Ken Burns Baseball on...

[Rob D.]

Why do I think that by the end of the day we'll be aching for yet more discussion about an obviously fake T206 Wagner?

[barrysloate]

Brian- you haven't been on the board that long but in the past, when we've had discussions about the state of the country, this community has generally blown a gasket. So we try to avoid any incendiary comments about unions, about liberals, etc. Those kind of threads never end well. Just a little pointer for future reference.

[Brian-Chidester]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Brian- you haven't been on the board that long but in the past, when we've had discussions about the state of the country, this community has generally blown a gasket. So we try to avoid any incendiary comments about unions, about liberals, etc. Those kind of threads never end well. Just a little pointer for future reference.

It's as if I started the rhetoric? C'mon, Barry. If someone is going to knock the film for its "obvious liberal bias," why can't someone come in a defend the film too? Oh, wait, I forgot... I'm new to the board. That's right. Lack of tenure.

Yes, Ken Burns's series had a bias towards labor and civil rights. Big deal. If protecting the working-class and the minority is a bias, then I'll take that bias, thank you very much.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Brian-Chidester

It's as if I started the rhetoric? C'mon, Barry. If someone is going to knock the film for its "obvious liberal bias," why can't someone come in a defend the film too? Oh, wait, I forgot... I'm new to the board. That's right. Lack of tenure.

Yes, Ken Burns's series had a bias towards labor and civil rights. Big deal. If protecting the working-class and the minority is a bias, then I'll take that bias, thank you very much.

It's supposed to be a baseball documentary. I was just pointing out that it sometimes has a biased view of baseball. I didn't say that was bad or good, only that it exists so that anyone unfamiliar with the documentary will know what it's about.

Funny you took that as an "attack" that needed "defended".

Lighten up Francis.

[Brian-Chidester]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

It's supposed to be a baseball documentary. I was just pointing out that it sometimes has a biased view of baseball. I didn't say that was bad or good, only that it exists so that anyone unfamiliar with the documentary will know what it's about.

Funny you took that as an "attack" that needed "defended".

Lighten up Francis.

Yes, and professional baseball is a business. It's easy to say, "Hey, man, it's just baseball. Lighten up. Stop trying to intellectualize everything." But the story of baseball is a serious story, and a reflection of our values as a nation.

Again, it wasn't some heavy thing to me. Just pointing out that this so-called liberal bias should be explained before people reading your post take your word at it. In this case, Ken Burns's "liberal bias" was the covering of blacks in baseball extensively, as well as the reserve clause and labor rights.

[teetwoohsix]

Brian-Chidester="He Who Stirreth The Pot With Very Big Stick"
(it's a joke Brian,don't spiral on me)

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Brian-Chidester

Yes, and professional baseball is a business. It's easy to say, "Hey, man, it's just baseball. Lighten up. Stop trying to intellectualize everything." But the story of baseball is a serious story, and a reflection of our values as a nation.

Again, it wasn't some heavy thing to me. Just pointing out that this so-called liberal bias should be explained before people reading your post take your word at it. In this case, Ken Burns's "liberal bias" was the covering of blacks in baseball extensively, as well as the reserve clause and labor rights.

Thanks for explaining what I meant, considering you couldn't have possibly known.

My reason for stating it has a liberal bias was actually directed at his interviewee list, not his positions on integration or labor.

Nice to watch an interview with Bill Lee about baseball while wearing a CCCP cap. And Mario Cuomo was the best they could come up with to comment on 50's baseball? Apparently Castro wasn't available.

[Brian-Chidester]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

Thanks for explaining what I meant, considering you couldn't have possibly known.

My reason for stating it has a liberal bias was actually directed at his interviewee list, not his positions on integration or labor.

Nice to watch an interview with Bill Lee about baseball while wearing a CCCP cap. And Mario Cuomo was the best they could come up with to comment on 50's baseball? Apparently Castro wasn't available.

Now you've got me spooked, what with the Cold War rhetoric and all. Whooooo.........

[E93]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

My reason for stating it has a liberal bias was actually directed at his interviewee list, not his positions on integration or labor.

George F. Will ??

[Brian-Chidester]

I bow to your condescending wisdom.

[barrysloate]

No condescension intended...I often found myself right in the middle of all the political discussions, and usually regretted doing so. Imagine a group of liberals and a group of conservatives simultaneously banging their heads against a brick wall, and that's pretty much they way things went.

[barrysloate]

Brian- you are free to express any opinion you want around here...just be prepared for the fallout.

[Brian-Chidester]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

No condescension intended...I often found myself right in the middle of all the political discussions, and usually regretted doing so. Imagine a group of liberals and a group of conservatives simultaneously banging their heads against a brick wall, and that's pretty much they way things went.

I wan't saying you were condescending, Barry. Just the two that commented on me causing trouble and being blind to an obvious T206 fake.

Agreed about political arguments. Just thought someone should posit an antidote opinion to the one which claimed Burns's liberal bias brought the series down.

[Rob D.]

My comment wasn't so much directed at you being blind to an obvious fake as it was to given a choice between dredging up discourse on the Cobb/Edwards Wagner or having another liberal-vs.-conservative train wreck on a board dedicated to baseball cards, I'd choose the former.

[slidekellyslide]

Let's keep all political talk off the main board...there is a watercooler area for general sports talk that I suppose if anyone wants to use it to argue about politics they can take it there. Not here.

[Brian-Chidester]

Originally Posted by Rob D.

My comment wasn't so much directed at you being blind to an obvious fake as it was to given a choice between dredging up discourse on the Cobb/Edwards Wagner or having another liberal-vs.-conservative train wreck on a board dedicated to baseball cards, I'd choose the former.

Rob... first off, I wasn't dredging up anything on the Cobb/Edwards card. The thread was started by someone else two days ago. And I told everyone quite clearly that [1] I was not a part of the older thread and [2] I had never seen the card. I was interested more in seeing if we could identify exactly what reprint the card came from, as it looked fake to me from first glance. But having not seen it before that day, nor having been a part of the old conversation, I thought I'd give it the old one-time to see if it held up on any level whatsoever. Alas, it did not, and everyone was right. But I enjoyed the conversation.

As to a liberal-vs.-conservative discussion here... this had nothing to do with political parties. It was said that the Burns series had a "liberal bias," of which I could only see that being from the POV of labor rights and civil rights. In my response to that, I made making no statement about congress or political parties or anything. Just trying to say, when it comes to blacks in baseball and the reserve clause in baseball... if THOSE issues are the so-called "liberal bias," then give me the liberal bias.

I never even said I WAS a liberal.