Cleaning out the inbox

Time to dump the inbox with things filling up!

We start with the documentary Blackfish,which looks at the Sea World trainers of killer whales,their deaths,the whales themselves and the questions involving whether the whales should be in captivity at all.
Blackfish definitely has an agenda,which is to have killer whales never be in a captive situation and one could make a compelling argument agreeing with them,but I'll allow you to make your own decision on that.
However,the filmmaking is top notch and whether you agree with the premise of keeping whales captive or not,it is enough to make you at least consider the idea of placing animals this large in a situation that could result in a loss of life...

There is only one of the original members of the astronaut program left after the passing of Scott Carpenter at the age of 88.
Carpenter flew just one flight in the Mercury program and never flew again after a controversial trip that saw Carpenter fail to get all of his tasks completed and was well off his landing target as in 250 miles off target.
Only John Glenn is still alive of the first set of NASA astronauts....

As some of you know,I've become more of a weather geek through the years even if the Weather Channel is a pale imitation of its once strong self.
Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean has written a children's book "Freddie the Frogcaster" that intends  to make weather more interesting for kids.
I'm all for whatever makes things more viable for kids to want to learn and children's books are an effective way of getting material into the developing mind.
I know when I was small,I devoured all types of books and it opened my mind to almost anything through the written page.
Dean discusses the book here.

The first year that the Washington Nationals came to Hagerstown,their first round pick and hot prospect was Chris Marrero and Marrero had a high school teammate that was a top prospect for the Phillies in Adrian Cardenas.
So when the two faced off in Hagerstown,it was a big deal to those of us that care about such things.
Cardenas was a super nice guy,a willing signer and even gave me a bat that he signed that is still in my dining room today.
I rooted for Adrian after that through his days with the Phillies and following trades to the A's and Cubs
and was excited to see him finally make to the bigs in 2012 with the Cubs.
Cardenas spent parts of the 2012 season with Chicago and then decided he was through with the game at just 24.
In a terrific essay,Cardenas explains just why he was done in the New Yorker.
Highly recommended..
ESPN has an article on Kliff Kingsbury and how excited the Texas Tech fan base is about having a young coach that is excited about being there.
The article looks at Kingsbury,his ideas to be connected with the things that connect with young players and what helps in recruiting.
The former Red Raider passing star as the first star off the Mike Leach line talks about his career at Tech and his years wandering around the NFL.
Good read....


Two goodbyes from the sports world before we go.

Goodbye to former Oilers and Saints head coach Bum Phillips at the age of 90..
Phillips was the leaders of the later 70's Oiler teams that were good enough to win titles,but played at the wrong time and in wrong place as they played in the same division as the Pittsburgh Steelers,who were just a little better.
Phillips and his folksy image was popular with players,fans and media and one liners were never in short order with the Bum around.
Phillips was not as successful with the Saints as the Oilers,but set the table somewhat for the Saints teams that turned the corner under Jim Mora...

Terry Pluto in the Cleveland Plain Dealer recalls Rodney "Buckethead" Craig who passed away at 56 in Los Angeles.
Craig had been homeless for most of the last ten years and was stabbed to death in August,but Pluto's article was the first I had heard of that.
Craig was thought of as a serious prospect when the Indians got him from Seattle,but never did much other than be a decent pinch hitter in 1982...