Ghost of LL

The last time I drove up Guadalupe, I commented to @Brisketexan that it looked like it might be the safest street in town with the unexpected absence of drag worms. It's just not the Drag I'm familiar and comfortable with.

I think that's a very fair point. But even with an upgrade, are you suggesting that we just roll with Wedgewood? Cause I'm not sure I love that.

Yeah, but it's kind of standard, isn't it? It's the exact same record we had five games into the season last year. We have a real issue from last year that doesn't look like it's being addressed in the early going this year: Otter can't be expected to play 60 games and not wear out late in the playoffs. We have to get him some rest, but that probably requires an upgrade at the backup goalie position.

You want to know how this war ends? It's not how the Sergeant Major predicts in 1917: "last man standing." It's how World War I actually ended: with one side suffering a mutiny that renders it incapable of further combat. And actually, that's how World War I ended twice. On the Eastern Front, the Bolshevik Revolution and ancillary mutinies in the Russian Army (particularly in the four armies of the Northern Front) rendered any further Russian/Soviet resistance ineffective. And on the Western Front, the French had a large mutiny in 1917 that threatened to cause an Allied collapse before the mutinies in the German military in November 1918 ultimately ended the war. We're going to have to have that again. Both Russia and Ukraine have enough men and access to enough weaponry that neither one is going to be able to get to the "last man standing." One of their militaries is going to collapse into mutiny. I know whom I have my money on.

It's really one of my favorite ballparks. And I don't really have a great reason for that. Maybe it's just that the air conditioning is so damned welcome after being outside for more than 30 seconds in the summer on Phoenix. But yeah--the location is good; the sightlines are actually really good; the outfield is kind of set up in a way that you can almost fool yourself into forgetting that you're in a dome.

And the goal isn't to try to persuade them to vote for Democrats. The goal is to discourage them from voting. And this internecine warfare, which is deeply dispiriting for a partisan and intensely boring to anybody who's not a political dork, is exactly the kind of thing that discourages the casual Republican voter from voting. Ummmm, about three weeks ago.

Because this is damaging the GQP. And in a couple months, it's going to absolutely destroy the GQP. And the GQP needs to be destroyed. In just a few weeks, we're going to be in the middle of a government shutdown because the Republicans don't want to elect any of their own Speaker. So federal employees (including the military) are going to go without their paychecks right as we head into the holidays. People on WIC and SNAP are going to have their cards rejected at the grocery store. And people trying to travel for Thanksgiving are going to face a shitshow at the TSA line and when they're 37th in line for takeoff because ATC is understaffed. And the GQP is rightly going to get the blame. And yeah--there are going to be some Fox News watchers who are going to be all "but it's the Democrats who voted to shitcan Kevin McCarthy." Whatever. Let me tell you something about those assholes: they're in it for Team Red. And you know what's not fun? Watching Team Red fight amongst itself. Sorry, my sweet fans of the Spring Game, but watching your team kick the shit out of itself isn't very entertaining. And like it or not, a whole bunch of MAGAts care about politics solely for the team-sport aspect of it. Take that away, and they go back to watching Dancing with the Stars. In the meantime, yeah, it's really bad for the country. But guess what--the GQP is a fucking cancer. And if a prolonged governmental shutdown is the chemo we need to kill it, then let's sit in the chair and find a vein.

Mrs.LL and I are heading up there in January for the Billy Joel concert. She's from Long Island, so seeing Billy Joel at MSG is kind of like a Muslim going to Mecca. Anyway, any thoughts on restaurants near there, both a place for pre-concert and then perhaps something for over the weekend that is more upscale?

You're right. My bad. But WIC and SNAP would be cut, and there are plenty of Republican voters that avail themselves of those programs who would be impacted. And, as you point out, federal workers, including the military, would not get paid. So yeah--it'd be a fucking shitshow.

This is really fun. And the best part is, I don't see it ending anytime soon. I actually think we're going to have a shutdown over the GQP's inability to act as a governing majority. And that shutdown is probably going to last a while. We could have Social Security recipients not getting their checks over the holidays. And what's really funny is that these fuckers are in such an echo chamber that they don't even realize the damage that is being done to their party. I mean, it's probably all fine right now. But if this lasts long enough that people start missing Social Security checks when the credit card comes due after Black Friday, then look the fuck out.

Fucker just lost Tarrant County in 2024.

Don't worry about that. The Rangers will take down the Phillies in 6.

So not really shenanigans at all?

I suspect it's because MLB thinks it unlikely that Abreu intentionally threw at Garcia. But rescinding the suspension would undermine the on-field officials. So this is the best alternative. The should suspend Dusty Baker for not leaving the dugout in a timely fashion after he was ejected. He purposefully stayed in the dugout and forced the umpires to spend time talking to him in an (ultimately successful) effort to ice LeClerc. But realistically, suspending Baker for Game 7 would probably work to the Astros' benefit. So it all probably works out.

Game 7!

Way to go, Cory.

The producer held it on that shot a bit longer than he should have.

That’s an absolutely comical PI.

What do we want the score to be? Because we can name it.

Well, then he’s going to have a long fucking day, because we’re looking pretty goddamned dominant in the early going.

The UCF secondary needs to just start playing for the deflection.