12/21/24
February 23, 2015
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
"[Pawsox owner] Ben [Mondor] was a giant among men who saved baseball for the State of Rhode Island," Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino — 2010
"Screw the history, let's move the team to Providence," Sox owners — 2015
posted by yerfatma at 10:16 AM on February 23, 2015
"[Pawsox owner] Ben [Mondor] was a giant among men who saved baseball for the State of Rhode Island," Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino 2010
Obviously their love of Ben Franklin overrides their love of Ben Mondor.
posted by grum@work at 12:24 PM on February 23, 2015
Sort of the best part, right? They're complaining about poor attendance in spite of the Pawsox success but not considering the economy. Love to know where they think the State of RI is going to come up with money to build a new stadium for them.
Bayer Leverkusen forget the golden (shirt) rule: somebody mark the keeper!
posted by yerfatma at 12:34 PM on February 23, 2015
Love to know where they think the State of RI is going to come up with money to build a new stadium for them.
Whatever they do, they shouldn't ask a certain Red Sox alumni to be the pitch man for some public Rhode Island funds...
posted by grum@work at 01:18 PM on February 23, 2015
Love the Upton name thing, which triggers my long held fascination with non-given-name nicknames and other related curiosities.
There seems to be an old tradition among various groups such as business executives and the military of people being called by a name that has no relation to their given first or middle names, such as Lloyd M. "Pete" Bucher or H.R. "Bob" Haldeman and on the women's side, Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas. Or, to mix and match a bit, Harold "Betty" Stark.
In my scoring system, you get full marks if your non-related nickname is a real name like Bob or Jack.
Honorable mention goes to folks like Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams or Gary Lester "Bubba" Watson because, heck, anybody could end up with a nickname like that no matter what your given names are. Butch and Buster and some others are in that group.
You get much more honorable mention if your nickname is cooler and more distinctive than Bud and Bubba but doesn't border on the absurd, like "The Great Asparagus". Anyone can have a really nutty nickname. No matter how cool your name is, you are likely never going to be king of this category because of Tug McGraw and Stonewall Jackson. They rule.
(In the smoke-filled late 70's, I did think that Bake McBride was a world class moniker).
You get major mention for having a legendary nickname that many people think is your real name, like Magic or Tiger and you totally own those names in perpetuity.
You want to be really cool, you go in the other direction and have a regular name with an initial that is only there to mess with the minds of curious nerds like me. Harry S. Truman's legal middle name is "S". Yer goddamn right. Fuckin' A.
posted by beaverboard at 01:48 PM on February 23, 2015
It was t̶w̶e̶n̶t̶y̶ thirty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
posted by beaverboard at 02:04 PM on February 23, 2015
The Red Sox reportedly have gotten Yoan Moncada for a reported $31.5m bonus, with an additional $31.5m overage tax for going over the limit for international bonus money.
It's a bloody lot of money for a 19-year-old, although having watched him play a couple of times, he's as real a deal as a 19-year-old can be. My guess for where he's going to play - he'll come to the majors just as Ortiz is retiring in 1-2 years, and they'll shove Sandoval to DH at that time, rather than shipping Bogaerts out or making an outfielder out of him and reducing his positional value.
posted by dfleming at 02:06 PM on February 23, 2015
Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban and Willie O'Ree, the first black man to play in the National Hockey League, sit down with ESPN's John Saunders.
posted by rumple at 02:41 PM on February 23, 2015
to mix and match a bit, Harold "Betty" Stark
Stark received his nickname as a plebe at Annapolis in 1899. There was an entertainer named Betty Stark who was quite popular at the time.
As long as you're talking about admirals, why not include William F. "Bull" Halsey. He disliked the nickname, was usually known as "Bill" in Navy circles, but the press and public forced it upon him. There is an apocryphal story that "Bull" might have started as a simple typo when a right middle finger or index finger missed by one key.
posted by Howard_T at 03:54 PM on February 23, 2015
There was an entertainer named Betty Stark who was quite popular at the time.
I'm just remembering that the same thing happened to Elijah "ZaSu" Pitts when he played for the Packers.
posted by beaverboard at 09:36 PM on February 23, 2015
Stark received his nickname as a plebe at Annapolis in 1899. There was an entertainer named Betty Stark who was quite popular at the time.
I've always thought it was from a misremembered quote of John Stark's.
Love to know where they think the State of RI is going to come up with money to build a new stadium for them.
Don't worry, they'll let Buddy Cianci take care of it (since he's not otherwise busy being a mayor); he knows a guy...
posted by Bonkers at 10:21 PM on February 23, 2015
Don't worry, they'll let Buddy Cianci take care of it
I'd love for Larry Lucchino to stop by the Ciancis for a fireside chat.
posted by yerfatma at 08:17 AM on February 24, 2015
I own a piece of automotive equipment that supposedly once belonged to a junior member of the Cianci family.
I only found that out after the seller, who has a legitimate business enterprise, insisted that I pay cash and that there would be no invoice or receipt.
When I said that I would like to have some record of the transaction, he said to shaddup, that I was lucky he didn't charge more because of the family history on the item.
Not sure if that would be called Provenance or Providence.
I have no idea if that sales guy is now rolled up in a rug somewhere, or if my gear is one day going to be impounded for investigative reasons.
I know what you're thinking. It's not a backhoe. Or a DeVille.
posted by beaverboard at 10:06 AM on February 24, 2015
Is it an '89 LeBaron? #johnvoightscar
posted by dfleming at 10:30 AM on February 24, 2015
Thanks Bonkers, you saved me looking that up after hearing about it on Football Weekly.
posted by yerfatma at 01:05 PM on February 24, 2015
B.J. Upton is now going as Melvin Upton Jr.
Perplexing logic at work in the creation of this one:
a) His father's name is neither B.J., nor Melvin (his birth name), but instead Manny; and
b) B.J. originally stood for Bossman Jr., which was a take on his dad's nickname.
Honestly, I don't think it's the most likely M name Braves fans will be yelling about him.