How is everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Sunday Six.
The Super Bowl over (wasn’t I right about the game?), football season finally complete, what helps us get over our pigskin hangover each February?
Baseball.
Video and images of players stretching and soft tossing under sunny skies in Arizona or Florida.
Are there four better words in the english language than “pitchers and catchers report?” Spring is just around the corner.
Well, as I write this on Feb. 19, pitchers and catchers still haven’t reported (at least the major league ones. Minor leaguers are camping).
Late this past week, baseball announced a delay to spring training until March 5. What’s the confidence level of them hitting that target date? Not high.
A deal will get done because it has to. Players have to play and owners need product. Remember, we’re talking about a billion-dollar business here. Billions.
But man, what I’m missing as much as anything is the anticipation of baseball.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
CDC’s Very Flawed Case For Wearing Masks In Schools.
The great unmasking is underway across the United States. Political and legal pressures – even in blue blue states – combined with no statistical threat from the virus has finally reached a point where even the most imperious of state leaders can’t keep it up. Back in December, The Atlantic published a story fact checking fear-based messaging from health leaders on the merits of masking in schools. In light of where we are now over two months later, the article holds up very well.
The 1918 Flu Didn’t End in 1918. Here’s What It Taught Us.
So much of the legacy media COVID coverage traffics in Doomsday scenarios (we’re entering the third year of this Hell!!!) This piece by The Washington Post taps a few happy notes of optimism (rare from a MSM pub like WP) but it does venture into foreboding and dread. I wanted to share it as it does take an interesting historical perspective on the Great Flu of 1918 and how health officials warned of an “influenza return." Fortunately, we are much better equipped to handle virus’s in 2022 and beyond than we were in the early part of the 20th century.
XXX Files: Who Torched the Pornhub Palace?
Who doesn’t like a good whodunit? This is a fascinating one about the burning to the ground of the mansion owned by the co-founder and CEO of Pornhub, one of (if not the largest) pornography websites in the world. Vanity Fair unravels the mystery and frenzied hunt for suspects (there were more than just a few).
Pitchers and Catchers Did Not Report This Past Week.
As I wrote in the intro to the Six, no baseball thus far in February. What is the number separating players and owners? $440 million according to Joe Sheehan, the former Sports Illustrated writer who publishes an excellent newsletter for baseball nerds. Joe Posnanski, in this Joe Blogs Substack post, explains what he thinks the players want at this point of the negotiations: “So what ARE the players fighting for? Well, I’ll tell you: They’re just fighting to stem the tide; the owners have been kicking their butts for 20 years now.”
The Great Gasoline Hoax Of 1916.
I didn’t mean to share two stories about events from the early 20th century, it just worked out that way this Sunday. This one from Mental Floss tells the story of Louis Enricht, a German immigrant who claimed he had invented an alternative to gasoline. An excerpt from the article: “Like an infomercial pitchman, Enricht decided that a demonstration was in order. In front of gathered press, the man—who was born in Germany and hailed from Farmingdale, Long Island—first had them take a sip of plain water. Then, he dropped in a pill containing a green liquid. That mixture, typically an ounce of his mystery solution to a gallon of water, was added to the empty fuel tank of an automobile. Enricht turned the engine over. It started.” A compelling read about early 20th century con artists.
10 Weird Creatures Found In The Deep Sea.
I had saved this article when it first posted last month. Every year, there are new discoveries by scientists exploring the millions of miles of seas across the globe. This post from Live Science aggregates 10 of weirdest looking – and titled – creatures. My favorite? The Giant Phantom Jellyfish (jellyfish freak me out anyway). Enjoy the photos and names of these spooky sea creatures.
Thanks for reading everybody and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for the Sunday Six? Send email to jon@jonjkerr.com
IMO the answer to question #3 (without a doubt) is La Cosa Nostra. 😉