Cleaning out the Inbox-Non-Sports Edition

The inbox returns with a well overdue and all non-sports edition.

How overdue?
Well, we placed the Murder Hornet arrival in the inbox for use over a month ago and we are just now getting to this lovely insect.

The Murder Hornet is also known as the Asian Giant Hornet and is the world's largest hornet, which is a title that makes me think of the Crusher, "the world's most dangerous wrestler", for some reason.
Anyway, the Murder Hornet is known for its sting, which is supposedly capable of piercing through beekeeping suits and has been described as feeling like a nail has been driven into you.
The hornet has recently been discovered in Washington State and British Columbia, Canada and there is concern about the hornet establishing itself in North America.
Not for attacking humans, but for the possibilities of its devouring native insects-most notably honey bees.
A few hornets can destroy a beehive in only a few hours, so with the issues with the honeybee population currently, this could be bad news if a population establishes itself.
However, one hope might be the praying mantis, which has shown itself capable of at least killing the hornet at times.
Warning-the following video is quite graphic.


The AP writes of how author Robert Caro continues his final book in the Lyndon Johnson life series during the trials of quarantine.
The 84-year-old Caro has been working on his Johnson books for over forty years and as he reaches the final installment, there are concerns with Covid-19 that could endanger the end of the project.
Caro has been working on the book in his apartment rather than go to his office as is his normal writing routine but has managed to stay healthy to this point.

Pacific Standard writes of the mystery of "John Titor", who for a few months in 2000-01 began to show up on internet message boards claiming that he was traveling back from 2036 and stopped long enough to offer some glimpses of the "future" and offered what we would have viewed as predictions with "Titor" referring to his notes as "history".
I had never heard of Titor before a note in the Bulwark about this article and it's intriguing, yet strange at the same time.
The article discusses Titor, the people that are obsessed with the story, his predictions (right and wrong), who he could have been, and why unresolved stories bother us so.

Dawgs by Nature normally writes about the Cleveland Browns, but with news being in short supply right now, they decided to post about the perennial Cleveland Mustard Battle between Bertman's and Stadium.
It's an in-depth piece as it discussed the two companies' history, the ingredients, the battle, and even a poll for your preference of the pair.
I have written before about enjoying both mustards, but I had a taste test once at an outing, and Bertman's won by a slightly larger margin than I would have expected.

CNN writes of its first day of service, which was June 1st, 1980, which means the network is celebrating its fortieth year of bouncing signals off satellites.
The husband and wife duo of David Walker and Lois Hart started the first hour of so many since and the first day would feature a walk around the facility that is still used today in Atlanta along with commentary from CNN's owner and founder Ted Turner, who was in the middle of a tenure that saw him seem to own anything from Atlanta that was part of the national stage short of the NFL Falcons.

The inbox is close to complete other than another tributes post that needs to be posted, I have another Friends and Family series entry that I'm excited about writing, and the TRS boxing ratings will be back as boxing prepares to return with a clean restart of the ratings after Covid-19.

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for a long overdue cleaning of the inbox!

We start with ESPN's Uni Watch brought to you by Paul Lukas.
Uni Watch is one of my favorite columns on the ESPN site and whether or not I agree with Lukas and his opinions,it usually brings opinions and memories of my own to the forefront.
This one was a special article for me as the story told the history of the Houston Astros uniforms from the mid 1970's to the late 80's.
The "Tequila Sunrise" or the more commonly used "rainbow" togs have quite the history and to my knowledge,this brings the designers of these uniforms together in an oral history to tell their story for the first time....

ESPN returns to discuss just what remains of the facilities used in the last summer Olympics in Rio.
The Brazilian nation has learned what so many Olympic hosts have learned going back to Montreal in 1976-It just isn't as valuable as the money that you put into hosting it.
In just one year after the games,Rio has rampant debt and corruption along with crumbling venues that are not being maintained.
A sad,but easily foreseeable end....

The Cleveland Mustard battle that so often finds its way into the inbox has done so again,this time from Eater.com.
Eater looks at the history of Bertman's and Stadium,the rivalry and how chef Michael Symon has chosen a side in the battle!

I really like Bruce Markusen's Card Corner on the Baseball Hall of Fame site and he most often writes about players from the 60's-80's era,the era in which I grew up watching and collecting cards of.
In this edition,Markusen writes of one-dimensional slugger Cliff Johnson,a catcher in name,but truly a man without a position during his career.
The well-traveled Johnson was remembered by me most as a member of the 1979 Cleveland Indians,which were special to me as I've written before as the first year I was an Indians fan.
The Indians traded for Johnson in June as the Yankees were looking to dump Johnson after a wrestling match with Goose Gossage resulted in a broken thumb for the Yankee closer.
The cost of journeyman reliever Don Hood shows how badly the Yankees wanted rid of Johnson,but Johnson for the rest of that season in Cleveland was pretty close to a powerhitting star as he hit 18 homers as an Indian in just 72 games.
Johnson couldn't sustain that in 1980 though and was traded midway through that season for the immortal Karl Pagel.
I have one vivid memory of Karl Pagel that I really should write about one day...

I've been a Boise State football fan for longer than I realized now.
The west coast location,fun teams to watch and being a Mountain West team that plays lots of non-Saturday games have all contributed to my Bronco fandom.
SB Nation writes a fascinating story with lots of people close to the Boise State program that explains the past and present of how the Boise program was built and makes the argument that Boise State is the true "Moneyball" of college football.
It's comprehensive and you might want to read it two or three times to truly digest it.

We wrap up with this article on Paul Finebaum.the unlikely breakout star of ESPN over the last few years.
Finebaum,who might be a bit too SEC centric for my tastes,but still is my standard football show during the season,has come from a regional radio star to being ESPN's everyday college star on SEC Network and now his show will play some on ESPN2.
Sports Business Journal writes of the rise of Finebaum,how it happened,the relationship with his often zany callers and even his own mistakes.
It's an honest look at Finebaum as well as Finebaum admitting to a few mistakes in the past.

That finishes the inbox dustoff.
The plan is to start the final road trip of the year posts over the next few days.
I also will have boxing challenge,weekend boxing coverage and maybe even something else too...

Cleaning Out the Inbox

With both the NBA and NHL Drafts coming up with Cavalier and Devil coverage of each,I figured that it was time to dump the old inbox before it got too full....

Before we start,I still have an announcement to make regarding the podcast,but I plan on doing that tonight/tomorrow from the road office,when I do the next podcast.
Some of you know/think you know just what this announcement is,but if you don't,I am not going to spoil it for you.

\Photo Credit;Gene Sanny

We begin with this from UniWatch and one man that has combined his love of painting with electric football to create the World Football League on the vibrating field.The picture shown features my favorite team from the 1974-75 league in game action as the Southern California Sun faces off on the steel gridiron against the (Honolulu) Hawaiians.
Gene Sanny's project saw him hand paint each team with accurate player names and even "dirt" on the uniforms!
Sanny also added a field cover to give the field the look of the old multi-use stadiums or currently in Oakland that had a dirt infield during baseball season.
The electric football community has a strong underground that loves the old game and I loved it too as a kid,although I never was able to use the "triple threat quarterback" to do anything properly!
Super neat to see these types of things and their creativity involved....

The "Madison Square Garden of the South"-Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh N.C. is undergoing a huge renovation and one of the discoveries was the Tartan floor that the Wolfpack used under Norm Sloan and Jim Valvano in the 70's and 80's.
Tartan was a spongy soft surface that took a lot out of your legs.How do I know?

My junior high was built the year before I started and installed a Tartan surface on our floor.
It really was thick and heavy and it's easy to see how it came out of style like AstroTurf.
The Wolfpack still use Reynolds for the lady Pack and smaller sports along with graduation ceremonies etc and the school attempted to remove the surface during the renovation,but concluded that it would be too difficult to take out and will be covered over by a new hardwood floor after the renovations are finished.
The picture is what the center circle with the old (S) logo for State looks like today...

The baseball Hall of Fame offers a column named "Card Corner" and the latest one was on my favorite player of my youth-Toby Harrah.
A theme was how the Yankees spent years trying to obtain Harrah from the Rangers and never succeeded until after Harrah was past his prime.
Two "what if's" on Harrah.
1) Bucky Dent was often offered in Harrah deals,would that have made the 78 playoff game end differently?
2) Would I have been a Yankee fan following Toby like I did to Cleveland?
or stayed with the Rangers? Or went to Cleveland anyway?
Interesting questions....

WKSU writes about the Cleveland mustard war between Bertman's ballpark and Stadium.

Photo Credit;Mike Lowry

It compares the history,taste,companies and owners for the two products and discusses the war between them as well.
If you'd like a vote in the war,here is a link to a Cleveland.com poll between the two.
Personally,I like them both,but I lean towards Bertman's as did the lovely Cherie and Rachel.
A friend of mine tells me Bertman's can be found in Frederick at Giant Eagle supermarket and Stadium shows up occasionally at Big Lots,so if you see them-give them a try!

The Washington Post writes of one of the world's worst invasive species entering the country and the issues that could be caused by it getting loose.
The New Guinea flatworm can devastate a ecosystem with dining on snails and earthworms,but will eat other foods in their absence.
It is regarded as one of most destructive species in the world in a spot where it has no predators and supposedly it has a really lousy taste to put predators at bay...

Planning for a possible podcast tonight,so we will see!