Major League Baseball has designated this “Players Weekend” … which is supposed to be about the players having fun — mainly by revealing their nicknames and wearing them on their jerseys.

(Players probably would prefer an extra $1,000 in their paycheck, if MLB really wanted the players to feel special.)

Anyway, nicknames.

This does not work for everyone, of course, because X number of players are not made for nicknames, and other players seem to know that. Those are the guys called by their actual name, first or last, and will be wearing one of those names this weekend in lieu of a nickname.

Another factor: Nicknames often are given out by a high-status player — who can get away with it, and can make it stick. Not every team has a guy who can handle that role.

Some guys arrive at this weekend already known by their nicknames. “Mookie” is the nickname given to Markus Lynn Betts by his parents and he does not need another. Then there is Scooter Gennett, who will go with RYAN on his jersey this weekend — because that is his real name, not that anyone calls him that. See?

Literally hundreds of nicknames out there, and a lot of them follow the tired formula of “first letter of given name plus first syllable of family name” … which takes no imagination at all.

We are looking for clever as well as appropriate.

So, here is our top 10, counting down from 10, Letterman style.

[Read more →]

Full credit to the author of that headline — which was used as the “lede” (the opening paragraph) in her newspaper story.

Bravo, Shannon O’Connor of Southern California News Group.

She has the story on a funky little place in the San Bernardino (California) Mountains, formerly known as Santa’s Village, now called “Sky Park at Santa’s Village”, which not only doubles as the North Pole, it also is screening the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight tomorrow night.

A place built around Santa that is showing two people trying to beat each other senseless?

[Read more →]

I don’t understand competitive eating. Seems like a good way to suffer immediate “death by food” — as opposed to death by food over a span of decades, which probably will kill most of us in the First World.

And, eating something nasty, such as hotdogs (and hotdogs are certainly nasty after two) … seems like a form of punishment. Torture.

Joey Chestnut ate a record 72 hotdogs — and buns — at the Nathan’s Famous competition on the Fourth of July this year, and it is hard to imagine what the body does with those.

What strikes me as more perverse?

Eating a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of honey in three minutes, as someone apparently did in a contest in Turkey.

[Read more →]

Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor is something a four-year-old would come up with. One of those curious kids who out of nowhere says, “Who wins if Green Lantern fights Wonder Woman?”

That’s what this … fight? … encounter? … scam? … feels like.

Two competitors who have competed in different realms. Who have powers unique to different worlds. Apples and oranges; Marquess of Queenberry Rules vs. Ground Game.

So why is this happening?

[Read more →]

We will never forget Shaquille O’Neal. Even six years after his playing career ended.

How could we, when the Big Pitch Man is appearing on television all the time?

I count at least three advertising campaigns he is leading — for The General insurance company, for Icy Hot pain-killing lidocaine cream and patches (10 years and counting) and Gold Bond powder spray “for men”.

He also has his sometimes controversial TNT show with Charles Barkley, and seems up for pretty much any publicity oriented appearance. Presumably, as long as he is getting paid.

[Read more →]

What a great name!

In full it is Rajiv Ramon van La Parra, but usually it is written without the “Ramon”.

He is a Netherlands-born soccer player for Huddersfield Town of the English Premier League. He has been in the first XI of Huddersfield’s two games this league season, both victories, and that has raised his public profile.

High enough that some people see his name and think … “what is that about?”

What is remarkable about his name is the expression of three clearly separate cultural groups. The first being “Rajiv”, the second being “van” and the third “La Parra”.

Let’s see if we can shed any light on this remarkable name.

[Read more →]

You may have heard the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers have a chance to have one of the best seasons in Major League Baseball history. They are 87-35, on pace to win 116 games — which would tie them for the most victories in a season.

Here is the list of teams with “most victories”.

1906 Chicago Cubs, 116-36

2001 Seattle Mariners, 116-46

1998 New York Yankees, 114-48

1954 Cleveland Indians, 111-43

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates, 110-42

1927 New York Yankees, 110-44

The 2017 Dodgers can play .500 ball the rest of the way (winning 107 games) and still rate as one of the best teams in the history of the game — regardless of how the three rounds of the playoffs turn out.

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of this season?

The continued inability of most Dodgers fans to watch their team on TV (this is Year 4), which we have written about several times. And here is a more-recent L.A. Times story addressing it. In short, it’s about money and feuding TV operators and ignored fans.

But there is a tiny bit of good news out there:

Beginning Tuesday night, the club and its TV rights holder will give the final six Tuesday games of the season to KTLA for free, over-the-air viewing. For fans who might be interested in seeing what the hell this special team is about.

[Read more →]

A few weeks ago we wrote about an open house at a local winery. It was a fine affair, with friendly workers and a food truck and cart rides through the vineyards.

There was another one today, even more local to us than the other — just at the end of our road, a five-minute walk.

This domaine is family owned, with several generations of winemakers living and working (or retiring) in the village. Each August they host an open house, where we can taste their wares and get a bit of a deal on wine — buy one carton (of six), get a bottle free.

We got an invitation in our mailbox and decided to check it out. It advertised lunch and entertainment, as well as tasting, and it didn’t disappoint.

About 120 people enjoyed a free multi-course meal (melon, pork chops, lentils, cheese, grapes, coffee) with ice cubes and water available (on a warm afternoon) to supplement purchased wine.

[Read more →]

In 24 seasons leading four college football programs, Ara Parseghian‘s teams won 170 games, lost 58 and tied six.

Improbably, he is best-remembered for one of the six ties.

In what was widely described as The Game of the Century, Parseghian’s top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish made a point of running out the final 90 seconds of a 10-10 game with second-ranked Michigan State in 1966.

Parseghian died earlier this month at the age of 95 — 43 years after he coached his final game, 51 years after the game for which he is most remembered. The game he was content to tie.

[Read more →]

A couple of posts on this blog suggest the National Football League will not exist as we know it — if it exists at all — 20-30 years from now.

By then, all the horrors of football-related brain trauma will have been clearly laid out and, barring some unexpected breakthrough in protective equipment, the lawsuits and the public outcry and the unwillingness of parents to let their children play the game … will eventually bring it down.

However, American football is by no means the worldwide leader in brain injuries. It has to share that distinction (and perhaps even concede primacy to) a couple of other sports with more than their share of violence.

To wit: Rugby and motor racing.

[Read more →]