entertainment

Hope for Baseball Next Year and Disgust for a Disloyal General Manager

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I’m a die-hard Texas Rangers fan. I attend as many games as my schedule allows both home and away. Tonight at the ballpark, I watched a much different Texas Rangers team than I saw this Summer with new leadership and new talent. However, I also saw it was different from the excellent team I saw on Opening Day. As injuries heal, a lot of reconciliation needs to take place as to what the 2015 Rangers look like. All I can say to Jonathan Daniels and the rest of the Rangers front office: Choose wisely – start with the Manager. Tim Bogar has done a great job. Don’t pick Mike Maddux because of some seniority issue! He can barely control a bullpen let alone an entire team.

Don’t be in a hurry to unload big contracts or get involved in one-sided transactions where the Rangers are on the losing end. Choo,

Fielder, and Profar need a chance to prove themselves. Use the new rookies to build back the utility players that have been lost due to bad trades and

horrible offers.

As far as pitchers go:

Let Yu pitch. Let Yu play. He does not belong on extended DL’s for tiny scratches to his thumb.

Assess the rest of the starters. For some, it’s now been years for many. These will be hard choices – yet they have to be made. If Harrison is not healthy, unload him. If Holland is not healthy, unload him. If Lewis is not healthy, unload him. Do not be afraid to put trust in rookies like Bonilla.

Oh, and no, we do not need to sign any aging DH’ers looking to eek out one more season of cash (a.k.a. NO BERKMAN’S!!!!)

Finally, this message is to you Jon Daniels – our General Manager and President:

I know you are from Queens, NY – and being from Queens, NY – you feel, like many of your brethren, that the universe revolves around New

York City. It is NOT the center of the universe. Tonight at the ball park, you proved that no matter how much you purport to love your Texas Rangers, your allegiance lies with the New York Yankees. The gross promotion of Derek Jeter during the Yankees series in Arlington was bad enough – but tonight – you took it to a new extreme. You interrupted a 1-1 tight 8th inning match between the Rangers and Oakland – a team trying to get a wildcard seat while the Rangers are trying to play spoilers. Now what warranted this interruption of a tightly contested game? We had to view on our large stadium screen, the final “Home” at-bat of Derek Jeter. It’s not even his final plate appearance. It was only his final plate appearance in Yankee Stadium.

It was disgusting and confusing. But we were soon uplifted as after we saw a 40-year-old infielder with over 3400 Hits, 1,300 RBI’s, and

260 home runs take his bow – a 35-year-old infielder with over 2600 hits and 1380 RBI’s hit HIS 395th home run to win in a bottom-of-the-ninth walk-off win.

I only hope you take note of this as you look to exercise options for 2015 and 2016 and keep Adrian Beltre a Ranger. He has been consistent throughout this entire troubled year for the team. And should he retire a Ranger, I certainly hope you afford him the same level of respect you afforded a player in our stadium WHO NEVER PLAYED FOR OUR TEAM. We reserve those moments for exceptional people like Jackie Robinson.

YOU HAVE MEDDLED WITH THE FORCES OF NATURE, MR. SIMMONS . . . and . . . YOU! MUST! ATONE!!!

Well here we go again. Another ESPN opinion columnist, touted for being on the edge, has been called to the carpet in the style of that famous scene from the 1976 movie “Network” featuring Ned Beatty. The notion that Bill Simmons was suspended (with pay *gah* I should be so lucky) for explicatives said on a PODCAST is ridiculous. He got the hammer because of what he said about Roger Goodell. Thou shalt not defame Roger Goodell. Even if what was said was true. He *IS* a liar. I have been saying that for years. I said that during BountyGate. I also said that during the New England Patriot’s cheating scandal. Of course when Bill Simmons’s beloved Patriots were under the gun, he wasn’t as vocal – but that is another conversation.
So let me ask you a question, ESPN. You sell slow-motion replays of thugs bashing into each other while at the same time, selling alcohol during the commercials yet you espouse this as an issue of integrity, ESPN? Is that really what is going on? No – you are just afraid of losing Monday Night Football. That one little sliver of NFL game coverage you have left. The NFL is smart because they get to control ABC and ESPN all at once with #MNF. It is no coincidence that the NFL (WHICH IS TAX EXEMPT BTW!) has media contracts with all of the major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.)
Roger Goodell has proven time and time again he is the master of legalese and plausible deniability. Remember what he said about New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton – “Ignorance is not a defense.” Many say these skills will allow him to survive. Oh really? No – it is the screwed up structure of the tax-exempt NFL that allows for him to stay in his massively over-paid position. Commissioner? Der Kommisar? More like a fascist “Il Duce.”

Suspending Bill Simmons for one week longer than Stephen A. Smith or Ray Rice also proves to be interesting. The one good thing about this is the suspension is making news as to what was said content-wise – which is the truth. We now have mainstream reporters coming out and stating the obvious without fear. What is next for ESPN? Can we expect more censoring of Outside the Lines?
What is not being talked about and is something I really do not understand is Bill Simmon’s toxic-co-dependent relationship with ESPN. They have been constantly butting heads over the years. Is he that Boston-ingrained that he cannot seek freedom from a competitor? It is extremely obvious that the two really do not like each other but in spite of the NFL’s influence, ESPN realizes that for true Boston home-town credibility, it needs Bill Simmons as much as he needs their paycheck (suspended *WITH* Pay? That is a free vacation!)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/bill-simmons-suspended-espn_n_5878604.html

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-espn-bill-simmons-suspended-20140924-story.html

https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/espn-suspends-bill-simmons-for-podcast-calling-roger-goodell-a–liar-234203170.html

http://deadspin.com/espn-suspends-bill-simmons-from-twitter-after-em-first-453717304

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/24/media/espn-suspends-bill-simmons/index.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/espn-suspends-bill-simmons-weeks-calls-nfl-commissioner-roger-goodell-liar-article-1.1951872

Who said there are no 3rd Acts?

People reinvent themselves all of the time. Sometimes, bad events or bad deeds cause people to change – often by necessity. It can be the catalyst of forced change that can lead people to better things. Maybe not more moral, but often more successful.

I love cracked.com. They talk about this in a couple of articles:

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_819_21-beloved-famous-people-everyone-forgets-did-awful-things/

http://www.cracked.com/article/96_7-beloved-celebrities-awful-shit-you-forgot-they-did/

Another Example of Natural Selection Irony

I guess he didn’t have enough faith . . .

Reality show snake-handling preacher dies — of snakebite

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/16/us/snake-salvation-pastor-bite/index.html

PS: Yes, this doesn’t just happen in Will Ferrell comedies. This stuff is real! Is Darwin somewhere  laughing? No, probably not. What’s scary for me is I was once married to someone who had very close relatives who attended these churches. And to think, it is all based on a couple of Bible versus (likely taken out of context at best.)

You see churches, like everything else in social society, love to find ways to make their group unique. We don’t just have religions, but each religion has denominations, and each denomination has sects, and sects may differ on *laugh* doctrine. Even if the doctrine is the same, sometimes, churches separate simply because they do not like the preacher or the location – (hence such items such as 1st Baptist Church, 2nd Baptist Church, etc.)

 

On Ender’s Game – the Movie vs. Politics.

I thought this was a great movie. I have not read the books but I can tell that the adaptation summed up much of the exposition well. The story is set over 100 years into the future and I can understand why the author waited so many years for a film adaptation. He wanted to wait until technology was believable. Let me say this, forget the XboxOne and PS4 – I want to play THOSE games using THOSE Game controls! The movie did not do as well as it should because there was too much controversy attached to the religious views and politics of the author. Since I don’t research the personal politics of every person involved with everything I see, view, or hear (I have a life) I did not fall prey to the desired boycott. For those who may not know, there are no religious or anti-gay messages in this movie. Unlike CS Lewis and the Narnia series – none of the author’s religious influences were played out in the story. I find the notion of giving this movie a review or boycotting it (in some cases – trying to squash the making of it) simply because you don’t like the religion of the book’s author terribly disturbing and un-American. I say this as an Atheist who completely disagrees with Card’s personal viewpoints. Regardless of his viewpoints, it is a great story. Just like Wagner wrote great music and Mel Gibson made good movies – are we supposed to pretend these great works of art do not exist? That is akin to the Taliban blowing up the stone Buddha’s simply because it is different from their religion.

Many of my friend’s are in moral quandaries over this. Some only find it objectionable because he’s vocal and they’re probably blissfully ignorant of other opinions that I disagree with from other folks that I still patronize…. but many of them are holding firm for years on Chick-Fil-A, Hobby Lobby, and Wal-Mart.

How far do we take this? Do we no longer support all of the actors and workers who participated in this movie? Do we boycott Harrison Ford and the new Star Wars films because he took a paycheck and appeared in the film. What if we found out the voting record of every person who wrote and directed movies. We would only see movies made by people who politically agreed with us?

Nerdodamus: Predictions for 2011

The Republicans taking a trick from their ’94 playbook (and being successful) was so obvious that even Nerdodamus saw it pointless to predict – especially since Obama used a lot of Clinton staffers. no armchair Monday-morning quarterbacking from these guys.

Is it safe to say that 2011 will be much like 1995? Most likely –  in the realm of cyclical politics. Pop Culture may yield some surprises though. Here are my predictions for 2011:

(Yes, I know these are softballs but remember who I am!)

1.) Government Shutdown over Political infighting regarding the budget.

2.) Scott Brown is heavily criticized as a RINO because he does not toe the party line.

3.) Hilary Clinton side-steps here claim she is not going to challenge Obama in 2012.

4.) Christine O’Donnell is indicted for misuse of campaign funds since she cannot be indicted for sole stupidity alone.

5.) 3 more States make Marijuana legal for Medicinal purposes.

6.) One state will officially go bankrupt.

7.) Member of Congress gets put on terrorist watch list.

8.) Another Republican Congressman gets caught in a gay scandal.

9.) The Quaid’s get what they really wanted – a reality show – claim whole stunt was “performance art.”

10.) Octomom runs out of options – does soft-core porn.

11.) A Gosselin is kept in the news solely because they get in trouble with the law.

12.) In-fighting begins at Fox news between O’Reilly, Hannity, and Beck over self-promotion, jealousy, and the fact that one of these guys will begin leaning over into the White nationalist realm a little too much.

13.) Jim Carrey, in an effort to rebuild his career lashes out at Jenny McCarthy for bringing him into her Pseudo-science circle. it is revealed this and her association with quacks brought down the relationship.

Poor Gary

Maybe Gary was wise making his former manager his executor. Between his ex-wife and his parents (One is a cold seaword and the others stole all his money) who could blame him? Too bad he forgot to change his power of attorney for medical decisions. That whole scenario is suspect.

http://www.popeater.com/2010/06/05/gary-coleman-burial-fight-cremated/

The ex-wife is certainly suspect! Cold and calculating:

This Year’s Holiday Miracle (One that will yield hope for us all . . .)

This holiday season, I actually experienced a lot of peace. We hear that a lot around this time of year. But do we actually get it? I gave myself some peace this holiday season. And before you all pass judgment, get worried, and/or feel sorry for me – ask yourself how much peace you had over the holidays this year.

However you define what is peaceful is up to you. For me, a peaceful holiday was not hearing one or more of the following:

Is this all I get?
I can’t believe you voted for that guy!
Will you *please* just talk to my mother?
I’d like to talk to you about this great investment opportunity.
Sure, I’ll lay off the credit card. What will *you* tell the kids?
I can’t believe you sat there and fell asleep on the couch!
S/He’s on the phone and she’s threatening not to come. Can you please talk her down?
Are you *trying* to ruin Christmas?
How can you possibly have voted for that guy! You just *threw* your vote away.
So I hear you work on computers? I’ve got this issue with . . .
Someone’s being a little anti-social!
I think you’ve had enough.
Will you *please* try to be more festive?
Well personally, I think he is doing a pretty good job of protecting the country.
I think I’ve had enough.
They’ll be here in five minutes. Please hide the alcohol!!!
Must you call attention to my sister’s hairstyle? She’s self-conscience enough as it is.
That was supposed to be for the guests!
Please don’t bring up the discussion of her around him this year!
I don’t care if it’s Christmas, there is no way in hell I am doing that!
Why aren’t you playing with the kids?
Are you going to play with the kids all day or are you going to help me?
Merry Christmas, I’m Pregnant!
Why are you checking email? It’s the holidays!!
———-

Now ask yourself this: Did any of you get through the holidays without hearing any of the above?

For those of you interested in wanting to know how I achieved that peace, feel free to inquire off-line.