Regular reader(s) of Blotch know all about how I boycotted the Texas Rangers in 2002 after they dumped Pudge Rodriguez, but then rescinded my boycott yesterday after the team signed him to come back home.
Which means I have a spare boycott lying around.
So I’m sitting here pondering how I might apply this boycott. Hmm, I might boycott the upcoming reality TV show on the Octomom and her brood. That woman makes me ill.
No, I hate to waste a good boycott on that freakish ditz. Besides, I’ll never watch a minute of that show anyway so it’s not really a boycott to give up something you never wanted to begin with.
Golden parachutes, exorbitant bonuses, and flat-out corruption among financial institutions makes me want to boycott them, but I’m not sure how. I could cash in my mutual funds and hide my money in a mattress, but that would be stupid and probably hurt me more than them.
So, anybody got any ideas on how I can use my spare boycott? I hate for it to go to waste.
Jeff,
You get paid for this nonsense? How about boycotting writing stupid peices like this for a while. You have actually boycotted the Rangers for the past seven years? Nice hometown loyalty. DFW should boycott you until you win a Pulitzer.
Rob,
Well said.
Rob: I began rooting for the Rangers in 1973, attending a half-dozen games during that first season and about 100 more over the next several decades. I watched them on TV regularly. By the time I boycotted them in 2002, I had 29 years invested in the team. The boycott had nothing to do with their won-loss record and so your Pulitzer analogy makes no sense. It also makes no sense to read Blotch and be surprised to see “nonsense” and “stupid pieces.” Some blog posts are serious, some aren’t. Some are well-thought out and researched, some are pulled directly from our rectal areas on a moment’s notice. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging.
By the way, it makes perfect sense to show displeasure for corporations, local businesses, or any other group whose decisions piss you off, by refusing to spend your money, time, or loyalty on them. It’s the American way.
The Rangers are a bunch of bums – when will they actually earn the $$ spent on the nice new stadium??
Tom Hicks is going broke. He ought to sell the team back to George W. Bush and then the Rangers can shock and awe in the world series.
Doesn’t anyone get how tongue-in-cheek this post was?? Like, really?!? Someone read this and didn’t giggle out loud??
Seriously Jeff, you should boycott responding to inane comments posted by those with a tad too much rage. It only encourages them!! 😉
Linda: Seems like if we don’t put little smiley faces at the end of every sentence, some people these days think we’re dead serious about everything we blog about, even when we’re just being goofy, tongue in cheek, or overstating something for the sake of a laugh.
Having said all that, I actually did boycott the Rangers for seven years because they dumped Pudge after a long and loyal career.
And while I haven’t won a Pulitzer, I do have a Katie Award. (I would make a smiley face here, but I don’t know how).
Jeff’s being way too modest. He’s actually got three Katies and six first place Lone Star Awards dished out by the Houston Press Club, inculding Journalist of the Year a time or two.
It’s our boss, Gayle, who’s got the Pulitzer. And the Polk.
Damn, we’re good.
Actually, I have seven 1st Place Lone Star Awards…but I’m way too modest to count them.
Oh, and I’d never deign to mention the two Vivian Castleberry Awards I’ve received from the Association of Women Journalists, or the First Amendment Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, or the Associated Press Award, or the…well, modesty prevents me from going further.
Personal pet peeve/rant: I get that it’s sometimes hard to read sarcasm or really any humor through plain text, but haven’t we all become a bit lazy in not even attempting to understand the context in which something was written? I use smiley faces like a crazy person sometimes, largely because people seem to get offended very easily by what I say, and I loathe reading replies that are all in caps.
On the boycott: I did the same thing. I grew up watching Pudge on the Rangers and have had absolutely no desire to see them play without him.
I will be attending my first game as an adult with this move…I just wonder if they still sell ice cream in those adorable little batting helmets.
Jeff, you are too modest. You’ve had an amazing career marked by many achievements. Same goes for the whole paper. Peter, I would change that good to great.
I’d really like to know what honors have been bestowed upon our dear friend Rob and his less than verbose pal Nathan. A ‘favorited’ tweet on Twitter, maybe? 3 ‘Likes’ on a Facebook status update, perhaps? Do tell, Rob, do tell!