(Note from Julie, ‘What He Has to Say’ is written by my friend and fellow writer J. Burrows.  I’ve gotten asked previously if he is my husband.  He’s not.  I figure everyone gets enough of my life and views, I wanted the male perspective from another husband and father, to see life as he sees it.)

By J. Burrows

Hello all. Julie has requested I do some husband blogging, and I got to thinking why I don’t do more blogging about my married life. I certainly love my wife, and could not see marrying or being married to anyone else on earth or elsewhere really. But, in my free flow blogging style (hahaha that really is a joke) I could set out to talk about our wedding which was on the beach at the Outer Banks and was really beautiful, and inevitably I will say something that my wife will have found offensive. Is this something that is unique to me? I think not. My wife (and others) say that I am so funny, and yet as soon as something as said that could be remotely construed as being offensive if looked at 1 out of 21 ways, than that must have been the intent.

Do any other guys run into this? I find myself speaking of and about my wife very little because inevitably offense will be found in what I have said or what I must have meant. This is not to make it sound like my wife and I fight, we don’t. But, I don’t have any pictures of us, and I am encouraged to not have an opinion of much of anything relating to peripheral things including or involving her. Get it? Good. Love you Honey!

And, lately we are both so tired because I work about 40-45 hours a week and she goes to law school and we have a baby and a dog and a cat.
 

BASEBALL TONIGHT CONTINUED

 For those of you who are following the world series, you undoubtedly know that Monday’s game was suspended in the strangest of ways.

Bud Selig, the former used car salesman and owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, is the much maligned commissioner of baseball. He is maligned because of a lot of things, his handling of the steroids issue, the introduction of inter-league play and the wild card, and the All Star game that resulted in a tie. After that debacle he decreed that from that day forward, the winners of the All Star game would serve as the home field for the World Series.

 Let’s handle these one by one:

1)The steroid issue. In my opinion, he ignored the mounting evidence, and simply enjoyed baseball’s return to relevance. Remember that before that magical summer that McGwire and Sosa chased Maris’ record, baseball was feeling the pain and anger of fans over the canceling of the Series due to the Player’s Strike. So, while it was obvious to everyone who was paying attention that these guys were on something, Selig chose to do nothing. His inaction caused a decade of distrust, the watering down of the record books, and pushed McGwire into obscurity. However, if he had done something at the time (Suspending the main perps), no one would have cared about the rest. If this scandal had exploded way back then, baseball as we know it would not be around today. On the heels of the cancelled Series, and with multimillion dollar contracts by average players, and then to find out they were cheating? Baseball certainly would have lost it’s anti-trust exemption and probably would have had to fold half the teams. 

2)Inter-league play. Who doesn’t love watching the Mets-Yankees, the Cardinals-Royals, Dodgers-A’s? Well, for each of these successes there is a Blue Jays-Pirates clunker. It just can’t be all Mets-Yankees. So, what was a thrilling, anticipated what if has now taken away from the competition of the game and the regular season. Due to parity, and the teams being more and more similar, the difference between scheduling is more apparent and more harmful to playoff aspirations. In a 162 game schedule, some in the American or National League play a team in only one series a year. This is not right. Perhaps cut down on the inter-league, but it is impossible to cut down and maintain scheduling integrity. I give Bud credit for trying it though, it did generate a lot of excitement. 

3)The Wild Card- I believe Bob Costas is the only person against the wild card, which enters another team into the playoff. The obvious argument is that it cheapens the regular season and the divisional pennant. On the contrary, it keeps many more teams in the hunt for the playoffs for a lot longer, without lessening the significance of an intra-division rivalry. You still need to win the games. In years past having the Red Sox competing against not only the Yankees for the division, but also the Twins, White Sox and A’s for the wild card create rivalries and generate excitement that would have been dead in the pre wild card MLB. And, the fact that Wild Card teams have won numerous World Series just shows you again the parity that exists in the whole of the league. 

4) The tie All Star game- is a joke. The way that these managers treat the players as if it is little league, and the starter goes 2 innings and everyone gets to hit and wave to their family from their fielding position is a joke. This game used to mean something, and now it has become a fashion show where everyone trots out and takes a turn. So, what happens when there is a tie game in extra innings and you don’t have any pitchers left? In my world, a shortstop pitches. In Bud’s World? TIE GAME!!!

Oh no…This was a travesty, but nothing like the one that followed. 

5) Home field advantage in World Series awarded by all star winner- This was in direct response to the previous, and is so misguided as if to be laughable. What a joke. Bud heard the critics saying the game used to mean something, and said, “Well, it will means something again, home field advantage!”  This is not the answer. The answer to making the game more fun and competitive is dropping the requirement that one player from every team be represented and that each player plays. Also, eliminating inter league play would help with some natural rivalries. This to me is Bud’s biggest blunder. 

     As I stated earlier, the game Monday was postponed. Where I do agree with Bud is the assertion that no World Series game should end before 9 innings are played. It is the grandest stage, the biggest game. It should not be an appreciated one. But, where Bud dropped the ball was in even starting the game with rain threatening the way it was. The nuances of baseball can only be truly appreciated in a 9 inning game. The pitching rotation, the relievers, everything depends upon 9 innings on the same day. The fact that they are playing 2 and a half innings tonight is farcical. They should start the thing over. Why wasn’t the game canceled on Monday? FOX dreaded the idea of game 7 taking place on a Friday, and Halloween. Well, you get what you pay for… 

Through all of these transgressions, it is important to note that there have never been more people watching baseball, in a butt in seats way of counting. Sure, TV ratings are down, especially when snow is flying at the end of October, but get the TV people out of the schedule making business and the game will thrive. 

THAT IS ALL. Tendinitis sucks, I have a brace on my wrist, struggling through the day. Talk to you soon, watch the game tonight. Should be a short one. Oh, and chime in on what you think of bud, surely I am missing something. 

Oh, and that is the last time I go to Julie’s for football! I made some hot chocolate, and just about burned my thing off!

 (Har, har, Jamie.  Notice he talks about marriage in 2 paragraphs but baseball in 10.  ~Julie)