tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61661225216882745162024-03-17T12:04:46.940-05:00 The Square PegTart. Cheeky. And definitely not for everyone.La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.comBlogger609125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-20936257963829194982023-12-14T13:14:00.024-06:002023-12-20T22:45:09.782-06:00Robbie Gould<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Robbie
Gould announced his retirement recently. To all but the most ardent
NFL fans, that name likely means very little. But to those who follow
the sport, Gould was one of the best place-kickers ever to play the
game.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">His
talent might have been a little hard to see at first, being that
Gould went un-drafted after a distinguished career with the Penn State
Nittany Lions. Even moreso after being waived—twice—after two
pre-camp visits with the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
what must rank as the most cerebral insight ever experienced by Bears
management, Gould was located working for a construction company in
Pennsylvania, invited to a work-out at Halas Hall and signed to a
contract shortly into the 2005 season.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
it even needs to be said, the Bears don't do things like that. Over
the hill linemen? Sure. Inconsequential wide receivers? Of course.
Dubious quarterbacks? In a heartbeat.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hall
of Fame quality place-kickers? Nope.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">That
low-profile introduction may have been a godsend, as no one outside
of northeastern Illinois was paying much attention. But within
eighteen months Gould was kicking in a Super Bowl and being named as
a first-team All-Pro.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yeah,
he was pretty good. And he stayed that way for a long time. Long
enough to retire as the tenth highest scoring player in NFL history.
Given the Football Hall of Fame's reluctance to admit special teams
performers, it may be a while before we see him inducted.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
that's on them. Not us.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
an awkward dismissal from the Bears on the eve of the 2016 season
(supposedly, then-GM Ryan Pace felt the Bears' kicker was getting old
and expensive), Gould signed with the New York Giants for a season.
He then moved on to the San Francisco 49ers.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
on December 3, 2017 he had what must've been one of the greatest
games of his life. Against the Bears—in Chicago—Gould kicked five
field goals in a 15 – 14 49ers victory. (God how I'd love to kick
five field goals against a former employer!) </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
the equally-expensive kickers Pace replaced Gould with? Connor Barth—followed by Cody
Parkey. Anyone still wondering why Pace no longer works as an NFL GM?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">With
a franchise more-appreciative of his singular talents, Gould went on
to kick in two more Super Bowls. What's more, he did it
without a posse. He did it without complaining how disrespected he
was by his salary. He did it without telling every camera in the
locker room how good he was.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
a former NBA point guard once observed, if you're as good as you say
you are, you don't need to be reminding people of it every day.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gould
merely focused on his job and devoted himself to the performance of
that job to a very high order. And despite the low-key demeanor,
people noticed. At a time when the Bears were trying to mask their
on-field mediocrity, team execs made it a point to talk about quality
individuals filling quality rosters.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
the cameras were turned off, the Bears then unceremoniously dumped
two of the best examples (running back Matt Forte was the other) they
could ever hope to find. Which made me doubly happy for that
49ers-Bears game in 2017.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">You might consider me a Bears fan after
reading this post. Truth is, I realized the absolute state of their
fecklessness before puberty even hit and abandoned them for the
Dallas Cowboys. Which makes my regard for Robbie Gould still-more remarkable. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amid
what were mostly unfavorable circumstances, Gould went about his work
as if every game were a Super Bowl; as if nothing less than his best
would suffice. He
never told anyone about it. He just did it. Teammates noticed. Word
got out. While physically-diminutive by NFL standards, Gould's
reputation morphed into a Julius Peppers-sized giant. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">He.
Got. It. Done.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
forget who said 'Revenge is a dish best served cold', but know you were
never cooler than you were with San Francisco, Mr. Gould. Congratulations.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> <br /></p>La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-46997176071155757222023-10-12T13:11:00.026-05:002023-11-10T12:30:59.218-06:00The September Fade<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">No,
it's not the latest hairstyle sported by Harry Styles as he tours the
world. Nor is it the latest iteration of Donald's comb-over. Nope.
The September Fade is the semi-annual collapse of the Chicago Cubs on
the odd years they are actually in contention.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I've
only been following the Cubs since 1968, so I'm hardly an expert. But
they have an unpleasant habit of fading in September. Do I remember
the jokes about the Cubs relocating to the Philippines and renaming
themselves the Manila Folders?<br /></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sadly,
yes.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
purposes of juxtaposition, the 2016 Cubs followed up a sizzling
August (22 – 6) with a stupendous September, going 17 – 10 as
they wrapped up the NL Central division. The previous year, after
having embraced the idea they were legitimate contenders, the Cubs
also followed up a torrid August with an equally-torrid September (19
– 9), ending the year on an eight-game winning streak.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(You
will excuse me for not mentioning that after taking the season series
from the New York Mets 7 – 0, they disappeared against them in the
National League Championship Series, falling four games to none.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even
after a slow start in 2017, they caught fire in late-summer, going 16
– 8 in July, 17 – 12 in August and 19 – 9 in—you guessed
it—September. In 2018 they managed a still-impressive 16 – 12
record, tying the Milwaukee Brewers for the division lead.
(Naturally, they lost game one-hundred sixty-three at home to those
same Brewers, managing just three hits in a 3 – 1 loss.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Following
that defeat, the Cubs went on to lose another game—also at home—in a
one-game wild card series to the 1927 New York Yank...er, I mean the
2018 Colorado Rockies. The score was 2 – 1, but at least the Cubs
totaled six hits. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
a manner of speaking, the immediate future began in 2019. In what was
widely seen as a make-it-or-break-it year for Maddon and company, the
Cubs played well, ending August with a 73 – 62 record, in
second-place just 2.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
do you remember September?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Cubs crashed, going 11 – 16 and losing ten out of their last twelve
games (which included a season-high nine-game losing streak).</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So,
yeah. This isn't new.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most
famously there was 1969. After enjoying a five to nine game divisional
lead from mid-May through Labor Day, the Cubs went on to lose
seventeen of twenty-five games that September, which included a
season-high eight-game losing streak. It was enough to subvert a very
healthy divisional lead to the point where the Cubs stood eight games
<i>behind</i> the New York Mets by season's end.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
an era where only division winners were invited to participate in the
post-season, it was a brutal end to a campaign that had
success-starved Cub fans rekindling their belief in Santa Claus. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
hate the Mets to this day. And I always will.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">2008.
The Cubs were cruising along at a 100-win pace when September struck.
They enjoyed a division lead that grew to 10.5 games by
the 22<sup>nd</sup>, despite the Cubs suffering through what was
easily the worst month of the season (12 – 12).</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was perhaps fortunate that September had just thirty days.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
good news was that the ninety-seven win Cubs were opening the
divisional playoffs against the 84 – 78 Los Angeles Dodgers, who
not only held the worst won-loss record of any of the MLB post-season
combatants, but the worst <i>road </i>record of any of the five
National League post-season entrants.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
Cub fans who hasn't yet surrendered their innocence, this was a sign
from God that the Cubs were headed to the World Series. To those of
us who had lost our virginity some time ago, this pairing merited
only a reserved and distant “Hmmm.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Cubs wasted no time in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,
losing game one 7 – 2 and game two 10 – 3 at Wrigley—to the
second-worst road team in the playoffs. I didn't even bother checking
the score for game three. Didn't need to. I knew instinctively they
had once again found the cloud in the silver lining.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unlike
other Cubs teams that had suffered a difficult September, the 2008
squad distinguished itself because it had also experienced a
difficult October, something the 1984, 1989 and 2003 clubs were also
familiar with. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
for the masochistic Cub fan, it was a season to remember.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">2023
didn't plumb those depths, but managed to hold several peculiar
qualities all its own.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">First
off, you should know the Cubs held the third-best run differential in
the National League for the majority of the season. Their pythagorean
won-lost record was 90 – 72, a full seven games above their actual
record. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
was going to be a continuation of the second-half success last year's
team enjoyed. And with new additions like Cody Bellinger and Dansby
Swanson plus the return of Kyle Hendricks, why wouldn't it be?</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Read on, dear reader. Read on. <br /></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
what went wrong? The Cubs punched well below their weight. They ran
notoriously hot and cold. Slumps and injuries held an all-access pass
to their locker room. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jameson
Taillon and Drew Smyly appeared in April to be decent-quality fourth
and fifth starters, but that didn't quite happen. Taillon's first
half was a disaster, and Smyly never got untracked and was relegated
to the bullpen.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">However
good Marcus Stroman was in the first half (and he was Cy
Young-nominee good), he tailed off during the Cubs' visit to London
and never recovered. (A cartilage-injury to his ribs helped ensure he
wouldn't.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hendricks
arrived in June and was a great help. But the Cubs couldn't score
when Hendricks was on the mound. Ten of his twenty-four starts
resulted in a no decision, and what usually happened on those
occasions was that the bullpen would extend to the opposition the
generosity Hendricks himself refused to.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">That
left Justin Steele. The new guy in town had a breakthrough year and
was a deserved candidate for the Cy Young trophy until a couple of
late-season starts went south.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
there was the bullpen. It was a bullpen-by-committee kind of deal,
with Adbert Alzolay emerging as the eventual closer. And for the
majority of the year he was quite good. But his calendar contained a
'September' too, and he was sidelined at the most critical time of
the year. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
were lots and lots of blown save opportunities in September,
something that doesn't align well with post-season play. Over the
last thirty days, only the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals
created more save opportunities (thirteen) than the Cubs' dozen. The Cubs could only convert four.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">There's
no telling what those eight blown saves (defined as a lead lost in
the eighth or ninth inning) did to the club's psyche. But
the position players weren't without blame as slumps coursed through
the lineup in a highly-democratic fashion.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Swanson,
the Cubs big free-agent signing, had a good year defensively but his
offensive production was on the weak side. Specifically, he hit just
.184 in August (OPS of .662) and .236 in September—not the numbers
you're expecting from a triple-digit signing. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Seiya
Suzuki rebounded nicely at the end of the year, but could only manage
a batting average of .177 in June (with a slugging percentage of .228
and an OPS of .475) and .240 in July (with a less-bad slugging
percentage of .350 and an OPS of .660). </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even
Bellinger slumped, hitting .226 in May and .250 in June with slugging
percentages of .300 each month. But a month-long knee injury hit
him in mid-May, so.. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">He
also tailed-off in September. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
lasting picture I have of the 2023 Cubs is that there always seemed
to be someone on the IL and/or enmeshed in a deep slump. Suffering
from a lack of depth, this was a club that could not afford to be
hamstrung by a starting pitcher or positional player or bullpen
closer struggling. And yet it was—repeatedly.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
powers that be maintain the Cubs weren't <i>supposed</i> to be
contending for a playoff slot, which helps not one iota in picking up
the pieces of this broken season. That wasn't the point! They <i>were</i>
contending. And they choked. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
the other hand, the Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles
won 305 games between them. The Orioles and Dodgers were swept by
teams that won (respectively) 90 and 84 games.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Just
for fun, I'll add the 99-win Tampa Bay Rays, who were swept in the
wild card round by a 90-win team, also.) </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Braves will likely bow out of their series tonight to a team that
also won 90. That's four teams—all substantially better than the
Cubs—who went 1 – 11 in October.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Maybe
that's the reason we keep watching—the immutable and unexplainable
mysteries of sport.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-14965805813745840392023-09-30T22:28:00.022-05:002023-10-20T16:58:28.947-05:00Yeah, There's an App for That<p><span style="font-size: small;">Map
My Walk (a free app offered by athletic apparel manufacturer Under
Armour) came into my life via a sibling, who advised installing it
when she heard my complaints that my phone's stopwatch wasn't quite
the tool it promised to be.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Map
My Walk was ready, willing and able. It could (and did) record my entire
workout. Given the pitiable performance of the aforementioned
stopwatch, it was a huge and welcome blessing. “You mean it stays on
the entire time? Not just for, like, twelve minutes? Wow!”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Life
was good. Calories burned, steps taken, the distance covered and the
time it took to do so were all faithfully recorded and stored. Sure,
there were days when Under Armour would encourage you to “upgrade”,
rendering the app unavailable to anyone who didn't wish to. But it was
just a single workout. The app was back to normal the next day. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
don't remember the first time a problem reared its ugly head, but
this year they have become almost routine.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">First
off, I begin and end my walk at fixed points. In other words, I begin
and end my walks at the exact same place every day. And yet Map My
Walk has computed the distance traveled as anywhere between 2.22 and
2.29 miles.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Huh?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
there's the pause button. This is supposedly a courtesy offered the
user who needs to temporarily suspend the timer to either tighten a
shoelace, chat with a friend, pick-up after their dog, etc. It is
also employed at the finish of the end-user's walk.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
problem is that it only works about two-thirds of the time. “Look!
I've hit pause a dozen times and the clock is still ticking! Wow!”
The concept of 'pause' is, at these times, purely theoretical. As is
the idea of obtaining an accurate and reliable record of your walk.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Left
unattended, the clock will run until your phone's battery is drained.
(On a personal note, I advise avoiding this outcome whenever
possible.) To prevent battery failure, continue to press the pause
button. While doing so may provoke long-term cartilage and/or nerve
damage, it can be justified in the event your phone's battery
survives.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Turning
off the phone is another option.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So the pause button has decided to work today. Quickly press the
new button (hold to finish) that should appear just to the left
of the pause button. Keep it pressed until the red minute hand has
completed its cycle.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(I
should take a moment to salute the hold to finish button. It is the
lone function on Map My Walk that has performed as intended.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Okay.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">With
the data from the walk now secure, you no doubt want to save it for
future reference. And here's where we encounter the first glitch seen
continuously for seven consecutive days.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Go
ahead—press save workout. Where once your record was installed in
Map My Walk's file, it has recently greeted me with the message
stating there has been an error. If I wait fifteen minutes and
attempt it again, it will work. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
facts of your walk can then be moved into your file.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But yesterday, there was no appeasing the save workout beast. It refused,
time after time, to save my workout. And naturally, there was no
relevant help on the app's site. I suppose I should take some solace
from the fact I wasn't asked to upgrade.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">With
no other solution in sight, I decided on the tried and true reboot.
Delete the app. Re-install the app. It saved the workout the save
workout button refused to. In my innocence, I thought I had
fixed/restored/enabled Map My Walk. Dare to dream!</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
morning, Map My Walk again refused to save my workout. Deleting and
reinstalling the app made not a whit of difference. Most of my fingers are presently
unusable.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's
been fun, Map My Walk. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Goodbye.
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-23070257133487574032023-09-08T14:10:00.026-05:002023-11-10T12:39:29.612-06:00This and That<p><span style="font-size: small;">On
April 24, 2023, the Green Bay Packers announced the trade of
quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets. Given the reaction by
Bear fans, it was as if their team had just won the first springtime
Super Bowl in NFL history.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Of
course, considering how little they have to cheer, it could almost be
tolerated—if not quite understood.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
Rodgers went 25-5 against the Bears over his career, rendering his
infamous “I own you!” comment a fair catch with both feet firmly
in bounds. But it must be pointed out he had nothing to do with the
parade of mediocrity that has emanated from Halas Hall for the last
three decades.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">That,
my friends, is the exclusive property of the McCaskey family.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
while Bear fans merrily predict an MVP for Justin Fields and a
divisional title for the team, the sober among us take care to point out that
while the team has improved in many important areas, it has not in
others.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Take,
for example, the offensive line. Aside from first-round draft choice
Darnell Wright, the line is essentially unchanged. Also unchanged is
the fact that the majority of projected starters have spent the
balance of training camp injured.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Foremost
among those are injury-prone 2021 second-round pick Tevin Jenkins and
2023 first-rounder Wright. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
know no one chooses to be injured, but I'm wondering how the Bears
continually select such delicate specimens at what might be the
game's most physically-demanding position. And did I mention that in
terms of O-line injuries, this is a sequel to last year's camp? </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Bears regularly pay lip service to the idea they are eager to see
Fields develop into a full-fledged NFL quarterback. And yet by
placing him behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league,
how can this ever happen?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fields
was the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL last year. And for someone as
mobile as Fields, that speaks volumes.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
in the same breath, critics point out he holds on to the ball too
long. Hmmm. Playing behind an NCAA division II offensive line, with a
modestly-productive tight end and a number-one wide receiver who
would rank third on most NFL depth charts, is that sack total really
due to the fact he holds on to the ball too long?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Or
that there is no one to throw to?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Bears appear to have addressed the WR question with the signing of
D.J. Moore, who by all accounts is an NFL-quality wideout. But he
better get open in a hurry, because Fields is still operating behind
an O-line made of Kleenex.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sorry
Bears' fans, but I'll consider their season a success if they can
just double last year's win total.</span></p>
<p style="border-bottom: 4.50pt double #000000; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-style: none none double; border-top: none; border-width: medium medium 4.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; padding-bottom: 0.03in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in; padding: 0in 0in 0.03in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Much
has been made of Aaron Rodgers' move to New York City. I'll admit the
Jets have some promise, with a young, talented defense and an
offense made more than functional with the addition of Rodgers, Dalvin Cook and a
couple of ex-Packer receivers.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
before we anoint them World Champions, I think we need to
consider a few things. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
Rodgers' Packers dominated the NFC Central. But the AFC East is not
the NFC Central—especially as currently configured. Put another
way, the Jets are not going to run over the Buffalo Bills, Miami
Dolphins and New England Patriots the way the Packers once did the Bears, Minnesota
Vikings and Detroit Lions.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Point
two: Rodgers has extracted more mileage from glittering regular
season play than any quarterback I can think of. I mean, between
Labor Day and New Year's he's one of the best ever to play the game.
No doubt about that.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
despite going to the post-season in eleven of Rodgers' fifteen season
as a starter, the Packers played in but a single Super Bowl. That's half the number Eli Manning enjoyed with the New York Giants. And equal to
the number Nick Foles availed himself of with the Philadelphia
Eagles. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
gets worse.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">There's
the Packers' 5-9 post-season record since that lone Super Bowl.
(Which includes going 0 for 4 in conference championship games.) At
the risk of being charged with arson, I will add that just six of
those post-season games were played outside of Green Bay, and that
the Pack won just one of them.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Iron-willed
champion? Only between September and January, kids.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
prima donna-slash-attention-whore will face an ocean of distractions in New York City. At the same time, he'll be
graduating—at the age of thirty-nine—from a sandbox to a shark
tank in terms of division and conference play.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">By
December he'll be dreaming of those days in Soldier Field when he
could claim “I own you!”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
of the all-time greats? </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm thinking only
with an asterisk.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-30286068173159565572023-08-09T09:11:00.025-05:002023-09-04T09:10:07.942-05:00Huh?<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
surprised it didn't happen sooner. In the wake of the NFL's
decades-long infatuation with the quarterback-is-everything
aesthetic, the running back has become the first position to be
financially devalued.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Witness
the struggles of Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and
Dalvin Cook to get paid relative to their production. Cook was
released by the Minnesota Vikings rather than extend a contract to
him. Barkley was burdened with the franchise tag before agreeing to a
contract stuffed with incentives.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
under contract, Taylor has been rebuffed in his attempt to either
receive an extension or be traded. Colts' owner Jim Irsay refuses to
do either and appears prepared to let Taylor sit out the season.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like
Barkley, Jacobs has also been assigned the franchise tag but refuses
to sign. In lieu of an extension or a trade, he also appears ready to
sit out the season.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">From
a competition standpoint, neither the Indianapolis Colts, New York
Giants, Las Vegas Raiders or Minnesota Vikings are in a position that
allows them to get tough with their running backs.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Despite
their gaudy record, last year's Vikings were the first team to post a
dozen-plus wins and be outscored. Translated, that means they won
small and lost large. With the trade of WR Adam Thielen and the
release of Cook, the Vikings appear poised for a minor-key rebuild.
Especially when you consider that veteran QB Kirk Cousins is in the
final year of his contract.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Have
the Vikings considered how the loss of Thielen, Cook and potentially
Cousins will impact the career arc of their talented young WR Justin
Jefferson? Probably not.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
five seasons of non-competitive football, the Giants—fueled by the
emergence of QB Daniel Jones and a healthy season from Barkley—won,
burnished by a wild card road victory over Minnesota.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was entirely cringe-worthy that the front office chose this moment to
put the screws to Barkley. Yes, he missed the vast majority of 2020
with a torn ACL, and his comeback a year later wasn't the stuff
dreams are made of. But Barkley persevered and returned to form last
year.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">That
took work. Sorry Joe Schoen, but Barkley deserves his cash. This was
<i>not</i> the time to toy with a vital piece of the puzzle.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Circumstances
are different for the Colts and Raiders. Since the sudden retirement
of Andrew Luck just before the 2019 season, the Colts have employed a
revolving cast of quarterbacks. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only
Philip Rivers jelled with the team, leading the Colts to an 11-5
record in 2020. Neither Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz nor Jacoby Brissett
could sustain a pulse, and that was <i>with</i> Taylor. Aside from
saving on payroll, I can't imagine what the rebuilding Colts feel
they'd accomplish without him.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
the Raiders had stability at quarterback, their performance was
routinely mediocre. Like the Colts, they apparently regard their
running back's requests as inconsequential. Maybe
they have a Brown/Payton/Henry hybrid they're keeping secret?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Given
the Colts and Raiders middling status, why don't they unload Taylor
and Jacobs? If we can assume each is worth so little, surely any
return they'd receive in a trade would be welcome compensation?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
the other hand, perhaps this is exactly the kind of decision-making which
has kept each franchise on the fringes of NFL. Maybe that's just how they roll.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Taking
a step back to assess the bigger picture, the exponential rise in
quarterback salaries plays a huge role in this scenario. When teams devote such an
enormous percentage of payroll to a single player, the only
conceivable result is that less will be available to everyone else.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Standing
squarely in the corner they painted themselves into, GMs must assign
hard values to the remaining twenty-three positions required to field
a football team. Given the executive-level mania for passing, it has
been decided that running backs are unproductive. And their salaries
must reflect that.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">They're
not an investment. They're an expense.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you say so.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
hoping this is the inevitable consequence of the passing-is-all
fashion currently besotting the NFL. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like
it or not, moving the football is best accomplished by using the run
to offset the pass and using the pass to offset the run. It keeps
your opponent off-balance. It's similar to a baseball manager
bringing in a series of relievers with contrasting styles that keep
hitters on edge—if not outright confused.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Football
games featuring teams with one-dimensional offenses are unimaginably
tedious. They suck all the nuance and strategy that have evolved over
the past 100 years from the game. They reduce the game to something
that belongs in an eighties video game arcade. Can we call it Day-Glo
football?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(I
have even heard of grown men venturing into basements looking for
laundry to fold rather than subject themselves to such punishment.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
pretty sure that is not what the NFL had in mind when it negotiated
its latest multi-billion-dollar TV contract.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
this isn't just about running backs. They're just the first position
to be officially devalued . It could've been (and may still be)
cornerbacks, offensive tackles, edge rushers, etc. Who will be next
and accused of effectively stealing money from quarterbacks?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Have
the people who determine such things considered the long-term effects
on the game? It's viability? Is the future of the NFL a
50-million-dollar-a-year quarterback surrounded by a bunch of
sixth-round schmucks and walk-ons?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
reminded of fifties-rocker Chuck Berry, who refused to employ a
full-time band behind him. You know; too expensive. Too much trouble.
He'd go from gig to gig solo, backed by whatever band was
available—and cheap.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
it might have made a certain kind of business sense, I wasn't the
only one who saw in it a profound disregard for his music—and his
fans. I don't see any differently as the next generation of the NFL
takes shape right before our eyes.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">How
ironic would it be if Chuck Berry and the NFL ended up in the same
place? </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-90978814220229816802023-07-05T18:45:00.029-05:002023-07-15T06:38:37.851-05:00Major League Ennui<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chicago
is just one of four municipalities (soon to be three) to host a pair
of major league baseball teams. To cities without even a single
franchise, this—at first blush—appears to be an enviable
concentration of wealth.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
at first glance, it is. Doubles the chances of hosting a championship. Of having a
contending team in a late-season pennant race. Two sets of athletes
performing otherworldly feats in the rarefied strata of major league
baseball. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Or
so you'd think.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">We've
had a pair of baseball teams in town for a very, very long time. Way
longer than Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and the Bay Area
(municipalities that, at one point or another, enjoyed the services
of multiple MLB baseball teams). In fact, only New York City can
compare. (But remember: the Yankees had NYC to themselves from the
time the Giants and Dodgers departed for the West coast until the
birth of the Mets in 1962.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So,
yeah. Chicago has been a two-MLB town longer than anybody.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
as any local baseball fan will admit, a lot of good it's done. From
the end of World War One (November 11, 1918) through today (July 4,
2023), Chicago has celebrated just two World Series victories.
Two. In what is nearly 105 years.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sure,
the White Sox ended the third-longest title drought in the history of
professional sports in 2005. And the Cubs famously ended the longest
back in 2016. But that's it. Put
another way, it's as many as the Houston Astros have amassed since
2017.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
we know so well in Chicago, two teams doubles the odds. What we
frequently forget is that it doubles the odds for <i>everything. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Good
</span><i>and</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> bad. Not just of
winning championships (although that would be nice), but of sucking.
Being uncompetitive. Playing listless, uninspired ball in front of some
of the most-expensive seats in Major League Baseball.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">White
Sox fans are in their second season of hair-shirt torment since the
fall of the 2021 AL Central champions in the first round of the
playoffs. To their fan's immeasurable relief, the team finally
jettisoned Tony LaRussa, which helped not one iota. While he should
be credited with keeping the team afloat despite the parade to the
IL, his successors have fared no better.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">However
unwilling and disorganized the 2022 team appeared, the 2023 version
is far worse. For the White Sox merely to equal last season's .500
mark, they will have to win 44 of their remaining 76 games, which
equates to a 93-win pace over a full season.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Additionally,
the parade to the IL has not stopped. Every week, another player
suffers an injury that keeps him out for weeks, if not months. Those
that remain more or less healthy underperform—spectacularly. Tim
Anderson? Dylan Cease? Yoan Moncada? Michael Kopech? Eloy Jimenez?
All were exceptionally-rated prospects. None have fulfilled their
potential.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
team's leading light is Luis Robert, Jr. Named to the American League
all-star squad last week, he appears on track to play in 100 games
for the first time in his four-year career. </span>
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is probably a good time to mention that the White Sox do lead the
league in something, though. They have suffered the largest drop-off
in average attendance in Major League Baseball. </span>
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
return of pre-pandemic congestion is partly to blame, I'm sure. As is
the reconstruction of the Kennedy Expressway. But it appears White
Sox fans know a bad thing when they see it.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ever-hopeful Cub
fans were anticipating this season as the team actually competed in
the second half of 2022. With the return of arms like Kyle Hendricks, Marcus
Stroman, Drew Smyly and Justin Steele and newly-added players like
Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger, the Cubs just had to be better.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Didn't
they?</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes
and no. Are we talking about the team that took two out of three from
the Tampa Bay Rays in May? Or the team that has lost seven out of
eight to the likes of St. Louis, Cleveland, Philadelphia and
Milwaukee?</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like
it or not, the Cubs are telling us who they are. We just need to
listen.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">TJ
Maxx used to call itself “a new store everyday.” The Cubs could
do likewise. They are the personification of 'win some, lose some.'
But in the end, that means they're not very good. Not in the context
of a 162-game MLB schedule, anyway.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Relief
pitching has been, to be kind, inconsistent. When it functions as
intended, the Cubs can make use of their starter's quality outings
and post a save. When it doesn't, it sends the Cubs to agonizing
losses. I haven't examined the data, but I'd wager next week's pay
check the Cubs have surrendered more runs in innings six through nine
than innings one through five. </span>
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
one and two run games, the Cubs are 11-21. In games in which they
score between one and three runs, they're 8-26. Yet they possess the
biggest run differential in the division. So they're either winning
7-2 or losing 3-2.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Free-agent
starter Jameson Taillon has been a disaster. The Cubs are 2-12 in
games he starts. His E.R.A. is 6.93. I mean, that kind of generosity
belongs in a sleigh and a red velvet suit. On the rare occasion
Taillon makes a quality start, the Cubs are 2-1. But with three
quality starts in fourteen opportunities, well, not even Tom
Ricketts has that kind of money.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
the Cubs' woes extend far beyond Taillon.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
Cubs have a big problem hitting with men on base. Or more
specifically, with runners in scoring position. And they have for a
while. Their .225 batting average ranks 28</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">th</span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Their .300 on-base percentage ranks 25</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">th</span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Their 14 home runs rank 26</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">th</span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">See
a picture forming?</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
otherwise respectably talented, the Cubs morph into the Oakland A's
with runners in scoring position. They get really nervous. They
mostly crumble. In a game where scoring more runs than the opposition
is fairly critical to the outcome, is it any wonder the Cubs are 38 –
45?</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Would
a regimen of Viagra fix that? How about Shohei Ohtani?</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Exacerbating
local fan's sense of doom is that both Chicago entries play in the
worst division in their respective league. This generates questions.
Questions like “If the _____________ can't compete in the weakest
division in the _________________ League, how bad are they really?”</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
least in the case of the White Sox, I suspect we don't want to know.
The Cubs? Depends on the day. They give 'unpredictable' a bad name.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Worse,
management doesn't seem to have a clue. Sox GM Rick Hahn doesn't
appear to be in any hurry to move on from their failed prospects,
whatever their underachievement. But it's hard to know for sure
because he's been very, very quiet.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Across
town, Cubs' president Jed Hoyer appears as flummoxed as the rest of
us when queried about whether the Cubs will be buyers or sellers come
August 1<sup>st</sup>. I'll say this: it's fairly difficult to
imagine them embarking on the kind of run that would position them as
a contender.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
Chicagoans can blame the wildfires burning in Ontario and Quebec for the poor air quality and visibility, our baseball teams have no such
option. They're likely wishing the smoke was a little thicker.</span></p><p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-5145603688919020572023-05-23T11:53:00.015-05:002023-11-10T12:13:19.639-06:00Our Media-Induced Day of Mourning<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let
it commence. Let the horror and the sadness and the outrage congeal.
Let them seep through our bodies at will. Let us wallow in the unjustness and the horror of it all.
Let us question the uncaring and selfish God who allowed this to
happen.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
the Los Angeles Lakers have been swept and summarily dismissed from
the NBA post-season.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
inconceivable as it seems, the undefeated Lakers were swept by a
godless, eighth-seeded team not from Los Angeles, who went 41 – 41 or
something. (I don't know—and who cares, anyway?) But they are most
certainly not the Lakers. Their shorts aren't even yellow!</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Lakers' 2022/23 campaign was a wire-to-wire thrill ride as they
demolished one opponent after another. They constituted a league all
by themselves! They deigned to play in the NBA only because a
more-celestial option wasn't available.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you contest any of these facts, you need only to consult the media
reports. The Lakers were pre-ordained for greatness. As illustrated by
their undefeated season, they had no competition! LeBron James could
play with four third-graders and win a title by himself!</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
then the post-season began. After slaughtering the Memphis Grizzlies
and the Golden State Warriors in consecutive four-game sweeps, they
faced off against the legacy-free team not from Los Angeles.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only
four games left until the NBA Finals!</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
media remained agog as the Lakers triumphed over both their previous
opponents, decisively triumphing in what now amounted to ninety
consecutive games! 'Unprecedented' hardly seemed sufficient.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Given
their dominance, it wasn't long before the conspiracy theories began.
The Lakers were using fans to referee their games. The Lakers
supplied unknown substances to the opposition's best players,
rendering them unable to play. On and on they went.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
media attempted to refute these groundless accusations. They repeated
their mantra endlessly. “They're the Lakers! They're the Lakers!
They're the Lakers! They are the face of destiny!” </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">They
went on to name all five starters to the All-NBA Team. Likewise the
All-Defensive team. They attempted to name each Laker Rookie of the
Year, but for unknown reasons this was not allowed to proceed.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
more indisputable proof that everyone hates the Lakers.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
the Lakers lost game one of the Western Conference Finals. The
outrage was tangible. The media cried and cried. “They would have
won that game except for...” I don't believe anyone with a grain or
two of sentience would call it journalism.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Collectively,
these reports were a rant from a spoiled child. A child upset that, despite
their pronouncements, the Lakers could lose. In particular to a rag
tag bunch of heathens not from Los Angeles. Oh, the
indignity!</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
then it happened after game two. And again after game three.
Depending on the account, it was sometimes difficult to ascertain who
the Lakers' opponent was. The media's wailing over their beloved Lakers was
insufferable.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
after last night, you can well imagine. While it is difficult to
confirm who will be representing the Western Conference in the NBA
Finals, finding out who will not is easier than spending money. In
other words, win or lose—the story is the Lakers.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
wear my disdain for them (and their fans) with everlasting pride.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-62146829518386439042023-02-15T09:37:00.014-06:002023-02-15T21:35:17.702-06:00Business Ethics, 2023 Version<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once
upon a time, we used to make stuff. Manufacturing employed engineers
and machine operators and truck drivers and office clerks and
accountants. It was a Gibraltar-sized chunk of American middle-class
stability.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
then we got smart. Really smart.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
sent our manufacturing infrastructure to Asia and outsourced the
distribution. That freed-up a great many employees, who were
unceremoniously terminated. As stock prices soared, we looked for
still more things to divest ourselves of.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
wasn't long before we were little more than a post office box on the
Isle of Man, a leased boardroom in a Manhattan skyscraper and plants
scattered throughout Asia. We were <i>Forbes</i> magazine's business
of the future. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
model of ruthless efficiency.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Business
could now milk a cow and receive an urn full of cream in return.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
as profits and their margins spiral upwards in an unbroken
trajectory, who is paying for this? Who's going to get the bill? </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Someone
must be, surely.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
employer's profit margins explode, businesses are enjoying the
succulent fruit that comes from being let off the leash of regulation
and oversight. The Citizen's United decision remains the high-water
mark of this cancerous trend.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Unless
we're counting Donald Trump's three-billion-dollar bribe to the
nation's billionaires and their companies, of course.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is the environment in which Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, after having
created one of three vaccines that successfully resisted COVID,
decided to increase the cost per dose from the $26.36 the U.S.
government was paying to $130.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fair
enough, right? His people did the work and spent the time to figure
this thing out. They should rightfully profit for their work.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Shouldn't
they?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
Bancel's employees did a good bit of heavy lifting. But let's not
forget they received an enormous amount of money from people
completely unrelated to Moderna. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Depending
on your level of cynicism, you may already know where this is going.
For the rest of you, I'll lay it bare here: You paid for the COVID
vaccine's research and development. One point seven billion dollars
of American taxpayer money was handed over to Moderna (and Pifzer) to
devise such a thing.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's
right. It was on your dime.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
those nineteen-billion-dollars in profit? Oh, yeah. About that. Um,
that's not for you. That's for us because we “made” it. You just
paid for it. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Public
expense for private profit. I wonder what will our next great idea
will be.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is how far off the rails we are. This is a new low in exploitation
and ghoulishness. And let me guess—these firms feel they should get
a tax-break on those profits for their unwavering commitment to the
American people, too.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anyone
have an air-sickness bag?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
with a conservative Supreme Court and a Republican majority in the
House, feeling this monstrosity develop and take shape is quite
easily done. Even while Republicans seek to gut Social Security and
Medicare (that's right Marjorie Taylor-Greene!) as excessive
entitlements, the American public can, in essence, be put to work for
a behemoth like Moderna without so much as a cent in compensation.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Failing
that, is expecting Moderna to return the funds that subsidized their
research hoping for too much?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Given
one party's affinity for labeling the policies of another as
“creeping socialism”, I wonder how we can possibly compare
something like social security or MediCare to a
nineteen-billion-dollar private slush fund.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">They
don't fit in the same <i>universe </i><span style="font-style: normal;">m</span>uch
less a shared government building.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Use
the term 'business ethics' in a conversation and you're as likely to
encounter a blank expression as one weary with disappointment and
resignation. Can you choose which person is better informed?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">I
can.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <br /></p>La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-74654982594738874232023-02-10T10:12:00.041-06:002023-05-05T14:06:20.564-05:00Da Bulls<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ah.
The agony of being a sports fan. The agony of trades not made. Under-performing athletes. The spectre of career-ending injuries. And
the simple fact of athletes whose playing style does not mesh.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
much can—and does—go wrong.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
Bulls' president of operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager
Marc Eversley teamed up to extract the Bulls from the pit of manure left by the disastrous regime of John Paxson and Garfield
Forman, Bulls fans were made glad.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">No
more Jim Boylens, right?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
duo certainly got off to a great start, hiring a proven winner in coach Billy
Donovan. They made a decisive trade, unloading injury-prone Wendell
Carter Jr. for the established (and talented) Nikola Vucevic. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally,
Zach LaVine had a co-scorer on the court with him. This was truly
disturbing.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Over
the summer of 2021, they signed free-agent DeMar DeRozan. Signed
gritty free-agent point guard Alex Caruso. And traded for another point
guard, the do everything Lonzo Ball. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">All
of a sudden, the Bulls were a legitimate NBA team. For the first-half
of the 2021/22 season, the Bulls were number-one in the Eastern
Conference. While the element of surprise no doubt aided their cause,
they were legitimate. They won.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
then Ball injured his knee in mid-January. And he hasn't played since.
Reports are scarce, but Ball can't even run at full-speed. He has
trouble climbing stairs. An injury so common that it didn't set off a
single alarm now appears to be the end of a very promising career.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
can't claim to have been aware of his critical importance to that
team at that point, but without him the Bulls disappeared. They floundered. It is
apparent he was the motor that made everything happen.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Over
a year later, the largely unchanged team has a gaping hole at point
guard. Their interior defense is softer than room temperature butter. And
rugged strong forward Javonte Green hasn't played in a month.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">They
routinely get out shot at the three-point line and find ways to lose,
even when the opposition's best player (or players) are on
the bench. Or are no longer with the team, as evidenced by the Bulls'
gruesome eleven-point loss to the Brooklyn Nets, who were without two
guys named Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yep.
They did that. And have been all season long.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is clear to all within the city that the Bulls' talent as individuals
outweighs their talent as a group. They don't jibe. There is
very little flow. And that pesky absence of defense doesn't go away.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which
is why frustrated Bulls fans looked forward to the recent NBA trading
deadline. It was a chance to address the yawning holes on this team.
But as one of just two teams not to make a single move, it is clear
that Karnisovas and Eversley don't see anything wrong.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps
they look at the NBA standings upside-down?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">With
an expiring contract, Vucevic is free to walk in free-agency. And
their sole chance to recoup <i>something</i> from his acquisition
walks along with him. Other players with sizeable trade value also
remain with the team.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
don't have a bone with any player on the Bulls. My view is that
they're a solid group of individuals who largely act like grown-ups. Taken by
themselves, they're all talented basketball players. But they just </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">don't.
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fit.
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kudos
to Karnisovas and Eversley for single-handedly lifting the Bulls from
the malaise of the GarPax era. But they should also be able to see
this team isn't working. They need to swallow
their pride and admit as much and make the tough decisions that could
restore this team to contention.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
they did nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">There's
a hoary old cliche which says sometimes the best trades are the
ones you <i>don't</i> make. But that doesn't apply here. Not even
close.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just
a year ago the Bulls' future looked shiny. Today? Well, the Cubs and
White Sox spring training camps open in just a few weeks.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hope
springs eternal.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-18971003019106025142023-01-31T13:09:00.018-06:002023-02-07T16:19:32.550-06:00Loss<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
most morose example of change being the only constant I can offer is
death. Yes, death. And as the features of my mortality become
ever-clearer, it's only natural that I take note of those taking
their leave. Particularly those who, by virtue of their work as a
musician, actor or as a writer, indelibly shaped my life and
attitudes.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Musicians
seem to have been particularly hard-hit lately, with music-makers
known and sadly unknown having passed. Loretta Lynn. Mimi Parker.
Jeff Beck. Tom Verlaine. Jerry Lee Lewis. Christine McVie. David
Crosby. Hamish Kilgour.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
can't say I was a giant fan of all of them, but as with any good
work, their talents survived both fashion and time. Not an easy thing
to do. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Take
Christine McVie. Amid the 24/7 drama surrounding Fleetwood Mac in the
late-seventies, McVie seemed a low-key and fairly grounded
personality in the maelstrom that surrounded the band. Yet her singing
and keyboard work were essential ingredients in their success.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next
to the vocal histrionics of band-mate Stevie Nicks, her plaintive,
erstwhile vocals took on a powerful appeal. She reminded me of the
teammate you didn't know you missed until they were gone.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Parker
and Kilgour weren't huge stars, but each contributed immeasurably to
their band's sound. Imagine “Words” (my favorite Low song)
without her. Or “Anything Could Happen” without Hamish.
It's difficult.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tom
Verlaine wasn't a star, either. Like Parker and Kilgour, he tended
towards the cult artist end of things. While critically renowned,
Television wasn't on everyone's lips, even in the musical hot bed of
1977. But those who knew, <i>knew.</i> His knotted, asymmetrical
guitar work contrasted brilliantly with band mate Richard Lloyd, and
their music was merely unforgettable. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
Television imploded, he went on to a solo career and recorded much
that is deserving of your time. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
came to Loretta Lynn late, even having seen <i>Coal Miner's Daughter
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">back in the day. In the
nineteen-sixties, she was scoring hits by recording feminist anthems
before the vast majority of us even knew what feminism was. Even more
miraculously, she was having them on country and western radio.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Yep.
To paraphrase an old Panasonic tagline, Lynn was just slightly ahead
of her time.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">(For
a lighthearted counter-weight to that weighty significance, check the
duet she sang with Conway Twitty “You're the Reason Our Kids are
Ugly”) </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
was aware of David Crosby before I knew who he was. The Byrds had a
great run of singles in the mid-sixties, and “Eight Miles High”
was a ground breaker. And Crosby, just entering the zenith of his
career, played a large part in it.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">But
the first-generation Byrds were splintering, and there didn't seem to
be a part for Crosby in the new C&W edition.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Timing
is everything goes a popular expression. And Crosby served as proof,
encountering two other blokes also in-between-bands. Graham Nash,
ex-of the Hollies and Stephen Stills, a former Buffalo Springfield,
needed gigs.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Somewhere
along the line, the trio realized “Why not create our own gig?”
And so Crosby, Stills & Nash were born. Decry their politics,
their embrace of the hippie ethos or the epic, ego-driven battles
they suffered, some great music came out of those three. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jeff
Beck first excited my hormones way back in the nineteen-sixties via
his work in the Yardbirds. I wasn't privy to the internal politics
going on within the band, but his work on songs like “Over Under
Sideways Down” left an indelible impression.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
I grew and learned more about the music quickly becoming an
obsession, I discovered the Clapton-Beck-Page succession that
happened within the Yardbirds. Furthermore, the guy who really moved
me was a guy named Jeff Beck.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
just as I was learning a re-appreciation of his work, his was
embarking on a solo career that would yield the most-definitive work
of his career.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Blow
By Blow</i> and <i>Wired</i> remain two of my favorite examples of
fusion, a genre that has sadly fallen on hard times and even suffered
critical dismissal. But I point our that musicians as esteemed as
Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis weren't too proud to investigate it,
recording some of the best, most invigorating music of their careers.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
there.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
can one say about Jerry Lee Lewis in 2023? He was one of rock and
roll's most- dangerous personalities at a time when rock and roll
itself was considered a viable societal threat. Yes, the
tightly-wound conformity of the nineteen-fifties was deeply afraid.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not
that Jerry Lee couldn't play. Au contraire, my friend. Mr. Lewis
could play the ivory out of a piano's keys without breaking a sweat.
In that first storm of rock and roll, he was a force of nature. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
were all of them.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-20158922934957903752023-01-21T07:10:00.033-06:002023-02-07T16:31:57.266-06:00The Shitshow of Online Dating<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like
you, I have been told repeatedly that the way to meet people these
days is online. Everybody's doing it. Knowing as I
do that social media is stuffed with fakes, frauds and trolls, I wasn't eager to participate.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But more-desperate than I cared to admit, I enrolled with three
different sites over the past eight months (not simultaneously). Their names have been withheld to protect the guilty.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
first bit of advice is that if you are male, run away. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Run
away in the opposite direction as quickly as your central nervous
system will allow. This because if you are a male on a dating site,
you are one of three things: a child molester, a serial rapist or a gigolo expert in defrauding lonely divorcees and widows of their
assets.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Guilty
until proven innocent is a good start.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">More to the point, you should consider this: the Puritans believed the best way
to determine whether a woman was a witch was to tie her up, weigh her
body down with stones and then cast her into a body of water.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
she undid her bindings and rose up out of the water, she must be
tied up (again!) and burned at the stake. And if she remained under
water? She was not a witch. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yeah.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
that's with the women presumably seeking a partner.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
there are the attention whores.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
are attractive women at every age. Some are especially attractive. If
their personality profiles seemed a good fit with mine, I would
contact them as well.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
just as people in the early days of Facebook would work to accumulate the
biggest number of followers as opposed to actual friends, many of
these women seek only the greatest number of responses from
men. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
know this—that is the end of their interest in you. You are merely
a notch on their cyber bed post.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Naturally, these critiques inevitably invoke questions. Questions
like “Ever consider they just weren't interested in you?”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Of
course.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
any gathering of people, you are going to be liked by some, disliked
by others and might fail to even register an impression either way
with others. It's a dynamic we encounter everywhere, everyday.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
get it.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
never, ever expected to become “Man of the Month” on any of these
sites. But I did possess a realistic expectation that I would encourage
<i>some</i> interest. That there would be a woman, somewhere, who would be
interested. Or at least curious.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nope.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let
me say that I am a decent looking guy. I have all my teeth. I have
just one nose, correctly positioned in the middle of my face. Ten
fingers, ten toes. I am self-supporting. Healthy. I don't possess a
record. I own my own home. And genuinely like women.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am kind. Respectful. Responsible. And like you, I'm not adverse to a
good time. I love to dance. Eat. Watch movies, read books and listen
to music. Volunteer. I love listening to people's stories. I love
getting to know them.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh,
that's right. I am also a predator, a rapist and a swine. (I keep
forgetting.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
if you're a man looking for a partner, this is the landscape you'll
encounter. Good luck. Given my experience, if this is the way people
are meeting today, loneliness will become a growth stock. Invest now. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And what of birth control devices?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Cancel!”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
crowning blow came from a woman who asked me if I'd had any dates. I
told her I hadn't even had a conversation. An actual date was very,
very hard to imagine.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">She
went on to detail the dates she'd had with three different men. It
was not nice. It teetered into a full-blown rant as she described
them as users, bitter divorcees and men who needed someone to
maintain or entertain them until the ideal victim presented herself.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
told her I was sorry for these experiences and meant it. But I soon
became aware of another truth. With the assumption that this women
had provided accurate descriptions of these men, character deficits notwithstanding, they were getting dates. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
was home.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">What's
wrong with this picture?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
became angry. I wanted to write her back and say “Good for you.
Your obviously unassailable character assessments have led to
multiple dates with men who left you feeling bereft and used. Well played!</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
you know what the real tragedy is? That would have been
if you engaged in conversation with me. Or—gasp—we'd actually
gone on a date. It's too unspeakable to even acknowledge. Oh, the
horror!”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">With this
new realization in mind, I at last understood what an endless expanse of
waste dating web sites are. (Unless of course you are mentally ill or
harbor a need for masochism, in which case I would urge you to enroll
in as many sites as you can manage.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
as badly I feel for the woman who texted me about her dates, I
wonder if she is someone prone to unconsciously picking men who seemed
familiar to her—like exes. Studies show that we frequently will opt
for something uncomfortable-yet-familiar as opposed to something
completely different and unfamiliar.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is entirely possible she continues to date her exes. No wonder the
dates don't go well.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
that isn't my problem, is it? What I'm left with is the fact I
reached out to something like three-dozen women and had one tepid
response. (And no, that doesn't include the ranter.) Not great odds. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the end, these sites are for attention whores and former spouses
seeking revenge on the opposite sex. And
I, unfortunately, am neither.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Goodbye. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-40295306994027473842022-12-27T06:49:00.022-06:002023-01-06T12:13:52.277-06:00The Curious Case of Carlos Corrrea<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> <span style="font-size: small;">From
my vantage point, Carlos Correa is a highly-talented ballplayer.
Distinguished? A deserving all-star? Definitely Can't imagine the team who
wouldn't welcome him into their locker room.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Correa
plays shortstop, a position demanding extraordinary flexibility,
balance, quickness and a throwing arm that is both powerful and
accurate. Correa is no slouch at the plate, either. Correa sports a
lifetime batting average of .279 and an OPS of .836. His calculated
WAR over a 162 game schedule is 7.2. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">All
are well above average.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
in a free-agent market, it stands that Correa—at age 28—is
certainly going to attract attention. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which
he has.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
however talented a two-way player he is, there are questions about
his durability. Over his eight-year career, he has played in just 888
games. That's an average of 111 games a year, or about two-thirds of
the MLB schedule.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Expected
to be offered a Grade-A ginormous contract, Correa landed one. The
San Francisco Giants offered him a thirteen-year contract for 350
million-dollars. Translated, that means he'd be earning 26.9
million-dollars per season through the age of forty.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
should clarify that I have no bone to pick with Correa. He has become
a significant player at a very difficult position. And as pointed out
earlier, he can field <i>and</i> hit. And if Giants owner Charles
Johnson wants to drop 771,617 pounds of dollar bills into Correa's
lap, Correa would be a fool to refuse it.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
then something happened.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
contrast to the dozens of MLB owners who mindlessly dispense
decades-long contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars, the
Giants paused and activated their brains. And if that isn't shocking
enough, know the Giants backed out of the deal, stating there were
medical issues that prohibited them from moving forward.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ignoring
the lack of precedent, Correa's agent (the insufferable Scott Boras)
immediately dialed up the free-spending owner of the New York Mets.
Informed of the newly-available Correa, owner Steve Cohen immediately
offered Correa a nearly identical contract.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
then something happened—again.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
perusing Correa's medical record, the Mets happened upon the same
issue that stopped the Giants in their tracks. And their offer
remains unsigned as well. I'm sure Correa and Boras are very, very
frustrated.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
an old guy. Been following baseball for over half-a-century. While initially excited by free-agency, salaries have become an absurd joke.
And while neophytes might wonder how these teams pay these enormous
salaries, the answer is they don't.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">You
do.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
as a result, baseball (like other sports) has become increasingly inaccessible to the people at the core of its fandom.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
I'm heartened to see owners engaging their brains before
rubber-stamping contracts that are—at best—questionable. And
before you label me as anti-labor, know that the era of grossly
underpaid professional athlete ended roughly forty-years ago.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes, theoretically baseball players ought to be able to make any amount
of money possible—just like you. And yes, baseball owners ought to
be able to pay their employees whatever amount the market will bear.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
problem is that baseball remains a consumer product, dependent on
millions and millions of fans being able to consume it. And the more
out of reach the game becomes, the harder it will be to locate the
legions of followers required for its survival.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
hope this contract re-think is only the first of many to come. And if
my views upset Correa and Boras, please remind them that if I regularly showed
up for work just two-thirds of the time, I wouldn't be negotiating a
thirteen-year, 350 million-dollar contract. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'd
be unemployed.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-33985782082400957822022-12-24T12:30:00.034-06:002022-12-26T06:24:36.382-06:00Merry Christmas<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ah,
the big day. Christmas.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once
more set against a world rich in turmoil, its message of love and
goodwill seem almost childishly naive. Perhaps they have endured
because all of us, whether or not we make our feelings public, wish for them.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rancor and divisiveness are exhausting. <br /></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Peace,
understanding and cooperation are not.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just a thought.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-61033268773041758832022-12-13T10:46:00.002-06:002022-12-13T10:46:28.763-06:00Anything Can Happen, and It Probably Will<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
took me a long time to get to New Zealand. Not in terms of actual
travel, but musically. In terms of the pop music that existed there
practically unknown to the rest of the world. Sure, we all knew the
music of its neighbor to the west: AC/DC, INXS, Nick Cave, Tame
Impala, the Divinyls, Powderfinger, Midnight Oil and the Church. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
New Zealand? Not so much.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'd
like to claim that through my forays into every used record store in
Chicago I'd single-handedly unearthed the glories of Straitjacket
Fits and the 3Ds and the Tall Dwarfs, but that would be a lie. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Closer
to the truth were the multiple volumes of <i>The Trouser Press Record
Guide </i><span style="font-style: normal;">I owned</span><i>,
</i>exhaustively compiled by Ira Robbins. The entry that captivated
me most was for a band called the Clean. I immediately set-out to
find their two 1982 EPs—unsuccessfully.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fortunately,
a compilation was released about that time, sparing me the anxiety
that had accompanied my pursuit of Big Joe Turner and LaVern Baker
LPs. I was enchanted, and eventually found their EPs as well as two
terrifically rare live albums. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
didn't hear the news of Hamish Kilgour's death until a week after it
happened. Granted, we're not talking about an A-list celebrity, but
given my long-delayed introduction to the music he made with the
Clean, it somehow seemed appropriate.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
drummer was reported missing November 27<sup>th</sup> and discovered
in Christchurch the 29<sup>th</sup>. He was 65. No cause of death was
given.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">He
learned the drums by playing along with Velvet Underground records,
indicating a desire for something fresh and different. His playing
was a big part of the trio's sound, appropriately described as
“pulsing, dirty, metallic pop.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Joined
on guitar by his brother David and future Bat Robert Scott, the band
clicked big in New Zealand. They toured and played sold-out dates
throughout the country.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
they broke up.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like
so many bands, their influence was larger than their catalogue. In
addition to providing the first single for Roger Shepherd and his
fledgling record label Flying Nun, the band's inventive, lo-fi sound
eventually found its way to fans all over the world.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Contemporary
critics credit the Clean with influencing bands like Yo La Tengo,
Pavement and Superchunk.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Following
the end of the Clean, Kilgour founded the Great Unwashed and later,
Bailter Space. By 1988 interest in the Clean had grown to the point
where a reunion was arranged. A powerful collection (<i>Compilation</i>)
was released which included new songs. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
1990 <i>Vehicle</i> was released.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eight
years after their two EPs turned New Zealand on its head, the Clean
at last had a profile equal to their influence.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
with Hamish now residing in New York City and brother David remaining
in New Zealand, new Clean releases were sporadic. In the meantime,
Hamish kept busy with a multitude of bands and solo releases.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kilgour
once said, “There's no point worrying too much about the commercial
viability of your music. Fads and fashion come and go.” They were
words only a non-conformist like Hamish Kilgour could speak.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
best description of the artistry that wound its way through his
records was captured in a 2012 interview. “Often in simplicity, you
find magic things. You're looking for this magic spot where beats
sit.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
a time marked by the losses of Christine McVie, Loretta Lynn and Mimi
Parker, this might be the most regrettable. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rest
in peace, my friend. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-33548149889264651632022-12-07T15:05:00.036-06:002023-05-05T14:06:42.282-05:00Selig, Bonds & Clemens<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like
so many other public institutions, the Baseball Hall of Fame has
become something of a battleground. Who belongs, who doesn't. Who has
been unfairly ostracized, who has been unfairly admitted. The
allegations (and the debate) goes on and on and on.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
current disagreement is over the players who benefited from steroid usage. While technically not a rules violation (baseball was
notoriously slow to act on their usage), it obviously provided an
under the counter advantage for those who imbibed.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mark
McGwire, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Alex
Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco are only the most-prominent
names who admitted to using. Dozens (probably hundreds) of others
also used them. But even in an era of bloated hitting statistics,
steroids didn't turn everyone into Mickey Mantle.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which
is fundamental to the pro-steroids argument. Bonds and Clemens would've made the Hall of Fame, anyway. Why should they be
punished for enhancing their skill set?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
I agree. To the first part, anyway. Both enjoyed notable and
highly-successful beginnings to their careers. But as we were to see,
that wasn't enough. </span><span style="font-size: small;">It didn't matter that Bonds was a Gold Glove All-Star and a perpetual MVP
candidate. Or that Clemens was a consistent Cy Young contender. They had to be Babe Ruth, too. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bonds also underwent pronounced physical changes, including an
enlarged head. Never one of the games nice guys, he became highly
irascible, lashing out at fans and the media at the slightest
provocation. I'll
never forget his pronouncement that “we” didn't like him because
he was Black. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Really, Barry? Is that the reason? Are you saying that
if you were white I'd be your fan club president? </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hmmm. <br /></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Whatever
regard I carried for him evaporated at that point. I relished his
unofficial nickname: Asterisk. In addition to his
chemically-enhanced output, he became the game's biggest asshole. Is
that what's known as a win-win?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
the remaining members of the steroid club, Bonds was a blessing. As
the player who enjoyed the greatest, most eye-popping benefit, he
took a lot of heat off of those performing in smaller markets or with under-achieving teams.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
most convincing pro-steroids argument came from a baseball writer at
the Chicago <i>Tribune</i>, who defended her picks thusly: The
Commissioner who turned the blindest eye possible to the steroids
scandal was voted into the Hall of Fame. Why? Because he made his
employers a whole lot of money.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Should we really punish the players?</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is an argument I cannot fault. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the 1994 strike, baseball found
itself on shaky ground. Or at least ground as shaky as a
multi-billion dollar business ever finds itself on. It was scared.
It's probably an overstatement to say the 1998 home run chase between
McGwire and Sosa saved baseball, but again, it poured an awful lot of
black ink into baseball at a very crucial time.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Being
businessmen first, last and always, it doesn't take a great deal of
imagination to envision team owners urging Bud Selig to go as easy on
steroid use as the public would allow. And for that reason and that
reason only, I'm grateful for Barry Bonds. His outsized success was
impossible to ignore. Ditto questions about the game's integrity.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Judging
by the vote counted Monday by the Contemporary Baseball Era Player's
Committee, plenty of questions remain. And none of them appear to be
answered with the words 'Hall of Fame'. Neither Bonds, Clemens,
Palmeiro or Curt Schilling received the number of votes required for
entrance.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
sure another generation, by and large ignorant of the steroid era,
will look at their numbers and wonder why a previous generation had a
problem with them. But for now, justice has triumphed. And in 2022,
that's something. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-62413011938192753082022-12-04T12:05:00.040-06:002022-12-05T07:03:29.414-06:00Ten Years Gone<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am as naive as any right-wing conservative you care to name. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
instance, on December 14, 2012, as the news about the Sandy Hook,
N.J. elementary school shooting broke, beyond my revulsion and sorrow
was the thought that maybe, just maybe this might be the mass murder that
would propel the United States to enact profound changes within the Second Amendment.
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yep,
I was the doctor who confused pancreatic cancer with indigestion. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Meanwhile,
unflushed conspiracy-theorist-slash-radio-host Alex Jones ranted and raved about the shooting, claiming it was an event staged by
the U.S. government that would one day enable the government to
confiscate America's firearms.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Dear
Trump-tard, Be honest. Isn't <i>everything</i> that happens in the
world ultimately a plot to confiscate American's guns?)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So. If
burying your eight-year-old daughter wasn't traumatic enough, imagine
some mentally-ill conspiracy theorist trumpeting this idea and
inciting the mental-defectives which constitute his audience to actively
and deliberately harass the parental victims of this shooting.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which of course they did. <br /></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
La Piazza Gancio land, Jones would have been placed in an
industrial-strength meat grinder with his remains scattered for the benefit of any diseased rodent that cared for them. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sadly,
it seems that turds also enjoy the benefits of the
Constitution. Which is another way of saying that, yes, Alex Jones
had <i>rights</i>.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thankfully,
so did the survivors. They sued Jones for his toxic re-interpretation
of the shooting and in late-November, won. While I've no qualms with the
damages awarded the families, I do regret the lack of oversight which might have been able to
freeze Jones' assets. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thusly,
he is moving as a much more slender man, hiding and transferring
whatever he can lay his fat little hands on to prevent it from being part of the damages. He even declared bankruptcy, just like his buddy
Donald. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
don't know how successful his attempts will be. But for a domestic
terrorist who employs a lawyer who declared the verdict as a “very,
very, very dark day for freedom of speech”, just about any
annoyance or inconvenience we can heap on Jones is
appropriate. (Meat grinder included.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Before
I close, let me correct Jones' lawyer, Norm Pattis: </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mr.
Pattis, I believe the very, very, very dark day for freedom of speech
you refer to was the day your client opened his mouth about
Sandy Hook. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wikipedia lists Jones as having four children. In
a better world, he would soon know the pain those Sandy Hook parents already know. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-35467365280316825792022-11-12T11:42:00.021-06:002022-11-17T05:59:32.924-06:00BG<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">By
all accounts, Brittney Griner is a gentle soul. Quite a feat,
considering the challenges being a six-foot nine-inch female who
weighs two-hundred five pounds and is openly gay present. (Not to
mention that unless your name is Giannis Antetokounmpo or Joel
Embiid, she can probably kick your ass to the dark side of the moon
in a game of basketball.)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
players in the WNBA often do, she had traveled to Europe to play a
second season following her 2021 WNBA Finals appearance with the
Phoenix Mercury. It is unknown if she had successfully smuggled
cannabis into Russia previously, but this time her attempt was
unsuccessful.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
don't pretend to know Russia's drug laws or precisely what is meant
by “a small amount” of cannabis, but I'm guessing that even in
Vladimir Putin's Russia, this is not the equivalent of a first-degree
felony. And
yet Griner has been treated nearly like a serial killer.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Detained
in February and tried in August, she was sentenced to nine-years in
prison. Her legal team filed for an appeal and were denied in October.
Now comes word that she has been sent to a penal colony, an
extraordinarily harsh punishment in light of her crime.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
first glance, it's hard not to wonder if she is being treated more severely owing to
her status as a celebrity. After all, this is
Putin-land, where cases like this proceed in whatever fashion will
guarantee maximum exposure.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
commonly held belief is that Griner is a political pawn, kept in
storage until such a point she can be used as a bargaining chip in
the aftermath of the war in Ukraine. And if this is the case, does it
make sense to let a valuable prisoner languish in such deprived
conditions?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is supposition, of course. For all I know, Putin lost a butt-load on
the Mercury in the 2021 WNBA Finals and this is his preferred manner of extracting revenge. But given the dire reality of Putin's twisted
autocracy, the probability remains that this woman has become a pawn
in his latest political drama.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">All
that is left is for the U.S. and Russia to determine her worth before
the inevitable negotiations begin. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another chapter in the book of human cruelty.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-65592127873072357722022-11-07T07:40:00.035-06:002022-11-11T06:42:48.162-06:00Inflation<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Two-thirds
of the U.S. population is under fifty years-old. Which means that the
inflation currently gripping the country is something they have never
experienced. Never felt. Never lived through. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
them, it is an especially unnerving thing. At least until Tuesday,
when they can vote Democrats out of office. With Democrats gone,
inflation will disappear and the economy will magically repair
itself.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Right?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
someone who came of age in the inflation-happy seventies and
early-eighties, I can and will laugh at them.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Contrary
to their politically-motivated feelings, our parties rarely have much
to do with inflation. In 2022, the pandemic, the ensuing lockdowns,
supply and labor shortages and overwhelming consumer demand have a bit more to do with inflation than whatever Democrat(s) you choose
to blame.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Take
gasoline. I don't know the person who hasn't carped about fuel
prices. But climb into your car and hit the road. Is the amount
of traffic not markedly higher than in any of the past five years? I,
myself, routinely sit through multiple traffic light cycles where I
never did before. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
Americans can't afford gas, we are doing one hell of a job at hiding
it.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fact: inflation
is the byproduct of a market where demand outstrips supply. That's
why automobile dealerships, despite their often bare lots, are making
two to three times the income than they ever have before. That's why the
price of gasoline and airline tickets leap like a twenty-four
year-old Michael Jordan.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
when the product itself isn't undergoing material or labor shortages,
the cost of getting it to market has—as you know—exploded.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So.
How do we beat inflation?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
propose a radical idea: consume less. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don't
run to Target for a fresh jar of moisturizer. Don't go to the grocery
store for a carton of ice cream or a bag of chips. Consolidate your
trips. You'll use less gas, save time and hopefully wean yourself
from the illness known as instant gratification.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is us, you see, who are at the root of inflation. Ask yourself: what
are we telling Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum and Royal Dutch
Shell when we mindlessly lap up the latest increase they have gifted us with?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
don't care! Price isn't important! Raise it again—we can afford it!</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Until
supply outstrips demand, companies have no incentive to drop prices.
Their purpose is to make as much money as possible, and under current
conditions they are doing a fabulous job.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some
have even resorted to price-gouging just because the current climate
allows it. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'll
say it again: the more we consume merely because that's how we've
always consumed, the more we will pay for our purchases. With the
mid-term elections happening tomorrow, it's a great time to ask of
ourselves that which polls indicate we most want to ask of our
candidates:</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do
something about inflation.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
can make it happen. Reigning in our thirst for instant
gratification would help. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-17603227186871695322022-11-01T14:39:00.023-05:002022-11-07T07:57:30.283-06:00Kyrie Irving's Entitlement<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear
Kyrie Irving,</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please
tell me how you would feel if a prominent white basketball player
linked a movie that was hostile to Blacks to his various social media
accounts.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
guess is you'd be pounding on Adam Silver's door demanding the player
in question be removed from the NBA. You'd be crying to every TV camera
in sight about the relentless slandering of Blacks.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally,
you'd be filling any and all available social media space with
accusations that the NBA is a racist enterprise and needs to be
held accountable.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
that didn't happen, did it?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>You</i>
linked a movie damaging to Jews to <i>your</i> accounts and because you are
an obnoxiously-paid, high-profile athlete, the rest of us are supposed to either
forgive, excuse or (gulp) understand.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Got it. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">That go for Kanye, too?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sincerely,</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">La Piazza Gancio<br />
</p><p> </p>La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-68948150623638320372022-10-16T10:43:00.042-05:002022-10-21T03:59:09.539-05:00I Tried American Express for a Year. Here's What Happened.<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, I was presented with an appealing
offer from American Express. Desperate to break the monotony of
sheltering in place, I signed up. It was a shiny, new thing. I gave
in.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sadly,
that was the peak of my Amex experience.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
should admit I don't lead what would be called an American Express
lifestyle. I don't stay in thousand-dollar-a-night hotel suites. I
don't wear tailored suits as I jet off to London or Dubai on
business. I don't drive a German luxury sedan or an Italian sports
car.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">An
internationally-known chef has never prepared my dinner. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Am I
painting a picture here? </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes,
the card featured free balance transfers and a zero-percent APR for
the first year, but as someone who rarely carries a balance this was
only a minor perk. The cashback bonuses were nice, but since I didn't
use the card that much, they were also negligible. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Following
a post-holiday review of my finances, I realized I didn't need
another credit card and called American Express to cancel. This was
as painless as you'd expect it to be and was confirmed by American
Express in a follow-up e-mail:</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>“<span style="font-size: small;">Dear
La Piazza Gancio,</span>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
message is to confirm that American Express has processed your recent
request to cancel the following Card (sic) account(s):</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Blue
Cash Preferred ending in XXXXXX.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you have other Card accounts registered for Manage Your Card Account
online they will still be available online at americanexpress.com.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sincerely,</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">American
Express Customer Service”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
paralleled the language of the agent who had handled my request over
the phone. But as I was soon to learn, American Express and I have
very different definitions of 'cancelled'. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even
after cancelling the card I continued to get bills for the $95.00
annual membership fee, which I found quite strange being that I was
no longer a cardholder. $95.00 for a card I no longer have? Wow.
Seriously?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Assuming
it was another error by a short-handed and over-worked staff, I
ignored them. I mean, this was as cut-and-dried as consumer stuff
gets, right? I had the card and now I don't. Why would I pay a
membership fee?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Things
were peachy until I was hospitalized in July. During my
hospitalization a relative graciously stepped-in to take care of my
bills, and when the American Express notice arrived she processed it
as if it were a bill for purchases.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only
it wasn't.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
cringed. I immediately called American Express to request a refund.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
agent told me a fanciful story. One that said since the card wasn't
cancelled within twenty-eight days of my last purchase, they were
within their rights to apply the membership fee. Neither the agent
with whom I made the initial request or the follow-up e-mail made any
mention of a fee.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nor
did the small print on their monthly statements.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even more interestingly, the following notation appears on their bills:
“We have billed your annual membership fee. However if we do not
receive your payment we will need to close your account due to
inactivity.”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So.
Let's see. I cancelled the card in January and did not pay the
membership fee that month. Or in February, March, April, May and
June. That's six months. It begs the question when, exactly, is an
American Express account rendered inactive?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's
a cash grab—nothing more, nothing less.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau September 7<sup>th</sup>.
Having heard nothing from either party regarding a resolution, I
e-mailed the BBB. I was told American Express had contacted me by
mail.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
by that they mean there was written correspondence on American
Express' corporate letterhead within an American Express envelope
sitting in my mailbox, then no. Nothing.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(I
filed a second complaint via the BBB. I'll let you know what
happens.)</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you enjoy doing business with corporations who issue shady and
nebulous fees without explanation, then please. Apply for an American
Express card today. But as gambling sites caution their customers,
never bet more than you can afford to lose.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Charging
a membership fee for a card that no longer exists is beyond the pale.
Furthermore, I don't understand how they are able to. Why isn't this
illegal?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Until
I find out, do business with American Express with extreme caution. (If you're a football fan, imagine being the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.) Who
knows how many more unspoken fees lurk behind their shiny corporate
exterior? </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm hoping the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be able to tell me.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-20459783283760015332022-10-05T16:13:00.028-05:002023-05-05T14:08:01.628-05:00Mail Box Adventure<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
a guy who routinely returns his shopping cart to the corral in the
grocery store parking lot. I take pains to avoid exposing volatile
household cleaners to direct sunlight or extreme temperatures. I
unfailingly refrigerate after opening. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
if it even needs to be said, I consistently acknowledge those
gracious-enough to allow me into traffic—especially during rush
hour. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
how is it a mindful and conscientious soul like myself received the
following in his mailbox? </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Outwardly,
they didn't appear particularly threatening. One envelope contained
an invitation to one of those
we'll-buy-you-dinner-if-you-listen-to-our-sales-pitch, while the
other was a notice from my car manufacturer.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">No
biggie, right? </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
taken separately, I'd agree with you. But together they served to
impart nagging doubts about my life and the karma I am putting out
there. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
invitation was just that, only there wasn't a free dinner included.
But it did extend to me the opportunity to explore questions one
should ask before one “needs” to ask them. And by that I mean our
(ahem) 'final expenses'.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Having
just recovered from a bout with head trauma for which I sacrificed
two-thirds of the summer, I wasn't particularly eager to ponder—much
less plan—my funeral. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
set it down and opened the envelope from the car-maker. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was yet-another notice informing me of a recall on my seat belt
pretensioners. It (again) explained that if deployed incorrectly, the
unit's micro gas generator could explode, exposing all within the
passenger compartment to jagged pieces of metal hurtling through the
car at skin-piercing velocities.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">More
importantly, four months after the recall was initially announced,
there are still no non-explosive pretensioners available. Just paper
reminders of the death trap I must ride in daily. If nothing else,
the notice lent an eerie sense of portent to the 'final expenses'
invitation.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
my body is to be shredded to the point of cessation by what is
reportedly a safety device, does the car manufacture's customer care
package at least guarantee a ride to the nearest medical facility,
where my death can be properly confirmed and recorded?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
if not, is it the comprehensive customer care package the
manufacturer states it is? Can my estate sue for misrepresentation?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
looking to the cause-and-effect side of things, is it possible to
draw a line between the organization offering the 'final expenses'
presentation and any and all explosions caused by the faulty micro
gas generators?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sigh. Life is complicated.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
sidestep the Q&A and visit an attorney. There, I declare my
preferences as to how memorial events following my death should unfold.
From there, it's off to a firm specializing in body armor. The
head-to-toe protection isn't cheap but, this firm excepted, can you
really put a price on human life?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
renders driving very difficult and places an undue burden on my car's
air conditioning unit. Owing to the proportions of the head
protection, I'm thankful for the sunroof. Ignoring heartless
comments about resembling a certain seventies cartoon character, I relish my newfound sense of protection.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
to think some people refer to this as junk mail.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-18982452845985252072022-09-25T16:17:00.051-05:002022-10-09T11:48:34.693-05:00We'll Always Have Paris<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amid
a grey and soggy spring featuring two distinctly uninspired Major
League Baseball teams, the Chicago Sky began their defense of the
franchise's first WNBA championship. But it wasn't as pretty as their
eventual league-best won-lost record would indicate.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">An
opening night defeat to the Los Angeles Sparks bordered on ugly, with
repeated turnovers (especially on the offensive end) short-circuiting possessions. The Sky appeared unfocused and distracted. But six games
in, the Sky stood at 4 -2.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
continued, with the Sky winning twenty-one of their next twenty-seven
games. To that point, they never lost two in a row. Need more? How
about their 3-0 record versus the Connecticut Sun, a team that had
presented a major hurdle in last year's playoffs.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">With
just three games left in the season, a pair of sloppy losses to the
Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces gave the Sky their first two-game losing streak. A lifetime spent
as a Cubs fan was not required to wonder if perhaps the Sky might have
gotten a bit too comfortable.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thankfully,
they finished the season strong with a decisive win against last
year's Finals opponent, the Phoenix Mercury. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bring
on the playoffs!</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">They
started as ignobly as had the regular season. The seventh-seed New
York Liberty exploded out of the gate and beat the Sky in Chicago,
outscoring them by eight in the fourth quarter. This was not good. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Sky were able to refocus and take games two and three.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next
up was the Sun. After seven straight losses
to the Sky, I don't imagine motivation was an issue in Connecticut.
Nor do I imagine a lack of confidence was an issue for the Sky. With
home court advantage in the five-game semis, Chicagoans had every
right to feel optimistic.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Owing
to a brutal third quarter, game one went to the Sun. No big deal. A
team that good was bound to win one sooner or later, right? Game two
was a reassuring win for the Chicagoans. They were confident and
dominated the game.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
Connecticut's floor, the Sky also took game three. I permitted a
small smile to manifest itself upon my face—the Sky were back in
control. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Game
four was a chassis-shaking, tire-shredding disaster. The Sky were
never in this one as the Sun took out their long-simmering
frustration and punished them over four quarters of a WNBA playoff
game.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ouch.
</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Would
a return to Chicago re-animate the Sky? Or had Big Mo shifted
irreparably to the team from the East coast?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Connecticut
took the quarter number-one 24-16. Chicago took the second quarter by
the same score. They also took the third quarter 18-8. A certain Cubs
fan was ready to let go.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
as the hoary old sports cliché goes, the Sky had been here before.
They knew what they had to do. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only
they didn't.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">They
shot 2 for 15, snagged 3 rebounds and dished out 2 assists. They did
not visit the free throw line. Not once.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Sun? They shot 8 for 15, pulled down 14 rebounds and handed out 8
assists. They went 8 for 8 from the free throw line. They outscored
the Sky 24-5. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
can't imagine a WNBA title contender ever played a worse quarter of
basketball. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Under
different circumstances, I would have called Candace Parker's early
exit from the court a bad case of over-indulgence. The byproduct of a bloated sense of
entitlement. But given the Sky's fourth-quarter meltdown, to come so close only to have it
ripped from your hands had to have been excruciating.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
with the expected retirements of Parker, Courtney Vandersloot and
Allie Quigley, the look of next year's Sky will be very different.
They're still talented. But will they remain legitimate title
contenders? Not so sure.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
are often told to appreciate the moment. To be in it. That a bird in
the hand is worth two in the bush. And sports is pretty good at
imparting those lessons. The unexpected run to a title by last year's
Sky team was as inspiring and as mind-blowing as it gets.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
I'm happy to say I wallowed in it.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
being in the moment and being vested and engaged ain't so hot when
your team crashes. It eventually renders us as Humphrey Bogart in the movie <i>Casablanca,</i> when
he ruefully tells Ingrid Bergman “We'll always have Paris.” </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
it goes. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-76680930834297337512022-09-14T03:54:00.024-05:002023-12-17T12:08:28.891-06:00Priorities<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
my previous post, I pondered the possibility of our relentless tuition hikes somehow ending up in the hands of Alabama football
coach Nick Saban. This is what's known as a rhetorical question; a
question one poses without really expecting an answer.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
it was interesting that a related story emerged shortly thereafter.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">College
football fans will recognize the University of Nebraska as a
traditional gridiron powerhouse. But the gluttony of twelve-win seasons, high-profile bowl games and
season-ending finishes among the collegiate top ten that used to
constitute the diet of Cornhusker fans hasn't been a thing since
Tom Osborne's retirement following the 1997 season.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don't
get me wrong. There have been plenty of fine seasons in the nearly
quarter-century since. But the Nebraska Cornhuskers haven't provoked
terror in the hearts of opponents since the Clinton administration.
And if that weren't bad enough, the 'Huskers have enjoyed just one
winning season in the last seven. Their five-straight losing seasons
is something not seen in Lincoln since the late-fifties and
early-sixties.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
yes. All things being relative, this is a program in need of a
pick-me-up.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
Scott Frost was the coach entrusted to do that. But the thing is,
only one Nebraska football coach has a worse won-lost percentage. And
a chorus of impatient fans, nervous alumni and (I presume) a toxic
media have been begging for his removal. Following a home loss to
decided underdog Georgia Southern, this has come to pass.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">None
of this is much of a surprise, is it? Especially given the elevated
expectations Nebraskans have for their football team.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
what is fascinating is that had the University waited until October
first, the penalty for the early-termination of Frost would've been
cut in half, from fifteen-million dollars to seven and-a-half. But
what's $7.5 million-dollars to a humongous university?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
national championship is not at stake. Nor is a season that would find
the 'Huskers winning as often as they lost. What's the big rush? </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">There isn't one. At least, not one a sentient human being would
understand. But I think we have a window into the kind of thing mad tuition money often fuels. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thankfully,
tomorrow's gifted electrical engineer or barrier-breaking medical
researcher is being denied access to higher education for a good
reason. Ditto a nurse, an urban planner or an accountant. And that reason
is the restoration of a football program.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's
the pattern we see in many aspects of life these days. Self-serving
ego, shortsightedness and display overriding the more understated virtues
of purpose, long-term growth and commitment to the greater good. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
that's so easy to do when the money you're spending isn't yours,
isn't it? </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-78449391598608408052022-09-09T05:56:00.027-05:002022-09-10T13:18:30.558-05:00Student Debt Forgiveness Isn't Fair?<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back
in the bad old days, it was commonly agreed that education was a good
thing. That an educated citizenry moved a country forward and that it
behooved a government to make this possible.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
the sixties backlash hit and Ronald Reagan was elected president.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like
all candidates, he made a lot of tough-sounding campaign promises. He
was going to eradicate crime, play hardball with the Soviet Union,
eliminate wasteful spending and streamline the federal government so
that it would operate with the seamless efficiency of your favorite
small business.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(This
isn't to overlook the promise that he was going to bomb Iran into the
Stone Age after bringing home the hostages held within the American
embassy.)</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
be sure, Reagan benefited enormously from the presidency of Jimmy
Carter and his struggle with the Iran hostage crisis. But that crisis
also seemed to coalesce conservative frustration with the liberalism
that had taken root throughout the seventies and Reagan's landslide
victory was the proof.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
his election America went into two recessions that the manufacturing-centric Rust Belt still hasn't recovered from. And that
wasteful government spending? It wasn't eliminated, it was
re-arranged. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
sure most of your remember your mom re-arranging the living room or
another room in the house. Or maybe you altered the layout of your
bedroom. The dimensions of the room remained the same as was the
furniture within. But the room was...different.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ditto
our fortieth president. In his view, he did eliminate wasteful
spending by cutting federal aid to education. After all, what point
was there in having the government subsidize the liberalizing of
American students by aiding their access to higher education?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Further
illustrating the depths of his anti-education stance—and one could
add anti-poor--was his deft manipulation of school menus. He was the
man behind having ketchup declared as a vegetable in order to cut
costs on school lunches—not to mention having them appear more
nutritious than they actually were.)</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Needless
to say, the savings weren't passed on to your folks or mine. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
he so often did, Reagan had a better idea. He would re-appropriate
the newly freed-up cash to the Pentagon and its motley collection of
defense contractors. Always eager for another handout, those
contractors would transform that money into a shiny new thing that
would bamboozle our elected representation until they were eager as
hell to shell out whatever was necessary for research, development,
manufacture and implementation.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Anyone
from that era will recall the ultimate hustle of the defense
contractor era, the Star Wars project. It cost approximately
thirty-billion dollars (in nineteen-eighties money) and did
absolutely nothing. It was scrapped by President Clinton in 1993.)</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">So.
After tripling the nation's debt and quadrupling the defense budget,
at least an ever-increasing number of students could be shut-out of
higher education.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">According
to the Education Data Initiative website, college tuition has
increased 130% since 1990. (And that's adjusted for inflation.) Off
the top of my head, I'm thinking the only things that can compare are
the salaries of professional athletes and the cost of healthcare.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Professor's
salaries haven't exploded in a similar fashion, nor are schools
assuming a student's room and board. Is Chateaubriand (accompanied by
a pleasing—but never intrusive—Chateau Lafite '59) adorning dining hall tables these days?</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Or
is all this money going to Alabama football coach Nick Saban? </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Maybe
it's the byproduct of the dire warnings we hear to the effect that
without a college degree, you're nothing. Pair this with the news of
the ever-worsening outlook for low and mid-income families and we
have a driver for our nation's fanatical pursuit of higher education.
</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
yet, what is an enhanced education worth when students are graduating
with a debt load that will take decades to pay off? Do the
conservatives who endorse this see the long-term effects of shutting
out would-be consumers from the economy?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
those are the students fortunate-enough to see graduation day. Many
more abandon their education because there simply isn't money
available. And that's just the biggest factor which can influence
a decision like this. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Since
President Biden's announcement that he was enabling eligible students
to receive ten-thousand dollars in loan forgiveness, outrage has
erupted. Students with six-figure debt say it doesn't go far enough.
Conservatives say it's not fair and are challenging its legality.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am compelled to ask: not fair to whom?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
should be obvious that to the owners of the financial institutions
that make these loans, this is a pay cut. This is government
interference in what they consider to be sacrosanct domain—their
businesses.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Never
mind that the United States in the only first-world nation that
places access to higher education on such a lofty shelf. Never mind
the hypocrisy of placing students into decades-long debt merely for
the chance to earn a living wage. Never mind the social
stratification these incessant tuition hikes engender.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">These
aspects constitute a conservative wet dream. But how do they further
the ambitions and abilities of the United States? How is a nation
denying so much of its citizenry access to higher education advancing
itself? How does this line-up with the ideals espoused by the
founding fathers?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you ain't got it now you ain't never gonna get it?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
the citizens of so many big cities see on a daily basis, hope is a
critical element in a functional society. Hope is what keeps us
moving forward, stretching ourselves to grasp the next branch on the
tree. Hope is what keeps us engaged.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Without
it, we are a dispirited population with no skin in the game. People
who, incorrectly or not, feel that if they have nothing to live for,
you don't either. While an admittedly extreme example, I see it in the seventeen-year olds armed with
automatic weapons, killing, raping and carjacking; utterly
unconcerned with your life or their own.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
can change this. But first we have to want to. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166122521688274516.post-13630598138172738692022-08-30T14:43:00.034-05:002023-06-23T15:51:42.643-05:00Where I Was<p>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
month it's the demands external activities make on your time. The
next it's head trauma. At least I have a good excuse for being gone
so long. Ironically, it was at the very job I had taken to sand-off
the rough edges of inflation where I incurred my injury.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
work in a store that dabbles in many things; furniture, home decor,
women's clothes and odd bits of gourmet food. I do a little of
everything, like most people on the payroll. On this hot and humid
Saturday, I was preparing to liberate some overstock when I
collapsed, resulting in an unscheduled meeting between my head and
the store's cement floor. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Afterwards,
I briefly regained consciousness and surveyed the damage. But I soon
lapsed back into the netherworld of unconsciousness. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
next waking moment was in an unfamiliar room with oddly-dressed
people I didn't recognize. I was in a bed and felt intensely
uncomfortable. There were monitors and tubes and catheters connected
to me. Where
was my job? Where were my clothes? What have you people done to me?
I felt like I had been kidnapped and then disabled. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The nerve-endings in my head were abusing my central nervous
system as if it owed them money. My fight or flight mechanism was
gearing-up and preparing for escape. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I needed to get the fuck out of there.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
there was a voice.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">La
Piazza?” </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was a nurse, standing next to my bed.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Is
that your name?”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Yes”
I replied weakly. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Do
you know where you are?”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
memory began its long, slow emergence. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">A
hospital?”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Yes.
Do you remember what happened to you?”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
pondered. There was a vague memory of the fall, which now seemed like
a long time ago. Then blanks. There were questions: how did I get here?
How long had I been here?</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">I
fell at work.”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Yes.
You hit your head and did quite a bit of damage. An ambulance brought
you here and we performed brain surgery and your anesthesia is just
now wearing off. How do you feel?”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Collecting
such events and reducing them to a four-word question
seemed woefully inadequate. But given the circumstances, that
four-word question was the best that could be managed. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Tired.”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
remember shifting in my bed, unaware of the significance.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<span style="font-size: small;">Okay.
Drink some water first. You're really dehydrated.”</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
obediently drank and then drifted off to sleep.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
next few weeks are fuzzy, with sketchy memories of incessant checks
on my vitals, random personal visits and scattered phone calls. Then
there were the unending entreaties from the medical staff to eat. (I
lost ten pounds in my first two weeks and didn't resume
semi-regular consumption until I was threatened with being fed via a
nose tube.)</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
my brain's distorted view, my personal doctor had set-up a personal
diet years earlier and I just didn't need these interlopers interfering. Left unanswered was how I would consume—much less
obtain—that food from my hospital bed.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eventually
I was able to leave the confines of my bed and begin various forms of
therapy. Beyond the relief of escaping my room was the challenge of
recovering my muscle tone and making sure my brain was capable of
handling the mundane but essential rigors of everyday life.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is noteworthy that on the eve of my discharge, the speech therapist
went back to one of our initial visits and shared my responses to
some questions she had asked about a short story. To put it nicely,
my answers were unrelated.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
remain ignorant of how my brain repaired itself—all things being
relative—but it is one of the wonders of my life. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Accompanying
my emerging appetite was behavior that, while hardly qualified for a
Miss Manners forum on civility, at least wasn't outright hostile. If
I have any regrets (aside from falling on a cement floor, of course),
it's the uncooperative manner in which I initially treated the
medical professionals attending to me.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's
par for the course for people with head injuries to treat all
concerned with distemper and disregard. It's the byproduct of the
shock, dislocation and confusion that accompanies a head injury. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am thankful for those who had the wherewithal to see through those
temporary conditions and focus on bringing their patient to the best
realization of their post-fall potential. I have never participated
in that profession, but I am positive it is as challenging as it is
fulfilling.</span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is because of them I am able to write this. And am able to operate a
computer, measure a tablespoon of paprika needed for the Hungarian
goulash I ate last night and recall where I stored a spare bottle of
body wash many months ago. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is the wildest of understatements, but it could have ended so very,
very differently. </span>
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
La Piazza Ganciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09541428960602820693noreply@blogger.com0