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deletedMar 16, 2023·edited Mar 16, 2023
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And so the football has been taken away from Mets fans.

https://tenor.com/view/charlie-brown-fail-lucy-sports-football-gif-4460715

This does NOT mean the season is over. But I am getting ever more vibes of 1987, when the Mets rolled back most of its World Championship team and the injuries never seemed to slack off (plus Gooden in drug rehab, which in retrospect should also be seen as injury).

But at least Cohen pays for the Mets' wi-fly.

Also saw an interesting article that said that apparently Hal Steinbrenner has been consulting with Aaron Judge about things like what he thinks of Volpe and what he thinks of upcoming renovations to Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Makes sense to me, actually, since if Judge is being paid that much, he's practically a partner. And he certainly knows a lot about baseball.

Not much of an Altman fan - indeed, I cannot stand MASH the movie - but I figure eventually I will get around to The Long Goodbye. I recently watched Farewell My Lovely, which was an entirely conventional period piece but also a tour de force for Robert Mitchum, and Marlowe, which was set in the then-present 1960s, but was less a Marlowe film and more a proof of concept for The Rockford Files, since James Garner plays the detective in about the same mode as he plays Jim Rockford. I might be due a grand tour of all the Marlowe films, even a rewatch of The Big Sleep, which I never cared for.

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Cipro is one of the meds I won’t let them prescribe me. I have had 4 ankle surgeries (all to the same place) and the risk of a tear is already too great. Sad to know it was a cascading condition in someone’s death.

I am sad ALSO about Diaz’ apparent injury. Let’s hope it is less serious than it appeared. Freak accidents like that are always so awful. Here’s hoping the Mets are destined for greatness this year. (I can’t believe I said that.)

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If, say, Mbappe got hurt during the World Cup, and a soccer fan said the stars shouldn't play in it anymore because of that, they'd get laughed out of the room. How is the Diaz injury any different?

And yes, the WBC is not the World Cup, but it's not like the World Cup was a hit out of the box, either.

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The WBC is absolutely garbage, yes I’m a little bitter because Díaz is the best closer in baseball and it would have a huge impact on the Mets. I couldn’t even give 1 F if team USA wins the WBC or loses every game they play. Perhaps to other countries it means more, but whatevs. And I will have to disagree about this happening in spring trading, yes they could get hurt anywhere, BUT these guys are going all out when they probably wouldn’t be for a ‘meaningless spring training game’.

If a player wants to play they should have to forfeit their salary if they get hurt, and any future salary for any future injuries that could be attributed to the injury that occurred while participating.

Again, in my opinion the WBC is absolutely trash and a risk that players shouldn’t be taking. They signed a contract to play for their MLB team and that’s that. Why an owner would ever give permission for the player to participate is insane. Going forward language should be built in that the team can either void the contract or make it non-guaranteed if the player chooses to participate.

Done venting, thanks !

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The WBC game between PR and the DR was the first I've watched this year and I really enjoyed the level of excitement and camaraderie on display between both sides. I'm not sure we even see that the MLB playoffs (I tuned out before the Diaz injury). QUESTION FOR THE CALCATERRA HIVE: does anyone remember an earlyh 80s show on WTBS that was set in a bar, was focused on college football, and had Paul Hornung as one of the hosts? It was a live show, with bar patrons as the audience. The main reason I ask is I'm trying to track down the identity of one of the other hosts. He was a pudgy, red-nosed guy that probably had overalls on and his catch-phrase was to punctuate his sentences with "haaaaw!" Even though the focus was college FB, you no doubt saw this show if you watched Braves games in the early 80s. Thanks!

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1. I'm an Islanders fan who watched our best player sustain a season-ending injury at the Sochi Olympics playing for my country's biggest rival. It sucked, but it indeed could have happened at any time.

2. However, I really do believe that it's uniquely challenging to get pitchers up to speed in March, more dangerous than anything any other sport tries to do with their international play. I'm still not worried about Lindor but I was terrified for Diaz. I don't think it matters that he was celebrating while being injured - he was celebrating immediately after pitching. His body wasn't ready to do what was asked of it today.

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Traveling today so I’ll say my piece all at once:

I feel really bad for Edwin Diaz, Simon and the Mets - in that order.

I only buy inflight wifi if work is paying - the new trend of allowing free inflight messaging is usually all I need. But yeah - never a good look to be in a category of two with the Reds.

The movie that explains me is Joe Versus the Volcano. Life is weird and stupid but, if you believe, true love prevails - and sometimes you just have to dance in the moonlight.

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The one knee down thing lead directly to ATL trading for Sean Murphy this Winter. Contreras the Younger is a good or very good hitter for a catcher but below average at the defensive side of the position. The team tried, in 2021, to get him to use the knee down method but it lead to a number of passed balls.

This reminds me of Tony Peña. He didn’t quite do the same thing. Instead he caught sitting down with one leg beneath him and the other pointing to first. Despite the weird look, he could still really throw. I put a lot of blame for the strike zone moving south on the use of inside chest protectors for umps but most of the rest goes to Peña and his evolution of the crouch.

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Thought it was trash before, never watched a game, EVER, this gave me the reason to rant. Hopefully you didn’t need to look at the avatar to see what caused the rant, if so, well....

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Ah, the best weekend of the year, the NCAA Tournament. ESPN will be live-streaming all 8 mats, Dog Bone Friday Night, the Blood Round, the finals with Spencer Lee (probably) going for four straight titles...

Wait, we are talking about the NCAA Wrestling Championships, right?

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I am not the world’s foremost Brentford fan, not nearly. But, I have always enjoyed football as it is played all over the planet, in addition to the American version of rugby. (American football fans should do themselves a favor and watch rugby.)

In that vein, I recall recently tying the phrase used today, “…everyone’s number comes up eventually.” to the rather obvious soccer substitution process, whereby an official calls a player off the pitch by holding up a sign with that player’s number.

Of course, today’s electronic signs, red for the player removed, green for the substitute’s number, are cool (and a watch advertisement), but, it’s your number. It is up.

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I thought Bobby Caldwell was an FBI agent, had a son named Linus.

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