Eddie Money In Pop Culture

Musician Eddie Money passed away on Friday at the age of 70. I believe that I was first introduced to Eddie Money by seeing the video for “Take Me Home Tonight” with Ronnie Spector on MTV. You may also be familiar with his hits that still receive regular airplay on classic rock stations like Shakin', Two Tickets To Paradise, I Wanna Go Back, Think I'm In Love, and Walk on Water. This post is about remembering Eddie Money in pop culture more than from his music career. First, Eddie Money made a terrific cameo on an episode of The Drew Carey Show.



A few things here. The Drew Carey Show theme song still holds up as one of the best in television history. You can fight me on this. Anyway, Eddie Money plays himself. It turns out that Money married Mimi years earlier, and for her to get married to Drew Carey’s brother (played by John Carroll Lynch who once liked one of my tweets) in the church, she needs to get an annulment. Eddie Money refuses, but Craig Ferguson saves the day. This episode also features the late Max Wright, arguably best known as the dad in Alf, playing Drew Carey’s stomach. I can’t imagine anyone under 21 understanding these last two sentences.

Eddie Money was also in an episode of King of Queens, but I never watched that show. However, the food truck in the underrated and short-lived Happy Endings was named Steak Me Home Tonight, presumably in honor of the Eddie Money song.





RIP Eddie Money.

End of Express

On Wednesday, "The Washington Post" announced that the final publication of its free, daily newspaper, "The Washington Post Express," would be today. Basically, the paper gave the 20 employees at Express and the 75 people who hand papers out at Metro stations throughout the DC area 24 hours notice that they were losing their jobs. This really sucks for them.

The paper started in 2003, and it has been part of my morning commute since I began taking Metro to work in 2005. I’ve made fun of Express over the years and even created an “Express Fail” series, but I always read it. The paper was (I hate writing this is past tense) a good way to catch the headlines of the day. It introduced me to "Pearls Before Swine" and Sudoku and let me know of area events along with articles on sports, television, music, and movies. Plus, the people handing out Express at the Metro stations were almost always friendly. There’s one guy in particular who has distributed newspapers at my station for years, and it’s nice to see him each day. It gives you some comfort and consistency seeing a familiar, welcoming face each day. Today, people were taking pictures with him. I simply thanked him for being outside handing out papers all these years and wished him good luck. He thanked me and shook my hand.

Back to Express, I was honored to have my blog listed several times in its Blog Log feature. This was one such time. It was really exciting, and I have physical copies of them in my home. (Though I’m not exactly sure where. When I find them, it will be a Found in my Basement post.)

The Washington Post seems to blame Metro ridership for Express going out of business. Not the number of riders (which would make some sense), but the habits of riders constantly looking at their phones and not picking up the paper. I'm not sure that I completely buy this rationale and feel like it has to be more of an economic decision.

I guess that I’ll use my commuting time reading books more and catching up on The Washington Post Magazine. It would be great if something similar took its place (or The Post changed its mind) though giving away free newspapers may not be a good business model in 2019. Plus, what's going to happen to all of these yellow boxes throughout the area?

I’m definitely going to miss Express.

Kamala, Katy, Ariana, & Demi

My friend Josh recently included this picture as part of a post regarding his 2020 Democratic Primary Fantasy League.

This is Presidential candidate and California Senator Kamala Harris with pop musicians Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato. I would have loved to have been in the room to hear the conversation between these women. And actually, maybe I was. Here is a brief transcript of that conversation.

Katy Perry: Senator Harris, we’re so excited that you’re here to meet with us today.

Kamala Harris: Oh please just call me Kamala. I’m honored to be meeting all of you. You know how important it is to get young people out to vote and to engage in our democratic process, and I appreciate you encouraging your fans to do this.

Perry: The three of us talked about it, and we want to endorse you to be the next President of the United States. However, we want to know that you’re real. What we mean is that if you want us to encourage our fans to vote for you, we need to know that you know us and aren't just pandering.

Harris: Yes, I know that you have a cat named Kitty Purry. That’s wonderful.

Perry: Oh, Kitty Purry is the sweetest. Anyway, to show that you’re in touch with the youth of this country, we want you to name your favorite song of ours.

Harris: Well, I really think that young Americans will care about my plans on healthcare and education and the environment.

Perry: Do you want us to call Elizabeth Warren?

Harris: Fine.

Ariana Grande: Me first.

Harris: Um, okay. My favorite song of yours is Thank U, Next. I love how you sing about growing from each of your past relationships and how that has helped you become a better you. It’s really an empowering song for women.

Perry: What about my song?

Harris: Well, Katy, I want to say Firework, but since both of us represent the great state of California, I’m definitely going with California Gurls. Us California girls need to stick together! (Gives Perry an awkward high five.)

Demi Lovato: What about me?

Harris: Oh, um, you have so many great songs that it’s hard to choose just one.

Lovato: Well, then give me several of your favorites.

Harris: Well, if I have to pick one, it would be (6 second pause which seems like hours), Party in the USA.

Lovato: That’s Miley Cyrus!

We interrupt this conversation for a choose your own adventure. There are two possibilities here. You can see what happens when I was in the room for the discussion (Ariana and I have a history) and when I was not. For the option of me NOT being in the room, continue reading below. For the option of me being in the room, skip to after the picture.

You chose the option of the four women continuing their conversation.

Harris: Fine, I can’t name one of your songs. I do know that you have had some rough times, and I’m glad to see that you’re doing well. You'll see that my plan is to increase funding for healthcare, both physical and mental. Besides, do you think that Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders know your songs? We both know that you’re not going endorse Biden.

Lovato: True.

Perry: So are you going to meet with Taylor Swift too?

Harris: I haven’t really thought about it, but I’m looking into more ways to connect with younger voters, so it’s a possibility,

Perry: Taylor and I are friends again, so I can put in a good word for you.

Harris: Thanks!

Perry: You just probably shouldn’t mention that you met with us at Scooter Braun’s house.

Harris: Why?

Perry, Grande, and Levato go through the entire ordeal which can just be summed up here. Harris tries several times to switch subjects with no success. Finally,

Harris: That’s really interesting, and I hope it works out. As President, I will do my best to make sure that Taylor Swift is not engaged in any more feuds.

Perry: Thank you, Kamala. You have my endorsement.

Lovato and Grande: Me too.

Harris: Excellent!

You chose the scenario with me in the room.

Harris: Well, if I have to pick one, it would be (6 second pause which seems like hours), Party in the USA.

Lovato: That’s Miley Cyrus!

Sean (who was hiding behind the curtain): Senator Harris. Demi’s best song is clearly Cool for the Summer or Confident and

Harris: Security!

Grande: Sean! Is that you? I’m so glad to see you. I’ve missed you so much.

Harris: You know him?

Grande: Of course. This is the Sean from the first line of Thank U, Next.

Security: Yes, Senator.

Harris: It’s okay. He can stay.

Perry: Wait, this is Sean. Wow! He’s the one who got away.

Lovato: Sean, let me give your heart a break.

Harris: I think I’m going to go now. It was a pleasure meeting with all of you. And Sean, I could use a person like you in my administration. These three extraordinary women obviously think highly of you, so I think you could be a valuable asset to my campaign and administration. I'm not sure why you were hiding behind that curtain though.

Jerome Bettis and The Jonas Brothers

Over the years, I've had various posts about "Celebrities in Pittsburgh Gear" (like these) and "Pittsburgh Athletes with World-Renowned Athletes" or PAWRA (like these). This post, based on the following picture, doesn't fit either of these categories though:

That's Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis (second from the left) along with The Jonas Brothers sometime before/after/during playing golf at Oakmont on Tuesday. The Jonas Brothers played at PPG Paints Arena later in the evening. Yes, that's um, one Jonas brother on the left,* Joe Jonas fourth from the left, and Nick Jonas fifth from the left (next to Joe). Okay, I admit that I had to look up the name of the first Jonas brother. His name is Kevin, even though I was pretty sure it was Plaxico. I assume that Joe's wife, Sophie Turner of "Game of Thrones," and Nick's wife, Priyanka Chopra, went to grab lunch together at Primanti's and then took the incline up to Mount Washington during the golf game.

Any idea who the other guys are in the picture? What do you think The Bus and The Brothers discussed during the round?

Photo from Colin Dunlap

* Update: Kevin/Plaxico Jonas is not in the picture. My mistake. Perhaps he chose to go to Kennywood instead of golfing.

Sean Analyzes Song Lyrics - Summer 2019

The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards took place on Monday night. This isn't a post about how I'm too old for MTV or me complaining about how MTV doesn't play videos anymore. Instead, this is the return of Sean analyzing song lyrics featuring some of the songs from Monday night. Please note that I'm including videos of the songs below. Some of them may not be suitable for work.

Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - "Señorita"

Land in Miami

Before I talk about the first line of the first verse, let's look at some other Shawn Mendes songs.

Shawn Mendes - "If I Can't Have You"

I'm in Toronto and I got this view

Shawn Mendes - "Lost in Japan"

Do you got plans tonight?
I'm a couple hundred miles from Japan, and I
I was thinking I could fly to your hotel tonight

Okay we get it. Shawn Mendes is a successful 21 year-old pop star who gets to travel the world. I'm happy for you Shawn. Really I am. Now, correct the spelling of your first name.



Lizzo - "Truth Hurts"

New man on the Minnesota Vikings

I actually thought that this line was "No man" which would have been quite a shot at Kirk Cousins, Stefon Diggs, and their teammates. Oprah Magazine has a thorough break-down of this entire song, and while there was some debate about whether or not Lizzo is/was dating someone on the Vikings, it appears that she is/was not. Therefore, let's take a look at some other options about the meaning.

Terence Newman played in the NFL for 15 years most notably for the Dallas Cowboys. Now, he's the nickel/defensive backs coach for the...Minnesota Vikings! So yes, (Terence) Newman on the Minnesota Vikings.

Another possibility is that Lizzo is a Vikings fan and does some PR for the team. After every draft pick or free agent signing, she announces "New man on the Minnesota Vikings."

Lizzo may also be involved in player personnel. Perhaps she's trying to recruit Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman to the Vikings, or, no. She couldn't do this. No way. It's not possible!

Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus - "Old Town Road"

Can't nobody tell me nothin'

A triple negative in a 5-word sentence. This is really impressive!



Taylor Swift featured Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco - "Me"

And you can't spell "awesome" without "me"

I actually originally thought that this was "can't spell us without me" which makes no sense at all. So let's take another line from this song.

Hey kids, spelling is fun.

This reminds me of a post I did, um, several years ago where I looked into the Britney Spears song, "3." In that song, counting was fun. Now, spelling is fun. What a world!



Taylor Swift - "Delicate"

Oh damn, never seen that color blue.

This song is a few years old, but this line really jumps out. Apparently, Swift has never been to the paint section of Home Depot or to Sherwin Williams.



Please click here to see other posts where I look at song lyrics. Some of them go back, um, several years.

Breaking Pittsburgh Pirates News

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been awful with a record of 7-28 since the All-Star break (through Monday, August 19th). This is not the breaking news here. There’s a lot of blame for the poor results to go around. From the lack of quality pitching to injuries to key players like Jameson Taillon to a poor track-record of drafting and developing to the inability of the team to spend significant money in free agency. It seems likely that the team will fire manager Clint Hurdle and possibly even the General Manager Neal Huntington during the off-season as brand-new leadership and a different philosophy are probably needed. However, the Pirates could make a major move with or without making any major personnel moves. What I mean by this is that Sean's Ramblings has learned that Pirates owner Bob Nutting and the team's front office will petition Major League Baseball to move to the team to the American League.

You're probably asking why would the team do this? The Pirates have been in the National League for well over a century. The answer is the team's success against American League teams. In 2019, the Pirates are 12-5 in interleague play but only 39-68 (again, though Monday) against National League teams. That 12-5 record is tied for the best interleague record for any National League team. You're probably thinking, that's ridiculous. That's an extremely small sample size. (You're probably thinking about a lot of other things besides the small sample size, but stay with me here.) However, let's look at the Pirates record against American League teams over the last 9 years:

2019 12-5 (Best in NL)
2018 15-5 (Best in NL)
2017 10-10
2016 9-11
2015 13-7 (Best in NL)
2014 11-9
2013 15-5 (Best in NL)
2012 10-8
2011 8-7

That's a record of 103-67 or an incredible winning percentage of over 60%. I say incredible because this is the Pirates' record against National League opponents during the same timeframe:

2019: 39-68 (through Monday, August 19th)
2018: 67-74
2017: 65-77
2016: 69-72
2015: 85-57
2014: 77-65
2013: 79-63
2012: 69-75
2011: 64-83

Total 614-634

That's a winning percentage of just under .500 at 49.2%

Maybe the front office or coaches know how to manage the Pirates better against American League teams. Maybe they prefer playing with a designated hitter rather than trying to figure whether they should have a pinch-hitter bat for the pitcher in the 6th or 7th inning. Whatever the reason, I think I see why the Pirates want to switch to the AL. Yes, there's the record above, but this is an opportunity to bring in additional ticket revenue. Pirates fans are probably tired of seeing the Brewers and the Reds nine times a year. Now, they would be guaranteed a home series against the Yankees and Red Sox each season. They would probably be in the American League Central meaning nine games each year against Cleveland. Take that Baker Mayfield! Plus, the Twins look good this season, so maybe Pirates fans can pretend that Doug Drabek could have faced Kirby Puckett in the 1991 World Series. (We'll disregard the Royals, White Sox, and Tigers from this conversation. Presumably, if the Pirates moved to the AL one of these teams, probably Kansas City for a fun Cardinals-Royals rivalry, would move to the NL.)

There's no word of whether MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will consider the Pirates request. With the schedule out for 2020, the earliest this could occur would be 2021.

Bears Vs. Raccoons

I love my community message board. While most posts simply ask for advice on contractors or contain neighborhood news, you get posts like this:

On July 31 at 5AM, a resident of the [neighborhood] observed three medium size bears crossing the street between [street A] and [street B]. Just wanted to get the word out so everyone is aware. Thank you.

This is some pretty significant news. Of course, it didn't have nearly the impact it could have since there were no pictures included. Now the fun part...the comments!

Woo, so we are having a Zoo around [here] Dear’s Foxes, now Bears

We have lots of Dear's around the neighborhood like "Dear Abby," "Dear John" (the TV show starring Judd Hirsch, not the movie with Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried) and "Dear Evan Hansen."

Was it reported so it would be publicized in the mainstream media?

Wait, this community message board is not mainstream media? Is this FAKE NEWS?

And my favorite:

Are we sure it wasn't racoons? I know they aren't the same size but it's 5 am in the morning and we've had a lot of racoons lately due to people not properly disposing of trash.

I think you would notice the different between three bears and three raccoons.

It really was a missed opportunity that no one commented that the bears were simply walking in the woods while their porridge cooled. Meanwhile some little girl was about to sit on their chairs, try their porridge, and sleep in their beds.

Trip To Loudoun United's New Stadium

Back in December, I wrote a blog post about Loudoun United, a new soccer team in the United Soccer League. For those of you not familiar with Loudoun United but may know baseball, Loudoun United is somewhat like a AAA team for the MLS team DC United with common ownership and some players playing on both teams. The point of the December post was to share Loudoun United's 2019 schedule and also as a sort of application to become the team's official blogger. My idea was to write about the team on my blog as well as on my Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages and share things that people wouldn't normally see or at least with a different viewpoint from the team's perspective. For example, I proposed writing several posts where I would get to take pictures of the stadium as it was being built and completed and possibly get to interview a few players.

I hoped that the team would appreciate the extra (free!) exposure, and in exchange, give me some tickets to take my family to a few games. Despite some correspondence with the team, nothing ever came of this. I would see pictures from Loudoun United's social media account from various events like the debut of the team's jerseys and the stadium ribbon-cutting ceremony only after the events occurred. I was never invited to any of these functions. While I understand the team not wanting to partner up with a blogger who they don't know, I feel like my social media helped (and could have helped more) promote the team at no cost at all to them.

Last Friday, Loudoun United hosted its first home game at the just-built Segra Field. Continuing my amazing lucky streak this summer, I won two tickets to the game against the Charlotte Independence. I have now won tickets to see Dave Matthews Band, DC United, Loudoun United, George Mason men's basketball, and entry for 10 to an area piano bar all in the last few months. And yes, I played the lottery once recently but lost $1 on a scratch-off ticket. Anyway, since The Moose didn't do a good job listening last week and was talking back more than an eight year-old should, I took 5 year-old Pedro Tulo with me. He promptly fell asleep about five minutes into our 35 minute ride to the stadium, not including the time it took to park.

Speaking of parking, according to WTOP, "two of three parking lots within a few hundred feet of the stadium [were] ready for Friday's game, with the capacity of holding approximately 500 cars." I think those lots filled up quickly. I was directed to park by the youth fields down the hill from the stadium, where I passed at least one sign that said "No Segra Field Parking." I don't want to say that they weren't prepared for the amount of cars for the first game, but there's plenty of room for improvement in getting people in and out of the venue.

I took a few pictures of the stadium on the way in. It's nice. I would probably compare it to a good high school football stadium. I don't know if that's a compliment or not. The field looks great, though it's a turf field, so I hope Loudoun United plans on converting it to a grass field next season. The seats also look nice, though we sat in the "Supporters Section" which are your standard bleacher seats with no backs. Everything else is somewhat piecemeal. There are no permanent structures with the merchandise in a tent, the box office in what appeared to be a trailer, and food and drinks available in tents or at food trucks. I didn't buy food during the game, but it didn't look like you could get food quickly.

A beer man (or woman) going through the stands selling beer and/or water may have alleviated this. My biggest complaint is that you weren't allowed to bring in an unopened bottle of water despite it being August in Northern Virginia meaning temperatures in the 80s even as the sun started going down. In case you’re wondering, DC United, the Washington Nationals, and the Jiffy Lube Live concert venue all permit unopened water bottles. And these were the bathrooms:

Oh, the team also has a horse.

If you want to feel old and feel like maybe you haven’t accomplished much in your life as a teenager and into you’re 20s, Loudoun United games are the place for you. These are the ages of some of the Loudoun United players who played in Friday night’s game.

Moses Nyeman - 15
Jacob Greene - 16
Griffin Yow - 16 (He signed a contract at 15 and played a few games for DC United)
Nelson Martinez - 18
Christain Sorto - 19
Connor Presley & Orlando Sinclair - 21

These kids, and yes they are kids, are getting paid to play soccer before some of them can even vote!

Going to games with Pedro Tulo is always an adventure. While The Moose never wants to miss anything and will sit for hours watching a game, Pedro Tulo gets restless. He bounced back and forth between sitting (or standing) on the bleachers and sitting on my lap in the first half. Then, as the second half was about to start, two kids sat next to us holding beach balls. Despite the second half starting, Pedro Tulo wanted his own beach ball immediately. So we walked from our seats at one end, past the food trucks (and the still long lines at the food trucks) to the other side of the stadium to the Visit Loudoun table where they gave any beach balls, stickers, and more, including a Loudoun County wine map which Pedro Tulo insisted on getting even though the Visit Loudoun staff member said it was adults. (Pedro Tulo liked the map in it, and he can be very charming.) The Visit Loudoun person also told me about the Dulles Summer of Love Music Festival on August 17th featuring Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root and his new band, Uprooted and tried to explain who Rusted Root was. I graduated from a Pittsburgh-area high school in the mid-90s. I know Rusted Root. The father of one of the band members officiated my wedding. I know Rusted Root. (I didn’t say any of this out loud.)



On our way back to the bleachers, I thought that maybe we could sit in one of the regular seats for a better view and better for my back. There were no ushers, so we easily could have done this, but Pedro Tulo wanted to go back to the bleachers. Ugh. One of my favorite things to do when I was younger was get cheap seats for Pittsburgh Pirates games at Three Rivers Stadium and then move down to the nice seats on the third or first base lines in the 5th or 6th inning. I need to teach this to Pedro Tulo.

Back in the bleachers, we sat closer to the Screaming Eagles group. Pedro Tulo enjoyed the drumming and especially the cheers of “Loudoun United.” He constantly screamed this phrase, and for once, his screaming at a public venue was completely appropriate!

After the game, several players came over to the Supporters Section and slapped hands with the fans. At that point, we moved from the bleachers toward the exit but were able to stand by the edge of the field. Then, much to the security guard's dismay, Pedro Tulo ran on to the field and gave high-fives to Elvis Amoh and Griffin Yow. The security guard decided not to stop him because Pedro Tulo ran right back and was being charming again.

It again took longer than it should have to get out of the venue, but we made it, and I expect that this process will improve for future games. My final verdict is that I enjoyed going to the game. It was good, entertaining soccer with a lot of goals scored in a back-and-forth game. The game ended 3-3 with Charlotte taking 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 leads before Loudoun United responded. Definitely a great environment to take your kids. As for Segra Field, the scoreboard went out several times in the second half, and from the Supporters Section, you couldn't hear the announcer share who scored or received a yellow card. The parking situation needs improvement, though I expect that there won't be 5,000 people at the next game as was the announced attendance for this game.

It also appears that my hope of being Loudoun United's official blogger is over. With that written, I can easily be bribed with tickets to write future posts about the team! :)

Please check out this Washington Post article and post-match facts from Loudoun United for more information about the game. This video has all of the highlights too.



The first picture is from Loudoun United. The rest are by me.

15th Anniversary

My wife and I celebrated our 15th anniversary by taking a 24-hour overnight trip. This was the first time we were both away from our kids in 8 years, back when we only had one child (who was only about five months) to attend an out-of-town wedding. I hope that those of you with kids who have family nearby feel fortunate to have loved ones be able to watch them.

The plan was to stay at a resort not too far from home. Before we could check in, though, we went to lunch. Outside of going to the Leesburg Corner Outlets, I had never spent any time in Leesburg since I moved to Northern Virginia in 2001. The downtown area is pretty cool with a bunch of restaurants and shops. They also have my dream restaurant, Bites Wine & Grilled Cheese Bar, a grilled cheese place that also serves alcohol (if you couldn't figure this out by the name). We need more of these!

I love independent bookstores. Powell’s in Portland is amazing, and one of my favorite places to go to when I lived in Columbus was Book Loft. Leesburg also has a cool bookstore called Books and Other Found Things I have no idea how staff can find any individual book, but I purchased a book called "The Daddy Book" for my kids. Okay, it was for me, but to read to my kids. They also had some unique hard-cover books such as "Brave New World" and an autographed copy of "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. I have no idea what the going rate for this would be, so $475 could be reasonable or even a bargain. (I did not buy this book).

Other than exploring historic Leesburg, we spent most of the time exploring the resort (they don’t like it when you try to walk on the golf cart path or try to crash a wedding) and doing a lot of eating. We went to a really good place for dinner, and I already wrote about them tremendous brunch at the resort.

While we were away, I tried to avoid reality as much as I could, knowing that it would be there when we got home. Still, just by having my phone on and flipping around to different TV stations, you couldn't miss coverage and news about mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. I shared my thoughts on mass shootings after the massacre at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last year, and, as expected, nothing has changed. It really would be nice if something did.

I don't want to end this post on a sad note, so I'll include some pictures of the trip below. I also kind of wonder if my wife would have still married me if she knew I would write a blog during nearly the entirety of our marriage!

Brunch

I have an entire blog post drafted about my 15th wedding anniversary, but I realized that one part of it was important enough that it deserves its own post.



In all of the years that I’ve written Sean’s Ramblings, I don’t believe that I ever mentioned how breakfast/brunch is one of the world’s greatest inventions. We stayed at a resort for one night for our anniversary (the first time we've been away from our kids in 8 years!), and they had an amazing brunch buffet that included the following:

- An omelet station

- Bagels and lox

- Fresh fruit, but not just your regular cantaloupe and honey dew that’s at any buffet, but also cherries and cut-up peaches and plums.

- French toast

- Deviled eggs

- Oatmeal. Oatmeal doesn’t sound exciting, but it’s amazing with brown sugar and fresh fruit mixed in.

- Breakfast potatoes

- Yogurt parfait

- Muffins

- Bacon

- Sausage

- Waffles

I cannot confirm or deny that I ate nearly everything available! (I can confirm that it was delicious.)

I'm fine with having cereal with milk accompanied by a glass of orange juice most mornings, but when I win the lottery, I'm having this type of brunch as often as possible.

We now return to your originally scheduled programming, already in progress.


The photo above is by graceht and is not from where I ate brunch.

Found In My Basement: Roberto Clemente's Player Evaluations

A good friend of my in-laws is a huge Pittsburgh Pirates fan. He even got to be the Pirates alumni manager for a day at a Spring Training game about a decade ago where Terry Francona (the Phillies manager at the time) ribbed him since they were from neighboring towns in Butler County. He once mailed me an envelope filled with various Pittsburgh Pirates information such as scorecards and old articles that I just found earlier this week while going through boxes which haven't left the back of the closet in years. He also included a copy of these player evaluations of Roberto Clemente as a teenager.

Pretty cool!

Please click here to check out more Found In My Basement posts.

Concert Setlists (The Dave Matthews Band Anomaly)

The 2019 Sean’s Summer Concert Series appears to have ended. While I’ll probably see some local kids concerts like Rocknoceros and local adult concerts like Herr Metal, I doubt that I’ll see another national touring artist this summer. (Unless MGM National Harbor wants to start selling Aerosmith tickets at a reasonable price!) Over the last two months, I saw Sammy Hagar and the Circle (with opener Night Ranger), Smash Mouth at Celebrate Fairfax, Dave Matthews Band, and then Hootie and the Blowfish and Barenaked Ladies over the weekend. (There may be a separate blog post about this concert in the near future.) All of these shows got me thinking. At every concert, you expect to hear your favorite songs by these artists. From the list above, you know and expect that Sammy Hagar would play "I Can’t Drive 55" and some songs when he was with Van Halen, Smash Mouth would play "All Star" and "I’m a Believer," Hootie and the Blowfish would play "Hold My Hand" and "Only Wanna Be With You," and Barenaked Ladies would play "One Week" and "If I Had A Million Dollars." If you didn’t see these bands play these songs, you would probably be upset since these songs are arguably these artists biggest hits. It’s also why I was disappointed seeing Counting Crows nearly a decade ago as the group played some slow, boring version of "Mr. Jones." On one hand, I get it. These bands have to be tired of playing the same song nearly the same way at every single performance. On the other hand, bands have to know that fans want to hear them play these hits.

This brings me to Dave Matthews Band. They truly are an anomaly here. Despite having huge success with nearly all of their albums going to #1, the band never really had major success based on singles. Their most well-known song is probably "Ants Marching," but I'm not sure if even a handful of songs made the top 40 of Billboard's pop charts. Maybe this “lack of success” gives the band the freedom to play what they want at every show. For example, the first time I heard of the band was from the song “What Would You Say” when I saw the video on MTV in 1994 or so. In the five times I saw them perform, they only played this song once.

Take any major band/artist and have them play a 2.5 hour set. Would you be disappointed if you didn’t hear some of their most popular songs? The answer is probably yes. Let's take some of the biggest performers with deep catalogs who are currently on tour. Billy Joel has played 13 shows in 2019 and played "Piano Man," "Allentown," "We Didn't Start the Fire," and 12 other songs at every one of these shows. Paul McCartney, who probably has the deepest catalog of anyone, has also played the same group of songs such as "Live and Let Die" and "A Hard Day's Night" at every show. Now there is some variety about each set list, but if you’re seeing Billy Joel or Paul McCartney this year, it seems like you’re definitely going to hear certain songs (like he ones I just mentioned) at every concert on this tour.

Back to Dave Matthews Band, they have played 51 shows in 2019 as of the date I wrote this blog post. The song they have played the most is called "Do You Remember" (played at 36 shows) which I do not remember. It’s one of the songs from their 2018 album. They have played over 100 different songs at their 51 concerts. That’s really impressive. And my guess is that their fans have been satisfied when the show ends.

Is there any other current musician/group who does this and can pull this off?

Dave Matthews Band Field Trip

I’ve been on an amazing run lately. I mentioned that I won DC United tickets and tickets to the first home game for George Mason’s men’s basketball team for the 2019-2020 season. I also won passes for 10 at a piano bar in the DC Metro area. Last week, I had the radio on in the background when they mentioned that they were giving away tickets to see Dave Matthews Band (DMB). I called the number once, and it was busy, and called again, and had this conversation:

DJ: Hi. Who’s this?

Me: Sean

DJ: Where are you calling from today, Sean?

Me: Arlington

DJ: And what are you doing right now?

Me: Working

DJ: Well, hopefully you’re in somewhere air conditioned and staying out of the heat. You won two tickets to see Dave Matthews Band at Jiffy Lube Live. (Or something like this.)

Me: Nice

It was riveting radio. So after seeing DMB four times in the late 90s and early 2000s in Pittsburgh, San Diego, Darien Lake (between Rochester and Buffalo) and in Bristow, Virginia when the venue was still called Nissan Pavilion and before I had a blog, I was going to I see the band again for the first time in at least 15 years. This is the story of the concert:

My brother wanted some food before we got to the venue, and I figured that I could use a pre-concert desert, so we saw a sign for Sheetz at an I-66 exit and stopped there. While I realized too late that I should I purchased a milkshake, I was pleased with this selection:

I don’t think I’ve had Zingers since high school!

Let me vent for a second. Jiffy Lube is a fairly standard outdoor concert venue. There’s a covered area with seats in front and a giant uncovered lawn in the back. I had no idea where I was sitting after I won the tickets. The radio station didn’t know and neither did the venue. They both said to try will call at the day of the show since that’s when the radio station delivers the tickets. When I called will call, they said that they couldn’t give this information over the phone, only in person with an ID. This really isn’t practical. For seats, I just bring myself. For the lawn, you need a blanket and/or chairs. They suggested bringing chairs and then take them back to the car if I had seats. On a normal day, this is inconvenient. On this day, it was 100 degrees for the show with an excessive heat watch and a heat index of 110. I hoped that the station would give away actual seats, so I left the chairs in the car and walked at least a half mile from the lot to the front gate. After getting to will call and opening the envelope, I learned that I won...lawn seats. I was not turning around, especially after I accidentally left the blanket in the car. We were going to sit on the grass and/or stand! Anyway, I feel like it shouldn’t be too much to ask for the radio station to know where the seats they are giving away are located.

Minutes before I left for the concert (well before stopping at Sheetz) I found a 1999 DMB concert T-shirt that I haven’t worn in at least a decade in the back of my closet. My brother wore an orange Netherlands soccer jersey that he got in 2001. Together, our shirts were 38 years old which was older than the majority of the crowd!

Just thought I would mention that there was a lot of marijuana, vaping, and tattoos on the lawn. I have no point here, just wanted to state this for the record.

Maybe 30-45 minutes into the concert, I looked to the west and noticed that the sky was getting really dark. A few minutes later, Dave Matthews announced that they were temporarily stopping the show because a thunderstorm was coming through. Apparently, this was the third consecutive DMB show where this happened. Someone from the venue got on the microphone and said that the people in the covered seats could stay, but that the people in the lawn should go to their cars to seek shelter. Stupid radio station! We quickly went to paved walkway directly behind the seats and were joined by dozens of other friends. If it rained, we were probably going to stay dry. Probably. Meanwhile, some people decided to just stay on the lawn. That seemed like a dumb decision to stay on a giant lawn at the highest point in the area for a potential thunderstorm. Of course, that didn’t stop vendors from selling beer and water.

After maybe 20 minutes, the storm cleared or at least missed Jiffy Lube completely, and the show resumed.

Overall, the crowd was cool. You sort of expect that for a DMB crowd. There were a couple of guys behind us after the rain delay that we’re jerks though. At least one guy dropped his finished beer can on the ground, and of course it rolled against my back. Fortunately, it was empty. Not sure if is was the same guys, but Dave Matthews briefly addressed the crowd and said this:

"It's easy to hate, it's hard to love. We gotta find another way to talk to each other without guns and bombs because it's bull****."

Nothing controversial here, yet the guy behind us basically said shut up and play. This wasn’t Bono doing a diatribe like he was addressing Congress. Dave barely said much during the show. The guys moved a little later.

Near the end of the show, a different guy near me yelled for them to play Two Step. I thought this was a somewhat absurd request since (besides the fact that the band could never hear him) DMB has a deep catalog and don’t seem to have songs that they “must” play. (For example, I saw Smash Mouth at Celebrate Fairfax last month. People would be upset if they didn’t play All Star.) A few songs later, they closed with Two Step. Got me wondering if that’s a song they play regularly and often end the show on. Therefore, I contacted my friends and super DMB fans, Sista K and Paul. They have gone to (I believe) over 50 DMB shows. They also watched the concert via livestream and provided excellent nuggets about the show, set list, etc.

Regarding Two Step, they told me that the Jiffy Lube show was the 7th time they've played it out of 29 shows this tour. 5 of those times have been in the encore. I guess the guy near me just got really lucky that DMB played the song. Or they heard the guy yelling his request!

They also told me that Dave does the setlist each night before the show and looks at what he's played in the past few years at the venue. It seems like Dave uses analytics here. I’m guessing Smash Mouth doesn’t do this!

Personally, I was happy to hear Ants Marching and Jimi Thing. The Back In Black/Staying Alive/Fly Like an Eagle medley was a nice touch.

I think I’m not going to wait another 15 or so years again to see DMB again. I’m also going to know where I’m sitting before I go next time!

Friday Video: Bad Guy

I'm late to the Billie Eilish party. She's arguably the biggest name in music right now with everyone from Dave Grohl to Julia Roberts to Queens Of The Stoneage frontman Josh Homme to Tyler, the Creator among her fans. I really don't know many her songs (yet) other than Bad Guy which is currently one of the top songs in the country. There's also a remix with Justin Bieber. This version (without Bieber) is much better.

Interview With Joe Toscano of The Donut Bag

One of my favorite podcasts to listen to lately is The Donut Bag by Joe Toscano. While I asked him to describe the podcast below, the short description from its Twitter page is that The Donut Bag is "A podcast about Pittsburgh sports & other stuff." I thought I would ask Joe about how he started the podcast, his relationship with Chris Carter (not that Chris Carter unless it's the Chris Carter you're thinking of), and more.

My first question is how did you decide to do a podcast, how did you get started, and did you have type of media experience or did you just grab a microphone and begin? (Yes, I guess this should be first questions.)

I decided to do a podcast because I had too much to say and being a loudmouth on Twitter wasn’t enough :)
In early 2018, a couple podcasts were nice enough to have me on and I had so much fun that I thought about doing one of my own. But I was so shy and had no idea how to even start something like that so nothing happened. I thought I needed a cohost so I asked a few friends if they wanted to do a podcast with me and they turned it down. That ended up being a huge blessing because it gave the freedom to do whatever I wanted :)
So in July 2018 I decided it was now or never. Steelers training camp was starting and I wanted to do a lot of Steelers coverage so I decided to start the podcast. I never had any media experience other than a little writing but I did have a technical background so that helped. I tried to register with Apple Podcasts but they need an episode to get registered. Then I discovered I needed a host so I signed up with podbean. I was able to get out that first episode, get registered on all of the podcast platforms and the rest is history :)

Did you have an idea when you started of what you wanted the podcast to be?

Yes, and it turned out to be nothing like that :) I listen to a lot of podcasts and one of my favorites is This Week In Tech. Each episode is 2 hours and features a host and 3 experts talking about tech. So I thought I’d do the same thing but with sports and pop culture. I did a couple episodes like that but it was hard finding ‘experts’ to commit to 2 hours so I had regular fans talking. Then I tried to live up to the ‘donut bag’ aspect by having 3 or 4 different segments on one episode. That didn’t work because people complained it was too long. So now I put out a number of episodes a week that are 30-60 minutes long and each episode focuses on one subject.

Going off this question, I’m impressed by how prolific you are in putting out multiple episodes each week. How do you decide on the theme of each episode?

Some of it is planned ahead of time and some of it just happens :) During football season, I have a structure of doing a show previewing the upcoming week’s game then a show reviewing the games. For baseball and hockey, I try to do an episode a week. But then things come up, like the Le’Veon Bell situation or the Antonio Brown trade where I feel the need to do an episode ASAP. The Antonio Brown trade was funny because I found out about it on 6am one Sunday morning and saw that frequent guest Mark Hagelauer was online and I messaged him that we should do a podcast now. He said ‘huh? Dude it’s 6am!’ But we did one anyway :)
And sometimes things just come up, like when it was the 30th anniversary of Seinfeld so I decided to do an episode about it!

While I’m a little late in discovering your podcast, my favorite reoccurring podcast guest is Chris Carter of DK Pittsburgh Sports because of his knowledge of the Steelers and the rapport between the two of you. I feel like I’m going to go into Chris Farley mode here interviewing Paul McCartney on SNL, but that was awesome.



Thanks! Chris is awesome and we always meet in person to record. I usually talk to people over the phone or Skype but talking to someone in person is a whole different dynamic.

Is there a dream guest that you would like to have?

There’s so many :) I want to talk to athletes, current and former. I want to do episodes with Pittsburgh media personalities but I’m too shy to ask them :)

What has surprised you about doing the podcast?

That anyone would want to talk to me :) But I’ve had so many guests on and it’s been so much fun meeting new people. Also, since I’m a one man operation, I had to do a better job of getting organized. I’d be sitting at home and someone would message me that they’re ready to record and I’d forget that we agreed weeks ago to talk :)

What should we expect to see (well, hear) in The Donut Bag future?

I don’t know! :) Maybe less episodes. Some weeks I put out 5 or 6 episodes a week and that’s a bit much :) Being a one man operation gives me the freedom to do what I want, and sometimes things just come up so we’ll see what happens :)

Do you have a favorite podcast episode?

I don't really have a favorite podcast episode - they're all like my children :)

Oh, what is the song that’s played at the end of each podcast?

It’s a song called ‘restaurant at the end of the universe’ by a band called Gumband. (This is the band's website.) They usually do rock covers (and are REALLY good!) but this was one of their originals.


Thanks to Joe for taking the time to answer my questions. He really likes smiley faces! :)

I highly recommend checking out his podcast, particularly if you're a Pittsburgh sports fan. Even if you're not, skip those episodes and listen to those about The Office, Seinfeld, and more. You can also follow Joe on Twitter.

Best Books For Every Age

The Washington Post recently put together a really cool feature where they highlighted the best books to read at every age, from 1 to 100. I thought it would be fun to share the list and see how many of these books I have read (in bold). I also included a few of my own thoughts here and there. Please leave your number and any thoughts about the books and list in the comments section below.

Age 1
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle

Age 2
“Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney

Age 3
“Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak

Age 4
“Charlie Parker Played Be Bop” by Chris Raschka

Age 5
“The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein

Age 6
“Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary, illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers

Age 7
“The Complete Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson

Age 8
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling

Age 9
“Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” by Judy Blume

Age 10
“Smile” by Raina Telgemeier


Age 11
“Ghost” by Jason Reynolds
Sean's note: I saw this movie with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg. Not sure it it's appropriate for an 11 year old though.

Age 12
“Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor

Age 13
“I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai

Age 14
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
Aaron Brame's favorite book!

Age 15
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas

Age 16
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë

Age 17
“Once Upon a River” by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Age 18
“A Gate at the Stairs” by Lorrie Moore

Age 19
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood

Age 20
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz


Age 21
“The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway

Age 22
“Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville

Age 23
“The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Malcolm X and Alex Haley

Age 24
“Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand

Age 25
“I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith

Age 26
“Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Age 27
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey

Age 28
“Sister Outsider” by Audre Lorde

Age 29
“In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan

Age 30
“The Joy of Sex” by Alex Comfort


Age 31
“Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child
Does seeing Julie and Julia count?

Age 32
“The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
Partial credit since I've read "Of Mice & Men.

Age 33
“Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story” by Paul Monette

Age 34
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison

Age 35
“How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk” by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish

Age 36
“Life Among the Savages” by Shirley Jackson

Age 37
“The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan

Age 38
“The Sportswriter” by Richard Ford

Age 39
“What Alice Forgot” by Liane Moriarty

Age 40
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” by Jean-Dominique Bauby


Age 41
“Rabbit, Run” by John Updike

Age 42
“The Woman Upstairs” by Claire Messud

Age 43
“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston

Age 44
“The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt

Age 45
“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” by Maria Semple

Age 46
“Salvage the Bones” by Jesmyn Ward

Age 47
“Stretching” by Bob Anderson

Age 48
“Bossypants” by Tina Fey
It's nice to see another book that I've read on the list again! Unfortunately, this may be the last one.

Age 49
“Walden” by Henry David Thoreau

Age 50
“Fifty Shades of Grey” by EL James

I just felt like adding a picture at the half-way mark.

Age 51
“Who Do You Think You Are?” by Alice Munro

Age 52
“Men Without Women” by Haruki Murakami

Age 53
“A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman
Not to be confused with "A Man Called Ovi" about the Washington Capitals player.

Age 54
“The Denial of Death” by Ernest Becker

Age 55
“Olive Kitteridge” by Elizabeth Strout

Age 56
“When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chödrön

Age 57
“Remains of the Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro

Age 58
“The Plague of Doves” by Louise Erdrich

Age 59
“Dynamic Aging” by Katy Bowman

Age 60
“The Five Years Before You Retire” by Emily Guy Birken
Seems like I should probably read this when I'm 70.


Age 61
“Fear of Dying” by Erica Jong

Age 62
“Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” by Helen Simonson

Age 63
“Our Souls at Night” by Kent Haruf

Age 64
“Old in Art School” by Nell Painter
With this last name, you sort of have to write a book about art.

Age 65
“65 Things to Do When You Retire” edited by Mark Evan Chimsky
Again, I'll need the book of 75 Things to Do When You Retire.

Age 66
The “Outlander” series by Diana Gabaldon

Age 67
“Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes
I think I've read this, but I'm not 100% sure.

Age 68
“The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion

Age 69
“I Remember Nothing” by Nora Ephron

Age 70
“Master Class: Living Longer, Stronger, and Happier” by Peter Spiers


Age 71
“Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie
He was fantastic in Bridget Jones's Diary.

Age 72
“Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel García Márquez

Age 73
“The Years of Lyndon Johnson” four volumes, by Robert Caro

Age 74
“Paris in the Present Tense” by Mark Helprin

Age 75
“The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss
The working title was You Can't Hurry Love.

Age 76
“Women Rowing North” by Mary Pipher

Age 77
“Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson

Age 78
“Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White

Age 79
“The Coming of Age” by Simone de Beauvoir

Age 80
“Coming Into Eighty: Poems” by May Sarton


Age 81
“Devotions” by Mary Oliver

Age 82
“The Summer of a Dormouse” by John Mortimer

Age 83
All the thrillers and mysteries
I think The Post mailed this one in. All the thrillers and mysteries? Here's the description from the story:

If you haven’t yet acquainted yourself with Easy Rawlins, Mrs. Pollifax, Maisie Dobbs, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Commissario Guido Brunetti, invite them over. They’re great company.

Age 84
“The Last Unknowns” Deep, Elegant, Profound Unanswered Questions About the Universe, the Mind, the Future of Civilization, and the Meaning of Life edited by John Brockman

Age 85
“Ravelstein” by Saul Bellow

Age 86
“Old Filth” by Jane Gardam

Age 87
“King Lear” by William Shakespeare

Age 88
“Nearing Ninety: And Other Comedies of Late Life” by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Laura Gibson

Age 89
“A Carnival of Losses: Notes Nearing 90” by Donald Hall

Age 90
“Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God” by Joe Coomer



Age 91
“Selected Poems: 1988-2013” by Seamus Heaney

Age 92
“Nothing to be Frightened Of” by Julian Barnes

Age 93
“Sapiens” by Yuval Harari

Age 94
“This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism” by Ashton Applewhite

Age 95
The Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante

Age 96
“Somewhere Towards the End” by Diana Athill

Age 97
“My Own Two Feet” by Beverly Cleary

Age 98
“Life Is So Good” by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman

Age 99
“Little Boy” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Age 100
“Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author” by Herman Wouk


I'm pretty good in the books before you reach the age of 10. After that...not so much. Overall, my total number is 11.5 since I can't remember whether or not I read Don Quixote.

Just for fun, take a look at the top 100 list of books Entertainment Weekly put out a few years ago and see how this list compares.

My Fight With United States Soccer

I’ve been a certified soccer referee since 1990. That’s a long time! Back in high school, this was the perfect job. I made pretty good money, and I only worked weekends which allowed me to participate in school activities and (to my parents’ approval) not have to worry about balancing homework with a job during the week. I didn’t ref much during college though I always managed to work a big tournament when I got home for the summer. (Hi Edinboro University!) I took several years off after college, during graduate school (where I already had three jobs), and in my early professional career.

With my wife busy with work and graduate school, I had some extra time and decided to get back into being a soccer referee. I got recertified and got connected with an outstanding youth association in Northern Virginia, who truly supports their referees. I got paid to exercise! I’ve continued to work as a ref since then doing games for kids as young as 8 up to adult league games. I’ve had to cut back my time working as a ref significantly with three kids, particularly since I was an assistant coach for two teams this spring. Even in the rare instance when I planned on working some games last month, I had to cancel one set of games since my middle son had to go to the emergency room in what turned out to be two broken bones in his left arm. I felt awful for retuning the games only an hour before I was to be at the field, but my kid+emergency room took priority. It was the only time I ever had to cancel games and the referee assigner was extremely supportive. This is a really long introduction to my recent correspondence with the United States Soccer Federation ("USSF").

Here we go:

Dear USSF,

My name is Sean, and I've been a certified referee for approximately 25 years. I've enjoyed working as a referee since I was a teenager and now also coach my kids' teams. The reason that I'm writing is because referee fees go up every year, yet, it seems like referees get less and less for these fees. Specifically, we used to receive a paper copy of The Laws of the Game annually, and we haven't received a copy in years. While I understand that the Laws expanded greatly over the last few years, I still like having a handy reference at the field or after the game instead of trying to find something in a PDF format on my phone. Basically, I'm writing to see how I can get a free paper copy of The Laws. I find it completely unreasonable that our fees go up each year, and if we want a paper copy of The Laws, we need to pay for it.

Thank you,
Sean

The reply:

Hi Sean,

Unfortunately, we cannot distribute a free copy of the IFAB Laws of the Game. You can access them with the pdf attached or through the free app “Laws of the Game” in the app store.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

My turn:

Thank you for your quick response. I guess my question is why are you unable to distribute copies of the Laws to referees? It seems like this should be a part of the fees we pay for recertification each year.

I sent a second similar message to USSF 9 days later after not receiving a response. After the second message, I received this reply:

Hi Sean,

Although we appreciate your desire to always have a physical copy handy, it no longer makes sense to distribute over a 100,000 physical copies for free when it can just be accessed online.

We understand where you are coming from, but hope you can respect our rationale with this.

My turn again:

Dear U.S. Soccer Referee Program,

Thanks again for your response. While I understand that it's probably cost prohibitive to print a physical copy for all refs every year, it seems like it could be done once and then (like we do now) we get a printed few pages of only the changes from one year to the next. I guess my main question is this. If it doesn't make sense to print physical copies, why are referee fees going up each year? Where are our fees going? Is there somewhere online (or even a printed copy!) where referees can see the budget specifically for referees?

I sent a second message to USSF after not getting a response for a week, and it appears that I'm not going to get a response to this one.

Look, I know this is a somewhat trivial fight. It really isn’t that big a deal that the Laws of the Game are only available online. I’m just a little old-fashioned. I’d much rather read a physical book than to try to read one on my phone or tablet. I even have a blog and few people have blogs anymore! I just prefer having a physical copy of the Laws. I'm also not happy that fees go up each year, and we were just required to purchase new uniforms since (I believe) a new company now makes the shirts and USSF didn't want refs to wear the logo for the old company on the uniforms. All of this and I want BBQ Fritos back! Well, at least I’m comforted in knowing that my referee fees are going to the US women’s national team which will receive an equal amount of money for winning the World Cup as the men’s team would have received for winning the World Cup.

Wait, what?

Loudoun United Update

The United States women's national team won its fourth World Cup title on Sunday thanks to an impressive 2-0 victory over The Netherlands. So I'm sure that you're thinking, Sean, why are you writing a blog post about Loudoun United, a team in the USL Championship league, only a day after we should be celebrating Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn, and soon-to-be superstar Rose Lavelle? That's a good question, proving again how smart you are. I guess the best reason is that soccer is the top story in the United States today, and I'm here to reaffirm my commitment as Loudoun United's (still not) official team blogger.

In mid-May, Richie Williams, the first head coach in Loudoun United's history, left to join the New England Revolution staff after coaching only 9 games. This was only several months after "Dane Murphy, D.C. technical director who was hired in the fall and oversaw Loudoun’s roster, departed before the season started to pursue a high-ranking job in England." Ryan Martin, who became the director of D.C. United's academy in January 2017, was hired as Loudoun United's second coach in team history.

So even though the team only started playing a few months ago, Loudoun United is already on its second head coach and second technical director. I would hope that the team doesn't already have a second (still not) official team blogger too. I'm not here to make any demands or anything. All I'm asking for is a tour of the stadium, which is scheduled to open in August, prior to its opening where I can take pictures of the field, stands and concession areas and share this with all of you. Then, just a few tickets to the first ever home game. I've already written several blog posts about the team and promoted them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. That's the least I can do as the (still not) official team blogger. Let's make the (still not) official blogger title, official, Loudoun United. Let's build on the success of the women's national team to help grow the game. Help me, help you!

Photos by Alex Grimm/Getty Images and Loudoun United.