“The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory.
The truth is far more frightening – Nobody is in control.
The world is rudderless.”
―
We are one week and a day into the 2020 MLB season. As of today, 18 Miami Marlins players, 2 St. Louis Cardinals players, and 2 Philadelphia Phillies staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. There have quite a few game postponements as a result. And with an incubation period that can last up to 14 days, the numbers stated above are likely to increase.
Is baseball in danger of being cancelled this year?
For the sake of safety, I sure hope so.
Obviously, fans of the sport don’t want that. I don’t. But at this point, what other alternatives exist? The players and owners were not in favor of the bubble format that has (so far) worked well for the NBA, NHL, and UFC. And to try and make something like that work now would be a massive challenge for all parties involved. I’m just not sure what the expectations were going into this. Without a contained bubble environment, players and personnel are basically free to go and do as they please. And it hasn’t taken long for the consequences to spill out. Will we continue to have baseball? Only time will tell. Being a Pirates fan, I enter every season with low expectations and minimal positivity as it is.
Stanley Cup qualifiers start tomorrow. Hockey. Is. Back. All day. Every day. I thought it would be a little strange to watch games in the summer. No. It’s still great. This tournament is going to be wildly unpredictable and very entertaining. The league did an amazing job putting the two hub sites together. If all goes well, the Penguins will be playing into October and raising the Cup again. There really is not a clear favorite going into this. Teams are healthy. Rested. With only one tuneup game, I expect a little rust and jumbled play at first. But it won’t take the players all that long to get into the swing of things. In a perfect world, Edmonton and Calgary make it into the playoffs and find each other along the way. Look for the Rangers as a potential sleeper team. Arizona as well.
I miss seeing new movies in the theater. And the popcorn.
There have been a ton of great horror novels released in the last couple of months. Suppose this Covid situation has helped some of us in that department. It certainly gave me a bit more room to sit and “focus” on getting things done. (Focus in quotes there because I’m not really sure if I can do it — my latest project is stuck in some thick mud).
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones is a wild ride. I may have recommended it before. Eff it. I’ll do it again. Read the thing.
Wonderland by Zoje Stage, Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay, Malorie by Josh Malerman, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, and The Shadows by Alex North are at the top of my reading list.
George R.R. Martin is making progress on The Winds of Winter. Will we see it in 2021? I hope. Will it remove the bad taste from the mouths of those who hated how Game of Thrones ended? Doubtful. It’ll still be a fun read (well, as fun as those books can be…I’m sure this one won’t be a shining example of good things happening to characters).
A special shout out to the racists, science-deniers, and general dunderheads out there. You keep doing you. It must take some real courage to put your stupidity out into the public view like that. I applaud you for trying to open our eyes to the evils and pains of wearing fabric over our mouths and noses to help curb the spread of a deadly virus. I applaud you for really stepping it up and voicing your strong headed opinion that all lives matter (and then not wearing a mask when you go out). It just tickles my insides to know that we’re all just cute fuzzy sheep who are being led off the edge of so many different cliffs. Oh look! There we are! Watch us fly! Weeeeee.
I sure can’t wait for the “vaccine” to come out so we can all get our microchips secretly implanted. Then we’ll really be in trouble! I mean, the government definitely doesn’t know what we do now. But microchips? Oh shit. They’ll track everything. All of it. Everything you eat. Everytime you sneeze. Those private moments when you don’t bother to lift the toilet seat before you pee and proceed to pee all over said seat. They’ll know. They’ll see. Eyes! Eyes everywhere!
Let’s be sure to continue this inane tradition of throwing a fit over every little change that comes our way. Keep your big boy guns in your hands as you order your sammiches! Fly those Confederate flags! Get angry over protests! Be an individual and sit in your underwear while you watch Fox News!
So the new Taylor Swift album is pretty good.
‘Murica. You fine folks just keep doing your part in dragging us all down into the abyss.
Cheers.
A Total Mess -- A Blog by Travis Ralston 