Hang in there Maine

[IRonMaN]

For the last year or so, my signature line has been "Ukraine - hang in there".  Now I see in the news that a small town in Maine looks a little like Ukraine with army looking vehicles and army looking guys roaming the streets.  So now I have to also say "Maine - hang in there".  No matter what your views are on "stolen elections", "drag queens", "global warming", or other popular topics these days, we all have to admit this is a sad time for America.  

[BobKamman]

Yet this is a happy time for Arizona, where the team with the worst record in the National League playoffs has conquered several of the best and will be playing in the World Series starting tomorrow.  It's the second time around for the Diamondbacks, who won it in 2001, just a couple months after 9/11, and were a bright spot then in an otherwise dismal world.  I went to three games, including once as the guest of a client.  This time, I'll watch on TV screens about ten times the size of what we had back then.  

In 2001 we beat the Yankees, the sentimental favorite because New York was Ground Zero for the attacks that took about as many lives as die in US traffic accidents every month.  NYC was the home of "The Nation's Mayor" -- remember him?  This time around, the opposing team is from Texas, which could be said to have "The Nation's Attorney General."  But let's not talk about scandal and corruption.  Let's just enjoy the game.  

[IRonMaN]

Why in the world is a game that is referred to as the "boys of summer" being played in November?  I can almost remember when one major league sport would be finishing up as another started.  Now it seems like all the sports are all being played at the same time.  But then again, I remember when hockey was only played in states that had a chance to have outdoor ice at sometime in the year.  I don't follow sports like I used to.  Maybe when they start forming professional leagues for bocce ball or curling, I'll start following them more closely. 🤔

[BobKamman]

Whenever there is money from ticket sales, premium-channel subscribers and advertisers, games will be played for a paying audience.  But I don't understand this hockey thing.  My son was born, raised, and has lived most of his life here on the Arizona desert.  But he's a big hockey fan.  Where did I go wrong?  He took me to a game once.  We sat in the back row but I still got a sore neck, following the puck from one end of the rink to another.  

Meanwhile, my daughter's oldest kid is on a father/son team for disc golf.  We don't use the F word to describe the saucer-shaped object that gets tossed hundreds of yards into a shoulder-high basket with chains to deflect it.  I watched one tournament, and understand how it can be addictive. It's more popular in Europe.  I tried to find a way to invest in it, but all the companies that manufacture the equipment are owned by the same private conglomerate.  

[IRonMaN]

Every now and then I drive by a disc golf course --------- that's as close to following the sport as I guess I will get.  But I do have to admit, it has to be a lot cheaper for a parent to get their kids equipped for the sport than hockey.  But as long as we are talking about an accuracy related outdoor sport, they need to bring back lawn darts.  Just think of what it could do for TV ratings when they have an errant throw into the crowd.  Getting bonked in the head by a golf ball or baseball seems to make the sports highlight films -------- ratings will go through the roof once they start showing clueless spectators getting impaled by lawn darts.