Houston Chronicle 4/9/2021
[Thumbs twiddled] Sometimes we almost feel bad for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and how no one seems to like him, but then we listen to him talk about “lawless chaos†on our border or see him trying to have it both ways when the Cougars took on Baylor (“Either way Texas wins!â€) and we come to our senses. Our latest bout of soft-hearted pity came last week when Politico featured an excerpt from former GOP House Speaker John Boehner’s upcoming book. “There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless ***hole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Senator Ted Cruz,†he wrote. Ouch.----
[Thumbs up] The Houston Astros have been nearly as easy to jeer ever since the sign-sealing scandal, but as the season got underway last week they proved that while sticks and stones (and a stray pitch or two) may break your bones, a song can never hurt you. The team opened with a four-game series in California against the Oakland A’s. The first game was expertly summarized in the Chron.com headline “A’s get standing ovation for hitting two Astros batters, still lose.†During the next two encounters, the A’s played Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats†and Ace of Base’s “The Sign†during the starting lineup in a bid to get under the Astros’ skin. Not only didn’t it work — Houston swept Oakland — it wasn’t even original. Last season, the Atlanta Braves also blasted “The Sign†while the Astros warmed up. In a show of magnanimity, may we suggest Amy Winehouse’s “Between the Cheats†for the seventh-inning stretch, next time. You’re welcome, losers.
[Thumbs down] As far as opening home games go; it could have been worse. After all, California’s governor didn’t decline to throw out the first pitch because he was boycotting MLB over its support of voting rights — that’s Gov. Greg Abbott’s job. “Major League Baseball adopted what has turned out to be a false narrative about the election law reforms in Georgia, and, based on that false narrative, moved the MLB All-Star game from Atlanta,†Abbott wrote in a letter to the Texas Rangers explaining why he was skipping the honor. The hissy fit is part of a growing spat between Republican leaders and corporations upset over GOP-backed voting restriction efforts — most of which hit minorities hardest — in several states. You know voter suppression is serious when Abbott refuses to play ball with business interests.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Thumbs-On-the-road-the-Astros-face-the-music-16089019.php
