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September 15, 2022
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I haven't seen the ads on my browser yet, only on the app.

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OK, fine. So, is it "The Times of England," or "The Times of Great Britain," or "The Times of the U.K.?"

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September 15, 2022
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"Ye Olde Times" ?

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How about 'The Times (UK)', seeing the 'of [whatever]' element is what's causing the issue? The name is 'The Times', the fact that its location to be identified should be attached to its name.

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The UKT. That'll REALLY grind their gears.

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Maybe "The Times of the Kingdom, or the Empire, or Whatever the Hell This Is, of Britannia"

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... of Anaheim.

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"The Times of the Kingdom of King Chuck III"

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But has it *always* been just "The Times"? I mean, I have strong memories from childhood of the two British newspapers of note being "The London Times" and "The Manchester Guardian". Of course, now The Guardian has lost its Manchester and The Times its London (if it ever had it, which, I suppose, is the question).

Of course, the real problem is that for many Americans, "The Times" refers unambigiously to The New York Times, and all other TImeses get their city modifiers, whether LA, London, or Chicago Sun-.

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To me it makes sense at least to use London when outside of England because there are so many other Times papers. In England it might be considered obvious that it's the London one unless otherwise specified.

To assume that the London Times is seen as the default everywhere else around the world is pretty arrogant imo.

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"UK Today"

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'Today' which was the UK version, was shut down in the 90's by Murdoch.

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After the Timmy Trumpet game, I said that the Mets were now cool. Since then, they have not played at all well. I clearly jinxed them. I hereby offer a retraction: the Mets are not cool. They never will be cool. It was my mistake and the Mets should not suffer for it. (Intellectually speaking, I know there is not such thing as a jinx. They lost last night mainly because Showalter decided that Peterson's last bad start was an aberration instead of seeing that Peterson is reaching his limit for the year. But that doesn't mean I am not feeling it at the gut level.)

We need to call it the Times of London to distinguish it from the Times of India and the Times of Israel, clearly.

So is Patagonia also going to pay its workers better along the way? They apparently do treat their people well, but I am always a skeptic.

https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/how-can-patagonia-have-only-4-percent-worker-turnover-hint-they-pay-activist-employees-bail.html

Good week for unions, though. Even as MiLB is making remarkable headway, the rail workers seem to have won enough concessions to head off a strike. A reminder that people strike exactly because it gives them leverage.

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What's gotten into Patrick Corbin? Three of his last 4 starts he's allowed only 1 run and gone at least 6 innings. That other one was a normal clunker though.

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They skipped his turn in the rotation not long ago to give him a chance to work on some things in the bullpen, but I remain a believer in the idea that Riley Adams (who caught last night) should be his personal catcher, because he's demonstrably better with him behind the plate:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=corbipa01&year=2022&t=p#all_catch

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Young Mr. Adams also broke up a perfect game, a no-hitter and a shutout all at once in the bottom of the third with a HR. He can stay.

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That COVID denying, anti-vaxxer insurrectionist sympathizer bastard is going to pitch JUST well enough to deny us the delight of seeing him lose 20. We can’t even have enjoyably terrible things.

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I worry someone told Norwich the Milwaukee Brewers used to be a AAA club and they think this checks the “promotion” box.

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Well, they tried to get Bill Veeck involved first, but you know how news travels slowly across the pond, and...

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Gary Neville has his panties in a bunch because of Todd Boehly saying there should be a Premier League All-Star Game. It's fine to give your money but heaven forefend if you were to make suggestions of change, hence is acceptance of journalism-killing money in Newcastle and the Glaziers paying his wages before he left Man Utd. The other possibility is that Mr. Blake Lively has brought into Wrexham and elevated their status in the public eye, eclipsing his own ownership of Salford City?

Either way, don't upset Gary.

If ever there was a Regulator required, maybe it should apply to those investing from countries that are marginally more chaotic than the US (like all the dodgy Chinese or other indeterminate investment from the Far East) which has caused more harm to the English Pyramid than any American money.

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September 15, 2022
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Ideas such as that (amazingly) pre-date any American input, since at least the early 90's (and possibly before) larger clubs have been looking at ways to create closed league or cup competitions - last years iteration was merely the most recent. Each time the end result is UEFA has (more successfully it seems than the PGA/European Tour re: LIV etc) shut it down as their very existence rests on remaining within their domestic associations.

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And let's not forget the Premier League itself was an idea dreamed up by five clubs, most if not all of whom were British owned, as a way to try and redistribute wealth upwards and entrench their positions in the long-term. It wasn't quite as bad as a closed shop but it sure wasn't an idea based on sporting merit.

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I agree with you. I think unfortunately a super league is probably coming, the American owners really seem to spearhead it. As Andy notes it’s been fought off successfully so far but the economic surety for big clubs is probably going to trump tradition in the end.

There’s a lot that’s wrong with the European competitive model (e.g. as a concession last year to bring the big clubs back into the fold the rules for Champions’ League qualification were made even more favorable to clubs with a history of success). Individual leagues have plenty of issues too (the Bundesliga is a joke, Bayern will always win for the foreseeable future). But I think what Neville is objecting to is the idea that American owners prefer a closed shop franchise model where no big team runs a risk of relegation. There are plenty of other owners (Abramovich, M City and PSG and Newcastle owners) with skeletons in their closet, but while they spend a ton of money and that distorts the competitiveness in a different way, they don’t seem as interested in a super league; they’re using ownership as a toy and sport washing of their reputations rather than a profit-maximizing opportunity.

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Mr Lively flies under the radar on account of being Canadian; stealth American.

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In the words of the late Ron Atkinson, it's really hard to tell the difference.

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A pedant writes: Big Ron is alive and 83.

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Dammit, really. I shouldn't have logged-in today clearly, making a mess of myself on free Thursday.

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His criticisms are, and tend to be, right. The problem is that he's a massive hyprocrite most of the time.

Whether it's his analysis of ownership issues (Americans: worrying; Saudis: fine; Singaporean: incredible!), political issues (criticising the North/South divide, housing, public investment etc, while rapaciously developing property all over Manchester), or even just football (he's always shy to stick the boot into the source of United's issues) he has a long track record of making troubling exceptions. Not a huge problem as a normal human being, but less defensible for a serious commentator.

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*I* think he has his panties in a bunch because he thinks English football can TAKE the Saudis for a ride, while he's afraid American ownership will take English Football FOR A RIDE.

He may or may not be right, but fundamentally it's a feeling that they won't be the top dog in the relationship.

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I think that’s pretty solid analysis. New owners from troubles geopolitical spots with deep pockets might pump one club up above its prior station but they don’t tend to change the fundamental structure of the league. Americans are more into an American franchise model, a salary cap, that sort of thing.

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The description of Gunnar Henderson hitting a triple and scoring on a throwing error is far too kind to what actually happened. On a cool, dry, beautiful evening in Washington, César Hernández, who was playing left field for some reason, treated the baseball like a bar of soap and may have thrown it ten feet, mostly behind him. You can see the video here:

https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/gunnar-henderson-hits-little-league-home-run

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That was worse than Fifty Cent’s ceremonial first pitch.

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If he was thrown out at the plate, is that 7-7-5-2?

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I can buy that gambling reduces fan engagement. My experience isn't with gambling, but I found it to be true even with fantasy sports when I used to play them. I became only interested in who got a hit or scored a touchdown, and the result of the games didn't much matter to me. I'm guessing that holds even more true when money is on the line if it was true for my bragging rights only fantasy leagues.

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Same. Six or seven years back, I quit my two fantasy baseball leagues (football years before) and decided to drop it all for a year. No Super Bowl boxes, no NCAA pools, zilch. Other than a charity NCAA pool (where 1/2 money went to Avon 39 Walk team and I would have donated my winnings) and dropping $20 on the ponies on a trip back to Minnesota, I've not gone back.

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I have enjoyed the NCAA tournament so much more now that I don't do the brackets. It's just fun to watch the upsets and buzzer beaters. Even the "chalk" teams winning can still be fun to watch now that I'm no longer hoping for the upset.

I'm in a dynasty league for baseball and a redraft league for football. The baseball is $100 buy in and the football is $50. That is now more or less the entirety of my sports gambling.

Since I finished in the money in both leagues last year (and made the Playoffs in the baseball league this year) I haven't had to fork over any money in quite some time.

Gambling has just never been a vice for me. I've had other vices (unfortunately) but gambling was never one. It's never really added to the enjoyment of sports. If the Eagles win on Sunday (or whenever they play that week) I'm happy. Don't give a shit about whether or not they cover the spread.

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I am now ready to revoke my designation of the Nats as “not terrible“… They went behind on a three-run triple to right by Gunnar Henderson that “left fielder“ Cesar Hernandez misplayed waiting for a bounce and then literally whiffed as he tried to make a throw, resulting in a little league HR.

PS Given my life recently, I did not expect to laugh at that coffin flop sketch… But I was wrong. I laughed HARD, my friends. What is wrong with all of us? (That’s just rhetorical; we’ll probably run out of room in the comments trying to answer that.)

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In fairness, you have to admit Pempotowwuthut-Muhhcanneuw wasn't really a practical name to use going forward. Pempoto might have worked though.

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September 15, 2022
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I don't speak German, but my impression* is many German words are similarly just description of the thing. Which leads to overly long words in both cases.

(* That impression is admittedly mostly from war games, where I learned panzerkampfwagen (tank) is "armored fighting vehicle" and I think fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) is something like "fighter with an umbrella in a case". I suspect I'll soon be corrected by someone who actually does speak German.)

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I wonder if that's why place names are so long in Welsh too.

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It seems like Tony Conigliaro has been completely forgotten.

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Playing in the second deadball era kept his raw numbers down even before the beaning. He lead the league in homers at age 20 by hitting 32. I think Aaron Judge hits that many for breakfast.

Conigliaro, Blair, Thon and of course Chapman. Getting hit in the face isn’t a good thing for the career.

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Sure…but he still should be on Craig’s list of youngest guys to 100 HRs. Tony C was younger than any of them except Ott.

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Both he and ARod did it in their age 22 seasons but I’ll certainly take your word for precise age to the day of the two.

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Ott 22 years, 132 days

Tony C 22 197

Eddie Mathews 22 293

ARod 23 16

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So you are saying he ott to be on the list?

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We have a like button. We need a hate button. Boooooo!

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Heyward, too. His career wasn't cut short, exactly (ask Cubs fans), but he was never the same.

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So a chess guy thinks he can use electric impulsed anal beads to win matches..? Dude, he's so full of it.

(I'll see myself out after that terrible line. But hey, when you teach middle schoolers, one's humor level tends to meet that maturity level.)

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I’m definitely old. I saw the bit about Plesac and was surprised that he was still pitching. It’s been quite a while since he was a closer in Milwaukee before his long loogy career.

... All of which ended two decades ago. Zach is Dan’s nephew. Ouch.

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That was me watching Mark Leiter (Jr) close out the game for the Cubs last night against the Mets.

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It has now been 18 years since Atlanta paid for one year rental of JD Drew. I’m thinking that Wainwright may just slightly be worth a touch more. Karmic payback for Smoltz v Alexander?

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I'm all for companies buying and selling carbon offsets as a first step for fighting climate change. An extension to consider would be buying and selling exercise offsets. I'd gladly buy someone else's exercise time instead of doing it myself. I'll be cutting firewood next week and will have some extra credits to sell.

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Bike and Beer finally makes sense!

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Tony Conigliaro is still the second youngest player to reach 100 homers. One of the saddest stories in baseball shortly after that feat.

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