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July 20, 2012: Dates I Can’t Forget

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I never forget birthdays. The downside to this is that I never forget any other dates, either. July 20th, for me, is the anniversary of the suicide of a good friend of mine. As a result, for a long time, suicide showed up in nearly everything I wrote. I still miss him, and I'm still angry with him.

I doubt many people here have these kind of dark times, but if you do, pick up a phone because your brothers in the Nation are here for you. I know this firsthand, because I have never completely shed dark thoughts, and went through a rough patch a couple of months ago; I turned to someone here to pull out of that spiral. I can't overstate how much I love this place.

99 thoughts on “July 20, 2012: Dates I Can’t Forget”

  1. One of the things they emphasized to us in seminary was "Don't suffer in silence." Reach out to someone--a family member, a friend, a clergy person, a counselor, someone. No one can get through life alone. We were put on this earth to help each other.

    1. That last sentiment is so true and, at the same time, it's truth can be so very hard to learn.

      1. It is sad events like this that should remind all of us of the importance of communication, and the desperate need for a strong mental health services sector.

  2. Dwight Howard has asserted that if traded he won't sign an extension and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, further stripping leverage from the Orlando Magic. I don't really want anyone to get hurt, but if Mr. Howard should blow out his knee, I wouldn't be wearing black for six days.

    1. He came in with the lead and left with the lead. Then, a guy he put on base eventually scored the run that put Baltimore in the lead for good.

      1. What SBG said. Plus: he recorded an out (that is needed).

        Holds and Saves are based on the game situation when entering and leaving the game.
        Wins and Losses are based on which pitcher is responsible for which runs and in which order.

        A pitcher can get a blown save even if he retires all of the batters he faces, if there is a runner on base before he enters the game and that runner scores, tying the game.

          1. Are you somehow suggesting that saves, holds, pitcher wins, and pitcher losses are not the shining exemplars of how to value the worth of pitchers? Because if you are, get those negative thoughts out of your head right now, young man.

            1. Because if you are, get those negative thoughts out of your head right now, young man.

              Or move back into your mother's basement.

  4. Jeremy Lin signs with the Rockets and the 4ltr has six (six!) articles breaking the whole deal down. Despite all of the great teams in the league, the New York Knicks seem to suck all the air out of the proverbial room. It's the end of Linsanity! If he's an all-NBA performer in Houston, that won't matter! The Knicks have won one playoff game in the last decade.

    1. From one of those articles:

      On Thursday, Forbes posted an article on Lin with the headline: "Jeremy Lin May Be The Dumbest Harvard Grad Ever."

      In the article, Forbes questions why Lin would decide to leave the country's biggest media market.

      Do these guys understand the value of $25M guaranteed? Passing that up in hopes that maybe you'll get some big endorsement deals (some of which he might get in Houston anyway!) would seem foolish to me.

      1. He went to work for the Best GM in All of Sports. How dumb can that be, even if the guy is now coaching?

        1. What publication would be stupid enough to claim that Kevin McHale is best GM in all of sports?

      2. Not to mention that the Knicks proclaimed widely and loudly that they would match any offer.

        1. Not to mention that he's wildly overrated and eould probably end up disliked in NY,

      3. Forbes is unreadable. Every time I head over there, I wonder where their writers come from.

        Also, I know several Harvard grads for some reason, and maybe one or two of them are truly "smart." They're all well-read and educated, I'll give them that.

        1. I think the same thing about Ivy League grads. There are a lot of people there based on connections and prep schools.

          1. WHAT??? That's crazy talk. The Ivy League is a bastion of meritocracy!!!!1111one1111!!!

    2. I flipped over to ESPN Wednesday morning because I have my days all messed up and I thought the British Open was on, but got the 6am SportsCenter. Jeremy Lin was the lead story. I shook my head and turned the channel. I mean good for him getting his payday, but I dont think he is lead story material, and dont need 15 'analysts' breaking down this earth shattering contract. And, as SBG has pointed out many many times, the Knicks are pretty irrelevant when it comes to the NBA.

      3. I feel his pain a little. Ahem.

        When I was in jail, I was in with a guy named George Hutchins. He escaped from jail (he'd had about six DUIs) and fled to live in a Las Vegas hotel. One night after a year or so, cops came to his door and asked if he was George Hutchins. He said yes, defeated, and they drew guns and put him in cuffs, treating him very roughly. He asked if maybe it was an overreaction, and soon enough, they figured out that this was not the George Hutchins who had murdered his wife the night before, and he could prove it because he didn't have a tiger tattooed on his shoulder.

        Just as a formality, the cop said, we have to run your information. George laughed and waited for them to find out that he had to be taken to jail anyway.

    1. Teams debating whether to move starting pitching — think the Rays, Marlins and Athletics — might grow more inclined to sell.
      ...
      The Brewers, 7½ games back in the NL Central and six behind in the wild-card race, are trying to get into contention, in which case they probably would not move Greinke.

      The A's are a half-game behind Detroit for the second wild card in the AL, while the Brewers are six games back in the NL, yet Rosenthal reports that the A's are "debating" whether to be sellers and the Brewers are "trying to get into contention"???

      Oookay then.

    4. I want some graphics wizard to put some bowling pins in there in place of second base.

      1. Exactly. I've said it before, but he looks like a bowling ball picking up the spare.

    5. I also greatly enjoy the gif that was floating around a couple days ago that's roated 90 degrees where it looks like Prince is falling and grabs onto the base to keep himself from plummeting into the abyss.

          2. Breaking Detroit: Due to his massive weight, Prince Fielder inadvertently tips the Earth on its side.

            1. My favorite part is how he flops over onto his back, still clutching the base securely. If we're going with the "third base is now gravitationally beneath second base" thing, this pose is very "action movie"-esque.

    1. I'm going to have to read this book I think. Terriers not getting a second season is probably the most sad I've been about a TV show getting cancelled ever. I read something with Shawn Ryan recently where he stated that they were getting a decent amount of viewers on Netflix, so I'm glad people are watching it. Maybe Netflix will revive it. I can only hope.

      1. I've said this before, but the show's title really didn't inspire me to watch. I absolutely loved the dynamic between Hank and Britt, and was also pretty sad that the series ended before it's time.

  9. It's been a week now since my final interview. Still no word. I am pretty much freaking out.

    1. Oh, and it's been a rough week at my current job too, with plenty of reminders about why I'm ready to move on, so that hasn't helped at all.

    2. Still got my fingers crossed for ya. It's making things like clicking mice and typing memos kind of difficult, but it goes to a good cause.

    3. It's gotta take longer for them to get their ducks in a row after they decide to hire you, right? It was a month between my interview and when I got offered my current job.

      1. I know. And I'm aware that they haven't called references yet, etc., so I really shouldn't be expecting anything yet. But the potential here is just so exciting and the consequence of not getting the job is just so heartbreaking that I'm quite on edge. Talking about it here helps. What the heck did I do with myself before the WGOM?

        1. What the heck did I do with myself before the WGOM?

          Besides ratfxxxking Spookymilk Survivor alliance members?

          1. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what that word with the 3 'x's is supposed to be.

            1. finiking
              flacking
              flanking
              flecking
              flicking
              flocking
              flunking
              foreking
              franking
              freaking
              frisking
              frocking

              What were you doing franking a rat???

              1. I had no idea that rats could be mailed for free. Nor that Phyllo was a member of Congress.

  10. As Carl Showalter would say, "Total [redactin'] silence."

          1. Have they pissed you off this quickly or are just relying on my word of mouth?

            How many FREE SEAN PAYTON shirts have you seen already?

            1. Too many to count. Seriously. The drew b. signing sent the sports nuts into a tizzy here, and everyone denies any wrong doing over the bounty program by using the "everybody's doing it" excuse. I'm not a fan of the nfl in general, but the obnoxious fans really get under my skin.

              2. After Hurricane Katrina, the Saints' success was given a lot of credit for "healing the community" and Brees did a lot of charitable stuff for New Orleans after Katrina as well. I think he even lived there in the offseason. So, it's awfully hard to look down on a team when it is placed up on a pedestal.

                1. I'll give you that the saints winning helped focus some attention elsewhere, but I'll tell you that this city needs a hell of a lot more than a winning football team to heal the wounds that still exist 7 years later. The Super Bowl is coming to town, you may have heard, and they're repaving streets in the french quarter! Awesome! The Super Bowl and the nfl are making a difference! The nfl is doing its part to fix New Orleans! Except for the fact that those parts of town don't really require 'fixing', and the streets and neighborhoods in desperate need will have to wait (again) for relief.

                  Sports are an excellent place to hang our hopes, and a great way to connect with perfect strangers over a share passion, but some folks take it too far. The saints fans I've met, and through conversations I've overheard, resemble the cowboys fans I knew in west Texas and the Yankees fans I knew in buffalo. These folks take this shit way too seriously.

  11. I was catching up on some reading a came across this article about another article about the lack of craft beer at Chavez Ravine. Craft beers at the ballpark are becoming a big thing (the whole Surly's at Target Field buzz comes to mind) which is fine. People are still going to buy the corporate beers, and thats fine too. I dont get excited about it because I am a teetotaler (do people still use that word?), but I appreciate the enthusiasm about more options for fans.

    Anyway, I got thinking, while beer drinkers get more options, non beer drinkers are still stuck drinking boring old watered down Pepsi or Coke and 3 other options (diet, Sprite/Sierra Mist, reg or diet Mountain Dew, and maybe one other flavor). I wish there was a craft soda market (I can only think of Schells 1919 Root Beer and Jones Soda) so 'the others' can have a the pleasures beer drinkers get.

    1. there's certainly a craft soda market, just maybe not a large market for them.

      1. Maybe not, but I could see someone saying the same thing about beer 15 years ago. I could see there potentially being a bigger market for craft soda at a ballgame than at the supermarket.

        1. no disagreement here. however, i'm not sure you're going to see too much of it anytime soon. i'd assume the difference in the margins between craft soda and fountain soda ridiculously huge, whereas the difference between macro v. micro brews aren't so different. vendors aren't going to want to cut in on that any time soon.

          1. Sure, I don't know if there's any money in it (I have no idea what the margins are like for basically any food/drink product), but I could see potential consumer interest in it.

            1. i don't know a whole lot, but from what i do know and with what they charge at the ballparks, i'd imagine fountain soda is 4-5,000% profit (i'd say about .05 of syrup per cup per $4-$5 soda).

              1. This.

                Soda is colored, sweetened, carbonated water. The cup and lid are the most expensive parts of the product for the mass-produced pops. Even with "craft" sodas, the syrup costs aren't gonna make that much difference in pricing.

      2. thinking about this further, maybe the stadium deals with Coke or Pepsi doesnt allow for craft sodas to be sold.

      1. Nehi is still around. The local grocery store is selling 2 liter bottles of Grape and Strawberry Nehi for $0.99

    1. If the teams are going to have bonus budgets, why not just have an auction instead of a draft and give the worst teams the highest auction budgets?

        2. I expect you to produce a Pint-Sized Review. Or mail it to me, and I'll do the honors.

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