Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

White supremacy is terrorism.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

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

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Second rate reporter says what?

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

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

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

You cannot shame the shameless.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sportsball Open Thread

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  4. 4.

    Jeffro

    Yeah, tonight’s Colts/Texans matchup and tomorrow night’s Jets/Cardinals game have me so disinterested, I feel like 6 hours of my life just opened up. I’m free! I’m free!

    Also, go Cubs go! Fro Jr and I are Cubs fans by proxy (numerous Chicago friends and relatives) and for having visited Wrigley this past spring. Major funness

  5. 5.

    raven

    The Boo Le Bark dog parade was an insane success!!! There were 125 dogs registered, $4000 raised for the local rescue outfit and hundreds of people turned out!! My bride and her committee worked their asses of and it was a great reward!

  7. 7.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    Just remember the Cubs in the Series is a sign of the apocalypse, Trump as President would be the apocalypse. Go Dodgers!

  10. 10.

    Mike J

    I want the Cubs to win the series, because next year the Sox will be in it. Then we don’t have to worry everyone cheering for the guys who have never won it just because they’ve never won it.

  11. 11.

    scav

    @BillinGlendaleCA: OR, we could locally drain all the improbability in the nation by having the Cubs win, leaving nothing whatsoever for Trump and Deplorables. Do we have an Infinite Improbability Drive mechanic in the house to work out what best to do? I’ve got the tea brewing.

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    Love you for this, Betty Cracker!

    Hey, hey, whaddya say,
    Cubs are gonna win today!

  18. 18.

    laura

    Go Sportsball!
    My Giants are out, so rooting for the Cubs.
    The 9rs and Raiders tanked it and am thing of getting the spousal unit Sharks tix for the Jan 7 day game.
    Hauled the weinie dog out when the rain let up (he thinks he’s made of sugar). A record-setting 4 complete booms!
    I’m in a post-Shepherds Pie stupor and considering a shower.
    Also, how about that burning of the Reichstag/GOP HQ? Anyone besides me see and Roger Stone rat f’ery?

  21. 21.

    SFAW

    Cubs in the Series? First they gotta get past my Mets. Good luck with that. The Mets will pitch Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Jacob DeGrom in the first 3 games; the Cubs will be lucky to get a hit. And with Jeurys Familia — the Twenteens incarnation of Armando Benitez — closing becomes lights out for the Cubbies.

    Now, if you’ll all excuse me whilst a go for a heaping helping of laudanum, just like Dr. James Sheppard.

  22. 22.

    redshirt

    @dmsilev: I watched that series live way back when and it was just shocking. The Cubs were rolling, the game was almost over, they were going to the WS…. and then a lazy fly towards the line is muffed by the player and Bartman, and then the Cubs just disintegrated. Like they bought into the hex.

  23. 23.

    raven

    I was such a die hard Cub fan for so long. Then I moved down here 32 years ago and the Braves went on that unbelievable tear and I slipped away. The year I moved was actually in the middle of the Cubs series with the Padres. They killed the Padres in the first two in Wrigley in went to San Diego and, in a game they should have won, pitched to Garvey with 1st base open and that was it. The Bertram scene happened as my dad’s dying in Phoenix so I wasn’t really engaged. The combination of the Olympics and so much soccer meant I did not watch one baseball game until last week. Go Cubbies sounds pretty weak from me but there it is.

  24. 24.

    Bruuuuce

    Let’s go, Goatbusters! (Since the Mets and Yankees both are done, I can root for the end of the Curse, and celebrate the Red Sox having been swept.)

    And nice ending for the Jints today. Thanks, OBJ!

  25. 25.

    scav

    @BillinGlendaleCA: As long as they’re not grabbing anyone’s genitals mid=air, I’ve not got anything specific against pigs flying — so long as it’s not hurricane or tornado based (and even then, I don’t quite hold it against that specific levitating porcine).

    ETA: Granted, I am somewhat concerned that my long-dead Cubs fan grandfather will keel over from the utter shock if they don’t lose in an entirely innovative fashion at the last minute.

  26. 26.

    Suffragette City

    Jack Brickhouse never called them ‘cubbies’ like Harry did who as the former White Sox broadcaster went to the north side. Harrumph!!

    ok, kidding..Harry was a lot of fun but I still can’t call them that

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @raven:

    That is so great! Hope to see lots and lots of pictures of The Bodhi, Li’l Bit, and all the other contestants/participants. Congratulations to your bride for organising such an awesome event!

  28. 28.

    raven

    @Betty Cracker: I am adding 130 of the 600 my friend took. She filled a 16gb card but I think she you shoot in RAW the camera makes two copies of every picture so there could have been more. Bohdi had a lions mane and a kinds hat and Lil Bit was in the same outfit as the newspaper, a Queen. There was a little time dog with a Frieda card pinned to her shirt and a really colorful set off beads . The was also a Husky Shark that was cool.

  30. 30.

    raven

    @Suffragette City: I went to a game in the 70’s and they spelled Jack Sucks with cups in that basket fence in the outfield! It’s funny, I didn’t care for him as an announcer but he was the speaker at a sports banquet in Champaign and he was fabulous.

  32. 32.

    Adam L Silverman

    @raven: When the Braves started that tear starting at the beginning of the 90s I was an undergrad at Emory. Growing up in Tampa, the Braves were the closest team geographically to us – so I had followed them and then I was there watching them go deep into the post-season and then the World Series in real time. Those were great seasons. All those extra innings. Announcers trying to see who could take the longest to say the Alejandro in Alejandro Pena.

    I’ve always been a Cubs fan too because my Dad was a Cubs fan.

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Just remember the Cubs in the Series is a sign of the apocalypse

    I’m sure everyone is sick to death of my referencing this, but please, if you haven’t already, find and read a copy of W. P. Kinsella’s short story “The Last Pennant Before Armageddon.” It’s anthologised pretty widely, I think, but I know it’s in Kinsella’s own short stories collection The Thrill of the Grass.

  36. 36.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    My Worcester-raised wife likes how the manager for Cleveland and the GM for the Cubs game both had their fingerprints on the Red Sox’ recent successes.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    I have been a Cubs fan my entire life. Needless to say, I’ve had my heart broken many times. I have a friend in Atlanta who admonished me this season for not watching them as closely as I should have been. I told him..

    when they get to the World Series, I’ll watch every game.

    until then, I keep up with scoreboxes on the internet and clips on ESPN.

  41. 41.

    jharp

    I am an Indians fan from Ohio now living in Central Indiana and have been a Colt’s fan since about 1999.

    And though I’m mostly a baseball fan tonight I’m watching the Colts.

    And I’m pumped about the Indians.

    And Ohio State. I’m a grad.

  45. 45.

    redshirt

    @ThresherK (GPad): The Red Sox drove them away and many regret it. Theo built the first WS winning teams and laid down the foundation for the most recent. Francona managed the first two and got run out on a rail for BS. We all miss him, especially compared to this doofus we have now.

  46. 46.

    joegy

    Hockey games to watch.
    islanders just stepped on the ducks in OT on a highlight reel play
    now watching sabres skating by the oilers. Chances are they’ll choke.

    Hockey is the game baseball and football players wish they had the talent to play. For fans it is actually the game where actual play happens. Not waiting around…

    Basketball is a close second and actually features athletes requiring skill and smarts.

    In Apr i picked bluejays vs LA for WS. Still am.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    We all miss him, especially compared to this doofus we have now.

    Be more than happy to trade Terry Collins for Farrell, even-up, if you’d like.

  53. 53.

    Schlemazel

    @joegy:
    Can’t stand hockey on TV, they focus on the puck and so much of the game is happening away from it. My Gophers swept a newly resurgent UMD (who had swept last years runner-up Boston College 2 weeks ago) in a couple of very tight games with a lot of physical play. Had to come from behind both nights. & OT for the second one.

    As far as being pissed off, we painted the back of the house today & only have a small slice left to do but I managed to rip my right thumbnail off on the ladder. It hurts & I seem to be hitting it on everything now.

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @rikyrah:

    Needless to say, I’ve had my heart broken many times.

    According to a former Commissioner, that’s the point.

    It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.

    — A. Bartlett Giamatti, The Green Fields of the Mind

  57. 57.

    Bruuuuce

    @SFAW: Which would be a typical Mets deal, going from mediocre to awful. They should never have run Wally Backman out of the organization on a rail.

  64. 64.

    Prescott Cactus

    A loyal (former) Southsider roots for two teams, The White Sox and whoever plays the Cubs. Go Dodgers !

  65. 65.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    If Theo wins the WS with the Red Sox and Cubs he’ll be the greatest GM to date, no debate.

    Better baseball minds than I might debate you, but I really don’t have anything but respect and admiration for him. I wish the Mets had him.

  66. 66.

    Catherine D.

    @Prescott Cactus:

    Choke, Cubs, choke
    Choke, Cubs, choke
    Hey Chicago, whaddya say
    The Cubs are gonna choke today

    Lived in Chicago for 12 years and I loathe the Flubbies

  68. 68.

    BruceFromOhio

    To eat, grilled some steaks in this very un-October-like evening, and popped a nice pinot noir to go with it,
    To watch, flipping back and forth between Colts/Texans and a Harry Potter film (DH)
    To cheer, GO INDIANS, however, I am very happy with all of the teams this year, and would welcome a Cubs/Indians WS, and have nothing but respect and best wishes for Chicago fans.

  69. 69.

    SFAW

    @Bruuuuce:

    Which would be a typical Mets deal, going from mediocre to awful. They should never have run Wally Backman out of the organization on a rail.

    I don’t think Farrell is especially bad, although I have to confess, I don’t pay a ton of attention to the Red Sox. But Collins is a known quantity, and pretty effing bad. I agree re: Wally Backman, I would have liked to see him at Shea [sic]. I thought I had heard that he was kind of a jerk, but I don’t know if that’s reality. If I had my druthers, I’d like to see the Wilpons hire Theo, who might steal Maddon away, or give Wally a try.

    And then, if the Wilpons sold the team to … I don’t know, Bob Kraft? … someone who’s not a total jerkoff, that would complete the circle.

    ANd THEN I’ll win PowerBall.

  72. 72.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @redshirt:

    I know. Giamatti was a poet. The entire essay is well worth reading. I learned so much about the artistry of baseball from Giamatti.

  73. 73.

    redshirt

    @SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: I felt exactly what he’s talking about. I only have radio, so baseball forms a big background for me from spring to fall, both at home and on the road. Driving home the other night at the regular time, and it’s dark. And there’s no baseball. And there’s Trump signs everywhere.

    It was sad.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @redshirt:

    They were the consummate all-season team that got jinxed by short playoff series. I lived in Atlanta then and went to a fair number of games, including a World Series one.

  77. 77.

    Bruuuuce

    @SFAW: My Red Sox fan friends all hate Farrell with a passion. I agree with their assessment of him as a terrible game manager and a relatively poor players’ manager, and am just as happy leaving him where he is.

    If you win Powerball, you can buy, or at least buy into, the Mets and relieve the Wilpons of that horrible burden of ownership :-)

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @redshirt:

    To me, it’s also all mixed together with the fact that my mom was stricken on October 19, died a week later on October 26. This has always been a difficult month for me. Mom, baseball, shorter and colder days — I always just want to curl up in a little ball and not talk to anyone until about April.

  81. 81.

    Jeffro

    @Schlemazel: I wanted to take the kids to a Caps game but the ticket prices are unbelievable. We’re going to settle for taking them to a minor-league game (if/when it happens to coincide with our other travels).

  83. 83.

    Jeffro

    On another note: since I’m having SLAP-tear repair/surgery on Friday and will lose the use of my good hand for a couple weeks, I’ve been cooking up a storm here at home. (Hey, Betty asked if people were cooking something nice or pissed off about something – I’ve been cooking, my family is pissed that I’m about to go on hiatus)

    Anyway: the Texas chili & chicken saltimbocca I’ve made these past two days have been awesome; chicken Marsala, stuffed shells, and modern chicken potpie are all on deck for Mon-Wed. Thursday night we’re going out!

    Looking forward to making lots of healthy soups and stews this winter, that’s for sure! I rarely make the same thing twice but there is a coconut curry chicken soup recipe I made a while ago that needs an encore appearance sometime soon. =)

  85. 85.

    SFAW

    @Bruuuuce:

    OK, so maybe I need to re-think my Farrell-for-Collins trade idea. But wasn’t he manager for their 2013 WS win? (Look, I realize I may be asking dumb questions, but as I said, I really don’t follow the Sox.)

    But, yes, if I win PowerBall, I’d love to send the Wilpons packing … um, I mean “into a well-deserved retirement” (although I don’t think PowerBall winnings would be enough to buy the team outright, unfortunately). And maybe they could take Woody Johnson with them.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    @SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Hugs.

    But your mom would want you out talking and acting to bring us the first woman president. She might have been thrilled to be here voting.

    And enjoy that gorgeous huge moon that is with us this week. Two spectacular risings. Last night, it looked about a mile up the road.

    Of course, you rarely have your camera for such amazing glimpses. But it’s memorable.

  91. 91.

    redshirt

    OT?! This game could not be going worse for my Fantasy team. If it had just ended in regulation, fine. But OT – and Andrew Luck – will kill me.

Comments are closed.