Archive for October, 2023

We have a new winner!

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023

That is, a new winner of the highly un-coveted Saturday Dining Conspiracy “Die In a Fire” award.

Yes, I am pretty peeved right now. Yes, I am using the power of my blogs to work on a grudge: but if you can’t do that on your blog, what’s the point of having one?

I used to (sort of) like Mod Pizza. We have better local pizza places, but sometimes it was just nice to be able to get a small personal pizza with exactly the kind and variety of toppings I wanted.

There’s one within easy driving distance from the house out here in the hinterlands. Mom was craving pizza, and I thought a small pizza sounded good myself. So I placed an online order.

Below is the feedback I left Mod Pizza corporate on their website. I’ve left out the original order number (referenced in the email) because it wouldn’t mean anything to anyone except corporate.

——————

I placed this order at 3:30 PM for pickup at 4:15 PM. When I got to the store (around 4:10 PM) I gave the employee my name. He wasn’t clear about what was going on. I waited about 30 minutes for my food.

Finally, one of the other employees informed me that the store had CANCELLED MY ORDER (my because “they didn’t have enough people to make it”. I counted four employees in the store at the time.

I was further told that if I wanted my food I would have to place my order all over again, while I was in the store waiting, because they had enough people (in the store with no other customers) to make it now. No offer to place the order themselves based on my original receipt, just “you have to do it all over again”. That’s ridiculous.

I left and went to another local pizza place. I will NEVER EVER order from ANY Mod Pizza ever again. Especially this one, as this is the second time in a row they have messed up a pickup order.

Y’all need to shut this location down, as it is doing real harm to your brand.

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I should add to this: the Mod Pizza claims to have refunded my card for the order I placed, but I see no evidence of that in my account yet.

(Crossposted to the Logbook of the Saturday Dining Conspiracy.)

Edited to add 10/4: I did get a refund credited to my card this morning, just for the record.

Obit watch: October 3, 2023.

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023

Jim Caple, sportswriter.

I sort of remember the name: I was probably reading him back in the good old “Page 2” days. My feelings about lyrical happy horsepucky baseball writers are well known, but it seems like he wasn’t one of those guys:

He was also one of the most popular columnists for ESPN.com’s Page 2, where he took a lighter look at sports and rarely missed a chance to poke fun at the New York Yankees. He turned that into a book, “The Devil Wears Pinstripes.” He also co-wrote the book “Best Boston Sports Arguments” with fellow sportswriter Steve Buckley and penned a novel, “The Navigator,” which was based in part on his father, who was a B-24 navigator in World War II.

Former colleague and fellow baseball writer Jerry Crasnick recalled Caple as “one of the most brilliant, creative and thoughtful people I’ve ever met” in a poignant social media post. He also recalled Caple’s offbeat side, including stories of getting a pedicure with figure skater Johnny Weir and participating in the International Wife Carrying championships with Vicki.

This is intended to enrage you. (#10 in a series)

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023

I’m going to put a jump here, for those of you who want to avoid being enraged. Something else will be coming along eventually.

(more…)

Blood in the streets!

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

Phil Nevin out as manager of the Los Angeles Angels.

ESPN calls this a firing, while other sources say they “declined the option on his contract”. That to me is functionally indistinguishable from a firing, but maybe it makes some sort of difference to someone.

The Angels finished 73-89 and fourth in the AL West. Nevin’s first managerial position concluded with a 119-149 career record.

Obit watch: October 2, 2023.

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

Lucy Morgan, Florida journalist. She wasn’t someone I had heard of before, but the obit (which I encourage you to read) makes her sound fascinating.

She specialized in uncovering political corruption. In 1973, she went to jail because she refused to reveal her source for grand jury proceedings.

In 1976, the Florida Supreme Court overturned previous rulings against Ms. Morgan and expanded press privileges in Florida, setting a precedent that local reporters still cite.

She shared a Pulitzer (with Jack Reed) for exposing the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

Ms. Morgan’s reporting showed, among other things, that one in eight officers in Pasco County had criminal arrest records, and that more than half had lied about their pasts to get certified. One officer had an outstanding grand theft arrest warrant for stealing a police dog in another Florida county. Another had been the wheel man in several armed robberies.

She also exposed the sheriff of Gulf County, who got sent to prison for extorting oral sex from female inmates.

After the sheriff was found guilty of seven counts of violating the civil rights of female prisoners, Ms. Morgan returned to her office and found a dozen roses with a note: “From the women you believed.”

When she was about 60, she shattered her right ankle in the Florida House press gallery. But she continued limping around the Capitol building, bringing a fog of Trésor Eau de Parfum with her wherever she went. She greeted the legislators, lobbyists and maintenance people she knew not by asking, “How are you?” but instead calling out, “You doin’ somethin’ bad?”

Her investigations exposed widespread misreporting of gifts to state politicians, indicating that many of them should be charged with criminal misdemeanors. They also exposed what Ms. Morgan herself nicknamed the “Taj Mahal” scandal, which involved slipping an appropriation of more than $30 million for a luxurious courthouse into unrelated transportation legislation at the last minute.

Russ Francis, former tight end for the Patriots and 49ers, was killed in a plane crash on Sunday. Also killed was Richard McSpadden, a vice-president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).

It appears they were taking off from Lake Placid Airport and there was some sort of problem. Reports say they tried to make it back to the airport but couldn’t.

Mr. Francis, in additional to a successful NFL career (first round NFL draft pick, three time Pro Bowl player) was also an avid pilot. He’d recently bought an interest in Lake Placid Airways, a local charter and scenic flight service.

Mr. McSpadden, in addition to being an AOPA VP, was a former commander and flight leader for the Thunderbirds.

Tim Wakefield, former Boston Red Sox pitcher (and a past winner of the Roberto Clemente Award). Cancer got him at 57.

Chris Snow, of the Calgary Flames. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2019, and passed away after a “catastrophic brain injury”.

Your loser update: special MLB 2023 edition.

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

How did our high hopes for the MLB season turn out?

Well, the Oakland Athletics finished at the bottom, 50-112, .309 winning percentage. That’s bad, but it isn’t quite historically bad: Wikipedia’s list cuts off at .300.

Kansas City finished slightly better: 56-106, .346.

Colorado: 59-103, .364.

And the White Sox: 61-101, .377 winning percentage.

Firings watch.

Sunday, October 1st, 2023

Another one down, another one down, another one rides the bus bites the dust…

Buck Showalter out as manager of the Mets.

I was initially a little confused by this: was it a firing, or a retirement, but later articles make it clear it was a “forced resignation”.

ESPN:

Showalter took over in December 2021 and led the Mets to a 101-61 record last season, when he was voted NL Manager of the Year. New York lost to San Diego in their wild-card series, then added three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander to its pitching staff during the offseason. The Mets boosted their payroll to a record $355 million on Opening Day but wound up dealing Verlander, Max Scherzer and several other veterans ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Also ESPN:

New York is 74-87 and 29½ games behind National League East champion Atlanta.

Your loser update: week 4, 2023.

Sunday, October 1st, 2023

Lawrence asked me last night which of the remaining teams I favored to go 0-17.

My answer: da Bears and Carolina. I don’t believe the Vikings are that bad, and Denver at least has a coach who’s won a Superbowl.

How did that work out for me? Actually, pretty well.

NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-17:

da Bears
Carolina

da Bears play Washington on Thursday this week, while Carolina plays Detroit at noon next Sunday. Right now, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network favors Washington (but not overwhelmingly) and Detroit (overwhelmingly). I’ll be joining FotB pigpen51 in rooting for the Lions, and the entire civilized world in rooting for an asteroid strike on FedEx Field.