5-at-10: Friday mailbag with MLB being forced back to the A-T-L, social changes and how many people hate me

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton throws during the first inning of Game 1 in baseball's World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton throws during the first inning of Game 1 in baseball's World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

So we messed around and got several off-the-wall and interesting questions this week. I'm going to try - emphasize try - to move quickly so we can get to more than five and not have the editors back at the TFP ranch cuss my name like Mark and Matt and Pat and, well, you get the idea.

First, our BID-ness.

Rushmore of Gates: Bill, Antonio, Pearly Gates and flood gates. (Side note: Has Chuck weighed in on the Chick Lock this week? Seriously, has there been one story covered as much as - despite its importance and no one really has an inkling about the progress or posture - than the Chick Lock?) As for the singular, Golden Gate, Gateway to the West, Watergate, swing like a rusty gate, which sadly could have been used on my batting approach more times than not.

Rushmore of 'Navy' phrases: Go Army, beat Navy (or vice versa), Navy blue, Vol Navy and "In the Navy" by the Village People. (Side question: If the Village People were an up-and-coming band right now in 2021, would they be praised for their LBGTQ inclusion or shunned for their mocking costume of the American Indian? Discuss.)

Rushmore of worst baseball movies: "Major League III: Back to the Minors," "Sandlot 2," "The Benchwarmers" and "Ed" (with Matt LeBlanc and the monkey playing third base). Yes, we could have gone with all the movies that have animals playing the game, like "Air Bud: Seventh-Inning Fetch" (but to be fair, if you don't think "Seventh-Inning Fetch" in that usage is not clever, well, that's a you problem), but "Ed" is the bad sports/animal crossover and the others deserve mention too. And yes, as a diehard BoSox fan, Spy hates "Fever Pitch" with the heat and intensity of seven suns.

Rushmore of post-2000 female pop music stars: Beyoncé for sure, Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. Man, this one was tougher than I expected, and that's with all apologies to Adele, Katy Perry and several others.

Here's Paschall on UT's struggles on third down.

Here's your final chance to put in your nomination for the best college football stadium atmosphere. We'll vote next week. Deal? Deal.

Editor's note: An astute reader rightly noted that my picks last week went 3-5 and not 4-4. That said, my picks last night went swimmingly. Everyone in the Packers posse counting those Green Baycks (see what I did there Vader?) say "Hallelujah." And a rolling with some free dough in-game parlay on Steph over-30, Ja Morant over 20-, Draymond over 10-rebounds and Steph over 2 3s made a good Thursday a great Thursday.

To the bag.

From Deep Blue

Hey man. Hope you are well.

I suppose that the irony of MLB cheating Atlanta out of millions for political (not baseball) reasons and the World Series ending up in Atlanta anyway has not escaped your thoughts.

What do you think about:

- Anyone connected remotely to the MLB decision-makers be banned from all World Series games in Atlanta.

- If they are even allowed in town they are required to pay at least double for hotel, meals and beverages (to slightly make up for revenue lost from the All-Star Game).

- To be admitted to the game you would need a photo ID.

- All Democrats be excluded at the gate and sent to Coors field to watch on closed-circuit TV.

- Stacy Abrams be required to explain to a rational neutral press how this was in the best interest of the thousands of people in Atlanta that were negatively impacted while trying to survive the pandemic.

OK. I'm through venting. It is just that stupid politics is soooo annoying.

Best regards.

Deep Blue -

The folks like you, Deep Blue, who have noticed the irony of the way the baseball season started and now ended is quite a large team picture.

Side question: Did anyone else see the story that the NAACP is encouraging Black athletes not to sign with Texas teams because of recent changes to various state laws? Yeah, so there's that.

Heck, PETA now is asking baseball to rename the bullpen because, well, you know. It's PETA. Think of the calves, America.

I laughed out loud at the idea of sending the MLB decision-makers who pulled the All-Star Game from the A-T-L to Denver to watch Games 3, 4 and 5.

Side note: Now comes word that Trump is going to be at Game 4. That will be a circus.

I hope the ATL welcomes all of MLB and the world - regardless of political posture - with the open arms and Southern charm our mommas tried to instill in us. Welcome back y'all. No sense in being petty - although at Will Call, they will have to show photo ID, because you know, picking up a parking pass should have more security and integrity than our voting procedures.

War Baseball.

I have written multiple times - even this week some - about the stupid and misguided decisions the MLB got pressured into making because of Stacy Abrams and several others who jumped on the protest/boycott/cancellation bus before gauging the landscape.

I am surprised that Manfred was not asked more about the All-Star Game decision in his State of the Union Address earlier this week. Or maybe I should have been. Far too many in the national media throng sadly covet access more than accountability, especially when those in the media a) work for companies that are business/broadcast partners with MLB and b) would rather walk 5 miles on broken class than approach the conservative side of a political conversation in public.

So it goes.



From Chas

Question for the bag: What policy changes to help our struggling families would you favor? Please try to answer without raising the specter of socialism.

Chas -

Great question, and one that I have spent more time thinking about this week than I expected.

Personally, when dealing with folks I know who are in need, my umbrella policy has always been that I'm more than willing to do anything to help if they are willing to try to help themselves, too.

First, my heart aches for single-parent families. I can't imagine how hard that would be - socially, financially and from a parenting standpoint.

After that, find ways to help with early education, child care, medical costs, any number of things for the struggling single-parent homes who are truly trying to make it better for themselves.

That's where I would start, but it would need to come with a caveat/loophole/requirement that they are working themselves to improve their situation, too.

We had a generation more than happy to be on the government tab, which translated to a generation expected to be on the government tab which has pushed one side of the political aisle to catering to voters by expanding the government tab.

From Mark S

How many people hate you, if you had to guess?

Mark S -

More than a Saturday at Finley, less than a Saturday at Neyland.

If I had to guess.

From Paula

Jay, my husband reads your column and he loves you. So I thought you could settle a debate for us.

Is carrot cake a vegetable or a dessert?

Paula -

Carrot cake is neither vegetable nor dessert.

It's an outlier that, of course, Nick Saban loves. Side question: Is Nick Saban doing commercials with Coach Deion Sanders the biggest juxtaposition in recent TV history? That's "The Odd Couple" meets "Diff'rent Strokes" meets "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.")

As a reformed fat person who now is just kind of heavy - and your brother - here's my baseline definition of a great sweet: Is it made 100% better if it's served with an ice-cold glass of milk?

If so, it's a great sweet. If not, well, you're dealing with something altogether different.

That said, Paula, thanks for the question and for playing along.

From A reader

Notice you didn't have (bleep) to say about the local Christian colleges being the worst for LGBTQ people? Cover that up again (Bleep)!

A reader -

I don't want anyone to be mistreated. Seriously. But there certainly is not a shortage of college campuses out there bending over 12 ways from Tuesday to be as inclusive as possible.

Thanks for being a reader, and OK. I guess. Not sure why you think I covered anything up, but again, OK. Here's the story from earlier this week in the TFP.

But shouldn't some of this be common sense too? These are Christian schools with clearly stated beliefs and exemptions in most cases from the Title IX requirements.

From the above story, Bryan College - which is among the local schools that received low marks on the lists you referenced - the student handbook bans, "dishonesty, theft, vandalism, fornication, adultery, homosexual behavior, immodest dress, profanity, gossip and drunkenness," because these things are banned in the Bible.

If it's known and stated on the front end and that's the lifestyle you choose, then shouldn't you just cross Bryan off your list and look for a school that caters more to your lifestyle, be that centered around sex, drinking, cussing or gossiping? (Side note: The social justice warriors protecting the interests of and fighting for gossipers are really underdeveloped. Think of the gossipers friends. They're people too.)

Have a great weekend friends.

photo Jay Greeson

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