The Poscast
with Joe Posnanski & Michael Schur is one of my favorite podcasts. I've
listened to every single episode for many years. Posnanski is a sports writer,
and I've read several of his books. Schur is best known for creating Parks and
Recreation, The Good Place, and Man on the Inside among a long list of credits.
So when they announced that they co-wrote a book, I was excited to read it. The
pair promoted a specific independent bookstore that I will not mention here
where you could purchase the book. All of the books would be autographed by the
authors with limited edition versions signed by people like Ted Danson and
Kristen Bell. On May 13th, I placed my order through the bookstore's online
site.
After finishing
the transaction, I received an email from the store indicating that the
preorder had been processed and would be shipped upon the book's release. The
book was released on Tuesday, May 19th, so I figured that I would receive an
update with the status or a tracking number on or around that day. To date, 10
days later, I still have not received any information about the order status.
And it's certainly not due to a lack of effort by me. Let's go to the timeline:
On Thursday,
May 21st, I emailed the store's account for online orders asking about the
status. No response.
On Sunday, May
24th, I emailed a general "contact us" account about the order
status. No response.
On Monday, May
25th, I attempted to contact the store through its Facebook page. I received
an automated message asking me to email a different account or call the
store due to the high volume of messages the store receives. I sent
an email to that email address on that day. No response.
On Tuesday, May
26th, I called the number from the Facebook message and was given a prompt for
online orders. I left a voice message. No response.
On Thursday,
May 28th, I called the store and actually talked to someone. I was told that
the store essentially outsources its online store, so she could not see the
status of my account. I was given the store's marketing email account and sent
an email. No response.
So I have now
sent four emails to four different email accounts, provided a message on
Facebook, and left a voice message. I have not received a response, and the
physical bookstore can't access my order.
This really
shouldn't be that difficult. I generally check out books from the library, but
I figured this would be a fun book to own, particularly since I would get an
autographed copy. While I truly want to support independent bookstores, I could
have paid less to order from a giant company and received the book at least a
week ago. Get it together!
It's time for my annual best and worst of the year in pop culture, entertainment, and more. As you'll see, there are not many "worst of" below. I have limited time, so I'm not watching or reading things I'm not interested in. Here we go:
Best TV Show: Shrinking
I loved this Apple+ show. Jason Segal plays a therapist struggling with the loss of his wife. While I like the storylines of Segal with his patients and his relationship with daughter, what really makes the show are his colleagues, Jessica Williams and Harrison Ford. They are fantastic. It's fun watching Harrison Ford be funny. This scene was the best thing I saw all year.
Honorable mention: Jury Duty
This was such a unique show. Everyone, meaning the lawyers, judge, jury members, etc. are actors...except for one jury member named Ronald who believes that this is a real case. Ronald is such a likable guy, and I don't think this show would work with a different lead. James Marsden playing a version of himself is also fun.
For no apparent reason, I tracked every TV show I watched this year, and I feel like sharing this.
Better Call Saul (last season)
Party Down (original)
The Chair
Night Court
American Auto
Not Dead Yet
Quantum Leap
Abbott Elementary
Yellowjackets (season 1)
Ted Lasso (season 3)
Sprung
Welcome to Wrexham
Lucky Hank
The Big Door Prize
Mrs. Maisel (season 4)
The Afterparty (season 2)
Shrinking
Jury Duty
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
The Wonder Years
Miracle Workers
Barry (last season)
Succession (part of last season)
Yellowstone
Lego Masters
The Bear (season 1)
Best Songs: HONEY (ARE YOU COMING?) by Maneskin and bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo
All caps and no capital letters at all? Can we please work on this! While I'm way out of her target audience, I am an Olivia Rodrigo fan, particularly with her up-tempo songs. bad idea right? gives me a vibe of "Naked Eye" by Luscious Jackson. Oh, the song is definitely not suitable for work.
Meanwhile, I think Maneskin has the best guitar riff of the year with HONEY.
Worst Song: Popular by The Weeknd, Playboi Cardi, and Madonna
Looking at my archives, I picked two songs by The Weeknd as the best of the year over the last few years. This is certainly not an anti The Weeknd post. While Popular isn't bad, I don't find it good either. It's repetitive and don't feel that Madonna adds anything to it.
Best Movie: Parasite
Parasite won the best picture Oscar a few years ago, so I'm a little late to this. The storyline is essentially a poor family scamming a rich family. I mean, there's definitely the message of class and the spoils of the rich. Definitely did not expect the ending.
Most Interesting Movie: The Menu
I can't put this as the worst movie since it's just so different from anything I've seen. I watched The Menu on an airplane and remember leaving the plane thinking "What the heck was that?" I really want to see this again.
And now, these are all of the movies I watched in 2023:
The Menu
Elvis
Rise (A movie about Giannis Antetokounmpo and his family)
Anchorman 2
Logan Lucky
Leo
Elemental
Homeward Bound: An Incredible Journey
Parasite
Family Switch
Migration
My New Year's Resolution for 2024 is to watch more movies. Almost all of these are movies for kids/families. There's no Barbie or Oppenheimer. I mean, how can I get a media credential for The Oscars with this list?
Best Sports Moment: Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday completed the biggest comeback in English Football League playoff history back in May. Down 4-0 after the first leg, the team battled back to tie the overall score at 4-4 in the 90+7th minute. Peterborough, their opponent, got a goal in extra time, but Wednesday tied it again before advancing in penalty kicks. By far the best sports moment of 2023. (More about this game is available from my May post.)
Worst Sports Moment: Pittsburgh Sports
Although Pitt's men's basketball team returned to the NCAA tournament and the women's volleyball team is now a consistent power, the professional teams struggled. The Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-2006 season, the Steelers are an average NFL team, and the Pirates, though better in 2023 compared to 2022, still had a record under .500. While I don't have a specific moment for the worst sports moment, the Pirates were 20-8 after we attended the 16-1 victory over the Nationals, and several weeks later, the team's record was 35-42. Lots of losses. Actually, there is a worst moment. The Penguins, battling for a playoff spot in the next-to-last game of the season, lost at home to the worst team in the NHL.
Best Book: 12-way tie!
Okay, this definitely isn't true. I just wanted to share that I read 12 books this year, by far the most since the pandemic started. I was part of a book club in 2023, and book clubs are stressful! It's like high school all over again trying to finish a book in time for the discussion or test. At least we have snacks for book club! Here's what I read this year:
The Umpire Is Out by Dale Scott
How to be Perfect by Michael Schur
Raise a Fist, Take a Knee: Race and the Illusion of Progress in Modern Sports by John Feinstein
The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
Before you freak out, this is the worst concert I attended because I didn't attend. Bruce postponed his concert from August to September and then to 2024. Hopefully he'll appear in my best live concert in my 2024 post.
One of my favorite podcasts, The Poscast with baseball writer Joe Posnanski and Parks & Recreation and The Good Place creator Michael Schur, featured an episode where the hosts discussed fan points. While I had heard of this idea before, the premise is that you have 100 points or 100% to assign to your favorite sports teams/players. Basically, this is a way to show your fandom and what you really care about as a fan. For example, let's say that you are a Dallas Cwboys fan. First, my apologies. You only care about the NFL, so in this case, maybe you assign 95 or even all of your fan points to the Cowboys. Maybe you give 5 points to whoever is playing against the Philadelphia Eagles or another team that will help the Cowboys. It seems rare that a person is only a fan of one team, but this is just an example. Today, I'm sharing my fan points.
22% - Pittsburgh Steelers
22% - Pittsburgh Pirates
22% - Pittsburgh Penguins
Growing up in Pittsburgh and still being a passionate Pittsburgh sports fan, these three teams are part of my identity. Obviously, these numbers fluctuate throughout the year depending on the season. While I'm very interested in what the Pirates do in the offseason, I'm more concerned in the immediacy about the Steelers upcoming game against the Baltimore Ravens. However, this list is designed for the entire year, so I'm not going to show favoritism between my three kids, I mean, teams.
10% - University of Pittsburgh athletics
10% - Ithaca College athletics
I'll admit that I'm cheating here by grouping entire athletic programs into one category. Like my fandom for the professional Pittsburgh sports teams, I grew up on Pitt sports. I went to Pitt football games at Pitt Stadium with my Cub Scouts troop. I remember watching the "Send It In Jerome" basketball game on TV.
In recent years, I've really enjoyed seeing the success of Pitt's men's soccer team and women's volleyball team. Sure, I should assign specific percentages to each individual team, but this is my blog, so my rules!
Ithaca is where I went to college, and was and is a big part of my life. I have lifetime friendships from and connections with the institution. In the last year, I've been able to attend an IC football game, women's volleyball game, and women's basketball game in the DC-Baltimore area and loved being able to support my alma mater.
This is where things get difficult.
5% - Sheffield Wednesday
I shared the story about how I lived in Lancaster, England for a summer and how my supervisor took me to a Sheffield Wednesday match. It's difficult for me to watch matches, but I generally follow gamecasts and commentary on ESPN and Twitter and listen to a weekly podcast about the team. It will be amazing if the team ever gets back to the Premier League, though I'm just hoping that they don't get relegated back to League One at the end of this season!
4% - Ohio State Football
I went to graduate school at Ohio State and had season tickets to football games when I attended. Watching a game at Ohio Stadium with 100,000+ of your closest friends is an amazing experience. Unfortunately, the team was lousy (for Ohio State standards) when I was there, so I also got to see and hear about some of the bad side of fans. While I don't go out of my way to watch most Buckeyes games, and I can't name more than a handful of current players, I make sure to see them play Michigan and root for them to win a national championship (especially against SEC schools).
5% - Miscellaneous
I usually attend 2-3 George Mason men's basketball games a year, so while they should probably get their own fan points, I'm including the team here. Miscellaneous also includes things like the US National men's and women's soccer teams, anyone against Novak Djokovic near the end of a Grand Slam tournament, and DC United, Loudoun United, and even the Washington Nationals when I attend their games in person. While I'm not including Coco Gauff in her own category, for the two weeks of the 2023 US Open, I followed her more than anything else in sports. That's the purpose of miscellaneous points.
So that's my 100 points. Although I follow the NBA, there's not a specific team that makes the list. (Sorry Washington Wizards.) Now that I'm done, I just realizd that this could all be a lie. I should probably reduce nearly everything above in half and add a significant amount of my points to fantasy sports. I spend way too much time on that in my sports fandom!
Feel free to share your list in the comments section below.
One of my favorite podcasts is The PosCast featuring sports writer Joe Posnanski and Michael Schur, who you may know better as the creator, co-creator, writer, and/or producer of The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Office, and Masters of None, only some of the best television comedies over the last decade. In a recent episode, they talked with Stefan Fatsis and Jonathan Hock about the 2020 Name of the Year Bracket and then transitioned to a draft of some of the first baseball players that popped into their minds. Now that I'm a podcast veteran, I figured that I would share my list, um, on my blog and not on a podcast.
One ground rule here. The player can't be a great player. Sure you can share the time you saw Barry Bonds, Pedro Martinez, Mike Trout, or Nolan Ryan, but what fun would that be. The purpose of this post is to name five random players.
Dave Magadan - I spent lots and lots and lots of time collecting baseball cards and going to card shows in the late 80s and early 90s. For some reason, I had a bunch of rookie cards of Mets 3B/1B Dave Magadan. I thought he was going to be really good and the cards would be worth a lot of money. I thought wrong. Amazingly, Magadan played 16 seasons in the majors. Also amazingly is that Magadan had only 42 home runs in 4159 at-bats. That's a terrible ratio for someone that plays 1B/3B. Actually, that a terrible ratio for anyone playing baseball.
Doug Frobel - I always thought that Frobel was a funny name.
Tuffy Rhodes - I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been in the same fantasy baseball league since 1991. We generally draft a few days into the season, so that we knew who made the opening day roster. In 1994, Chicago Cubs outfielder Tuffy Rhodes hit three home runs on opening day, and we all thought he was going to have a monster season. In our auction league draft, someone got him for like $30, which was a huge amount at that time. Rhodes hit 5 home runs the rest of the year.
Vicente Palacios - I shared this story earlier, but I attended the 1988 Pirates home opener With the bases loaded and no one out in the 6th inning, manager Jim Leyland brought in Palacios who retired the next three batters without allowing a run. And that was just the start to Palacios' Hall of Fame career! Random fact that I just learned from his Baseball Reference page: Palacios pitched in 7 games for the San Diego Padres in 2000 after last playing in the majors in 1995.
Steve Nicosia - Nicosia was the backup catcher for the Pirates in the late 70s and early 80s. I believe that I went to a game near the end of Nicosia's tenure with my family and another family. My memory is a little fuzzy, but before the game, we were hanging out by the bullpen or third/first base line asking for an autograph or baseball. Finally, Steve Nicosia threw a ball to one of the kids in the other family. I didn’t get a ball, and to this day, I still haven’t got a baseball at a game. No, I'm not bitter.
Honorable mentions:
Jose Tabata for breaking up a perfect game with two strikes and two outs in the 9th inning by getting hit by a pitch.
Archi Cianfrocco for being my friend Dan's favorite player. If Dan still reads this blog, I hope he can explain the obsession of over a career -4.0 WAR hitter. I think Dan might have met Archi at an Expos game.
Welcome to Sean's Ramblings! If you're looking for thoughts on pop culture, music, fun and informative links, random DC and Pittsburgh info, sports (particularly Pittsburgh sports), and just what's going on in my life, then you're come to the right place.
Any questions, comments or links? Contact me at seanramblings[at]yahoo[dot]com.
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