oblong

I'm reading a book about the development of the Lunar Module. When reps from Grumman went to Houston for a gathering of all the major contractors for Apollo, while the Johnson Space Center was still being constructed, the Grumman folks had to stay further away because they refused to stay at hotels where their black employees couldn't eat in the restaurant. "He can stay here but we ask that he not go in the lobby and we can fix him something to eat in the kitchen". The race to the moon was impacted.

That's why I always said it would never catch on for casual fans. YOu need something you can easily quantify to a guy at the game or the bar. Most "old" stats provide that. SOme newer ones are just better extensions of that, like OPS. I mean at some point in WAR's calculation there has to be an opinion about the worth of a metric, right? With most other stats it's just a factual representation of what happened. Maybe it's not as good overall and shouldn't be used by front offices that way but for the casual fan it's good enough. Even if you can use an explanation on defensive metrics like "Well they use lasers and high speed camera data to measure speed of the ball and the players and can figure out what plays an average defender makes".... that's something you can express. Just have to trust they did it right.

When I read Halberstam's book The Fifties it opened my eyes a lot to what went down in the South in the first half of the 20th century. Because of the job opportunities up north in the factories and slaughterhouses, black families had to sneak away. The whites weren't happy they were leaving because they needed them to work in their fields and farms. They would patrol train stations and make threats like "If you go up there and get a job your family might not be here when you come back to get them". It was a 20th century version of the underground railroad. Legally the blacks were free but sheriffs and good old boys in the rural towns had their own legal system. They were still fighting the civil war. The North was taking all their blacks and giving them better jobs and now they were screwed. These TN legislators had grandfathers who did that so it was just passed down. I've also heard of the saying, in regards to blacks, "In the north we don't care how high they get just don't get too close. In the south we don't care how close they get, just don't get too high".

I've enjoyed it but haven't watched a whole lot of it. Just random episodes and clips here and there. The fast paced nature requires my full attention so I get "tired" so to speak. But it's really good and deserving of the credit.

So yesterday afternoon I saw a tweet referring to a Tigers play... "Oh, they're on? Makes sense, getaway day". I put on Bally's. I'm working so just 1/3 watching, no sound. "Man, this game is moving fast, 7th inning already?. Aw man, they've got the bases loaded in the 9th.... no way they are winning. Losing 2 extra inning games on the road.... isn't terrible I guess" Yeah I thought the replay was the real game. So them winning is extra meaningful for me.

yeah me either. I mean he's for real in the sense he is really selling it but knows full well his customers are idiots.

yeah that's true. I don't know the particular business arrangements to really suggest the Bally situation affects things. It could be a non issue but who knows. I'd think if the Tigers wanted a guy in there then it gets done. They will pay them somehow. I just don't know if they get paid by Bally's or the organization. I remember once reading that Ken Daniels for the Wings wasn't an employee of either FSD or the Wings but an independent contractor. I forgot the context but it was relevant to whatever story was happening, maybe a lockout or something like that. Who cuts his LLC or whatever the check?

The TV broadcast is low on my wish list for this organization. I realize it's not an issue of resources used to fix that vs the players but.... I'm not watching much anyway. I have it on as filler or just check my phone while watching something else.

This times 1000. It's the #1 flaw with sports talk radio as every idiot that calls in things this is how it works. "All they gotta do is...." The classic example, which really happened, was in the 90's when a caller into WDFN (is that still a thing?) suggested the PIstons trade Terry Mills and Linsday Hunter for Chris Webber. It became a legend. Take my 4 pieces of junk and give me 1 piece of non junk. Aggressively sign this FA so that I can complain in 2 years that he's overpaid.

That's why the "Ilitch was a great owner" statements need context. It was a double edged sword. There's a difference between "I'm willing to spend" and "I want you to spend on this guy". It's pretty obvious that Fielder wasn't on DD's radar based on his comments a few days prior to the signing. Ilitch got too attached and sentimental to his players. He did that with the Red Wings too. Young player scores a big playoff goal? They're a Red Wing for life. It's also good counterpoints to the "Just sign someone to be respectable" crowd. Any player that would make you respectable just by signing a FA deal will either cost too much... or has 20 other teams coming after him. Good players aren't just sitting on a shelf waiting to be added to the shopping cart.

Miggy does too....

My family is from rural TN. It’s a college town so not total wacky but you see the conflicts between elements of the university being there and the old yimers. For instance a brewery was threatened with revocation of a license due to drag queen sympathy. The racism is just so ingrained and second nature to them that it seems normal. I saw a video of a legislator during the proceedings last week sayinf things in the most condescending and insulting way and it seemed so natural to him. He wasn’t trying to be that way. That’s just how he talked. You could tell. He’s a guy who doesn’t look over his shoulder before using the N word. He did everything up to calling him “boy”. In 2023 a guy in a suit and tie in a legislative body talking that way to a black peer. They see it as their Christian duty to keep these people in line.

What turns me off the most is the endless marketing hype when the team and players are bad. I know they have to do it but it looks bad. They had a thing last week on the scoreboard where Baez was explaining all of his tattoos. It’s meant as fun but when the dude is playing like total shit then we don’t care. Baez is Juan Gonzalez’s revenge. We got away with one back then but it came back to bite us now.

and Mattis was like "I'm good..."

I'm not sure average fans are in a place to understand what makes professional athletes tick. To reach that level requires so much skill and determination and dedication. They know the situation. What they tell the media is one thing but deep down they are not fooled. They have a job. They've been doing this their whole lives and understand it's day to day. They know if they excel, even individually, it means financial freedom their entire lives. I'm grateful that the cornerstones are still a few years from Free Agency. A shitty few weeks in April is forgotten by a great few weeks in July or August.

I've been waiting for that.

He will never resign and the senate will never convict so at worse is something like G2 said.

but according to Doc Jackson, Bragg is probably, what 230 pounds? Isn't that how he rated Trump when he gave him his physical?

Who does he think he is? Jim Schoenfeld? Sorry, old hockey joke.

that guy probably saw that tweet and said "Hold my beer"

yeah. I usually just revert to my CarPlay and use the MLB app when I want to listen anyway as it's easier to navigate from the on screen controls. My mother in law will not be happy if her next car doesn't have AM. I can already hear the complaining. "Patriot Radio"

Ron Desantis needs to do a better job running his state I guess....

That sketch must have been brutal to perform, having to look at both the cards and remembering the motions. Speaking of Jost, on that same episode Che played a trick on him during update where he told the audience not to laugh. I think this season is starting to find it's groove. It takes a newish cast a while. I like that they seem to be going back to ensemble. The last few years you'd forget someone was even in the cast. too many people. I record them every week and we watch on Sunday or Monday.

When I heard about that I did consider the impact on talk radio. The only time I've used it is to find a game. In fact I was 31 months into a lease before looking for the first time earlier this spring when the Tigers were on. We don't even have an active radio in the house. I have an old "boom box" in the garage sitting on a shelf. I am not sure my 22 year old son has ever even used a radio outside of the car.