Monthly Archives: September 2023

Crypto’s day in court: SBF trial preview

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In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. — Andy Warhol

Crypto is now dying, largely because of SBF’s FTX/Alameda fraud. The crypto venture capital has now gone to AI. This upcoming trial is a first (& perhaps last) for crypto: a high profile criminal case that exposes the entire industry as a Ponzi scheme.

Bitcoin was founded after the 2008 sub-prime loan banking crisis, on the white paper notion that if you do some fancy math & computer programming, you’ve created digital gold. It was a brave new world in finance back then.

People who believe this anti-materialist nonsense don’t understand where money comes from. Money comes from human labor producing useful commodities. Nothing else. Of course, capitalism allows capitalists to monopolize money and use it as a tool of class warfare to exploit the working class. This is how obscene levels of wealth are accrued with massive inequality.

Crypto posits that a digital token can be minted and that it has value, even though there is nothing behind it. Gold is real, and it has use value. Thus it can be used as a store of monetary value, and has been for millennia. Modern governments issue fiat currency, which since 1971, floats on the value of that nation’s economy. Stronger economies have stronger (more valuable) currencies. Since WW2, the US dollar has been the strongest currency, globally.

But in this era of global competition, China & Russia are increasingly unwilling to allow themselves to be shackled to US dollars for international commerce & exchange, especially with its non-US aligned trading partners. Oil is this most prized commodity, and Russia continues to cut back its production & output available on world markets, which is causing gas prices to rise globally. Furthermore, Putin has convinced the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & Iran to do the same. That worries US military planners.

Joe Biden has been exhausting US strategic reserves just to keep pump prices below $4.00/gallon. Once gas gets above that, American consumer anger increases, as the price of everything goes up.

This affects crypto mining, blockchain storage, processing, etc, as these activities are energy intensive. When electricity prices reach a certain level, bitcoin is no longer feasible. Interest rates have been increased by a hawkish Federal Reserve to cause a recession and weaken the labor market to control worker wage demands.

This macro-economic shift in ruling class policy (from near 0% interest rates for over a decade) has sent crypto into a death spiral. US intelligence agencies are keeping bitcoin alive because they have a use for it, but otherwise there is very little government support for crypto after the FTX collapse in November 2022. That’s why the SEC is now taking a hard line.

The hedge funds have moved into AI for their speculative urges. This is why the writers & actors strike must be crushed so ruthlessly. Venture capital is waiting to use AI in Hollywood to create its own vision, without having to pay actors. Just scan someone’s body and have them sign their likeness rights away, etc.

It’s the same vague concept for these libertarians & capitalists, whether its crypto or AI. Promote it as freedom & the future. Remain indistinct about rosy ideas such as effective altruism, while keeping the operational details secret. Keep all the money.

Everyone wants to get rich. Everyone wants to be famous & cool. This is how it’s pitched, and when so many people are desperate and see no future, this will resonate with a segment of them. The young people who actually believe in crypto are idealists. They lack seriousness of mind, and tend to look for (and settle on) easy answers. That defines the crypto community which less than a year ago held Sam Bankman-Fried as their boy genius savior.

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Padres 2023: the final countdown

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Preface: First posted on Facebook just before the Padres-Cardinals series began @ Petco. Updates will continue until they are mathematically eliminated, or (miraculously) make the post-season.

Padres have won 7 in a row to increase their chances of making the post-season from <0.1% to 0.7%. RHP’s Joe Musgrove & Hu Darvish, along with C Gary Sanchez & UT Jake Cronenworth, etc, all shut down for the season. The Padres still have a strong rotation with Blake Snell, Michael Wacha & Seth Lugo, but they NEED a 4th starter. Young righty knuckleballer Matt Waldron (PTBNL in the Mike Clevinger deal with Indians) starts for the Padres tonight against the Cardinals.

Pedro Avila is their 5th starter but he can be skipped this time through the rotation because the Padres just had a off day. They’ll either need Avila to win a game in the Giants series next week, or continue to be an effective bullpen option. Pedro Avila is a young promising righty arm, who has been a good bullpen guy that can also spot start. AJP got him in the Derek Norris heist from the Nationals in December 2016. That farm system depth needs to play more for the Padres in 2024.

Sat 23 Sep 2023 10:30 AM CDT

Matt Waldron (pic above) pitched great, as the Padres won 4-2 last night for their 8th straight (post-season chances now 1.7%). It’s RHP Nick Martinez starting for the Friars tonight, not Pedro Avila. Martinez is the other duel use Padres option. It just shows how much talent this roster has.

The Padres are being aggressive and using their 5th starter now, at home against a poor team, instead of against the Giants next Wednesday. It will be Matt Waldron for that start, then an off day, allowing their rotation to flip back to Wacha-Snell-Lugo @ White Sox to close the season. I describe all this to prove this team is well managed. Bob Melvin is a good manager. That’s not the problem.

The Padres now sit four games behind the Cubs with eight left. Padres lose the tiebreakers to the Cubs & Snakes, so it ain’t happenin’, but as a fan you kinda have to follow your team until the end… The 2023 Padres are the most frustrating & confounding team I’ve ever rooted for.

As a Reds fan in 1981, that was the most frustrating. Most baseball fans don’t recognize that season as legitimate. The post-season should have been the Brewers v A’s in the AL, and the Reds v Cardinals in the NL. But MLB owners wanted to reset the season for everybody after the players strike was settled, so the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the WS that year. Total joke. Fans don’t blame their teams for that.

When the Rays traded ace LHP David Price in 2014, that was frustrating as a fan. Same goes for Brewers fans with dumping ace closer Josh Hader last year. Fans rightly blame ownership & management for that crap.

But the 2023 Padres were given everything they needed to win, by management & the fans. Padres set an attendance record this season, and they had their highest payroll ever, both 3rd in MLB. But the Padres players never showed any urgency, and seemingly lost every close ballgame they played, until these final three weeks of the season. For the first 5+ months, they underperformed with very little fight.

I honestly never expected the Padres to win the NL West this year, as they finished 22 GB the Dodgers last year. But they were expected to nab a Wild Card and be a dangerous team in the playoffs again. Instead, GM AJP was forced to consider selling at the trade deadline, but the market was cold, so he flipped to being a soft buyer and got cheap reinforcements for his squad. It was better than doing what the Mets did, but nothing worked for the 2023 Padres and sometimes it’s just not your year.

As a fan you have to applaud the player effort up to the end, but then ask, “Where was this all season?” This franchise will be in the news again this winter, you can be sure. AJ Preller has some team chemistry issues that need to be addressed if the Padres are going to be a serious WS contender going forward.

The Padres lineup was clicking in spring training. I know ST doesn’t matter, but in this case they had Fernando Tatis, Jr. Then the season started and Tatis was placed on the suspended list until April 20, as a carry-over from his PED suspension in 2022.

This happened because Tatis hurt his wrist in a motorbike accident(s), and it happened in the Dominican Republic during the MLB owners lockout, so the Padres didn’t know about it, as teams were not allowed to communicate with any of their players during this collective bargaining stand-off. The CBA was ratified just before 2022 Spring Training, and then the Padres found out he had been hurt. Tatis then used a banned substance out of stupidity & recklessness, and was busted for it just as he was about to return from his wrist injury. This is why AJP had to empty the farm system to get Juan Soto. The 2022 Padres never would have made the post-season without all the deals AJP made that trade deadline.

Tatis, who was once hailed as the franchise leader, wasn’t there with his teammates on Opening Day 2023. The Padres struggled out of the gate, anxiously awaiting Tatis’ return, fans were told. When he re-joined the team, he’s now the RF, with splash FA signing Xander Bogaerts taking over at SS. But the question remained, “Who is the leader of this team?” It can’t be the PED guy, he’s got to produce and win back the team, organization & fans. He ALONE has to face to the jeers, boo birds & harsh critics. That divides a team, and it was inevitable.

Padres got very little production at CF, 1B & DH in 2023. When AJP nabbed C Gary Sanchez off waivers on May 29, it filled a HUGE hole– until he got hurt in September. It still begged the question, “How come this expensive team has so many holes?”

LF Juan Soto had a great season, and that’s the guy the Padres give money to this off-season, if ownership insists on making a splash. Not DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, due to his 2nd TJ. That’s how much the market has shifted on that.

With Tatis, Machado, Bogaerts & Soto the Padres should be competitive. They have a decent pitching staff and a good farm system (again), as they’ve gotten better at drafting & player development, which they needed to do to catch the Dodgers. At this point, the Padres need to get better than the Phillies & Brewers before they can set their sights on the Dodgers & Braves. The 2024 Padres need to be younger & more homegrown, otherwise they will turn into the Mets & Yankees.

Sat 23 Sep 2023 11:30 PM CDT

Padres stacked righties Nick Martinez (4.0 IP) with Pedro Avila (2.2 IP), and it worked for six scoreless innings. But Avila cracked for two runs in the 7th, and the Padres lost 5-2 to the Cardinals in 11 innings. Padres fall to 0-12 in extra innings in 2023, and in many ways it capsulized the Padres season. They had a solid game plan to win. They had a lead & pitched well, but couldn’t tack-on when opportunities arose, either through bad luck or bad play. They couldn’t produce good AB’s when it mattered most. Just enough to beat them.

This time a main culprit was Luis Campusano not running hard out-of-the-box and getting hosed easily at second base to kill a potential rally in the 6th. The normally supportive home fans booed, and deservedly so. In 2023, that crap happened over & over against bad teams in front of capacity Petco crowds. Padres players have work to do to win back their fans in 2024, as Friar faithful feel betrayed by a careless lack of effort this past season.

Padres then started to press and it snowballed into defeat. Ha-Seong Kim got picked off 1st base to end the 8th. Bottom of the 9th, Padres down 2-1, they load the bases with no outs, and the top of the order coming up. Bogaerts grounds into a force play for a game-tying RBI, then Tatis & Soto strike out, which means extra innings. A couple of GIDP’s late in the game were leitmotifs for the 2023 Padres. Twelve walks, but only six hits in 11 innings for the Padres, all singles.

Cubs & Marlins won, while the Giants & Reds lost, so the Padres are virtually eliminated, which means I’m done after this update. The Diamondbacks were weathered-out @ Yankees on Saturday by Tropical Storm Ophelia, and will try to make it up as a doubleheader on Monday (hopefully), as they have no more off days. Sunday’s game is questionable at this point. The most likely NL team to collapse down the stretch is the D-backs, who along with the Reds & Marlins have a negative run differential.

Climate change has created havoc with the MLB schedule this season, and it’s hurting the Snakes here. Earlier in the summer (June 27-29), the Padres played a series @ Pirates where Canadian wildfire smoke choked the air for three games. Players weren’t allowed to complain too loudly, as getting the games in was primary. What was supposed to be a soft spot in their road schedule turned into a disaster, as the Padres got swept in Pittsburgh and then lost 2-of-3 in Cincinnati. There were times during the season I felt players were put in a position where winning the game was secondary compared to what was going on around them. No doubt this affected their effort & performance at times. This happened to every team to a varying degree.

Padres hot stove season outlook

Austin Nola, the older brother of Phillies RHP Aaron Nola, is an interesting Padres arbitration case. He’s gonna be 34, which is very old for a catcher, and he was sent down to the minors in July after posting an anemic .146/.260/.192 batting line in 2023. Austin Nola has 3.1 years of MLB service time, making him arbitration eligible this winter after making $2.35M this year. He’s possibly/likely a non-tender for the Padres. Look for AJP to try to package him in a deal, if possible– or re-sign him to a minor league contract.

Padres are still hopeful on C Luis Campusano who is about to turn 25. He’s had defensive issues and injuries have hampered his development. Health is a skill, but the raw talent is there. He can really hit. Also recall, the Padres went all-in on C Ethan Salas during the Jan 15, 2023 International Draft. He was the top prospect available and the Padres gave Salas all their slot money to get him. Ethan Salas is the Padres #1 prospect, playing at AA at age 17. Padres need a veteran C to start 2024, so re-signing Gary Sanchez remains a possibility. AJP will explore the market, but their catching future appears to be in the system.

LHP Robby Snelling is the Padres #3 prospect, one of three finalists for minor league pitcher of the year. This high school draftee, above-slot bonus baby, the #39 overall pick in the 2022 Draft, could be competing for a Padres rotation slot some time in 2024. Padres #6 prospect, 2018 International Draft selection RHP Jairo Iriarte, age 21, is expected to compete for the Padres rotation in 2024. RHP Adam Mazur, a 2022 college draft pick, age 22 has a 2025 ETA. Padres farm system doesn’t have the depth it had a few years back when it was the best in baseball, but it has some high-end talent.

Padres have RHPs Joe Musgrove & Hu Darvish locked up, so it’s ‘however AJP decides’ to fill out his rotation after losing LHP Blake Snell (NL Cy Young 2023) to free agency. Padres will take the compensation pick on Blake Snell, and for Josh Hader too. Those were a couple of GREAT trades that will continue to bear fruit for the Padres. One way to build talent & depth in a farm system is by acquiring compensation picks* and using them well. For the record, AJP was set up to deal Blake Snell, Josh Hader, and possibly Juan Soto at the 2023 trade deadline– the BEST rental starter, closer, AND positional player available. When the seller market froze (due to East Coast Bias collusion), AJ Preller pulled back and left the Mets high & dry as they proceeded to dump for pennies on the dollar because they had no choice.

* Compensation picks are more valuable than many of the top prospects that were dealt this past trade deadline, including the players in the Max Scherzer & Justin Verlander deals. The Mets paid $43.3M to the Rangers to get SS/2B Luisangel Acuña in the Max Scherzer trade deadline dump. Luisangel Acuña is now the Mets top prospect (#38 in MLB), expected to arrive in 2024 at age 22. A compensation pick costs a team <1/10th (top pick, ~1/5th) of that in terms of dollars, which means if the player busts, it’s not devastating. But if this “$43M prospect” doesn’t cut it in the Big Apple, then fans, players & media will immediately point fingers.

That’s the risk of overvaluing prospects, which GM’s tend to do when their farm system is barren and a re-build is in order. RHP Justin Verlander was also dumped by the Mets, to the Astros for OF Drew Gilbert (#2 Mets, [#52 MLB], 2025 ETA), and OF/1B Ryan Clifford (#6 Mets, 2026 ETA). Mets paid $39.1M to get those two prospects, neither of them a pitcher. In total, the Mets paid $82M on August 1, 2023 for three non-pitcher prospects (now #1, #2 & #6 in their system), in exchange for their two veteran aces. Was it worth it? Probably not, but we’ll see.

The bigger point is a GM should never put an organization in that situation. With all those resources made available, the Mets had no back-up plan if their 2023 team collapsed, which it did– and it cost them dearly. Mets GM Billy Eppler then had to do as ownership commanded at the trade deadline and recoup what he could regardless of the cost, knowing all along he was going to be replaced by David Stearns. It was the worst kept secret in MLB for over two years.

This is the Amazin’ Mess which new GM David Stearns now inherits. He’s a bright guy who built the Brewers pitching staff of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff Freddie Peralta which is as good as any trio in MLB. The Brew Crew have a deep bullpen, and a manager who knows how to use it. Craig Counsell is a top-3 MLB manager every year. David Stearns also made great trades over the years to build the Brewers into a consistent winner on a budget. He leaves Milwaukee in good hands and will now have a top-tier payroll in the #1 media market. It’s comparable to Andrew Friedman leaving the Rays for the Dodgers in 2015. The Mets will be good again very soon with David Stearns as their GM.  ****

Padres have an interesting decision on RHP Michael Wacha, age 32, who has a player option for $6.5M, while the Padres hold a $16M team option for 2024 & 2025. Wacha earned $7.5 in 2023, and was their 2nd-best starter, behind Blake Snell. I suspect the Padres will pick up Michael Wacha’s option for $16M.

RHP Seth Lugo also pitched great, after being signed as a 5th/6th starter, he ended up as the Padres 3rd starter. Seth Lugo has a $7.5M player option for 2024, but may decline that after having a nice age-33 season for the Friars. He might be looking for a multi-year deal on the free agent market. The Padres are looking to get younger on the pitching side, but on the other hand, if Seth Lugo exercises his player option, the Padres would be ecstatic. You can never have too much pitching, especially when it’s a reliable team player.

Padres #2 prospect, SS Jackson Merrill, age 20, is expected to arrive in 2024. I don’t envision AJ Preller dealing any of his top prospects, as they’re part of his plan to get younger, cheaper & better. If AJP deals any of them, it’s this one, and only for a young stud pitcher. CF Trent Grisham & UT Jake Cronenworth are different stories. Unless they can become invaluable bench/utility pieces, they don’t fit on the Padres active roster, and thus become tradeable.

Trent Grisham is my favorite Padres player, but he’s done two things I don’t like. He changed his number, and he grew a porn mustache which has coincided with his two-year hitting slump. Go back to the old #2, and shave the stache! That’s old school coaching. As far as advanced metrics go, Trent Grisham is a pure lefty, so I don’t understand his splits. According to his 2023 numbers (with ~ a week to go), Trent Grisham (overall .199/.315/.353) can’t hit righties. He’s a punchless .180/.300/.329 with three times the at-bats against righties, while hitting .252/.355/.420 against lefties. This is the opposite of what’s expected in lefty/righty splits for a lefty hitter.

It’s just one of the MANY things that is so confounding about this Padres team. Why can’t Trent Grisham hit righties? It would solve so many problems! Perhaps the most difficult part of evaluating a player like Trent Grisham is distinguishing what a player is from what you want him to be. For prospects, its infinitely tougher because they are all so far away from the Majors that projections are tentative at best & always subject to change. Baseball is the toughest game to predict.

Padres just signed Jake Cronenworth to an extension through 2030 last winter, while Trent Grisham has two more arbitration years remaining, after earning $3.175M in 2023. Of the two, CF Trent Grisham is a more coveted asset because he’s younger, cheaper, and plays a more valuable defensive position at a gold glove level. He can be seen as a guy who needs a change-of-scenery, and still has upside. Jake Cronenworth has value, due to his positional flexibility, good defense & lefty bat. He needs to be a utility guy for the Padres, not a DH or 1B. The Padres would have to eat contract to maximize his trade value. How much is the rub, so most likely the Padres keep Jake Cronenworth, but he could be floated this winter.

AJP reserves the right to do that with all his players, except those with no trade clauses. GM’s maximize the value of their players & prospects by offering deals for them. If another organization over-values that player, a smart GM will know what players he/she wants from EVERY organization, top to bottom. That’s when they make a deal. If that organization also undervalues their player/prospect, it becomes a steal.

2B Ha-Seong Kim is an underrated player signed to a team-friendly deal through 2026. Padres want to keep him, but they have too many middle infielders, so he could be dangled as trade bait. AJP refused Ha-Seong Kim-for-RHP Pablo López from the Marlins last winter, so the righty pitcher went to the Twins instead, who extended him before his arbitration expired. Good move by the Twins. That was also a good ‘no trade’ by AJP. Marlins new GM Kim Ng moved on and made a great deal getting 2B Luis Arraez from the Twins for Pablo López. This ‘non-trade’ was a vast improvement in team relations, as AJP couldn’t even talk to Marlins ex-GM Mike Hill after the 2016 trade deadline.

The best thing about being a Padres fan in this era is knowing the management side of things is being taken care of. This team no longer gets ripped-off in trades. They do that to other unwitting franchises now. Padres scouting & drafting has improved by light years from when AJP took over in 2014. It’s a long way to the top, it’s VERY competitive, and success isn’t always linear. Padres need to stick with their process, even as the doubters persist. This was a necessary step back year for them, as they still owed on Fernando Tatis Jr’s PED baggage. They weren’t as good as they finished in 2022, but they aren’t as bad as they played in 2023. The hardest part is recognizing, understanding & accepting this.

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What is a guitar player?

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It’s not such a simple question because so much more is involved besides just how well you play. There are so many styles around the world that are respected & influential that much must be considered on the subject. I’m going to speak from a rock perspective, which is somewhat limited, but necessary since there are so many rock guitar players as it’s the dominant modern style. Classical & flamenco styles are certainly just as valid.

As I written before, rock music needs more bass players. If you are enthusiastic, yet average at guitar, seriously consider a switch to bass. By becoming merely competent on bass, your bandmate options will increase exponentially– I can assure you. If you are more creatively inclined as a songwriter, yet have difficulty singing & playing guitar at the same time, then bass is the place.

With that said, if you are committed to the six-string guitar, then learn how to play your instrument well. There are different roles & expectations for pure guitar players, as compared to singer/guitar players. Since I’m the latter, I’ll be discussing from that perspective.

Pure guitar players like Tony Iommi, Angus Young, Alex Lifeson, Eddie Van Halen, Dave Murray, Brad Gillis, Joe Satraini, etc, can do EVERYTHING. They can play lightning fast & change tempos fluidly with overwhelming technique. If you’re in a serious rock band, THAT’S what you want on guitar. It REALLY helps if they are part of the songwriting process.

Pure players who lack songwriting creativity are severely limited because as a band you NEED great riff ideas from your guitar player. These impressive technical (yet creatively impoverished) guitar players often become session aces or tour replacements for major acts in need. They get a lot of corporate work.

For singer/guitar players such as myself, the expectations & responsibilities are different. You’re more of a rhythm player as a singer, so you have to be solid yet make it look easy because everyone is watching you, but most are concentrating on your vocals & overall stage presence. But every pure guitar player (and other serious musician) in the audience will also be rating your technical playing, showmanship & charisma, song content, stage awareness, equipment, set-up, etc. Every fan wants to see a star, and every musician wants to work with a star because they all believe THEY are stars.

Depending on whether there is a lead guitarist or not, a singer/guitarist may also have to be proficient at soloing. That’s the part which most singer/guitarists struggle, the point in the song where they aren’t singing and they have to perform at a higher level on guitar. They won’t be able to play like the guys I’ve listed above, so what can be done?

I started using a slide on my pinky finger when I realized that I was going to have to be a solo artist. That means you have to do everything well at all times, otherwise you will suck & the crowd will know it instantly. A slide gives your guitar playing an entirely different dimension and allows lots of creative uses without having to be fast & flashy. It’s not an overused crutch, like the capo (both pictured below).

I don’t try to play like Duane Allman or any of those other classic bluesmen. They’re too good. Mississippi Delta bottleneck blues is where slide guitar started, and if you listen to these early recordings from the early masters, they were very creative & free in their use of a slide. This slide style reverberated through post-war electric blues. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band’s used multiple slide guitars with all kinds of crazy patterns. George Thorogood is a great modern rock slide guitar player. If you absorb all that on record, you can figure out something new on slide. My approach is to use the slide as a scrape for punk effect, verses the glistening leads of Mick Taylor, etc.

Jimi Hendrix is the standard for the singer/guitar player style. NOBODY could play like that, while writing & singing such amazing songs. Jimi Hendrix could do it live, and in the studio. He could be a show all by himself or in a great band. He was a natural in an era that exploded him into popular consciousness, but of course, it was the excess of this era that killed him. Jimi Hendrix was a prodigy, perhaps the best ever while he lasted, but he’s not a model to follow because his excessive hippie lifestyle will kill you at a young age like it did him.

Same with Kurt Cobain, no matter how you feel about the circumstances around his death in 1994. If you can’t survive, then you don’t leave much of a blueprint for young fans to follow. Maybe that’s their idea, they DON’T want to be followed, but then why become a performer in the first place? These are the tough responsibilities that Frank Black, J Mascis, Thurston Moore, Billy Corgan take on as the LEADERS of their respective bands. You have to be be an effective & easy player, while singing the great songs you wrote. You have to be able to lead everyone during the formative creative process, in the studio, and then on stage.

This gets to the inexact science & sticky question of who is replaceable in a band? Example: everyone knows Aerosmith because of Steven Tyler & Joe Perry, so they are irreplaceable. The rest are integral, but replaceable in the band’s legacy stage which is about being able to get through lucrative tours, not making new music.

Devo, Cheap Trick, the Meat Puppets, etc, are serious bands who still tour successfully (young energetic capacity audiences) with replacement drummers. Their original drummers were essential band members during their prime, but replaceable as they evolved into legacy acts. It’s usually the lead singer and the songwriter(s) who are indispensable throughout a band’s existence. Rush couldn’t continue after drummer/songwriter Neil Peart retired from music & subsequently passed away. The Rolling Stones probably won’t tour again after the death of Charlie Watts. They were indispensable.

I’m making broad generalities for illustrative purposes. The original band member is ALWAYS better than replacements, as they were part of the original creative process & cool vibe that fans identify with. Unfortunately, industry machinery takes its toll on musicians… As mentioned above, replacements are mostly session musicians by trade, industry veterans who never had much creativity in their prime.

Replacements are sometimes now a son (or other family member) of the band leader, etc. It takes a lot of chops & dedication to fill in for any major act, on any instrument. You’re expected to be solid, while in the background, unassumingly carrying the headliners everyone paid to see. That’s a tough gig for little bread, and only a limited number of musicians are good enough (and have their head on straight enough) to do it. There is some audience respect due for that, but the bigger point is too many replacements will diminish any band into an empty shell of itself.

How much would a young kid pay to see Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Poison & KISS at a festival? No more than $10-20 in 2023, and that’s being generous. Too many replacement members, etc. How much would a young kid pay to see Jane’s Addiction, the Pixies, the Smashing Pumpkins & Dinosaur Jr at a festival? Anywhere from $200-300+. Why is that?

It’s because hair metal was all about good times & partying, which never last. That’s why hair metal acts fare so poorly in this 21-century era of climate change, COVID & fascist politics. Alternative bands of the 1980’s & 1990’s brought real energy & taught kids about life, and that’s what holds up with every generation of kids. That’s why the Pixies shows sell out, with parents taking their EXCITED teenage kids, while hair metal draws only old folks.

The grunge movement happened when I was in dental school and as a fan of the music who had a year-and-a-half of guitar lessons I would think about these things in between my academic schedule and wonder what I was going to do with my life…

You get through difficult life situations with hard word & intelligent thinking. You have to stick to the process especially when difficulties & failures arise. That’s the ‘hard part’ many people don’t want to face. But if you have a good plan that is adaptable as needed, and you stick with the process, your situation will improve and then you can turn your ambitions into reality. That’s how grunge guitar broke through and why it remains relevant.

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Shawn Fain, the corrupt UAW, and fake “strategic strikes”

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Things you will NEVER read about Shawn Fain in the corporate media.

1) He is widely despised among the rank-and-file auto workers. Facebook chats & live-streams are full of hostile comments from workers, which he ignores.

2) Shawn Fain was installed as UAW president in a sham election last year where he only receive 3% [!] of the membership vote. Most auto workers didn’t even know there was an election & never received a ballot.

3) Shawn Fain is a career bureaucrat in bed with corporate management. He wants to settle this labor dispute in favor of the Big Three, ASAP.

4) “Selective strikes” turn fellow non-striking auto workers into scabs, which is how to defeat a strike. That’s Shawn Fain’s plan. Right now, only 3 auto plants are on strike, with the UAW bureaucracy ordering workers to stay on the job everywhere else, even though they don’t have a contract.

5) The UAW has an $825 million strike fund, which came entirely from workers’ union dues, but the bureaucracy doesn’t want to call an all-out strike because it considers this money to be its own personal piggy bank. “Strategic strikes” prevents most auto workers from getting any strike money.

6) Bernie Sanders, AOC, etc, will be brought in to give Shawn Fain a boost from the fake left.

7) If the entire auto workforce eventually walks out, that’s the work of the WSWS. The UAW (and the fake left) is trying everything it can to PREVENT this from happening.

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The Steve Bartman incident: a baseball & social analysis

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Preface: Every sports fans knows this event well enough and its run-up, so I’ll spare the reader a detailed account and skip to my analysis.

We’re nearing the 20th anniversary of this infamous sports incident, so let’s review how to avoid becoming a victim. 1) Know the ground rules on fan interference, especially if you have a front row seat. That’s a responsibility you have as a fan. 2) Stand up for your dignity at all times. Do NOT let yourself be abused for the sake of the team. 3) Give Fox Sports the middle finger when they keep focusing the camera on you after your fan mistake. I guarantee they will stop showing you on TV. 4) When the attention & scrutiny becomes too much, leave the stadium IMMEDIATELY. Don’t sit there and let fans hurl verbal abuse & beer on you. 5) Pick better friends. Evidentially, the two people to Steve Bartman’s right were with him, but never stuck up for him after the incident and completely abandoned him when they were escorted from their seats by security. 6) The next day, after you’ve been identified in the media, make a statement declaring your remorse for what you did, while also focusing the blame on the players & coaches in the field/dugout who failed. Make THEM own the responsibility for the Cubs losing, instead of absorbing the blame yourself. 7) Give the Marlins credit for a great rally. Just after the incident happened, Marlins LHP Mark Redman said to his team in the dugout, “Let’s make him famous.” They did. 8) If you’re gonna go for it (and I say don’t do it there!), then at least make the play. He missed badly, and that caught him more hell with Cubs fans. 9) Re-evaluate why you are a fan and what it means.

I’m one of those people who never hated Steve Bartman, or felt sorry for him. I felt like he needed to grow a pair. Recently re-watching the ESPN Film Catching Hell (2011) brought all these thoughts to me, and many of them weren’t mentioned in the documentary film. The film is a different experience now from when it was released, because the Cubs finally won it in 2016– thirteen years [!] after the Bartman incident.

In Catching Hell, there’s not enough awareness & discussion of Fox Sports singling out a spectator and making HIM the story, all in the name of bigger ratings. They kept going back & back to it, instead of focusing on the action on the field. Steve Lyons was a main culprit, and a good example of an ex-jock who isn’t qualified to be in a broadcast booth.

Furthermore, when Bill Buckner says he would violate baseball ground rules as a front row spectator if that situation came to him, I don’t believe him. I understand why he says it, but I don’t believe it, and neither should any baseball fan. Their experiences were completely different, and hard to compare, except that they were both made into scapegoats. ESPN has all the resources in the world available to them, and they still miss the story.

Catching Hell also had too much lame arguing that fan interference should have been called by the umpires. Two Cubs fans with too much time on their hands even made a 187-page legal brief on it, making their case for FI. Let me refute that weak stuff here. First, this was before video replay in umpiring, so the call on the field stands no matter what.

Second, at least half a dozen other Cubs fans were reaching into the field of play to catch the foul ball too. If hometown fans prevent their own player from making a play, and it’s too close to call on the field (as it was), then the umpires CAN’T bailout the Cubs. I’ve seen Yankees fans make way for Derek Jeter, etc, to make a play in the stands at Yankee Stadium. Same thing for fans at Fenway for their team, and of course they do the opposite when it’s an opponent going for the ball– and that’s their right as fans.

If Cubs fans weren’t ‘heads up’ like they should have been, then they deserve to suffer the consequences of their baseball ignorance. If fans turn a home field advantage into a disadvantage, then they only have themselves to blame– collectively. I believe Cubs fans hated Steve Bartman for two reasons: 1) his actions hurt their team’s cause; and 2) they know deep in their hearts they would have done the same.

Epilogue: After the Cubbies finally won the World Series in 2016, management & ownership did the right thing and sent Steve Bartman a World Series ring. By all accounts he was deeply moved & appreciative, while saying he didn’t deserve it. The truth is no one deserved it more. This guy who just wants to remain an anonymous Cubs fan took a bullet for the 2003 Cubs and was forced to endured shameful abuse from fellow fans & the entire media. No one deserves that.

The guy got too excited for a moment and did something he shouldn’t have done. No one died. This should have been the call, “Foul ball… out of play. Maybe some Cubs fans are a little too exuberant in their desire to catch a foul ball, as Alou is upset…” [replay, then live camera shot to the area– once. Then move on with the broadcast of the game].

Thom Brennaman’s call on Fox was similar to what I just wrote, but the producers in the truck kept pushing the cameras onto Steve Bartman, while color analyst Steve Lyons kept harping, “THAT could be BIG,” which gave Fox a compelling human narrative they could keep going back to, and they did. Steve Bartman should have sued Fox for malice. He may have, I don’t know, but he surely had a case. That’s why guys who looked like attorneys kept pushing their business cards in his face after his foul ball muff.

Being a sports fan is a dangerous thing, because it has the potential to become a drunken mob where things can get out of control. People are so passionate about sports that they lose their heads and do crazy thing they normally wouldn’t do. It’s the excitement of the game, the desire to participate and be a hero for 15 seconds, to be on TV, gambling & fantasy sports, etc. Some of that is vanity, or simply a natural desire to recognized for doing something good.

What the Steve Bartman incident teaches us is that if you get carried away with all this exuberance for sports in the form of fanaticism, it can come back to haunt you if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Network TV cameras pick up EVERYTHING now. If you get caught in that situation, refer to my checklist at the top to avoid becoming a victim of circumstance.

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