Hockey Goalie Mikayla Demaiter Breaks A Bunch Of Hearts, Michigan Spy Drone In New B1G Video & Deviled Eggs
Let's make this quick, I have a van to pack & readers to meet here in a few hours
We lost one of the old throwback good guys of minor league baseball on Friday with the news that Toledo Mud Hens radio broadcaster Jim Weber had died at age 78.
Jim was nearing the end of his 49th season calling Mud Hens games when he passed after calling a game Thursday night. Let this sink in for a minute: He called over 6,000 consecutive games.
I was lucky enough to work closely with Weber for one summer as a media relations intern back in the late 1990s when the Mud Hens were ending a long run at a ballpark that had been converted from a horse track to a ball field. Those were brutal days for the Mud Hens. Being 30-games under .500 was the norm. In those days, the Tigers weren't fond of sending their best players to Triple-A because the stadium was such a dump.
Things were bleak to say the least, but Weber was the upbeat guy who made you forget that the team was horrible.
How bad were things? I was in the press box the night when 1994 A.L. Rookie of the Year Bob Hamelin was playing for the Hens. One night, about 50 games into the season, he grounded out, came back to the dugout, told manager Gene Roof that he was done.
"For the game?" Roof asked.
"No, for good," Hamelin responded.
Bob got into his truck and drove off. His baseball career was over. He never played another game.
Jim, the guy who had millions of stories from the road, watched the Hamelin story unfold from the box and probably told that story thousands of times.
He was the guy who allowed interns like me to hang with him and his legendary broadcast partner Frank Gilhooley, who would show me photos of Babe Ruth holding him as a baby. Frank's dad was Babe Ruth's roommate when they both played for the Red Sox.
Weber and Gilhooley were an absolute dream team to be around as a baseball-obsessed college guy coming from small-town Ohio. Weber allowed me to drink beers with the guys and listen to their stories at the bar underneath the press box at the now-demolished Ned Skeldon Stadium in Maumee, OH. During games, one of my jobs was to deliver baseball score updates from around MLB and MiLB to the radio booth so Weber could update his listeners. I would bring them lineups that I would have to go get from the managers in the locker rooms.
It was a dream internship. Weber and Gilhooley were absolute gems.
Now both of them are gone.
Losing a guy like Weber is huge because he wasn't a polished broadcaster. He didn't go to Syracuse or Northwestern to get a broadcasting degree. He was a a bar-hopping, good guy from Toledo who happened to get into the business while working for Jeep and never left the booth until the day he died.
What a run.
Screencaps readers really hate the Olympics
I guess a bunch of you missed how the women's trampoline finals played out where the Chinese woman looked like she was going to win a medal only to take a horrible fall giving the Brit gold. It was actually worth your time. It was an awesome agony of defeat moment for the Chinese.
- Lee D. in Tampa writes:
Haven't watched the Olympics since 1988 John Thompson's choke job. Been a long-time anti-NBA zealot and that did it for me. Nope, didn't watch the "Dream Team." In my eyes, the real dream team was Bobby Knight's 1982 Olympic team. They were college kids and they just crushed grown-ass men night after night.
Besides, the Olympics are sports for people who don't like sports.
Think about it: How much boxing, baseball or wrestling does NBC broadcast on its main network? It's all gymnastics (dancing), swimming and basketball. Look who the Olympics is marketed to: "The Today Show" soccer moms.
All the Tom Rinaldi-like touchy-feely, tear-jerker nonsense features and profiles are just perfect for that crowd. These same folks would never in their life be caught at a Hooters watching a football game. They're the type to show up to a hockey game and read a book! They'd rather watch "Hamilton" than a good boxing match. I'd bet $20 they never heard of "The Missing Link" much less Bobby Heenan.
With preseason football on the tube and baseball every night, why in the world would any reasonable sports fan watch that Olympics tripe over football or baseball?
Would rather go bass fishing and I don't fish. I'd just show up to a creek or lake with a 12-pack and hope the fish don't bother me.
- John from SD emails:
In the first half hour of prime time Olympic coverage NBC gives us Long.D/Wang.Z from China synchronized diving in banana hammocks with the USA divers in last place. Who wants to see that when track are swimming are at the forefront of coverage. NBC keeps failing.
- Mike T. wanted to offer up the BMX finals video to those who enjoy the Olympics, but the Olympics has blocked the ability to embed to video. Sorry.
Kinsey:
Talk about insulting. Let this sink in, America. We cannot win a medal in BMX? What has happened to this country? Are we sending our best from the X-Games? This is embarrassing. The French shouldn't be kicking our ass in BMX. It's time for some reflection in this country.
New uses for old Pizza Huts
- Dean was all over this topic:
This is the old Pizza Hut here in Fond du Lac, WI. About 5 years ago, the Pizza Hut franchisee built a new, smaller store in a small strip mall about a half a mile from this location. 11:11 is a local restaurant that moved in after Pizza Hut moved out. They make great ½ lb burgers and was featured as one of the Top 10 burgers in Wisconsin according to Gannett (for once, they got something right!).
The building doesn’t have the old classic Pizza Hut roof but it was a Pizza Hut when my wife and I moved to Fond du Lac back in 1997.
Should Costco be exempt from #RespectSummer?
- Israel writes:
Long time reader; I consider morning screen caps my daily national security briefing.
I saw the Halloween gear pictures this morning. I sent this to Brookstead back in June. They had this up at a NorCal Costco on June 22nd.
As of last Monday costumes are up as well.
Animal Thunderdome®!
- Andrew saw this one that Animal Thunderdome lover Clay Travis would appreciate:
In-n-Out loyalists
- Voiceover Guy Mike writes:
I've been going to In-n-Out with my friends since high school, and I'll admit it's part cult following and part delicious burgers. They also give back so much. I remember throwing our change back for abused kids, or just telling the guy at the window "give it to the kids". Maybe Five Guys is better, but there's a loyalty factor that can be hard to put your finger on. Yeah, the bible verses are very cool but it goes much further. I guess, it's just one of those things. Hope that makes sense.
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That's it this morning. I have to get to the golf course. It's 2-Club Invitational Saturday.
The sun is out. The birds are chirping away. It's going to be a chamber of commerce Saturday in SE Michigan. Let's go have an incredible day.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com