Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Let there be snark.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

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

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

… among the most cringeworthy communications in the history of the alphabet!

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

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

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Come on, man.

This really is a full service blog.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Open Thread: The Boss and The President

Sunday Open Thread: The Boss and The President

by | 99 Comments

This post is in: , ,

I have yet to listen to their podcast, I keep meaning to, but life gets in the way.  I have a long trip next week, maybe I’ll download it.

As a lifelong suffering (really BoSox…28-5?) Red Sox fan, today’s induction of Big Papi is thrilling. This story, on the other, long overdue inductees, is even better.

If you’re on Twitter, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and Bob Kendrick are great follows, full of history and hope, and baseball, so much baseball! Love me some baseball (winding back to Barack and Bruce, it’s all about time with my dad).

This is…an open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  2. 2.

    Dangerman

    I’m old enough to remember Bucky Dent. Bucky Fucking Dent. He in the Hall of Fame yet?

  3. 3.

    Nelle

    I’m not a sports fan but am the mother of one.  My son insisted on taking me to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City (https://www.nlbm.com/ ).  I found it one of the best museum visits ever.  The website is good, if you can’t get to Kansas City.  (That’s where I learned about the game between one of the teams and the KKK in my hometown of Wichita.)

  4. 4.

    Mike in NC

    Last night we caught a bit of news about somebody selling Springsteen tickets for as much as $5000 apiece.

  8. 8.

    Honus

    Of course the Red Sox never would have signed or let Buck O’Niel take the field. The Boston Red Sox were the last major league team to integrate, holding out until 1959, a few months after the Detroit Tigers.

  9. 9.

    Cmorenc

    While I am not a baseball fan (game is frankly too slow to hold my interest) nevertheless IMHO the US would have a much better culture if baseball was still the prime national sports pastime rather than pointy variety football (everywhere else in the world, “football” is presumptively soccer unless otherwise qualified).

  10. 10.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    When the media likes you steroids is not an issue.  Right, big papi?

  11. 11.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Honus: Buck O’Neil was the reason I watched the Ken Burns baseball documentary. (You were in it too, as I recall!)

    Link is to a few of Buck O’Neil’s stories from the documentary. Most are humorous and I enjoy them, but the one that has always stayed with me is the “Drum Island” clip, which recounts Buck and Satchel’s visit to a site in South Carolina where slaves had been auctioned.

    https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unum/playlist/satchel-paige#satchel-paige

  13. 13.

    NutmegAgain

    Springsteen looks really ill. Is that just my imagination?

    (have not watched clip yet–because being American means I can comment with zero information, right? //s Also have the news on …)

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack

    I am being badgered about listening to a certain podcast, so I’m looking for recommendations on pod-listening apps. Win10 and/​or Android. Thanks in advance.

  18. 18.

    Emma from Miami

    First thing that crossed my mind when I saw this story: “what the hell do you mean Buck O.Neill’s not in the Hall of Fame already?!”

    Sometimes I think I’m naive.

  20. 20.

    ArchTeryx

    Nothing will compare to the sheer madness of Gaelic football, the unholy love child of rugby and soccer, and played strictly as amateurs in Ireland.

  21. 21.

    TaMara

    Love how you guys seem to relish taking two positive stories and turn an entire post into a cynical whine fest.

    Honest to fucking god, why do I even bother.  I’ll leave you to wallow in your negativity.

  22. 22.

    opiejeanne

    Regarding Buck O’Neill, it’s about damned time.

    We visited the Negro Leagues Museum in KC in the summer of 2019 and were glad we did. So much history and so well-presented.

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @TaMara: I’ve read through this short thread three times and have no idea what you’re reacting to

  26. 26.

    no comment

    @Steeplejack: I’ve been using Stitcher (free with ads version; haven’t tried Stitcher Premium). I downloaded Spotify (free version again) a few years ago when one of my favorite podcasts moved there. I liked that Spotify had music as well, but I didn’t think the podcast function was as user friendly as Stitcher. Only used Spotify once since the Joe Rogan thing, but haven’t deleted the app from my phone

    Edited to add: I have a Samsung (Android) phone

  27. 27.

    Geminid

    @HumboldtBlue: Senator Lucas is great! Her Twitter account can be hilarious. She toys with Glenn Youngkin like a cat plays with a mouse.

    Democrats have been able to stymie Youngkin because Lucas leads a 21 seat majority in the state Senate. Next year’s General Assembly elections will be crucial. All 100 House of Delegates seats and all 40 Senate seats will be at stake.

    This election will be on a new, more neutral map. Republicans thought they locked up the General Assembly with a gerrymander in 2011, but they lost their majority in the 2019 election. They narrowly won back a two seat edge in the House last year, but Lucas’s “Brick Wall” in the Senate has stood firm.

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack

    @no comment, @Persistentillusion:

    Thanks! I don’t know much about the podcast zone—I am really visually oriented and much prefer reading to listening—but there are one or two that I am mildly interested in, enough to give it a go. Plus the nagging (for Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s “Pivot”).

    My main question relates to how “accessible” podcasts are. Are they platform-specific, or can you listen to them with any app? (I presume it’s some combination of the two.)

  30. 30.

    mrmoshpotato

    @ArchTeryx:

    Nothing will compare to the sheer madness of Gaelic football, the unholy love child of rugby and soccer, and played strictly as amateurs in Ireland. 

    That sounds like pure madness.

  31. 31.

    Cmorenc

    @raven: it took me over half of my adult life before i realized that “football” in most of the world presumptively means something quite different from what most folks in the US presume by default.

    As to baseball – i am old enough (73) to recall when baseball was still by far the national pastime and like most male kids of my generation, i was an ardent fan of baseball with a huge baseball card collection that had some now-valuable cards.  Alas, part of the reason these now-vintage cards are so valuable is because the mom of the vast majority of kid-owners of baseball card collections tossed them out as clutter without asking while they were away somewhere in their teens or early 20s.  And so with my mom.

    i did get to see Ted Williams play live at Boston’s Fenway Park at the very end of his career when i was about 8 or so years old – i treasure that privilige even though i later grew out of being more than a very casual, occasional fan with preferences for other sports.

  33. 33.

    eclare

    @BlueGuitarist:   Those reviews look interesting!  And I have watched it through three times, so I’ll be reading the reviews with spoilers.  Great idea for two sets of reviews, one with spoilers and one without.

  36. 36.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @ArchTeryx:

    That other Irish sporting pastime, Curling, would be in the discussion.

    Sort of an insane hybrid of lacrosse ball, passed through the air with field hockey sticks, and rugby scoring rules (I think… I couldn’t tell).

    Saw a game in person in Boston once.  Player comes off the pitch, grabs a big jug of water, pours it over his head, and his white shirt turns very pink with watery blood.  Dropped the jug and ran right back in.

  37. 37.

    trollhattan

    @mrmoshpotato: ​Footy–Australian Rules Football may be similar. Utter chaos and to add intrigue, played on an oval field.

    Sam Kerr, the best striker the other-other football world has ever seen, played footy as a girl until she hit an age she was no longer allowed on the boys pitch, so switched sports. Her ability to score a dozen different ways from basically anywhere has no precedent in the women’s game.

    The Seahawks punter, Michael Dickson, came from footy. He, too, can do things with a football the league has never witnessed.

  40. 40.

    Amir Khalid

    @NutmegAgain:

    As far as anyone knows, Bruce is healthy. To me, he looks in pretty good shape for 72. He’ll be touring with The E Street Band next year.

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    If chess is sport then Russia has found a way add injury to the intrigue.

    A robot broke a seven-year-old boy’s finger during a chess match in Moscow last week, Russian news outlets report.

    “The robot broke the child’s finger,” Sergey Lazarev, Moscow Chess Federation President, told Tass news agency. “This is of course bad.”

    A video shared on social media shows the robot taking one of the boy’s pieces. The boy then makes his own move, and the robot grabs his finger. Four adults rush to help the boy, who is eventually freed and ushered away.

    Mr Lazarev said the machine had played many previous matches without incident. The boy was able to finish the final days of the tournament in a cast, Tass reports.

  43. 43.

    no comment

    @Steeplejack:

    My main question relates to how “accessible” podcasts are. Are they platform-specific, or can you listen to them with any app? (I presume it’s some combination of the two.)

    Some combination. Many podcasts are on several platforms/apps. Others are exclusive to one app. Still others are only available on the premium (paid) version of one app. It really depends on the podcast. You could probably look online first & find out where to listen.

    ETA: Looks like “Pivot” is available on the free version of Stitcher.

  46. 46.

    marklar

    @trollhattan: “The boy then makes his own move, and the robot grabs his finger.”

    Izvestia reported that “The robot wasn’t grabbing; it was simply a special operation on his finger.”

  47. 47.

    Ken

    @mrmoshpotato:  (I love how they didn’t stop playing.)

    I saw a game once where a player was injured and they sent out a stretcher crew, but didn’t stop play. Then when the stretcher crew was run over by the scrum, they had to send out a second stretcher crew to pick up the first.

  48. 48.

    CaseyL

    @HumboldtBlue:

    @LeftCoastYankee:

    Thank you for clearing that up!  I wondered if LeftCoastYankee was referring to a curling variant I’d never heard of before.  Passing a granite rock overhead using lacrosse sticks would be insane, even for the Irish.

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack

    @no comment:

    Thanks for the info.

    One podcast I am interested in is a history of the Roman Empire that I bookmarked  somewhere. Pretty sure that one is “free” (i.e., on multiple platforms).

  54. 54.

    LeftCoastYankee

    FWIW the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was really good.   I visited it a while ago now, so I imagine it’s only gotten better.

  55. 55.

    Yutsano

    @trollhattan:  Boo! “This page doesn’t exist”. They must have deleted it.​

    EDIT: Saved by Steep! That was both amazing and terrifying.

  59. 59.

    Montanareddog

    @Cmorenc:

     

    pointy variety football

    It was someone here, but I cannot remember who, that said it is not football but handegg. That struck me as correct so I now distinguish football (where a spherical ball is primarily kicked, officially Association Football) from Gaelic handball, from Australian handegg, from American handegg, from Rugby League handegg, from Rugby Union handegg, from Calcio Storico handball.

    I am a football chauvinist and pedant, I’m afraid.

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    @WaterGirl:

    Thanks, good to know. If the podcast fails on Stitcher, do you typically get a message about where it’s available?

  65. 65.

    James E Powell

    As a lifelong suffering (really BoSox…28-5?) Red Sox fan

    When are BoSox fans going to give up on the long suffering narrative? You got four world championships this century. More than any other team. 28-5? It was one game!

    You want to see suffering? Try Cleveland.

  69. 69.

    Old School

    @James E Powell:

    When are BoSox fans going to give up on the long suffering narrative? You got four world championships this century. More than any other team.

    They compare themselves to New England Patriots fans.

  70. 70.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @James E Powell: ​
     

    As a Mariners fan, I concur Cleveland is the hardest luck baseball team. The M’s (and others) have just been bad, but the Guardians have come actually really close with really good teams.

  73. 73.

    Jay

    @LeftCoastYankee:

    Hurling is a much different sport than curling.

    It used to be played between villages, (and still is), over the rough ground between villages, courses kilometres long.

  75. 75.

    Kathleen

    Thank you for sharing these stories, TaMara! Like you, I have fond childhood memories of going to baseball games with my dad and I still love the game and its history.

    I don’t know if this will work, but I tweeted “gift” WaPo post about a newly published book of columns written by Ira Berkow. I was not familiar with his work but I enjoyed the excerpts in the review. Here is the link to Tweet which I hope works:

    https://twitter.com/urbanmeemaw/status/1551247240869646336

  79. 79.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @Jay: ​
     

    Very different indeed. I still can’t believe I brain-farted that one.

    Cuchulain never played ice shuffleboard!

  85. 85.

    StringOnAStick

    @HumboldtBlue: Covid is raging here in Central Oregon.  We know of 5 people who are careful and got it in the last two weeks.  I’ve been wearing an N95 for all shopping and only participated in outdoor events, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it now.  Yesterday’s test was negative but the 5 we know who had it all said they had several days of feeling bad with negative tests until they then tested positive.  Once I can summon some energy I’ll go dig out a test to take today after yesterday ‘s negative one.

  87. 87.

    JPL

    @StringOnAStick: I did read that it’s possible not to show as positive for a few days, because the immune system is still fighting it off.    One person said that you can swab the tonsils also.

    Several weeks ago, I had a sore throat, runny nose, slight cough and low grade fever.   Although I tested negative two days in a row, I’m pretty sure that was it.   I’m double boosted.

  92. 92.

    Steeplejack

    Perennial Balloon Juice favorite The Lion in Winter coming up shortly on TCM—5:30 p.m. EDT.

  93. 93.

    columbusqueen

    @LeftCoastYankee: If I end up in hell, I’m going to be forced to watch game 7 of the ’97 Series over and over again. Two outs away from the win & freaking Jose Mesa blows the save, God help us.

  94. 94.

    Ohio Mom

    @NutmegAgain: Does Springsteen look ill, I don’t know. I don’t follow him particularly. I watched the video and he looked tense to me, and a little too tan. I looked up his age, he’s 71, which isn’t young anymore, though he doesn’t look it.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    @StringOnAStick:

    I have been trying to stay strong, but I find I have to remind myself more and more to put on a mask when I go in someplace. “Oh, it’s just a quick pickup.” “What are the odds?” Etc. 🙄 Stupid.

    I was around my seven-year-old niece last Tuesday and Wednesday. She had a sore throat, and it didn’t even occur to me until later that she might have COVID. I texted my brother a day later to ask if she had been tested, and he said she had and that the test was negative. I am mildly embarrassed to admit that I’m not sure I believe my brother about her getting tested. The Sighthound Hall mob definitely seems to be in the “we’re over COVID” camp.

    The niece and her brother are doing various summer day camp things in Rehoboth Beach, and I wonder what the mask policy (if any) is at those venues. Oh, well. I’m not likely to see any of them again until mid-August, when—drum roll!—the RWNJ brother is arriving for a visit in Rehoboth. (Think Randy Quaid in the Vacation movies.)

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