A Beatdown is in Order

We all know kids can be cruel but this takes it to a new level. Four junior high school students in Rochester, NY harassed a bus monitor so horribly they reduced her to tears. You don’t have to watch the entire 10-minute video, just enough to get the idea.





They called her fat, a troll, poor, stupid and then at the very end came the clincher. One of the students said “you don’t have a family because they all killed themselves because they didn’t want to be near you.” Little did they know (or maybe they did know), her son killed himself 10 years ago. The video cuts off right after that remark so we don’t know how she reacted. But when I first heard this story I said she should have just ignored them. They were kids being kids calling her fat and she should have just let it go. But it went on for 10 minutes. And then that personal comment at the end. She should have killed them all.



The video went viral and an effort was started to raise $5,000 to send her on a nice vacation. It already has $208,000 as of mid-Thursday.

And He's Still Better Than Jon Sterling

Texas Rangers announcer Dave Barnett had some kind of on-air mental health incident. Watch, it starts at 45 seconds in (cuz MLB yanked down all other videos):



"2-1 game, tying run at second, leadoff single by Chase Headley. Go-ahead run is at fifth on what Adams is insisting on calling it a botched robbery. Actually happened was his henchman took a piece literally out of, uh, its..."

Barnett says he was just having a severe migraine. Seems like it might have been something more serious than that. Though he did finish the game without anymore gibberish. Not as funny though as the time reporter Serene Branson had a stroke on live TV.

Headline suggested by DKL

Song of the Week

"Real Love" - Eric Benet
Three good reasons to love this song, Eric Benet, falsetto and lyrics that perfectly describe my marriage to Mrs. Poop.

"I love you
Not just for who you are
But the way you made
A better man out of me"

"Now you got your funny ways girl
Lord knows I've got mine
Still we keep on getting better
And better, all the time
Cuz we got something real, babe"

"We can't go wrong
if we just hold on
Ain't nothing stronger
Cuz we've got something real
real love, real love
In a world full of make-believe"

"I'll bet everything, everything, on you and me"

The Truth Shall Set You Free

I found it nearly impossible to believe pre-season speculation saying that because R.A. Dickey unburdened himself of some personal demons in his book, he would start to pitch better. But something has certainly happened because is currently on the best streak of any starting pitcher in the history of baseball.

He is the first pitcher in 100 years at least to pitch two consecutive complete game 1-hitters, with 10 strikeouts or more in each.

Let's go back 6 starts:
6-0 - which matters because these games are unloseable
48 2/3 innings - out of 54 possible which is huge because bringing in your bullpen hurts you in the current game, and in games down the line
1 earned run - that translates into a 0.18 ERA
21 hits, 5 walks - 26 baserunners, that's a WHIP of .53
63 strikeouts - that's 11.65 Ks/9 innings. Those are power pitcher numbers.

A knuckleballer is not supposed to be able to do this. The knuckleball is supposed to be a fickle mistress who dances to her own whims. But Dickey has been remarkably consistent. If you remove his 8 runs in 4 1/3 innings in the rain in Atlanta, his ERA falls to a tiny 1.33.

Who knows if this can last. Chances are it won't. But this run he is on is truly historic. And it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Nor one who deserves and appreciates his success more than Dickey.

Did She Hurt Her Eyelashes Too?

Suzanne Pierce is suing the Phillie Phanatic. In 2010 she was sitting in a lounge chair at a hotel where she was to attend her sister's wedding. The Phillie Phanatic was performing there, unrelated to the wedding. During his comic routine he picked up Pierce, and her chair, and threw her into the pool.

According to the lawsuit, Pierce "suffered severe and permanent injuries to her head, neck, back, body, arms and legs, bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments, nerves and tissues of her head, neck, back, arms and legs, including, but not limited to, a herniated L-5, S-1, aggravation and/or exacerbation of all known and unknown pre-existing medical conditions, internal injuries of an unknown nature..."

Oh is that all? I would normally have a lot of sympathy for Ms. Pierce. No one should be included in a comedy routine without their permission. And no one should ever be tossed, thrown or shoved into a pool without their consent. That could be a very dangerous activity.

But this is ridiculous. Damage to her muscles, tendons and ligaments? We get it, you're hurt. Pick the parts of your body that are hurt most, that you can prove were damaged and go with that. This Chicken Little medical report undermines her credibility.

Father of the Year

As a father you know in your heart you would do anything to protect your children. Would you, could you, do this?
A 23-year-old Texas man beat a guy to death because he was molesting his 4-year old daughter.
"The victim was an acquaintance of the girl's father who came to the barn to help care for some horses.
The adults were shoeing a horse and had sent the 4-year-old and her brother to feed chickens when the attack occurred.
The children's grandfather said the boy returned to alert his father that the little girl had been taken away by a man. The father found the pair partially naked.
In the course of trying to get her away from him, and protect her, he struck the subject several times in the head and the subject died."
He won't be charged with a crime (unless new evidence emerges refuting this story). If it's true this guy is a hero. And I hope if I were ever in that situation, I would do the same thing.