D. Hocking

Thanks for sharing - sounds like a good experience or in Mauer speak "neat". I remember someone saying (I believe it might have even been Souhan) when Mauer does not have feel like he has to ask the standard interview questions about himself (how are you feeling etc.) and is just talking he actually is a bit more chatty and has some interesting baseball insights. I thought that was even a little evident in the Twinsfest 'CCO radion interview where he was pretty relaxed. Now that he no longer is in that player mode where felt the need to be more guarded in his answers he might have some interesting stories that he tells in future interviews.

from MLK Day -- this rubbed me the wrong way a bit:

This tweet shows that he cannot resist about bragging about anything (and here he is bragging about buying fast food even though he himself owns a hotel nearby where he could have upped it a level), and that he has to lie about anything (even if there were 50 people in attendance - for 1000 burgers to be gone, it would mean each person had 20 burgers), and he really does not believe in proof-reading.

You have to admit he has brought a new level of class to the White House.

If Mitch actually did his job and/or had a soul he could get enough Senators to override a veto. Instead he is too craven and interested in his own self-interests to even bring something to vote unless Trump gives him his blessing. Trump's fear-mongering is such a low point for the country - his latest tweets:

I am guessing there are a number of people in Chicago who were wishing they had decided to skip the game and went to the movie theater.

Today in a cabinet meeting, where he had a big poster of himself on the table, he thought he would make a real good general, blasted General Mattis, said he could be popular enough to hold office anywhere in Europe, thought the Soviet Union had cause to invade Afghanistan, and said lucid statements like this: How can the GOP leadership pretend this is OK ( I know judges, corporate tax cuts, etc., in the short term they are getting what they want and in reality he truly does reflect what they are underneath their conservative power suits and ties).

I thought the beginning of the third season it was starting to get a little stale, but then it clicked again. The actress playing Janet had a tour de force performance in the episode leading into the holiday break. Jason is the character who I think is funny in small doses, but gets a little tedious when is the focus of an episode.

I actually thought it was kind of nice and kind of appropriate for Mauer that they surprised him with it at his old Cretin stomping grounds and almost a casual affair. No doubt they have a big formal Mauer day at Target Field next summer, but will be hard (or impossible) to beat the unofficial Mauer day the last day of the 2018 season. The people behind that deserve some kudos. From the clip I saw, he kept his speech pretty much geared for the kids in the audience and told them to enjoy and appreciate what they were doing, because it goes by quickly. Oh, and he thanked people.

Profile in courage Paul Ryan must be upset that this possible temper tantrum shut-down is interfering with his stream self-congratulatory exiting his office tweets of what a great job he did with the tax bill. I am sure Speaker Ryan was forceful and truthful with Trump and did not simply try to appease him and his ego and tell him what he wanted to hear.

Maybe they would have been more concerned about Mauer after 2011 if he had shown up out of shape in 2012. He actually had a bounce back year and while was not 2009 level, was again an all-star catcher. He followed that up with having an even better season in 2013 both offensively and defensively, until that foul tip took him out for the year and changed everything. It is possible his conditioning program could have been different and made a difference post-concussion, or it might not have made a difference. After 2013 it is harder to say what was due to conditioning, what was due to simply getting older, and what was due to a brain injury that actually caused him to retire when he realized it was still not completely healed five years later. I am not sure there is a double standard, more like a different standard. It was under a different regime and Mauer was an established player with a number of successful seasons under his belt. Plus, while people here don't agree with his workout program the last few years, it was something he did all year long and kept the Twins in the loop of what he was doing. I do recall what an earlier poster said, that supposedly Joe's trainer was in contact with the Twins. It is not like he went completely rogue and off the grid and kept the Twins in the dark.

Here is Rocco's response. He has talked with him on the phone but is planning on seeing him in person, and thinks players saying what is on their mind is a good thing. So far I have liked what I have seen from him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkWbJQsnZks

I am not sure there is a bigger bunch of hypocrites or people without any shame or conscience than the senior GOP leadership. I think they could see video of Trump in bed with Putin while he is handed a check and they would find a way to dismiss it. I am pretty sure they have different standards when the president is not Republican. https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1072588457845972993

There was also the little thing like a knee surgery a month or so before spring training in 2011. He did not just rest the off season to just recover from normal wear and tear but from a damaged knee. It is too bad he did not have surgery sooner, but who knows that might have been the team's decision. They also exacerbated things by trying to push him for opening day when he clearly was not ready. I think there is a reason why Joe got outside medical and training opinions after how the 2011 knee injury was handled. I remember reading this Gardy interview last summer and wondering why they were not more open about just stating that the knee was messed up (although some of that might fall on Mauer - this is one time where if he had blown his lid in frustration publicly it would have been some beneficial PR). One of my friends knew some family members and the impression she had at the time was the knee was pretty messed up. https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2018/09/for-someone-who-says-he-hasnt-made-up-his-mind-about-retiring-joe-mauer-certainly-seems-like-hes-savoring-his-last-days-as-a-twin/ Maybe in his mid or late 20's he could have done more in the off season (and maybe not). I think the last number of years he has worked on conditioning all year long. It might not have been what people here wanted, but I think he put time and thought into it (and look at how he worked to improve his 1B defense). From hearing teammates talk about him, I have gotten the impression that during the season he set an example by his routines before and after games. It is certainly possible that he had gotten special treatment, and that he could have made different training decisions, but I don't think his work ethic was ever an issue. I just hope there are enough good things going on in the 2019 season that we will not need to continually debate Mauer.

My dog had never had peanut butter until the vet gave her a spoonful to keep her focused on something while they tried to take her blood pressure. I thought she was going to pass out from happiness. I started putting it in a Kong until I realized I was gaining weight from eating half of the jar myself. I then switched to the fake meat equivalent of cheese in a can and was able resist eating the dog's Kong filling.

The dog probably has a crush on Sandy Duncan (back when commercials went big for their spokespeople). We had a dog who could have cared less if the refrigerator door opened, but if it was the freezer and there was a chance for ice cream she would be appear out of nowhere. We had another dog that would growl happily while eating bacon, which is not that unusual. Years later when he was getting up there in age, he suddenly started doing the same thing while eating potato chips, but even being more dramatic. We figured he was either losing his sense of taste and he was fooled by the texture of the chips, or he was being sarcastic (if any dog could be sarcastic, it would have been Fred.)

Since Paul Ryan hinted at the legitimacy of the CA elections without proof, I am sure he is going to issue a scathing statement with all of the actual evidence that has been reported.

Trump has been so mature, calm and measured lately, you would have never known that something like this was about to come down. He has an excellent poker face. He has now cancelled his one on one meeting with Putin giving the latest Ukraine incident as the reason, but you have to wonder if he just does not want a bad review.

Was thinking this might fit in this thread, since it is Trump's cabinet, but isn't this a little disingenuous since Saudi Arabia is doing the actual bombing?

I was reading the comments on an article where she said she was not racist, but just a cowgirl. I stopped when I saw someone bring up "Barry Hussein". It is depressing that she got elected and so many people are defending her (including the president). A lot of comments blaming the liberal left for making everything about race and her comments were innocent. Her opponent was fairly careful on how he went after her, wanting to win over some of the more conservative voters. I understand his thinking, but I wish he would have shown a little more emotion about it and brought up her overall history a bit more.

This administration is a toxic combination of evil, ineptitude, and laziness. I will give Melania credit for her Handmaiden Tale inspired Christmas decorations.

I am assuming you want us to send you our addresses so you know where to send our gifts. Thanks in advance (make sure to include the gift receipt)..

His official statement today starting with "America First!" rationalizing why he is going to pretend the CIA report on the murder of Khashoggi does not have much weight, is really tragic in how little he takes into account a life that was ended in torture, how Trump can be bought, the message it sends out to other foreign powers taking out a critic anywhere and anyway, and really shatters any moral standing we have in just about anything. Hey - murder by dismemberment is not good, but if money is involved, we can let it slide. Plus, I am reluctant to turn on anyone who flatters me.

This is how I now feel when I watch the news (that will be the extent of my political commentary on this thread).

Was listening to 1500 this afternoon - they had a bunch of Mauer discussion (funny how his retirement came the same week as the Jimmy Butler trade -- could not have a bigger difference in exits or personality of the players). One of the interviews was with Glen Perkins and that is what amazed him - he said he did not change at all. He said people ask him what is he really like - and said exactly what you see. One of the interviewees - I think Roy Smalley - was asked if Joe should have been more vocal - maybe yelled more, and he said no, because it would not have been true to who he was. It never works when someone is faking something like that.