The Rio Olympics - Seven Days In

I have been watching a lot of the Olympics.  Not as much as my friend Fred Shugars has been watching, to be sure, but enough to ensure that I haven't been to bed before midnight all week, and it's killing me.

Anyway, here are some Kwick Komments from this part of The Grandstand.....

• Michael Phelps.  The guy is 31 years old and in his FIFTH Olympics.  I never would have thought that what he has done in Rio would have been possible.  It is simply amazing.

• Ryan Lochte may be one of the greatest swimmers of all time.  Wonder if he ever says to himself, "Why did MY prime have to coincide with Michael Phelps' prime?"
• When I watch Katie Ledecky swim her events, I think of Secretariat at the Belmont Stales in 1973.  Another simply amazing athlete.

• Staying in the pool, HUGE props go out to American Gold Medalist Simone Manuel for all kinds of reasons.  Hers was a landmark performance in a lot of ways.  Her emotions after winning and in post-swim interviews last night was one of the highlights of the Games.

• Allison Schmitt, the great-niece of one of our Stonebrook neighbors, Barb Meyer, won a gold medal in one of the swimming relay events the other night.  This goes with four medals that she won in London in 2012.  Here's to a little reflected glory for our little neighborhood!

• Female beach volleyball players high five and hug each other after every point.  Talk about slowing up the pace of play.
• I watched the final set of a men's beach volleyball match last night between the USA and Italy, and found it to be totally and completely compelling.
• Saw the last ten minutes of the USA-India field hockey game last night, won by the USA, 3-0.  Isn't that a sport that has historically been dominated by India in the past? (That's a serious question.)  Anyway, that USA team is now either 3-0 or 4-0 in pool play, so when did the USA become a power in field hockey?
• I am not sure if I have ever seen ten minutes of field hockey, total, in my entire life before last night, but, hey, Let's Go USA!!!!
• When Australia gave the USA men's basketball team a bit of a scare on Wednesday night, it produced the best quote of the Games so far.  Kyrie Irving said that the Aussies gave the USA a great game and forced them to "play with our backs to the ropes" all night.
• I applaud the skill sets of the female gymnasts, and I am glad that they are producing a haul of medals for the good ol' US of A, but something about watching those young girls (and, yes, they are for the most part, still girls) makes me a little uneasy.  Too many stories from the past about abusive coaches (that means you, Mr. and Mrs Karolyi) makes me squeamish.
• The maniacal husband/coach of Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu is far and away the most annoying character to emerge from these Games.  Does he ever wash that green t-shirt he's always wearing?
• Team handball.  I never see this enough to really learn the rules and the intricacies of the game.  It seems to combine basketball, hockey, and soccer all in one sport.  It seems intriguing and looks like something that I might actually like watching, if given the opportunity to learn more about it.  It doesn't seem to be a sport that is played with any great seriousness in the USA.
• Of the sports contested in this first week, I am glad that the scheduling was such that most of the final swimming events have been contested live and in prime time.  Those are the ones we have most enjoyed seeing.  I hope that the same will be true of some of the signature track and field events, which begin today.

That's it for now.  More to come in the week ahead.

"X-RAYS OF BOB'S HEAD SHOW NOTHING"

A medical incident that I experienced last week (I'll spare you the details; can't violate HIPAA, you know) caused me to undergo a bunch of various medical tests last week.  The good news is that all the tests results thus far have come back negative.  The even better news is that I was able to appropriate the famous Dizzy Dean headline to use on myself.

There was one big down side to this, though.  After much consideration, we decided to back out on our annual trip to the Outer Banks, which was scheduled for this week.  It is the first time since the Reagan Administration that we will have missed out on this family trip.  Really bums us out when we dwell on it, but it was the right decision and was probably for the best.  

Probably.

To Absent Friends - B.E. Taylor

B.E. Taylor

The Facebook news feed this afternoon is filled with the incredibly sad news of the death of local Pittsburgh area singer and musician B.E. Taylor.  He died yesterday at the age of 65.  Taylor was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2007, but he continued to perform right up to the end.

Taylor had a brief fling with national prominence in the 1980's, including a Billboard #1 song, "Vitamin L".  For the most part,, however, he confined himself to recording and performing in the greater Pittsburgh and tri-state area.  He was best known for his annual Christmas shows.  Marilyn and I had the good fortune to finally see one of these shows last December at Heinz Hall (http://grandstander.blogspot.com/2015/12/be-taylor-and-christmas-in-city.html ), and it was wonderful experience.  

This is a guy who surely will be missed on the local music and entertainment scene.

RIP B.E. Taylor.

Movie Review - "Jason Bourne"

We took in the new Jason Bourne movie that is titled, appropriately enough, "Jason Bourne".  When you go see this one, take a deep breath before the movie starts, because this is one non-stop, kick-ass, action movie folks.  The action never, and I mean, never stops.  Lots of shootings, bare knuckle fights, explosions, and car crashes.  Lots and lots of car crashes.  Lots of scenes of feet hitting brake pedals and gas pedals.  Director Paul Greengrass delivers it all!  And as for scenery, I lost track halfway through of how many cities we saw in this one....Reyjavik, Athens, Rome, London, Washington, Las Vegas, and I am sure that I have forgotten a few.

As for the plot, forget about it.  There are more McGuffins in this one that Hitchcock could have ever shaken a stick at, so don't even try, just sit back and enjoy the ride.  Matt Damon, fresh back from Mars, reprises the role of Jason Bourne and let me tell you, Damon's Bourne makes James Bond, as played by anyone, look like a complete and total namby-pamby.  This has got to be one of the toughest guys ever put on a movie screen.

A craggy faced Tommy Lee Jones plays the CIA Director.  Is he a good guy or a bad guy?

An attractive Alicia Vikander played a Deputy CIA Director.  Is she a good guy or a bad guy?

Both Jones and Vikander are Academy Award winners, and both chew on a bit of scenery as this movie plays out, but what the hell, this movie isn't supposed to be great art, it's supposed to be exciting and fun, and it surely does deliver on both counts.  And, yes, it ends  with a perfect set up for the NEXT Jason Bourne movie.

Three stars from The Grandstander for "Jason Bourne".

As an aside, the Cinemark Theaters has a new public service announcement that they play before the movies asking that all in the audience turn off their cell phones.  It is delivered by Director Oliver Stone, and it's hilarious.

The Rio Olympics Begin

After months and months of stories about bribery and corruption in high levels, a city and a country being brought to near bankruptcy over their stageing, reports of poverty and of ungodly living conditions that include water pollution that might kill you, the risk of disease carrying insects, and athletic quarters where raw sewerage is running down the walls, the 2016 Olympic Games begin tonight in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Hoo-ray!

While I may not be as sour on the Olympics as Ron Cook described himself in his Post-Gazette column this morning (but to be fair, nobody can be as sour about anything as Ron Cook is about almost everything), I must admit that the magic of the Olympics has lessened for me somewhat with each passing four years, and I have come to have no illusions that the "Olympic Ideal" of Baron Pierre de Coubertin no longer exists, if it ever existed at all, in today's athletic world.

Still, I will be watching the Games themselves because they can be entertaining, compelling, and just plain fun to watch.  If that makes me a hypocrite, so be it.

These are some of the things to which I will look forward to seeing over the next 17 days:

• Men's Basketball.  Will the USA team continue it's dominance since the introduction of professional players in the Games?  Remember this: when it gets pointed out that This Country or That Country has two NBA players, or four NBA players so watch out for them, keep in mind that the USA has TWELVE NBA players, an entire team of NBA players.
• Women's Basketball.  This field may be more competitive from top to bottom than the men's field, so will the USA be able to bring home the Gold?
• Women's soccer.  Can the USA continue what they did in the Women's World Cup last year?
• Swimming.  Always fun to watch every four years in the Olympics.  Can Michael Phelps win yet another gold medal?  And will American Katie Ledecky continue her supreme dominance in this sport?
• Track and Field.  Another sport to which I only pay attention every four years.  Couldn't  name an American T&F athlete.  Wait, yes I can...Justin Gatlin and Donovan McNab's daughter.  However, somebody will emerge as an American star and capture our imaginations over the next two weeks in this sport.
• Usain Bolt.  Can he continue to be the Fastest Man in the World?
• Gymnastics.  Will the young women representing the USA actually crack a smile and appear to enjoy themselves during the course of the competition.

Someone whose name we do not know today will become a Story and a Star over the course of these games.  Will it be a male or female, from a mainstream or a niche sport, from a poverty stricken third world nation, or a world super-power?  That will be the fun of watching the Olympics.

And when the Games are over, we can then begin to start counting all of the medals that will be stripped from the winners because those winners were found to be, you know, cheaters.

Citius, Altius, Fortius.

The Liriano Deal

Shortly after I posted my last article about the Pirates deadline deals the news broke about the last minute salary dump trade of Francisco Liriano to the Blue Jays for pitcher Drew Hutchison.  The Jays agree to take on the full liability if Liriano's contract for 2016 and 2017, about $17 million worth of liability, and, oh yeah, the Pirates also sent along two of their Top Ten prospects to Toronto, OF Harold Ramirez and C Reese McGuire.  This news is now four days old and I should have written of it earlier, but for some real life issues that came up and kept me way from the keyboard for a few days.

So, what do we make of this?

My friend, Fred Shugars has often taken the position that "prospects are over-valued", and that a team shouldn't hesitate to deal prospects for proven vets if it can make a difference for a team in a pennant race.  Okay, that is a valid argument that I may or may not agree with, depending on the circumstances, but is that what the Pirates did in this case?  It doesn't appear so.  The Pirates gave up, as I said, two top ten prospects for a middling pitcher (30-21, 4.92 ERA in 76 games over parts of four seasons) who they immediately sent to Indianapolis so they can maintain additional, are you ready for it, "years of control."  Yep, that phrase that has been so maddening to Pirates fans in the Huntington Era have reared their heads once again.

When you give up a starting pitcher, albeit one that has been extremely ineffective and two of your top ten prospects, in exchange for a pitcher who cannot even supplant Jeff Locke from the roster, let alone the starting rotation, then, friends, you have a trade that, while it might be good for the bottom line business of running the Pirates, it probably has not been good for the actual playing of games for the Pirates.

To be fair, we won't know for absolute certainty as to the quality of this trade until at least late 2017 or even 2018.  Only then will we know what kind of major league players Ramirez and McGuire - and Hutchison - turn out being.  

All in all, it has been a frustrating week to be a Pirates fan.

The Pirates "Wheel-and-Deal"

Thoughts on the Pirates as the Trade Deadline passes and the calendar turns to August.

Right off the bat, that weekend in Milwaukee was a Disaster with a capital D.  No way, NONE, to put a positive spin on anything that took place up there over those three somnambulant performances. When historians look back on the 2016 Pirates, July 29-31 may well be pointed to as, to borrow a rock-and-roll metaphor, the days the music died.

Now, the trades.

• Mark Melancon to the Nats for LHP Rivero and Hearn.  This was no surprise, and it may well end up working out for the Pirates over the long haul.  MM was gone at the end of the season as a free agent, so it makes total business sense to do this, and it may very well work out in baseball sense.  It can be argued that it makes the statement that the Pirates are giving up on the 2016 season, so that lends a sad note to the whole deal. Personally, I believe that Tony Watson will close and save games with the same degree of efficiency as Melancon did.
• This is not to say that Melancon will not be missed.  He served the Pirates honorably and well in the time that he was here, and he seemed to be a good guy.  I wish him well.
• Jon Niese back to the Mets for former Pirate Antonio Bastardo.  In making this deal, Neal Huntington is saying that the Pirates sure got fleeced when they sent Neil Walker to the Mets for Niese over the winter.
• Ivan Nova (4.90 ERA in 97 IP) from the Yankees for a Player To Be Named Later.  Nova will be a free agent at the end of the season.  This has all the earmarks of a classic Nothing-for-Nothing deal. 
• For everyone who has been saying that ANYBODY would be better than Jeff Locke and/or Jon Niese, well, we are about to find out.

What does it all mean?  Well, if it means that the Pirates are giving up, in deed, if not in word, on a serious post season run this year, that 2016 may well be the "bridge year" to which the front office has often alluded, then make it a true bridge year.  That means....

• Install at least one more of the "young gun" pitchers as a full fledged member of the rotation.  Jameson Taillon is already in there.  The next guy should probably be Chad Kuhl once he is off the DL.
• I'll give in that Tyler Glasnow isn't quite ready yet, so keep him in Indy, but bring him up in September and pitch him.  The season may well be over for the Pirates then, so what will be lost?  (This assumes, of course, that he is healthy and hasn't reached an innings limit.)
• Take a really long hard look at John Jaso at first base. His numbers in both BA and OBP have been falling so precipitously as the season has progressed that he is not helping the ball club at all, particularly as a lead off batter.
• Bring Josh Bell up and put him at first base.  The word is that he is not very good defensively at first base.  So what?  The Pirates won 98 games last year with a guy at first base who was far and away the worst defensive first baseman in all of baseball.  A gold glove at first base is way over rated if you've got a first baseman who can, you know, hit.  Where Josh Bell is concerned, the future is now.  Not with a September call up, but now.

I don't know what to make of what has happened to Andrew McCutchen this season.  His, to be kind, sub-par season has killed the team this year.  I almost hope that we learn that he played with an injury all season that affected his play, because if he's NOT hurt, then are we seeing a sudden erosion of skills that have tuned a superstar into just another guy?  I hate to think that.

Finally, it appears that Ryan Vogelsong will return to the team and get a starting assignment this week in Atlanta.  Having watched the game where Vogelsong was hit in the face with a pitch, I could not be happier that he has recovered and is healthy, because that was a truly awful and frightening thing to watch.   So his comeback so soon is a great thing to see.  However, let's be honest, Voglesong's best days are behind him, so he cannot be looked upon as the saviour who will salvage the Pirates ineffective starting rotation.

Hey, a wild card spot is still not out of the question, but it won't be easy and nothing up to this point, including the trades made this weekend, makes you overly optimistic about the team making a charge these last fifty-plus games, but you never know.   I, for one, am not going to stop watching them.  I will still stand by my pre-season prediction of 89 wins.  I also predicted no playoff spot, and, alas, I will stand by that as well.

Did you notice that I didn't include any pictures with this post? Did you really want to see pictures of Antonio Bastardo and Ivan Nova?