Cup of Coffee

July 2, 2018: Except for Pride

43 Comments

After my brother was mugged a couple of nights ago, he says nothing was hurt except his pride. Physically he's fine and that's good, but I'm sure such an incident would undo me for a while. Hell, this is undoing me and I wasn't even there.

43 thoughts on “July 2, 2018: Except for Pride”

    1. With the way they've been playing, that might be reason to finally get off of Facebook.

  2. My dad was mugged once. Jumped from behind, had his head kicked in, very severe injuries - he was in the hospital for several days, needed reconstructive surgery, etc. In the end I think they didn't even take his wallet - dropped it in their flight or something. They were ultimately caught and prosecuted. Two were juveniles, if I remember correctly. Scary stuff. It completely undid me for a while, and I still constantly look over my shoulder when walking alone.

    1. The Wolves have to go back to rebuild mode. Focus on 2020+.

      Butler for Kuzma and Randle!

        1. Throw in Thibs for Walton and rescind the Rose offer and they might even be likeable again.

      2. The Wolves should trade anything other than KAT to any team in the East for the right to move to the Eastern Conference.

  4. Apart from James, everyone else on the team is young and stupid. No one else can rebound. The point guard can’t shoot. The small forward is Lil Tay. Maybe they can still pull off a trade for Kawhi Leonard, but that’s probably nowhere near enough for them to beat a Golden State team that has also earned its bliss.

    There were clearly a lot of other mitigating factors that went into James’s decision making. His owner in Cleveland was a crooked, smothering idiot. His team there was at a dead end. Los Angeles is where he maintains a couple of homes and conducts the majority of his off-the-court business. The weather is better. The politics there are halfway sane. The wine is EXCELLENT. This is where James wants to play but more critically where he wants to BE. He says he wants to play with his kid, and I don’t think he means in Milwaukee. Los Angeles is the endgame, and perhaps it always was. This is where LeBron’s twilight begins.

    Let Us Witness Now The Glorious End of Lebron

  6. HPR's 11-12yo baseball season ended yesterday, after a blitz of playing.
    As the 5th seed in a 5-team double-elimination tournament (on account of their 4-10 record despite a mere -3 run differential*), they had to play the first game on Friday Night. That game was moved back by 30 minutes on account of the heat, and an early 8-3 lead turned into an 8-10 loss as their bats fell silent.

    *4 Losses by 1 run, 1 by 2 runs, 2 by 3 runs, 1 by 6 runs, 1 by 11 runs, and one by forfeit.
    The forfeit was a rainout rescheduled for a Friday night and too many players on his team had plans. Before the game was called, they were up 11-5 in the 3rd against the best team in the league.

    Saturday wasn't so hot, but was hot enough. They had to face the 2-seed at mid-afternoon but got out ahead in the 3rd and didn't relinquish it.
    For that, they got the privilege of playing the 1-seed, who was definitely the class of the league, and who had invoked the run-rules against HPR's team early in the year, with less than a half-hour break.
    That team came in quite confident (they had probably forgot about being well behind in the one game before it was rained out, since that didn't count).
    They scored 3 in the top of the first, and it held, but it was a seesaw with the tying run often making it to third. In fact, the tying run was on third in the 6th (and final inning), but was stranded there as HPR's team was finally on the winning side of a one-run game!
    close contestThey seemed to be

    Sunday would see up to three games with the first starting at 10:30.
    But rain pushed the start time back and back to 3pm, facing the same team they faced Friday.
    Their opponent was perfect through the first two innings and scored 4 themselves when HPR's team got their first five runners across.
    Opponent tied it up in the bottom of the inning. HPR's team scored 4 in the top of the 4th, but the opponent tied it again in the bottom of the 5th.
    3 runs in the 6th was matched... Extra innings!
    2 runs in the 7th, and they got the forceout at first with the tying run at third again! Another one-run win!

    Because of the extra inning, the second game didn't start until 6pm, and if HPR won it, the championship game would be held on Tuesday night (as the All-Star Game was Monday night).
    Which would have sucked for us, as we're going to Breezy Point on Tuesday Morning. So EAR and I were kindof hoping they'd lose.
    Because of innings-pitched rules and the one extra inning, HPR's team could only get 5 innings out of the four pitchers they'd pretty used exclusively all season. Two other boys had pitched: HPR and the Coach's son.
    I had suggested HPR try pitching just in case he liked it or had any innate skill. He did not. He pitched in two games and only got one out by being aggressive in fielding P: he got to home on a WP and made the tag to get a batter stealing home. (Other than that: 6 walks and one single.) The coach's son was only a bit better than HPR, he had recorded maybe one or two outs in those same innings (HPR relieved him and he relieved HPR). But the coach's son was also temperamental and sensitive. One of the two would have to pitch an inning as cannon fodder and would likely give up the 5-run limit. Or coach could wait and see if the game was slow enough that the 6th wouldn't be played. (But there's no run limit in the 6th.)

    HPR's team was up 10-2 after 2.5, but the other team scored 4 in the 3rd to make it 10-6. No scoring in the top of the 4th, and the Coach put in his son.
    He gave up all 5 runs, and the last was on a close steal of home where the C threw the ball very hard and hurt his hand. Coach's son cried off the field, not sure how much was physical pain and how much was emotional.
    He went to his mom in the crowd, and was scheduled to be the 4th batter. C ran to get him on deck, and he came but there was shouting in the dugout and both the C and Coach's son left. We couldn't see what happened, and HPR was oblivious.
    The batters went down 1-2-3, and the damage to the team's psyche was over. Coach's son never returned to the game, they gave up 5 in the bottom of the 5th (two HPR misplays at 2B adding to it), and went 1-2-3 in the 6th. Coach's son even missed the medal ceremony.

    Other than the sour way it ended, it was a really fun, exciting end to their season and it felt like a repudiation of their season record.
    And I'm glad HPR was there for the end of it, rather than leaving on vacation to later get an email about when to pick up his medal. (As one of his team's sluggers had to do... they left for vacation yesterday and didn't wait out the rain delay... I think his presence could have saved a pitcher's inning in the first game.)

    HPR was the most-commonly used C through the season and the rest of his positional rotation was outfield, 2B, and SS .
    He definitely thinks of himself as a Catcher, and it's good for him as it keeps him engaged. I don't think he gets enough reps at OF or middle IF to have the presence of mind on the plays he has to make. Same thing with baserunning. (I think he could have a bit more if we watched more baseball.)
    He wasn't a great batter, either. A few singles and way too many strikeouts. He did have a nice hit on Saturday's second game. I haven't put together his AVG or OBA for the season.
    But his attitude and energy is great and I had one team mom remark on that to me yesterday. First on the field each inning (unless he's putting on the gear). He doesn't get down. Things happen and he puts them behind him and goes on.
    (Wish he could do that more with personal things, he was weeping on Friday afternoon about something he'd left on the bus home from camp. Wish I could do that, too, so he's probably stuck with it for life.)

    This was the end of his Park & Rec league playing. Next year, he'll start Babe Ruth against local suburbs (so: multiple parks) with realer rules (I assume) and I don't know if he'll have to tryout, or how much dedication is expected.
    I also don't know if his lower-skill level will mean he rides the bench a lot.

    2. The jalapeno finished his regular season last week, and playoffs will take place next week. He is continuing to really enjoy it, and similarly to HPR, he has a good attitude on the field that I'd love to see more consistently off the field as well. 🙂

      It's an in-house league with the kids pitching, and they play different positions every inning or two. It's nice to see them getting a wide range of experience. The jalapeno has done pretty well fielding and has had some ups and downs with pitching and batting. Once the season is done, we're going to have to come up with some new ways to keep that kid busy and burn all that energy...

      1. HPR has been excited to learn lawnmowing. He's had two chances.
        (With a rider, it's like driving.)

  7. Lot of moves for the Twins today.

    I wondered if Buxton would rejoin the team or stay in AAA when his rehab finished. Sanó and Buxton now in the minors for the foreseeable future.

    1. I feel sad that I really can't make myself care very much about any of those moves.

      1. I can't see the Twins doing much at the trade deadline this year. Unless the team wins 20 games in July, they won't be buyers and what they have to sell doesn't have a lot of value right now.

        1. I could see them moving Dozier. They didn't seem to have a whole lot of interest in keeping him anyway. The question, of course, is can you get something for him worth having.

  8. So I found out yesterday that while she was in Croatia after their dig, my daughter and her group spent several nights in Split at a hostel in Diocletian's palace.

      1. I did and thought about making a reference to the handsomest of emperors, but then I let it pass.

  9. I've never been mugged (yet), but a long time ago I was tooling down a street in a neighborhood in Istanbul. The street was only wide enough for cars to be parked along one side, and I was walking on the sidewalk between the parked cars and the buildings.

    And then I sensed it getting set up. A guy turned and was walking briskly towards me, and I could tell that another dude was coming up from behind. I quickly got out on to the street and foiled their shakedown.

  10. It had been bothering me for a week but I finally realized: Tony Meola sounds exactly like Troy Aikman.

    1. Welp, I'm never not going to hear that for the rest of the tournament now. Thanks a lot.

    2. I'm having a hard time being upset about it on account of the Wolves are about to be paying Wiggins way more than that and Derrick Rose any amount of money at all while having also paid more money for a worse pg than they already had last year and probably 3-4 mil more per year for Taj than they probably needed to.

    3. NoooOOOOOOooooo!

      I had my fill of him in Sactown. He will never, ever learn to play Splash Brother ball. As good as he is, he is not equipped to play their style of motion offense.

      What is GS giving up to make that happen?

        2. I was shocked at first, but it sounds like there were very few teams interested and $8.6M was the absolute most he would make. The real problem is the max salary. It’s as useful as rent control.

  12. 4ltr: Cousins became "expendable" in Nawlins when they signed Julius Randle.

    Ha. Hahahahahaha. Give me an effing break. Nobody signs Julius Randle in order to make an all star in his prime (even coming off a major injury) "expendable."

    I can see New Orleans calculating that they have to give A.D. assets NOW to make the playoffs and keep him happy. But that is extreme short-term thinking.

    1. That phrasing is not the best, but everything I have heard about Cousins indicates that there were no substantially better offers on the table, which makes it hard for me to blame any particular team for passing on him. Plus the Achilles is a big risk now and he’s not known for off-court leadership.

      1. Yea, I saw the same. Which is weird. Dude averaged 25.2/12.9/5.4 for New Orleans last season at age 27. He was never known for being a high flier, so the Achilles risk is not existential.

        I think he is a butthead, but you can't easily question his effort or results on the floor. He is a great player.

  13. I have a question, a sort of father knows best type of question: if your wife invites two of the neighbors girls (7 and 9 year old sisters) to sleep over with your 7 year old daughter, but never actually asked you about it, is it acceptable to ignore, as much as that is possible, all the loudness and commotion of it?

      1. It’s actually expected to add to the loudness and commotion. Maybe cheaptoy has a hobby like drumming or electric guitar?

        1. I could have found something, but any noise I could have made would have been drowned out by my son who was going absolutely crazy last night. For such a small kid he produces an entirely disproportionate amount of sound.

Comments are closed.