Tag: sports

In which I’m definitely back in schools again…

On By Luther M. SilerIn lifeLeave a comment

20180827_fbl_at_notre_dame…because my annual First Or Second Week of September Head Cold is back, after a two-year absence, just like goddamn clockwork.  I was hoping that not actually being in the classroom would allow me to avoid it this year, but no to that; it’s laying around and moaning all day for me!  Hooray!

On the plus side, there is Football tonight.  We’re in that magical nine days or so every year where I want to watch football, not because I enjoy sports in general or football in particular but because football represents summer ending and, finally, the beginning of autumn, which is my hands-down no-doubt favorite season. The hoodie months are approaching.  They’re almost here!  I can tell, there’s football on TV!

By next week I’ll be over it.  But there’s a Notre Dame game starting in about half an hour and the good thing about being basically immobile right now is that so long as I make sure I’m planted in front of the TV I’ll be able to watch the whole thing.

…uh, anybody wanna bring me dinner?

1000 words, etc.

On By Luther M. SilerIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Everything I might want to write about tonight is exhausting, so I think I’ll just put this up and let you write the post in your heads:

black-power-salute

In lieu of anything else to say

On By Luther M. SilerIn life4 Comments

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I haven’t been getting a ton of comments lately, so I’m kinda hoping everybody pitches in for this one, since as an atheist I’m not really qualified to comment on it.  Help me out, I’m confused.

A spot of context, in case you don’t recall: the local AAA baseball team is the South Bend Cubs.  I have been to a couple of games but I can’t name a single player.  (Actually, I can’t name a single active baseball player at any level, but that’s not entirely relevant.)

There is a church near my home that I drive by every day on my way to and from work.  Hell, it’s on a main thoroughfare, so I probably drive past it something like 70% of the time I leave my house.  And there’s a big sign out in front of the church– wood, attached to what appear to be 12 x 12 beams, so they intend for it to be at least semi permanent– that declares the place the “church home” of the South Bend Cubs, including using their logo, which something makes me doubt they got permission for.  The sign specifically names two players and their numbers; I don’t know if any more than those two attend that church and I’m not sure that two players really constitute an official team endorsement either.

So here’s the question: there have to be some at least moderately religious people who read this blog.  Assuming you were already Catholic, is there any universe where this sort of “rub elbows with very minor local celebrities” advertisement might entice you to check a church out?  And, as a secondary question, am I right in feeling that calling these two players out and yelling HEY THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN FIND THESE GUYS ON SUNDAY MORNING to literally everyone who drives by is kind of rude?

On America’s pasttime

On By Luther M. SilerIn Stories3 Comments

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This post will be of even less interest to the majority of you than usual, mostly because the vast majority of you aren’t local, but: I attended a AAA South Bend Cubs game at our local baseball parky-thingy Saturday night.  The stadium has been there a long time, but I probably haven’t been to a game since high school.  I remember enjoying the several games I went to, but “several” is probably the right word.  And since college I have almost completely abandoned watching sports as a means of recreation.  I know more than I pretend to a lot of the time but I literally can’t name a single currently working pro NFL or MLB player, probably not more than half a dozen NBA players, and not a single college athlete in any sport.

But anyway.  There’s something about baseball stadiums, right?  And I’ve never gotten to be in a skybox before, so being right behind home plate and in a spot where it was highly unlikely that I’d be hit by a fast-moving projectile was kinda cool.  Plus, hey, cash bar that served free soft drinks and free catering.  It was also a cool Dad Night, as my son knows nothing of baseball and had never been to a game, and I bought him a lightsaber to play with.  He had fun too.

Local folks, if you haven’t found an excuse to see a game at Four Winds Field lately, go.  Tickets are cheap and the experience is generally excellent, especially if you’re able to go on a night where there are fireworks.  Just sit along the third base line so you can see them better.  There are grassy fields to sit on in the outfield and bouncy houses for the littler kids and the usual concessions and all that other fun stuff.  If you’re around, go.  Even if you’re not into baseball, it’s a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Ran into a Trump supporter at work today, the first openly so individual I’ve actually encountered.  I had to eventually stare him down and tell him that I didn’t discuss politics at work, and his wife clearly has grown to loathe him and his need to insert politics and crazypants into every conversation with every stranger he meets.  I felt bad for her.  He probably needs a therapist.

In other words, pretty much exactly who I thought he’d be.

A fine way to spend a Saturday night

On By Luther M. SilerIn Photography1 Comment

…so, yeah, forgive me if there’s no blogging.

#WeekendCoffeeShare: White People edition

On By Luther M. SilerIn Stories4 Comments

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If we were having coffee, I’d brag for a bit about my insane performance at trivia night last night.  I am smart and know a lot of stuff, but success at a trivia competition tends to be at least partially a function of the luck of the draw, because the categories are so critical to how you do.  I’ve only done these three times, but the previous two I wasn’t terribly useful because the categories were all in my bad spots.  This trivia night?  Ten categories, four of which were “David Bowie,” “Star Wars,” “Movie Quotes,” and “The 1990s.”

I kicked every bit of the ass, is what I’m saying.  We were tied for first place, only missing one question out of the first 70, until the “Super Bowl” round happened, and our one sports guy had virtually no backup.  Then there was the “Indiana History” round, where we missed a couple of questions we shouldn’t have because of team miscommunication, and we ended up in 4th place out of about 50 teams.  So, still, not bad, but we literally missed seven of our eight questions in two rounds.  

Also badass: the tiebreaker is predicting how many points your team will get right. I campaigned hard for 92 at the beginning and lost.  Our final score?  92.

Other than that, I refer you to this post from 2014, because the experience was basically identical, right down to hearing someone call for Ray Lee Ray and looking around and having the incredibly rare and insanely problematic thought my god I’m the only black person in the room float through my head.

I am not a black person, obviously, and I should never be thinking such things.  However, I suspect that were things like Trivia Night graded on a curve, I would be Yaphet Kotto.  Because holy shit are these things white.

The cheesecake went over quite well, by the way.

Speaking of sports: I understand that the Super Bowl is today, and it’s entirely possible that if we were having coffee that subject might come up.  I did not watch the Super Bowl last year, and as a result I missed seeing Missy Elliott live.   This year, Beyoncé is performing, and the rumor is she’ll be performing the single she dropped yesterday.  I will not be repeating that mistake.  Let’s take a moment:

(Will that work?  I dunno.  It doesn’t appear to be available for embedding on YouTube.)

(Holy shit!  It looks like it worked!)

At any rate, prior to going to the trivia night I’d been listening to and watching that  over and over again, and if there’s any chance that that song is getting performed live at the Super Bowl I’m ferdamnsure gonna be watching.

The fact that I’d been watching that over and over again– and, more importantly, watching the reaction to it on Twitter– might also have had something to do with the cultural whiplash upon arriving at the Snow Folk Palace later that evening, by the way.

So, yeah.  Are you having people over for the sportsenation?  Tell me what you’re cooking.

 

Goddammit.

On By Luther M. SilerIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I would not have expected that hearing about the death of Rowdy Roddy Piper would hit me quite this hard.  But it has.  I’m genuinely upset right now.

Is it too much to hope that he’s saying that to St. Peter right now?

One of these things is not like the other

On By Luther M. SilerIn idiocy8 Comments

I shop at a local fat man store from time to time.  They call themselves a “Big and Tall” store, but I never see tall guys in there and tall guys generally don’t need 5XL shirts, which is most of what they carry– I’m at the small end of the distribution in that place.

They send emails. Lots of emails.  I got one today, in fact.Screen Shot 2015-05-16 at 2.59.53 PMI was a little confused as to what this had to do with Large Person shirts and pants until I saw the capacities down in the corner there.  I need a portable chair that can support a thousand-pound human.  I need it for science.

There was more to the email:

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This part, I have to admit, confused me; I don’t go to the beach as a general rule but if I did I can’t see that I’d want to bring a beach tent.  I didn’t know beach tents were a thing; if you’re a beach person and you would want such an object, fill me in.

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Back to the chairs.  There’s no capacity listed for the Picnic Time Portable Fusion Backpack Chair, but holy hell does that thing look heavy-duty.  No price listed, either.

And then the email went completely off the rails, as they forgot who they were marketing to:

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I don’t know what the overlap is between “people interested in portable chairs with a capacity of half a ton” and “people who need neoprene wetsuits,” but it most certainly does not include me.  I’m glad the zippers are heavy-duty, though.