- Baseball’s
insistence on remaining stuck in the 1940s is no longer amusing. For a while,
the sport could hang onto the fact that it was built on tradition and a sort of
throwback to a kinder, gentler time in America. That era has been on life
support for some time, but it officially died Wednesday night due to a very
large splinter directly to its heart. The idea of a “code” by which players
must live is both infuriating and delusional, as the so-called code isn't even
fully understood by even those who claim to abide by it and can’t be explained
in total by anyone. It governs how players interact, what is or isn't a dirty
play, what sorts of cheating are acceptable and so much more. It’s definitely
an old-school concept and for a sport that is dying out because its fan base is
aging out, Jose Bautista's home run celebration -- The Bat Flip Heard 'Round
The World -- after blasting a game-winning moon shot in Game 5 of the American
League Division Series was the tipping point. Texas Rangers reliever Sam Dyson
served up an absolute meatball that Bautista blasted more than 400 feet,
prompting a reaction that was less bat toss and more caber toss and leaving
Dyson sounding like a spoiled 8 year old after losing the Little League
championship game. "I told him Jose needs to calm that down," Dyson
said of his comments to Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion in the
next at-bat after Bautista's homer. "Just kind of respect the game a
little more. He's a huge role model for the younger generation that's coming up
and playing this game. He's doing stuff that kids do in whiffle ball games and
backyard baseball.” And the problem is? Baseball needs younger fans, emotion is
a bigger part of sports than it has ever been and there shouldn’t be a
bench-clearing brawl over a grown man chucking a slice of lumber a few dozen
feet to celebrate a massive home run………
- Seriously,
Russia? You’re that one friend we all have in college who is literally never
sober, yet somehow manages to stumble through life in a drunken stupor and pass
enough classes to earn a degree after seven or eight years on campus. Don’t go
changing now because you’re worried that you might be a little too dependent on
the drinky drinky. The problem here is the Moscow and St. Petersburg city
governments, which are reportedly debating a ban on the sale of alcohol once a
week in the country's two main cities. Russia, which pours vodka on its
breakfast cereal and considers a shot glass to be its beverage container of
choice, has to wonder if this could really happen given that both the head of
the national consumer protection agency and a top member of the Public Chamber,
a Kremlin advisory body seem to support this idiotic idea. Yes, the life
expectancy for Russian males born in 2006 is just 61 years, according to a U.N.
Development Program report, but does anyone remember to the last Soviet leader
who tried to tame alcoholism? That would be Mikhail Gorbachev, whose efforts to
impose production limits and raise prices crashed and burned. When communism
fell, booze could be bought around-the-clock from kiosks on almost every street
and gulped walking down the sidewalk or riding public transit. That sadly
changed in 2013, when kiosk sales were banned, alcohol sales at grocery stores
cut off from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. and consumption in public spaces was forbidden.
That should have been more than enough, but it clearly wasn’t for St.
Petersburg city legislator Andrei Anokhin, who dropped a nuke this week by
saying the city council would consider banning alcohol sales for the whole day
every Wednesday. That led to his counterparts in Moscow saying they would
consider a similar measure and next thing you know, Russians have to consider
stockpiling vodka like most people hoard canned goods and batteries ahead of a
natural disaster………
- This
is why an app like Periscope was invented. While most observers would ramble on
about an app needing to be commercially profitable in order to be great, the
simple fact is that the invention of one that allows a completely hammered,
slurring mess of a human being to live broadcast her drunken drive home and
serve up all the evidence police needed to arrest and charge her in the process
is what really matters. Lakeland,
Florida resident Whitney Marie Beall is the innovator responsible for showing
Periscope what it could be and for giving all of the app’s other users
something to aspire to based on her actions over the weekend. In the video,
Beal is lost, exasperated and in the mood to let everyone know just how drunk
she is. "Where am I right now, people?" she asks in the video.
"I have to go home." Home was not her ultimate destination that evening,
as police began receiving calls from people who saw her broadcast and were
alarmed. "She was out of it. And it's obvious from watching that live-streaming
video how bad she was," Lakeland police Sgt. Gary Gross said. When she was
finally pulled over, Beall was found to be driving on a flat tire and she
reeked of alcohol. She was arrested after she refused a breathalyzer and failed
field sobriety tests. Given the very public and very clear evidence against
Beall, her attorney wasn’t conceding anything.
"She is a young professional with a bright future. When her court
date is set, I will be entering a plea on her behalf of not guilty,"
attorney Lee Cohen said in a statement. "I'll be investigating the case
and that starts now. I am waiting to see all the evidence, and I will take a
look at it.” You’re waiting? Why? The rest of the world has already seen the
biggest piece of evidence in the case and it’s an ironclad one………
- Much
to the surprise of no one, actor Christopher Lloyd is down for a fourth chapter
in the “Back to the Future” franchise. Lloyd, who hasn’t exactly been tearing
it up with major roles of late and probably doesn’t have a ton of time left in
his career, is best known for his role of as Doc Brown in “Back to the Future.” The first film in the
series was released in 1985, with sequel “Back to the Future Part II” hitting theaters in 1989, “Part III” dropping in 1990. When
asked if he would be willing to accept a nice, fat paycheck for a possible
third sequel, Lloyd said that he "would love to do Doc again, no
question.” However, he cautioned that it would be tough to revive a cinematic
classic. "It's tough to come up with an idea that contains the excitement of
the original three," Lloyd said. "So it would be a real challenge for
the writers to come up with an original Back
To The Future story that has the same passion and intensity and
excitement as the other three. But it could be done, you never know.” According
to Lloyd, co-star Michael J. Fox would be willing to be part of the project
despite Fox’s ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease since 1991. "I think
regardless of the Parkinson's, he'd probably jump on the role and he'd be
great," Lloyd added. "I can't see doing another sequel without him...
It's hard to replace Marty. Michael J Fox was so wonderful in the role."
Either that or maybe you let a true classic stand the way it is and don’t ruin
it………..
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