Cup of Coffee

September 21, 2020: The Last Ride Of The Fightin’ Gardys

62 Comments

I know we mentioned it before, but it was a helluva a run for Gardy. Yeah, sure, we wish things had gone a little differently, but he was a good manager and a great guy.

62 thoughts on “September 21, 2020: The Last Ride Of The Fightin’ Gardys”

  1. I get to have a conversation with a member of my team today about anger and the workplace. Why didn't anyone tell me that managing individuals was so much fun?

    1. Good luck! I manage one person but have had zero training on how to be an effective manager. If anyone has books/resources they really like on this topic, please let me know!

      1. Best training I have ever received in personal growth/leadership is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I am not a big fan of leadership/management books that are about "influencing" others. The Seven Habits, by Steven Covey, really is about you. Most important take away for me was "Seeking First to Understand". Too many times we enter a challenging conversation with a script on how we will fix the other person. I go into these situations with the thought of "I need to find out what they are thinking and why they act the way they do". Once I understand where the other person is coming from, I can address their issues and craft my response to their actions. The other great take away is "Seek Win/Win". That one is about finding solutions that benefit both people. Literally the book, and a 4 day training seminar I took, changed me greatly. 30 years later I use all 7 habits on a daily basis at work and at home.

        1. Is there a chapter in there titled "Don't be a F***in Micromanager and Badger Your Employees Constantly"? Because if so I would like to buy my boss this book.

            1. I do think Office Space is a good flick for any manager to watch. I occasionally find myself treading too close to "Lumberg" territory, or even "Michael Scott" territory and quickly head the other direction.

              1. a few years ago I won the "Michael Scott" award at my office, which my staff nominated for, for being...mostly funny.

    2. The best lesson I ever got was to focus on specific behaviors and not personalities. So, 'you did a bad thing,' not 'you are a bad person.' As soon as you get into labels (e.g. you're not a cooperative person vs. you didn't cooperate with your team on this project) people get much more defensive and the interaction can go off the rails pretty quick.

        1. I took an "Interpersonal Communications" class in college (no idea what requirement that filled because I probably wouldn't have taken that on my own). My biggest takeaway from that which I will never forget (especially as a spouse) is to use lots of "I" phrases. Meaning, never say "you are like this", but "I feel that you...", etc.

          1. I have become highly aware of the negative outcomes from the use of “you” statements. This employee in particular is overly emotional and any hint of a you statement can send this person into a 30 minute rant about the entire worlds ills.

    1. We've been very pleased with YouTube TV so far. I can pull it up on my phone at any time, and it's figured out pretty quickly that the kid likes cartoons and I like MN sports, so Twins, Wild, Loons, Timberwolves, and Vikings (heh) games are always shown on the front screen when you pull it up.

      Would definitely recommend, especially since it costs just a little over half what DirectTV wants these days.

      3. I love that, too. With Comcast, I could only watch Twins games on the laptop or tablet if I was connected to the internet via my home network/Comcast router. Couldn't watch at work or when out and about, which really sucked. I don't mind the radio except when it's Dazzle's turn to do the play-by-play, then I tend to tune out since I never know the count, how many are out, if people are on base, or if there's a massive fire burning down the bleachers.

        1. With Comcast at least, you can at least use the various media outlets apps and get their "premium" for free if you log in with your Xf information. I've done this multiple times with my [dad's] account. FSN, ESPN, NBC, all those ones. I use my Chromecast to toss those up on the TV all the time.

          1. I never knew that, but it wouldn't have been enough to keep me with Comcast. My TV/Internet bills are half what they used to be with comparable programming options.

      1. Rather than upgrade our 65" Vizio which used the old Yahoo! app store that's now defunct, we got a Roku and use that. Much cheaper and I'm pretty happy with the setup, although it does mean another remote control to keep track of.

    3. We switched from Comcast to YouTube TV and I'm very happy we did when the bills come every month. We picked YTTV mainly because they re-upped with FSN. We still use Comcast as our internet provider, mainly because oligopoly and I've had the same email address for 15 years. The only thing we don't have that Mrs. Twayn wants is HBO, but I'm trying to hold off on that until the snow flies and we have more time for non-sports programming.

      1. Between Runner daughter and us, we have Disney+, Netflix, and Hulu covered. Would like something cheaper (YouTube TV and AT&T TV promotional year are about the same, and we're exiting our promotional year) but very happy to not have a contract to deal with.

      2. You can dump Comcast internet service but still keep your email name. I know, because that's what I did.

  3. (A few years ago, I heard the KMOJ Morning Show play it three times within an hour. Sadly, they didn't play it this morning during the half hour I was listening.)

    1. I was going to play that, but I found that we already had. Not on the proper date though, so maybe I can fudge it was a different performance next year.

    2. The WSJ had a really sweet story about the lyric a couple years ago. If you can break through the paywall, I recommend it.

  5. Somehow Honest Abe discovered he could play the songs The Greatest Showman last week (I'm sure he must have heard them at daycare in the past), and now he plays them all...the...time

  7. So back in H'istan, I went to the club to swim after work. They relaxed the rules and now we are back in the locker rooms. It's been so long I forgot the combination to my lock. They are still enforcing the counter-clockwise walking around the pool rule. I thought about taking pictures of all of the COVID posters/signs to remember this point in time.

      1. Damn. I haven’t consumed any mind altering drug (yet) but I could watch this for, like, a really, really long time man.

  9. Twins magic number for 4th seed is 6.

    If Yankees lose tonight Twins control destiny and can win out to assure 4th seed.

  10. Back in the pre-Covid days I looked at getting a ticket to the first Las Vegas Raiders game.
    The least expensive ticket - 3rd tier top row corner of the endzone was $650.
    The least expensive seat in the lower bowl between the 20's was $2,000.

    I know that season ticket holders are getting future credit (not money back unless they give up their seat license) but I don't know how anyone who paid the crazy markups and can't attend the game tonight are being handled.

    1. I’ve been watching the ‘aints tonight because proximity, and I guess I thought the Vegas stadium would have some more.... bling?

      Also, I can’t imagine spending that much money on a ballgame.

      1. Vegas and the NFL are still in the awkward newlywed phase. The NFL has gone from pretending that gambling doesn't exist at all to admitting it does exist but waiting until they figure out how to control it and make the most possible money off of it to embrace it.

        Also they built that stadium with hosting Superbowls and Final 4s in mind so I think they wanted to not go overboard on the Vegas "bling" style and have it be on par with other billion dollar stadiums. I visited the construction site a number of times the last 2 or 3 years - but wasn't able to get inside the stadium before the COVID close down. I look forward to seeing a game there - though I'll probably choose a more affordable college football game over a Raiders game when the time comes.

        My father in law when his business was at its peak was a top BYU football and basketball donor and wouldn't think twice about dropping 5 figures on travel and lower bowl seats for big games (on top of the 5 figures he would pay to be on the top donor list) - when BYU would invariably lose the game it would ruin the entire trip for him. I learned to make sure when/if travelling for a sports event to add additional activities to not make the game the end all be all of the trip and experience. I also usually put enough of a bet on the other team so that if my team wins I'm not upset to lose the money but when they more than often not lose - the money I win is a nice emotional insurance payout.

    2. Tuning in to see the Yankees get drubbed in buffalo! This is the kind of entertainment I’m looking for.

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