I’ve been informed that our internet will disappear sometime this morning as Xfinity “works to improve the quality of the network” in our area. I think that’s code for finding a way to charge us more. Of course, they’ve said this like three times in the past week and it always ends up getting delayed. However, I saw their trucks scuttling around the neighborhood this morning so it might be legit today.
Even though it’s been just a week since my last links post, I’ll go ahead and share some more before the internet juice disappears.
I’ve written about the Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas before. In a long line of dishonest and dirty negotiations between teams and cities, it sets a new level for dishonesty and dirt. Tim Keown breaks down the process, and actually gets the A’s owner on record. I do love the Oakland mayor going off on the A’s management.
“To say we were nowhere is BS,” Mayor Thao says. “To say there was no proposal is total BS. Let’s be very clear: we did have a proposal. But maybe it wasn’t a proposal John Fisher could afford.”
Oakland vs. the A’s: The inside story of how it all went south (to Las Vegas)
A pretty cool story about the summer pickup games at UCLA where NBA and college players come together to shake off the rust before the training for their next seasons officially begins.
Why NBA players keep flocking to a hot gym at UCLA: Inside the Rico Hines runs
Joey Votto is a baseball treasure, an outlier from the stereotypical ballplayer in so many ways.[1] He likely took his last home at bats for the Reds Sunday, although he insists he wants to keep playing and there is always a chance he could wind up on the Reds next year.
Still, his career is certainly winding down. He just shared this pretty great post describing what it was like to ride buses as a minor leaguer. You genuinely have to be totally bought-into the dream of making the majors to put up with this.
I dream of standing on the field in packed stadiums, being interviewed, bright lights, signing big contracts, and accepting awards. These grand dreams were a stark contrast to my current reality. Because although I was trying my best, nothing seemed to be going right on the field. Joining the minor leagues was nothing like I expected. I thought I would perform better, move faster up the ranks, and have more fun with my teammates. Instead, it was isolating, unglamorous, and humbling. I felt like a fool.
Finally, this make me laugh super hard. Llamas are kind of awesome.
Llama Is Brought to a Wedding Dressed as a Groomsman and Steals the Show
- Another outlier, Sean Doolittle, just announced his retirement this week, too. ↩