Gone Fishin'

Sunday is for fishing that great expanse between Santa Monica and Malibu. Back on Monday. Maybe.

Comments

[Woody]

THIS Sunday was for watching the Masters tournament in Augusta. Great competition, close match, great finish, terrific game & tournament. Gotta feel bad that there couldn't be two winners. Good luck with your fishing.

[Virgil Johnson]

Tell us a fish story when you get back.

[John Moore (Useful Fools)]

I'd say he's just changed the type of fishing he is doing.

Many of these blog entries constitute fine bait, the results of a skilled writer who knows exactly what to put on the hook.

[Woody]

John, Virgil, Jim, Mark A., greendem, MT, and a few others...a very few others--

Don't look now, but I think that everyone else has left us. Gone "fishing" maybe? Could this post have been Marc's code for everyone else to go to a new blog?

It has to be true. Where's rosedog, Mavis, reg, Ahmed, too many, richard, Neo, Rockford, Rich, Liberty Dad, and many of the other regulars--not to mention Marc? They were tipped off and we weren't. It reminds me of the time that two girls told me to wait and they would be right back. If I took their advice, I'd still be sitting outside a mall that has long since been closed. The signs are too clear.

Has anyone else noticed? Helloooooooooo.....o...o...o...o...... Is anyone there? Am I all alone now?

If I don't hear something soon, I'm going to turn this into the world's first combination political sports blog--a real winner.

Hey, did you see what the Dodgers did to their best fan? Check this.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05087/478631.stm
Pretty riviting,, huh? I know how to pick social causes. Forget those people trying to cross our border for food and jobs. What we need to focus on is how tickets are allocated at Chavez Ravine.

Are you there? Is it just me now? Hello? steve, do you want to come back?

[jim hitchcock]

Been dividing my time between here and the great Dodger Thoughts blog, Woody. Consider myself lucky to have found two blogs of such unquestionable high quality.

And boy, I hope you have better writers at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution than we have at the Times...Bill Plaschke is often a target of ridicule on DT's...were pretty sure he gets paid per paragraph, which is why so many of his consist of one or two sentences. And he really needs to be taken to task for the overuse of the word `indeed'.

And while I can feel for poor old Irv Ziegler, his seats are still the same distance to the foul line...he just doesn't get to set his Diet Pepsi on the top of the dugout anymore.

Great season start, hellacious games...looking forward to playing the Braves, as usual. They, as usual, are the class of the East. In the west, it's gonna bemore of a dogfight. Baseball!

[Michael Crosby]

I must comment on the sportswriting thread. Sportsjournalists rely on the sort of cliche and belabored metaphors that not only are edited out of writing in other sections, but would likely lead to discharge there. You know what drives me crazy? Use of the word "just"--as in: "Jeff Kent just might hit .400 this year...."

This is a rhetorical device that passes muster if used sparingly in after-dinner speeches. It is meaningless and ignorant and would never survive the red pencil in any other context other than the sports pages.

Check out this year's pennant predictions...I bet "just might..." or "might just be..." is used at least once.

This is "just" one example. Of course, as must be obvious, it is/was my goal in life to be a sports writer.

[reg]

Woody...thanks for the memories...but I've been very busy...also can't get too agitated by these debates over religion. Grew up with it in my blood...am totally comfortable with my "ethically/culturally Christian" agnosticism...figure if Anybody's out there overlooking the Cosmos, They're not likely dependent on me to run my mouth to feed Their Ego and will understand my reluctance to put He/She/It on a bumper sticker. If nobody's home, that's okay too, because this is a very rewarding, engaging experience in itself. Whenever I feel the impulse toward the spiritual, I've got hours and hours of good gospel music ready to warm my soul. (Why the hell anybody would look to a man in a dress or pray to a "Virgin" to lift their spirits and hook up with Jesus instead of giving it over to Marion Williams, The Blind Boys or The Dixie Hummingbirds is a question that no one will ever answer to my satisfaction.)

Also, regarding my failure to spend a lot of time commenting, with Bush's approval ratings deep in the dumpster, Crazy John Bolton getting barbecued, The Demon DeLay's feeding tube about to be withdrawn, most Americans affirming what I've been saying about Iraq all along and the phony "SS" reform essentially dead, no pressing need for me to raise a royal ruckus.

Albeit without much in the way of decent leadership, the silent majority zigs and zags it's way toward a reasonable degree of moderation and relative sanity. That's all I ask...

Gotta go.

[populistfantasyman]

Steve is not allowed back Woody, for, unlike you, Marc is afraid of leftists who disagree with him and don't conform to his stereotypes of their being tree hugging amy goodman acolytes who worship the words of Ramsey Clarke. Steve is bad bad bad bad and banned banned banned....whatever that means in cyberspace...

I like the fish threads, it reminds me of when Steve actually convinced Marc that he believed in 'non-violent' fishing that included gently pulling in the fish with bread bait and then releasing them back to the water after a haiku for peace. Marc fell for that hook line and sinker.

[populistfantasyman]

Steve is not allowed back Woody, for, unlike you, Marc is afraid of leftists who disagree with him and don't conform to his stereotypes of their being tree hugging amy goodman acolytes who worship the words of Ramsey Clarke. Steve is bad bad bad bad and banned banned banned....whatever that means in cyberspace...

I like the fish threads, it reminds me of when Steve actually convinced Marc that he believed in 'non-violent' fishing that included gently pulling in the fish with bread bait and then releasing them back to the water after a haiku for peace. Marc fell for that hook line and sinker.

[jim hitchcock]

Okey dokey, PF...

[reg]

"tree hugging amy goodman acolytes who worship the words of Ramsey Clarke"

shouldn't sentences like that be confined to the "religion" threads?

[too many steves]

Yes, but only so long as it doesn't include or imply swear words.

Btw, Derek Low appeared to be delighted to be in Fenway Park receiving his World Championship ring today. Then again, who wouldn't. How's he doing on the West Coast so far? This Red Sox fan always liked that guy.

As for the overuse and misuse of metaphor in sports reporting (sorry, couldn't find a way to weave 'tortured' into that sentence) I actually enjoy chuckling about it. The good ones are rare and, well, good. The bad ones are so, so bad that they make me laugh. And isn't there some comfort in knowing that all this hyper-metaphor-ing is employed to report on the most hyped and unserious of subjects: competitive sports?

Doesn't stop me from following and watching my favorite teams. Or from mentioning that two Boston based teams are current "World" Champions.

As Eddie Izzard says: "There is no more dominant record of success in sport than that of the Americans in the baseball World Series.".

[jim hitchcock]

Lowe pitched well in the opener, and was hit hard yesterday before, uh, he was hit hard. Glad to have him, though.

[Woody]

populistfantasyman wrote: "Steve is not allowed back..."

Yeah, but since we're discussing baseball instead of Viet Nam veterans coming back, it's okay to mention spitting. Scratching and "adjusting yourself," too. I think Marc tolerates cussing. Things really go downhill when the moderator takes a leave.

Regarding sports journalism, my brother has a sports publication. He just started it for some extra money, but he knew that it might just turn into something just a little bigger. I think he might just have a really good magazine because he just won an award and he just might win another one--if there's any just-ice. Just kidding. It was just in jest. But, he really does have a very good publication.

The sports section of the Atlanta paper is okay except for a few things. There is too much written about women's sports, and almost no one cares about women's sports. Pro sports take a disproportionate amount of space leaving less for colleges, which I follow more closely in football season. Then the paper has to split what's left for the colleges between the SEC and ACC. Finally, and the worse, there is one character who can only write about some politically correct controversy--no matter how stupid it gets. No one told him that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, because he constantly harps on that. (Quick...which team and which general manager brought him in to MLB? This should be pretty easy.) I just want the paper to cover the sports and leave that other nonsense for the editorial page. Also, I don't like Title IX and the AJC loves it.

Does "The Nation" have a good sports section? Maybe I'll put in an application.

Yesterday I went by a car wash raising money for the Georgia Tech women's soccer. They had coeds in bikinis washing the cars. And, it only cost $5. Good, huh? One problem...the girls were the women's soccer team and most of them outweighed me.

I am a Braves fan first and a Red Sox fan second. Now all of you have two more reasons to hate me. Boston got its World Series rings tonight and beat the Yankees. The Braves won, too.

I've got to get back to taxes.

[rosedog]

Hi....Woody.... (and everybody). I'm out here, but only vaguely lurking...as I'm horribly deadline ridden.....and if I didn't put the little tomatoes plants in yesterday Really Bad Things Were Going to Happen to them. Plus I needed to feed the gazillion rose bushes I've planted over the years in my ongoing if slightly misguided efforts to turn my black thumb brown.

And it's been sunny. And I needed to run with the dog. And there were those theater tickets. And the Ray LaMontagne concert...and...and... here’s a link to my review of the last Ray LaMontagne concert when I decided to take a brief break from writing about murder and mayhem…

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/19/music-fremon.php

Okay, see? Aren't you glad I've been quiet?

Are you bored yet?

Besides, I've got a variation on reg's take on religious discussions. Won’t go there. My born again sister-in-law used to try to lure me, but even she’s given up. (Plus if I started revealing my real thoughts on the subject, I’d likely clear the room. Think animism. I talk to everything. My friend the priest puts up with me, but he’s unusual.)

Hi, Marc…. Hope fishing was great!!.

Alright, back to the spidey hole. (And to watch “24.”)

[Marc Cooper]

Fishing has been good thank you. This past week's catch has included an 8lb halibut reeled in from the Sta Monica surf.

For the record...or better.. for anyone who cares about real trivia: steve has not been allowed back because in the past month he has logged onto this site from a half dozen different computers and smeared it with disparaging graffitti. That's a permanent disqualifier. It also means he has some sort of strange disorder which I really dont need in my life. I know if I were banned from any web site, for whatever reason, the last thing I would do is spend my time trying to crack back in to say disparaging things. That, at the minimum, is some sort of addiction.

Indeed, the postings above from "populistfantasyman" is, in fact, steve. He used an IP that is part of a cluster that he has used 4-5 times before. It's pretty sad.
Poor guy.

[reg]

"steve has not been allowed back because in the past month he has logged onto this site from a half dozen different computers"

Are you sure it's not just because you want a bunch of social democratic programs instituted along with all of that increased military spending you're always squawking about and "steve" is the only person who sees through the nefarious, crackpot scheme ????

Just kidding...

[reg]

Woody asks: Does "The Nation" have a good sports section? Maybe I'll put in an application.

Emphatically, no (although the late, great Jack Newfield wrote a terrific piece on boxing for the Nation a few years back.)

But for the record, The Daily Worker had a great sportswriter (so I've read) back in the thirties and forties - Lester "Red" Rodney. He was given a lot of credit at the time for raising the issue of segregation in baseball long before any other sports commentators. Was known to be a thorn in the side of Kenisaw Mountain Landis for crusading so aggressively to integrate the game. Apparently a lot of people bought the Daily Worker just to read his sports column and he was a familiar figure in the locker rooms. Leo Durocher is quoted as having told Rodney, "For a fucking Communist, you know a hell of a lot about baseball." Maybe The Nation should consider trading Cockburn or Klein for a latter day Lester Rodney or Jack Newfield - or even Hunter Thompson - who could give a populist perspective on pro sports. Once those Lefties had Woody by the balls, his heart and mind might just follow...

[Woody]

Marc wrote: "...steve has not been allowed back because ...he has logged onto this site from a half dozen different computers and smeared it with disparaging graffitti. ...Indeed, the postings above from 'populistfantasyman' is, in fact, steve."

All I have to say is "Yow!" And, I thought the guy from the Minutemen was scary. I'll never raise this issue in any form again.

[stevewho?]

Marc, for god sake, stop feigning outrage or disgust. The net is not a place you can 'ban' people from, your fantasies notwithstanding.
You banned Steve,or me, for not saying what you wanted to hear from leftists and, in the process, for not fulfilling your stereotype of them being amy goodman acolytes. All your nonsense about my being 'insulting' is huffery puffery...and a pretext.

There's nothing sick about loggin on to a comments board from which you've been kicked off for arbitrary reasons, be serious.

And Reg, get real, Cooper supports increased troops to Iraq, increased $$ for occupation there, afghanistan, bosnia,...darfur,...Military expenditures have to come from somewhere, if not social programs that Cooper claims to support, then where? his political economy is the stuff of silliness.

[Ms. Peepers]

Dear Steve:

As a lurking daily reader of this blog, I particularly appreciate smart debate from the left, and occasionally, you have made good contributions. But I must say, painful though it may be, that more often your very frequent posts veered toward snipes and personal attacks, or featured endless quotes and tangential links. On many occasions, you single-handedly derailed an intelligent thread into an ugly fight food where somehow you were both aggressor and victim.

It is sad that you have been dis-invited, but we all should try to learn something from this and move on. After many years in progressive and grassroots organizations, I have seen this style of overly-assertive, dogmatic, unyielding "debate" disable meeting after meeting, and ultimately, undo group after group. I believe that it is our tolerance (or indulgence) of this anti-social communication style that has rendered many progressive efforts ineffectual. People with valuable contributions to offer are just driven away. I am passionate about this topic because too often I have been one of them and I most regret not having spoken out.

Your behavior may not be "sick" but it isn't healthy. I hope my words have not been too harsh; I truly wish that you can reflect on this and learn something about yourself. And we should all do better next time.

Best of luck,

Ms. P

[stevewho]

Ms Peepers, your tone is civil but the content is not well supported by facts. To argue that I am less civil than, say, Moore or Reg, is just patenly absurd and surely a reasonable person like yourself would acknowledge that there is nothing to support such a claim. Much of Marc's 'anger' at my posts is feigned anger, a posture, which he hopes then others will appropriate, no matter how weak in foundation.
Truly, if I were the fish hugging amy goodman acolyte that he makes those of us on the left who disagree with him to be, he would welcome my comments with much excitement. The anger is feigned, the claims of my being unreasonable [or more unreasonable or stubborn than others--even more to the point] bogus.
His reaction to me reminds me of the absurd reaction of Hitchens to those on the left who dare disagree with his faux populism.

[stevewho]

And personal attacks, be serious Ms. Peepers, that's one thing that I'm not known to engage in in fact. If I did, Marc would have had an excuse to kick me off of his blog comments board ages earlier.

[Tom Grey - Liberty Dad]

I was booted off of Alternet. I haven't been back. If somebody doesn't want me in their house, I don't try to go -- even if they have a block party.

It's rude. We could use a lot more civility. Ms. Peepers had a good comment -- the Reps over at OpinionJournal are kinda glad/ sad about the Dems degenerating into a Purity Police excluding those who don't agree 100%. I remember that kind of junk from the Libertarian Party (of Principle! really...or else you're unwelcome).

Actually, religions are the place for True Believers and the excommunication of heretics. Political parties should be more a mix of those who support the Party platform from 100% down to ... 50%? 40%? Isn't the idea to promote some main idea (pro or anti war; pro or anti gov't spending; pro or anti abortion) so that folk will vote for you on one issue, even though they disagree with other issues? Or is that only a Rep idea? The Dems (like the irrelavent Libs) only want the 100%ers. Which should mean that with the right marketing, the Reps could get some 10%ers (90% Dem) voting Rep ...

Sunday saw A River Runs Through It -- with Brad Pitt as a fisherman. Definitely an indictment against too much hedonism. Monday, Troy. Fun mix; more Brad than the last two months. This was a thread about fishing? That should mean anything goes.

[reg]

Hitchens' "faux populism" - god, I don't think the man has a populist cell in his corpus. He basically doesn't give a shit about domestic U.S. politics (except for bullshit like smoking bans), which is one reason I don't find him politically serious or authentic as anything other than an intellectual poseur who should stick to literary criticism. (Can one be an authentic poseur ? Yes, I think so. After all, Hitch is a Brit.)