Yet Another Character Assasination Piece by the Globe

Don't worry Terry, I got your back.

I knew, as a Red Sox fan my whole life, that the reaction to the biggest September collapse in baseball history was going to elicit very strong emotional reactions, some bordering on irate temper tantrums. But the resulting fallout from this year’s collapse has been nothing short of a complete nuclear meltdown in terms of organizational structure. From an article published in the Boston Globe, (let it be known I despise this newspaper vehemently for their blatant and consistent negativity/unfair portrayals of prominent team members as well as possessing the most liberally slanted pieces known to man, but I couldn’t deprive myself of an opportunity offer my scrutiny on the assertions made within the piece) small pieces of evidence were turned up (players (Josh Beckett/John Lackey) blatantly admitting they care more about their stats and how much fried chicken they are getting in the clubhouse during the team completely free falling) as well as prominent “leaders” like David Ortiz mutating into from gregarious, fun loving clubhouse leader into a completely self involved asshole who put DAVID ORTIZ over everything else he formerly represented, like loyalty and integrity for this franchise. His publicly questioning Alfredo Aceves not being a starter undermining management at a critical juncture of the season as well giving an ESPN interview post collapse which was 50 % assuaging his ego/reputation and 50 % one of the most transparent negotiation tactics I have ever seen were just two instances of his falling a few step down the ladder of respectability. From some of his quotes:

“There’s too much drama here”

Translation: I’m creating leverage by giving the impression I might leave due to internal team turmoil, which serves as a great bargaining chip.

“They (the Yankees) do things right.”

Translation: Further driving my price tag up by using the Yankees financial resources and need for a DH to my advantage.

“I don’t know what my future holds”

Translation: Creating artificial uncertainty and hoping he gets a fat paycheck before Prince Fielder does because he will be fucked otherwise.

Result: There is a method to fair negotiations, and as far as I’m concerned, stringing a fan base along with vague remarks and using an epic team failure as a method of getting paid is an asshole move.

Bringing up some issues and illustrating the extent of potential clubhouse dysfunction for the Red Sox I’m completely fine with. However, there is a portion of this article I have MASSIVE issues with, and as a fan, am completely disgusted with, even ashamed that a media outlet responsible for covering my team dabbles in such reprehensible smear tactics. I refer to the portion of this abominable piece of passive aggressively written vitriol making some very dangerous insinuations about Terry Francona AFTER he has left the team.

By numerous accounts, manager Terry Francona lost his ability to prevent some of the lax behavior that characterized the collapse. Team sources said Francona, who has acknowledged losing influence with some former team leaders, appeared distracted during the season by issues related to his troubled marriage and to his health.

Francona spent the season living in a hotel after he moved out of the Brookline home he shared with Jacque, his wife of nearly 30 years. But he adamantly denied his marital problems affected his job performance.


“It makes me angry that people say these things because I’ve busted my [butt] to be the best manager I can be,’’ Francona said. “I wasn’t terribly successful this year, but I worked harder and spent more time at the ballpark this year than I ever did.’’


Team sources also expressed concern that Francona’s performance may have been affected by his use of pain medication, which he also vehemently denied. Francona said he has taken pain medicine for many years, particularly after multiple knee surgeries. He said he used painkillers after knee surgery last October and used them during the season to relieve the discomfort of doctors draining blood from his knee at least five times.


Francona acknowledged that he consulted the team’s internist, Dr. Larry Ronan, during spring training after one of his children expressed concern about a pill bottle in his hotel room. Francona said the doctor told him he did not have a drug abuse problem. Ronan could not be reached.
“I went and saw the proper people and it was not an issue,’’ Francona said. “It never became an issue, and anybody who knew what was going on knows that.’’


Francona is out the door already, trying to establish a new chapter of his life, having orchestrated a largely successful 8 years as Red Sox manager. But the Globe sees it fit to kick him in the ass AGAIN and smear him in shit, despite the fact he’s not even our manager anymore. “Team sources?” That sounds like journalistic bullshit for “Someone heard something somewhere at…some point which MIGHT be true so I’m going to use it for my story” to me. Francona probably appeared distracted during the season because he probably WAS distracted. Divorce often is an emotionally draining and miserable process. But from what I saw, Francona admirably separated his professional and personal life, weathered the deluge of criticism after the 2-10 start, remained loyal to the players, continued managing as he always did, and had the team at 84-54 by the start of September. I’ll go ahead and say, despite the difficulties of his divorce, he was still able to do his job effectively. It’s not his fault our team shat their pants and sunk faster than the Titanic.

These “Team Sources” also were concerned he was abusing pain killers?? His child, who is concerned for their fathers welfare, wanted to make sure everything was well with their father’s health. If Franconna were this pill popping drug addict, would he have gone and seen a DOCTOR for it? Probably not. Addicts are often marked by a vehement denial that they have even have a problem. Terry, out of respect for his child’s concern, made a responsible decision in visiting a health professional in order to put any potential doubt to rest. I sincerely doubt Lackey and Lester would have instantly started doing more wind sprints if Terry took one less Vicadin a day But no, these wild speculations based on SOLELY a truly terrible month of baseball are the justification for using a man’s personal life as a reason for a team failure. Not only is this wrong, I find it utterly and completely reprehensible. It is an attempt, for no discernible reason, to denigrate the character and reputation of the BEST manager in Red Sox history. Even on his way out, when he had every opportunity to trash the players and organization, Terry Francona handled himself with class. The demon spawn called journalists might try to paint an ugly picture, but for my part, I will always respect, admire, and wish Tito well. I would hope others will remember and see him for who he truly is, not what the media is trying to transform him into.

Scientists Finally Unlock and Diagnose the Mystery's of the Black Plague

Fox News - The bacterium blamed for the Black Death that wiped out more than a third of Europe's population within about five years of the 14th century looks an awful lot like the modern versions of the plague-causing bug, new genetic research indicates. By taking the now-powdery black pulp out of the teeth of plague victims buried in London's East Smithfield Cemetery — a cemetery established solely to handle the onslaught of the Black Death once it arrived in the city in 1348 — researchers have managed to reconstruct the entire genetic blueprint, or genome, of the bacterium blamed for the devastation.

Well, I'm glad that one's not hanging over our head anymore, one less thing to worry about right? Only took 700 or so years.  That's gotta give hope to those with AIDS and Cancer too, now that some of our best and brightest are done digging up mummies and crypt keepers and playing with diseases from over half a millenia ago, they should be able to focus on more pressing matters at hand, like actual viruses and diseases harming actual living people.

Seriously, what the hell is going on over there in England? No one thought, hey guys, these resources might be better served researching modern illness? Or that maybe digging up 700 year old disease ridden corpses is a pretty solid way to potentially kick off a health epidemic? In fact, I'm pretty sure that's been the basis for roughly 50% of all Zombie related moves. Old plagues and illness being reintroduced to the modern world. 

Come on guys, like we don't have enough stuff to worry about.

My Daily Occupy Boston Critique: Why The Occupiers Don't Stand for Me

Boston - When Occupy Boston protesters complain about greedy bankers, corporate jets, and the wealthiest Americans, Henry Helgeson feels as if he is one of the prime targets.  Helgeson, 37, said he is not only in the top 1 percent of American earners, but also founded a financial company and an airplane charter business. He said the protesters don’t seem to care that he built his wealth from scratch, creating hundreds of jobs along the way. “It’s a little disheartening,’’ said Helgeson, who drives by the protesters every day to and from his office at Merchant Warehouse Inc., a credit card processing firm in downtown Boston. “I’m someone who is at the epicenter of perceived evilness.’’ Today, he said, his earnings put him in the top 1 percent of all Americans. He was probably in the bottom 10 percent 13 years ago, when he started Merchant Warehouse with a college friend in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He said he often did not have money to pay rent for his apartment. And when his decade-old Dodge broke down, he had to watch it get towed away and impounded, because he didn’t have money to repair it. Today, Merchant Warehouse has 250 employees in Boston, many of whom are about the same age of the protesters, and 400 independent contractors.

It’s about time someone like Henry spoke out about what he’s seeing and what he believes. I’m not even close to a 1%’er much closer to the people living in tents and using nearby restaurants as their personal bathrooms than I am to a millionaire, but I’ll side with Henry Helgeson 100 times out of 100.

And that’s what the occupiers don’t seem to understand as of yet. This is why so many have viewed the occupiers as an annoyance, this is the reason for the negativity towards their protests to date.

This is still America. If you want to, you still can make yourself into whatever you want. You may not achieve your wildest dreams, but if you’re trying hard enough and going about everything the right way, you’ll succeed. You really will. This is why I’ll side with the somewhat goofily named 53 percenter’s any day of the week if I’m choosing sides. The rest of us (the majority) still realize that hard work, dedication and focus, and the right education will still lead to a good life.Will some do better than others? Yes, and that's ok.

Do I agree that executives profiting from the bail out of a situation they had a large hand in causing was wrong? Absolutely. I also believe the bailout was necessary, but understand that it was carried out poorly with minimal oversight and restrictions. No one at the top of any companies that received federal funds to keep their businesses afloat should have recovered while the rest of “main street” (a term I hate but is apt in this case), are still wallowing through a housing crisis, historically high unemployment and higher prices for everything from utilities to food. The fact that these companies and executives were given chances and opportunities not afforded to the rest of America was, and still is, WRONG. I can’t be clearer that I agree on this issue.

At the end of the day though, I still strive to be one of those exec’s someday, the man in power, who worked himself to the top. I know it’s a slim probability, but I know there’s a chance, and that working hard, making connections, and learning as much as I possibly can, will help me far more than complaining, whining and protesting in a public park ever will.

I also know that nothing can or will be done about the circumstances and facts of the 2008 collapse, and ensuing bailout, at this point in time. It’s in the past. We need to move forward. We need to ensure we elect leaders that have the majority’s best interests at heart, and those that have learned from some of the mistakes and wrong doings of our current crop of leaders. But it should be understood that no radical redistribution of wealth is going to happen, nor should it. The circumstances that allowed this collection of wealth should be modified, but the individuals and corporations who skillfully gamed the system to their advantage should not be punished for taking advantage of opportunities that existed to them in the past. That would be as Un-American as anything the current occupiers are protesting.

Moving on, I also agree that the price of higher education needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed immediately. Students should not have to make the choice between the school they’re qualified for and the school they can afford. This should not be a reality if we want our economy to recover and flourish in the future.

This does not, however, offer an excuse for those of us who’ve already made our choices regarding school options. At the end of the day, it was just that, a choice. I had to make one, and I chose a state school, I did not want to burden my family or my future with a daunting debt at the very start of my adulthood. I made the correct choice for me. Whether it was a fair choice or not is not really the debate in this situation, life is often not fair, you’ll presumably face many choices along the way in which the options presented to you are not ideal, but you’ll have to pick the right one. The bank didn’t set the price for college and they certainly didn’t force you to sign for that loan. Make an informed and educated decision, understand the potential circumstances of your decision, and stick by it. Do not complain if things don’t turn out exactly as you thought they would. Work harder, look for new options and opportunities instead of handouts.

Along those same lines, stop complaining about not finding a profession in the field you presumed you’d be working in. The economy changes, jobs that are in-demand, fall out. Jobs that didn’t exist, spring to life. Take a look at the landscape, retrain yourself if you have to, and target a favorable field. You can do it, I did.

I was a political science major, upon graduating I spent three months attempting to put that degree to work, turns out you can’t. I realized my choices were either furthering my education, or attempting to adapt to a field I hadn’t intended on working in. I chose to adapt.

I got my foot in the door at a financial services company. I had zero experience and virtually no training or previous education on the subject matter. I could have easily failed, or I could’ve easily quit and complained about not finding a job in my chosen field. I didn’t. I worked very hard to understand everything that was required of me, I learned as much as I could and gave my best effort every day to close the knowledge gap between myself and other entry level employees with more typical business backgrounds. It worked. I’ve been promoted a few times now and continue to grow within the company. I had no business succeeding in this field but I have so far through my determination to make it work. It is possible to succeed in something you never saw yourself doing, it is a lot of work, and it can be scary, but trying is better than stubbornly refusing to change and waiting for opportunities to be handed to you.

As you can see, I agree with some of the occupiers concerns and points of issue, there is a need for open dialogue and change in policy and leadership, but that starts on Beacon Hill and in Washington, not on a public park outside a few banks and financial firms where a handful of execs and thousands more middle class workers make their living. There are countless employees in those buildings just like me, not too different from the occupiers, striving every day to support and further themselves. They are not the problem.

The conversation cannot afford any “why me”, or “bail me out”, or “eat the rich” commentary if it is to be taken seriously. The American majority, those of us working to better ourselves, who haven’t stopped pushing ourselves ahead, even in times of economic uncertainty, do not believe in those messages. We haven’t yet given up, and we probably won’t. In truth the members of the occupy movements spreading these messages are closer to being their own 1% club. It’s a fringe message right now. Unfortunately it doesn’t take much to turn a real, open discussion about politics and the economy into a demonstration pushing borderline if not obvious Marxist and socialist ideals. If the occupy movements want to represent the grand majority of working middle and lower class Americans the message will need to be cleaned up.

In the meantime I'm going to keep observing from a distance, while continuing to work hard and look for new opportunities to push myself ahead and join that other 1% we all should be striving to be a part of. I don't expect it to be easy, and I'm realistic that I might never get there, but damn it, I'm going to keep trying.

National Bosses Day (The Most Under-Apprecaited Holiday) is this Monday

Time and Date - What do people do? Boss’s Day is dedicated to all employers and provides a prospect of improving the liaison between employers and their staff. Many workers dedicate this day to their supervisors for various reasons, such as supporting staff with their jobs and careers. This observance also gives employees a chance to recognize those in supervisory positions. Some people give their bosses cards, gift certificates, or flowers on Boss’s Day. This observance is becoming increasingly popular in various workplaces. It has received both praise and controversy.

Seanny (Maestro and Dr. Jack too in the event that they still write here), in case you're wondering, I'll accept a 6 pack in lieu of flowers.

Yep, it's the most under-appreciated holiday of the year, National Bosses day. The one day a year where you have to begrudgingly stop bitching about your boss behind his back and just go about your work for the day. 

As a middle manager at my real job I should look forward to this annual day celebrating my leadership and guidance skills, right? Wrong. Not once have I gotten so much as a new ball point pen or maybe one of those stress balls, never mind, gift certificates, flowers, or bosses cards (which I'd reject as frivolous and wasteful spending). It's literally the worst day of the year, I just sit there and sulk like a fat girl with no date on Valentines day. It's to the point where I honestly might just go buy myself a World's Best Boss mug a la Michael Scott...of course I'm only in charge of four people so they'll easily deduct that I bought the thing for myself, but I still think I'd feel a little better than getting nothing.

I mean what gives? Do we need more elastic wars? Chair races? Maybe a laser tag sesh the next time we're their late and most of the building is empty? I just don't know where to turn at this point. 

Kiwanis Club Upset After Olive Garden Doesn't Allow American Flag and Banner in Their Restaurant

Not your typical dinner accompaniment

Fox News - Controversy over an Alabama Olive Garden's refusal to allow a patron to enter the restaurant with an American flag reportedly has prompted the restaurant chain to issue a personal apology from its vice president. The patron, 80-year-old Marti Warren, told MyFoxAl.com she was outraged after being told she could not bring the flag into the restaurant to attend a Kiwanis Club award banquet. Olive Garden has issued public statements apologizing, including on its Facebook page. "We are very sorry for any misunderstanding about this issue," the Facebook post reads. "We do not have a policy at Olive Garden concerning bringing the American flag into our restaurants. Some members of our team were misinformed about company policy by our corporate office. As a company, we take responsibility for that and we regret it...Warren, who said the denial felt as though she "had been slapped in the face," also reportedly was told she couldn't bring the Golden K Kiwanis club's banner into the dining room. She said she would have taken the group somewhere else if she had know this would happen. The club reportedly said the Pledge of Allegiance under Warren's guidance with their eyes closed so that they could picture the flag waving in the wind. 

I really, really wish Olive Garden hadn't taken this approach.  I mean what's wrong with just telling this old broad that they have a thing against customers carrying around gigantic flags and banners in their restaurant.  It's a place to eat, not to start a rally.

This isn't the K of C hall or an Elks Lodge, lady, this is the Olive Garden. Land of unlimited bread sticks and salad as far as the eye can see. People go there for quality Italian food at family prices, not to see some banner toting K-club rally, and it's senior citizen members take 45 minutes to chew a piece of chicken parm.
 

Doesn't make them non-Patriotic, it means they're trying to run a nice business without distractions and rabble rousers...I can't find a picture anywhere on the net, but I'm guessing we're not talking about some little flag that kids hold in their hands and march with in parades, we're at least talking about a 3-4 flag if not bigger, who in their right mind tries to bring that into a restaurant? It's just plain odd.

Hide and Seek is Way Too Dangerous a Game for Little Kids

In my experience, all the kids that hid behind trees, turned out to be idiots later in life.

JAMAICA PLAIN (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - A 9-year-old boy was seriously injured inside a housing development in Jamaica Plain Thursday night while he was playing the game of hide-and-seek with his younger brother. Police said the boy and his 6-year-old brother were playing hide-and-seek near bunk beds when the older boy somehow got his neck caught in a jump rope hanging from the structure.

I sincerely hope this kid is ok, but this just proves what I've known since I was about 8 years old, Hide and Seek is for the thrill seekers and the insane. This aint no tame game of tackle the man with the football, or kick the can, this is the extreme sports of childhood games. Hiding in basements, with the lights out (you're doing it wrong if the lights are on), people jumping out to scare the shit out of you when you find them,  its palm sweatingly intense.

I once ended up with a hole in my lip from a raucus game of hide and seek. Straight up punctured my lower lip. Needed stitches and the whole 9, luckily it occurred shortly before Halloween so the stitches just looked like extreme dedication to my Pirate costume that year...my swag score was through the roof that Halloween, basically the King of the 2nd grade that year.

How'd it happen? My bud Jeff was upstairs speed counting to 100, I slammed the basement door shut, cut the lights and hit the ground running, stepped on my replica ghost busters car (ruining it) and fell head first into the 3 foot tall Ghost Busters fire house, splitting my lip on the corner of the roof. 

Little CW never needed surgery as a result of dodgeball, kickball, tag, floor hockey,  yet Hide & Seek still remains a socially acceptable game for defenseless kids while all of these other games are seemingly being banned across the country.  

PS: Google image Ghost Busters toys, you're kidding yourself if you don't end up on E-bay hunting these things down, at one point I had every single one of these toys...I'm home from work today, leaving me plenty of time for a bidding war.