Mike Schmidt pulled into government debate
President Obama's Senior Adviser David Plouffe is currently engaged in a mature, completely rational hissy-fit with investigative reporter Bob Woodward.
Woodward published an article explaining that the budget auto-cuts coming from the sequester started in the Obama administration, so Plouffe sent him a threatening email. Now they're in the middle of a public dispute that's already jumped the shark (I mean kiss already), and we were prepared to watch them both behave like idiots until Plouffe dragged Mike Schmidt into all this.
Most confused about all of this would have to be Schmidt, who was just trying to go about his day job of "Iconic Morale Booster/Hero to Millions" at Phillies training camp in Clearwater without his name coming up in the highest levels of our government. Deciding it's best to probably lay low for awhile, Schmidt was forced to shave off his trademark mustache in an attempt to get off the grid.
RYHO RETURNS
As he slowly disappears himself from society, Schmidt can do so knowing he's made a difference in at least one former MVP's life.
Ryan Howard has been playing like the Ryan Howard from our dreams, rather than the Ryan Howard from our nightmarish realities. Ryan has played in all six spring training games, going 8-for-15 with three doubles, five RBI, and one very polite home run yesterday, just after someone loudly requested from the stands that he hit one.
It will be a very long year for opposing NL pitchers if Ryan has started taking audience requests.
FOOD FIGHT
The New York-Philadelphia rivalry, long dead via NL East baseball, has taken a new, or at least most recent form.
The forum was Bon Appetit Magazine; the instigator, Matt Duckor, the assistant editor, a seven-year New Yorker/South Carolina transplant. In an interview with the chef of an upcoming Stephen Starr eatery, Peter Serpico, Duckor mentioned that he'd never been to Philadelphia, but that didn't stop him from explaining the type of restaurants that make up Philadelphia's food scene to a man who – again – is a chef living in Philadelphia. Duckor explained that the city was made up of "huge, big-box restaurants," and is "not quite the ethnic melting pot that New York is."
Philadelphia fired back the best way we know how – anonymous threats on the internet. But perhaps the better response is to point out things like popular restaurants identifying Philly as "ideal," or magazines listing us in their top five lists for pizza, on which we placed #4.
One spot behind New York, of course, but hey; the Mets are still terrible.
HART OF THE CITY
Another Philadelphia MVP is entering the national spotlight as well, but this one is doing so without being a weakly drawn parallel by a White House staffer.
Fresh off his MVP award at the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game, comedian and Philadelphia native Kevin Hart will be hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend, featuring what appears to be endless material of jokes about his height.