Christmas Eve edition of Monday musings
When I was a high school student between the fall of 1974 and the spring of 1977, wrestling on television was not what it is now. Professional wrestling on television was a local/regional thing. The first nationally broadcast wrestling "show" didn't air until 1979. While I have vivid memories of watching "Classy" Freddie Blassie, John "The Golden Greek" Tolos and Terry Funk from those days of local wrestling telecasts, the only easily recognizable name from the era was a very young "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. As a high school wrestler, I did not dream of growing up to make it into the professional wrestling squared circle. I doubt any of my teammates had those dreams either. As a scene from the 1986 movie The Breakfast Club shows, wrestling was not a sport that was as well-regarded as baseball, basketball and football were.
Things have changed since then. For the week of November 26 through December 2, World Wide Entertainment (WWE) has two of the top ten most watched shows on cable television. Monday Night Raw tied for 5th and Smackdown (airs on Tuesdays) was 7th.
Do high school wrestlers dream of being the next John Cena, A.J. Styles, etc? I don't know. Do they dream of making it to the ultimate mat at the Olympic Games? Probably a more likely dream.
You may or may not have seen the video of a high school wrestling match where a referee who made racist remarks in the past; forced a competitor to cut off his dreadlocks or forfeit the match. In case you didn't.
The rules for wrestling in New Jersey make it clear that the wearing of a cap to cover hair that extends below the earlobe or below the shirt collar level; is allowable. Rules are important.
Here's the problem with this referee's decision to force Andrew Johnson to cut his dreadlocks. A check of his career stats shows that Mr. Johnson wrestled in 25 matches during the 2017-2018 season. He had 13 wins and 12 losses. Was there no issue with his hair last season?
What if the locs were new this season? Well, the record shows that Mr. Johnson had a match on 12/15 at the Robin Leff tournament. No issues with his hair earlier this month.
There needs to be an investigation into this to provide due process. I suspect the outcome will reveal that this decision was wrong and the referee in question should be banned from officiating at all levels, permanently.
* * *
We are in day 3 of the "partial" government shutdown. 800,000 people not being paid, over 420,000 of whom are being forced to work without being paid. I like this idea from Congressmember-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:
The problem is, this idea doesn't go far enough. I believe that the members of Congress should forfeit their pay for every day that the government is shut down. I also believe that Congress needs to stop passing continuing resolutions to keep the government operating after October 1st of each year. The Congress is supposed to have passed all of the appropriations bills prior to that date. If it were up to me, they would forfeit their pay and benefits for every day after October 1st where there is not a fully executed set of appropriations bills. No more continuing resolutions. They kick far too many cans down the road to begin with.
While I'm on the topic, Congress should also eliminate the exemptions they gave themselves from the following laws:
Whistleblower Protections for their staff employees.
Being subject to OSHA Health and Safety probe subpoenas.
Being required to keep workplace records.
Employee protections against employer retaliation.
Being subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
* * *
A mother has found a unique, brilliant way to ensure her kids do their chores.
Genius!
* * *
Mariano Rivera was the "closer" for the New York Yankees from 1997 through his retirement in 2013. He is considered by many to be the greatest closer in Major League Baseball history. The 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is his first chance at election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He might be the first unanimous selection to that august institution in the history of balloting.
He won't get votes from all of those eligible to vote though. Bill Ballou penned a piece on why he won't cast his ballot at all this year, which would give Rivera a chance to be a unanimous selection. In that piece he offers an explanation for his choice that focuses on his opinion that the value of the closer on a baseball team is vastly overstated.
I don't agree with his logic. In his 652 career saves, a MLB record, Rivera had saves that stretched over more than one inning a record 119 times. No other closer has more than 55 in a career. Rivera is one of only four relief pitchers to win the World Series MVP award since its inception in 1955.
There is one glaring omission in Mr. Ballou's evaluation of Mariano Rivera. He ignores the fact that Rivera is far and away the career leader in the Adjusted ERA (ERA+) statistic. His stands at 205. Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers ace starter is a distant second, at 159. Here are the ERA+ numbers for a few pitchers who are enshrined at Cooperstown:
Lefty Grove (has highest winning percentage of HOF pitchers) - 148
Walter Johnson (had 414 career wins, 2nd to only Cy Young) - 147
Cy Young - 138
Christy Mathewson - 136
Sandy Koufax - 131
Bob Gibson - 127
Mariano Rivera earned his spot at Cooperstown.
Things have changed since then. For the week of November 26 through December 2, World Wide Entertainment (WWE) has two of the top ten most watched shows on cable television. Monday Night Raw tied for 5th and Smackdown (airs on Tuesdays) was 7th.
Do high school wrestlers dream of being the next John Cena, A.J. Styles, etc? I don't know. Do they dream of making it to the ultimate mat at the Olympic Games? Probably a more likely dream.
You may or may not have seen the video of a high school wrestling match where a referee who made racist remarks in the past; forced a competitor to cut off his dreadlocks or forfeit the match. In case you didn't.
The rules for wrestling in New Jersey make it clear that the wearing of a cap to cover hair that extends below the earlobe or below the shirt collar level; is allowable. Rules are important.
Here's the problem with this referee's decision to force Andrew Johnson to cut his dreadlocks. A check of his career stats shows that Mr. Johnson wrestled in 25 matches during the 2017-2018 season. He had 13 wins and 12 losses. Was there no issue with his hair last season?
What if the locs were new this season? Well, the record shows that Mr. Johnson had a match on 12/15 at the Robin Leff tournament. No issues with his hair earlier this month.
There needs to be an investigation into this to provide due process. I suspect the outcome will reveal that this decision was wrong and the referee in question should be banned from officiating at all levels, permanently.
* * *
We are in day 3 of the "partial" government shutdown. 800,000 people not being paid, over 420,000 of whom are being forced to work without being paid. I like this idea from Congressmember-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:
Next time we have a gov shutdown, Congressional salaries should be furloughed as well.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 22, 2018
It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision.
Have some integrity. https://t.co/BgueNNjf0f
The problem is, this idea doesn't go far enough. I believe that the members of Congress should forfeit their pay for every day that the government is shut down. I also believe that Congress needs to stop passing continuing resolutions to keep the government operating after October 1st of each year. The Congress is supposed to have passed all of the appropriations bills prior to that date. If it were up to me, they would forfeit their pay and benefits for every day after October 1st where there is not a fully executed set of appropriations bills. No more continuing resolutions. They kick far too many cans down the road to begin with.
While I'm on the topic, Congress should also eliminate the exemptions they gave themselves from the following laws:
Whistleblower Protections for their staff employees.
Being subject to OSHA Health and Safety probe subpoenas.
Being required to keep workplace records.
Employee protections against employer retaliation.
Being subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
* * *
A mother has found a unique, brilliant way to ensure her kids do their chores.
Genius!
* * *
Mariano Rivera was the "closer" for the New York Yankees from 1997 through his retirement in 2013. He is considered by many to be the greatest closer in Major League Baseball history. The 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is his first chance at election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He might be the first unanimous selection to that august institution in the history of balloting.
He won't get votes from all of those eligible to vote though. Bill Ballou penned a piece on why he won't cast his ballot at all this year, which would give Rivera a chance to be a unanimous selection. In that piece he offers an explanation for his choice that focuses on his opinion that the value of the closer on a baseball team is vastly overstated.
I don't agree with his logic. In his 652 career saves, a MLB record, Rivera had saves that stretched over more than one inning a record 119 times. No other closer has more than 55 in a career. Rivera is one of only four relief pitchers to win the World Series MVP award since its inception in 1955.
There is one glaring omission in Mr. Ballou's evaluation of Mariano Rivera. He ignores the fact that Rivera is far and away the career leader in the Adjusted ERA (ERA+) statistic. His stands at 205. Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers ace starter is a distant second, at 159. Here are the ERA+ numbers for a few pitchers who are enshrined at Cooperstown:
Lefty Grove (has highest winning percentage of HOF pitchers) - 148
Walter Johnson (had 414 career wins, 2nd to only Cy Young) - 147
Cy Young - 138
Christy Mathewson - 136
Sandy Koufax - 131
Bob Gibson - 127
Mariano Rivera earned his spot at Cooperstown.
posted by me at 9:52 AM
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