27 thoughts on “August 19, 2021: Just A Game”

1. it's difficult to see how they could have selected a worse one
   You did see that Joe Buck was in the running, right?

   1. But he could sign off each show with "we'll see you ... tomorrow night"

   2. Worse for Jeopardy, perhaps, but in the best interests of baseball.

   3. Not Costas, Geraldo, Povich, Harvey, Tracy M., thank you Baby Jeebus!

2. Judging from this article, he seems like a terrible person too.

   https://www.theringer.com/tv/2021/8/18/22631299/mike-richards-jeopardy-host-search-process-past-comments

   1. Yeah, I read that one yesterday. I was trying to say, regardless of ability, replacing the very idea of Alex and what he was with this slimeball is just unsavory. Would definitely take Buck over him (oh man that hurt to say).

   2. Given his status within the Jeopardy universe and how dynamically his personality comes across in his podcast, I figured Ken Jennings was a shoe-in for the host position. I guess he was outmaneuvered:

      Richards’s selection has been met with criticism by Jeopardy! fans and former contestants alike, many of whom have questioned the validity of a prolonged and high-profile audition process that ended with the ascension of someone once tasked with leading it. (Last week, The New York Times reported that Richards “moved aside after he emerged as a candidate.”) And while some disappointment was probably inevitable at the end of a guest host rotation that featured names ranging from LeVar Burton and Aaron Rodgers to Robin Roberts and Savannah Guthrie, the decision to promote Richards—an internal candidate who was relatively unknown to the general public—has sparked more backlash than the show might have anticipated.

      Man, does that process ever sound like higher ed and sports business.

      1. He pulled a real Cheney, eh.

         1. According to the article, Richards got his start as an intern for Leno’s first iteration of The Tonight Show. So I guess he knows a thing or two about stealing a host slot.

            1. 

      2. I thought I had read the Jennings didn't really want the full time gig, but reading that article it seems like he did but wasn't going to do more than the audition. Interesting.

         Also Jennings made be adhering to that old adage: you don't want to replace the beloved (boss, host, leader) you want to be the guy/gal who replaces the person who replaced the beloved (boss, host, leader).

   3. I'm generally inclined to give people a break for stupid comments and decisions made in their youth (to a point... no amount of "kids are stupid" can be used to justify certain awful actions). I know I personally did an awful lot of growing up at some point, and embarrased by things my younger self may have said.

      I'm not sure where exactly the cut-off is on that, though, because the guy is apparently 46 now, and some of the stuff happened only like 8 years ago, so he would have been nearly-40. Hard to chalk up to youth what a middle-aged person is doing.

      1. Are you referring to comments by Jennings, or Richards?

         1. Richards.

3. (FWIW, I'm not much of a Blossom fan either).

   I don't know. I was looking forward to a whispered intro, "Today, on a very special Jeopardy..."

4. Arraez batting average update:

   If he goes 7 for his next 7 he'll catch up to Kenta Maeda's .333

   1. lofty goal, but stretch goals are important

5. R. I. P. Bill Freehan, one of my favorite non-Twins when I was growing up, of Alzheimer's Disease at age seventy-nine.

   1. Different industry, but Sonny Chiba just passed away due to COVID.

   2. The dude was a stud. I remember the 1968 season pretty well, and that year's Tigers/Cardinals World Series is a classic for the ages. The articles I read said dementia, not specifically Alzheimer's, and then there's this troubling quote from his brother: “He lost track of just how many concussions he had over the years. It was just too many concussions.”

      1. Great catcher. But that's an awfully high price to have paid.

6. Ive noticed the Strib has been having a rotating cast of writer cover the Twins beat. I wonder what happened to Meg Ryan?

   1. It's been two months since she last tweeted from her Strib account and I know the writers are encouraged to be active tweeters.

7. MLB is dropping Topps after the 2025 season, you know, because money, I'm sure. 70 years is enough, I suppose.

   1. Saw that. Ridiculously lame.

8. Someone decided to take out their anti mask rage on my bike yesterday..... The used the parking meter I'd securely locked my bike to as a lever to taco my top chain ring and dent the absolute shit out of my frame. Bike guy says "yeah brah, steel frames are meant to be dented!" Me, "hey, steel is real brother, but I'm a big dude.... this denting is awful close to the joint and bottom bracket on the seat tube......." Him, "na brah, no worries.... it'll bend way before it snaps" (Yeah, true, but this is my daily ride to work and .... am I always going to be wondering what day it is that this thing fails on the ride into work????....)

   He's going to work up how much this will cost me.......

   1. That sucks, brother.

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