PONDERABLES
How come a credit card purchase is instantly debited to our accounts but it takes ten days to reverse an erroneous charge?
Why did Trudeau wait until just before schools are scheduled to open before announcing financial help for the provinces?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
There are dozens of ways to be despicable, and Donald Trump has mastered them all.
SOME MORE CLEVER COUNTRY SONG TITLES
She Feels Like A New Man Tonight
Gettin’ Back To Norma
I Don’t Mind The Thorns (If You’re The Rose)
This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me
You Could’ve Heard A Heart Break
AND A VERY CLEVER COVID-19 LINE
Attributed to Rocco Rossi, CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce: Keep positive but test negative.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
What a fiasco! From 6:00 pm Sunday evening until (for me) 1:20 am Monday morning, the people running the Conservative leadership race held viewers hostage with patently groundless timing predictions, grossly inadequate explanations of what the problems were, and then when they finally got around to it, a deliberate and completely unnecessary elongation of the announcement of the results. The people running this show seemed to have no inkling of how to effectively handle the situation, and it takes seventeen inklings to make up a clue.
Justin Trudeau probably enjoyed it, though. He likely thinks he has a better chance to beat Erin O’Toole in the next election than he would have had to beat Peter MacKay, and there are probably many voters who think that if the Conservatives can’t manage to count 175,000 ballots without screwing up, they’re probably incapable of running a country of around 40,000,000 people. Most political pundits are saying that this mess will be forgotten by the time the next election rolls around. That would be true if the election turns out to be a year or more away, but should Jagmeet Singh develop some common sense and backbone it could happen sooner than that.
I watched the debacle on CTV News Channel. Their anchor, Evan Solomon, and the producers deserve some kind of award for filling five or more hours of unplanned airtime.
ERIN O’TOOLE
Although I still think Peter MacKay would have had a better chance of beating Trudeau, I’m not prepared to completely count out O’Toole. He had a very impressive press conference last Tuesday morning. And it’s refreshing to see a leader who has accomplishments outside of politics. O’Toole has an impressive non-political resume: significant military experience, obtaining a law degree, and gaining extensive private sector business experience before becoming an MP. On the other hand, Justin Trudeau’s non-political resume is one line: had a number of unrelated part-time jobs while living off his trust fund.
THE BOYCOTT BY PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES
I sincerely hope that it does turn out to be a one-off. As well-intentioned as it may be, when sports are making life a lot more bearable for millions of people during the pandemic a prolonged boycott is capable of doing much more short-term damage than long-term good.
SOME BASEBALL MUSINGS
Why doesn’t someone invent batting gloves that don’t have to be adjusted after every pitch?
With teams carrying more starting pitchers than ever before, and managers reluctant to have them face a lineup three times, or to let them throw more than 100 pitches, isn’t it time to change the rule that a starting pitcher has to complete five innings to be credited with a win? How about three? After all, a starter could be charged with a loss even if he faces only one batter.
Although Blue Jay Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has failed to live up to all the minor league hitting hype, his fielding at the unfamiliar position of first base has been a pleasant surprise. And speaking of the Jays, young stars Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio are reason enough to watch their games. Baseball insiders are saying that Biggio, although just 25 years old and not yet having played the equivalent of a full season, is clearly the leader of the team. After watching his dugout activities and his articulate and insightful after-game interview earlier in the week, I’m not at all surprised.
The more I see the application of the rule requiring a pitcher to face three batters or end a half inning before being removed, the more I like it. However, I still think placing a runner on second base to start extra innings is too gimmicky. I wouldn’t mind seeing it applied after two extra innings.
Plate umpiring continues to be dreadful.