Olympic Preview: the Serious Bit

Only one day until we begin our coverage of Sochi 2014!

Welcome to Gate C! “C” stands for “Corruption!”

… To be honest, I might want to encase “coverage” and “Sochi” in a pair of scare quotes. As a small blog / zine / word jumble, the Recorder will not be actually present in Russia. We’ll be providing inexpert coverage from the glow of our TVs in various Chicago locales — when we’re not at our 9-5 jobs or sleeping, naturally. Luckily for our readers, I have acute insomnia, so I don’t sleep much.

Before we start the official coverage, though, we want to bring a lot of the background noise from these games into the foreground. There have been calls to boycott the Sochi Winter Games; before that were the calls to move the games to a different city. There’s many a good basis for these calls: corruption, expenditures, corrupt expenditures, ill-preparedness, security threats, regional instability, animal cruelty, and significant human rights concerns. Any one of these reasons ought to have given the IOC pause. Unfortunately, there was no such consideration. Not publicly, at least.

While the IOC and member nations haven’t boycotted these games, many individuals are. I can’t fault anyone for that, even though I worry such actions hurt the athletes more than the companies, politicians, and bureaucrats that might deserve the figurative pain. Over at SB Nation, they’ve suggested a way to both watch & support Olympic athletes while also supporting an organization opposed to Russia’s draconian anti-gay laws and culture. Check out the article, which also links to the bars in Chicago that will be remote Pride Houses for viewing the Opening Ceremonies.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. At the Addison Recorder, we are going to be talking a lot about the Olympics over the next few weeks. We’re sports nuts, pop culture geeks, and geographical nerds. We’re going to write a lot of words that will be excited, sincere, snarky, silly, insightful, and not-so-insightful. We’re not always going to mention the background events that have caused so much concern. So let’s make sure we set the stage and put them out front.

Because we are really, really worried about these Games.

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Revenge of #ManningDerp: The Superb Owl Doobie Bros. Smoke-A-Bowl Live Blog

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Welcome back to the Annual tradition that nobody at all ever asked for, but is getting out of the sheer kindness of my heart: The Addison Recorder live-blog of the Super Bowl! (I realize that I’m a baseball, theatre, and film writer, but, like most Americans with a pulse, I have watched a game of football before. In Internet terms, this qualifies me to write anything and everything about the NFL. You’re welcome, Earth.)

This year’s combatants are the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, two teams from the only two states in the union where marijuana is (mostly) legal. (Hence the title) It pits the fantastic offense of Peyton Manning against my current favorite NFL player, Richard Sherman, and the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense. In the meantime, you have Russell Wilson, the Rich Man’s RGIII, against whatever the Broncos have going on defense. I hear Champ Bailey is a thing that’s happening.

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Olympic Preview: the Smartest Men in Hockey

Hey, everybody! The Olympics are almost here! Let’s go to Sochi!

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If you’re playing Ticket to Ride: Europe, the Olympics are over there on the right, part of that frustrating Erzurum-to-Moscow corridor.

Soon we will visit the shores of the Black Sea through the magic of digital broadcasts with more sponsors than a fleet of NASCAR drivers. We will marvel at the beauty of Sochi, only a few hundred miles from the terrifying bloodshed in Chechnya. Our hosts will be the generous country of Russia, a land that provided forced free government housing to outspoken punk rockers. It’s a country that totally, not at all, what are you talking about, doesn’t hate the gays. They swear.

(In all fairness, Russia has clarified that it’s newer laws aren’t anti-gay. They merely prefer that, when in public, everyone pretends that homosexuals don’t exist. And anyone who breaks this illusion is summarily escorted to prison. There’s a difference, I’m told.)

… Sorry, I went on a digression there. Ahem. Anyway, let’s talk about the Olympics, where it’s all about peace, love, and Slim Jims.

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Breaking Down the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot, Part 3: The Whole Truth

Who will join these men in Cooperstown?

Who will join these men in Cooperstown?

By now, I’m sure you can agree that this is a stacked Hall of Fame ballot. If you don’t, you should probably go back to watching whatever sports are popular in your tiny, remote-as-balls corner of the world. (Probably Beulah, Wyoming.) This year, the ballot was so deep that when filling out my own choices, I had to leave people off because you’re only allowed to vote for ten. The following players are whom I voted for on my official IBWAA ballot, results to be announced in January:

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Breaking Down the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot, Part 2: The Newcomers

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I want to talk here for a bit about memory, specifically as it pertains to sports.

It’s no lie to suggest that we grow up around sports, that they are imbued in our national consciousness from an early age. As we grow, we attend gym class, which at the time is something that we’re pretty sure is engineered to destroy the self-esteem of nerds and fat kids everywhere. Football becomes a religious experience on Saturdays and Sundays for many of us, and Opening Day and Spring Training hold equal power as we emerge from the bleak midwinter. Gentlemen on skates hoisting a giant, silver bucket over their heads becomes a sight worth crying over. Sometimes, the stars of a given sport leak over into our Bugs Bunny cartoons, saving the earth from alien monsters, yet dooming us to have to watch “Space Jam” every now and then.

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Breaking Down the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot, Part 1: The Holdovers

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It’s time for that annual holiday tradition (well, winter months-esque tradition, though I’m finding that this week is surprisingly suited towards writing a 3-part, 10,000 word diatribe on the Baseball Hall of Fame) wherein I take 36 famous baseball players and render them for your observing pleasure. This year’s ballot is, as was predicted, even more crammed full than last year’s ballot, and equally full of uncertainty regarding its outcome (except for one case, which I’ll get to in Part II). Nobody has any real clue of what’s about to happen, although I’m sure if Nate Silver were feeling bored, he could accurately predict who’s making it in and who will be left out in the cold. Then again, he’s got better things to do – like politics.

Last year’s Hall of Fame ballot was particularly notable for not electing a single person to the hallowed shrine of America’s pastime – except for three dead men, one of whom actively campaigned to keep blacks and other minorities from the game. This year will be different – if only because Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, and Bobby Cox will be inducted following their unanimous election on the Veteran’s Committee ballot. (More on that in Part III) What remains a question, however, is which players will be standing up there with them when the summer rolls along.

For that, I present to you this guide to the 36 players who will be on the ballot this year. For the ease of reading – and to ease the suffering on my fingers – I’ll be alternately keeping this short and breaking this into 3 separate articles, to be published over the course of the week. Part 1 comes out today, with Part 2 coming on Tuesday, and Part 3 coming Friday afternoon (with a two day split for Christmas and Boxing Day – I’m sure the Recorder is big in Alberta, after all). Part 2 will deal with the ballot newcomers, whilst Part 3 will wrap up everything I’ve covered, reveal my IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) ballot – yes, I actually voted for the Hall of Fame this year, but not in any official capacity! – and talk about what I think will actually happen when the vote tally’s are released in January. For now, enjoy Part I – the Holdovers from Ballots Prior.

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MLB Awards 2013: Meet the (New) Boss; Plus a Brief Look at the Veteran’s Hall of Fame Ballot

 

miguel cabrera

Honestly, after seeing 12 Years A Slave last night, everything else seems trivial. This was something we talked about last night, about how everything else seemed less. But here’s the thing: an hour later, we were all laughing about Air Bud: 7th Inning Fetch. Because humor is important, too. It makes us human, makes life enjoyable. Baseball isn’t quite humor, but it accentuates life rather than detracts from it. (Unless you’re an Indians fan. Whee!)

With that in mind, a brief mailbag, followed by my picks for the major MLB awards, and an (oh-so) brief discussion of this year’s Modern Era Ballot from the Veteran’s Committee on the Hall of Fame.

Let’s begin.

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Alex’s Liveblog of the 2013 Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy

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Welcome to The Addison Recorder’s Liveblog of the 2013 Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy! The #21 Michigan Wolverines (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) and #22 Michigan State Spartans (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten) will be meeting on the gridiron for the 106th time this afternoon in East Lansing. The winner of this game will put themselves in the driver’s seat to win the Legends (ugh, so glad that name is going away) Division of the Big Ten and play for the Championship next month in Indianapolis.  So, as the Recorder’s resident Michigan(and college football) fanatic I’ll be setting up the game before kickoff and then providing commentary during the action. Except lots of swearing. Possibly a lot of despair as well. Back in a few moments with a rundown of Michigan’s season so far and what to expect from them on offense and defense today.
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