What was the last TV show you watched?

[LizzieMaine]

A fine ballgame last nite. That'll teach those Yankees to cross a picket line.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Doctor Who - the character has regenerated and is now a woman. Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor may well be able to save the show if the writers can provide her with some sutiable material. Unfortunately this first episode was amongst the poorest pieces of writing in the entire reboot and was pretty much identical in tone to Steven Moffat (the previous polarizing show runner) at his glib worst.

Doctor Who requires several key elements to work properly; a sense of mystery, stories with surprises and crisp dialogue. If none of these are present in the first episode of a new Doctor, this can only be taken as a warning.

 

[Touchofevil]

Your TV doesn't receive baseball broadcasts?

It does, but I figured you wouldn’t want to read about how happy I was with the Red Sox thumping of the Yankees.

 

[Touchofevil]

Catching up on Luke Cage, started the second season with the premiere last night.

At some point, I need to catch up on Cage and the rest of Marvel on Netflix.

 

[Touchofevil]

Your TV doesn't receive baseball broadcasts?

Red Sox and that other team.

 

[Fading Fast]

It does, but I figured you wouldn’t want to read about how happy I was with the Red Sox thumping of the Yankees.

As a kid, I was fully vested in "my" teams. Now, I enjoy them with very little true attachment. I get that all I'm rooting for is a team uniform - the players change teams so often that I feel like each season my ambivalent thought is "who's playing for us this year." Hence, if they win, I'm mildly happy, if they lose, I just don't care. At, I think, 11-1, I shut the game off as sleep was more important at that point (something I never would have done in my "fan" days). That said, what a can of *ss whooping the Sox opened on the Yankees.

Oddly, I think I'm enjoying baseball more now than ever as I don't care that much who wins, but I love the chess-like strategy and timeless, pastoral vibe of the game more than I did in my younger days. I know this sounds crazy, but it's true, I hope the Sox go on to win the WS. My girlfriend is a Sox fan (to the same extent that I am a Yankees fan) and in an odd way, since they beat the Yankees - and since they are the team I know the second best in the league and since I lived in Boston for eight years and really like the city - I hope they win.

None of it means a lot to me anymore. It's almost like a TV show, I get whatever entertainment value I do from watching it and then go on about my day, it doesn't effects me emotionally anymore / I forget about the game (unless something super skillful or crazy fun happened) right after I turn it off. When challenged by my Yankee / Giant / Jet / etc. fan friends about my (what they call) fair-weather-fan behavior, my rebuttal is I'll care more about them, when the Yankees started rooting for me to do well in my career.

 

[MisterCairo]

"Hey, how about that local sports team"?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I went into the bank the other day and they had a big electric screen behind the teller's counter with GOOD LUCK TO THE TRIBE IN THE PLAYOFFS -- OFFICIAL BANK OF THE CLEVELAND INDIANS. Seems like not the best marketing plan in this part of New England.

That said, the passion for the Sox here seems to be a lot less than it was years ago. To pick up the Globe on Monday morning, during a Sox-Yankees playoff series, and have to wade thru page after page of Patriots junk to find the baseball coverage is something that would never have happened forty years ago.

 

[Fading Fast]

I went into the bank the other day and they had a big electric screen behind the teller's counter with GOOD LUCK TO THE TRIBE IN THE PLAYOFFS -- OFFICIAL BANK OF THE CLEVELAND INDIANS. Seems like not the best marketing plan in this part of New England.

That said, the passion for the Sox here seems to be a lot less than it was years ago. To pick up the Globe on Monday morning, during a Sox-Yankees playoff series, and have to wade thru page after page of Patriots junk to find the baseball coverage is something that would never have happened forty years ago.

The sports coverage in the NYC tabloids (News and Post) is not as strong as it once was. This generation gets its sports news differently and looks less toward the newspapers and more toward social media, etc. Heck, sports are still popular, so I'm sure there's plenty of material out there, but just not the way we used to get it.

As to Boston's passion for the Sox, the several WS wins seems to have lanced the boil. The long draught drove some of the passion and that's gone. In NYC, the passion comes from an expectation (which drives the rest of the country nuts - I know, I get it) that the Yankees "should" win the WS every year, but in Boston, the several WS wins seems to have sated the extreme of its passion.

 

[Worf]

A fine ballgame last nite. That'll teach those Yankees to cross a picket line.

Ahem.... Ahem ah say. While I share your rabid hatred of ALL things Yankee I ain't drinkin' any Beantown Koolaid. I was born in a National League house. There were NO Yankee fans in my neighborhood. As far as I'm concerned until the mid 70's the American League was where old Ball Players went to die. I won't even mention the Red Sox history with players of color... but I digress. Many ask... "you were NY born and raised how can you root against a NY team?" My response is always "easily and with relish!" As a Mets fan I was born in misery, raised in futility and doomed to failure... but I endure nonetheless. I'm a fan! A real fan!

A real fan does NOT root for their crosstown rivals under ANY circumstances. If the Stankee's were playing say... "Adolph's Aryan All Stars" I might consider it but just barely. When I drive past Yankee Stadium I spit... every single time. Not logical, probably not even sane... but it is who I am nonetheless. I saw the Met's at the Polo Grounds, Shea and now Citi Field. I live and die a fanatic!

Worf

 

[LizzieMaine]

We still have the occasional hard-boiled old timer around here who was born a Braves fan and remains a Braves fan despite the machinations of Lou Perini, and who sneers at the Red Sox no matter what they do. League loyalties in multi-team cities were indelible.

As I was born ten years after the Braves left, I always thought of the National League as something mysterious -- the home of players who hit hard, ran fast, and pitched high and tight. I developed a sort of loose loyalty to the Mets, Phillies, and Expos from tuning in their radio broadcasts, and finally settled on the Expos as "my" NL team -- I used to go up to see them once a year, was at the next-to-last game they played at the Big Owe, and smiled with pride when Sr. Guerrero got the Hall of Fame call this year. But like so many of my loyalties it ended in bitterness and betrayal thanks to the machinations of Jeff Loria -- a chickenspit Walter F. O'Malley -- and the repellent Mr. Selig. It's a source of great moral conflict to me that Mr. John Henry -- current cheese of the Red Sox -- was also part of that swindle. When you get right down to it, being a Red Sox fan is all about moral conflicts.

 

[belfastboy]

As a kid, I was fully vested in "my" teams. Now, I enjoy them with very little true attachment. I get that all I'm rooting for is a team uniform - the players change teams so often that I feel like each season my ambivalent thought is "who's playing for us this year." Hence, if they win, I'm mildly happy, if they lose, I just don't care. At, I think, 11-1, I shut the game off as sleep was more important at that point (something I never would have done in my "fan" days). That said, what a can of *ss whooping the Sox opened on the Yankees.

Oddly, I think I'm enjoying baseball more now than ever as I don't care that much who wins, but I love the chess-like strategy and timeless, pastoral vibe of the game more than I did in my younger days. I know this sounds crazy, but it's true, I hope the Sox go on to win the WS. My girlfriend is a Sox fan (to the same extent that I am a Yankees fan) and in an odd way, since they beat the Yankees - and since they are the team I know the second best in the league and since I lived in Boston for eight years and really like the city - I hope they win.

None of it means a lot to me anymore. It's almost like a TV show, I get whatever entertainment value I do from watching it and then go on about my day, it doesn't effects me emotionally anymore / I forget about the game (unless something super skillful or crazy fun happened) right after I turn it off. When challenged by my Yankee / Giant / Jet / etc. fan friends about my (what they call) fair-weather-fan behavior, my rebuttal is I'll care more about them, when the Yankees started rooting for me to do well in my career.

I echo your sentiments and now tend to root for the team with the best uniforms. Currently I am in my orange/blue phase so Houston is it!! Plus I love to watch Altuve. The one caveat is if it involves the Yankees I will root for whomever is the other team. For some weird reason I cannot abide the Yankees, not even Mickey, Whitey and the Yogi could change my mind.

 

[belfastboy]

Watching Season 2 of "Fauda" on Netflix. It is good TV and worth a watch but not as stellar as some reviews I read prior that called it the best show on TV. Season 2 follows the formula set in the first season. And again it shows the difficulty of writing for an ongoing show. In Season 2 the "hero" is doing the same dumb shit he did in the first season......no character arc whatsoever and at some point....like now!.....it just gets repetitive, predictable and annoying.

 

[Edward]

Doctor Who - the character has regenerated and is now a woman. Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor may well be able to save the show if the writers can provide her with some sutiable material. Unfortunately this first episode was amongst the poorest pieces of writing in the entire reboot and was pretty much identical in tone to Steven Moffat (the previous polarizing show runner) at his glib worst.

Doctor Who requires several key elements to work properly; a sense of mystery, stories with surprises and crisp dialogue. If none of these are present in the first episode of a new Doctor, this can only be taken as a warning.

I think it's a little early to tell. Remember how weak Tennant's first episode was? I think the last 'new doctor' episode that was better than this was definitely Ecclestone.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I'm with Fading Fast. It doesn't help that sports business is gross in general, but free agency basically cured me of caring about specific teams. I do still thoroughly enjoy the game(s) themselves. Baseball is a great game. Hockey is a great game. Etc. I enjoy much to do with them. I watch and do not care who wins, as long as it is hard-fought and well managed (strategy etc). And I've lived in cities where the sports teams held the city hostage for a new stadium or tax breaks or whatever. They all do it. It's just a fact of life when you're dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars a year and billions over time. Got no emotional attachment for that. Play your big business games with the lives of others. Get down with your bad selves. I'll watch your game like a parasite, but I'm not going to invest anything in it.

One thing...I get that umpires are part of tradition and all that hoopla, but I wish they'd do away with the umpire calling strikes/balls. It can all be done with the digital eye, and there's very little room for error. They can get that strike zone down to millimeters with no human error or bias. Put an ear piece in his ear and keep the human body there for the spectacle and semblance of tradition. Another instance, along with replay, where technology is good for the game.

 

[Harp]

Oddly, I think I'm enjoying baseball more now than ever as I don't care that much who wins, but I love the chess-like strategy and timeless, pastoral vibe of the game more than I did in my younger days.

I love baseball tactics and managerial strategy almost as much as the physical drive and play.
In sweet-16 during post season playoff, contenders Cubs and Dodgers pawn brawled but when the Dodger manager
ordered Heyward to be walked and Miggie Montero came up to hit a grand slam no truer checkmate ever etched
baseball's diamond.

 

[belfastboy]

I'm with Fading Fast. It doesn't help that sports business is gross in general, but free agency basically cured me of caring about specific teams. I do still thoroughly enjoy the game(s) themselves. Baseball is a great game. Hockey is a great game. Etc. I enjoy much to do with them. I watch and do not care who wins, as long as it is hard-fought and well managed (strategy etc). And I've lived in cities where the sports teams held the city hostage for a new stadium or tax breaks or whatever. They all do it. It's just a fact of life when you're dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars a year and billions over time. Got no emotional attachment for that. Play your big business games with the lives of others. Get down with your bad selves. I'll watch your game like a parasite, but I'm not going to invest anything in it.

One thing...I get that umpires are part of tradition and all that hoopla, but I wish they'd do away with the umpire calling strikes/balls. It can all be done with the digital eye, and there's very little room for error. They can get that strike zone down to millimeters with no human error or bias. Put an ear piece in his ear and keep the human body there for the spectacle and semblance of tradition. Another instance, along with replay, where technology is good for the game.

I am old school all the way and a baseball umpire for 15 years and after much conflict I am coming around to your position. Umpire's pecadilloes were always part of the fabric and players had to adjust to each umpire's definition of a strike zone. But the use of the strike/ball overlay on each pitch on TV has exposed the inconsistencies of even the best and showed the appalling lack of consistency with the worst of them. I think it may be that modern pitchers ability to throw in the upper 90's consistently and the increased spin rates and movement has outpaced the umpire's ability to track the pitch. My favourite comeback to any player who questioned my strike call....."Pretty sure, cuz it sure sounded like a strike"

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I wasn't going to say this, but I'm lacking self-control. We treat our society and politics the same way we treat our sports. Sadly, I honestly believe sports mirrors how we go about life. Generally speaking, that is. A good percentage of people who are on the higher side of the tribal/MY team scale show little interest once their team isn't involved. Worse yet, some wish ill upon the whole endeavor because their team isn't any longer involved. Spiteful. Childish. Tantrum. It's also why have two sets of rules. One for our team and one for everyone else. It's a real lack of integrity and decency. Win at any cost. Not much of an example to show the children. An extension of all that is how, at least in part, we've come to see compromise as a negative thing. What's that saying? We don't deserve to have nice things.

Bartender Edit: Non-partisan point appreciated, but let's nonetheless becareful not to stray into contemporary politics, thanks.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I am old school all the way and a baseball umpire for 15 years and after much conflict I am coming around to your position. Umpire's pecadilloes were always part of the fabric and players had to adjust to each umpire's definition of a strike zone. But the use of the strike/ball overlay on each pitch on TV has exposed the inconsistencies of even the best and showed the appalling lack of consistency with the worst of them. I think it may be that modern pitchers ability to throw in the upper 90's consistently and the increased spin rates and movement has outpaced the umpire's ability to track the pitch. My favourite comeback to any player who questioned my strike call....."Pretty sure, cuz it sure sounded like a strike"

I believe it was 60 Minutes last year that did a great piece on the technology, umpires, the mistake rates of umpires in numbers, the biases by numbers, and any question someone might have. More mistakes in favor of the home team, by statistics. It was all there in the piece. There are people studying every single pitch. Every. Single. Pitch. Statisticians, not fans. All there in black & white how poorly umpires call games. I'm not anti-umpire, but I am definitely pro-fairness. Accuracy = fairness.

 

[belfastboy]

I believe it was 60 Minutes last year that did a great piece on the technology, umpires, the mistake rates of umpires in numbers, the biases by numbers, and any question someone might have. More mistakes in favor of the home team, by statistics. It was all there in the piece. There are people studying every single pitch. Every. Single. Pitch. Statisticians, not fans. All there in black & white how poorly umpires call games. I'm not anti-umpire, but I am definitely pro-fairness. Accuracy = fairness.

I would have loved to see that episode of 60 Minutes.