Watch the NBA draft in a crowded bar.
That way the din of the crowd will drown out Stephen A. Smith.
Take your time if rain is in the forecast.
Say you’re heading to a baseball game for the evening and the clouds are threatening rain. Find a nice bar near the park and wait for the weather to clear rather then fighting the herd to see the first pitch. If the skies open up and the game is delayed, it’s better to be in a cozy bar paying a fair price for beer as you pass the time than to be trapped inside the park and doling out $8 for a watered-down libation.
They don’t play when the tarp is out.
If you’re still sitting in that bar nearby the park when and the sky clears up, don’t be too overzealous to rush into the park. The game won’t start for about twenty minutes after the tarp is removed. And if they haven’t moved the tarp, the game is nowhere near starting.
Nobody likes a know-it-all – especially when they don’t.
Is there anything worse than the guy spouting off statistics as if he knows everything about the game (in this case, baseball) and then utters something so stupid as to completely nullify all the credibility he’s been trying to create? I was recently at a game and a Johnny-come-lately fan behind me was espousing this and that about of the home team’s players. Then an opponent came to the plate and delivered a critical base hit and knocked in a couple of runs. “Who is this guy,†asks the resident know-it-all, “I’ve never heard of him.†The player in question was a six-year MLB veteran with over 1400 at-bats to his credit. Even someone with casual knowledge of the league would be hard-pressed not to recognize this player.
Beware the parlay bet.
Say you’ve got and inkling on a handful of baseball games and the urge to bet on all of them. (Canon Fodder does not condone gambling, but if you were to have access to a sports book…) If you’re going to lay money down on five or six games, DON’T TIE IT ALL TOGETHER ON A SINGLE PARLAY. It only takes one moronic manager (Eric Wedge) to send his beleaguered ace (C.C. Sabathia) back to the mound for the ninth inning of a one-run game for your whole day of bets to be wasted. One inconceivable managerial move (you know, Eric, the GM provided you with a bullpen for a reason) can potentially devastate all your bets (to the tune of $1800).
In keeping with requests I’ve had from a few readers, you can expect some Canon Fodder posts to be shorter in length than in the past. They will be quick reads and be devoid of links and clips. They’ll be ideal for reading in ways not necessarily tied to a computer. (Meaning you can print it and take it to the John with you.) Though we still don’t have a print option built into the website, there’s a little technique called “Cut-and-Paste†you can use. (Yes, your sarcasm meter should be chirping right about now.)
You can still expect clip-laden, overly-linked articles each week but I’ll attempt to throw at least one out there for those of you that hate to be chained to a monitor.
I hope you’re all enjoying Canon Fodder. We’re always looking for ways to improve the website and to do that, I need your feedback. Have a question, comment or suggestion? Shoot me an e-mail at jeff@canon-fodder.com.