis may wonder if it was all worth it. By then I won’t even have cared anymore.

 

...I don’t watch college football at all and the only time it catches my eye is when an unbelievable play happens and it’s shown over and over again on ESPN, where in that case I can’t avoid it. Over the Thanksgiving weekend holiday there was something called the Egg Bowl that’s played between Ole Miss and Mississippi State and it has been going on since 1901. News of this was such a surprise to the rest of the country because they had no idea this all was taking place all this time since no one pays attention to anything that happens in Mississippi. In the closing moments of this game an Ole Miss wide receiver named Elijah Moore scored a touchdown to cut Mississippi State’s lead to 21-20. The game was headed into overtime because all the Ole Miss kicker had to do was hit a chip shot and the extra period would have begun. That is until Moore rumbled into the end zone and started his celebration where by the look of it he was either celebrating his touchdown or he suddenly had the urge to urinate really bad because he lifted up his leg just like you catch your neighbor’s dog doing when he is too close to your flower bed. The officials saw what happened and gave Ole Miss a fifteen-yard penalty for unauthorized urination. Faced with that extra yardage from this penalty it was almost expected that the Ole Miss kicker would miss the extra point and sure enough that is just what he did and Mississippi State won the game by one point. This may be the first football game ever played where a kicker missed an extra point or a field goal that ends the game and no one blamed him for the loss. No matter what level football is played on it has lost its sportsmanship. It’s all about showing up the other team these days. Defensive players posing with their arms crossed after they sack a quarterback. Running backs pointing straight down the field signaling for a first down after a long run. You’ll see this in the pros every week on every team.

 

This Elijah Moore kid was wrong and he had no defense for his actions and he said all the right things at the end of the game. He better. He probably had a whole locker room full of his teammates who wanted to personally thank him for what he did with their fists. Moore’s got nothing to worry about though because if he is good enough the NFL will still come calling when it is time for him to be drafted. I grew up watching Walter Payton play and later on Barry Sanders. No matter how big the touchdown, they handed the ball to the official and then they celebrated with their teammates because they knew that before long they’d be in the end zone again without looking foolish at the same time. These days it’s not good enough doing something good for your team because if you can’t rub it in the face of your opposition at the same time why bother?

 

...Well, you got to give them credit because they almost made it. With two weeks left in the regular season it was looking like the New England Patriots were going to go the entire year without having to answer to a cheating scandal but last week they got caught up in another one. It’s almost as if they can’t help themselves anymore. This time a videographer that was hired by the Patriots illegally filmed the field and the Cincinnati Bengals sideline during the Bengals’ December 8th game against the Cleveland Browns. Almost immediately after word spread around the league about New England’s latest bypassing of the rules the Patriots suspended the producer who took the video. It makes you wonder why they bothered filming the Cincinnati bench because they are a team who has struggled this year, winning only one game so far but they probably just wanted to make sure so they could give them the beating they deserve. Even though the Patriots said they had a legitimate reason for the film crew being there as they said they were filming a segment on an advance scout for the team their actions proved that this was just a ploy from what they were really trying to do. Now it’s up to Commissioner Roger Goodell to do something about. He will of course but just don’t expect too much. After all, it’s the Patriots.

 

...Vegas awaits, Dept: If this is a preface into what is in the NFL’s future then all I can say is that they asked for it. Defensive back Josh Shaw of the Arizona Cardinals has been suspended for the rest of this season and all of the 2020 season for betting on NFL games.  Shaw has not played at all this year and has been on injured reserve since the preseason.  He decided to go to Las Vegas with some friends of his from high school and instead of taking in a show while he was there he thought he’d have more fun placing a few bets because after all why go to Vegas if you can’t bet?   Shaw was caught because he used his own player card and ID when laying down the bets. He is appealing the suspension but if he pays any attention to history he may as well forget it. Way back in 1963 Paul Hornung of the Packers and Alex Karras of the Lions were suspended for one year by Pete Rozelle for the exact same thing and for that entire year the only time they had a football in their hands was when they were autographing one. If those two guys didn’t get their bans cut short then Shaw won’t either. Professional sports leagues do not tolerate gambling, especially the kind when they don’t get a cut in it.

 

Some of you out there with good memories might wonder why I didn’t include Art Schlichter here. Schlichter was also an NFL player and was caught gambling and eventually was suspended for it but he never bet on NFL games. He bet on everything else but left the NFL alone. He’s now in prison after stealing millions in a sports ticket scheme so while Shaw finds himself in a tough situation now it’s nowhere near as bad as Schlichter got himself into that ended up ruining his career and his life. With the Raiders preparing to open up shop in Las Vegas next year you almost have to stop and wonder who the next player is who is going to be caught gambling during their free time there. They wanted a team there so let them deal with the eventual fallout. It’s only going to get worse.

 

...I love watching Saturday Night Live especially when the gorgeous Cecily Strong is in the sketches because I think she is even funnier than Kate McKinnon. There’s nothing wrong with her either especially when she is imitating Rudy Giuliani but for the love of God why is Aidy Bryant taking up space there? Nothing she has ever done has ever been funny. If the woman went to a kindergarten class and made funny faces in front of them for an hour she still wouldn’t get a rise out of them. One time SNL had a pie throwing sketch planned but they had to scratch it because she ate all the pies. Even then she couldn’t get a laugh.

 

And a child shall lead them, Dept: Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg was named Person of the Year by Time magazine for her tireless efforts to make the world more aware of climate change and she is the youngest person ever to earn this distinction. She has inspired kids from around the world to speak out and be heard about their concerns about climate change and has also addressed world leaders at the United Nations about this subject in an intelligent manner that was way beyond her sixteen years. What makes what’s she doing more amazing is that she has Asperger’s syndrome, a condition that significantly increases a person’s difficulties in social interactions and yet she does not let this stop her from speaking out on the most important issue facing the planet. I can not help but admire what she is doing and how her actions influenced so many people to follow her lead. All I can say is good for her and to never stop doing what she thinks is right because it won’t be long before her generation will be able to do more about this than just speak out.

 

...Probably for the past five years or so each time I have come across a Christmas movie on TV I would go on to the next channel as quickly as possible. It’s because I’ve seen them enough times and the Hallmark ones do not count because when you’ve seen one of those you’ve seen them all. I’m talking about movies like White Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve lived through many Christmas seasons and I would have to say if I had to guess that I’ve seen these movies over thirty-five times and what made me decide to start a new tradition and not watch them is when I realized I was able to quote dialog from these films word-for-word. That’s when you know you’ve seen a movie too many times. George Bailey was still going to jump in the river and Clarence was going to save him every single time whether I watched it or not so I let them have at it and I looked for other things to watch during the holidays, namely non-Christmas shows. However there was one movie, A Christmas Carol that I made an exception to. I actually read the book as a school assignment many years back and it made me appreciate the movies even more. There’s been many versions and takeoffs of the Dickens classic and I have enjoyed them all and if a new movie is made about the book I’ll watch it. Each time I would watch Scrooge as he looked at his past, present and future and I wondered how I’d feel if I had been in his place and somehow got the same chance as he got. I’m not saying I’m a rich miser like Scrooge was since I am neither rich nor a miser. But like him I do have regrets. Christmas was so much nicer for me when I was younger with my relatives still around and now that I am facing my second Christmas without my mother I don’t see a reason to celebrate much. What a gift that would have been to get that kind of glimpse in your past. Maybe in a way it is better that I can’t.

 

...And with that I want to leave off by wishing everyone on this website a very Merry Christmas. Thank you Trues for keeping this website going. It has been a pleasure to help out here since the doors opened all those years ago. I hope all our members realize that you and all the staff members here work to give them a well-run site that they can be proud to be a part of. But the modders are our heart and soul around here because no one logs in here for the excitement of finding out that a thread was locked. These guys who make the mods for Mvp and 2k are why people come here and I want to thank you again and the rest of the staff for what they do. Merry Christmas to you and have a safe New Year and above all in 2020 may it be a healthy one for you and your family. That goes for us all!

[sabugo]

It will be hard for me to see Romine in a different uniform. Bumgarner wearing anything but a Giants jersey will just be plain weird. 

So, on to a bigger issue. Let me tackle this Greta nonsense that is sweeping across the world. First off let me tell you that I care very much about the environment. I have been recycling for over a decade, I converted my beloved BMW (I love all things BMW by the way) to LPG, which is far cleaner than gasoline and also cheaper. But I'm not buying his Great hype for one second. 

People generally stop paying attention to puppets when they turn 12 or so. I can't stand her hollier than thou attitude. She is being played by other people and it pisses me off royally. Had she been in a wheelchair, everybody would be pointing fingers and pointing out that her handicap is being explored. Since it's just a mental issue... Oh well. 

Whoever writes her speeches should be ashamed of what they're doing. 'You have stolen my dreams and my future'. HOW DARE YOU? Really? A white, incredibly priviliged girl from one of the richest countries on earth saying such things. Had she said that in my presence, I'd struggle really really hard no to choke the shit out of her. I personally know SEVERAL people who have had to deal with real broken dreams and lack of opportunity. I'm talking about people who lived through some the most horrible conflicts of our time and don't make statements like those. Friends of mine have lived through genocide, witnessed mass graves, lived without running water or the most basic of human needs until they were grown ups. Many friends of mine have lived in Brazilian favelas. Too many to count really. Never heard them complain of a stolen future. Some of them are big business owners now and make far more money than I do and give back to their communities.
But hey, it's the blonde girl from Sweden who's suffering here.

And then she refuses to fly because of the consequences to the environment. So she sails across the oceans on a carbon-free sailboat. Well... Her whole crew has to fly and use those evil planes because not everybody can fit in that boat. Not everybody has friends with royal blood who can lend you such a boat, which probably wasn't that clean to build.  
You want to save the environment? Do what the Portuguese did centuries ago, sail on wooden boats. They're perfectly fine you idiots, we reached and ruled over half of the word on the backs of those things. I'm pretty sure none of those boats ran on diesel. 
'Oh but you'd have to cut down trees for that' - TIME MAGAZINE ISN'T PRINTED ON UNICORNS NOW IS IT?

Portugal has been setting records for the usage of renewable sources of energy for the past decade. Go teach a lesson somewhere else. I can see from my window over 25 windmills. 
You wanna make a difference? Visit China you dumbass. Visit India. Too hard, right? Their lack of western civilization self-guilt should make for a more interesting debate. Go guilt them into doing something.
Greenpeace for example has been around for decades. So have many other organizations. Suddenly their work doesn't matter?

Sorry for the long rant and if I seem bitter, but I tend to get this way when I spot the enormous amount of bullshit behind this. Christmas season also makes me nervous so there's that.

A white, blond girl from a northern european country indoctrinating the world.
Joseph Gobbels must be smiling from below.

[Yankee4Life]

On 12/22/2019 at 8:45 AM, sabugo said:

A white, blond girl from a northern european country indoctrinating the world.
Joseph Gobbels must be smiling from below.

Sorry for responding so late. I've had some last-minute running around to do for the holidays and at the same time am fighting off a cold.

 

I've said this many times since I started this thread in 2005. The opinions from other people really make this thread worthwhile. I know what my random opinions are but I always want to know yours. Thank you and have a wonderful holiday!

[sabugo]

I just read what I wrote. Man, was I angry...
Happy holidays everyone!