PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — From the 5-at-10 satellite office here on the panhandle, we are wrapping up the world series.
My girl took the L in the winner's bracket quarterfinal last night. She pitched three-plus innings in a steady rain, allowing two hits and two unearned runs. The opposing pitcher for the Indiana team threw a two-hit shutout at us.
So we will try to storm back through the loser's bracket. Going to be a long day at the ol' ballpark today.
Any silent well wishes or good luck rituals would be appreciated.
Let's handle our business.
Rushmore of "signs" — We got two. Traditional signs: Hollywood, stop, peace and the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Signs: "Signs," sine (with a visor tip to cosine), sign language, "Here's your sign."
Rushmore of "stone" — Sharon Stone, Stonehenge, "The Sword in the Stone," Blarney Stone.
Rushmore of all-time American books of fictions — "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Huckleberry Finn," "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Moby Dick."
Rushmore of most famous horse rides ever — the jockey in Secretariat in 1973, Paul Revere, the headless horseman and the Pony Express.
Uh, one more item of note. Northwestern has now fired its baseball coach after accusations of bullying and abusive behavior. Man, if you are the AD you neither want to answer your phone or check your email right about now.
To the bag.
From TC
Jay:
Which is likely to occur first?
Barry Bonds finally gains HOF membership? Or PIF Governor Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan gains membership at Augusta National?
TC,
Since you gave me neither as an option, I will say Barry Bonds getting to Cooperstown before Yasir gets a "yes sir" from the green jacket gang.
Sure, they asked the PGA Tour, but no one — and especially the current leadership of the PGA Tour — tells Augusta National what to do.
No one.
And in truth, I think Bonds will eventually get into the Hall. While we're here, I think he belongs in the Hall considering the way the entire game turned a blind eye to PEDs.
From Wesley
JG:
Congratulations on the success in PCB. Keep riding that strong arm.
I concur the MLB All-Star game is virtually unwatchable. Same goes for the NBA All-Star Game and what was once the Pro Bowl.
Would you watch the MLB All-Star Game if it was managed like your 12u softball game — complete with liberal subs and re-entries? How much fun could that add to the mid-summer classic? (Which is a misnomer considering the MLB All-Star game was played just 20 days into summer).
Wesley,
I love the idea of re-entering players and changing all kinds of rules. The re-entering rule would allow Acuña and Ohtani to start and finish games and rotate some of the reserves in the middle innings.
Still, unless one of my kids is playing in any of the aforementioned All-Star events, I'm not going to be as interested in any of them as I used to be.
Maybe our sports fandom is like the ending scene of "Stand By Me" where Richard Dreyfuss is writing about his childhood memories and types, "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?"
Side note: If I had to rank the watchability of the three major all-star games, I'd go MLB, NBA and the Pro Bowl so far back, the Oakland A's are laughing at them.
From Andrew
You asked (last week) if any one I knew stopped drinking Bud Light. Jay, everyone I know stopped drinking it. Totally.
What a bunch of dumb (bleeps) at AB!
Andrew,
Thanks for the response, and I know quite a few people who did, too. And I will repeat this for who knows which time, but I really think this would have come and gone — not unlike the Ben & Jerry's flap to be honest — if the Bud Light marketing VP had not gone viral with her explanation about it.
Because it's not like they truly had an ad campaign built around Dylan Mulvaney. They sent her a congratulations can with her photo on it. And it could lead to the complete downfall of a brand that had dominated its marketplace for two decades.
In fact, the continued slide of Bud Light is a truly intriguing case study for MBA candidates.
One, it's the power of the old-school business saying the customer is always right (even if they are frat-boyish like me).
Two, the slide is not going to stop. I saw one story that had Bud Light 14th in sales in May or June, and that's after being 1 or 2 for just about every month for two decades in the U.S. And maybe worst of all, this story says Costco could pull Bud Light from its shelves because of poor sales.
Next, we went to a seafood place on the gulf last night and sat at the bar to avoid the assured 45-minute wait at every seafood place on the gulf. J.C. waited on us and he has been a bartender at Schooners for 19 years. He said they used to go through 50-plus cases of Bud Light a week; now they move about 10. And almost all of his regulars have switched to Miller Lite.
One good thing for Anheuser-Busch I suppose is J.C. said that Mich Ultra was now his best seller, and AB makes that brand, too.
From Spy
Did not watch the ESPYs.
But a big get well for Dickie V. Say what you will about him — he's over the top, he's never critical — but he is also truly one of the nicest people on the planet.
Spy,
Completely agree, and Dickie V deserves a "love of the game" award named in his honor when the time come.
Heck, forget when the time comes. They need to do this ASAP so he can be there to enjoy it.
No one love college basketball more than Dickie V, and you are right — whether you love or loathe his broadcasting style — he is one of the nicest mega sports media stars out there. A true class act.
More than that, he may have a spot on the Rushmore of on-air folks who truly helped ESPN become the Worldwide Leader.
Not many may recall this but live college hoops was ESPN's first big get and its bread-and-butter through the 1980s. And Dickie V became must-see (or must-hear) TV BAY-BEEE.
Who would supplant the foursome of Bermna, Dickie V, Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann as the four dudes who made ESPN the upstart into ESPN the monolith?
Have a great weekend friends, and pray the weather clears up on the panhandle.