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Trump ‘Safe after shots’
Before we get to the regularly scheduled programming, let's start with what we saw in Pennsylvania over the weekend, but specifically what I saw on social media Sunday morning after some maniac tried to blow Trump's head off.
I shouldn't have been stunned to learn that people I went to school with and used to work with would be openly rooting for an assassination, but it was still one of those things where I can't stop and think about what some people have become.
I'm not a moron. I know the conversations people have on their patios with their friends and confidants. I know it's not out of the ordinary, in the heat of battle, for someone to say something stupid among a small group.
It's another thing for society to get to the point where people are, via a wider audience on social media, broadcasting their hopes and desire to see someone have his head blown off on live TV. I'm not talking about screaming about locking someone up. I'm talking about openly hoping for an assassination.
I worry about their children who are hearing these same hopes and desires at the kitchen table. Call me crazy, but if you're openly rooting for assassinations, you've hit rock-bottom and it might be time to smash your phone and TV with a sledge hammer.
Go find a forest to walk in and hopefully deprogram your brain.
– From Tim in Texas City, TX:
A former President and current candidate is struck by a bullet mere millimeters away from being assassinated, and this is all the Houston Chronicle could muster up for Sunday's edition. "Trump Safe After Shots"...what a wad of liberal asswipe this paper is.
(Don't worry, the story continues on PAGE...21!?!)
- Mike N. writes:
Every other house just put Trump and/or USA flags. God Bless the USA, Joe.
- Franco writes:
It's just nuts that a bullet whizzing by Trump's head was caught on film. This has to be a must win for a Pulitzer Prize right?
Kinsey:
And with that, it's time to get back to the regularly scheduled Screencaps programming. By now, I know what you guys want at 9 a.m. ET. Honestly, more Americans could use this column on a daily basis. Keep passing the word.
Am I turning into the Marv Levy of the house rec ball league?
The 12U season came to a close Saturday in dramatic fashion, but it wasn't a favorable outcome for my boys.
My plan going into the game was to get two innings out of my 3rd or 4th best pitcher. He gave me those solid innings and we had a lead going to the 3rd when I brought in my Tom Seaver, who had pitched Thursday, but he assured me he was fine. Things didn't go well. He gave up five runs in the third, three more in the fourth and we were facing a 11-4 deficit. By the top of 7, we were trailing 13-7 on a brutally hot July afternoon.
The boys were dragging and attitudes were poor. In the top of the 7th, I made it clear: They could just go shake hands.
"You guys just want to end this? We can go shake hands," I told them.
Nooooo.
"Then go do something about it," I shot back.
They proceeded to put up a couple of runs to get it to 13-9.
OK, now we're within striking distance. More baserunners. Get on. Let's see what happens.
Eventually, the bases were loaded and Sequoia comes up with two outs. He's the tying run. There were a couple of hundred people at the ballpark for closing ceremonies for the league.
Then it happens. It's a moment I won't soon forget.
Sequoia mashes a pitch to deep right-center (on a high school sized field) and it's off to the races. It's all a blur. Kids are rounding the bases, I'm sending them home. Sequoia is at second before I know it and he's catching the kid who was on first.
It didn't matter what I did as the third base coach. He was scoring. I'm waving my arm to go hard.
The ball never reaches home plate. He scores. Tie ballgame. Our bench goes nuts. I'm high-fiving Sequoia. The crowd goes absolutely nuts. It was a true championship feel.
Total blur. It felt like being in some Bad News Bear movie.
We go to the bottom of 7. Sequoia is on the mound and jacked up. It's his game to win or lose. He runs into trouble and has second and third with no outs. I have the infield pulled in with weaker hitters coming up. He strikes out the first two and then a kid comes up that I think can be struck out.
We'll get out of this.
The kid proceeds to hit one through the right side.
14-13. Ballgame. Season over.
Final 12U season observations:
- Later, as I was sitting around the pool with a neighbor who pitched in six MLB seasons, I explained how I couldn't stop thinking that I should've loaded the bases to give my defense a force play option. My neighbor disagreed and said it all worked out. A kid could've made and error. It could've ended messy for a boy. In the end, he said, you lost, but it was a legitimate ending and that's a good thing at this age.
- My right fielder, who had never played competitive baseball, was the first boy to come up to me saying he'll be back next season. I gave him a big hug and told him how great that was to hear. If we can retain these boys for another season of rec ball, it's mission accomplished.
- That's now two losses in house ball championships. I'm in big trouble if word gets out that I'm the Marv Levy of the league. I need to go back to the drawing board and analyze how I can get better.
- In better news, I coached the all-star game that was played a half-hour after the championship and my team won 6-4.
- I couldn't help but feel sadness for the travel ball lady trying to pass out flyers to parents of boys competing in the 12U championship game looking to steal players for her son's travel ball team. It was pathetic. As I was walking out of the dugout with my hands full of gear, she tried to shove a flyer into my hand. I told her it was a futile effort.
- It's a shame travel ball mom's son couldn't experience what my boys experienced Saturday: A true championship for the town. Oh well, I hope the travel ball team had a great time at a Hampton Inn and at some dumb travel ball tournament.
- The air conditioning on the ride home just felt different.
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Let's go have a strong Monday. Let's get our heads into work, vacation, retirement, our golf games, our landscaping that needs to be completed or whatever you're into.
Go find your healing waters. Go for a walk in the forest. Go clear your head.
Despite the craziness you're witnessing, never forget that you're fortunate to call this place home.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com