The Cardinals

[mul21]

So, in retrospect, the end of their run as a great team in this incarnation is going to have been their playoff loss to the Cubs in 2015.

 

Nice.

 

The most fun part of that is how most of their fans have no idea how much of a paper tiger that team was because of the insane strand rate from their pitchers that year with an averagish defense behind them.

[Tryptamine]

I enjoy that the article leads you to believe the Cardinals have their wave of prospects that's going to lead them to the promise land but forget to mention that the Cubs have another wave coming and they're all more highly regarded.

[imb]

the implication that the cubs hit on their young talent so that means the cardinals prospects will all also hit is hilarious

[BigSlick]

It's a side benefit that our Victory Tour seasons will coincide with the Cardinals collapsing and looking godawful

[Liam Neeson]

 

For this:

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v1315756683/stlmil-carpenter-and-matheny-get-ejected-in-the-7th/?game_pk=490378

[Transmogrified Tiger]

seems really ticky tack of a 'bump', but on the other hand, he did lose his mind arguing about getting rung up on this at bat:

 

[Sammys Boombox]

I'm not one to defend the Cardinals or Carpenter, but the strike 2 call was a lot worse than that graphic shows.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I thought the rivalry with them was fun in 2015, with us both being good and us ripping their hearts out in the playoffs. But, them being a miserable, 95-loss bottom feeder is going to give me so much more enjoyment.

[mikeyt34]

I hear you Duke. Watching the Cardinal choke away games because of their defense, it doesn't get much better than that. The Cardinal announcers were disgusted. Diaz is such a liability at SS, I don't know how much longer than can keep him there instead of moving him to 3rd or 2nd, probably 2nd because of his poor arm. They are the same team as last year, without the offensive firepower, a worse bullpen, but to their credit their starting rotation is still intact 20 games into the season (admittedly they have pitched pretty well but their "ace" is struggling).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I hear you Duke. Watching the Cardinal choke away games because of their defense, it doesn't get much better than that. The Cardinal announcers were disgusted. Diaz is such a liability at SS, I don't know how much longer than can keep him there instead of moving him to 3rd or 2nd, probably 2nd because of his poor arm. They are the same team as last year, without the offensive firepower, a worse bullpen, but to their credit their starting rotation is still intact 20 games into the season (admittedly they have pitched pretty well but their "ace" is struggling).

 

They did lose Reyes for the season in spring.

[mikeyt34]

I hear you Duke. Watching the Cardinal choke away games because of their defense, it doesn't get much better than that. The Cardinal announcers were disgusted. Diaz is such a liability at SS, I don't know how much longer than can keep him there instead of moving him to 3rd or 2nd, probably 2nd because of his poor arm. They are the same team as last year, without the offensive firepower, a worse bullpen, but to their credit their starting rotation is still intact 20 games into the season (admittedly they have pitched pretty well but their "ace" is struggling).

 

They did lose Reyes for the season in spring.

 

Sure, but I was talking about the 5 they started the season with. There's still questions about Wacha and Lynn holding up, Wainwright seems on the downside of a great career, Martinez is Zambrano lite, and Leake has been solid but with that defense behind him it's going to cost him some runs here and there.

[Regular Show]

Well, there will be no more fluff pieces on the Cardinals from beat writer M. Saxon on ESPN. He was let go. This sounds harsh but good riddance. He was a homer and I didn't care for his writing. J. Bowden has also been fired -- about time. He was terrible. The only one I'll actually miss on the baseball side is J. Stark, who was pretty decent in my view. Don't know why he was let go.

[Banedon]

Well, there will be no more fluff pieces on the Cardinals from beat writer M. Saxon on ESPN. He was let go. This sounds harsh but good riddance. He was a homer and I didn't care for his writing. J. Bowden has also been fired -- about time. He was terrible. The only one I'll actually miss on the baseball side is J. Stark, who was pretty decent in my view. Don't know why he was let go.

 

None of them were fired, they were laid off. There's discussion of this in the Sports Media thread in the Other Sports forum, but if you want a good explanation of the "why", this article is good.

 

http://deadspin.com/espns-latest-layoffs-are-just-a-way-to-buy-time-1794678629

 

But nobody was fired for performance.

[David]

yes yes ruffle the feathers

 

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[Tim]

yes yes ruffle the feathers

 

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That reads like he thinks Chicago is on ET.

[David]

yes yes ruffle the feathers

 

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That reads like he thinks Chicago is on ET.

 

yep lol

[Clem Fandango]

Boy, I bet it will chap his ass even more when he finds out that not only is Chicago in the same time zone, but that most services refer to it as "Chicago" time.

[javy knows my name]

This reminds me of a support call I took from a customer based in Texas. I was trying to make an appointment for her and, not knowing anything about her tiny stupid town in Texas, I asked her what time zone she was in.

 

Her: "I don't know...Texas time."

Me: "Well, Texas spans two time zones. Are you central or mountain?"

Her: "I don't know. Why do I need to know that?"

Me: "Are you in the western panhandle?"

Her: "NO!" (like I'm some idiot)

Me: "OK, for future reference, you're in central time."

[Banedon]

This reminds me of a support call I took from a customer based in Texas. I was trying to make an appointment for her and, not knowing anything about her tiny stupid town in Texas, I asked her what time zone she was in.

 

Her: "I don't know...Texas time."

Me: "Well, Texas spans two time zones. Are you central or mountain?"

Her: "I don't know. Why do I need to know that?"

Me: "Are you in the western panhandle?"

Her: "NO!" (like I'm some idiot)

Me: "OK, for future reference, you're in central time."

 

lol, next time just ask them what time it is there.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

This reminds me of a support call I took from a customer based in Texas. I was trying to make an appointment for her and, not knowing anything about her tiny stupid town in Texas, I asked her what time zone she was in.

 

Her: "I don't know...Texas time."

Me: "Well, Texas spans two time zones. Are you central or mountain?"

Her: "I don't know. Why do I need to know that?"

Me: "Are you in the western panhandle?"

Her: "NO!" (like I'm some idiot)

Me: "OK, for future reference, you're in central time."

 

lol, next time just ask them what time it is there.

"do what now?"

[javy knows my name]

This reminds me of a support call I took from a customer based in Texas. I was trying to make an appointment for her and, not knowing anything about her tiny stupid town in Texas, I asked her what time zone she was in.

 

Her: "I don't know...Texas time."

Me: "Well, Texas spans two time zones. Are you central or mountain?"

Her: "I don't know. Why do I need to know that?"

Me: "Are you in the western panhandle?"

Her: "NO!" (like I'm some idiot)

Me: "OK, for future reference, you're in central time."

 

lol, next time just ask them what time it is there.

 

But then she wouldn't have learned anything

[Sammys Boombox]

I too take support calls from customers. I am convinced 50% of Americans can't find their state on a map and 75% have no general idea of where the time zone boundaries are.

 

However, foreigners often seem to know US states and time zones pretty well. It's baffling to me.

[Derwood]

I don't know how you guys work in customer service. In my experience, these customers are the perfect storm of anger and stupidity

[Sammys Boombox]

I don't know how you guys work in customer service. In my experience, these customers are the perfect storm of anger and stupidity

 

I'm actually surprised at how rarely I get an angry customer, and when I do get an angry one I'm usually able to help them out and make their day. Most of the people I speak to are professionals (engineers, electricians, etc.) and I help them with technical issues.

 

Working a call center for something like cell phone bills or products that people use at home would be awful I would think.

[Banedon]

I don't know how you guys work in customer service. In my experience, these customers are the perfect storm of anger and stupidity

 

I'm actually surprised at how rarely I get an angry customer, and when I do get an angry one I'm usually able to help them out and make their day. Most of the people I speak to are professionals (engineers, electricians, etc.) and I help them with technical issues.

 

Working a call center for something like cell phone bills or products that people use at home would be awful I would think.

 

I did DSL tech support about 12 years ago for Qwest, and it was pretty shitty. Especially since we had a "we don't troubleshoot home networks" policy...and the metrics we were evaluated on were calls taken and short call durations...not on actually resolving customer issues.