Thursday, November 3, 2016

68. You will... + Game 7


Previous -  67. Music & TV


You will...

Today I ran into a piece in Medium about the 1993 AT&T "You Will" ad campaign. See HERE. Some of these are right on the nose while others are laughably off, like reading a book by seeing a video of the book with a machine turning the pages.

This is interesting enough, but I immediately started thinking about the kind of cautionary video we could send back in time to warn the people of 1993 of what was coming. Here are my first thoughts:


  • People standing in long lines to buy an iPhone. 
  • People texting while driving, while walking into traffic, while walking into a mall fountain. 
  • Anthony Weiner sexting. 
  • A room full of people looking daggers at someone having a loud and inane conversation on their cell phone. 
  • Someone giving credit card information to a phone-sex operator. 
  • Someone in a remote or awkward location repeatedly saying, "Can you hear me now?"


2016 World Series

Yes, I'm incorrigible. Last night I watched the final three regulation innings of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series and at the same pizzeria -- even from the same seat at the counter -- where I watched the seventh game of the 2014 Series. I was pulling for the Chicago Cubs, who finally won in the 10th inning, but that's not what I want to write about. No, I want to emphasize a point I made after the 2014 game, so I'm going to do a bit of compare and contrast.

Last night the Chicago manager pulled his starter with two out in the fifth inning (I think he was too quick with this move, but there may have been indicators or match-ups I'm unaware of). In 2014 Bochy pulled his starter in the second and replaced his long reliever after the fourth. So Madison Bumgarner entered the game for the Giants at the beginning of the fifth with a one run lead on two days rest after winning game five. Jon Lester looked to be following the Bumgarner play book when he entered the game with two out in the fifth with one man on base and a four run lead, also on two days rest after winning game five. The difference here being that Bumgarner pitched a complete game two days before while Lester only pitched six innings.

In 2014, Bumgarner proceeded to shutout the Royals for the rest of the game. Last night, Lester only lasted three innings giving up two runs (plus the runner he inherited from the starter).  So the Cubs brought in their Closer, Chapman, who only managed to get four outs vs giving up two runs leaving the score tied at the end of regulation. The pitcher who finally relieved him, gave up yet another run in the tenth inning. This is what you expect to see in a World Series game seven. Everyone is tired and the pressure is beyond anything they've ever faced before. This is also the perspective you need to understand how amazing Bumgarner's performance in 2014 really was. A couple strong innings, after pitching a complete game two days before, would have been something any good pitcher would have been proud of. Four shutout innings to close out the game and the Championship is just crazy. 

It would not surprise me if that turns out to be the most amazing sports performance I will ever see in my life. 

Next - 69. When cities work

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