- Sports
are a funny universe. Professional sports exist in a sort of societal vacuum
where the normal laws of logic and reason don’t exist, one where offering a man
$607,000 for eight months’ work is so offensive that he refuses to sign the
contract you offer him. New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom is a very
unhappy 2014 National League Rookie of the Year right now, so much so that he declined
to sign his 2016 contract in a protest over his assigned salary. Granted, he has
no recourse because he has not achieved enough major league service time to be
arbitration-eligible, but just because Mets officials could assign him any
salary they chose above the MLB minimum of $507,500 doesn’t mean he has to like
it. Even making more than the minimum and more than the $556,875 he made last
season when he represented the Mets in the All-Star Game isn't enough for deGrom.
“That's the business side of the game," deGrom said. "That's why I
hired my agents. I feel like I have some of the best in the business. It was a
business decision that we decided to make.” His agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, was
more assertive. "But given Jacob's standing as one of the top pitchers in
Major League Baseball and his 2015 performance, his worth cannot be properly
valued by a formula,” Van Wagenen said. Both agent and player insist their
small-stage hissy fit won't affect deGrom’s relationship with the team and said
the pitcher likes playing for the Mets and wants to remain with the team -
albeit for a lot more money - once he is eligible to negotiate a new
contract………..
- A lot
of people need a secondhand fighter jet, but not
everyone knows where to find the best deal on one. For those without a clue,
simply steer them in the direction of Albania, where 40 obsolete Soviet and
Chinese-made aircraft are up for sale with a compelling history to go with
them. These beauties of the sky once soared over Europe's most exclusive
airspace, as their Albanian pilots were members of an exalted military elite
that had its own food-tasters and was tasked by Communist Albania's paranoid
regime with deterring countless enemies who never actually showed much interest
in invading this small country on the Adriatic Sea. Now a NATO member, Albania
feels like it can afford to pawn off these atrophying plates o pay for
modernizing its military and to save space in its air bases. Its Socialist
government says it has received strong interest from museums and collectors
around the world and is confident enough in the market to consider raising the
starting bids, first set at 1.1 million to 1.9 million leks ($8,600-14,800).
"It was a surprise for us," Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli said. The
original auction date has been pushed back in the wake of "a rush" of
interest from prospective bidders in the United States, Germany, France, Italy
and other countries. The collection of decrepit MiG-17 and MiG-19 jets are parked in
neat rows in a remote corner of the
Rinasi air base outside the capital of Tirana, guarded by two military
officers. With their distinctive red, black and red roundels, rusting guns and
damaged glass canopies, they might not look like much, but to the right
rich/eccentric person, they’re this season’s must-have item………..
- The
next “Tomb Raider” movie is pulling inspiration from an interesting source. Rather
than try to gravy train on the previous films or some obscure graphic novel,
those helming the project have confirmed that the
new movie will be based on the central character’s most recent computer games. The
Lara Croft character took on a much more realistic look with 2013’s Tomb Raider and in 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider games and
both did much to develop Croft’s backstory and delve into how she became famous
the adventurer. “I think making Lara Croft feel like a real human being, that’s
definitely something we want to bring to the big screen as well,” Norwegian
director Roar Uthaug said. “I think we’ll want to make people relate to Lara as
a character. I’m hoping to bring some of my Norwegian sensibilities to the
franchise.” The director noted that he’s
“always been a fan of strong female characters” and cited “Indiana Jones and
The Raiders of the Lost Ark” as a film
that pointed him in the direction of the adventure genre. “It’s
definitely a dream to work in that kind of genre. I think we’ll want to make it
feel like a modern action movie and to make what’s going on feel like it’s
going on for real,” Uthaug said. If “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” is any
indication, Scandinavia can definitely bring forth exciting action movies and
regardless of whether or not gamer dorks were the inspiration for its style,
this one is heading in a decidedly interesting direction………
- Way
to keep those standards high, United States Navy. With
thousands of sailors who otherwise would be kicked out for repeatedly failing
their physical fitness tests because they exceeded body fat limits, military
leaders had a choice. Either stick to what they feel is required of a sailor in
terms of fitness or….relax its body fat
restrictions in January and allow those who failed their exams three or more
times to get one more opportunity to be tested this spring under the more
lenient guidelines. Yes, Naval fatties, you need not push away from the buffer
table or exercise more, because you may be able to stick around without doing
much extra. With the previous guidelines in place, some sailors were resorting
to liposuction, diet pills and other measures to save their careers, but the
Navy allowed about 2,400 sailors who passed a preliminary test under the new
rules to stay in. In so doing, the service branch reduced the number of
failures on their records from three to one and as Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr.
Nate Christensen noted, in the past, three failures were grounds for being
kicked out. Fattie sailors will be measured again this spring and allowed only
two failures now instead of three, the latest beneficiaries of the military
looking to improve its abilities to recruit and retain talented people as it
builds up its cyber-warfare strategy. Much of this stems from a 2014 Pentagon
study showing that roughly two-thirds of Americans would not qualify to enlist
in the armed services as a result of health problems, obesity and the failure
to complete a high school education. That’s because in the fattest nation in
the world, two-thirds of people are overweight or obese. Now, the Navy is not
only more welcoming to fatties, but considering larger uniforms sizes for the
first time in two decades. There may even be further easing of the strict body
fat requirements for its cyber-warriors, given the low physical demands of
their jobs. Maybe reinforced chairs to support their massive girth is next………..
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