Weekend Edition
Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd ... April Fools. Yes, it's Baseball's opening day. And yes, stadiums are admitting limited numbers of fans to return to the stands in the first sign of sports normalcy we've had in a long time. But things aren't quite the same at the old ball game. Thursday night's Opening Day matchup between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals has been postponed because of a positive Covid-19 test. Suddenly, the line, "I don't care if I never get back" sounds as ominous as it did last season.
Speaking of March Madness, this reporter has two teams in the NCAA Basketball Final Four, but both lose in the semi-final in my bracket.
More madness, President Biden is being criticized by the right for using notes. Which I do when teaching, and President Reagan did. The Thing didn’t use notes and lied on average 21 x a day. I am for the notes.
LA CHARGERS BROKE? - The fate of an NFL team — and maybe Jeff Bezos’ potential future in the league — hangs on a family dispute.
Dea Spanos Berberian, sister of L.A. Chargers controlling owner Dean Spanos, filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday to force a sale of the team, saying there is no way it can pay off its debts. Berberian, Spanos, and two of their siblings each own 15% of the team, with another 36% in a family trust. The family has owned the team since 1984.
The petition mentions a potential new owner: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos is known to be interested in purchasing an NFL team and was linked to sale talks surrounding the Washington Football Team, a fact that the petition noted. The petition says that “the Chargers could be a perfect opportunity” for Bezos.
Berberian claims that the trust’s debts and expenses top $353 million, and that there is no plan for how it will pay the more than $22 million that it pledged to charities.
Spanos and the other two siblings with a stake in the team fired back with a letter on Thursday calling Berberian’s plan a “misguided personal agenda” and saying they were prepared to purchase her stake in the team if she no longer wanted it.
The team’s 2017 move from San Diego to L.A. came with substantial challenges. The team had to pay the NFL a $650 million relocation fee, share a stadium with the Rams, leave a fanbase it had developed over 56 years, and start fresh with a city that already had an NFL team.
COVID-19: Sure, the vaccines were created in record time and have proven wildly effective. But will they stand the test of time? So far, yes. "Pfizer says its vaccine is preventing 91% of coronavirus cases in the six months after people are immunized. And a separate study shows even people in their 80s and 90s are producing impressive levels of antibodies after receiving both doses of the vaccine."
WHO’S ON WORST? - There are many awards given out for poor performances. The Golden Mullet Award goes to the worst video game. The Golden Raspberry Award goes to the worst movie. The Ig Nobel Prize goes to the most questionable scientific achievement. There's even a Bad Sex in Fiction Award (which is only coveted less than the bad sex in non-fiction award). But like positive competitions, no one ever remembers who came in second place. While America may have had among the worst responses to Covid-19, it's not at all clear that we'll take the prize. Which world leader has the worst pandemic record? The competition is fierce. "It's hard to top the response of Nicaragua's near-eternal President Daniel Ortega and his wife, who responded to news of a pandemic by calling people into the streets for a festive parade they called 'Love in the Time of Covid-19' - a perversely fitting allusion to the work of Gabriel García Márquez, whose novels seamlessly blend fact and hallucination. The reckless move horrified human rights activists and scientists alike. Hard to top it is, but not impossible." But fear not. American exceptionalism isn't entirely dead. During the pandemic, we know we took the 2020 Foot in Mouth Award ("given every year to a famous person for a particularly baffling comment") many times over.
Still in the hunt for the title of worst Covid leader: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro is facing the biggest crisis of his presidency after the heads of the army, navy and air force all quit and the country recorded its highest daily Covid-19 death toll.
MOVIN’ ON UP - Inactivity is currently the world's fourth leading cause of death. It's a problem often confused and conflated with laziness and personal choice, but in reality the issue is geographic, systemic, and woven into the structure of modern living. Inactivity kills millions, but movement is the ‘miracle pill' that could save people and planet. Time for a walk.
OFFICE OURS - Some employees are permanently moving to remote work, and companies are puzzling over how to give them the same ability to participate as those who are physically present. There are even early discussions about using artificial intelligence to conjure up holographic representations of employees who are off site but could still take a seat at the table.
The hybrid office is here to stay. The shift could be more disruptive than the move to all-remote work.
What I'm hearing from small businesses, medium-sized businesses and large business is that wherever possible right now, they're looking for ways to use technology more than in the past to run leaner, and to be more efficient.
FINANCE 101 – Teens call for more personal finance education to bridge the economic opportunity gap in America, reports CNBC. Understanding how to navigate the U.S. financial system is important and today’s teenagers see an opportunity gap – 61% believe people are paid less based on race, ethnicity and gender, and 69% said people have a harder time getting financial support to stat a business due to the same characteristics.
ACCOUNTING 101 – FASB said the SEC has accepted the latest updates to the GAAP Taxonomy for filing financial statements in XBRL with the latest accounting standards and they’re available online now. The NHL, NWSL, and the UFC, all agree.
FIX IT - What 7-Eleven did to fountain soda, President Biden wants to do to US infrastructure.
Yesterday, Biden laid out his Big Gulp idea: a $2.3 trillion plan to revamp the country’s roads, bridges, trains, schools, housing, electric grid, and lots more.
Not sure if we mentioned this but the plan is large: The administration said it’d be the biggest federal investment program since Eisenhower’s interstate highway system of the late 1950s and the Space Race of the 1960s.
The details
Four-part plans like these are what bullet points were made for:
$620 billion for transportation projects such as transit, roads, airports, and more. That also includes $174 billion for electric vehicles.
$650 billion to improve your life at home, like investments in high-speed broadband and the electric grid.
$580 billion for manufacturing, because we know how much the supply chain needs support.
$400 billion to caregiving efforts for the elderly and those with disabilities.
Given the size of the bill, the WH can’t just put its card down and Venmo everyone later. To help pay for it, Biden wants to bump up the corporate tax from 21% to 28% and close other tax loopholes.
But that’s not good enough for many Republicans, who slammed the bill as a “Trojan horse” for tax hikes.
Biden sees this plan as addressing two malarkies in particular: the climate crisis and the growing ambitions of autocratic China.
For the climate, the plan would be the most far-reaching federal investment to date in programs that would help curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Investments in semiconductor production and other cutting-edge research are intended to match China’s burgeoning tech muscles.
Looking ahead…this is DC, after all, so gear up for a nasty legislative fight over the spring.
President Biden will introduce Part 2 of his economic spending proposal in the next few weeks, called the American Family Plan. This one will focus on “social infrastructure,” including childcare relief and aid to low-income Americans.
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this weekend to Alec Baldwin (63), Eddie Murphy (60).
SCIENCE 101 - Politicians, the public and scientists are increasingly paying attention to the danger solar storms pose for life on Earth and off of it.
Solar storms can wreak havoc on our modern, technology-dependent way of life.
The most extreme events can overload satellites, harm astronauts in space and bring down electrical grids around the world.
But even a quiet Sun can harm the electrical grid through normal wear and tear.
"It's not necessarily about catastrophic failure, but it just decreases the lifetime of the infrastructure, which costs money in the long run," says Alexa Halford, a solar scientist at NASA.
The Sun has been particularly quiet over the last two decades. In that time, hundreds of new satellites have been launched to orbit, possibly presenting new challenges if the Sun's activity increases.
It's not clear exactly how a more active solar cycle might affect new satellites in orbit today, experts say, raising concerns about the risk of creating new space junk.
Not all companies readily share information about how their satellites are negatively impacted by space weather with the government, due to concerns about competition, giving forecasters and scientists incomplete or limited information to go on.
As NASA works to send astronauts to the Moon in the coming years, space weather prediction and protection will also need to take center stage for the space agency.
Radiation emitted by the Sun during solar storms could harm people outside of Earth's atmosphere, as they don't have the full protection of the planet's magnetic field.
NASA is expected to send a shelter to the Moon to protect astronauts in case of a solar storm, but it takes about 30 minutes to get the tent set up, so having some kind of early warning forecasting in place will be key for safety.
"If you're really serious about Artemis and the road to Mars, you need to be setting up a safety net on space weather in parallel, and you can't wait to the last minute," Scott McIntosh, deputy director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said.
ON THIS DATE – This young man met for the first time his hockey idols. Left to right: Red Kelly, Terry Sawchuk, young man, Gordie Howe. The location: The Varsity Shop, Birmingham Michigan.
EASTER RECIPE - DEVILED EGGS
I used to get so mad when I would boil a dozen eggs and when it came time to remove the shells, they took half of the egg with it. Please tell me this has happened to you.
Fortunately, I finally figured out how to hard boil the perfect egg. Today I am sharing my exact, fool proof method to hard boiled eggs. What is an Easter without a deviled egg????
I am also sharing the Best Deviled Eggs Recipe which includes my secret ingredient!
There are theories all over the internet debating fresh eggs vs. older eggs, steaming eggs vs. boiling eggs, peeling hot vs. peeling cold eggs, starting eggs in cold water and bring to a boil, the list goes on and on.
After years and years of making deviled eggs, I have found a method that is pretty foolproof.
PREP TIME
10 minutes
COOK TIME
12 minutes
TOTAL TIME
22 minutes
Ingredients
one dozen eggs
Start with a dozen eggs. It doesn’t matter if your eggs are fresh or older. Pull them out of the refrigerator and place on counter so that they will lose their chill;
Fill a large stock pot with water; Bring the water to a boil (I don’t add anything to the water, no salt, etc);
Once the water is boiling and the eggs have lost their chill, using a ladle, gently ladle the eggs, one at a time into the boiling water. Be careful not to crack the eggs. Eggs with cracks will spill their whites into the water, so inspect them for cracks prior to lowering into the boiling water;
Do not cook more than a dozen eggs at a time. The water to egg ratio is important for cooking the egg through to doneness; I may have made this up, but it makes sense to me. The reason this method delivers easily peeled eggs is this; as the egg is lowered into the boiling water, the shock of the heat creates a quick membrane inside the shell. This membrane is what makes the egg easily peelable.
Boil eggs for approximately 12 minutes;
Turn heat off and drain eggs into a colander in the sink (I use a colander insert in my stock pot so that I just remove the colander from the pot);
Run cool water over the eggs to stop the cooking process;
Once eggs are cooled, easily peel them.
These really is the best deviled eggs recipe ever.
PREP TIME
20 minutes
TOTAL TIME
20 minutes
Ingredients
1 dozen hard boiled eggs
¾ cup Mayonnaise
1 TBL Yellow Mustard
½ cup Durkee Famous Sauce (this is the secret ingredient that makes these eggs so amazing!) If you can’t find Durkee Famous Sauce at your local market (mine no longer carries it), you can order it on Amazon! That’s where I get mine.
Hard boil one dozen eggs.
Once eggs are peeled, cut each egg in half lengthwise. Remove the egg yolks to a mixing bowl to mix with the other ingredients and place the egg whites onto the deviled egg platters.
Start with the mayonnaise. This is the condiment which leads to the creamy texture of the deviled egg.
Add the yellow mustard and Durkee Famous Sauce to the bowl.
Using a hand blender or hand mixer, blend the eggs yolks, mayonnaise, mustard and Durkee Famous Sauce until smooth and lump free. The volume of the egg yolks will have increased substantially.
I use my cake decorating kit to pipe the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites so that it looks pretty. Start by fitting the bag onto the tip. Place the tip end of the bag into a medium sized mason jar or glass. This keeps the bag standing upright and any filling leakage in the jar/glass. Use a spatula to spoon the egg filling into the decorating bag. Start by filling the egg in a circular motion, gently squeezing the bag until the egg is filled. When filled, stop gently squeezing the bag and lift the tip away from the egg, moving to the next egg white. You can just use a teaspoon and spoon it in if you prefer.
Fill all of the egg whites with the egg yolk mixture (you will probably have leftover egg yolk mixture, this is really good as a tea sandwich filling!)
In case you are wondering, I do not garnish my deviled eggs with paprika. Of course, you can if you like. I prefer to either serve mine plain, or garnish with crumbled bacon. Some serve deviled eggs with caviar or fish roe. Someday I might be grown up enough to like caviar, but today is not that day!
The term deviled egg comes from an 18th-century culinary term that used to describe a highly seasoned dish. Over the years the term deviled has grown to include spicy, condiment-filled dishes, as well. This was exhausting…time for a beer with my eggs.
OPENING DAY DETROIT STYLE - For the first time since September 26, 2019, the Tigers will have fans in the stands for today's season opener. After months of preparation and collaboration with government and public health officials, the Tigers are thrilled to welcome fans back to Comerica Park. The stands are permitted to be filled at approximately 20 percent capacity (about 8,200 fans) to start the season.
Today's contest against the Indians marks the 121st Opening Day in Tigers history. The club enters action today with a 58-61-1 record the previous 120 openers. Detroit has won its season opener in seven of the last nine seasons. Since Comerica Park opened in 2000, the Tigers are 13-8 in home openers and have won 10 of their last 12.
Breaking News – Tigers won 3-2 over Cleveland. A two run first inning home run by Miguel Cabrera in the 32-degree snow flurries was the game difference.
THE SWAMI 2021 MLB PICKS –
American League Wild Card: White Sox, Blue Jays
Division Champs: Yankees, Twins, Astros
League Champs: Yankees
National League Wild Card: Mets, Padres
Division Champs: Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers
League Champs: Dodgers
World Series: Dodgers
MLB HAS AN IMAGE PROBLEM - MLB has the oldest fans among the major sports, with an average age of 57, according to a 2017 survey by Sports Business Journal. The average NBA, NHL, and NFL fans are 42, 49, and 50, respectively.
First on the to-do list: quicken the pace of games. Baseball is bringing back two changes made for the 2020 season with that goal in mind. Doubleheader games will be seven innings, and extra innings will start with a runner on second base.
The league has also said it will crack down on pitchers using illegal substances to put more spin on the ball, perhaps seeking to stem strikeout rates, which have risen each year since 2005.
However, that is mere tinkering compared to the experimental rules that the minor leagues will use this year for a faster, more action-packed game. These include a pitch clock, limiting defensive shifts to allow for more hits, larger bases and limited pickoff attempts to encourage stolen base attempts, and an automated strike zone (yes, “robot umps”).
The bigger issue may be cultural. While the NBA allows its players to show emotion and personality during games, players are regularly reprimanded for bat flips and other celebrations.
Fernando Tatis Jr., one of baseball’s most exciting players, was made to apologize for hitting a grand slam with a big lead late in one game last season.
There were positive signs last August: TV ratings were up amid a challenging year, boosted by younger demographics and female fans.
Next Blog: Dear Rink Rats and Word of the Month
Until Monday April 12, 2021 Adios.
Claremont, California
April 1, 2021
#XI-30-436
3,198 words, six-minute read
CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – Podcasts, The New Yorker
RINK RATS WEEKEND POLL – Where do you want to work after Covid?
____ Remote Full-time
____ 3+ days Remote
____ 2+ days Remote
____ 1 + days Remote
____ Office Full-time
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: “I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your daughter’s wedding day…And may your first child be a masculine child.” – Luca Brasi
Rink Rats is a blog of weekly observations, predictions and commentary. We welcome your comments and questions. Also participate in our monthly poll. Rink Rats is now viewed in Europe, Canada, South America and the United States.
Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010
Our Eleventh Year.
www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com
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