Hump Day Flashback

Welcome to a new feature here on the blog: Hump Day Flashback. Where each Wednesday we take a classic piece of Americana and revisit it. Enjoy!

Leave it to humans to ruin a good thing

The Milwaukee Brewers came up with a great idea to get people free tickets to the ball game. Of course we humans had to glutonize (is that a word?) ourselves and attempted to take something innocent and fun, and gorge ourselves.

From Sportress of Blogitude:

The Milwaukee Brewers came up with an awesome promotion, “Where’s Bernie?” and clever little scavenger hunt where 1,400 Bernie Brewer lawn ornaments were scattered across parks throughout the 5-county metro Milwaukee area as well as in parks in Madison, Appleton, and Green Bay. Four hundred of the Bernie Brewers had prizes attached to them in pouches and even better, 100 had even cooler things inside (via the Milwaukee Brewers’ official site):

Each pouch contained Brewers game tickets, and many also included  additional prizes such as certificates for a night in a Miller Park  Suite and game-used memorabilia; and Milwaukee County Parks passes for  golf, water parks, and the Mitchell Park Domes.  In addition, 100 of the  lawn ornaments had been autographed by Brewers players and personnel.

Brilliant, right? Sadly, some jerks were hellbent on selfishly profiting off the promotion, ruining the innocent fun of it all for everybody else. Via WISN:

The treasure hunt was to begin at 5 a.m. Tuesday.  WISN 12 was at  Lincoln Park, where statues were claimed within minutes. Statues at  Bradford Beach were also found and claimed within minutes of the start  of the contest.

Fans on the internet complained this morning that statues were taken  ahead of the 5 a.m. start time. Other fans complained that statues were  being collected and placed on eBay.

One Brewers fan posted a picture on Twitter this morning of the 35 statues she collected.

Bernie Brewer statues have now appeared on eBay for up to $250.

Let that be a lesson for you people. E-bay is the ultimate goal here.

People Suck: Brewers’ ‘Where’s Bernie?’ Promo Ruined By Hoarding, Social Media (Sportress of Blogitude)

Is it possible? Could I actually write a book?

So I’m taking a personal day off from work today, and as I sit here updating my page for the Heart Walk coming in September, I just realized I should write a book. Now I say this not to brag about assumed style of writing, but I say this to say I might have some hints on how to get through to surviving a heart attack.

I mean, there are books about how to raise daffodils, how to make moon pies, all kinds of how to books. I just think I might have some pearls of wisdom on how to navigate the after effects of having a heart attack. I don’t claim to be an expert, but thank God I’m still alive.

Even though I am almost 59 years old and have survived a heart attack, I still feel 39. I still feel like I’m pretty active for an old codger. I attend a lot of baseball games, still go to work every day. I am very thankful a heart attack hasn’t stopped me, and it doesn’t have to stop you either.

It occurs to me that this here blog has many things that I have written before, during, and after my heart attack two years ago. So yeah, even though no one comments much about my stories here on my blog, I still believe I have some things to say in an entertaining, educated way. Things that can be put to good use in a somewhat entertaining manner. So we’ll see.

Just general thinking..oh yeah, it’s called scattershooting

If you Google the word “scattershooting” you will find lots of Texas results or results that are Texas related. I wonder why that is?

It’s Sunday evening and I have tons of things in my head, but nothing specific. Just thinking about a lot of things at once. Attention Deficit Disorder? I dunno. Here’s what I do know though, in order for a blog post to be interesting, it has to be interesting. Well duh, what does that mean? It means I shouldn’t write about myself but write about what’s interesting for the readers. Hello? No one really cares what I think, and I really don’t blame them for that.

The Rangers are in first place and the last game of the series with the Astros is tonight. Looks like the Rangers win the Silver Boot …again. Will Roy Oswalt become a Ranger? Will the Rangers ever get sold to Nolan Ryan et al? It’s somewhere in the future at this point.

Well boys and girls, it’s almost the national party that is the 4th of July! Hard to imagine time goes so fast that it’s almost the middle of summer already. I’m always amazed at how fast time goes from July 4th, until school starts. Seems like only minutes.

This week begins my last week at school. Yay. I had some good classes this semester.

I’ve also been watching lots of baseball this summer. The Grand Prairie AirHogs rock!

So I’ve been working, going to school, and blogging the AirHogs and I’ve been having a blast. I’ve been going to church, and trying to also do some volunteer work at work. I’ve been very blessed. I’m thankful for many things.

Oh, and here is a great picture of my team from work. We had an outing at the bowling alley. I had fun in spite of my 97.

Don’t look now, but it’s almost time for Cowboys training camp…the cycle continues.

Well I guess that’s about it. In honor of the Eagles who were in town this weekend, I’ll leave you with this…

Thanks for reading my blog!

Sgt Buddy has his day

You may remember last year after the tragedy at Ft. Hood, troops from there came to Dallas for the Veteran’s Day Parade.

I had the opportunity to shoot some very good video, and here was one of my favorites.

It turns out that Corporal Buddy got promoted to Sgt Buddy!

Congrats Sarge! When do we wet down the stripes??

The Big Lead = the big money

Proof positive that if you stick with something, good things can happen. The sports blog that is The Big Lead, was recently bought for tons of money.

The Big Lead, an independent blog that Jason McIntyre began as a hobby, is fixated on sports media, news and gossip. Along the way, it has built a devoted, if not huge, social media following.

Now, a buyer has established a value for the blog by acquiring it for a figure in the low seven figures.

The buyer, Chris Russo, chief executive of Fantasy Sports Ventures, a network of 600 sports sites, said: “You can’t out-ESPN ESPN, but you can take a different approach. Jason covers general sports and celebrity with an in-depth focus on sports media. Through good journalism and good luck, The Big Lead has succeeded.”

Wow. Jason McIntyre, the writer of the blog, is about to become a very rich man.

When McIntyre began his site in 2006, he was still an editor at US Weekly. “I really didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. He wrote it anonymously until his identity was revealed by Sports Illustrated (which later named it one of the five most influential sports blogs of the decade).

Congrats to Jason, and I wonder if he will be looking for any other writers?

Blog that found a market for sports news is purchased (WSJ)

Arizona tries to be all hip for Cinco de Mayo

From Out of Bounds

As Senate Bill 1070 makes its way across Arizona, leaving behind nothing but scorched earth and the fresh pine scent of a thoroughly-scrubbed border region, residents of that state are lining up behind their respective barricades. On one side you have the people in favor of the new anti-illegal immigration law, who say that it’s not racist at all. On the other you have those who say that it is indeed a racist policy. Guess where the Phoenix Suns stand? The jersey here to the right, which the Suns will be wearing Wednesday night in Game 2 of their Western Conference Playoff Series against the San Antonio Spurs, should give you an indication. I’m not going to try and guess the true intent of the Suns organization, but one thing is undeniable: alienating the Latino community is not exactly good for business.

Statement by Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver following the jump.

“Our players and organization felt that wearing our “Los Suns” jerseys on Cinco de Mayo was a way for our team and our organization to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the State of Arizona, and our nation. We are proud that 400 players from 36 countries compete in the NBA, and the league and the Suns have always considered that to be a great strength of the NBA.”

“The frustration with the federal government’s failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in passage of a flawed state law. However intended, the result of passing this law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question, and Arizona’s already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them.”

This isn’t like the SF Giants rocking the “Gigantes” jerseys during a July series with the Pirates. This is the playoffs. Big, big statement here.

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SUNS to Wear “Los Suns” Jerseys on Cinco de Mayo [Deep Purple]

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Spurs fans embrace ‘Dirty Mexicans’ controversy with snazzy shirt

From  Out of Bounds

Of course we recall the latest Twitter fiasco that got someone fired … former MLB pitcher and radio executive Mike Bacsik, whose unfortunate reference to “dirty mexicans” got him canned from Dallas radio station KTCK. But in a somewhat surprising development, San Antonio residents of Mexican descent have taken the controversy and stood it on its ear, in amusing garment form.

Under a tent near General McMullen and Highway 90, a vendor is selling black shirts with the words, “Dirty Mexican.” Above the “D” is a little sombrero. In the middle is the Spurs logo.

“Everybody likes it, man,” Javier Garcia says. “Everybody loves it. Everybody’s wearing it. It’s been selling out like crazy.”

Garcia told News Radio 1200 WOAI, the phrase has become a rallying cry, and indeed a point of pride, in the Hispanic community.

“You can call us a dirty Mexican, you can call us clean, you can call us whatever you want,” Garcia said. “We’re still going to the next round.”

That can be a metaphor for other things, by the way. Catch our drift, Arizona?

Of course, Garcia may soon have to answer to a higher authority than state government, or even God. His shirts are not officially licensed by the NBA. David Stern: “Subject spotted near General McMullen and Highway 90. Swarm! Swarm!”

 

“Dirty Mexican” Spurs t-shirts now for sale (WOAI)

Your Random ADD Post

Admit it. You have wondered before if you ever had Attention Deficit Disorder.

I don’t know if I have it, but I imagine the following would feel like having that illness. Follow along with me. I imagine this is what it would feel like if you had ADD. Read the following and stop at the hyperlinks and see for yourself.

I suppose I lead a rather boring life.

I work and then come home just about every day. I like simplicity.

Sometimes for fun, I water my plants. Sometimes I read magazines. Hoo boy, sometimes all of the excitement makes me tired.

Sometimes, I think back to when I was younger and didn’t get so tired all of the time.

Don’t get me wrong, I still do lots of things, but i have slowed down some since my younger days.

I’m just glad it’s baseball season now. It’s time for fun!

So as you can see, my thought process is always jumping about. I don’t know if it’s ADD, but it can’t be normal!

Gee, is it Monday already?

I had a blast this weekend, I could have used a few more days off with this great weather we are getting.

The Cowboys had a pretty good draft weekend, the Rangers came back home to some home cooking and took 2 of 3 from the Tigers and finishing up the four game sries tonight. The Mavericks? Eh, maybe next year as usual.

I read this story from my friend Rick Chandler’s blog this morning and it cracked me up. Seriously, how could someone be this stupid?

It occurs to me that Twitter has become somewhat of an ersatz lie detector test; a lot of our thoughts travel unabated from out brain to our thumbs and out into the atmosphere, before we even realize it. “Where u at?” “I’m so happy rite now”. “Congrats to all the dirty mexicans in San Antonio”. Oops. Mike Bacsik is a former journeyman pitcher, somewhat famous only because he gave up Barry Bonds’ 756th homer in 2007, which broke Hank Aaron’s all-time record. He’s currently the producer on The Ticket 1310 radio in Dallas for Norm Hitzges, and occasionally shows up on the air. Moments after the Dallas Mavericks were beaten by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of their playoff series on Sunday, Bacsik favored his followers with this tweet. Then realizing what he’d done, he deleted it — plus a bunch of others — but it was too late. This was forwarded to me by Sports Grind Entertainment, one of many I’m sure who have immortalized the tweet in screen grab form.

Someone has already altered his Wikipedia page, and not in a good way (see Early Years. UPDATE: Someone has removed the line “he’s a racist.”). Fun fact: Bacsik’s father, Michael James Bacsik, was also a major league pitcher, and faced Aaron twice after he had hit his 755th homer. But Bacsik gave up a single and got a fly out. It would be up to his son to give someone No. 756.

That’s too funny!

We are getting some interest in the new Facebook site, Starving Writers. If you know of anyone that fancys themselves as a poet, or writer, or any type of multi-media type artist, send em over. Have a great day and we’ll see ya.

UPDATE::::::: See? You always reap what ya sow!!