The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Tuesday April 7, 2015
An “old school” Weekday Ramble today including some thoughts on Rand Paul’s presidential bid, the NCAA basketball championship game, and a lackluster beginning to the Twins season.
The right man for the job (?)
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul launched his presidential bid today. Many of his views, including limiting government interference in our lives, auditing the Federal Reserve, and reforming the criminal justice system, are appealing. He is completely different than any other major party candidate in years. Like his father, the more radical Libertarian Ron Paul, he is about as close to a third party candidate as we’ll probably ever see. Unfortunately I feel like his only options are selling out to the machine (a la John McCain) or getting slandered into submission by establishment Republicans (and Democrats, and the media).
Mark my words, if it looks like he has a chance to win with his current platform, somebody or something will stop him. His views are too against the establishment to be allowed by it.
Good game guys, good game
An interesting NCAA basketball tournament came to a close last night with Duke beating Wisconsin 68-63. It was an intense, competitive game. There may have been some questionable calls but ultimately Duke was the better team. The Badgers blew plenty of good opportunities and had no excuse for falling short. They definitely shouldn’t be ashamed of their season, though, as beating undefeated Kentucky will be remembered as much as the Blue Devils ultimate victory.
The saddest part of the outcome is how pathetic (yet predictably) Minnesota sports fans have reacted. We get it, guys, you’re super bitter because none of your teams ever get close to winning anything. You can stop advertising your childishness, immaturity, and stupidity by relishing in the loss of others. And people wonder why I’m a Packer fan.
Gah, come on Twins
Predictably, the Twins lost their seventh consecutive season opener today, falling to the Tigers 4-0. I know we’re all sick of their losing, and I predicted yesterday that this year would continue the trend, but the outcry of fans after one game has been excessive. Remember folks, David Price is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Even if young guys like Santana, Vargas, and Arcia improve this year they’ll probably still not do that great against elite pitchers like him (although the first two seemed comfortable and hit the ball well).
Sure, Phil Hughes gave up 4 runs in 6 innings, but other than two bad pitches that were belted for home runs he looked pretty good. I know, I know, it’s stupid to set aside home runs, but if it’s something that only happens every handful of games he’ll still be successful. Once he settled down after initial jitters reliever J.R. Graham also gave a solid performance.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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