Cup of Coffee

December 4, 2014: Dorm Dwellers

128 Comments

Tonight's the annual event where we host video game tournaments for dorm dwellers at Luke Air Force Base. I'm running it this year, which should be fun (though I was told this yesterday, so I'm a tad overwhelmed at the moment).

128 thoughts on “December 4, 2014: Dorm Dwellers”

  1. Just imagine the reaction if any other player had come to Minnesota and called a beat writer a prick four times in his introductory press conference.

    1. Seriously. He's a complete disgrace. What makes me sad is that this situation is endemic to society. Quiet introverts are often labeled as shy, weak, and followers, while loquacious extroverts are often rewarded regardless of their behavior.

      1. I agree with what you said above, but I do think there is something unique to this particular individual. A newly-elected politician probably would not get a pass on that deployment of language at an introductory press conference. Neither would a state or university official.

        That this episode largely escaped serious reporting indicates just how rotten the Twin Cities sportswriter pool is, and how aligned the idea of what makes a "good clubhouse presence" is between the Twins and the media.

        On the other hand, imagine the media shitstorm if Joe Mauer used that language in reference to Souhan.

          1. You're right, it's not specifically a Twin Cities problem (I hope I hadn't implied that).

            But there is a particular history between the Twin Cities and this individual, and I think this instance is pretty illustrative of the mentality of people working in sports media there.

        2. I am not going to watch a single inning of Twins baseball in 2015.

          2. Since he's a mouthpiece for the organization, this is implicit endorsement of Torii's horseshit antics. I'm out until Torii is gone.

        3. I'd love to see Mauer speak out about what a petty, awful demonstration that was by Torii. But he's a far bigger man than the FOTF.

    2. Everyone I've talked to about Torii is over-the-moon. I told one guy, well, I don't love the way Torii excited, I'm pretty sure he threw teammates under the bus, he tried to punch Joe Mauer once, the baseball move makes little sense, and he's kind of a bigot. He's responded saying he had never heard any of that. It's amazing.

      Needless to say the rest of the lunch conversation was about Ferguson and contained every trope and sweeping generalization one could think of. I know we have rules here, but I'll say one thing.

      No. I better not. Carry on.

      1. on my news feed yesterday was a post about the "true victim" in Ferguson. I threw up a little in my mouth.

    3. Really guys, you're gonna let a prick like Torii Hunter ruin your love for the Twins? I've followed this team my whole life, through the best times of 1987 and 1991 and through the worst times of the late 90's and early teens. I'm no fan of bringing Torii back, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to start spouting off nonsense like "I'm not watching any Twins baseball in 2015." Would you spurn a Twins World Series appearance if it just so happened that Torii was on the team? I hope not. Instead, I'd be happy for Mauer and Dozier and all the other guys that do mean something.

      Sorry... just not really feeling this hatred that y'all feel.

      1. I checked out last year punman. After about two months of that crap I said to myself, "Life's too short." I'm gonna spend that three hours a day with my wife and daughter. I didn't watch more than about five innings the rest of the season. I was ambivalent about coming back this year, but I'm now pretty sold on staying away.

        I reserve the right to reneg if they play in the World Series.

        Also, I checked out on the Vikings... don't miss it! I'm happy not to watch!

        1. There's absolutely nothing wrong with finding better things to do, like spending time with wife and child. But I'm with punman on the over-the-top anger being expressed. It's just an entertainment business. If it ain't entertaining, don't watch.

          2. I've tried to work up some righteous anger about this the past couple days, but I don't have any, because I already didn't care what the Twins did any more. I can't stand Hunter and don't have any interest in watching him, but I already had no interest in watching the Twins since I have had zero confidence in the Ryan regime since quite some time ago. (As I recall fondly, and maybe CH does as well, we had some nice conversations back when the tailspin started in 2011 where I was on record that my preference would be to clean house of all of Ryan/Gardenhire/their underlings/the "Twins people" and start fresh. On balance the past four years have not disabused me of that position at all.) So the Hunter news brought to me not a flash of anger, but an apathetic shrug.

            I guess I'm not a true fan, whatever that means, but I don't have much interest in being a true fan of anything any more either. I won't pay any money or spend any time watching Torii Hunter, but I already intended not to spend any money or any time on the Twins anyway. If I do want to watch baseball, there's certainly plenty of other teams out there to watch.

          3. Keith Law says it better:

            'Spoiler' SelectShow

            That's where the anger comes from, bS. It's not about baseball or entertainment.

            1. oh, I don't disagree that ii has shown himself to be a priick, which kind of tells us that the Front Office doesn't really respect its audience. I should have qualified my comment above, as it wasn't directed at you. It was directed to the Citizenry in general to say that your attitude is Just Fine.

              Baseball is a great sport. But we don't owe it or the Twins anything. Transactional, as you say.

              1. There are 29 other teams. I love the game, but this Twins organization has subjected its followers to a 5h!ttie product for four years and has proven itself to be a second rate organization, unwilling to adapt to the changes in the game or in society. I still haven't kicked my addiction to the T-Wolves, following one ridiculous organization is enough.

                I'm old enough to have seen Harmon play in person and I cried when they won the World Series the first time. I kept score at home while listening on the radio in the basement when they went 60-102. Hell, I started and ran a blog that was basically dedicated to following this club (and also a bunch of other half-baked crap) for years. I was invested. They've done the almost unthinkable. They've lost me. I may come back, but I'll never be the fan I once was.

                1. lost youth, man.

                  There was a time when I knew all of the players on the Twins' roster and all of the starters on every other team's roster, and when I followed the NFL obsessively and college football/basketball and and and. So many of those things have withered away in the face of other, more compelling demands on my time.

                  I remember how giddy this site was back in the Game 163 season(s). Baseball was really, really fun. It hasn't been as fun the last 4 years, to be sure. I think it should be our goal this coming season to continually remind ourselves that baseball, and this community are fun.

                  2. Seconded. Also, there are ways to follow a team like the Twins without letting the losing get to you, mostly. I watch to see the development of players. I don't like to let the media tell me about it because I don't know what kind of slant they will put on it (or sometimes I do know, which isn't good either). I had a blast watching the games in August last year just watching the young players excel and seeing what it was like to have a lineup 1-9 all above average. The pitching (and defense) was still terrible, but you could still see flashes of potential from Trevor May, etc. Also, watching the game online delayed helps, so you can skip the pitching and just watch the hitting when the game is out of hand.

        2. Let me expound further.

          As I have gotten older, I've really shed the fandom. I would say the Twins are my favorite team, but my relationship with them is much more transactional now. If they entertain me, then I'll watch. If it's not entertaining, I'm out. I'm not going to listen to DicknBert wax on about Hunter while the team sucks, which they in all probability will.

          1. I get that. I suppose I'm much the same way. Living out of market, I don't see many games to begin with. I had MLB.TV back in 2011 and watched games for the first couple weeks, but just never found the time the rest of the season. Like you, life has just become more important than watching games every day.

            This last year I did invest in the MLB radio package. It was nice when they'd play day games because I could listen at work, and also catch the occasional night game if I put my mind to it. But other than that, it's like you say, very transactional. In 2006, I followed this team very heavily, to the point where I was checking multiple sites like WGOM every day. They were an exciting team to follow, and every day it just kept getting better and better. The last 4 years have been very passive. I'll follow them the first month, when they have some bright sparks (like Colabello this year), but inevitably by June interest wanes and the Twins start falling deeper below .500.

            So I think in some ways we're on the same page, I just didn't want to let the collective get too negative on this team, just because of a guy like Hunter. He's not worth it.

            And I totally feel you on the Vikings and NFL in general. Don't miss it.

            1. I just didn't want to let the collective get too negative on this team, just because of a guy like Hunter. He's not worth it.

              Dido.

              Good thing this isn't a Twins blog. 🙂

              1. I replied with a short version of this to CH, but I am completely okay (and would encourage it) if people want to pick a WGOM-approved secondary teams and have game logs for them. Or one joint game log for all baseballing action of that day.

                  1. It was really short.

                    I'm completely serious though. As bS mentioned, this isn't a Twins site. Ostensibly that was its original focus and I think it's still the tie that tries to bind everyone, but if people are sufficiently annoyed with the organization, why not branch out to other teams? I would say the Citizenry loves baseball first and it's just laundry.

                    3. Thanks for linking.

                      I think it'd be cool to get perspectives on other clubs from friends I trust. I'd consider penning the occasional Padres game log.

                      it's just laundry

                      Bring back the brown laundry, San Diego.

          2. I can feel this sentiment. I've done it with the Vikings.

            When I look back at the past year…I definitely tuned the Twins in on the radio once or twice a week. (I cut the TV cord long ago.) For some reason I semi-obsessively check my MLB app on the phone. Twins news, highlights, general news to keep up with my fantasy baseball commitment. (The fantasy baseball thing is a social thing that I think is net positive. I think.) Obsessively checking things has always been a net negative for me (insomnia inducing), so looking through that lens maybe it'd be good to drop it.

            I love baseball. I love watching a game on a beautiful day, whether it's at Target Field or some kids playing youth ball.

            I've proven to myself that I don't love fandom. Odd that it's feels like such a big deal to say it about the Twins. I don't love going to someone's house and feeling expected to be up on all the sports news. I don't love that I have friends who are perfectly reasonable and enjoyable if you keep them off the sports topic, but they spend such large swaths of time caring about the inconsequential. I don't love feeling judgmental when I recognize these things in other people.

            I do love more time with my family, more time cooking, more time improving my home, more time reading, more time seeking thought-provoking entertainment…more time enjoying all of these things. So I suppose the choice is obvious.

            1. bj, this is a great summary of a perspective I recognize in myself. I think my interactions here (WGOM) are actually what have pushed me out of the 'fandom' realm and into a place where I can love baseball and no longer buy into the hyperbolic mediots, talking-heads and Stribbies that used to govern my appreciation of the game.

              1. I agree with CoC. Fandom just isn't for me, whether it's baseball or most anything else. Very well considered, bjhess.

              2. I know my breaking point with fandom came in, roughly, 2009, right after a certain "Championship" game of a certain "NFC". I realized being a "fan" was pretty much ruining the day for me and everyone around me. So, I started to pull back (and, in the case of football with all the other crap, to completely separate) and I'm all the better for it.

              3. To be fair, I also feel that age can do wonders with one's wisdom level. It's not a given – my dad is a complete sportsaholic to this day and my parents get offended if you ever suggest that less sports consumption might be a good thing. As I've aged I've more and more frequently spent time assessing what's important to me, where my time is being spent, what things I do that make me feel like less of a human, and so on. When I eliminate some activity from my daily life it seems so obviously right to me so quickly that I have trouble even the next day understanding the motivations of someone who is today doing the same things I just quit doing yesterday. I'm a terrible person that way. I've never been great at empathy.

                ---

                This reminds me of another phenomenon that I'm probably too young to understand: old men talking high school sports in a diner. I was working from a coffee shop yesterday and three retired men were talking in depth about the local high school girls basketball team as well as other teams in their conference. They were talking about individual players on all the teams. It was all very earnest.

                My oldest is 10 now and I definitely understand getting caught up in the sports she participates in. I can map that to getting caught up in the sports her friends will participate in during high school. I can map that to lingering with the local teams a bit after the kids have moved on. I can't yet understand how that could go into my late 60's and 70's. It might be that these experiences along the way make the local high school team a touchstone for wonderful memories of your family. Hopefully I live long enough to find out.

                ---

                The other day my dad told me, "My friends are getting so old. They're all retired. You can set your watch to their daily activities. They don't like to change. They don't change their mind or attitude ever. It's really frustrating." I said, "You'll have to remember that when you retire!" He said, "No, I don't think you can do anything about it. It's just the way it is. You get old and you get stubborn."

                I have a lot of trouble accepting this. You have the gift of recognizing bad behavior in advance. Even before you begin behaving badly you've resigned yourself to the inevitability of the outcome. It made me feel sorry for my dad.

                Maybe someday the joke will be on me? I certainly have a lot more to learn.

                1. I've seen it in my dad. He was an intellectually curious, "liberal"-minded man, despite having grown up in rural Nebraska. As he has aged, his world has gotten smaller and somewhat meaner. He has trouble processing stupid emails from his friends (usually easily-debunked political nonsense), his prejudices are growing and his patience is shrinking. And there's not much I can do about any of that.

                  Thankfully, he still has many moments of self-awareness about his foibles. But he also has self-awareness of his mortality, and that is harder. He sees the end coming, even if it is still a decade away.

                  1. My dad will turn 92 this month, and Mom is 89. One of the saddest things to me is seeing their intellectual curiosity go away. They still pay attention to what's going on, both in town and in the world, but they now seem to be willing to accept whatever some "expert" tells them. This from people (especially Dad) who taught me not to listen to any expert unless what they said matches up with what my common sense tells me. And you're right, there's nothing we can do about it, other than be grateful that they're still around at all.

          3. Thank you for finding a word that describes this feeling. I've wondered at my tempered interest in the team and its players for a while. IS not having a favorite player a sign I'm getting older and look at the game differently? Was I slipping into an apathy I never reached in the dark years of the 1990s?

            "Transactional" perfectly captures how I've been feeling. I have many ways I can spend my time, but only so much time to spend. This team - its leadership (Molitor & new coaches excused), its organizational philosophy, its ownership, and its performance - do not entertain me or cultivate my interest in baseball. They do the opposite. I won't waste my time on people and entertainment products that don't respect their audience and cultivate their appreciation for and understanding of the medium.

      3. I'm with pmb here. I think Hunter is a bigot. A low-class, self-absorbed, likely over-the-hill addition to the club that suggests the guys running the show aren't what I thought they were. I'm not happy about the move - I don't agree with it for all of the reasons outlined here yesterday - but I think I understand why they did it and I certainly won't let it stop me from enjoying baseball.

        1. This.

          I've also convinced myself that a no-trade clause probably means nothing with Hunter, since he'd happily leave his commitments if it gave him a chance to be on a front runner. Picking the Twins over any other team this offseason just means he can hold out until mid season to see who he wants to be a part of for the playoffs. iintegrity!

        2. I'll be tuning in for the young guys, and for Mollie. Torii won't be here long, and in the meantime I'll "enjoy" some schadenfreude at his expense. Meanwhile, I'll be sure to let the FO know how I feel.

      4. I'm... probably in this boat?

        Make no mistake, Torii Hunter is a past-his-prime player who is actively toxic (remember when he called Latin American players "imposters"? Ah, good times), yet lionized as some sort of weird ideal. Does that irritate me? To no end. Does it make me consider giving up on my favorite team for the interim? Yes.

        Am I actually going to do it? I doubt it, but I guess we'll see.

        1. I love baseball. It'll be hard for me to give up baseball. I really don't want to watch Torii on this team. I'll probably try to watch other baseball this year. The Twins will still be my favorite team, but I won't be watching 100 games this year like I do most years.

          2. Oh, I certainly agree. The love of baseball makes this a quandary, since I do really find it to be a pleasing way to spend the occasional summer evening. Hanging out on the 'GOM, watching the game? Sitting on the deck with family, beer, and the game? All these things are valued parts of my summer.

            This certainly does test it, but I don't know if it pushes it to the breaking point.

            In my opinion, though, disagreeing with me on that is a perfectly valid response to what is a disappointing turn of events.

      5. Everyone has a right to watch or not watch, follow or not follow, and any reasons you have for that are yours. I'll just say that I've been a Twins fan ever since I can remember (which goes back to the mid-1960s) and I don't imagine I'll stop being one now.

  2. The Sporting News is doing one of those vote for the best MLB ballpark contests. Either they did one or some other outfit did one a year or so ago and Miller Park won as it was obvious that someone(s) was voting thousands of times for Miller Park. Well the same thing is happening this year as Miller Park is in the final 8 and beating Wrigley Field. ce la vie.

    Target Field also in final 8 but losing to Camden. Below is the link. I think voting goes to Noon or something for this round.

    http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2014-12-03/best-baseball-stadiums-rankings-bracket-fenway-wrigley-pnc-camden-yards?adbid=540508245836582912&adbpl=tw&adbpr=39397148&partnerId=as_min_20141204_36694067&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

    1. Miller Park is the worst ballpark I have visited. Worse than the Dome, worse than the Big A, worse than New Comiskey, worse than County Stadium. It's a perfect tribute to Bud Selig - they just need to rename it.

      1. I completely agree with this, especially if we're talking about the fourth deck in August. The only thing that impresses me about Miller Park is how they were able to completely eliminate any airflow in the stadium regardless of roof position.

        I get a ton of push back every time I give my views on it, too. I think everyone who goes there takes too much advantage of the parking lot pre-game.

        1. The only thing worse than any August game is a game with the roof closed in the summer. Talk about a sauna. I could feel the beer and lemonade evaporating straight through my pores as fast as I could drink it.

          Yes on the airflow - I have no idea what the architect was thinking.

    2. It could be a Wisconsin thing.

      I remember when Donald Driver was on Dancing with the Stars. My friend who is a Packers fan and has never watched the show before or since watched every episode he was on. He would call in a vote as many times as he could figure out how to vote after every performance. It was very, very baffling.

    3. I prefer Miller Park to Wrigley Field, just because of my view that Wrigley Field is an overrated dump that gets worse with every ad and video board that the Ricketts add to it. Miller's nowhere near the Top 8 in baseball though.

  5. Well SC was well worth the Trip:

    Nasty Biscuit

    Charleston, its brewery (Palmetto), and Fort Sumter are nice even in their off season. We also hit up Myrtle Beach, Raleigh, and took a detour to see Duke and UNC. Wow, amazing campuses. Money misspent, but wow.

      2. Re: Hominy Grill - what do they do with those peanuts floating in some kind of liquid?

  6. Terry Ryan on i-i's defense:

    His defense for me was more than adequate. He’s not the type of guy that you’re going to say, ‘Oh, he can go over there and play center for a length of time,’ but I would guarantee you he could go out and play center field for a couple days and you wouldn’t really miss too much.

      1. I mean, I get it that guys can stand out there. But with Hicks, Schafer, and Santana all on the active roster they can't be thinking of putting i-i ahead of any of those guys on the depth chart...right?

        1. I agree.

          I mean, there might be a circumstance where Hunter would have to play (injury in a double header) but I hope Hunter is stuck in RF or at the DH position.

          1. The idea that Hunter should get more than an emergency inning in CF in 2015 is preposterous. Yes, there could be a situation that causes Hicks, Schafer, and Santana to be unavailable. But if that happens, that's a situation that suggests someone needs to be called up or acquired to play center. Hunter is no more a center fielder at this point for any purposes than Oswaldo Arcia or Trevor Plouffe.

            1. Hunter is no more a center fielder at this point for any purposes than Oswaldo Arcia or Trevor Plouffe.

              Don't give 'em ideas, man.

      1. Gee, given the way he talked his way out of Wisconsin you'd be thinking he'd relish the opportunity to build a rival program in the same conference.

        Then again, considering the interactions people close to me have had with him, I'm guessing he's just a loudmouth who relies on intimidation more than competence.

        1. Gotta thin if Beilema returns to the Big Ten, its going to be at Iowa (played , was a coach there)

          1. A "football coach"'s football coach.

            Much as I dislike organized football and what it does to people, I think there are football coaches out there who are well-intentioned, thoughtful people who figure out how to teach, develop, and lead others in ways that aren't domineering or demeaning.

            Brett Beilema isn't one of those people.

            1. Yes, there are. I painted with a broad brush for comedic sarcasm purposes. I could have easily said "so, a supervisor?"

              1. I figured that was what you meant, but I wanted to be clear that I don't hate everyone in football. I just loathe most of what that sport stands for right now.

            2. One thing I find thoroughly odd is the Brett Bielema opinions I see on the facebooks. When he was here it was "give that man the key to the city!". When he left under whatever circumstances that I don't care to educate myself on it was "that man was always a bumbling idiot while he was here."

              My broader point being that I think college football fans, especially around here, are weird.

              1. I think that's a universal trait. If a person is part of your tribe, it's because you want that. When that person is ejected, it's because the tribe no longer likes them.

                1. Well, he wasn't ejected but left on his own for more money despite saying he wouldn't leave (I think. I don't follow these things if I can help it), a thing a large percentage of people have done at their jobs (hell, I've done it twice.) I'm sure the weird vibe I get is magnified because I live deep in the heart of Badger country.

              2. College football fans are definitely weird, especially about a school they have a connection to. My brother, Dr. A, teaches at Virginia Tech. He's a rational person in most ways, but he has a huge blind spot when it comes to Virginia Tech athletics and athletes. He once tried to convince me that, instead of going with Brett Favre, the Vikings should've made Sean Glennon their starting quarterback. Sean Glennon, who had a hard time beating out Tyrod Taylor in college. Sean Glennon, who went undrafted and who I don't think ever played a down in the NFL. When he said that, I started laughing, because I assumed he was making a joke, and he got upset with me. He was completely serious. So, I changed the subject, because how can you argue with an opinion like that?

  9. Ya know, if the Twins want to spend an obscene amount of money bringing back old favorites again, I'd rather then bring back names like Liriano, or Santana or Gomez.

      1. booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooo ooooo oo oo oo oo oo o o o o o o o o o o o

  10. so, on the BookFace, the Twins are already running an ii-centric advertising campaign. I just saw notice of (but did not watch) "Torii Hunter attending a children's birthday party".

    Get used to it, people. We are going to be subjected to 5 months of iiFace.

      1. Be sure to avoid television, radio, and social media then. I'm talking about their offseason PR/advertizing campaign.

        1. I've seen that, too, which makes me think this was more a PR move than a move made with any thought that it improves the ball club. I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse, since it means they spent 10.5 mil on someone just for PR purposes. They should've just given a raise to T. C. Bear.

          2. I think TR has very little input on the PR side of the club. I think that's St. Peter's job. Whether ii helps the club or not on the field, I would expect St. Peter would be doing as much PR as possible. Plus any type of change from the last four years that could be spinned as positive is going to be an emphasis in that area.

            2. Well, sure. But such a well-orchestrated campaign from day one makes me think PR was the chief driver of this. And again, I don't know if that makes it better or worse. On the one hand, it would show that the Twins have a more realistic view of Hunter's ability than it appears, which would be a good thing. On the other hand, it would show that the Twins are thinking, "We're going to be lousy this year, so let's make a move that sells some tickets" rather than "We're going to be lousy this year, so lets make some moves that make us better". Not that they can't still make moves that make them better, but they have 10.5 million dollars less to do it with.

              1. Maybe the 10.5 million includes the media campaign. Hunter is actually the right-field greeter.

              2. Every move every club makes is with the aim of selling tickets. Let's be realistic here. Winning is the best way to sell tickets. Without that, you do what you can. This is a business just like any other.

                1. My point, though, is that some moves are made to sell tickets by making the team better, and other moves are made to sell tickets without any regard for making the team better. I'd like the front office's emphasis to be on the former rather than the latter.

            3. I think TR has very little input on the PR side of the club.

              Does that make the signing better, or worse?

      1. I'm hoping that when Doogie gets his shot at managing, they put his radio ads back on the website.
        If they would have re-signed Cristian Guzman, I'd hope they're bring back the old commercials featuring him and the Bionic Man sounds.

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