February 22, 2021: Out With The Newer Old Thing

Ryan Saunders is out as the Wolves coach. But don't you worry, the organization did everything they could to make it as disrespectful and awkward as possible.

48 thoughts on “February 22, 2021: Out With The Newer Old Thing”

  1. I'm getting tired of the hangers-on at Twins Daily of Astudillo -- he's been figured out, and much as I like him, he's not adding anything other than a sub-par body in several positions on the field (and at bat).

    1. I like A-Stud the way I liked Samuel Deduno--he's a fun guy to root for, but not someone who's going to play a significant role on a good team. Depending on how big the rosters are, he's someone who could be useful as a third catcher who can also play other positions if necessary. But that's about all he is.

  2. Since they already announced Chris Finch as his replacement, I wonder if the timing was because they wanted to get him signed before letting Saunders go. Still, very Wolvesy, although the truly disrespectful thing was letting him be a terribly unqualified head coach in the first place.

  3. True story: I was the lector at church this past weekend, and the story was of God making his promise to Noah that he'd never flood the Earth again. Obviously the word "bow" in that reading is pronounced as in "rainbow," but every time I saw it my mind wanted to say "bow" as in "ow". To keep myself from making that mistake, I just made sure I thought of our friendly citizen Beau. And it worked! Though I almost dropped his last name into the reading too... "God set his Beau ****** in the heavens..."

    1. I am honored. Especially since two people in the last two days have looked at my name and called me Boo.

    1. At a previous employer, a guy that got hired for a fairly high-profile position did that...on the morning of what would have been his second day. Can't imagine doing that.

    2. We had one do it via an interoffice memo. My assistant accidentally resigned for him as he left us voicemails.

      Oh, and I get to do his job and my job for the month of February.

  4. So, here's something that's been rattling around in my brain this weekend. Thomas Jefferson died almost 195 years ago. If he were to come back to life for one day and you were charged with telling him what life was like in the US of 2021, what would you tell him? Suppose you could tell him only five affirmative facts about the last 195 years, but he would be able to ask questions.

    Spoiler SelectShow
    1. Spoiler SelectShow
    2. Spoiler SelectShow
          1. Spoiler SelectShow
            1. Spoiler SelectShow
              1. Spoiler SelectShow

                A lot of rhetoric and myth that flows through these stories. I'm happy Stick is taking on this challenge its been a long thing w/ my dad doing this journey though we haven't done it in order.

    3. Spoiler SelectShow
      1. Actual Spoiler SelectShow
    4. While I’ve generally heard France described as the United States’ oldest ally, that honor might actually go to Morocco:

      Morocco was one of the first countries to recognize the newly independent United States, opening its ports to American ships by decree of Sultan Mohammed III in 1777. Morocco formally recognized the United States by signing a treaty of peace and friendship in 1786, a document that remains the longest unbroken relationship in U.S. history. Full diplomatic relations began in 1905. Morocco entered into the status of a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956, and normal diplomatic relations resumed after U.S. recognition of Moroccan independence in 1956.

    5. My 5 SelectShow
      1. I tried to write something similar to your #4, but was never satisfied with how it read

          1. He may both marvel at the progress and grandeur, and recoil at the intensity and gross, inhuman, inertia of it all. * **
            * Or maybe that's just me
            ** Needed a better word for that last phrase to capture the immutability of destruction and development we find ourselves in.

            1. I meant more like "I don't know that he'd care too much about poverty or global warming, he seems a bit of a jerk."

              1. I think Jefferson would have cared about global warming. I think he would have supported scientific research.

                What I wonder about is whether he would have been supportive of government spending on research. I think he would have been indifferent to the poor.

      2. Spoiler SelectShow
      3. Good list. I thought the moon shot as being one of my top five. I chose the inter connectivity instead because of how much difficulty there was in communicating. Had I fleshed this out further, I would have talked about transportation in the 21st century and how you can travel to Europe in a matter of hours.

        The inclusion of the mention of BHO was because Jefferson believed that if/when slavery ended, blacks would have to be sent back to Africa because different races could ‘t live together. Also I mentioned VP because she is a biracial woman of African descent, just like his concubine/slave, Sally Hemings.

        The inclusion of the state of agriculture today was because of his belief that the US would function best as an agrarian state seemed to be ridiculous even in the late 18th century.

        The standing army was because he was adamantly against a standing army and he dismantled some of the navy that Adams put together. We’ve had armed misadventures for most of the last 200 years, but I thought about highlighting our entanglement in Europe in the 20th century’s two world wars had massive (mostly positive) global implications.

        The point on England isn’t particularly important, but he was adamantly against the US aligning itself with Britain. Of course, that was a different proposition in 1795 than today. If he knew what a joke many people think France is today, I think he’d be stunned. But in retrospect, it probably shouldn’t have been in the top 5.

        I do like Brian’s contribution re: public education and the university of Virginia. I would think that the concept of the “unitary executive” would (rightly) have Jefferson aghast. On the other hand, mostly universal suffrage would probably not be something that he’d be on board with.

        I’m well into my Madison book and Jefferson is the person more than any other who has looked much worse than I thought he’d look.

        1. I’m well into my Madison book and Jefferson is the person more than any other who has looked much worse than I thought he’d look.

          That sentence sums up my feelings after each book I read about that era. The historical Jefferson is not the same as the pop culture Jefferson.

  5. Spoiler SelectShow
  6. Last week we had a couple of -25 overnight lows. Today it's 40 and I have the kitchen window open. Nothing like a 65 degree warmup to make you think spring.

  7. Here’s another fact that I’ve learned about the early years of the Republic. When the capital was in Philadelphia, there were serious Yellow Fever outbreaks in the summertime. During one year, about 5000 (10%) of the people living In Philadelphia died. Unknown at the time was that Yellow Fever was transmitted by mosquitoes, and the particular mosquitoes that transmitted it were from Africa, most likely brought to America on slave ships.

Comments are closed.