33 thoughts on “December 10, 2016: Hoop Dreams”

    1. Boy, I have a much different reading of that piece. It makes Todd look like an arrogant, self-centered ass.

        2. I'm more in the middle in that that article didn't offer anything new to the discussion.

          The quote from Todd wasn't bad either. An employer needs to offer their employees some incentive to stick around and Surly didn't.

      2. Seriously?

        I have a problem with creators getting treated like just another employee and the owners not sharing the wealth/ownership.

        The only thing Todd did wrong is not asking for ownership up front.

        1. I agree with your last statement that he should have negotiated a better deal for himself.

          But this is absolutely nothing like the collusion-fueled abuse of D-I NCAA athletes by universities. Dude was negotiating with his employer, and clearly had every ability to go elsewhere if he didn't like the deal he had. Which is why he left, apparently. I have no problem with that.

          I just don't see how you can read this piece as demonstrating a problem with the business owner (i.e., that this is all his fault). Sounds to me like his relationship with the newly promoted brewmasters is Just Fine. That doesn't make him the hero of the story, but (to me) it does indicate that just maybe there's more to the story than Todd's side of it.

          On the other hand, I don't know how you read Todd's quote as other than bitter and arrogant:

          “I built, recipied, named, mentored, branded Surly’s beer and brand, and the owner couldn’t get together any type of plan to retain me,” Haug said this week. “I quit Omar, not my job.”

          In other words, It's All About Me.

          Now, that might be true. I don't know. But this sort of dirty-laundry airing doesn't convince me that he's the good guy in this story.

          1. In his defense, the organization basically said the same thing in their marketing and brewery tour. They gave the impression that it was a partnership from the start. Todd was brewing beers for him before the brewery existed.

    2. Can you imagine being Todd and staying to work at the place that fired your wife? It wasn't going to happen.

  2. for some reason, today is the anniversary of many announcements or acceptances of Nobel Peace prizes (1901, 1906, 1911, 1920, 1931, 1950, 1954, 1964, 1971, 1975, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1986).

    Give Peace a Chance.

  3. In case you missed it.

    22:

    Horrible news out of Venezuela this morning, where #mntwins RHP Yorman Landa has died in a car accident. He was 22.

    1. A kid. That's crushing.

      He signed with the Twins at 16, so he was probably very well known to some in the system, who watched him start to become a man. I imagine it's akin to a death in the family.

  4. My first piece at Pro Wrestling Torch, an "NXT Tracker" feature starring Shinsuke Nakamura, was posted yesterday. I've gotten some emails and messages from friends saying their friends are blown away that they actually know someone who writes for the Torch. It's kind of amusing to be niche-famous; maybe someday I'll take back the name "Kelly Wells" after all.

    Later this week I'll be putting up the first of my Pay-Per-View memory features. My instinct is to start with a bizarre show like King of the Ring 1995 or an okay show with one hilarious moment like Royal Rumble 1994 (where The Undertaker floats up to heaven in a cloud after losing a casket match to Yokozuna).

    For those who don't care about wrestling, which is most of you because you're reasonable, just pat me on the head and tell me I'm a good boy.

    1. I read it, and now I'm excited about reading about how main roster debut and subsequent burying (unless it's smackdown.)

      I love reading about old wrestling shows. They're sooooooo weird and it kind of makes you wonder how it all took off, so I think your instinct is good.

      1. I suspect it's an "Executive Producer" situation where my cool title is meant to make up for what the position lacks in monetary compensation, but I takes what I can gets!

    4. That's pretty cool Spooks.

      Yesterday at car dealership one of the salesmen commented positively on my Chelsea scarf. So we talked Blues, my trip to Stamford Bridge etc. I asked if he ever wanted to go to London for a match. He said he did but that his wife was a wrestling freak and all their travel money was used to go to various big wrestling events.

    5. Cool. I've been writing weekly over at Hockey Wilderness, looking at the Wild and fancy stats. DG will probably laugh out loud at that. But I'm definitely not niche-famous.

  5. So, fun with online forms.

    Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we went to visit the Crocker Museum, in two cars. I paid for parking for both at meters (by credit card). The meters happened to be lined up roughly on the lines between spots, rather than centered on the spots. So, as luck would have it, I chose poorly, and got a parking ticket for my dad's vehicle.

    today, I went online to contest said parking ticket, utilizing Sactown's handy-dandy "contest citation" form. Instructions clearly state that you have to attach evidence, and once the form is submitted, you cannot follow up with evidence.

    I dutifully filled out the form, explained what happened, appealed the citation ("in the interests of justice") and attached three documents of evidence. I get back an error saying my explanation was 2300 characters and they only accept a maximum of 2000. I edit down and resubmit. As the form is spinning, I notice that my three documents are NO LONGER ATTACHED.

    W. T. F.??!!!

    Oh, great. Can I just say that is effing stupid default behavior, programmer dudes. At the very least, maybe there should be a warning before you submit asking you to confirm that you've attached evidence? BECAUSE I FUCKING ATTACHED EVIDENCE AND YOU REMOVED IT BECAUSE YOUR DUMBASS PROGRAM HAS DUMBASS DEFAULT BEHAVIOR AMD YOUR FORM HAS TOO SMALL A TEXT FIELD AND DOESN'T TELL YOU IN ADVANCE OF THAT FACT OR IN-PROCESS TELL YOU HOW MANY CHARACTERS YOU HAVE LEFT.

    Yes, I am a bit annoyed. Sure, I made a mistake in not counting the effing meters and spots to figure out which ones went with which spots. Any idiot should know that the meter on the line between two spots should reference the spot on the left (facing the street) because that would put it closest to the driver's door for the appropriate spot. Sure. I figured that out AFTER I got the ticket. But..but...grrrrr.

    1. I had that same thing happen once with an online job application. CV, letters of rec, cover letter, everything disappeared when I missed filling out one little box, so I had to email the PI of the project and tell her what happened. I don't think it was the reason I didn't get the job, but probably not the best way to make a first impression

  6. Gophers just swept UCLA in their regional final to punch their ticket to the women's volleyball final four. Dominating performance.

    1. Doesn't have nearly the same importance, but Gophers men's hockey swept a weekend series at Michigan State for the first time since '79-'80 season. I don't know how many opportunities they've had since it was only in recent years they were in the same conference, but that still is a long time.

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