Slight delay this week due to a last minute requirement to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Budapest. But that has provided content.
Culture, media, and sport
- While in Budapest I did watch some sport for a short time. The rugby match between Italy and England. England fell behind for a bit before performing the sport better than Italy for long enough to come back and win. It was very diverting! Also, it was someone’s birthday and there was cake. Good afternoon all round.
- However, baseball is the one true sport and the off-season news has been coming in hot this week. Bobby Witt Jr, star short-stop for the one true team of the one true sport - the Kansas City Royals - has been signed for an 11-year contract worth a mere $280M. If you know about Major League Baseball (MLB), you’ll know the Royals are not exactly spendthrifts - more thrifts by comparison to their peers. Although they are no Oakland As, they didn’t win the 2015 World Series by buying players. I’ll refrain from suggesting I am a baseball savant, but this state of affairs has not surprised me. When he debuted in the 2022 MLB season, it looked, to my untrained eye, like I was a sporting legend being knitted. He is very fun to watch, is clearly a gent, and can get points on and keeps points off the board. With the acknowledgement that $280M is an astronomical amount of money for one person to accumulate, I am happy to see the team I enjoy watching secure a player they can rebuild the team around.
- Also in Budapest, I went to the Budapest Pinboard museum. I haven’t worked out how to get videos/photos on here without a faff but once I do, I’ll put some up of my brother and playing Mortal Kombat, Sega Rally Championship, and various vintages of pinball machine.