Heroes Of The Week!

Sorryless53 Comments

Heroes April 5

Girl Power Gone Wild!- Alright, I didn’t see Captain Marvel and I ain’t planning on it. But I still think it’s pretty cool shit that Anna Boden became the first female to direct a live action film that grossed 1 billion dollars worldwide. This, coming on the heels of an $820 million dollar haul for Wonder Woman just goes to show that the girls ain’t interested in being window dressing in the superhero universe. These straight cash home girls are leading the way.

Say it ain’t so Joe: A second woman has come forward with damaging allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, and to borrow from the immortal Yogi Berra . . it’s getting late early. I ain’t gonna say much just yet, as the details keep trickling out. But needless to say, this mucks up the murky waters of the 2020 Presidential race even more.

Standing in for the Oakland Raidahs this week . . the Arizona Cardinals- Last week I trashed the Raiders and their field boss Gruden as hopeless gypsies without a clue. And then I read a piece by football writer Peter King in which Gruden was very critical of himself for trading his best player last year. His big return on that trade was hailed in some corners- not mine. But the bottom line is, the Raiders weren’t gonna pay up, so Gruden swung a deal. All things considered, he done good. Even if he will probably never draft a player like the one- Mack- that he traded away. And even if I do not agree with bringing in Antonio Brown- a diva who killed the Steelers clubhouse and who is on the wrong side of thirty. And even if I detest the signing of Vontaze Burfict, who is a thug. But . . . maybe I was wrong about Gruden . . I hope so. Time will tell.

That said, the Cardinals take the reins from Gruden’s Raiders for being so transparent as to how they plan on drafting a quarterback with the first pick in this year’s draft- a year after drafting a quarterback with their first pick just last year. Thereby giving themselves zero negotiating leverage. Thereby continuing the tradition of being a dumpster fire of an organization. The Cardinals score a zero, for pilfering the money of their long suffering fans and giving them dog food in return.

Fox News did a thing. Again . . .

Holly’s Healthy Bank Account- The city of Baltimore isn’t an easy gig for any Mayor. You’ve got a police force that went on record as mailing it in. You’ve got a crisis in the inner city that requires daily mediation in an attempt to cultivate a better future . . or a future at all.

Which makes Mayor Catherine Pugh‘s back room deal with Kaiser Permanente even more repugnant. In 2017, the healthcare behemoth scored a contract to provide coverage for city employees. Two years earlier, Kaiser had paid Pugh $114,000 dollars for 20,000 copies of her book “Healthy Holly”. Pugh was a member of the city’s spending panel at the time.

The Baltimore Sun pieced it all together and recently came forward with the smoking gun. Pugh is currently on leave with pneumonia. Meanwhile, the city burns. Large swaths of previously blue collar working class neighborhoods have fallen into severe poverty levels. For most inhabitants, a college education is a pipe dream. Crime is way up and employment is booming, if you deal drugs. And even the drug dealers are simply getting by in order to make ends meet. Not to mention, the city’s population has dipped below pre-World War I levels.

Pugh’s failure to serve the best interests of her constituency should result in a doctor’s note to take a permanent leave of absence.

How ‘swagger’ got murdered- The term is so miserably overused in sports, and incorrectly at that. Swagger is one of those plug and go snack words that bastardizes an original concept whilst masquerading as propers. It’s meant to convey epic confidence, but the recipients are usually the lousiest of the lousy. Dudes like Antonio Brown, who savaged people’s reputations in order to get his way. And Jalen Ramsey, who talks like a champ but couldn’t lead his team out of last place.

Manny Machado and Conor McGregor are synonymous with the term swagger, according to sports commentators who’d rather chum up than do their jobs. But the truth is, Machado is one of the dirtiest players in the MLB, and a bum. McGregor is a washed up hoodlum who should just rent space in a jail cell. Recently, he tweeted an ethnic slur about his rival’s wife. Next week it’ll be something else.

Memo to sports peeps. If you want to know what swagger looks like? Watch an old Clint Eastwood flick and shaddup.

A gal walks in a shoe store . . .- Addy Tritt got herself a deal on shoes, and before you think I’m dredging up a cliched Carrie Bradshaw joke . . . read on.

The twenty five year old master’s program graduate at Fort Hays University knows how to wheel and deal for heels like nobody’s business. When she got word that Payless Shoesource would be closing all its stores, she got to stepping. She toed the line of an expert liquidation shopper by going light on the cash and hard on the savvy.

The score? 204 pairs of shoes with a retail value of more than $6,000 hush puppies. For $100 dollars. 

Here’s the thing. She doesn’t have a master closet or a storage unit, and she won’t need one. Most of the shoes she purchased are for children, and no . . she doesn’t have kids. See, Tritt wasn’t playing for keeps when she went on her shopping spree. She donated all the shoes to the Nebraska flood victims. Because that’s what a good deal looks like to her. It’s the kind of bargain that transcends economics. A simple lesson that can be summed up in a single word.

Priceless.

53 thoughts on “Heroes Of The Week!”

  1. B,

    Gotta tell ya I ain’t planning on seeing Captain Marvel either (still reeling over the deck that Wonder Woman was) but yay to Anna Bodwn! ‘Bout time some chicks be part of the big piece of pie.

    Can only shake my head at the Fox news thing.

    Re-Pugh-nant is what she is. Shameful.

    Swagger. Who’d a thunk the true meaning would get so muddied… Clint = Swagger. You got that right!

    And what a score, Addy Tritt! You show ’em how it’s done!

    Excellent weekly offering.

    Q

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  2. The priceless word was well placed! And how inspiring to get the shoes-
    – did not hear about Biden yet -hmmm
    Also – was about Baltimore – was a documentary a while ago and seems it is getting worse

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  3. “maybe I was wrong about Gruden . . I hope so.”

    Do you understand that this statement means you want good things to happen for the Raiders? Do you understand how wrong that is?

    As for swagger … as a lifelong Giants fan, I love Madison Bumgarner and what he has done for the team since 2010. It’s possible they don’t win any of those World Series without him, most definitely not the last one in 2014. But damn, him and his swagger just absolutely drive me crazy. And he’s nowhere near as bad as the football divas. All of his swagger is on the mound, unlike players like Antonio Brown where they’ve gotta have the swagger wherever they are. Bumgarner is pretty humble off the field, but when he’s pitching and he gets that scowl and he barks at opposing players who offend his senses, and … swagger is a dirty word to me. It’s one of the reasons I can’t stand Lebron. His arrogant swagger as he stomps through the world.

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    • Mark,

      Gruden is way overrated, I think. But I won’t root against anyone. I’d rather just watch it play out. I’m of the belief that perennials are important in any sport, and once upon a time the Raiders were a perennial contender. Those teams built the league,and I think the league is better for their success. Will they win a Super Bowl with Gruden? I think it’s a long shot.

      I dated a woman years ago who loved Mad’s buns. She called him Bun-garner. I bought her a jersey one Christmas. She bought me a 45 t-shirt in orange a while later. I’m not a Giants fan, but it was her quid pro. He’s a hell of a pitcher, but man, he DOES have an attitude.

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      • There are teams I root against and that can change over time as other things change. For instance, I rooted hard for the Red Sox first WS, but now … they’re pretty damn close to the Yankees on the “never again” scale of things.

        But the Raiders are one of those teams that is more or less always on that list of “can we just make this team go away.” I mean, seriously, any team that has an eternal flame for its owner … can we agree that is just a couple of steps too far?

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        • Correction. They ARE the Yankees. They had to become Lord Vader in order to vanquish Lord Vader. And then they go and hire Dombrowski who was with the Tigers forever, and he spends money like a drunken sailor. And you KNEW that was my kryptonite. Well played.

          Al Davis was hate-able. And man was he good at it. But his son is . . . I don’t know what his son is. Laughable? It starts with the hair, sorry but it does. You have Al Davis Inc money and the best you can do is the Moe?

          Antonio Brown and Burfict make it impossible to like the Raiders though.

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  4. Excellent edition of the “Must not miss Heroes of the Week,” Marc. Have to feel for the people of Baltimore. A proud city on its knees as a result of bad management. Swagger and physicality are in the same pot as far as I’m concerned. Don’t describe an abusive hit with the term “physicality.” Don’t use swagger to describe spoiled overpaid dumbshits who thumb their noses at fans and the sport. Good on Addy Tritt.

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    • Thank you Boss.
      It’s been a long time since that city could be proud, and it’s damn sad. It’s a blight on our government, all levels of our government.
      And amen to that! The dirty hits and cheap shots were once hailed, until the foofs who run sports programming finally got enough shit and stopped giving it so much play. But some corners still herald the abusive hits while at the same time bemoaning the plight of former players with myriad health problems. Uh . . . hello?!
      Swagger was Jim Brown. Man had style and did his thing. He didn’t announce to the world he had swagger. Because that’s not how it works.

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  5. I’ll comment on old Joe…and I mean old. He’s sweet and likable, but it would be like when McCain ran, his clock would be ticking to the sound of those fucking Trumpets.

    He had the best relationship with Obama, none of this JFK, LBJ freeze out. Very few people snark at Mr. B. Toss in the death of his son, Beau and how bad he took it, and he could get elected on his humanity record alone. But it would be Bambi in the lion’s cage. Does he really need it at this stage of his long, poigant life?

    A Peach you know.

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  6. Awwwwwwww to the shoes story. Now why don’t I ever think of anything like that? I’m a nice person! Oh, wait, I’m also a lazy person. I shop almost exclusively online. I would have had to get up and go out. Can I send her a check to help with the payments?

    YAY NICE PEOPLE!

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  7. Addy rocks!!

    As for B-man, the media just loves a feeding frenzy. Way overblown. But he stuck his foot in it by saying that he “gets” that times are a-changin’. Um, they passed you by quite a while back, Joe.

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    • Joe’s news conference where he joked about getting permission to hug someone was probably ill advised as well. But not a bad thing. It’s easy for someone like me to see that and go, “Oh shit, why?”, but here’s a man who’s given his whole life to service and now he gets this in return. It’s like, how DO you behave? There’s no manual for it.

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