I Must Be the Only Person on the Internet

Usually the internet is a place where a diverse marketplace of ideas comes together creating a robust, thoughtful, intellectual discourse.
Just kidding, of course, but I was surprised at how overwhelming the reaction was in favor of United Airlines passenger David Dao.
Yes, I agree that United's policies are foolish and unfair. Yes, I agree the airline, if it really needed the seats for its own employees, should have offered a far more generous "bump" incentive than $800.
And yes I sympathize with anyone who buys a ticket, boards a plane and is then kicked off the flight against his or he will. I think we're all in agreement up until now.
But once the airline makes it clear the Dr. Dao has to leave the plane, that the flight will not take off with on it, that he will be "re-accomodated," Dr. Dao has to behave like a human being and walk off the flight.
All the terrible things that happened to him after that, the smashing of the nose on the armrest, the two embarrassing videos (one with shirt pulled up, one with incoherent ramblings and a bloody nose), the crush of media attention, the disclosure of his previous arrest and the embarrassing personal details all come back to his decision to force security to drag him off the plane.
Because he could have avoided these unfortunate circumstances just by behaving like an adult, I think a lot of the blame falls on him.

Strange Last Words

A man in Oakland, California went on a bizarre rampage, terrorizing his neighbors with a rifle, before being taken out by a police sniper.
The craziest part of his bizarre final moments, an act of vandalism on his neighbors' property.

He drew boobies on the garage door and a penis on the car hood.
Way to go out in a blaze of glory.

Yankees Fan Tries To Propose, Can't Find Ring

An idiot Yankees fan (sorry for the redundancy) tried to propose to his girlfriend, but couldn't find the ring. The entire section was looking for it.



Eventually they found it, seemingly in the cuff of her pants. Despite him being a complete moron, she said yes and they will live happily ever after.

Now I don't want to insult the couple too badly, but they are the typical Yankees couple. He's a dead-eyed douchebag and she's cute but trashy.

I wish them well.

This Does Not Offend Me

Some well-meaning (I think) people set up a Coca-Cola display in a Wal-Mart store that called to mind the World Trade Center, with an American Flag in the background. Some people had a problem with it, saying it was distasteful to use such imagery in a commercial setting, especially since there was a sign indicating the price, right between the towers.

I truly believe the people behind that display meant it as a tribute and commemoration, not a crass attempt to profit off a tragedy.

However:



This doesn't really offend me either, but it's clear the idiots behind this mattress ad, thought they were being funny, especially because at the end they toppled their mattress "towers."

Fool Me Twice

Disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner once again caught in a sexting scandal, as this time he sent pictures of his privates to an internet slut, while lying in bed with his son.

And here's a couple of pics this faceless hottie (probably catfishing him) sent back:

This time his understanding wife Huma Abedin had enough, announcing in a statement that she is separating from her lecherous lover.

I guess she didn't believe that he had been hacked. Yes, he apparently tried that gambit again.

Maybe Damino believed him.

I am actually shocked and impressed Huma had the courage to separate from him. Considering how close she is with Hillary Clinton, I just assumed she would follow Hillary's path to the top and stay with the lying, cheating husband she never loved in the first place.

I guess the difference is, Bill Clinton was President, Anthony Weiner is a disgraced former Congressman.

Cubs Fire Wrigley Field DJ

The Cubs fired the Wrigley Field DJ who played an inappropriate song after Aroldis Chapman's appearance during Sunday night's game.

The '90s song, "Smack My Bitch Up" by the English band the Prodigy, came on the PA system after Chapman left the mound in the top of the ninth inning.

Chapman served a 30-game suspension after an alleged domestic-violence incident in which Chapman was accused of choking his girlfriend and firing eight bullets in his garage.

Thing is, Chapman is a member of the home team. It wasn't like they were taunting an opposing player. Although maybe this DJ was taking a principled stance about not rewarding perpetrators of domestic violence no matter how hard they can throw a baseball.

Clubhouse Cutup

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale was supposed to start Saturday's game against the Detroit Tigers wearing those weird collared throwback jerseys the White Sox briefly wore during the 1970s.

Evidently, Sale doesn't like the collared jerseys and believes he has the right to say which uniforms the team wears on days he pitches. But because the jerseys were part of a promotional giveaway, the team refused to budge.

So while the rest of the team was out taking batting practice, Sale was in the clubhouse cutting the collars off, not only his own jersey, but everyone else's too.

With the jerseys destroyed, the White Sox scratched Chris Sale from the game, sent him home and replaced him with relief pitcher Matt Albers. And they were forced to play the game in different throwback uniforms, the 1980s style.

The whole situation is a bit absurd and it seems to be about a bigger issue involving the control over players exerted by management, dating back to this preseason's clash between the front office and Adam LaRoche. It seems like Chris Sale is just being a huge baby here, and of course, no matter what the issue, this is not the place to take a stand. But, there could certainly be a broader issue here that was lingering before this crazy circumstance, best summed up by this intrepid White Sox fan whose sign reads: "You're Right Chris, These Jerseys Are Uncomfortable."

Tom Hanks is Obtuse

A few months ago in response to Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" (SOTW, 2/24/16), JLeary pointed out a previously unknown to me line from "You've Got Mail." Tom Hanks's character says "I could never be with someone who likes Joni Mitchell."



He goes on to quote from one of Mitchell's other big hits "Both Sides Now." He said "it's clouds illusions I recall, I really don't know clouds at all." And then he goes on to ponder whether it's a metaphor for something.

Before I go on, I should say that this is the only (I think) song that has been SOTW twice, once for the Neil Diamond version (SOTW, 12/27/06) and again for Canadian Cutie Carley Rae Jepsen's rendition (SOTW, 3/18/15).

Now back to the clouds. It's not a metaphor. She looks at clouds and sees all kind of neat shapes. Then she looks at them again and ponders their role in weather and how it disrupts her life. But when she thinks back on clouds, she recalls the illusions, the angel hair and feather canyons.

She goes on to take the same incisive view of life and love, noting that like clouds, both have good sides, fun dreamy sides, but also a negative side.

And after all that thinking, she really doesn't know clouds, life or love, at all.

I Hope We Find Them a Nice Warm Jail

A bison calf had to be put down after a pair of tourists to Yellowstone National Park put the animal in their car because they thought he was cold.

The idiots took him away from his herd, and efforts to reunite him were unsuccessful and he had to be euthanized for his safety and the safety of others because he kept approaching people and cars.

The tourists, who are not American, say they found him alone, thought he was freezing and wanted to drive him to a park facility.

That's bullshit. I don't know if they wanted to take him home, or just have a good instagram picture of a bison calf in their rental car but everyone knows you don't fuck with nature.

The park rangers said the tourists thought they were caring for the animal. I am not forgiving. They should be prosecuted.

Nazi vs. Jew Beer Pong

The town of Princeton, NJ is an uproar after a it was revealed that students at the local high school have a long standing tradition of playing a beer pong variant called Jews vs. Nazis.

The cups are set up on one side in a swastika shape, and a Jewish star on the other.
The Jew team can "Anne Frank" a cup, to hide it or take it away.
The Nazis can "Auschwitz" their opponents and force them to skip a round.

It's not clear if there is any true anti-Semitism here, Jewish students may even have been part of it.

But they are certainly guilty of not understanding the seriousness of World War II and the Holocaust.
Though they should be commended for their creativity, and at least a cursory understanding of history.

John Starks Wasn't Sure Either

Columbia University's basketball team played a team from Central Pennsylvania College over the weekend.
In advance of the game the Columbia Spectator wrote:

"...forward John Starks Jr.—son of former New York Knicks guard John Starks—is second on the squad with 17.1 points per contest. "

Only problem is, despite the name, he is not the son of that John Starks.

Columbia issued an apology.

What makes this even crazier is that when we were discussing this story, someone walked in with a brand new intern and said "this is Grant Hill."

Turns out this intern's father went to Duke, his name was Hill obviously, and Hill was a recent Duke star, so he named his son Grant.

Where Was Michael Vick?

Pennsylvania authorities say Oakland Raiders linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong did not act maliciously when he confronted a police dog just before the start of a Nov. 8 game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.

Investigators had been trying to determine whether the player's conduct constituted taunting of a police dog, a third-degree felony.

The sheriff's office has said the player lifted his shirt, beat his chest and barked at the explosive-detecting dog before telling a deputy to release the animal, which she did not.

The sheriff and prosecutor have agreed that the player's behavior was not a malicious act but still created an unnecessary security risk. The dog had to be taken out of service after the incident.

The Matt Harvey Mess

"Pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery should limit innings to 180-185." - Dr. James Andrews, the man who invented Tommy John surgery "Pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery should shut up and act like a man.' - Asshole Sports Radio Caller


Whom would you listen to?

Matt Harvey is doing exactly the right thing here for his own future and the future of the franchise. He's not being greedy or selfish, and even if he were, can you blame him? Stay healthy and pretty much assure yourself a huge contract or ignore doctor's advice and risk not only all that money but also everything you've worked for your entire life.

Now there are a couple problems here, but I don't know exactly who deserves how much of the blame.
First of all, why wasn't a clear and coherent plan made from spring training? Were the Mets expecting to be out of it by September at which point they could just shut him down? Was Harvey suddenly feeling tired and asking for time off?
We'll probably never know but I would suspect the Mets are more worthy of blame than Harvey.

And those idiotic Mets fans who want him traded are exactly the fans I fear the team is listening to when doing or almost doing things like signing Cuddyer or trading Flores and Wheeler for Carlos Gomez.

Matt Harvey is the centerpiece of what could be one of the greatest rotations we've seen in a long time, if they stay health and stay together.
The Mets need to do everything they can to protect him even if it means lessening their chances to win a few regular season games.

But come playoff time I think Harvey and the Mets would be willing to take their chances and push themselves 15-20 innings past the doctor prescribed limit, if that's ok with all the doctors in the stands at CitiField.

The Mets Will Never Win

When I was 8 years old the Mets won the World Series with the best team I have ever seen in my lifetime. A team full of great young pitchers and solidified with some veteran acquisitions.
Chase turns 8 this year and will not have the same experience. In fact, the Mets will probably never win.
The reason why? Their fans are morons.
After years of listening to how they are cheap or stupid, Mets ownership and Sandy Alderson has panicked making three trades to acquire veteran players to solidify a team that isn't very good, despite its position just outside of the playoffs.
The Mets spent years and years wasting money and prospects on old injured players like Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana.
Even in the past few years when the Mets seemingly figured out what they were doing wrong, they still lit $100,000,000 on fire by giving in to Curtis Granderson, Bartolo Colon, Chris Young and Michael Cuddyer.
2015 was supposed to be the year, and if not for the injuries to Wheeler, Wright, D'Arnaud, Matz and Lagares (though he played through it) it might have been. But just because something doesn't work out doesn't mean that something different will.
Look around baseball, look at the teams that are doing well and have sustained it for years, like the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. They build from within, and they don't panic trade their best guys.
Heck, look at the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins. They've built something.
Yes the Royals made a big trade for Cueto, but the time was right for them. They went to the World Series last year. The Mets didn't even break .500 yet.
The Mets aren't quite ready for this. Maybe next year would have been the year to trade prospects for veterans to put us over the hump. But this team wasn't ready and trading five young players for very temporary replacements isn't the answer.
It isn't going to help, it's only going to hurt.
And who will the Mets fans blame then? Hopefully, themselves.

Update:
I wrote the above while extremely upset. I don't honestly believe the Mets will never win. I do think these moves, especially the Gomez trade has reduced their chances. But if they do win a World Series and you want to tell me "I told you so" feel free. If they don't win, I will certainly be blaming all of you for why.
Talking with Master Bates, I realize my perspective isn't SO far out of whack with other Mets fans I just want to wait a little while longer because I don't think the team is ready yet. I also think I have a better understanding of the win curve and when it makes sense for teams to acquire expensive (in salary and acquisition costs) players. Also, we all agree about the fickle nature of the major league playoffs, but some of you seem convinced that if the Mets could just pick up a couple games on the Nats and squeak into the playoffs they could go deep and maybe win it all. I don't. I think that's incredibly remote. Even with these new players their playoff odds aren't great. 22.5% on FanGraphs maybe 25% with these acquisitions. Then take 10% of that to win the World Series, and that's being generous. So a 2-3% chance to win the Series this year is enough to trade five young players? Not to me it isn't.
I think the fickle nature of the playoffs means you want to build to be as good as possible for as long as possible. You want good players, signed long-term through their primes, and a thriving farm system to bring reinforcements when those players falter. I thought the Mets were on their way but they seriously jeopardized that with these trades for which I think there is very little upside.

Update II:
The trade didn't happen!

Stick To Your Guns

Ten years ago, I attended the game when Syracuse retired the #44 and I wrote about it one of my first posts on this blog.
At the time I expressed disappointment with the decision, because there really wasn't a need to do so. It's not like past #44 wearers were disrespected by it, they're honored everywhere all the time at the school.
And SU forfeited the ability to use the number as a tool in recruiting.
Now SU has reversed course, and decided to unretire the number.
I disagree with it again. If you're going to do it, even if the decision maker is no longer around, I think you just need to stick with it.
Now the University looks even worse, and perhaps it can be interpreted as a gentle insult to those they were supposedly honoring.
Generally I try not to worry about how things look to the idiotic public, but seeing as how this is a total PR move, public reaction has to be considered, and I think reversing course on this is quite embarrassing.
To make matters worse, after receiving negative press for reversing course tried to make it seem like they weren't reversing course.

Senior Vice President for Public Affairs Kevin Quinn told syracuse.com's Chris Carlson that the No. 44 will continue to be worn in a "special circumstance," and that it would take "someone extraordinary given the honor it would be to wear 44."
"Yesterday's announcement was simply a reiteration of that commitment and another opportunity to celebrate the great accomplishments of those who have worn the number with Syracuse pride and honor," Quinn wrote. "The retired #44 jersey will continue in its place of honor at Dome — as a symbol of past glories and future successes."

This adds to the embarrassment of the serious NCAA sanctions, and the ridiculous misspelling of the last name of Roosevelt Bouie on the jersey given to him at a ceremony honoring him

and wide receiver Steve Ishmael also taking the field with a misspelled jersey.

Note: I can't believe I didn't post about this misspelled jerseys when they happened considering my love for such goofs.

Free-Range Parenting

A couple in Maryland, Sasha and Daniel Meitiv, are under investigation for possible child neglect for allowing their children to walk around their neighborhood alone.
The kids are 10 and 6 years old and were allowed to go to the park at 4pm and told to return at 6.
At some point during that window of time, a man walking his dog called police non-emergency because he was concerned about their well-being.
A police officer showed up and turned the kids over to Children's Protective Services.
That to me is bad enough, an alarmist douche calls the cops because kids are walking alone. It's not like they were toddlers, the older one is 10, certainly old enough to be responsible for himself and his sibling.
The only mitigating factor here is that apparently these kids are frequently walking alone in this neighborhood.
We also have a douche cop who showed up and couldn't determine that the kids were completely safe.
But the absolute worst part of this is that the authorities, police and CPS, kept the kids for more than four hours.
They didn't even try to contact the parents until 8pm. Two hours after the kids were expected home. And they didn't return the kids to their parents until 10:30 pm.
Too bad common sense didn't enter into the decision-making at any time or else the police could have taken the kids home, discussed it with the parents and avoid all this ugliness.
As someone who has been criticized for being a little too lax with the freedoms I give to Chase I side with the parents here.
If they feel the kids are responsible enough, and the neighborhood is safe enough, then they should allow the kids to walk to and from the playground.
Certainly I don't know if there are any other reasons to perceive these parents as neglecting their children, but judging from what we know, the neighbors should butt out and the cops and CPS should use their fuckin brains.

I Have Considered Executing a Similar Stunt

But I'm pretty sure Mrs. Poop would never forgive me if I fake-killed Julian.

I Just Booked a Two-Week Trip to Hawaii for Any Woman Named Halle Berry

From the Toronto Star:
If you’re a Canadian citizen with a passport and an itch to explore the world, you may be eligible for a free trip around the world. Just one condition: your legal name has to be Elizabeth Gallagher.

Jordan Axani, a 28-year-old real estate development manager with some spare plane tickets, is willing to fund your airfare for a two-week trip around the world, provided that you’re willing to leave a few days before Christmas.

The Cabbagetown resident posted a notice on Reddit looking for a travel companion late Sunday night. He writes that the offer resulted from a break-up with his girlfriend with whom he had been planning to take the trip since March.

His search for another woman who has the same name as his ex began when he discovered what a hassle it can be to make changes to plane tickets.

“Anyone familiar with the archaic system that is modern air travel will know that a name change on a ticket is damn near impossible,” he writes on Reddit. “Moreover, the flights were purchased during a massive blow-up on Priceline and were frankly so cheap and on so many different airlines that they’re not worth the headache or money to cancel.”

Syracuse Soccer Star's Slurs

Syracuse University soccer player,Hanna Strong, got "Riley Coopered." She's caught on video saying "F-ggot" and "N-gger." We have no other context of the video.


She's been suspended from the team and may face even more punishment as is appropriate in this day and age, you just can't say those words.
It was late at night so she was probably drunk, though that's not an excuse. And as with any video, we don't know what happened before it. What if the camera-holder called a dirty, skanky slut? We also know through research that she's friendly with a lot of black guys. They were with her that night, she knows a lot of black athletes, and is even fucking one.
So she's probably not a racist, more likely, she hears that language and it slipped out at the worst time. She even caught herself and said "n-word" the second time.
My bigger question is about who released the tape? Why would you want to hurt someone in this way, knowing this video would get spread around the internet and ruin her reputation, and perhaps her soccer and educational career.
I hope Ms. Strong speaks for herself, apologizes for her stupid comments and explains the circumstances of that night.
And as always, I hate incidents that cast my beloved alma mater in a negative light.
Oh, and she should add an H to the end of her first name.

For Once, I Agree With Coach Boeheim's Strategy Decision

A Syracuse fan got a huge Jim Boeheim tattoo on his leg.

When reached for comment by ESPN, Boeheim said "I would wear long pants for the rest of my life."

Agreed.