Yev Kassem

Thinking back to a happier time..

Those are starting to show up more regularly on the shelf. I’ve seen several on shelves at TW and Spec’s the last times I’ve been over the last few weeks. A very welcome sight.

They’re consolidating to one or two main brokers so that they can better control the market. It’s too much of the Wild West when you have thousands of people dumping tickets at bottom out prices. Not as big of a deal when you’re sold out, but more so when you have a good amount of inventory to sell for single games like a few years ago.

Professional brokers account for probably 10-15% of most teams’ inventory these days. It’s not mostly regular fans just selling their seats.

It’s great! Great bang for your buck (most bottles are anywhere from $60-80) and they’re really starting to put out some interesting stuff. They’re doing a lot of blending with 6-8 year juice from MGP and Sagamore. I’ve been a Patron of theirs for several years so I get access to their releases.

Thompson on Riverwalk is great too. Moon’s Daughter rooftop bar on top of the hotel is a great date spot.

Totally agree. I think in 28 we have three great potential candidates in Shapiro/Beshear/Moore and then either one of them as VP or even Whitmer if any of those three need help drawing in women.

Yeah I think Shapiro/Beshear makes a great ticket in 2028. Beshear being a blue gov in a red state is a great message of uniting both parties and how it’s still possible to work across the aisle.

I’m in total agreement with you on her gender being what probably cooked her overall. That’s why I think Shapiro or Beshear at the top of the ticket kills two birds with one stone. You run a man who wasn’t connected to the current administration who could paint themselves differently.

I get that, but I think Michigan/Wisconsin are much closer politically to Penn than Minnesota. I think Shapiro might have resonated better with those voters, especially if he had been at the top of the ticket. The problem with their economic message is that while the stock market is at an all time high and most all other indicators showed a strong economy most of those working class dem voters likely aren’t playing much in that space. All they saw was that their paychecks weren’t going as far as they used to and they blamed Biden/Kamala. It was too tough story to overcome.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. First and foremost— Biden not making plans to step aside starting in 2022. He ran on being a one term president and he reneged on that idea. Whether it was arrogance, hubris, naivete or a combination of all three, this was the first major blunder that led to last night. Next, when it was obvious that Biden wasn’t up to task anymore, the rushed coronation of Kamala without the slightest amount of public discourse probably left a bad taste in the mouths of many Dems (and potentially independents). I get that a quick decision had to be made, so this is collateral damage to Biden not stepping aside sooner. I get that she’s the sitting VP and has impressive credentials, but she was one of the earliest dem primary candidates eliminated in 2020. She was extremely unpopular, so I’ll always question why they went to her with other options on the table like Shapiro and Beshear. Both are very well liked in their states and neither can be painted as a “coastal elite” like Kamala. Again, if Biden had stepped aside sooner and there was a true primary earlier this year I think either of them would have blown Kamala out of the water during that process. Once Kamala was announced, not naming Shapiro or Beshear as VP was probably the second biggest blunder behind Biden not stepping aside. With Shapiro you lock down Pennsylvania in the must-win state for both candidates. I get that Walz is folksy and is popular, but when you see him on tv he doesn’t scream “National candidate”. Governor/congress, I totally get it. But the real nail in the coffin was not distancing herself from Biden once she started out on the trail. I get that she was not trying to shit on her boss and as VP it wasn’t her agenda, but the writing was on the wall that the electorate was not happy and she needed to show how she was going to be an agent of change. And she never did and she was blown out last night as a result. I think she had a good economic policy, but she was totally ineffective with her messaging strategy.

Ohhhhh. Sorry, still hungover from last night. Carry on!

If you thought getting Black and Latino men to vote for a black woman was tough, try convincing them to vote for a gay man.

You’re absolutely wrong. Shapiro 100% delivers Pennsylvania and he gives Dems a much better chance at keeping Biden’s margins with Latino and Black men. Like it or not, a significant portion of the population will not vote for a woman president. Dems need to come to that realization, no matter how difficult it is to come to terms with. For all the “talk” about how far ahead women were for Harris, it didn’t mean shit. It was all smoke and mirrors and most of us bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Totally agree. But throwing the baby out with the bath water just to try and force an already unpopular VP down the electorate’s throat was too much to overcome. Shapiro was the way and he was overlooked by forces that clearly grossly miscalculated where the American electorate stood.

Everyone watching this orange shitstain declare victory tonight can thank Democratic leadership for putting out the absolute worst candidate possible for this election.

Absolutely wild that a decrepit Biden runs a more competitive race than Kamala. He still probably doesn’t win, but at least we aren’t going to bed tonight completely defeated. Kamala is proving to be the worst Democrat candidate in quite some time. She was an atrocious candidate in 2020 and she never overcame those headwinds with a significant portion of the D coalition. I hope in 2028 they focus less on capturing celebrity endorsements and more on the issues that drive voters to the polls.

Kamala about to get blown out in the EC and popular vote. They haven’t even called NJ yet. The Dems have a lot of soul searching to do for 2028 as to who can recapture and build upon Biden’s 2020 coalition.

Narrator: She was a bad candidate.

All I can do is vote, my guy. I did my part. I’m down with everything that Kamala stands for, but my wife and I aren’t having any more kids. My taxes will probably go down under a Trump regime. Not saying I want that, but I can’t control how others will vote. Dems have to realize that promoting the most electable candidate is paramount. They need to realize that a woman isn’t going to consolidate voting blocs with black and Latino men. I hate saying that, but that’s the world we currently live in.

My only solace in this whole evening is that as a white, upper middle class man in Texas, my life probably won’t change much under a Trump regime. I proudly voted for Kamala and my heart goes out to all those that will suffer in the next four years. I really don’t know what you can do for a large part of the electorate that votes outside their economic interests, but I guess they’ll find out when Project 2025 outlaws OT and all that “tax free OT” promise goes out the window.

Dems will rue the day they didn’t put Josh Shapiro at the top of the ticket. They would have locked up Pennsylvania from the jump and they could have worked to solidify the Latino and Black male vote. As painful as it is to say, this country isn’t ready for a woman president and you need to run who will garner the most votes. Kamala underperforming Biden in most of the big countries proves this.

Lots of options tonight.

Same with the Big Smasher. The sauce is great, but they put way too much on. Just order it on the side and save some napkins and probably your shirt.

It’s also fun to have ChatGPT imagine the other side of the story Once upon a time in a bustling city, a young Donald Trump decided to treat himself to his favorite indulgence: baby back ribs at Chili's. He had been looking forward to this meal all week, imagining the savory flavors and tender meat. But when he arrived, disaster struck—the restaurant had run out of ribs. Frustrated and disappointed, Trump found himself staring at the menu, forced to order a salad instead. As he sat there, watching families enjoy their meals, he felt a growing sense of injustice. Why should he, a man of success and ambition, be denied his craving? The salad felt like a symbol of everything he despised: compromise, mediocrity, and a lack of control. In that moment of resentment, Trump began to see the world through a different lens. He became fixated on the idea that external forces—like immigrants—were to blame for his misfortune. To him, they represented the chaos that disrupted his vision of a perfect society, one where he could always have his ribs and never settle for less. This incident ignited a fire within him. He began to embrace a narrative of strength and authority, vowing to take charge and restore what he believed was rightfully his. No longer just a businessman, he transformed into a figure driven by the desire for power, promising to rid the country of the elements he deemed responsible for his salad. Thus, the seeds of his authoritarian aspirations were sown, forever altering the political landscape.