Ask Grandstander

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

Ever driven a shoe?

I warned you to be careful when you were backing up in your SUV.

[skrable]

How long do we keep 'Hawk in here?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by skrable

How long do we keep 'Hawk in here?

How many times have I told you not to play with the GrandTron Virtual Shrinking Ray 5000, unless there is an authorized supervisor present?

Now you press "escape" on your keyboard, let Mr. Hawk out of there, apologize, and come in to dinner.

[vtred]

Weekly "what if" fight match-up:

American Revolution vs. French Revolution?

[perfectstormhits]

Have you taken all your money out of the bank yet?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by vtred

Weekly "what if" fight match-up:

American Revolution vs. French Revolution?

Ours produced a much better result, but then again we had fewer changes to make. The colonies existed in a state of actual liberty which was in excess of that which England approved, and even if it had existed precisely within the confines of English law, it still would have been a place which provided more liberties for individuals than any other place on the planet at the time. The American revolt was about moving from one state of liberty, to an enhanced and improved state of liberty.

The French were starting out against an absolute monarch and because of this, wound up moving from one extreme, zero liberty, to the other...anarchy. And in order to put a stop to the anarchy, they wound up with a despot, an enlightened, charismatic and highly capable despot, but still a despot. A much mightier shove was needed to get liberty started in France, so it is understandable that it was much harder to stop the pendulum once it had been put in motion.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

Have you taken all your money out of the bank yet?

I've set things up so that I am 3-4 years away from having to tap into any of the investment nestegg. And even though my situation is one where what the market is today isn't critical, it is still unsettling when the downturns come. I'm relying on the cyclical nature of the economy and expect that things will bottom out at some point and start to climb once more. And if there is no bottom, if everything gets wiped out, then it will be happening in a condition where the entire economy has collapsed, not just my savings. In such a situation, inflation will be so staggering that those who buried their gold in their backyard will only be able to last a bit longer than those wiped out in grand scale bank collapses.

So, my approach has been never to get too giddy and count my chickens before hatching when the economy is soaring, and not go all Henny Penny when there is a downturn. There is what one can do, and there are those things which cannot be controlled by the individual. In the latter cases, one hopes for the best.

[Zen653]

In addition to the Homerun Derby, which baseball events could be added that would pique public interest? I've always thought it would be a neat idea to include a throwing accuracy contest - see how well outfielders can hit a certain target from afar.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by Zen653

In addition to the Homerun Derby, which baseball events could be added that would pique public interest? I've always thought it would be a neat idea to include a throwing accuracy contest - see how well outfielders can hit a certain target from afar.

If they really wanted to boost ratings, they would have an annual Beanball Derby. You select the wildest hard throwers from both leagues, and pit them against the most agile and quick reacting batters. The hitter's bodies may be divided into zones with a scaled point system for the locations, foot is five points, headshot ten points and so forth. Not only are the pitchers competing against one another to rack up the most plunk points, but simultaneously the batters are competing with one another to yield the fewest points. Two compoetitions at once. If they had this back in the '80's, Rickey Henderson would have won it every year, I never saw anyone with such great reaction time to purpose pitches.

[perfectstormhits]

Well hell, couldn't you hit 28 home runs off a 71 year old batting practice pitcher?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

Well hell, couldn't you hit 28 home runs off a 71 year old batting practice pitcher?

Maybe if you moved the fences in to where they bordered the infield.

Pretty impressive display. And that was a genuinely terrific gesture to give his American legion coach a moment in the national spotlight, he's gonna be a huge hero when he returns home.

[phenweigh]

Do you think the home run derby baseballs are a bit livelier than regular baseballs?

[skrable]

the new perimeter troops have arrived:

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

Do you think the home run derby baseballs are a bit livelier than regular baseballs?

I think that the Homerun Derby is livelier than the actual All Star game, but I've no information regarding the makeup of the balls used in the derby. If they are juiced, so what? They are juiced for all and the entire point is to produce a series of monster shots to entertain the crowds. It isn't as though the pitchers in the Derby will be complaining about inflated ERAs caused by juiced balls.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by skrable

the new perimeter troops have arrived:

At last. Now we can finally fire these guys: