Captain Aaron, what the hell happened with Carlos Correa and the Giants, McCann to the O's, Luke FAILwalker, Night Court, and a "Little Drummer Boy" that slaps
Lou Rawls’ Christmas album (Merry Christmas, Ho, Ho, Ho) has been THE Christmas album for my family for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I couldn’t go downstairs until my parents had gone down to check if Santa had come. I’d know it was ok to go down when my dad started playing Lou, and Little Drummer Boy was the first cut on the album. I maintained that tradition with my daughter as well.
It remains, for me, my favourite Christmas album of all time (the whole thing slaps). So glad that someone put you onto it, Craig.
I looked up Ethan Strauss, and he is the alt-right Craig. Or rather was, since from what I can tell, he has shifted almost entirely to writing about politics in the guise of a sports blog, and seems to save his sports discussion for a podcast. I wonder if he left The Athletic not to have editorial freedom but to escape what he must see as the site being too "woke." Also, he charges more than any other Substack I know of.
I think I knew True Hoop has a Substack, but I was not subscribed for some reason. Not that I need another Substack. Of the others on that list, I follow Joe and I follow Marc Stein.
Farewell, James McCann, we hardly knew ye. The last of the bad Wilpon signings is gone. But note that the Mets are not trading most of this contract's value. They are in fact keeping that bulk of it and only sending $5 million to Baltimore, the opposite of what it says here. Not really sure what sense this deals makes, to trade him for little salary relief and a spare part from the minors. But the writing was on the wall for McCann no matter what.
Agreed on Lou — I love how he sings "the ox and lamb kept time" like they blew his mind with their surprising funkiness. But as the person who turned you on to The Ventures' Christmas Album, please allow me to also direct you to The Soulful Strings and Kenny Burrell — both of whom also released absolutely stunning all-instrumental 1960s Christmas LPs out of Chicago via the Chess/Cadet connection, both of which feature extremely groovy versions of "LDB".
I tried to absorb as much of the Correa fiasco as I could yesterday. I read several articles and many tweets and comments. Hoo-boy, let me tell you -- Giants fans are not happy, to put it mildly.
I think the Giants would have been better off doing a full rebuild this offseason than trying to sign a big free agent. There would have been a lot of fan apathy with a rebuild, but the failure to sign Correa the last minute has brought a lot of fan anger.
I've noticed there are multiple similarities between the Giants and Red Sox this offseason. Both teams have cut payroll. Both teams have failed to sign a big free-agent shortstop. Both are being run by analytically-driven executives and front offices. And both teams have greatly alienated their fan bases.
I'm not educated enough in the music realm to talk about the BEST version of Little Drummer Boy, but I've yet to see a better USE of the song than in that one episode of "The West Wing".
I think the most interesting thing the Correa signing has to say is about the Yankees. If a multi-billionaire like Cohen is willing and able to commit to sustaining a half billion dollars a year in payroll for several years, it's because he knows that he'll make back more than twice that in profit. The Yankees are MLB's financial behemoth, run by a single owner, the most prestigious and well-known brand of baseball in America so you can be assured that they are comfortably profiting more than what the Mets are. All of Cohen's spending has merely highlighted what an absolute grinch, penny-pinching, cheapskate owner Hal Steinbrenner truly is. The Yankees could sustain a 600 million payroll each year and still be wildly profitable.
this isn't bad version of Little Drummer Boy by Elvin Bishop, probably mostly because he never says rup pup pup pum as its an instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxMkI2Suslo
I have a CD compiling Lou Rawls's Christmas songs, and it's wall-to-wall terrific. His last live performance was singing the National Anthem at Game 2 of the 2005 World Series (which is the most exciting baseball game ever played in Rawls' native city of Chicago, with Paul Konerko's grand slam and Scott Podsednik's unlikely walk off homer). He died of cancer in January of 2006. Oddly enough, I can find no video of that performance, but multiple clips of Rawls singing the anthem at the 1985 World Series. Go figure.
That Night Court bit looks frankly terrible. It's OK - credit for trying to redo an old show in a format (traditional multi-camera 30 min sitcom) that is super dated - but man. The concept is like, "what if Leslie Knope was a judge!?"
Lou Rawls has not one, not two, but FOUR Christmas albums. Can't recall another artist with four Christmas albums. Track 2 on Merry Christmas, Ho Ho Ho, an original, features the line "I got me some dough; I'm rarein' to go," which is awesome.
Lou Rawls’ Christmas album (Merry Christmas, Ho, Ho, Ho) has been THE Christmas album for my family for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I couldn’t go downstairs until my parents had gone down to check if Santa had come. I’d know it was ok to go down when my dad started playing Lou, and Little Drummer Boy was the first cut on the album. I maintained that tradition with my daughter as well.
It remains, for me, my favourite Christmas album of all time (the whole thing slaps). So glad that someone put you onto it, Craig.
I looked up Ethan Strauss, and he is the alt-right Craig. Or rather was, since from what I can tell, he has shifted almost entirely to writing about politics in the guise of a sports blog, and seems to save his sports discussion for a podcast. I wonder if he left The Athletic not to have editorial freedom but to escape what he must see as the site being too "woke." Also, he charges more than any other Substack I know of.
I think I knew True Hoop has a Substack, but I was not subscribed for some reason. Not that I need another Substack. Of the others on that list, I follow Joe and I follow Marc Stein.
Farewell, James McCann, we hardly knew ye. The last of the bad Wilpon signings is gone. But note that the Mets are not trading most of this contract's value. They are in fact keeping that bulk of it and only sending $5 million to Baltimore, the opposite of what it says here. Not really sure what sense this deals makes, to trade him for little salary relief and a spare part from the minors. But the writing was on the wall for McCann no matter what.
Being as it's the Giants, the medical issue is likely that Correa tested negative on his steroid test.
Agreed on Lou — I love how he sings "the ox and lamb kept time" like they blew his mind with their surprising funkiness. But as the person who turned you on to The Ventures' Christmas Album, please allow me to also direct you to The Soulful Strings and Kenny Burrell — both of whom also released absolutely stunning all-instrumental 1960s Christmas LPs out of Chicago via the Chess/Cadet connection, both of which feature extremely groovy versions of "LDB".
Haven't listened to the Rawls song yet, but if it doesn't include the line "You'll never find another drum like mine" I'm going to be disappointed.
Also, I'll give the new Night Court a chance, but they have to have at least one appearance by Brent Spiner as Bob Wheeler.
Are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room: your incorrect opinion about 2001 and 2010?
I tried to absorb as much of the Correa fiasco as I could yesterday. I read several articles and many tweets and comments. Hoo-boy, let me tell you -- Giants fans are not happy, to put it mildly.
I think the Giants would have been better off doing a full rebuild this offseason than trying to sign a big free agent. There would have been a lot of fan apathy with a rebuild, but the failure to sign Correa the last minute has brought a lot of fan anger.
I've noticed there are multiple similarities between the Giants and Red Sox this offseason. Both teams have cut payroll. Both teams have failed to sign a big free-agent shortstop. Both are being run by analytically-driven executives and front offices. And both teams have greatly alienated their fan bases.
I'm not educated enough in the music realm to talk about the BEST version of Little Drummer Boy, but I've yet to see a better USE of the song than in that one episode of "The West Wing".
Happy "NUTS!" day, and thanks! to McAuliffe and the boys. Nuts day follows Winter Solstice each year.
IYKYK
I think the most interesting thing the Correa signing has to say is about the Yankees. If a multi-billionaire like Cohen is willing and able to commit to sustaining a half billion dollars a year in payroll for several years, it's because he knows that he'll make back more than twice that in profit. The Yankees are MLB's financial behemoth, run by a single owner, the most prestigious and well-known brand of baseball in America so you can be assured that they are comfortably profiting more than what the Mets are. All of Cohen's spending has merely highlighted what an absolute grinch, penny-pinching, cheapskate owner Hal Steinbrenner truly is. The Yankees could sustain a 600 million payroll each year and still be wildly profitable.
this isn't bad version of Little Drummer Boy by Elvin Bishop, probably mostly because he never says rup pup pup pum as its an instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxMkI2Suslo
I have a CD compiling Lou Rawls's Christmas songs, and it's wall-to-wall terrific. His last live performance was singing the National Anthem at Game 2 of the 2005 World Series (which is the most exciting baseball game ever played in Rawls' native city of Chicago, with Paul Konerko's grand slam and Scott Podsednik's unlikely walk off homer). He died of cancer in January of 2006. Oddly enough, I can find no video of that performance, but multiple clips of Rawls singing the anthem at the 1985 World Series. Go figure.
Meanwhile, 2 days ago……
Giants fans to Met fans - too late, we have the best SS in the NL and probably baseball
Yesterday….
Giants fans to Met fans - he’s a cheating bum and damaged goods, dodged a bullet, didn’t want him on our team anyway….
That Night Court bit looks frankly terrible. It's OK - credit for trying to redo an old show in a format (traditional multi-camera 30 min sitcom) that is super dated - but man. The concept is like, "what if Leslie Knope was a judge!?"
Lou Rawls has not one, not two, but FOUR Christmas albums. Can't recall another artist with four Christmas albums. Track 2 on Merry Christmas, Ho Ho Ho, an original, features the line "I got me some dough; I'm rarein' to go," which is awesome.
My wife is already not happy with me as I keep mumbling the Little Drummer Boy refrain around the house. Time to counteract it with some FEAR
https://youtu.be/pbTULjLtKP4