Being a Padres GM, how hard could it be? A sports fan ask tough questions.

On the day Tim Lincecum had his second no-hitter against the Padres, a Grantland article was published about the abysmal state of the Padres. Go ahead and read it. It will give you some background on the rant I'm about to go on.

Well I just re-read the article and now I'm really mad. I've gone to two Padres games this year (I don't even live in San Diego) and fortunately saw two wins. Apparently that was a remarkable feat. Looking up their record as of today, the Padres are 66-74 which gives us 3rd place in NL West. This honestly makes me wonder what is wrong with the teams in 4th and 5th place because if you read the Grantland article...there is alot wrong with the Padres. They should be last, but somehow we are not. The Grantland article is depressing in so many ways: the horrific ownership that made the terrible tv deal that only them rich (let me remind everyone Time Warner refused to carry Fox Sports San Diego for two years!), Matt Bush (I had blocked him out), trading away Mat Latos, I could go on but...let's not. It would be better for everyone if I just made my point.

I mentioned to my sister in July that I could be the Padres GM. She replied that being a GM is hard. I replied back, "Well, I couldn't be doing a worse job." If you read the Grantland article, you would know this to be true. Then my sister told me the Padres had interviewed a woman for GM. Intriguing! I can't be the Padres GM due to lack of experience, but Kim Ng may be overqualified. I hoped she would get the job, I knew that she wouldn't. She didn't. I haven't really bothered to learn the new GM's name because at this point he has to earn even that from me.

I wrote a post a couple of months ago about sports fandom and how uneasy I'm becoming with being a sports fan. I didn't publish it because I needed to sort out my thoughts. Owners are greedy. Players are greedy too, but they put their bodies in harms way for our entertainment. If I like watching sports (the best type of reality television if you ask me), what kind of person does that make me? I feed into the greed and watching people put their bodies at risk for our enjoyment (this doesn't include PEDs which I did publish a post about). I'm definitely not comfortable with anything of this: the avarice that permeates throughout professional sports is something I cannot support. Should I stop watching sports? Can I stop watching sports? All I do know, the answers to these questions will probably be needed before I am ready to give them.

What do comic book movies mean to you?

There was a time in my life, not too long ago and definitely not a galaxy far far away, where I went to every single comic book movie. Every single one. I watched and made other people watch with me: Superman Returns, Constantine, and Daredevil in the movie theater. I like comic book movies, but I've had enough. I haven't watched any of new Spidermans (Tobey Maguire was just the best Peter Parker), will probably refuse to watch Batman vs Superman, and was curious enough about X-Men Days of Future Past to watch it in the theatre but when people asked me about it...I told them the actors were good. I will say Avengers is a great movie, but again great casting and I just adore Joss Whedon.

I understand why comic book movies are re-booted (they are profitable because people go see them again like Pavlov's dog) and just keep getting made (they do have amazing storylines). They are fairly entertaining and if you are an actor, a dream job. But even I, who has a high tolerance for comic book movies and fandom, am tired of every big movie is a comic book movie.

So even though Guardians of the Galaxy would probably be a movie I would enjoy, I won't go see it because it is a comic book movie. I've had enough. However, I read an interesting argument about Guardians this week: Guardians is this generation's Star Wars. Intriguing and from what I can tell, possibly true. Every generation should have a Star Wars: a spectacular space adventure. However, I am hoping/waiting for this generation's Princess Bride, Back to the Future, or Die Hard. Though it seems like we will get this generation's Ghostbusters. Complete with an all female cast! Now that is a movie I can't wait to see.

Mr. Padre

It would take Mr. Padre to bring me out of a blogging hiatus. One last thing I owe Tony Gwynn.

I fell in love with baseball in the Summer of 1984. The Padres in their first World Series. I honestly don't remember any of the games, all I remember is the excitement felt throughout my family. I've mentioned I come from a sports obsessed family (the fact I never even blogged about California Chrome is kinda lame), so you can imagine the mini-me being caught up in the chaos. It was great until it ended, but for me it was just the beginning. Baseball remains my favorite sport to watch, live or on tv. Sometimes, I even listen to it on the radio. I always make it a point to go to Petco (even when I didn't live in San Diego) at least once year. To me, summer always means baseball.

Having a Tony Gwynn on your team is so awesome, I realized last week that I will probably never recover from it. Kings hockey is actually a great analogy: if you watched the Kings in the playoffs, even when they were down...you were confident they would come back. Irrationally confident which is the best type of high for a sports' fan. There is nothing like it. Tony Gwynn was similar in that every time he walked up to the plate, you were confident he would get a hit. If he didn't get a hit, he would walk. I always thought I had overly fond memories of Tony Gwynn because he was on my team and my viewpoint was biased. But to hear my views validated by everyone last week made me understand everything was just true: Tony Gwynn was an amazing hitter, a great guy, and there will probably be nobody else like him.

So thank you Tony Gwynn for never leaving a team who under-performed for years. Thank you for being an admirable guy with a sweet swing. Mostly, thank you for the love of the game.

The Plaid Alternative

I've become re-obsessed with plaid. While having an extended lunch with my oldest friend yesterday, I confessed my re-obsession. We both laughed because this new wave of plaid fashion was probably the last thing either of us could have predicted.

I grew up in the 90s (now I'm really aging myself) where plaid was rampant. It  was the grunge era and fashion was all about comfort. I was a teenager through the 90s, so nostalgia probably colors my perspective. I fondly remember baby doll dresses (I owned many!), Doc Martens (I never owned a pair of those), and the perseverance of plaid. I'll probably never again wear baby doll dresses (even though they were so comfortable) or buy a pair of Doc Martens (which are also in style again?!?), but I'm all in with this new plaid era. Back in the 90s, plaid meant "grunge." These days plaid means "hipster." I wouldn't call myself a hipster, but I do like the hipster adherence to plaid. Both "grunge" and "hipster" lifestyles could be called "alternative."

What does alternative mean? I tend to think of it as "against the grain" more than anything. Sort of a rebelling against the collective consciousness. So, why is plaid leading the way? What does plaid signify, if anything? Am I thinking about this too strongly? Sometimes that is the problem when you do research for a living. Small pieces of data can lead to something grand, but more often than not, it doesn't lead to anything significant beyond noise.

However, I do think the re-emergence of plaid means something. Though I freely admit to not having a single piece of datum to back me up. The fact a fabric tend to skirt the outside of convention suggests it might always be associated that way. Perhaps because plaid is such a traditional fabric, people who embrace "alternative" seek a solid foundation. Maybe plaid signifies the strength of tartans worn by Scottish clans. I always associate the delicate nature of lace with the whimsical wonder of Venice. Does the origin of a fabric permeate through centuries? Though maybe only I connect fabric to their origins due to my sewing hobby? These are things to ponder....while wearing plaid shirts.

On Opening Night

When one thinks of Opening Night, it is often associated with a play. One might imagine getting dressed up, being excited, and most of all, being entertained. Opening Night is magical. If the Major Baseball league had its way, Opening Night would also describe the first day of baseball. From last night's game (the first on US soil for the 2014 season), I wouldn't disagree.

Opening Night consisted of a Dodgers vs. Padres game in San Diego. My sister and I debated why the first nationally broadcast baseball game was the Dodgers vs. Padres. We ended up deciding the weather was the determining factor. And you only had to watch the game to agree. We both grew up in San Diego and we both agreed San Diego looked so pretty on tv. For people who don't grow up watching baseball, it can be a really boring game to watch. Last night's game, wasn't boring at all. Initially, it was really frustrating for a Padres fan to follow on tv. There was the fact the Padres left men on base in the first and second innings. I personally believed the first base umpire should have been fired by the 5th inning. My sister thought the ESPN announcers were horribly biased towards the Dodgers. Case in point: when the Padres made a comeback in the 8th inning, the announcers had no idea who hit the home run. Granted he was a pinch-hitter and it was the first day of the season. We eventually had to look up who hit the home run on-line. Then we watched the Dodgers defense collapse, the Padres hold onto a win by a great outing by their closer, and the end result was the Padres in first place after Opening Night. It was a great night for baseball if you ask me.

Of course, I'm too much of a sports realist to get completely carried away. I haven't read too much (or anything at all) into the fact the Padres are a trendy sleeper pick. My only hope is for the analogy of a play's run to baseball season holds up: that closing night be as memorable as opening night. The excitement of a play's finale is dependent on the play's success. The same reasoning could be applied to baseball. A team's final game is only exciting if the season was victorious. Baseball season is upon us. May the best team (as evidenced by Opening Night! sorry, I couldn't help myself) be the one standing on top in October.

Let It Go because Everything is AWESOME!!!

Obviously, I recently watched two movies with catchy songs. I watched them in reverse order of release date because legos > princess movie with snowman. However, I have to admit: I might like Frozen more than The Lego Movie.

Whenever I attend a 1-3 year old's birthday party, I usually get the celebrant Legos. They have super cool Legos these days. Everything from Star Wars to cupcakes. You really can't go wrong with giving a kid Legos. The Lego Movie is visually stunning and true to Lego capabilities. Lego people in the movie "walk" just the way they do in real life. I was mostly interested in The Lego Movie because I read the screenplay was written by the guys who created Clone High. Hardly anybody watched Clone High but I remember it as a truly funny/clever show. I had high expectations for The Lego Movie and it mostly didn't disappoint. I remember thinking during the movie "Only a kid could come up with this story-line" which is absolutely the truth. The one thing I didn't like about The Lego Movie was it tried too hard to convey its message. I think it could have been more subtle. However, I forgive that aspect because it has a super awesome music video.

I ended up watching Frozen in the theatres a week before its DVD release. At that point, some of my friends had watched it twice (there is also a sing-a-long version) and it had won an Oscar for best animated movie. I grew up on Disney movies (The Little Mermaid is my favorite) so my lagging to watch Frozen has nothing to do against Disney films. I also really like Tangled, so I like recent Disney movies. I guess watching Frozen wasn't on my list of things to do. However, all my friends told me I had to watch it and I loved it. I'm not familiar with the Han Christian Andersen version of The Snow Queen, but I'm sure Disney has modified the story to its strength. I mentioned I was impressed by The Lego Movie's animation. However, Frozen's animation, especially in comparison to previous Disney movies, is astonishing. I'm perfectly aware my adoration for Frozen stems from the fact it revolves around two sisters. This is why I'm biased, but it really isn't my fault I have a younger sister. Frozen also won the Oscar for best song. Let it Go is sung by the always amazing Idina Menzel.

Isn't the animation amazing?!?! I do apologize if Let It Go is in your head for the rest of the day. It has been in mine for days. Then Everything is AWESOME!!! finds into way into my brain for hour before Let It Go takes its rightful place. It has been an interesting two weeks. So it is a good thing The Incredibles 2 (recently announced) won't have any music. At least, it shouldn't right?

I watched an entire 60 minutes episode. I am as surprised as you.

I found myself watching 60 minutes last Sunday. This was completely by accident: I was doing a mindless task and needed to watch/listen to something. What's on at 7pm on Sunday? Well, 60 minutes has been running at that particular time for 38 years.

My dad was a huge 60 minutes watcher, so I grew up watching 60 minutes. With its prominent newscasters Mike Wallace and Dan Rather, 60 minutes was entertaining, informative, and sometimes filled with intrigue. Pre-internet, it was hard to find unusual stories. More often than not, they were brought to you. 60 minutes built its reputation on aggressive journalism and sensational stories. It was also anchored by a cantankerous old man: Andy Rooney. I grew up without grandparents (I had none by the time I was 7), so I felt Andy was my own personal grandparent telling me how things were better in olden times and how present society/culture was just confusing. He had the bushiest eyebrows.

I haven't watched 60 minutes in years. With the advent of the internet, finding news stories is easy. As I grew older, I realized what I unconsciously liked most about 60 minutes in my early years. I prefer my news brought by a certain perspective: a grizzled, hardened, and truth-seeking perspective. With any type of journalism, it is hard for a journalist to withhold their own notions while reporting. The good know when to hold back their opinion. However, the best are those who slightly impart their knowledge while simultaneously drawing out their interviewee. When I have caught 60 minutes over the years, I've been disappointed with the stories, the journalists, and the reporting. They focused on too many stories in 60 minutes. The interviews were subpar. After hearing about the Benghazi debacle, my disappointment with 60 minutes just increased. The childhood luster of 60 minutes was definitely nonexistent.

So imagine my surprise when I was intrigued by an entire 60 minutes episode last Sunday. There were only 3 stories and each appealed to me. The first was a story about a shooting at a high school. Children should feel safe at school, but that is never the case these days. As was pointed out by this story, there are so many school shootings that perhaps this one didn't nationally register. I didn't remember it. The story revolves around the high school football coach who literally chases the shooter outside the school grounds. However, he is so traumatized by the deaths he wasn't able to prevent that he eventually has to the leave the high school he kept safe. The second story is about the best living art forger. I had never even heard of the guy! As a person who makes it a point to wander through museums, I found this story fascinating. The art forger, Wolfgang Beltracchi, claims some of his paintings still hang in prominent museums. Finally, the third story was an interview with Liam Neeson. This is the first interview which he discusses his wife's, the actress Natasha Richardson, accidental death. These days Liam Neeson is a preeminent action star, but he fully admits to keeping busy as a coping mechanism. It made my heart ache and I am grateful to him for sharing his story.

I watched the entire hour of 60 minutes and didn't once think to change the channel. The stories kept me intrigued with emotions ranging from sadness, complete disbelief, and empathy.  It was close to the 60 minutes I remember from my youth. Perhaps nostalgia will encourage me to watch another episode sometime soon.