Neate Sager leads off a bulging e-mail bag with this one seeking some advice -- which sort of makes this an "Emily post", I guess (I'll stop now):
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| ASSOCIATED PRESS |
| Ballpark etiquette: When not to go for a foul ball, example 2. |
"Just wondering -- where does JABs stand on the over-under for "Being too old to catch a warm-up ball lobbed into the stands by a player without losing your dignity"?
I'm 29, and last night, a friend who's 27 didn't try to go for it when Russ Adams tossed a ball in his general area before the game.
In his defence, he had a fresh $7 beer and it was Adams (26 errors last year), so you couldn't predict where the ball was going.
It's a relevant question, since so much of the resurgence in Blue Jays interest comes from people in the 25-34 range (i.e., the target audience for Rogers -- people who have disposable income but haven't established brand loyalty yet)."
A real moral dilemna for our times, this one. Relevant data: Russ Adams "E-6" model baseball, $7 soapsud beer, pregame. I think you're cool playing it cool, Neate. During the game, though, with something like a Kenji Johjima foul ball, or a Cubs-on-the-verge-of-destiny moment, or sipping a glass of Kristal in one of those new playpens at the Jays' place? Different story (Kenji, incidentally, is the bargain-basement star of JABS' fantasy-league team, the Old Perfessors, and just might be the next Josh Bard; as for the Cubs and the Kristal, just run away). If you had a brought a baseball glove, though, it'd be different. Anyone over 12 who wears a baseball glove to a baseball game is probably a Yankees fan, and should be treated with the all the contempt that odious association confers.
Riffing off this morning's Natural Born Killers post, regular visitor Carla -- fresh off a move back to the homeland, and welcome back -- sends along a movie recommend: The Wicker Man. "Kinda cool and creepy," she says. This is, of course, a flimsy excuse to plug Carla's brand-new blog, Our Lady of Perpetual Hell.
Andy Chung of Scarborough has a Mike James question:
"When Mike James was first traded to Toronto from Houston he told reporters that he was a chameleon. Mike claimed that he was able to make himself “fit” into any situation.
Fast forwarding a couple of months …
When asked to change his style of play to be a pass-first point guard, Mike basically told reporters that if the Raptors they didn’t like his style of play they shouldn’t have traded for him in the first place. As a fan I don’t really care if he wants more money, but I find that his “adaptation skills” were all just a big act. Sometime this week (or last) I read somewhere that he said that he wouldn’t stop his “style” of basketball. If Coach Mitchell asks his players to do something shouldn’t they try to do what coaches ask them to do? My main concern is that IF we sign him next year he might not be the team player we’re looking for. What’s your take on this?"
This segues neatly into another friend of this blog, Mark Freedman, who e-mails in the suggestion that James and Sam Mitchell are fated to part:
I gotta believe that Mitchell is barely toleraring James because he's been scoring enough. But I bet Mitchell is really wanting a pass-first PG. James' game doesn't really match Mitchell's old-school mentality.
And that rolls right into ANOTHER Mike James e-mail, this one from Chris Flynn:
Mike James is talking like an elite NBA player. He is elite because he is surrounded by teenagers and early-20's guys who are still learning the game.
As good as he has been this year, he will not get the money he wants and he should definitely not get a penny out of the Raps. There has to be a reason he was traded for Rafer, which I could never put my finger on, and this has to be it. He is a big mouth who thinks he is way better than he is, and articulate is the last word I would use to describe him. I just looked it up, and he did in fact go to college. With all those double negatives ie. "I ain't gonna do nothing stupid," please tell me he is not a graduate. This guy is a fool, and the last thing we need is a big Tie Domi-like ego on the Raps. Bosh should be the one with the ego, but that guy has class.
Mark my words, Mike James will never be the starting point guard for an NBA championship team with his piss-poor attitude. ... There is nobody on a 12th place team that should have an ego like that, not even Bosh. If he's so good, then why are they in 12th?
Nobody splits the hoops fan constituency more than Mike James. I like the guy's fire, but I loathe his lack of a conscience with the ball in his hands. I like that he seems to be the only one who plays with his heart on his sleeve, and I understand why he might not want to pass off to Joey (Billy*) Graham clanks another open jumper -- but the head-down, outta-my-way charges to the cup drive me nuts. Mike James has a future. I just don't think it's here in Toronto, with this team.
(*Nickname alert--Like Billy, Joey is the only guy who can make 19,000 people get up off their feet and groan "Oh God!" in unison)
Finally, regular John Richardson chimes in with something that sounds like the the seed of a topic for next week:
In addition to the obvious-- 7th game of a Stanley Cup or World Series final-- the Masters and the Kentucky Derby have always been at the top of "sporting events I'd sell my first-born to see".
(snip)
Love the Masters. Can't stand the reverential broadcast or that godawful music but it sure as hell beats watching the Fedex/Nissan/Chick Fil A Open.
And I kinda miss the Martha/Hootie extravaganza.
John, because you miss it so, just for you, here's the latest from Martha Burk (pdf file) because yes, I got an email from her, too.
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