TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – With the Olympic Games commercials flooding our senses it’s difficult to know what is going on in Tokyo with the actual games. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Money rules the world and how we live, or don’t live. Once streaming services like Netflix started I began to really realize just how much my live was bombarded by commercial TV. I had grown used to it, but once I got used to streaming services without advertisers slamming into my skull for endless minutes I finally woke up to how awful commercial TV really is – 10 minutes of a story and 15 minutes of ads. I’m afraid I might not be doing a lot of watching the Tokyo Olympics unless I have the remote handy and can at least silence the ads. I also have a gut feeling the United States is not going to be a dominant force as it has been in the Olympics. The rest of the world has caught up with us and no longer can we just assume we will win the most medals. But it’s only fair to allow some equality. We can’t always hog the show…. Speaking of hogging a show. What is going on with the 2021 Seattle Mariners? The no-names are putting on quite a show and at this writing they are 52-46 and on a winning pace nobody expected, and if somebody says they did expect this they are lying. I don’t quite know how to explain how a bad-hitting team like the Mariners (they are hitting a collective .218, worse in all of baseball) have a winning record. They are 8th in the American League and 11th overall with 122 home runs, so that helps. They are 8th in the American League and 19th in all of baseball in pitching, based on ERA (4.43). Their bullpen ranks fairly high, which has been the big factor. It is rated the 5th-best in all of baseball and tied with Tampa for first in the American League with 27 saves. I give manager Scott Servais a lot of the credit. He is a calm, cool collective individual, just the opposite of Lou Piniella who I say is the best manager the team has had. They called Piniella “Sweet Lou”, but he was nowhere near that. He seemed to be always fired up and may have been the best base thrower in baseball history. Servais, though, seems to pull all the right strings and has put together a collection of no-names that are making names for themselves. Can they make the playoffs? Probably not, but I’m not betting against them. They surprise me almost every day with positive results. … Can you believe what Sue Bird is doing? She may be recognized as the best women’s point guard in the game for a long time. She is doing at 40 years old what most of us can only dream about at that age. She’s not only a teammate’s dream, but a coaches’ dream. She is nearly perfect as a basketball player. If you get a chance to watch her, do it. This might be her last year, but if it is I doubt she will leave the game. She would be a great coach. She already is … on the floor. … I’m addicted to UFC fight night, but, man, I would not step into the octagon. No way. It’s brutal and bloody and screams for me to turn it off. But I’m transfixed. What makes these people get into the octagon and slug and kick and wrestle each other into bloody messes? I believe most of these fighters enjoy being hit and hitting. They knock each other around and then when it is all over they hug while blood streams down their faces. The last two fights I had as a young adult I guarantee I did not hug the other guy. I walked away while they laid on the ground. One of those fights earned me banishment from the establishment. Now I couldn’t fight my way out of a wet paper bag. That is life, and that is enough for today. Stay safe.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.