What Should the Cleveland Indians Do?

In 1915 Cleveland's American League Baseball team needed a new name...They had been known as 'The Naps" in honor of their player-manager, Napoleon Lajoie...Look him up, he was a helluva ballplayer...There was a contest and the winning submission "Indians" was sent in by a fan that said it was in honor of former Cleveland Spiders player, Louis Sockalexis...Sockalexis was a Penobscot Indian, born in Maine on a Penobscot Resevation...For the Spiders Sockalexis played 66 games in 1897, batting .338...He became an alcoholic and in 1898 only appeared in 21 games, batting .224...His career ended after only playing in 7 games in 1899...He spent the rest of his days as a drifter and died in Maine...

That's the history lesson of the name...

Last week after more pressure was put on the Washington Redskins to change their logo and name...The Cleveland Indians ownership jumped forward and said they were actively looking at a name change...In recent years, they have pushed out the classic Chief Wahoo logo and have locked onto the very boring and lame "Block C"....

 As an outsider, who doesn't give a fuck about the Washington Redskins and who's a white guy, I would think the name "Redskins" is much more offensive then the logo...I always thought the logo was solid...Unlike the Indians, smiling, red-faced cartoon character...But if the name goes, obviously the logo goes...

I get Redskins being offensive...And for a long time I fought against the idea of Indians as a term and a team name as being offensive...And I wasn't alone...I did a few polls on Twitter, asking if The Indians, The Braves and The Blackhawks team names were offensive....

But I looked up some shit, did a little studying and well, it's not cool...Now back in 1915 it was a common term...People didn't no all the details of treaties broken by the U.S. government and well, it was a pretty racist world...Yes, even more racist then the one we are living in now...So, while I have so many memories wrapped up in the Cleveland Indians, I won't fight the change...I'm in...Now...Don't fuck the change up!

Ideas so far have sucked...Naps...No, did that all ready and it was dumb then too...Fellers...STOP! How lame and unoriginal is Cleveland...Stop naming after people...The Browns are already named after Paul Brown, and it's stupid name...Yes, Bob Feller was a Great Indians pitcher and War hero...But no...

The Rockers...No...The Cleveland WNBA team did that...Cleveland is obsessed with promoting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the city's History with music..But it's corny and lame...

Blues is also suggested...It was the name of the Cleveland National League baseball team from 1879-1884...

Blue Sox...Jesus like MLB needs another franchise named for a color of socks...Holy fucking stupid!

Buckeyes...This was the name of the Cleveland Negro League team from 1942-1950...I don't like the name Buckeyes but the history is a nice touch...But then you have to worry about Trademark and Licensing issues with Ohio State...

Cuyahogas...Ugh...Cuyahoga County is the county Cleveland is in and is named for the Cuyahoga River...It's a Iroquoian word, meaning "crooked river"...The Cuyahoga River world famous for catching fire twice, thanks to pollution! No, no, no, God no!

Spiders...This is a very popular one...Many fans are onboard with this...Reaching way back into Cleveland's Baseball History...The Spiders was Cleveland's professional baseball team name from 1887-1899...There are a shitload of logos and uniforms mocked up already.... 

......

Buzzards...One of Cleveland's biggest radio stations was WMMS, "Home of the Buzzard!" Clevelanders love their pride and history and Rock and Roll and this reaching for that again...Seems like there would be serious legal wrangling's for this one... 


Crows...This one surprised me...There are plenty of Crows throughout Northeast Ohio...There is an ominous feel with crows...Then you have the movie "The Crow"...Dead dude taking out his vengeance on people...






Honestly, right now Crows is my frontrunner...Maybe because I'm in a dark mood and want to watch an old movie with a dead guy killing a bunch of evil mother fuckers from Detroit....


Whatever The Cleveland Indians do...Don't fuck up this decision!

You Can't Make Me Watch Hamilton

So, "Hamilton"...The smash hit Broadway show has surrounded in critical acclaim since 2015 has taken things to the next level as it is now streaming on Disney+....

I haven't had the chance to see the Live Stage show and I haven't watched it yet, now that it's streaming...Some who know me my be surprised by this...I love theater...I was a "theater kid" in high school...Not acting, singing, dancing...Behind the scenes...Set construction, lighting, rigging, set changes, stage managing...I still love live theater...

So why haven't I seen "Hamilton" yet?  Honestly...I don't want to...And I have a few reasons...

It's not just that I know all I need to know about Alexander Hamilton after the report I did at St. James Elementary School...The Encyclopedia Britannica and I crushed it! Got an "A"....

It's not that I don't like Musicals....I love Musicals...It's not that I don't like the style of music...I'm fine with all music, as long as it isn't Country...I hate Musical Movies..."Grease"...Hate it!   I love West Side Story"...I love "Guys and Dolls"...On a stage...On a screen...Movie screen or my TV screen, I hate them all...Sitting in a theater, watching living and breathing people who I can physically touch before security tackles me and drags me out, is great...There is a realness to it, where it doesn't seem fucked up seeing people break into song...Yes, suspending reality and people breaking into song makes sense and works for me in a live, in person setting...Maybe I'm fucked up in the head, but I can't do that suspending of reality when watching it on 60-inch TV screen...Sinatra breaks into on my TV and I'm rolling my eyes and annoyed...

Then there's The "Wayne's World" Effect...That's what I call it...Almost always when something gets hyped intensely, once I get around to seeing it, I'm let down...Or just flat-out hate it...The first time I remember it happening on a grand scale was "Wayne's World"....Always enjoyed the SNL skits, and was semi-excited to see the movie...Then it came out and the world was raving...And then "Bohemian Rhapsody" (the song) was playing all the time on MTV with a video filled with "Wayne's World" clips....Yes, MTV, Music Television played music many, many, many years ago...The was merch everywhere, the sequel was getting hyped before the first one was even out of the theaters...So, I finally get to see the movie...And not only was I letdown, I thought it sucked...All these years later, I still think it sucks!

I also feel the same about "The Matrix" and "The Blair Witch Project"...

It was a bad movie...If I have a reason, I'll sit through a bad movie...I'll sit through it more than once...I saw "Nightmare on Elm Street 4" six times in the theater...It was a bad movie...But the popcorn hand-jobs were good...




Say what you want about those Catholic School girls...But if you found one that was a goer, you went to any shitty movie just be in the dark with her...


Clearly I digressed....


So, because of the hype-machine, I'm fearing I'll be letdown by "Hamilton"...The "Wayne's World" Effect...

Musical Theater, is good...Musical Movies, suck...

Hey, for everyone who has seen it...Is Katherine Ryan's bit about "Hamilton" true...It gave me a good laugh...






Anyways, I think I'll sign on to Disney+ and re-watch "The Mandalorian"...They don't break out into song, like  a proper onscreen fantasy land!

Kansas State Athletes Make a Stand

If you know me, you know I'm Notre Dame fan...There are a few other college football programs I consider myself a fan of...I guess a closet fan...One of those is Kansas State...A lot of that is how former coach Bill Snyder built and ran the program for years and did more with less talent then the big guns of the conference...How they did things the right way instead doing whatever shady shit just to win...There's integrity in the program...And now the players are showing it and being the ones leading by example...

Freshman Cornerback Tee Denson came out last week and said he would "refuse to play for a program that tolerates ignorance such as this." After a Kansas State student, Jaden McNeil tweeted about George Floyd's death saying, "Congratulations to George Floyd on being drug free for an entire month!"

Sophomore WR, Joshua Youngblood and Senior DB Walter Neil Jr. also tweeted that they would not play or practice until McNeil was removed from K-State...This lead to players writing a letter to the University that they also shared on Social Media....

“We are demanding that Kansas State University put a policy in place that allows a student to be dismissed for displaying openly racist, threatening or disrespectful actions toward a student or groups of students. We have resolved that we cannot play, practice or meet until these demands are heard and actions taken. We love Kansas State, but we must stand together and protect all students moving forward.”

This letter was followed up with full throated support from Head Football Coach, Chris Klieman who tweeted, “Racism is NOT welcome at KSTATE now or in the future. ... I am excited to help every player unite for the solution NOW, so that we can come together stronger than ever. Black Lives Matter,”

Other Kansas State athletes have followed suit, including men's and women's basketball players...As we all know, cash is king and College Football and Basketball fund Universities entire athletic departments...

University officials say they are "exploring their options"  to deal with McNeil....University President Richard Myers said,  "We condemn racism and bigotry in all its forms. Black Lives Matter at Kansas State University and we will continue to fight for social justice."

Wednesday Kansas State announced they are launching a diversity and education fund to address racial injustice....The fund lets boosters put money directly into initiatives for the athletic department that "actively seek inclusive and diverse community through educational programming and support of all student-athletes, coaches and staff."

The University also said that student-athletes, coaches and staff will have mandatory diversity and inclusion training that will include monthly town hall meetings...making stronger efforts to recruit applicants from diverse backgrounds for staff and coaching positions...Use home games to support the Black Lives Matter movement...And providing transportation for student-athletes on Election Day...

I hope this all isn't window dressing on the University's part...I'm glad they are responding...I hope they are responding because it's right and not just because they are afraid of losing their big revenue streams...

For the athletes...This is what is an example about what is great about America...Why the First Amendment is important...What is great about protests...Standing up for what you believe in...Standing up for what is right...I applaud the young men and women at Kansas State...Keep on fighting for what's right!

The Hypocrisy of Comedians

Yesterday I posted THIS....It got some good feedback and of course I got some backlash...It got me thinking about something that has bothered me for years...

I love standup comedy...I have since I was a little kid...I remember sneaking into a backyard in my neighborhood were my older brothers and their friends were listening to a new Eddie Murphy cassette without all the parents knowing...I loved it all growing up...I'd watch any comedy special that came on HBO...I watched MTV's "Half Hour, Comedy Hour" religiously, and "Evening at the Improve"...I love the craft or art...Yes, I put it up on that type of pedestal...

As the years have gone on, standup has had it's ups and downs...And my tastes changed...I got over the Andrew Dice Clay phase and got into more thought provoking comedy...Don't get me wrong, I'll always enjoy a shit or dick or pussy joke...

Then the 2000's came and with it, Social Media and Blogging came too...These gave celebrities, Comics included, another way to reach their audience and promote their shit...It also gave us regular fuckers a voice...An outlet for us to express our thoughts and opinions to our friends, who we don't work with or don't live right next door...But also to the masses...To anyone who may be interested....I started blogging about sports in 2007 at Sporting News...Over the years I started branching off into different directions, talking about whatever was in my head...

During that time and it as continued...Different points in time more surges in it...Comedians bitching about bloggers...and really, anyone on social media who doesn't have a "Blue Checkmark"...Many of them are comics I love...I often blow it off, because I'm a fan...Bill Burr is my favorite and he shits on bloggers religiously...Jim Norton who I've always been a fan of, bought both his books, saw him live, he shits on regular people tweeting and bloggers all the time...He's written what are in essence blogs, for major publications occasionally...But for him, it's not a blog, it's an "Article"...

Then there is the subject of my blog yesterday...Joe Rogan...Joe Rogan use to write blogs regularly on his website...But it doesn't count if I write a blog on my website...Comedians love to scream about the Freedom of Speech...And they will go to war with the whole fucking world  to say whatever they want...They will scream and fight, scratch and claw for their right to even tell a bad joke...a shitty joke...an offensive joke...a rape joke...And my meaningless voice has stood by them...





Now Comics are screaming everything that doesn't agree with them is "Cancel Culture"...My post yesterday was called "Cancel Culture"...It isn't...Joe Rogan can go on doing what he does...I'll probably watch his next standup special...I just want people to realize, he's often full of shit...and often on the wrong side of topics...

I'm sick of Comedians bitch, moaning and complaining about you and me saying what we want on Twitter and Blogs but screaming about their right to say whatever they want...Freedom of Speech is for everyone....EVERYONE! 

Not just arrogant assholes with "Blue Checkmarks"...EVERYONE!

America, Stop Listening to Joe Rogan

That's the look on Joe's face when he's falling into a trance from his latest guest....

-I'll start by saying, I like Joe Rogan's standup comedy...And I did like his podcast for awhile...Rogan always put a variety of people on with a wide range of topics getting covered on the podcast...He loved going down conspiracy theory rabbit holes, and bought into many...But then will bash certain people for buying into certain conspiracy theories...But as he does this, in the back of your mind you have to remember, he has repeatedly defended Alex Jones...The leader in pumping out conspiracy theories...Jones who screamed that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, and his minions then taunted families of the victims...The victims being 6-7 year old children...While Rogan has repeatedly tried to say he didn't believe this and Jones shouldn't have said it, he still defended Jones and would say, "But look at all the stuff he was right about."

We're still looking and haven't found anything Joe!

-Joe Rogan has also defended Roseanne Barr for her racist, Trump-like tweets...Before she was even on his podcast Rogan was doing damage control for her on nearly every episode, saying "She's been working hard on her show, not sleeping well, on Ambien and drinking".....When she did the podcast he continued to give his full-throated support...

Not surprisingly, he has a soft spot for fellow comics...Yes, he defended Louis CK...He'll say what CK did was gross and inappropriate, but will hammer home how "Louis asked the women first," before he pulled his dick out and jacked off in front of them...He tries to ignore the story of CK jerking off while on the phone with a female comic...

Recently Comedian Chris D'Elia was outed for being a creep and trying to bang and groom underage girls...He's been on Rogan's podcast a number of times, and many shitty comedians who are in Rogan's circle, Brendan Schaub, Bryan Callen, Andrew Santino, Theo Vonn, have all made comments saying they didn't know anything like this was going on with D'Elia and they "hope he gets the help he needs"...Never mind the young ladies...The problem is, this fucking idiots, like Trump, don't seem to realize there is a permanent record of the shit they say...Because they all record podcasts and there are clips of all of them joking about D'Elia fucking young girls...So far Rogan has been quiet about it...I expect him to wait until it dies down and then he'll be defending his pals right to do standup and acting again, and he'll attack the "cancel culture" because people being pissed at a guy for creeping on young girls are far worse then the creep in his eyes...

-Joe Rogan has always prided himself on being in the middle Politically...You can see it in his comedy...There are things that lean left, and there are things that lean right, and to be fair, comedy is comedy and you go where the joke is...But on the podcast he often let both sides on issues get heard....And I felt his "I'm in the middle" thing was legit when he had put Tulsi Gabbard on the show multiple times, and vocally supported her...Of everyone that was in the massive field she was hands down, the most centrist...

But it seemed like there was switch...Rogan made a very strong stand against the Trump administration policy of taking illegal immigrant children away from their parents and sticking them in cages...There are a couple of powerful clips from his podcast on and it's great...But really, let's be honest...That topic seems to be an easy one to take a stand on and not get much backlash on...Anyone giving you shit about that one is an asshole...

Then, as it was clear that Tulsi Gabbard didn't have a shot, Rogan started talking about liking things Bernie Sanders was saying...Liberals, myself included loved this...You can't get much lefty then Sanders...Then he had Sanders on the Podcast and he ate it up....And then on a podcast after Sanders was on, Rogan said he'll "Probably vote for Bernie"...

The Right was pissed and went nuts and attacked...And the Anti-Sanders left went nuts and attacked....What did Rogan do...He hid in the corner...Mr. Tough Guy whined about the backlash he was getting...He had finally taken a political stance and didn't like that idiotic and misogynists things he had said were being dug up...He didn't like jokes were being picked apart...Honestly, I hate when people try to attack comedians over jokes, I think it's ridiculous...But instead of standing up like he did for Roseanne Barr, Louis CK and Alex Jones, he sulked...Then ran right and said he'd "rather vote for Trump over Biden"....

-How far right has Joe Rogan run? Well folks he is the leader in promoting anit- ANTIFA bullshit...Not Donald Trump, but Joe Rogan...I know that's shocking, but Rogan is in the lead because he's been spewing his bullshit against ANTIFA for a couple more years then Trump, thanks to his good buddy Alex Jones...What all three of these fucking idiots (and many others) don't get, is ANTIFA means Anti-Fascism...Here's the definition....Antifa is an anti-fascist political movement in the United States comprising a diverse array of autonomous groups....

So if I'm Anti-Fascist and you oppose Anti-Fascists, that makes you Pro-Fascist...You remember the most popular Fascists the world ever saw...Those would be the Nazi's...Joe, Alex, Donny, you guys are all fucking idiots!

The biggest problem with Joe Rogan is, he falls under a trance with any guests he perceives to be smarter than him...When it's idiot comics like Schaub, Callen and Vonn, he knows he's the smart one in the room, plus he's higher on the comedy food chain...He commands the room and speaks with authority...When it's a doctor, scientist, an author, a reporter, he lets them say what they want, and absorbs it, trying to grab onto a talking point he can use to make himself look smarter later down the road...

The worst cases are when he fan-boys out, like he does with Elon Musk...Recently, Musk, always try to make more money as he promises the world, but rarely delivers, and a Trump lover, was on Rogan's podcast stating his case on why his facilities should be allowed to reopen during the COVID pandemic...Musk informed the world that people, doctors, scientists weren't reading the numbers right...Only he reads them right and it's not that bad...This gave Rogan the firepower to play the percentage game...

Rogan and Musk and too many others like to give the percentage of COVID cases and deaths compared to the the population...It's easy to make it not sound as bad that way...But the facts are, globally there are now over 10 million cases...Over 500,000 deaths and of those deaths, the United States alone are about to hit 130,000...And the cases are surging, because of people like Rogan who have a huge microphone...It's shocking and sad because early on in this COVID mess Rogan took it seriously and repeatedly talked about his friend, comic, Michael Yo who had a very serious case of COVID...But as it often happens, Rogan's view changes when a guest shows up with a different take...Especially if it's his buddy Elon...So Musk spews his bullshit, Rogan eats it up and starts saying COVID isn't that bad and you don't need to wear masks...He has even, said people wearing masks are "bitches"...

Exactly what we should have expected from the true meathead he is, deep down inside...130,000 dead Americans and the numbers are growing every day, because you're afraid to look like a "bitch"....

Here's a clip, a rare time a guest calls Rogan out on his nonsense...Bill Burr tries to shut Rogan's bullshit down...Now they're friends and Burr went easier then I think he would have on a regular idiot, but you hear Rogan saying people wearing masks are bitches and Burr smacks him for it...It's one of the few times Rogan can't Alpha Male another comic...

-Rogan's podcast is a monster...He had a doctor on who said "take Vitamin D," it will help you beat COVID...Rogan repeated it...In two days Vitamin D was sold out everywhere...And hey, Vitamin D is good for you...But for all the times he promotes Vitamin D or says we shouldn't take kids away from their families and lock them in cages, there are for more moments of misinformation...Lies and cluelessness about ANTIFA, Elon Musk's skewed numbers, defenses of Alex Jones, masks are for bitches...He does as much harm than good...

And now he has signed a multi-year deal for his podcast to be exclusively on Spotify...It is rumored to be a $100 million deal...So as much as fans want to make him out to be a maverick and not part of the establishment, he's just like John McCain...He's no maverick, he is the establishment...They guy made his early big bucks hosting Fear Factor...Now he's to Spotify, what Howard Stern was/is to Sirius Satellite Radio...The Spotify deal solidified my growing unhappiness with Rogan...

Spotify is an evil corporation...They built the company on streaming music and now have moved hard into the Podcast game...I have never had a Spotify account and refuse to do so...Why? They made their name and money streaming music, but they don't pay the artists...Spotify does not pay the musicians/writers/artist...They pay the labels...Which is you know anything about the music business, they religiously fuck over the artist...Many artists have tried to fight against this system...They keep running into a brick wall...Rogan's wasn't the first podcast that I have walked away from because of an exclusive deal with Spotify...I'm sure it won't be the last...

At one time, Joe Rogan was good for us...He was great for the Podcast industry...Now, he's become a buffoon...He has started playing down to the lowest common denominator...And at this time, in this country that is the last thing we need.

Seattle Hockey, Get Your Shit Together

There is a picture of an often forgotten hockey team...The Seattle Metropolitans...and yes, in 1917 they won the Stanley Cup...And now hockey fans in the Pacific Northwest are excited about their new expansion NHL franchise, the Seattle ___________!  Yes it's been two years since the announcement and the Seattle Hockey club still doesn't have a name...There have been many ideas...There was a fan vote which was blown off...There has been much legal back and forth over copyrights for multiple names and logos...And every time the hockey world thinks it's getting an announcement on the team name and logo...They announce that they are delaying...

Many thought last November was going to be it...Announce and start selling merch for the holidays, and get the excitement building...But no such luck...I'm a huge hockey fan...I'm a huge fan of Seattle...I want to see this franchise do well...And I want to see some great looking gear...

Luckily, design programs and video games have let people work up ideas...and some obviously have been worked up by firms....Many of these ideas have come across the desks of the people in charge of the the Seattle franchise...Thanks to the internet, many have floated out to us...So I'm going to show some of the best ones that are out there with the Team names that have been at the top of the list...

You're going to see a lot of Green as Seattle is know as the "Emerald City"


The Kraken: Kraken has been in the lead with a lot of people...The idea of a mythical creature seems appealing to many...

Green, Black, funky Red, and a Yellow-green...I don't like this look, with the exception of the alternate jersey throwing it back to the old Metropolitans days...

This one has the staple Seattle blue with green with a Kraken dick (looking like a "S") wrapped around the Seattle Space Needle...Simple, clean and colors resembling the Seahawks, Mariners and Sounders...

This one I like more...Green with gold...It's all in on the Kraken theme with the trident and the tentacle looking "S" and Seattle written in the "S" like the old school Metropolitans...Honoring the past but going into the future...

This is similar with Kraken written in the "S"...Going all in on blue...But this Blue and Green combo looks a lot like the Vancouver Canucks color scheme and why look like the team that is going to be your biggest geographical rival...




Totems: Is a name that has been used for in a number of lower level leagues...It has been one of the names and logos where there has been copyright arguments...There is also the question of if Native American tribes in the region will be okay with this...

This has been the standard idea for Totems Not a bad look, but the name falls flat with me.



Sea Lions: The Canucks logo is an Orca...Orcas eat Sea Lions...Sharks eat Sea Lions...Sharks are in San Jose...That alone hurts this name...

I actually really like the logos and uniform design here...The top left logo, that Sea Lion looks fierce...



Evergreens: We get it, you got a lot of trees up there...You don't name a hockey team after a tree...

Very basic, simple, boring, dumb name...



Sawbucks: Somehow, some-way, people merged wood working and wildlife together and came up with a cool logo to go with a cool sounding name....

A sawbuck holds wood while cutting...A Sawbuck is also a Pokemon creature that looks like a member of the deer family...

Anyways....I think this logo looks great...The name sounds tough and cool...The uniform design is solid...I'm kinda rooting for this...




Metropolitans: Yes, it's always been on the list and many would like to see the history brought back...Personally I think it's a shitty name...But I understand and appreciate respecting the history....

This one went all in with the green...Two shades of green and white...Good striping...An alternate logo...The primary logo focusing on the Space Needle.




Sockeye: The longer this has dragged on, the more attention this name gets...I HATE it...I just can't get behind the name...

The big thing with the Sockeye ideas is they seem to all move away from the green idea and the "Seattle Blue".....This top one is boring...

I give this one a lot of credit...Unique design and color scheme...Going bold with both...I hate the name, but I like the effort on this design...But I wouldn't buy this jersey...




Emeralds: Seattle as I mentioned earlier is known as "The Emerald City"...But that's no reason to name your team after a gemstone...Emeralds is as bad as Evergreens....

I appreciate this design reaching back and using the old Seattle Super Sonics basketball team colors...It's a quality design just a shit name...


What are your thoughts...What should Seattle name their hockey team? What colors? When the hell are they going to figure it out already?

Monday Moaning: Dementia Moved In

The image is click-bait but that's always been part of the game, and a major part of my game since I started blogging at Sporting News back in 2007...But I always found a way to tie it in with the post...I carried it on with me here and at the now defunct YouGabSports....

-I had a couple of masterpiece blogs in the bullpen...They were going to get me noticed by Barstool Sports who would offer me a job...(yeah, right!)But with the murder of George Floyd, the ensuing protests, the hate spewed by the President and his ignorant supporters who hold the Confederate Traitors in such high regard, I scrapped those...I didn't blog...I just carpet bombed social media facts, truth, reality, history, and quick rants...I got flagged on Facebook for things that were factually correct but Anti-Trump and Anti-Racism...I got unfollowed by plenty of people, which is fine...If you're a racist...If you are ok with people flying Nazi and Confederate flags, I don't want to know you and don't want you around....I got suspended on Twitter twice...A week for tweeting at Drew Brees that he "is a fucking idiot"....My first tweet back was at Twitter and their owners, pointing out the hypocritical bullshit standards they have...And then I retweeted porn clips that are allowed on twitter at them...

-One blog shredding MLB for being a bunch of greedy fucks who are killing their game and are about to lose the dog days of Summer to the NHL...The NHL is planning to have their playoffs (the best playoffs of all sports) in July, August and September...Pushing the start of next season back, and if they stick with it that way they can continue starting their season later, and having their playoffs in the Summer, sports dead zone, when many people get extra casual with Baseball until it gets closer to September....But with Billionaire owners and millionaire players fighting over money, more and more people are going to care less and less about a sport who's core fanbase is dying...


-I had done  series of "COVID Blogs"...Those stopped This next section was going to be one in the series...A month into the COVID shutdown, we moved my Mother-in-Law in with us...My wife, three kids, two dogs, myself and my dementia riddled Mother-in-Law...She was in assisted living and was locked down, stuck in her room for over month...No visitors allowed, no activities, no dining room...It scrambled her already fragile brain even more...When we saw her outside of the place on her birthday, my wife and I knew we had to get her out...So she's here with us...My Father-in-Law went down this same road so we knew to some extent what we were getting into...But it's bad...It's hard...

The kids were doing school from home...The wife works from home...there's limited separation people can get...We get bombarded with the same questions over and over again...The last 20 years don't exist...She doesn't know who I am, except that I cook for her and answer questions...There are times she doesn't know my wife...

We made a answer sheet for her to keep...When she starts asking questions we tell her to look at it...She would ask a question, you would answer and she would ask it again immediately...She looked at the sheet and said, "This is my daughters house?" I said yes...She then said "Is she still alive?"...Which was when the most blunt thing I could say fell out of my face..."If she was dead you wouldn't live here."  I felt awful, but she forgot it within seconds...

My day often starts with making her Tea and toast or an English muffin with orange marmalade...Once she is sitting down eating and working on a puzzle I go and check to see if I have to mop the floor in her bedroom, the hallway and the bathroom, as she likes to take her diapers off during the night and often leaves a trail of pee.... 

It's hard seeing someone fall apart in front of you...It's hard on my wife, as her mother often seems ungrateful for what we do for her...At night she becomes child-like, wants to "break rules" and gets pissy with my wife...We had to put up a baby gate to try and prevent her from roaming around the house at night while everyone is asleep...She loves to search for cookies between 11:00 PM and 4:00 AM...We have signs on doors to help her and prevent her taking a header down the basement steps....

The one thing makes my wife nuts...Her mother will go to the bathroom door wide open, doing her business, everything hanging out...But then when she's done, she pulls the door shut behind her...WTF!?!

If 2020 didn't suck bad enough, especially for the kids, my oldest having her senior year of high school kicked in the balls...She gave up her room for her Grandmother and moved into her little sister's room...And Grandma has no idea who our kids are...She had lived everyday for over two months with them and looks at them like strangers...We spent so many weekends visiting...Personal time and vacation time spent with my in-laws...Moved to fucking Erie to take care of things for them....and she has no memory of them or any of it...There are moments when I talk to her and she looks at me like 'Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here.?'

As frustrated and annoyed as I get, I have to remind myself that my wife is watching her mother's brain turn to pudding right in front of her everyday...I don't know how my wife deals with it so calmly...Well, she does like to hit the bottle like the piece of click-bait at the top of this post! 

That's what's been going on in my world...

Have a drink...Stay safe...Stay strong...Don't be a racist...Help fight for positive change in this country and world...And love...Love your family...No matter what, love your family.

COVID 19 (blog 6)

If you are protesting anything wearing a mask, I feel you are a coward...If you are protesting stay at home orders and safety measures (like wearing a mask) that are in place to protect you and everyone else from a global pandemic, you are a chicken shit, pussy with no real conviction in your protest...You just want to play army dress up, before you clowns all go back to your militia clubhouse and suck each other off!

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There were over 50,000 U.S. deaths in Vietnam...While the death toll was climbing Americans protested to end the war because the cost was too high....Now with the U.S. deaths from COVID19 nearly at 90,000, people are protesting and murdering for having to wear a mask, to practice social distancing and to stay at home...I touched on some of these idiots a few POSTS back....And yes, I did say murdering, as a family was charged in the murder of a store security guard because he told the wife/mother of the family that the store policy was that everyone had to wear a mask to enter the store...So she got her husband and son, and they shot and killed the poor guy...

People are protesting so they can get a haircut...100% truth there are people I know who haven’t gone to church in 30 fucking years posting memes bitching about how they’re not allowed to go to church...People are protesting social distancing and stay at home orders by waving Nazi and Confederate flags...Flags of our enemies...They don’t care that the death toll is too high and still climbing...My how priorities have changed...Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, (both of the) Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson...and so many more are rolling over in their graves....

America or at least the myth of what America was, always came together in times of crisis...Now we are divided as fuck...I put much of the blame on our idiot, criminal President...HERE'S just one example of his criminal Bullshit...There's MORE and I could give you links for days but, this isn't about that...The issue right now is how he has dealt with COVID, saying one thing that goes along with what doctors and scientists say, and then out of the other side of his mouth he contradicts that...Vocally saying that Governors need to handle how each state deals with it's cases, just to put his full throated support behind these wannabe toy soldiers...But we all know if these were black people showing up armed to the teeth, he would call them thugs and want them locked up...

And he says we are doing great testing and things are looking good...If 90,000 dead is looking good, what the fuck is bad...And about that testing...There are many different tests being used and many aren't FDA approved...And I particularly find it hilarious that the tests that have been being used at the White House, the FDA had to put out an alert because those tests were having an unacceptable amount of False Negatives...33-48% False Negatives!

This White House is one fuck up after another....

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I'm just putting this in, because this is the "great businessman," piece of shit, lying, asshole that you Trumpers support...

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Moving the fuck along...So all the bitch, moaning and complaining, and asshole protesting convinced many states to start opening up businesses late last week and this weekend...Yes, I get it, no one wants to see the economy tank, but I don't want to die, or see another 90,000 Americans die....So guidelines were given...People are asked to socially distance, and wear masks and be fucking smart and respectful of their fellow human beings...

Personally, I think the opening up is going to be too much, too soon as states were still seeing increases and there is yet to be a prove, clear-cut treatment for this virus...Don't believe me about numbers still rising, because I read pay attention to facts and some don't...Saturday, Texas had it's largest single day increase of COVID cases...

And my old home state of Ohio started lifting restrictions with a number of guidelines...And from the pictures I was seeing on social media, and from family back home, many bars, restaurants and their patrons were not following the social distance guidelines, as people were balls deep in each other...

You know what...I want to scream and yell at these people...But what good would it do...They clearly don't get it that 315,000 people have died worldwide...90,000 in the U.S. and these people are packing in the bars, all up in each other...Fuck it...Maybe I should be rooting for COVID...Thin the fucking idiot herd...

Me, I'll stay home and do my drinking here.

Tyson vs. Holyfield 3

This morning I woke up, looked at Facebook and then Instagram on my phone...One of the first things to pop up on Instagram was a mockup of a poster for a third Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield fight...

Just when you think 2020 can't get more fucking strange and off the rails...

The first fight in 1996 Holyfield won with an 11th round TKO...The second fight, in 1997 was much more memorable because it ended with Tyson being disqualified for biting Holyfield's ear multiple times, and taking a chunk out of it...

Now at Tyson 53 years old and Holyfield 57 years old are by all reports, seriously considering going at it one more time...While Tyson has rebuilt his reputation with some humorous acting gigs and a one man show, talking openly about his life with all it's ups and downs...Holyfield has been mostly quiet...Probably because the mental wear and tear from his boxing career are shining through....That was made very clear when he was asked about getting into the ring with Tyson again in what is speculated to be a charity event...

“I would do that!” Holyfield told The Sun. “Yes, I want to fight Mike Tyson. My whole thing is I’m open, and I know that I want to do well for myself at age 57. I can definitely handle him. But Mike would have to want to do it as well.

“We have to come up with something that is not a knockout grudge match. It’s not about who can beat who but to show people we were some of the greatest fighters in our era and we’ve come together as men to do something for others.

“I don’t have anything against Mike personally. The thing is I think it would be good for the sport. And even though boxing is a rough sport, we can show people we can come together. If we do this fight, it would be great.

“I can still shoot the jab, I can still shoot the shots, but not like a killing thing, [not like] ‘I’m going to hurt you, I’m going to show you that I can knock him out.’ Mike is looking sharp, but I’m in very good condition and shape physically and mentally. And if the money is right, too, then let’s get it on.

“I know he’s getting offers from all types of people. Since we have both announced a comeback, a fight between me and Mike would definitely be the fight people want to see.”

Sweet Jesus! That was all over the place...And I'm not sure it's much of a charity thing when he's saying "if the money is right"...Honestly, I think this would be great for whatever promotion company puts this on...I think it would get people talking about boxing again, until it happens...Then, afterwards there won't be much positive talk about it...I think it will be a shit show...I think Tyson can finally beat Holyfield and won't go full Carnivore...I think it will be sloppy, and Holyfield will finish with his brain fully and completely scrambled...But what else is there to watch...Fuck it, let's get it on!

Blake Snell : Baseball's New Villain

Today we were given the latest Baseball villain... My previous POST  foreshadowed this...But clearly Blake Snell isn't smart enough to read my blog...On his Twitch stream he made it clear that there was no way in hell he was going to be playing this year with the pay-cut the owners proposal has in it...

This is from Tampa reporter Ryan Bass....

Okay, I get not wanting to take a pay-cut and I get it when Billionaire owners are crying that they are losing money, as an employee I wouldn't feel bad at all for them...Hell, as average Joe, I don't give a fuck about the owners, especially now...But Snell looks like a fucking idiot crying about money when at least 36 million people in this country are out of work right now...And he says "The risk is through the roof"....Really!?!  I'm guessing your risk is not nearly as high of a risk as what doctors and nurses are dealing with and wow are you making a shitload more money then they are...

(wait for it!)

Snell right now has a 5 year, $50 million contract...Is salary for the 2020 season is $7.6 million...In his bitch, moaning and complaining rant he said the owners proposal would have him making 25% of his contract's salary...Holy fucking shit, you poor thing you, you'd be getting paid $1.9 million this year...Oh, and don't cry too hard about taxes, because he plays in Florida, which has no state income tax...

$1.9 million for 4-5 months of playing baseball...(He's a starting pitcher who only plays once every 5 games)...I'd shovel shit in 85-90 degree heat for $1.9 in 4 months...

Fuck me running, I'd go back in the confessional with Father John for $1.9 million....(what, too far? Fuck You!)

Seriously, I have no love for the MLB owners...They're greedy, out of touch assholes...While I'd generally side with the players, Snell showed how clearly out of touch, selfish and greedy he is as well...So fuck Blake Snell!

Can MLB Survive COVID

 So we are in mid-May and COVID is kicking the world in the balls and so many talking heads and politicians want everything back to normal...Refusing to accept that there isn't going to be a true normal until we have rock solid treatment or a vaccine for this monster...But science and research need time, so we have to be patient and realize normal is still miles down the road.

 But Major League Baseball pressured by politicians and greed, today said they have a plan and presented it to the Players Association and now they all have to sit down and hash it out and try to agree on things...The plan is talking about starting in early July, playing about 80 games...Interleague play will happen because the idea is to keep things as regional as possible...They are also talking about everyone using the DH...I'm totally fine with that...14 teams would make the playoffs...And now we get into the mud....The Owners, who are Billionaires are asking the players to take a pay-cut...They say paying prorated salaries will be too steep of a cost for them and they are talking about a 50/50 revenue sharing deal...

Of course agent Scott Boras has already spoken out against this and some players have spoken out against revenue sharing and that revenue sharing is how owners will implement a salary cap...This is where, in typical fashion is where MLB owners and the MLBPA shows how the out of touch they are with us regular people...Not all of them but too many of them...

Sean Doolittle has made it clear his number 1 priority is making sure it is safe for all players, team staff and facility employees before they are worrying about playing...

Safety has to be the top priority...And so far, with this plan and all the plans MLB has kicked around, they haven't answered the big question..."What if a team gets exposed?"  It takes 1 player, or trainer, staff member to catch COVID, and in a blink the whole team is infected...And the tricky bitch about this thing is people can carry it for 14 days without showing symptoms...They say they are going to be actively and aggressively testing, but we have seen most tests have not been 100% accurate...Many tests are being used that haven't even been approved by the FDA...

All the PR people are saying this will be done safely, and every state governor and says they are going to open their economies safely, but how can you do it safely if you don't have an answer for to the big what if? If you can't guarantee the players and staff and facility employees safety, maybe you shouldn't being trying to rush into this... 

Now lets talk about the Baseball aspect...If my beloved Cleveland Indians won the World Series in this horse shit, fake, half season, I'd be happy while watching, but in my heart, and my brain, it wouldn't be real...It wouldn't be legit....More than any other sport Baseball prides itself on History and Stats...Baseball also prides itself on being a marathon...So how can anyone feel a half season with a doctored postseason is legit...As someone who loves baseball and I know guys like me are getting older and are a dying breed, if Baseball is played this season I'll simply see it as an exhibition season...

Personally, I've already stated in a previous blog that the NHL and NBA should just take the L and not bothering trying to cram in an end of the season and playoffs...MLB talking about a half season, starting in July...I say scrap it...It won't be real...If it's not real, why risk health issues or injuries...

More importantly, if Baseball isn't played because owners and players are going to spend the next month bickering over money, they will lose more than just a season (or shitty half season)....They will lose a huge part of their fanbase...They will take a loss that they may not be able to recover from...

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