Some Folks Just Don't Get It...And Other Thoughts
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
We needed a fuel stop in Jacksonville, Ill., and while at the pump a pair of cars occupied both sides of the pumps behind us. There were about a dozen people between the two vans and, based on the conversation, were headed to St. Louis for that night’s game with San Diego. All were clad in Cardinals red except one.
One female was decked out in a Chicago Cubs T-shirt and hat. I’m just not sure she knew it.
“I still can’t believe you’re wearing that to St. Louis when the Cubs aren’t playing.” her tolerant companion said.
“It’s baseball stuff,” she replied. “What difference does it make? Besides, David said I look cute in this shirt, and he told me if I wore this, lots of people would want to talk to me at the game?”
“Did he happen to mention what those people might say? Is this the same David that broke up with you two days ago, and is riding in the other car?”
“Well, yeah. But there’s a “C” on my hat. It stands for the Cardinals!”
Are you using stereotypes to determine the hair color of the woman in Cubs gear?
“Did you notice the ‘C’ looks a lot like the one on your shirt?”
“It does not! There’s a bear in the ‘C’ on the shirt.”
“That’s a cub!”
“What’s the difference?”
At that point they headed in to the convenience store, and I jotted down notes for my next column.
Other talking points:
My boys and I were at the Royals game last Tuesday afternoon. We’ll probably remember the name Paulo Orlando a lot longer than most Kansas City fans.
If you ever get a chance, I’d recommend a visit to Kauffman Stadium. It’s not the newest ballpark anymore, but it sure is nice with the fountains and the Crown Vision scoreboard towering 12 stories above the field.
The Home Run Derby turned out a lot better than I had anticipated. Last night’s contest in Cincinnati was the first to feature timed rounds, and the rules were altered to shorten the rounds from five minutes to four, and limit the bonus time for 450-foot homers from 1:30 to 30 seconds.
It helped that the hometown Reds’ Todd Frazier won the thing, but the new tournament-style format was exciting. I don’t normally go for something so hokey as skills competitions; the only ones I’ve actually liked are basketball-related, but the Home Ru Derby has found a formula to keep it from dragging on and on.
A shout-out to longtime ESPN anchor Chris Berman, who kept his trademark home run call to a minimum. I’m not sure I could handle hearing “back back back back back” more than 130 times in less than three hours.
Dear Commissioner Manfred; can we please dump the whole All-Star “now the game matters” thing? I’d be good with limiting the game to 10 innings and have it be strictly an exhibition. In fact, if the managers wanted to lay out who’s playing when in advance, I’d be good with that, too.
Frankly, the intensity level for spring training games is higher, and it should be for those playing for spots on rosters. The All-Star Game should be a celebration of the sport, nothing more and nothing less.
It was a lot of fun keeping an eye on Warsaw graduate Nic Moore and the Kansas Jayhawks at the World University Games over the last two weeks, and getting to watch a couple of games with the home fans was a bonus.
Moore got a key steal and hit a pair of free throws late in Team USA’s 84-77 double overtime win over Germany in the gold medal contest in South Korea Monday. Moore finished with seven points, six rebounds and three steals to help KU/USA to the win.
I can’t help but wonder if Larry Brown would consider loaning Moore to the Jayhawks for the college season ... but that seems unlikely. He looks good in crimson and blue, and I certainly wouldn’t mind covering a local kid playing for the Jayhawks.[[In-content Ad]]
We needed a fuel stop in Jacksonville, Ill., and while at the pump a pair of cars occupied both sides of the pumps behind us. There were about a dozen people between the two vans and, based on the conversation, were headed to St. Louis for that night’s game with San Diego. All were clad in Cardinals red except one.
One female was decked out in a Chicago Cubs T-shirt and hat. I’m just not sure she knew it.
“I still can’t believe you’re wearing that to St. Louis when the Cubs aren’t playing.” her tolerant companion said.
“It’s baseball stuff,” she replied. “What difference does it make? Besides, David said I look cute in this shirt, and he told me if I wore this, lots of people would want to talk to me at the game?”
“Did he happen to mention what those people might say? Is this the same David that broke up with you two days ago, and is riding in the other car?”
“Well, yeah. But there’s a “C” on my hat. It stands for the Cardinals!”
Are you using stereotypes to determine the hair color of the woman in Cubs gear?
“Did you notice the ‘C’ looks a lot like the one on your shirt?”
“It does not! There’s a bear in the ‘C’ on the shirt.”
“That’s a cub!”
“What’s the difference?”
At that point they headed in to the convenience store, and I jotted down notes for my next column.
Other talking points:
My boys and I were at the Royals game last Tuesday afternoon. We’ll probably remember the name Paulo Orlando a lot longer than most Kansas City fans.
If you ever get a chance, I’d recommend a visit to Kauffman Stadium. It’s not the newest ballpark anymore, but it sure is nice with the fountains and the Crown Vision scoreboard towering 12 stories above the field.
The Home Run Derby turned out a lot better than I had anticipated. Last night’s contest in Cincinnati was the first to feature timed rounds, and the rules were altered to shorten the rounds from five minutes to four, and limit the bonus time for 450-foot homers from 1:30 to 30 seconds.
It helped that the hometown Reds’ Todd Frazier won the thing, but the new tournament-style format was exciting. I don’t normally go for something so hokey as skills competitions; the only ones I’ve actually liked are basketball-related, but the Home Ru Derby has found a formula to keep it from dragging on and on.
A shout-out to longtime ESPN anchor Chris Berman, who kept his trademark home run call to a minimum. I’m not sure I could handle hearing “back back back back back” more than 130 times in less than three hours.
Dear Commissioner Manfred; can we please dump the whole All-Star “now the game matters” thing? I’d be good with limiting the game to 10 innings and have it be strictly an exhibition. In fact, if the managers wanted to lay out who’s playing when in advance, I’d be good with that, too.
Frankly, the intensity level for spring training games is higher, and it should be for those playing for spots on rosters. The All-Star Game should be a celebration of the sport, nothing more and nothing less.
It was a lot of fun keeping an eye on Warsaw graduate Nic Moore and the Kansas Jayhawks at the World University Games over the last two weeks, and getting to watch a couple of games with the home fans was a bonus.
Moore got a key steal and hit a pair of free throws late in Team USA’s 84-77 double overtime win over Germany in the gold medal contest in South Korea Monday. Moore finished with seven points, six rebounds and three steals to help KU/USA to the win.
I can’t help but wonder if Larry Brown would consider loaning Moore to the Jayhawks for the college season ... but that seems unlikely. He looks good in crimson and blue, and I certainly wouldn’t mind covering a local kid playing for the Jayhawks.[[In-content Ad]]
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