Dome Pondering

Before the playoffs get going, let’s get this out of the way: Aaron Judge is the American League Most Valuable Player. Co-signing and confirming the statement above - Yes, I believe Aaron Judge should be awarded the MVP award. But what about Cal Raleigh? He’s a catcher?!! More on that in a bit… My reasoning for Judge is very simple and very straightforward. I’m also removing my Yankee fandom from this assessment. Yeah, sure. Whatever, Yankee boy! Aaron Judge leads in all of the important categories that hold the most weight in baseball.  The most important being fWAR, which accounts for defensive (and if needed, pitching) value.  Aaron Judge leads ALL of baseball with a 10+ fWAR, which is extremely rare.  For me, that is enough (and historically, the trend usually supports this). But if you’re not a fWAR person - or one of those “analytics ruined the game” folks - there’s more… In a world where so many baseball romantics get angry about the diminishing value of batting av...

Lately,  there is a lot of people living someone else's reality. Whose reality are you living?

211. Would you rather be royalty 1,000 years ago or an average person today? Being royalty at any time seems like a really cool concept and experience. But, 1000 years ago? Like, 1025? I'm not sure how "beneficial" a life that would be. I'm fine being average today. I mean, aren't they already? 212. Would you rather lounge by the pool or on the beach? Either is completely fine with me. But yeah, give me the beach. In the Caribbean, preferably.  213. Would you rather wear the same socks for a month or the same underwear for a week? This is...weird. I'll go for the shortest amount of time and wear the same underwear for a week.  214. Would you rather work an overtime shift with your annoying boss or spend a full day with your mother-in-law? Over time, with the annoying boss. Everyday. All the time. No doubt. Yup. 215. Would you rather cuddle a koala or play around with a panda? There is no losing option here. I'm a big fan of both animals. Give me the "...

Today was a day. With heavy reflection before September 11, we got this day. A cruel September 10 that was so much for the soul. So much so that I can’t articulate my thoughts in a seamless way today.  Because of that, here are my ponderings, in a segmented way: - No one should be killed for their opinions or political beliefs. It is outright scary that our political dialogue and the overall climate has devolved into this. From January 6th, to the Hortmans in Minnesota  a few months ago, and now this. What are we doing?!!  - I’ll take it a step further - no one should die because of gun violence! I understand that might be unrealistic, but I still struggle with why it is. Why are we willing to tolerate anything else? - But, I'm also reminded of the many throughout our history to were gunned down for their political stances. It is in the DNA of our nation. Whether that's banned in schools to discuss or not.  - We also had a school shooting - yes, another one. Th...

Emotion. Reaction. Connection. All of it heightened.  Blazing with immediacy, and without substance.  Without empathy. Further emboldened  by the weapons we carry Everyday. In our pockets, and in our faces. They dictate our reality For clout. For money. For that extra hit of  Dopamine. Unable to  reason, to feel Or critically think. Somehow we’ve  managed to  separate, disconnect and lose our values, ourselves, And each other.

I didn’t appreciate Melo as much as I should have during his tenure with the New York Knicks. His run was marred with heightened expectations, sometimes lofty, and often, little to no rational (or reasonable) understanding of his role. The guy? Savior? Piece to a greater puzzle? Every knick fan knows the feeling - we acquired Melo but gave up a core that, in the long run, was worth it, but at the time, meshed really well and played cohesively.  Melo instantly became the disruptor to that when winning was sparse. He better be worth it!  Once you get beyond the pipe dreams of scenarios, what the Knicks fanbase does so well, Melo was an absolute beast of a scorer during his time in orange and blue. He had those nights, and you know what I'm talking about if you watched him play. Those nights! The most memorable was the one against the (then) Charlotte Bobcats, where he put up a franchise and MSG record of 62 points. There were others where he showed off his arsenal, scoring 30,...