Losing Ain?t What It Used To Be

Buckner’s infamous error in the 1986 World Series led to so much fury toward him and his family that they moved out of Massachusetts and all the way to Idaho; Norwood’s missed kick in Super Bowl XXV is such a heartbreaking moment in Buffalo sports history that Vincent Gallo once made a movie about an ex-con trying to track down Norwood and kill him. In fact, as life as moved along, it turns out that all those superstars who we deified for being win-at-all-costs maniacs were deeply troubled and flawed all along, from Michael Jordan’s ongoing lonely megalomania to Mickey Mantle’s (and many others’) substance-abuse problems to most retired athletes’ inevitable pivot to grousing about These Young Kids Today Don’t Know How Good They’ve Got It. Being that obsessed with winning, at the expense of every other thing in your life, looks, as the years pass, deeply unhealthy … even demented.Sports themselves will always provide us winners and losers: That is, after all, their primary purpose. The Lutherans have the Missouri Synod, for exampleYes, and there are some conservative Methodist branches, too.I have argued that the real divisions among Protestants these days aren’t so much the traditional denominational ones, but a big and growing split between mainline and fundamentalist groupings.My understanding is that the conservative Methodist branches are pretty small, comparatively speaking.I was told by multiple people that if only the American conferences of the Methodist church had voted on the issue, the OCP would have passed.What makes the Methodists unique among mainliners is that the fundamentalists are hanging onto the big traditional denomination instead of going with one of the conservative groups–which they would have done had they lost this vote.Ed Kilgore [4:48PM]And yes, the international dimension mattered a lot with the Methodists. Of course, delegates from those countries could have just voted for the OCP, and continued to govern their congregations in ways that wouldn’t run afoul of local law or their own doctrinal commitments.One clear repercussion of Bloomberg not runningMichael Bloomberg announces in op-ed that he will NOT run for presidentI know there’s much more we can accomplish over the next two years, but only if we stay focused on the work and expand upon it. And I have concluded that, for now, the best way for me to help our country is by rolling up my sleeves and continuing to get work done.As protests continue in Sacramento, California AG announces no charges in Stephon Clark police shootingCalifornia’s attorney general says a nearly yearlong investigation shows that Sacramento police believed they were in danger when they fatally shot an unarmed black man who refused commands and moved toward officers with something in his hand.Attorney General Xavier Becerra said at a news conference Tuesday that he won’t charge two officers in the killing of 22 -year-old Stephon Clark last year.Becerra has emphasized the need for changes and called Clark’s death a “devastating loss.” He met with Clark’s mother before announcing his decision.A mayoral hopeful comes out with a radical plan to reform NYC subwaysCity Council Speaker Corey Johnson wants New York City to take control of the subway system, ban automobiles from a slew of busy streets (including Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg), build more bus and bike lanes, and seriously consider removing a chunk of the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.Johnson outlined his aggressive proposal to remake New York’s transportation infrastructure in his first State of the City speech on Tuesday, which was accompanied by a 104-page report that attempts to wrestle with problems that have bedeviled governors, mayors, and legislators for decades.The rush of migrants at America’s Southern border isn’t slowingFor the fourth time in five months, the number of migrant families crossing the southwest border has broken records, border enforcement authorities said Tuesday, warning that government facilities are full and agents are overwhelmed.More than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February, more than double the levels from the same period last year and approaching the largest numbers seen in any February in the last 12 years.“The system is well beyond capacity, and remains at the breaking point,” Kevin K. She added, “Now I’m not saying I would be the best candidate, but I’m not going to dismiss it out of hand the way others do.”Today in not great things happening on AmazonA book that pushes the conspiracy theory Qanon climbed within the top 75 of all books sold on Amazon in recent days, pushed by Amazon’s algorithmically generated recommendations page.“QAnon: An Invitation to the Great Awakening,” which has no stated author, ranked at No. 56 at press time, was featured in the algorithmically generated “Hot new releases” section on Amazon’s books landing page.