Sunday Morning Kwick Komments.....

Kwickies for your konsideration.....

• The 2016 Pittsburgh Pirates are a good team, certainly one that could be capable of competing for a post-season spot.  That said, they look like the Sad Sack team of Sad Sack manager John Russell of 2010 when they play the Cubs.
• It was hopeful when the Bucs took a 2-0 lead against the invincible Jake Arietta in the top of the fourth inning yesterday, but then thoroughly demoralized to watch Jeff Locke spit the bit in the bottom of the fourth  y giving up an infield single, a walk, and a soul-crushing three run home run to the first three batters he faced after having been given a lead.
• Pirates now 0-5 against the Cubs this season.  Combined scores of those games: 37-11.  It is at a time like this that a true Ace needs to take control of a game and pick his team up and turn things around.  We shall see what Gerrit Cole does with just such an opportunity this afternoon.
• I take nothing away from the Cubs.  That is a very good team put together by Theo Epstein, who may well be the best baseball executive since Branch Rickey.  Their arrogant manner, a tone set by manager Joe Maddon, and the media's unbelievable slurping up to Maddon and the team that will ensue all summer long will make them one of the most disliked teams, on a national basis, in recent memory by the time the post-season rolls around.
• I am at the point where I am mightily tempted to skip watching games that Jeff Locke is scheduled to pitch.
• Did you see that the Pittsburgh Riverhounds lost their game against the Cincinnati Whatevers last night?  This was the game where Vontaze Burfict, Pacman Jones and other assorted Bengals Thugs served as honorary captains for the Cincinnati team.  That victory in a minor league soccer game must have been sweet revenge for those Bengals, whose thuggish and downright dirty play snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and gift-wrapped an NFL playoff win for the Steelers a few months back.  Maybe it made this lady smile again:

• Earlier in the week, Marilyn and I watched the 1967 movie "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" on TCM.  I was surprised how well this movie has held up over all the years. Despite the fact that we don't use terms like "colored" or "Negro" anymore, the message sent by this movie is still absolutely spot on.  This was an absolutely fabulous cast in they movie headed by Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier.  And I was surprised to see that spicy housemaid in this movie was played by Isobel Sanford, aka, Weezie Jefferson.

• And speaking of terrific movies, we once again watched last year's Best Picture Oscar winner, "Spotlight", last night.  The movie was even better the second time around.  Also, one of the extras on the Blueray disc featured a discussion of the actual Boston Globe reporters portrayed in the movie, and it was uncanny how perfectly the actors in the movie "got" the real life persons that they were playing.  If you still haven't seen it, you should.  Great movie.