Reason Writers on TV: Matt Welch Talks Stadium Swindleage on Russia Today

Matt Welch | 8.31.2010 5:20 PM

On Aug. 27, I talked to our friendly neighborhood Russkies about stadium welfare for lying billioniare baseball owners. Approximately 5.58322 minutes.

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Pro Libertate 15 years ago

I'm dubious about your ability to measure time so precisely. [Stomps off in a huff]
1. Paul 15 years ago
  
  The CBO demands more exacting figures after they got burned on Obamacare.
  1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
    
    Ah, but see below for the shocking truth.
The Gobbler 15 years ago

"Approximately 5.58322 minutes." 🙂
1. silent v 15 years ago
  
  5:58 would be closer to 5.96666 minutes.
  1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
    
    See! Slovenly timekeepingmanship.
    1. Paul 15 years ago
      
      I think its "Timekeepsmanship".
      1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        You make up your own words, and I'll make up mine.
affenkopf 15 years ago

Russia must be a really libertarian state judging from how ofen they have libertarians on their government propaganda stations. I'm sure they are equally outraged by the fact that the Russian government either directly or indirectly bankrolls most Russian Premier League teams.
1. rac 15 years ago
  
  But their teams aren't "hysterically profitable".
2. grrizzly 15 years ago
  
  For the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of Russian TV. 🙂
Pro Libertate 15 years ago

I just watched a movie where the Russian government was really bad and had it out for the U.S. And it wasn't set during the Cold War!
1. Episiarch 15 years ago
  
  So it wasn't Reds, then.
  1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
    
    No, no. I saw that movie, too. The Russians were godlike in their goodness and benevolence in Reds.
    1. Episiarch 15 years ago
      
      Was it Russkies?
      1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        No, and before you ask, it wasn't Little Nikita, either.
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        And what did Prince Andrei do at the end? Yeah, yeah, I read the book though.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Not War and Peace.
        
        Episiarch 15 years ago
        
        Cloak & Dagger?
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Not Cold War Russia!
        
        Episiarch 15 years ago
        
        D.A.R.Y.L.? Come on, man, work with me here.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        It's connected in some way with Milo Minderbinder.
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        Or perhaps it was "The Last Days of Hitler?" They had it in for us by then and the Cold War technically didn't start till after Potsdam.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        More recent.
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        "The Bourne Stupidity" or one of the others in that line?
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        No. Did that involve the Russian government?
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        The Saint? This is getting to be a pain in the ass.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        No, but Episiarch will appreciate the Val Kilmer reference.
        
        Episiarch 15 years ago
        
        Unfortunately, you've put me in a catch-22, ProL, as I wasn't very happy with The Saint. I consider it to be a part of Val's later 90's post-Heat decline, starting with Dr. Moreau.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Yes, there is good Val and not-so-good Val. Can good Val be restored, or has he gone to the same place that Coppola went? Not Nick Coppola--he never did much good, except for that Coen thing.
        
        Episiarch 15 years ago
        
        I think he can be restored. I enjoyed his cameo on Entourage as a weed supplier, but that was years ago now.
        
        He needs the right role, that's all.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        I thought he was okay in that quirky movie with Iron Man.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Kiss Kiss Bang Bang before we get started.
2. Paul 15 years ago
  
  Dr Zhivago?
  1. Paul 15 years ago
    
    A video of mail-order brides you picked up at a flea market? For the love of God Pro-L, throw us a frickin' bone, here!
    1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
      
      I did with the Milo Minderbender reference.
      1. BakedPenguin 15 years ago
        
        Runaway Train?
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Jon Voight fathered Angelina Jolie, who starred in Salt.
    2. sloopyinca 15 years ago
      
      It's gotta be something with Jon Voight in it. The ODESSA File?
      1. Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        No. But closer.
        
        dbcooper 15 years ago
        
        How many mustaches are in the movie?
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        This better be a real movie. If you come out with some Jack Bauer bullshit and say it was a movie instead of a 2-hour episode, I'm gonna be very disappointed.
        
        BlueBook 15 years ago
        
        Salt. Haven't seen it, but it fits.
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        I bet you're right, but I thought in Salt, the Rissian government wasn't evil so much as it was a few rogue ex-KGBers who set it all in motion.
        
        Meh. Angelina Jolie hasn't done anything of significance since Gia anyway.
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        The Night of the Generals?
        
        You need to give it to us soon, Pro L, or we're gonna start trying to find out where you live.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        Salt. I overstated the malignity of the government, though I think it's implied that elements of the government supported the evilness.
        
        I thought it was okay, though the usual logic-stretching occurred. But I like Bond films, usually.
        
        sloopyinca 15 years ago
        
        You ass.
        I was thinking that government involvement actually meant government involvement. I guess I'm still learning my way around H&R.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        No, it's my fault. I actually wasn't worrying much about accuracy, because I was just making a throwaway comment. The guessing game was not my intent.
        
        I'd entertained the notion of saying it was Eat, Pray, Love, but that would've been offensive.
Jeff B. 15 years ago

Thank you for being precise length of the interview.
Pro Libertate 15 years ago

I just watched part of the video. I had no idea that I understood Russian. Why, in my head, it sounded just like American English. Huh!

To make at least one on-topic comment, I hope cities will stop paying the protection money to sports team owners. Fuck 'em. I like my local sports teams, but I'm not willingly paying a dime more than it takes to go to the occasional game or to buy a hat or t-shirt.
The Other Kevin 15 years ago

Not interested in the subject, but I'll watch anyway because I always thought that anchor was hot.
Cool Cal 15 years ago

I really hope someone (Matt?) will, at long last, answer my question: aside from the obvious fact of her unforgivable hotness, why are Reason staffers habitually on The Alyona Show?
1. Matt Welch 15 years ago
  
  They ask, and they're close by.
  1. Paul 15 years ago
    
    Is the the second part that plays most important? Like, if I lived next door, would I be on the show? Be brutal, I can take it.
  2. Cool Cal 15 years ago
    
    Awe...I was expecting something with a bit more intrigue. Something, shall we say, more Koch-esque: as in, Reason happens to be the eminence grise of Russia Today and that Alyona herself is a secret libertarian.
    1. BakedPenguin 15 years ago
      
      Considering that she asked "is this just a part of capitalism?" about a crony/theft deal, I'd say secret libertarian isn't in the cards.
      
      Unless that was a deliberate set-up softball question, of course. (No pun intended).
dbcooper 15 years ago

This is pretty amusing:

http://jezebel.com/5626734/wom.....t#comments

Michelle Greer, a web marketing strategist, made the mistake of commenting on Tech Crunch's article in response to the lack of females in tech. And she got reamed out.

"Yo, my math SAT score was, in all probability, higher than yours... Leadership takes all sorts of forms. It just surrounds itself in talent that makes up for where it lacks," she posted.

After defending women entrepreneurs and their math abilities, Greer was called illogical, idiotic, arrogant, angry, a troll, and the "c" word.

Greer, who has had a successful career as former Senior Manager of Corporate Communications at Rackspace, cried for 20 minutes in the shower over the hurtful words. She has demanded commenters be reprimanded for defamation.

If she was reduced to that by Techcrunch then lets hope she never encounters H&R ...
1. Episiarch 15 years ago
  
  So you've become another one of the people who can't stop reading Jezebel? You're quite the masochist, I see.
  1. dbcooper 15 years ago
    
    In my defense:
    
    (a) I saw it on gawker, not the jezebel site.
    
    (b) SugarFree is an insidious, evil little bastard.
    1. Episiarch 15 years ago
      
      You forgot the "no homo" after saying "I saw it on gawker".
      
      Yes, NutraSweet is dangerous. Luckily I'm far too much of a sadist and too little of a masochist to enjoy those sites, so I'm safe.
2. Fire Tiger 15 years ago
  
  Huh huh huh huh You said Rackspace.
  1. Yurop 15 years ago
    
    Fuck, I was too late.
    1. Fire Tiger 15 years ago
      
      I am denying any responsibility for said condition and am immediately requesting a paternity test.
3. Paul 15 years ago
  
  cried for 20 minutes in the shower over the hurtful words. She has demanded commenters be reprimanded for defamation.
  
  She may have unwittingly stumbled on the answer to her question.
4. zeroentitlement 15 years ago
  
  Greer, a web marketing strategist...who has had a successful career as former Senior Manager of Corporate Communications
  
  So she's a PR flunkie. Which makes me wonder why she bothered to respond to the article. Just because your paychecks have a tech firm's name on them doesn't make you a techie. The night janitor at Rackspace also works in tech, by her definition.
  1. Paul 15 years ago
    
    Word. Maria Cantwell ran Real Networks. I'll bet Cantwell can't figure out how her flashlight works.
5. JW 15 years ago
  
  Michelle Greer, a web marketing strategist, made the mistake of commenting on Tech Crunch's article in response to the lack of females in tech
  
  Let me straighten this out for you, you aren't "in tech." You're a limited-talent PR/marketing troll for a (pretty decent) co-lo company. The company is "in tech," not you.
  
  Now, if you could set up the web servers, lock them down, design and code the site and set up the CMS system, THEN you'll be "in tech." Until then, you're the idiot help who's technical skills fully consist of knowing how to turn on her jerkPhone.
6. Harrigan 15 years ago
  
  Studying computing science, I can assure everyone there is a severe lack of women in IT.
  
  The ratio is absurd... in some classes there is literally not even one woman. And if there is an actual cute girl in a comp sci class the 100+ guys in class have cause to celebrate and often do.
  1. zoltan 15 years ago
    
    Chicks don't want to be in a class with a bunch of fat, ugly nerds. That's why I take online programming courses.
Pro Libertate 15 years ago

Rackspace? Is that one of those new companies that employ crazy advertising gimmicks?
Steven Smith 15 years ago

Why are the Russians interested in what would appear to be an internal American "scandal" in a middle-tier sport they don't even play over there?
Steven Smith 15 years ago

Also, why were you being interviewed on the subject by Rachael Ray?
1. BakedPenguin 15 years ago
  
  It wasn't Rachael Ray. You couldn't see her ass on screen.
2. Episiarch 15 years ago
  
  EVEN STEVE(N) SMITH NOT LIKE RACHEL RAY! NOT EVEN FOR RAPING! BUT SHE NOT GET MESSAGE! WHY SHE STILL HAVE SHOW? WHO WATCHES HER? STEVE(N) CONFUSED AND ANGRY!
  1. BakedPenguin 15 years ago
    
    Actually, I agree with Sir Mix-A-Lot on that count. I can watch her show, so long as the sound is off.
    1. Episiarch 15 years ago
      
      I don't find her cute at all; I just find her grating and irritating, even with the sound off. She makes obnoxious facial expressions.
      1. JW 15 years ago
        
        Rachel Ray still wouldnt be sexy or cute even if she consumed both Heidi Klum and Laetitia Casta in one sitting.
        
        Pro Libertate 15 years ago
        
        I concur and further note a total lack of understanding for any other opinion on the topic.
      2. Nipplemancer 15 years ago
        
        punchable face, fuckable ass.
      3. Nipplemancer 15 years ago
        
        punchable face, fuckable ass.
Tastes food... 15 years ago

Yummers!
Robert 15 years ago

That woman is HOT!

I can't believe no one has asked the obvious question of whether or not Welch took her out back after the show and did her up the wrong 'un. Come on, Matt, we'll keep your secret!

Yes, Welch is married but we all know anal doesn't count.
Mr Whipple 15 years ago

I don't agree with using public money to fund private stadiums, but Norman Braman is a dick, and if he ever shows his face in Philadelphia again, it will probably be the last place he ever shows his face. Seriously, people still loathe him, here. And if you want to align yourself with him, Matt, then you are a dick, as well. And that little hottie can suck my dick, but I digress.

The only good thing Norman Braman ever did for the Philadelphia Eagles, was hire Buddy Ryan.

- Buddy Ryan

But I guess Eagle's fans get the last laugh, because he lost a shitload of money to Bernie Madoff.

I would gladly sacrifice my libertarian principles to piss in the face of Norman Braman.

Buddy Ryan was the lowest paid coach in the NFL while Braman paid himself $7.5 million and referred to his salary as a 'few dollars.' The book further notes:

... he [Braman] owned the team to torture us [fans]. Mr Braman was a soulless, cold-blooded auto salesman who could have easily stood in for Lionel Barrymore in the role of "It's A Wonderful Life"s' Mr Potter.

If you don't know Braman's history with the Marlins, I suggest you do some research.
Some Guy 15 years ago

Russia covers baseball?

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Reason Writers on TV: Matt Welch Talks Stadium Swindleage on Russia Today

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