Ask Grandstander

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by perfectstormhits

Yeah, Fargo was mostly Memphis and the Mid-South. Here he is going up against Lawlor. He was known for the "Fargo Strut."

But...but....but....they don't show the end of the match!! It's going to drive me crazy now wondering who won.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

Did you ever watch the wrestling shows in the late 70s/early 80s on WTBS (Ted Turner's station that showed the Braves)?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

Did you ever watch the wrestling shows in the late 70s/early 80s on WTBS (Ted Turner's station that showed the Braves)?

I watched until the early '70's, and then paid no attention after that until Vince McMahon nationalized it in the '80's. By the '90's I had my fill.

[Zen653]

Pundits accuse John McCain of being reckless in his selection of Sarah Palin for Vice Presidential nominee. Who do you feel was the most reckless Vice Presidential choice in U.S history? You can define reckless however you wish.

[phenweigh]

“For best results, squeeze from the bottom and flatten as you go up”, is written on my tube of toothpaste. I’ve given this a lot of thought and I cannot understand how that would help with cavity protection, teeth whitening or any other result claimed by the toothpaste manufacturer. Can you offer an explanation?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by Zen653

Pundits accuse John McCain of being reckless in his selection of Sarah Palin for Vice Presidential nominee. Who do you feel was the most reckless Vice Presidential choice in U.S history? You can define reckless however you wish.

Interpreting reckless as having exercised insufficient care, the McGovern choice of Eagleton would seem to qualify. If we are not restricting ourselves to the major parties, then George Wallace came up with a frightening selection when he grabbed Curtis LeMay as his running mate. While Lemay was a competent and innovative bombing commander in WW II, he was no politician. His answer to nearly all problems was "Blow em up." And of course Perot made a stong challenge for the top spot when he tapped Admiral Stockdale to run with him. His asking for a debate question to be repeated because he didn't have his hearing aid turned on inspired a lot of confidence. It should probably be a law that you are disqualified from running if you can't hold your own in a debate against Dan Quayle.

I'm of the opinion that the worst nomination ever wasn't a vp, rather it was the Democratic top choice in 1872. He wasn't even really their nominee, he was a Republican who had split from the mainstream of the party and was actually nominated by an ad hoc gathering calling themselves "The Liberal Republican Party." Lacking a candidate that had any sort of chance against Grant, the Democrtas endorsed Greeley. But party affiliation aside, Greeley was a horrible choice for any position of public responsibility. He was an extremist with a personality given over to quick hysteria and instant massive swings of his positions whenever the winds shifted, a complete front runner sort who had zero long range vision. He used his paper to call for crushing the rebellious South, bragging about how easy it would be, and switched to complete defeatism after 1st Bull Run and called for letting the South go its own way.

As it turned out, he was never going to be President even if he had won. He died a month after his crushing defeat.

Worse, this was 1872 and Greeley had already been exhibiting signs of serious mental deterioration for the previous eight years. They had eased him out of his control of the NY Tribume

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

“For best results, squeeze from the bottom and flatten as you go up”, is written on my tube of toothpaste. I’ve given this a lot of thought and I cannot understand how that would help with cavity protection, teeth whitening or any other result claimed by the toothpaste manufacturer. Can you offer an explanation?

Sure, if you squeeze from the top and don't flatten as you go up, the toothpaste will not work and all your teeth will fall out.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

The Florida Marlins drew around 600 fans to their game Wednesday. What would you suggest they do to attract more fans?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

The Florida Marlins drew around 600 fans to their game Wednesday. What would you suggest they do to attract more fans?

On June 4th, 1974, the Cleveland Indians, averaging 8000 fans a game that year, decided to stage a fan attracting promotion. It was "Ten Cent Beer Night" and the deal was just what the name suggests, an eight oz beer cost only a dime and there was no limit on the number that you could buy.

25,000 plus turned out to take advantage of the promotion and it did not take long to discover that this had been a poor idea. In the early going, a woman ran out on the field, stood in the on deck circle and flashed the crowd with her impressive upper balcony. A father and son team ran out on the field and mooned the crowd. Mike Hargrove was bombarded with everything which could be converted into a missile whenever he came out of the dugout. A controversial call at the plate generated a game delay when the fans threw everything onto the field that they had not already thrown at Hargrove. Then some guy jumped down into the outfield and tried to steal Ranger Jeff Burrough's hat.

Now, in a situation of escalating anarchy such as this, you want a man in charge who is able to stay calm and looks to avoid provocations. Instead the Rangers had the volcanic Billy Martin as their manager and his reaction to the Burroughs incident was to grab a bat and go sprinting to the outfield, with his players arming themselves and following. They were met by an army of drunks who had spilled over the outfield walls. This caused the Indians to rally to the Rangers support and they grabbed bats and raced out to join the fray. The players had to stage a battling retreat back to their clubhouses as by now there were thousands of fans on the field, now fighting one another. The field was completely trashed, everthing stealable stolen. Eventually the Cleveland riot squad was dispatched to clear the field, Cleveland of course losing by forfeit.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and it may be time for the Marlins to revive this popular promotion. They could really raise the stakes by combining it with Bat Day so that they might attract 35 or 40 thousand fans whom they will arm and intoxicate.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

Do you think Martin had someone getting him some of the dime beers?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

Do you think Martin had someone getting him some of the dime beers?

Sure, that's why Billy always dragged Art Fowler around with him on all his jobs, his main function was always ...Billy's booze enabler.

[phenweigh]

Why is an actor IN a movie, but ON a television show?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

Why is an actor IN a movie, but ON a television show?

A movie is a singular presentation while a television series is of a serial nature. In a movie, you are either in it or out of it and that will never change. On a tv series, you can be on it, off it for a time, and then back on.

Of course you could make that same latter statement using "in and "out" for "on" and "off", so this isn't any sort of critical or absolute distinction. I suspect that it is merely a distinction of identification convenience that via common use over a long period of time, has grown to be seen as proper.

There are many areas of the English language where usage is so common and traditional, that any alternative would seem to be an error, when in fact there is no real rule at work. For example, collective nouns. For whatever reasons, certain groups seem to have monopolies on specific collective nouns. Got a flock of something? It's gonna be sheep. Got a gaggle? That will be geese. Cows gather in herds, it's never a gang of cows or a congress of cows. Grapes may be found in a bunch, but not in a gang or a bevy or a swarm or host. When Ghengis Khan arrived, it was always with his Mongol "hordes", never his Mongol army or Mongol band or Mongol confederacy.

But...is there an actual rule which holds you in error if you went into a store and asked for an armada of oranges or a clutch of paperclips?

No.

Nor is there a rule which says that actors are in movies but on television....it is mere tradition.

[phenweigh]

Originally Posted by Grandstander

... congress of cows.

I like it!

Do you think the middle name of diplomat George Wildman Ball gave him trouble?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

I like it!

Do you think the middle name of diplomat George Wildman Ball gave him trouble?

I think what gave him trouble was being brighter than most of the people for whom he worked.