March 1st
For me, today has always been the start of baseball season, Spring and Day Light Savings Time. And yes, that does create some day to day logistical problems…..
For some reason I’m more worried about Hunter Pence than I am Matt Cain. Or maybe I’m equally worried about them. Had I not followed Pence and his fiance all off season on Twitter I wouldn’t even be giving this foot issue a second thought. But I have too much information. I’ve seen too many bad short films and dumb gifs.
Don’t sweat it, I will shoulder the worry about Pence while you guys stress about Cain. My worry is irrational. I think. No reason for others to get dragged down by it……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Well, being someone who is getting older myself, all these nagging injuries pile up. But, who knows? Pence is a MUCH bigger worry to me because I’ve not really been counting on Matt the Horse for much more than fair to poor given his recent history. Pence on the other hand is being counted on to be a massive producer this year. As in last year was the anomaly, not the trend.
That being said, don’t know if you caught this, but the LA Clippers unveiled their new mascot at half time of yesterday’s game.
I give you Chuck the Condor.
I guess I should feel honored somehow, but really? Nothing says “Clipper” like a road-kill-eating jackal of the skies.
You can’t make this shit up.
What’s with the knee pads and elbow pads? Is he a clumsy condor?
Road kill? You mean Pablo Neruda was lying when he pretended to be a male condor aloft, singing this to his consort? “Saltemos / sobre esta presa roja / desgarremos la vida / que pasa palpitando”. Palpitando. The heart of the prey pounding as the shadows descend.
And today’s favorite quote is – “like a road-kill-eating jackal of the skies.” Outstanding Unca_Chuck, I will be using that one if you don’t mind.
As far as worries go, I’m starting to get a little worried about the Belt.
http://brandon.mlblogs.com/
There is time to kill in Spring Training, apparently. 🙂
The post before that, the one by Crawford, is pretty depressing. The post is basically “stick a fork in rock music, it’s over and done, as far as the younger generations are concerned.” That’s sad. Rock music used to be such a cultural shaper and mover. It still has an audience, but doesn’t drive the culture anymore, and hasn’t for about 20 years. I mark the death of Kurt Cobain as the end of rock music as a cultural force. So we’ll put the timeline from about Elvis to Cobain. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. About 40 years. Who’da thunk rock music’s era would be only 40 years? Oh well, that’s longer than rag-time piano, and big band music.
Yeah, it’s weird. I mean, rock music, real hard rock music, was ignored by the mainstream all through the 60’s to the mid 90s. The Grammies and shit had nothing to offer in terms of what teenagers were listening to, and what wsa really driving the music scene.
Once the grammies gave lip service to the genre it had ignored for 30 years, the height of weirdness hit when Jethro Tull won best metal album for Crest of a Knave. Granted, I loved Tull through the 70s, they were one of the most awesome bands to see live. Incredibly complex and talented musicians. But they were a metal as Santana or Tiffany.
Metallica funnily said in 1991 when they won for best metal album (the black album), thank God Jethro Tull didn’t put out an album this year.
Rap has pretty much taken over in the realm of what the coming-of-age types are going toward. The last band I feel that really was getting across to the masses with a big fat edge was System Of A Down.
What I find even more interesting/weird/cool is my kids have all at one time or another gravitated to the music of the 60s and 70s. Van Halen, Santana, the Who, Hendrix, the Dead.
Yeah, and not one damn Polka.
Actually, I can’t imagine how bad the tunes were before, for Craw’s selections to be considered an upgrade.
it’s unbelievable that such as successful business man like Steve Ballmer would sign off on something so stupid.
Nah – your worries on Pence are not irrational. Pence is a starting OFer about who the team (and us fans) have high expectations to be a big part of this year’s team. I certainly view this ailment as more bothersome than that of Cain. As others have said, I had no expectations for Cain, and if he does come back, it is once every five days. We need Pence in there contributing every day.
I am not going to trip on it until I hear more. Hopefully it is a minor bump in the road and Pence is ready to go.
ST stuff, imo. Pence, who said, “it feels fine today”, would probably play if this was April. Gives time and ABs to those they want to look at–intra squad 3 inning mostly prospects game today
I mean in the Chron they are talking about Surkamp and his minor league deal with A’s. Zzzzzz.
The Clippers will always be with us, from Benoit Benjamin and Toby Kimball to Doc acquired guys like Matt Barnes and that toxic Stephenson guy he jettisoned after few months .
Mascot should be a tool, and not the sharpest one in shed.
I still think Dodgers have way more issues than Giants, with a rook mgr. trying to solve them.
Ryu not expected to be ready til May and McCarthy back on the DL.
Turner will sit out a week of ST also, and his health is pretty important to them.
Crawford is owed $21 mil this season and next. Last year he played 69 games with OPS .700.
Ethier is owed $35 mil next 2 yrs. .850 OPS last year but he hit even .200 vs. LHP. And of course the epic meltdown in dugout in playoffs.
Right side of platoon is VanSlyke whose numbers went from .297 and .900 OPS 2014 to .239 and .760 OPS last year.
Plus he hits .225 vs. RHP.
Pederson of course had two very different half seasons last year and K’d 170 times.
Puig you can’t know what to expect. But star of one of my fav gifs of all time from his performance in playoffs striking out repeatedly vs. Cards 2 years ago. Last year, Mattingly sat him.
Actually, New Orleans cornered the market on terrifying mascots.
I think John Wayne Gacy designed this one . . .
I think I got drunk with this guy.
Matt Taibbi’s recent article in Rolling Stone is pretty rough on Trump, Cruz, and Rubio. Here’s something he said about Cruz:
“Cruz in person is almost physically repellent. Psychology Today even ran an article by a neurology professor named Dr. Richard Cytowic about the peculiarly off-putting qualities of Cruz’s face.
He used a German term, backpfeifengesicht, literally “a face in need of a good punch,” to describe Cruz. This may be overstating things a little. Cruz certainly has an odd face – it looks like someone sewed pieces of a waterlogged Reagan mask together at gunpoint”
So, who’s baseball’s “backpfeifengesicht” winner? Bryce Harper? Papelbon went for the neck instead.
Puig, hands-down!
Reading an oped piece in Chron yesterday by a washpost writer who pointed out some depressing stuff about lack of differences btw Trump and the other 2 front runners–about refugees, Muslims, immigration in general, ISIS, health care (no real plans except ending O-care), climate change (full denial) tax plans (more tax cuts for wealthy) and spending (big on defense), same sex marriage and gun control.
Open ? whether the other 2 are just positioning themselves as more electable and trying to get as far to right as possible, but yeow. what they are saying publicly is they are just as loony and backward as he is.
Robt. Reich wrote about this couple weeks ago, that the moderates have been shouted down and the GOP has been hijacked by the evangelicals, xenophobic/obstructionist Tea party types, and those not interested in compromise or working with anyone to solve America’s problems.
Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it is all a moot point until Citizens United is overturned. As long as there is big money in politics, it is all a fucking sham.
The other thing that I feel REALLY needs to be rid of, is the superdelegates on the democratic side of the equation. Superdelegates represent almost ONE THIRD of the total delegates needed to win the party nomination (2,383 and there are 712 superdelegates).
Outside of the superdelegates, the delegates are determined by the vote of the people, but the superdelegates can support whomever the fuck they want with no strings attached. So, roughly one third of the delegates required for the nomination is out of the hands of you and me, the voting public. Bullshit, I say.
Okay, I got my rant out for the day.
How about those Mets?!
Bingo. Get the money out of the halls of congress. At least the overt money.
Superdelegates is the polar opposite of democracy. No wonder the Republikkkans call them the “Democrat” party rather than the democratic.
Trump is for universal health care, though he won;t call it that.
I blame Grover Norquist. Well, and SCOTUS.
Ted Cruz without the makeup
Uncanny . . .
now that is brilliant
“it looks like someone sewed a water logged Reagan mask together at gun point…”
that is some of the purest gold we’ve seen around these parts in a while…..
It’s the greatest, most accurate description I have ever read. The imagery is spot on.
The RS writer did ok. Come on.
I just watched my first live Trump press conference. Entertaining, reckless, irrational, smart, fearless, belligerent, crazy. In other words, me when I was drunk.
Kasichuation in Vermot: PLEASE WIN ONE, Kasich. My brother used to be a DJ in Ohio. His wife didn’t wanna go to a Bob Dylan concert. My brother took his buddy Kasich. That counts for something, doesn’t it?
NY Times had front-page story saying Steph Curry has REDEFINED basketball.
Dear Online Dating Ladies: please, no pictures of you and your dog, you and your friends or kids, beaches, trees, rocks, Harleys, kayaks, selfies. Thank you.
Warriors carving them up right now. Hawks better go back to drawing board on those traps—Bogut lighting them up off lobs is high scorer.
without curry and iguodala tonight.
Warriors seem inspired so far. At half time watching replay of the KY v FL game. Amused by a graphic that pops up listing an impressive “Gator” record held by “M. Speights.” Mo Buckets better play well tonight.
Whew!
Gutty win by the Dubs. Curry and Iggy get a day off an still pull it out in OT.
No Curry, No Iggy, No Problem!!
Draymond Monster incredible 3 for the Win!! One Bad Ass Dude!!
If you had listened to Screamin’ A Smith and Skip Bayliss you’d have thought Draymond Green was the most selfish player in b-ball.
Unreal the bullshit they spin.
You know what Chuck, Screw all the haters of Dubs Basketball. From The Big O, Worse Golf Swing EVER in Golf Charles Barkley, The Freakin x Coach Mark Jackson, who’s jealous he couldn’t get it done and win a championship,and ridicules Curry every chance he gets! So Fuck him especially and the horse he rode in on!!
Green’s block/take-away under the basket, with an immediate blind behind the back pass to Bogut (whose hands are remarkable) deserved the many replays it received on the broadcast. Then in OT Dramond G hit the crucial 3 when the shot clock was near zero.
What’s wrong with this country’s federal politics is an unworkable two-party system. And, gerrymandering that sustains that system. And, disastrous bookends of Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United. And, the demise of the Fairness Doctrine, and rise of right wing propaganda radio and TV over the public airwaves…
Ok. So how do we generate new parties? Ralph Nader’s run in 2000 was the last third party campaign with any force, and the debate still rages over whether Nader helped elect GW Bush over Gore (Nader’s candidacy sure didn’t cut the other way). The system’s fucked up, and so it shall be until disaster undoes it. Vote for the Democratic candidate so the Supreme Court improves. Then live your life the best you can.
Logic tells me, or maybe hope, that this country is not yet stupid enough to elect Trump by popular, and thus electoral, votes. I’m a little scared that if Trump wins the Repug nomination, a third party of GOP exiles will form around a compromise Republican candidate, popular enough to pick off a few states that are up for grabs, so that nobody gets the 270 minimum electoral votes to win the election. So the president will be chosen by a snarling majority of gerrymandered Republicans in the House, opposed going into 2017 by a new majority of Dems in the Senate, causing a national division of depth we haven’t seen since the 1960s, or even the pre-Civil War days…
Gal who cuts my hair is NBA TV fanatic, loves Warriors, but not Bogut. Her English isn’t great but she knows everyone’s number even stars on other teams. I’m always telling her, “Number 12!” and her response is, “I don’t like.” Bogut was fabulous last night, at both ends in 31 minutes.
Green’s clutch desperation 3 made up for couple bricks from out there, and Hawks bigs did the same Milsap 1-6 Horford 1-3. iirc Green hit his first one then missed all the rest til the bomb at 40 seconds left; no idea why Hawks bigs were shooting from so far out. First time I’ve seen Schroeder kid, who is really fast and good looking player, Teague too.