Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Let there be snark.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

So many bastards, so little time.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Motown is Joe-Town!

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Please don’t feed the bears.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I Love Playoff Hockey

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    SWMBO

    I would think that you are moderately pleased with the outcome of last night’s game.

    Did they call the guy safe or out?

  2. 2.

    RobertDSC (Quad Intel Mac)

    The Dodgers are playing well and I’m glad.

    I’m still blown away by the premiere of the third season of Orphan Black. A ferocious opener.

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    The refs in the HOU-DAL game last night were insane on calling post play really tight. Of course, they only decided to call it after Howard had 5 blocks in five minutes.
    I guess they want The Beard to run this series.

  4. 4.

    Tommy

    @RobertDSC (Quad Intel Mac): Orphan Black rocks!

    If you could get me playoff hockey in the regular season I’d be a fan. But it is like two different games. Same thing I think when I watch hockey in the Olympics. I want that game played.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    I hope whichever team you support has a better day that my Liverpool FC did at Wembley in the FA Cup semifinal: an equalising goal disallowed by a referee’s wrong offside call.

  8. 8.

    Hungry Joe

    “Orphan Black” is so much fun that it’s almost to much to bear. And Tatiana Maslany may be the greatest actor in this quadrant of the galaxy. After the show last night I started to say to my wife what a shame it was that the actor playing Helena didn’t have very much to do in this episode … and then I remembered.

    I don’t think cable is given near enough credit for its contribution to television. Never mind the 500 channels of crap; try to imagine network TV coming up with The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, or Orphan Black (just to name my faves). THIS is the Golden Age of Television … unless it gets even better. For my money, it now beats movies, which — and we rarely stop to think about this — must be crammed into lengths of 90- to 150 minutes. Why? In addition to economic factors, there are butt-soreness and attention factors. But now, on TV, great stories are being told over 5, 10, 20, 50 hours. It’s a significant artistic breakthrough.

  9. 9.

    RK

    @SWMBO:

    He’s out. Doesn’t matter if the ball got stuck in the mitt’s webbing.

    @Betty Cracker:

    Ball got stuck in the mitt which doesn’t matter.

    @Hungry Joe:

    You don’t find those shows–all shows that last that long–overstay their welcome? And most turn into-or were at the onset though hidden–glorified soap operas, no?

  10. 10.

    Hunter Gathers

    @Betty Cracker: The ball got stuck in the pitcher’s glove, so he tossed the glove with the embedded baseball to first base to get the out. Happens every now and then.

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    @Hungry Joe: I agree.

    The medium is the message :)

    These independent channels are set up beautifully to tell complicated stories over long periods — without the constraints and pressure that complicated previous attempts.

  14. 14.

    Tommy

    @Hungry Joe: I am so all in with everything you said. When I got rid of cable a year ago I started to watch a lot of shows via the BBC on Hulu. They have a number of shows they don’t drive into the ground. The writers know the show is going to be 10 shows. That is it. So they tell the story with that in mind.

    American shows are starting to go there.

    The first couple, well they were popular and amazing, they are doing another season. Fuck! I just don’t know how as a writer you can make a wonderful story and not know how many hours you have to tell it.

    I recall Chris Carter of X Files fame talking about his experience with Fox. As they went to the fourth year he said he knew how to end the show, the story arc was in place.

    They told him they owned the show, so him. They ran it for another six years and ran it into the ground. Carter had a great quote, “if somebody is going to run my show into the ground it might as well be me collecting a pay check.”

  18. 18.

    Corner Stone

    @JenJen:

    Allez Les Habs!!!

    That’s more than enough of the Muslim language up in this place, thank you very much!

  22. 22.

    Corner Stone

    I’m still a little undecided on this LeBron kid. Not sure he’s all that great at communicating with his teammates. Maybe he can improve that with a little coaching.

  23. 23.

    WereBear

    @Tommy: I recall Chris Carter of X Files fame talking about his experience with Fox. As they went to the fourth year he said he knew how to end the show, the story arc was in place.

    They told him they owned the show, so him. They ran it for another six years and ran it into the ground.

    Explains a lot. I didn’t even watch it after that breaking point.

    I’ll never forget a Nancy Travis show where she was a free-spirited TV producer who became a couple with a straight-laced ADA. It was a very funny show that had a successful first season. The network suits were thrilled and ditched the ADA, saying they wanted all madcap.

    You can’t do comedy without a straight man. I think it lasted six weeks after that.

    And it wasn’t funny anymore.

  24. 24.

    RK

    @Shell:

    The leather webbing gets stretched, thus loose, allowing a ball with enough force to become lodged. Mitts aren’t sold that way.

  25. 25.

    Tommy

    @Corner Stone: LOL. I grew up in Illinois so Jordan, Jordan, Jordan. LeBron might not have the titles Jordan has but watching him play I am not sure there has ever been a more dominant player. Maybe Wilt, but I am too young to have seen him play.

  26. 26.

    Tommy

    @RK: Yeah buy a new glove you have to work it. It doesn’t shape to your hand and it will almost help you catch a ball with hit in the mit you have spent time with. But there is webbing in a glove. Hit hard enough it will “stick” there.

  27. 27.

    Hungry Joe

    @RK: Sure, some shows overstay their welcome and become (or were always) just glorified soap operas. So what? They’re great for a while, and then they’re not; I suggest you stop watching when they bring in a shark, water skis, and the Fonz. Other shows (e.g., Breaking Bad) are solid from the first episode to the last.The point is, we didn’t see anything this good (save for the occasional BBC/Thames epics like “The Jewel in the Crown” and “I, Claudius) 20 years ago.

  29. 29.

    Amir Khalid

    @WereBear:
    It’s my all-time favourite show. The wall-paper on my laptop is a still from the very last shot of season 8: Mulder and Scully celebrating the birth of their son.

    The show lost its way after Chris Carter shut down the original mythology in season 6. There were still plenty of good monster-of-the-week episodes, but now instead of fighting the conspiracy Mulder and Scully were merely watching its collapse. Their personal relationship had to be moved to the spotlight to take its place. It turned the show into a soap opera about two boring white people, as CC had feared would happen.

  31. 31.

    Hungry Joe

    @WereBear:

    Customer: “Just stop talking about the war!”

    Basil Fawlty: “Well, you started it.”

    Customer: “We did not!”

    Fawlty: “You did, too — you invaded Poland.”

  32. 32.

    RK

    @Hungry Joe: Yeah, I happened to hear an interview with some novelist or short story writer a while ago on NPR and he said the best writing these days can be found in these TV shows. I don’t watch many and a soap opera in itself isn’t a bad thing I suppose, but many of these shows seem to become exercises in manipulation.

    And looking again at the vid it appears the pitcher has the ball in his hand initially as he thinks about throwing to second which means he lodged the ball himself which is quite possible but very unusual.

  34. 34.

    Tommy

    @lamh36: I ordered some high-end stuff from Omaha Steaks. They sent me some chicken fried steaks as a freebie with the order. Having one of those, gravy, some mash potatoes, and green beans for dinner.

  35. 35.

    Pogonip

    Oh, good, a topic most of the gentlemen will be reading. I want to thank whoever recommended Harrys.com a while back. I tried them and haven’t nicked my knee since. I’m getting my son. Mr. Thickbeard, a starter kit too. Maybe Cole should try one on Steve.

    I keep telling Mr. Thickbeard to just let it grow, but since he won’t, at least Harry will save him money and blood. Thanks again!

    Also, I note Lovey is a happy member of the Geg6 family. Yay!

  36. 36.

    WereBear

    @Hungry Joe: A fave. And this one:

    Sybil Fawlty: If I find out the money on that horse was yours, you know what I’ll do, Basil.

    Basil Fawlty: You’ll have to sew ’em back on first.

  38. 38.

    Tommy

    @Pogonip: Pretty sure that was me. About 100% sure it was me. I’ve been giving starter kits to every male I know. They are like you, saying to me wow this is amazing.

  39. 39.

    Corner Stone

    @efgoldman: We won the game. But it was pretty brutal that we had a double digit lead and they took Howard out of the mix for us.
    And, guess what? The other team caught up while he was out! Huh!

    It’s like I told my son this past Saturday when his hoop team won their game and he was talking about the refs being against them. I said, don’t leave it close enough for them to be a deciding factor. Easier to do in youth sports.
    There’s no doubt their impact when they remove Dwight Howard from the game for 8 to 12 minutes near the end of half.

  40. 40.

    Tommy

    @Hungry Joe: I am SO HAPPY you bought the razor and like it. Hearing you and “Pogonip” bought the product and like it made my Sunday!

  41. 41.

    JordanRules

    Happy DRose got a playoff game under his belt and escaped injury free.

    Woooo Kyrie!

  43. 43.

    JordanRules

    @efgoldman: I haven’t watched the Borscht Belt Bellhop yet, but I have it on my list and am fascinated by life in the Catskills summer resorts back then. Imagine Wilt on your rec league team!

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    @WereBear:
    Darren McGavin was a guest on two episodes of The X-Files; his character was a retired agent who had worked the X-Files in the 1950s.

  46. 46.

    Gene108

    @efgoldman:

    The number that blows my mind about Wilt that season is 8 minutes.

    One game that season he was on the bench for a total of 8 minutes.

    Other than that he played every minute of every game.

    Mind boggling you can play that much and not have to sit due to foul trouble, some small injury that you see in basketball like a player getting inadvertently poke in the eye, etc.

  50. 50.

    Tommy

    @Gene108: OK that might be the more or most amazing stat I’ve heard of Wilt. When I watch games today they talk about sitting their best players and I am like WTF. Sure they can have back to back games, but most days they play a game or three a week. Seems to me a world class athlete ought to be able to play a full game at peak level.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    @efgoldman:

    As an anti-Wilt fan, one of the most frustrating things is that he never got in foul trouble.

    Only losers complain about the zebras.

  52. 52.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Pogonip: M.Q got a Harry’s set and doesn’t like the swivel of the blade head. He also finds the scent too strong. The shaving gel has an awesome feel though, so I’ve co-opted it in spite of what I agree is a scent too heavily formulated. Harry’s told him to just keep the kit and refunded the price.

  53. 53.

    dww44

    Can someone provide a quick counter or link to help me rebut this email I just received from a close cousin who is linking to a piece saying that Harry Reid’s “abrupt’ resignation is caused not by inujury but by corruption
    .
    http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/03/corruption-scandals-led-to-harry-reids-abrupt-retirement/

    Yeah, I know I can research this stuff; yeah I know from looking at that website on which side of the political divide their views reside, but golly it would just make me feel better if it were easily possible to rebut this right back at this otherwise sane relative.

    This stuff is just getting so terribly old and depressing. Why would a political movement waste so much time and effort trying to destroy Democrats and liberals? Why is that apparently their only objective?

  55. 55.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @raven: Hoops indeed. One of our locals, the Big O, is a very nice man. I’d met him at some kind of event years ago, and then about 5 years after that I saw him at another event, where unsurprisingly he had a big crowd so I stayed out of the way. As he got over to my area of the room, he smiled and said something to the effect of “were you not going to stop and say “Hi” to me Bella?” When I told him I’d figured he was pretty exhausted by the crowds he just chuckled and said “it’s all part of it.” Now I make sure to say “Hi, Oscar” when I see him at an event, LOL.

  57. 57.

    Tommy

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I don’t know what kit the person got but I don’t think they sell any razor that swivels. As to the smell, same thing. I am anal about this. Their stuff has almost no perfume in it. I don’t work for the company and kind of hate to seem to peddle their goods, but I see none of what you said.

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    As a semi-retired work-at-home person, I don’t have to shave every day, so my old Mach 3 Turbo is fine (with its paltry three blades), but recently I picked up some Nivea Men sensitive shaving cream that is awesome. Light, pleasant scent, very slippery, and a little goes a long way. It’s way better than what I was using before (Aveeno?). You and/or the mister might check it out.

  61. 61.

    Hal

    @dww44: Judicial Watch is a right wing nutjob website. Just like wing nut daily. If your cousin is a regular consumer of such sites there is nothing you can say that will persuade them otherwise.

    A conclusion I’ve just recently come to myself.

  65. 65.

    Amir Khalid

    @Steeplejack:
    I continued shaving for years after I was medically retired from my journo job — force of habit. Then one day a couple of years ago, I looked in the bathroom mirror and asked myself, “Self, why bother?” Now I have a partly-gray beard that I trim every few days. I like it better.

  66. 66.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Tommy: I misspoke! Instead of pivoting, the razor bends and that doesn’t work because to change the angle you need to change the pressure (I’ll note that he did love the shape of the handle). So of course the reason he didn’t like it is not what I described.

    Given Pogonip’s experience, however, I’ll now try the razor! I also find the gel really heavily scented – with a not unpleasant parfum, but entirely too strong for me. What’s too heavy in terms of fragrance is entirely subjective, but I’ll note that there is still slight fragrance in yesterday’s washcloth.

  67. 67.

    ThresherK

    @Tommy: But Wilt was far, far to the tail end of athleticism, if you look at the distribution curve, so to speak.

    Folks more learned than I have also mentioned this w.r.t. baseball, too. What used to be acceptable power from middle infelders 40 years ago simply doesn’t fly.

  69. 69.

    Steeplejack

    @raven:

    My father had a Braun for years that was built like a tank. I had one (electric razor, not a Braun) for a while about a million years ago, thought it was okay, nothing great. Then I had a beard for 30 years. Currently just a ’stache and goatee, and lately I have been hearing a voice telling me the goatee should go.

  70. 70.

    raven

    @Steeplejack: Yea, I have a goat and have for years. The biggest pain in the ass for me was my lower lip and the electric handles it quite well.

  72. 72.

    Suzanne

    @WereBear: I make homemade sugar scrub from sugar, olive or coconut oil, and essential oil, and I use that to shave. It. Is. Awesome.

    I sprung for some laser hair removal, and I am very excited. First appointment is Friday. WOOT!

  73. 73.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Amir Khalid:

    I almost always prefer beards to non-beards on guys, as long as they are decently trimmed and somewhat kempt. IOW, no Duck Dynasty hirsutitude, please — but Van Dykes, goatees, full beards are great. When combined with glasses, pipes, and snifters of brandy, I’m even more smitten. (Yes, I like the stereotypical intellectual in his library. Bring on the leather-elbowed smoking jacket!)

  74. 74.

    dww44

    @Hal: You’re right. She spends far too much time on these sites whilst her radio is tuned to conservative pundits. All day long, every day. The only positive is that she doesn’t appear to tune into Fox. She delights in forwarding stuff to the two liberals (her sister and me) in her life. Re the Reid piece, her comment to me was that she was sure that I wouldn’t agree, given my “bias”, but that she’s so glad he will be gone.

  77. 77.

    different-church-lady

    Why is that guy in a Cubs uniform? That guy should not be in a Cubs uniform…

    Also, why does Vine not work on my seven-year-old Mac? Vine is just a .gif, right? I mean I know my computer is way not keeping up with the times, but what is it about a damn .gif that’s so bizarre that an old computer can’t deal?

  79. 79.

    different-church-lady

    @dww44: You got two choices here:

    1) Call your cousin nuts to her face.

    2) Drop it.

    Any other choice is just a one-way ticket on a tour bus signed for ‘RABBIT HOLE’

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    Hey Raven, I bid on an item in the silent auction in Plains last night — painting by JC of a young boy fishing — and if I had won it I would have given it to you. Probably just as well I was outbid.

  82. 82.

    different-church-lady

    @raven: Not sure what you mean by hilight — as in select it the way one would select text?

    Does it rely on Flash? I can’t upgrade my Flash unless I upgrade my OS, and I can’t upgrade my OS without breaking a lot of my other everyday stuff I can’t afford to upgrade. Why? Because I failed to make the proper choices in brain development when I was an infant and wound up being a “creative” person.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    @SiubhanDuinee

    Monocles?

    Back before I decided that there are about a gajillion things I’d rather do in the morning than attack my face with a sharp object, used to be partial to some of the products from Caswell-Massey.

    That was back when there was just their one store in NYC, which had been there for over 200 years (although they also had a funkily designed mail order catalog). Attention to detail and to quality of ingredients was evident. Understand they have expanded outside of NYC quite a bit since then, so cannot vouch for any of their current items.

    For the bicentennial year of 1976, gifted several people with an aftershave from Caswell-Massey, the same one they originally concocted for George Washington.

  84. 84.

    different-church-lady

    @Hungry Joe:

    I don’t think cable is given near enough credit for its contribution to television. Never mind the 500 channels of crap;

    Bifurcation: it’s a golden age and a nadir at the same time. It all depends on what you’re seeing at the moment.

  87. 87.

    different-church-lady

    @raven: control clicking gets me a brief Flash menu, so yeah, it’s probably that Flash is sorely out of date — software so bad that Steve Jobs chose to die rather than continue in a world ruled by it.

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    I think monocles are very cool, but that’s mostly because I lost my heart to Lord Peter Wimsey at an early and vulnerable age. LPW did not, however, have a beard (in fact, there is considerable discussion of his history of being clean-shaven in Have His Carcase).

  89. 89.

    J R in WV

    I quit shaving in 1968, except for boot camp in 1970.

    Stopped regular barber shop appointments in the late 70s, except when I was looking for a new job, every few years. Then in about 1994, I quit for good.

    Saved thousands of dollars, over my lifetime!

    Spent it on champagne, instead! Will drink some tonight.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    I got out of there. Weather was UG-LEE. I’ve been to A’ville before and can go there again. This wouldn’t have been a good day for a visit.

  91. 91.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: I cannot go more than three days without shaving. I start to feel itchy and unclean. In addition, I don’t have a very heavy beard so growing it out wouldn’t look that good. OTOH, I still have a full, thick head of hair up top.

  92. 92.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    If Jimmy had ever painted a picture of a killer rabbit, and I were lucky enough to bid successfully on it, I expect I’d donate it to the Pythons.

  94. 94.

    Suzanne

    @SiubhanDuinne: I bought Mr. Suzanne a prescription monocle for Christmas 2013. He is not a style dude, but I try to buy him nicer menswear items so he has them for the appropriate occasions, since I know he will never buy them himself. One day, I was asking him if he wanted cuff links, tie bars, etc, and he said, “The only one of those types of things I’ve ever wanted is a monocle. I want to cultivate an air of oddity…..or some pince-nez. Like Scrooge McDuck.” He was very surprised and pleased that he got his very own monocle (with chain). I don’t think he knew that I would find one.

  95. 95.

    Suzanne

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s weird that it really seems to be one or the other. Dude who still have their hair often can’t rock the facial hair, and vice versa. I suppose it’s how the universe finds balance.

    And then there’s me, who finds dudes with shaved heads sexy.

  99. 99.

    Schlemazel

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    had a mustache for 43 years now but my beard looks like heck so I removed it & shave daily. But I still have my hair, My dad had just a tiny bald spot in his 80s, hs dad was bald before 50, maternal granddad still had almost all his hair in his 90s so maybe there is a connection between a decent beard & head hair.

    I have recently started shaving when I shower, I find hair conditioner to be a much better shave cream than the stuff sold for that purpose. Disposable razors last me a long time so I don’t feel any guilt for using them.

  102. 102.

    JPL

    In case it has not been mentioned

    After a two-season exile, the man who took the Broncos to the divisional round in 2011 before being summarily dumped for Peyton Manning will have a new job in the NFL………………………………………………………………
    Per Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, Tim Tebow will sign with the Eagles on Monday. (Yes, Glazer has the scoop, even though Tebow works for ESPN.)

    copied from nbc.sports

  115. 115.

    Goblue72

    @Hungry Joe: We almost never go to the big multi-pled cinemas anymore, except for maybe a once a year blockbuster to see on IMAX, like the recent Star Trek movies or superhero movie like Avengers.

    Otherwise, going to the movies means some indie / art house fare at one of the nearby new school places that have sofa or armchair seats, tables, an in-house serving real food cooned to order, and several local microbrews on tap. At that point, it’s closer to “going to the brewpub/taproom/bistro while a movie is playing”.

  117. 117.

    burnspbesq

    @Amir Khalid:

    I hope whichever team you support has a better day that my Liverpool FC did at Wembley in the FA Cup semifinal: an equalising goal disallowed by a referee’s wrong offside call.

    Yes, but against Aston F’ing Villa, it shouldn’t come down to that. Liverpool was awful, and richly deserved to lose.

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