Thoughts from a Bafta nominated Podcaster, Blogger, Writer and Commentator.
You might recall I mentioned digitising media archives last week? Here’s a great example of why preservation is vitally important, as the Library of Congress discovers footage of a baseball game from 1924 – the only clip in existence of the Washington Senators beating the Giants in an extra-innigs victory in the postseaon. Oh the irony…
If there’s one thing that I find amazingly Kafkaesque in Baseball, it’s not the infield fly rule, but the blackout restrictions. Arbitrary rules to force fans to watch games on one distribution medium (such as a local TV station) by blocking the broadcast on other networks (such as the official website). Which assumes that you have access to a local TV station, that carries the game, and you’ve subscribed to them. Which leads to situations such as Linus Edwards… Both the MLB Extra Innings and MLB.tv packages blackout all games of teams that are part of your home market. This
Turns out that while the UK have the classic Panorama story of the Swiss Spaghetti Harvet for April Fools Day, America has Sidd Finch, a baseball pitcher who could throw the ball at 168 mph (most fast balls are between 90 and 100 mph, even in today’s game). And when you read the back story, just like Panorama, its appearance in Sports Illustrated, by a noted writer, sold the story, even though the clues about it being an April Fool were in plain site. Maybe so but Sidd Finch was more than just another Sports Illustrated story. Readers, league officials, players, fans
Deadspin’s Drew Magary decides he wants to sing the Anthem at a ball game, and the Potomac Nationals oblige. This is his story of the anthem. Loogit all the big words! I have no fucking idea what a rampart is. If you’re unsure of the words to the anthem, this section will out you as an imitation Enrico Palazzo. Melody-wise, this section represents the end of your honeymoon period. The American Ninja Warrior portion of the course comes next. You better have taken in enough breaths before this happens: and the rockets’ red glaaaaare…
Who would have thought that the one phrase to stick with me on New Year’s Day would be on the moral implications of God and Science as seen through the prisim of the MLB Hall of Fame vote? No doubt, there is a little bit of projection going on; some writers harbor a bit of self-loathing at having been duped into mythologizing players who now appears to have been blessed more by science than by God (unless you attribute science to God, but we’ll save that discussion for another day). That’s a kicker on third base right there…
