Random conversation thread

[oldschoolrocker]

Since this is a random thread thought I would post this.
About six months ago a friend of my son wanted to get back into the game. To help him out I "lent" him a set of irons, Wilson Ci 6, and a driver, Bridgestone j33 with a nice after market shaft.
My oldest yesterday was browsing around the local pawn shops and he called me up, "Dad, your not going to believe this..."
You guessed it. On my way now to get MY clubs out of hock.
What is this younger generation coming to?

[oldschoolrocker]

Just picked them up, also forgot to mention a Titliest 19 degree fw was in the mix as well.

[birly-shirly]

Wow. Were you able to recover them without payment, since you are the true owner?

[oldschoolrocker]

No, but I got them at the interest price, so I am taking it as a lesson learned. Hate to become jaded, but it will be a cold day in hell before I do that again.

[dbuck47]

"When you quit hearin' "sir" and "ma'am", the rest ain't too far behind" (paraphrased from "No Country for Old Men")

[profsmitty]

We have had similar things happen in our little community. Occasionally, we will have someone show up with a sob story about having clubs stolen, lost in a flood, hurricane, tornado, [i]ad nauseum[/i]. Our members are, as a community, the most generous folks you can imagine. Members will pitch in equipment, bags, range finders, everything you can imagine. Then 30 days or so later, they show up in Ebay.

You have to remember, its the extremes we hear and remember, not the majority of cases that bring nice people with nice people to do great things. You just have to keep hopen', I guess.

[profsmitty]

Since this is a forum for the AD/HD among us (or am I just assuming that this forum is a place for people like me!) - GO ROYALS! We're laying waste to the Central! AL is next. Then, World Series Champs!

Isn't it amazing what a winning streak in June will do for long suffering fans.

[joey2aces]

[quote name='profsmitty' timestamp='1403190202' post='9531861']
Since this is a forum for the AD/HD among us (or am I just assuming that this forum is a place for people like me!) - GO ROYALS! We're laying waste to the Central! AL is next. Then, World Series Champs!

Isn't it amazing what a winning streak in June will do for long suffering fans.
[/quote]

they are playing some great ball. All we need is some old school George Brett tantrums! Even though I am not a 'fan' of the Royals I am a fan of baseball and good play. Good luck to them for the rest of the year

[HoldenCornfield]

I grew up in Missouri, first in Warrensburg and then Columbia. Went to my first Royals game on Oct 1, 1976 for my 10th birthday. Still a huge Royals fan. I'm used to them [i]losing[/i] 10 in a row, never [i]winning[/i] 10 in a row!

[HoldenCornfield]

[quote name='oldschoolrocker' timestamp='1403188742' post='9531607']
No, but I got them at the interest price, so I am taking it as a lesson learned. Hate to become jaded, but it will be a cold day in hell before I do that again.
[/quote]

OSR, I understand your frustration but don't let the s**theads turn you into one. Be true to your soul, karma works both ways!

[oldschoolrocker]

Thanks HC,
I already have gotten over it. Just needed to let off some steam. An old Missouri boy myself. Left God's country in '74. Still a dyed in the wool Redbird fan. My childhood dream was pitching off the same mound as Gibby. Never happened.

[profsmitty]

OSR - Would you say that Gibby was baseball's Jack - the last person in the world you'd want to face when it was all on the line?

[Sean2]

How is this for random? I was an alter boy decades upon decades ago. This made me laugh:

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl."

The priest asks, "Is that you, little Joey Pagano?"


"Yes, Father, it is."

"And who was the girl you were with?"

"I can't tell you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation."

"Well, Joey, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later so you may as well tell me now. Was it Tina Minetti?"

"I cannot say."

"Was it Teresa Mazzarelli?"

"I'll never tell."

"Was it Nina Capelli?"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot name her."

"Was it Cathy Piriano?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Was it Rosa DiAngelo, then?"

"Please, Father! I cannot tell you."

The priest sighs in frustration. "You're very tight lipped, and I admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone. You cannot be an altar boy now for 4 months. Now you go and behave yourself."

Joey walks back to his pew, and his friend Franco slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"

"Four months vacation and five good leads..."

[HoganApexBlades]

[quote name='HoldenCornfield' timestamp='1403207208' post='9533805']
I grew up in Missouri, first in Warrensburg and then Columbia. Went to my first Royals game on Oct 1, 1976 for my 10th birthday. Still a huge Royals fan. I'm used to them [i]losing[/i] 10 in a row, never [i]winning[/i] 10 in a row!
[/quote]

Hey, try being a CUB fan for the last 106 years!!! We have sucked and we will continue to suck!

[profsmitty]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1403216697' post='9534903']
How is this for random? I was an alter boy decades upon decades ago. This made me laugh:

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl."

The priest asks, "Is that you, little Joey Pagano?"


"Yes, Father, it is."

"And who was the girl you were with?"

"I can't tell you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation."

"Well, Joey, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later so you may as well tell me now. Was it Tina Minetti?"

"I cannot say."

"Was it Teresa Mazzarelli?"

"I'll never tell."

"Was it Nina Capelli?"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot name her."

"Was it Cathy Piriano?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Was it Rosa DiAngelo, then?"

"Please, Father! I cannot tell you."

The priest sighs in frustration. "You're very tight lipped, and I admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone. You cannot be an altar boy now for 4 months. Now you go and behave yourself."

Joey walks back to his pew, and his friend Franco slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"

"Four months vacation and five good leads..."
[/quote]Oh, my! I know a flock of priests that will hear that one in the next few weeks,, I'll betcha!

[profsmitty]

Funny what how this stupid sport effects your life without you're even realizing this. We're picking out a new floor for our kitchen and dining room. Every time I look at a wood sample, I think how beautiful that piece would look as a driver head. Just wander through these samples of engineered wood floor samples.

http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/**10027658***Summer-Palace-Maple-Handscraped-Virginia-Mill-Works-VMSP5/10027658

Can't you image what a much better world we would have if we could have driver heads made of some of this beautiful wood? I have wondered aloud in these pages if sometime we would see some aspiring club company realize that wooden clubs made of wood-types like these bring a kind of beauty into the game that metal, no matter how much further you can hit a ball with it or how much more forgiving it is, can never come close to replicating. Would we respond to wooden clubs sold in competition to metal ones based solely on how esthetically pleasing the wooden clubs are?

[birly-shirly]

In my personal opinion, aesthetics are an important part of how the equipment functions. I think clubheads that fit your eye are easier to align than heads where the amount of offset, or the shape of the leading edge, doesn't jive with your personal taste. But I don't think you can focus on looks [b][i]to the exclusion of [/i][/b]performance without degrading the essence of a sporting endeavour.

But to be clear, challenge is intrinsic to sport, so I have no difficulty with the idea of playing clubs that are more challenging to hit - especially where there is a payoff in terms of the feedback and experience.

FWIW, I think you can justify playing persimmons on all manner of grounds - from playability and fit through to weight and feedback and the joy of a well-struck shot. The satisfaction of hitting a demanding club well can be part of that. And what's not to like about a club that performs AND looks great? But if you make looks your sole criterion, then aren't you putting yourself somewhere on the scale between superficial and poseur?

[scomac2002]

[quote name='birly-shirly' timestamp='1403257097' post='9537801']

But to be clear, challenge is intrinsic to sport, so I have no difficulty with the idea of playing clubs that are more challenging to hit - especially where there is a payoff in terms of the feedback and experience.
[/quote]

Precisely! I was attempting to make a similar point when responding to [url=http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1037579-are-using-hybrid-irons-cheating/#entry9529773]this thread[/url] in the Equipment forum. In that case, the OP was looking for opinions of younger players using full hybrid iron sets. Most were unanimous in support, but I feel that if you can learn to be effective with a more challenging club (especially at the age in question where flexibility and athleticism shouldn't necessarily be restricting yet) that the overall game would benefit from developing a better swing. It seems that I was the only one who thought that the easy way out was less desireable.

[Kirasdad]

[quote name='oldschoolrocker' timestamp='1403210794' post='9534237']
Thanks HC,
I already have gotten over it. Just needed to let off some steam. An old Missouri boy myself. Left God's country in '74. Still a dyed in the wool Redbird fan. My childhood dream was pitching off the same mound as Gibby. Never happened.
[/quote]

1b Cepeda
2b Javier
3b Shannon
SS Mavill
RF Maris
CF Flood
LF Brock
C McCarver
P Gibson

Southern Illinois boy here. I was there man, had all their cards, and knew the stats. That was a hell of a team.

[oldschoolrocker]

Kdad,
That was the team. And nicknames too. The Baby Bull, or Cha Cha. The Moon man, Gibby, the Ghost at 2nd base. Saw that team play a lot of games. I remember to this day one homer that Cepada hit. Majestic!!!

[Ironmaster Oddities]

Not much of a baseball fan here... It is more fun than watching paint dry. but not much. Keep in mind that my view is tainted by the fact that I am the only kid in the Western Hemisphere that ever got cut from a Little League team. I may have been slow; but i made up for it by being a bad glove. That, coupled with the fact that in October a year earlier, those bums from LA via Brooklyn whipped my beloved White Sox in the Series. Bah! Humbug, I tell you.

But from an historic point of view, more than a couple of players on that team jump off the page: Lou Brock: Lots of stolen bases at the speed of light. Gibson: What anarm and what a player in clutch situations.
But of greatest importance, the baseball paradigm changer: the Curt Flood Rule. It opened the floodgates (pun intended) for players to make more money.. Before free agency, just about nobody made $250,000 a year. Heck, most players didn't get near 6 figures. Now $250,000 is often the WEEKLY salary of some "star" with a career batting average of .247.
Of course, TV money raised the stakes exponentially...in every team sport. How does an average Joe take his kids to a professional ball game today? Greed and avarice
by owners and players alike.
Enough of my ranting. only one more comment. IMO, raising your kids to be Cubs fans is a form of child abuse...not this year; but maybe next year, that is.

Uncle Bob

[oldschoolrocker]

Bob,
I agree with you on the price of gping to the old ball park. Way off the chart! And, yes Curt Flood was the catalyst for the increase in sports salarys. As for the Cubbies, they never should have given us Brock in the first place.
Years ago my wife went to Chicago, she actually goes quite often and loves the city. Anyway, knowing I am a baseball fan she goes to Wiggly and brings me back some Cubs items, one if them being a shirt. The next summer we were going to pick up some of my cousins from Cardnial country and go to a game at Busch. She insisted I wear the Cubs shirt. I haven't lived it down yet.
She's heading back to Chi town from an art symposium in a couple of weeks. There will be no Cub items returning with her.

[Kirasdad]

[quote name='oldschoolrocker' timestamp='1403292068' post='9541227']
Bob,
I agree with you on the price of gping to the old ball park. Way off the chart! And, yes Curt Flood was the catalyst for the increase in sports salarys. As for the Cubbies, they never should have given us Brock in the first place.

[/quote]

That trade has been derided umpteen times, but only in hindsight, if you really look at it objectively.

Ernie Broglio was an above average pitcher, and Lou Brock was an up and comer, but he by no means was considered a shoo in by scouts, baseball execs. The jury was still out. The Cardinals took a gamble, and as gambles sometimes do (sort of the definition of the word, really) it paid off in a big way. It very easily could have gone the other way. As a Cardinal fan for years and years, I am certainly no Cub apologist, but their reasoning was sound enough at the time.

I stayed with the Birds for a good while through a few stops in my early career, until I moved to LA. Thought, hmm, can't go with the Dodgers, doesn't seem right, so I switched leagues and am a dyed in the wool Angels fan now. Little did I know that years later we'd get Albert and now David Freese.
As Harry Chapin would say,(sing) "All my life's a circle".

[oldschoolrocker]

My cuz back in Mo tells me that everyone is glad Prince Albert is gone. As for Brock, he was a hunch that payed off. I had some inside contacts back in the day that told me there was mucho bad blood on that team.

Harry Chapin, one of my all time favorites. I guess because like him I am overtly sentimental.

I am a retired Bubblehead and one of the boats in our squadron operated out of Holy Loch. Harry was in the area and found out an American submarine was in port. Brought his old six-string and jammed all night on the mess decks.

[Ironmaster Oddities]

[quote name='oldschoolrocker' timestamp='1403318774' post='9544233']
My cuz back in Mo tells me that everyone is glad Prince Albert is gone. As for Brock, he was a hunch that payed off. I had some inside contacts back in the day that told me there was mucho bad blood on that team.

Harry Chapin, one of my all time favorites. I guess because like him I am overtly sentimental.

I am a retired Bubblehead and one of the boats in our squadron operated out of Holy Loch. Harry was in the area and found out an American submarine was in port. Brought his old six-string and jammed all night on the mess decks.
[/quote]

Harry Chapin. One of my all time favorites, as well. He could really tell a story and paint a picture with the music...

[Kirasdad]

[quote name='oldschoolrocker' timestamp='1403318774' post='9544233']
My cuz back in Mo tells me that everyone is glad Prince Albert is gone. As for Brock, he was a hunch that payed off. I had some inside contacts back in the day that told me there was mucho bad blood on that team.

Harry Chapin, one of my all time favorites. I guess because like him I am overtly sentimental.

I am a retired Bubblehead and one of the boats in our squadron operated out of Holy Loch. Harry was in the area and found out an American submarine was in port. Brought his old six-string and jammed all night on the mess decks.
[/quote]

Wow, that must have been one great concert.

When I was a little kid you couldn't get baseball much on TV. There was the Saturday NBC Game of the Week, or if we could get the antenna to work, sometimes you could see the Cardinals on KMOX on Sunday afternoons. As a result, I took in most Cardinal games on the radio with my uncle who lived two blocks away. He was blind and we'd listen most nights in the summer when I wasn't in school. He would ask me questions about the game as if I could see it somehow. I did my best despite not being able to "see" any better than he could on his tabletop Zenith. I think back on that now, and I believe he was purposefully trying to develop my imagination. It that was his intent, I think it worked, for that particular quality has been central to my career.

Don't remember the bad blood, but there were some intense guys on that team. When Gibson took the hill, the game lasted 1:50 max, the Redbirds winning 2-1. McCarver would toss the ball back to Gibson, and he would blow the next pitch by the batter without seemingly even looking for a sign. When McCarver would go out to the mound, he wouldn't get halfway there before Gibby would start waving him back to the plate saying, as McCarver would later relate, "What the hell are you doing out here, get the f**k back there!"

Curt Flood was another guy not to be trifled with. That dude had some serious stones to go after the reserve clause when stuff like that just wasn't done in baseball's plantation sort of set up In the late 60's. Even though he lost his original case before the Supreme Court, it paved the way for free agency just 4-5 years later. Every current player should cut his widow a check, for Flood made it possible for today's players to be much wealthier.

[oldschoolrocker]

Yes, I remember those hot summer nights on the front porch listening to the Cards. I spent two summers in St. Louis with relatives back in the 60's. Country boy goes to the big city sort of thing. Broaden my horizons so to speak. Pure magic.

[HoldenCornfield]

We used to spend our summer evenings playing wiffle ball til dark, then go inside for a bowl of ice cream and to listen to a Royals ball game. Not a care in the world, good times!

[profsmitty]

For some reason, my parents brought me one of the new transistor radio things back in the very early '60s. I'd spend many, many hot Texas Panhandle evenings listening to the only ML baseball we could get, the Houston Colt 45's. One of the worst teams in baseball. It didn't make any difference, i'd listen until I fell asleep to the dilcid tones of Gene Elston. Great times but really bad baseball. It made very little difference though. I grew to love the great game and I still do.

[ScooterMcTavish]

[quote name='profsmitty' timestamp='1403190202' post='9531861']
Since this is a forum for the AD/HD among us (or am I just assuming that this forum is a place for people like me!)
[/quote]

Yes it is.

Threads like the one I link too below show how truly ADHD some of us are:

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/868182-strata-jet-poooooowwwwwww/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...poooooowwwwwww/[/url]

And yes, I bought another dozen when they went on sale. Just like a Top Flite from 1987. Hard, but not a rock, and goes like stink. For all I know, Callaway used the original Top Flite XL or Top Flite II patents that it bought from Spalding.

[quote name='Ironmaster Oddities' timestamp='1403289969' post='9540981']
I may have been slow; but i made up for it by being a bad glove.
[/quote]

This one cracks me up Bob.

As a boy, I wanted to be a pro football player - specifically a receiver. And I developed great soft hands, and could catch everything.

But like you, I made up for my lack of speed with a lack of height.