"Miss Beldon, may I ask whether this is an open competition?"

The "Oscars" are on tonight which means that TCM is showing a mess of winning movies throughout the event's history. Below is a conversation between characters in the powerful 1942 film "Mrs. Miniver," in which Vincent Miniver (Mrs. Miniver's son) challenges an aristocrat (Carol Beldon) when a request is made to have a commoners rose be withdrawn from a gardening competition.

It's a wonderful movie. Terrifyingly emotional for me personally because of my grandmother's role in the war but I thought this conversation provided a sort of abstract insight into the English condition regarding open competition.



CAROL BELDON:
How do you do, Mrs. Miniver? I'm Carol Beldon.

MRS. MINIVER:
How do you do, Miss Beldon? This is my husband.

CLEM MINIVER:
How do you do?

MM: And my son Vincent.

VINCENT MINIVER:
How do you do?

MM: Just in time for tea, Miss Beldon.

CB: Thanks, but I've just had some.

MM: Sit down anyway.

CB: I can only stay a moment.

MM: Please, do sit down.

CB: You really must excuse me for invading your house like this... but frankly, I've come to make a request. A personal request, and as a great favor.

CM: Well, please, sit down.

CB: Thank you. You see, my grandmother doesn't know I've come. I'm afraid I'm not very good at breaking things gently... so I'll get straight to the point. It's about the rose.

CM: The rose?

CB: Yes. The one Mr. Ballard grew. "The Mrs. Miniver." [Mr. Ballard named it after Mrs. Miniver] I hear he's going to enter it in the flower show.

MM: You mean, for the Beldon Challenge Cup?

CB: Yes. But no one ever has entered.... That is-- No... no one has ever entered a rose in competition with my grandmother. And that's just the point. It's become a tradition for her to win the cup and her roses mean so much to her. I know it seems an awful thing to ask, but I thought you might, perhaps, as a favor persuade Mr. Ballard to withdraw his rose from the competition. You see, to be frank, it's such a beautiful rose it might easily win, and, well--

VM: Miss Beldon, may I ask whether this is an open competition?

CB: Yes, technically--

VM: Technically, yes, but actually... no.

CB: Yes, I suppose that's it. You see--

VM: I see only too well, Miss Beldon. Because Mr. Ballard is not of the ruling class... is a mere vassal, as it were--

MM: Now, Vin, please. Let Miss Beldon explain.

VB: But, Mother, Miss Beldon doesn't have to explain, not to me. I'm aware of the influence of the feudal system in this village. These are orders from the manor. Her ladyship must have no competition.

MM: You must excuse my son. He's just down from Oxford.

VM: Don't apologize for me. I mean everything I say.

CB: Well, I'm glad to hear it, but do you do anything about it?

VM: Do? Why, what do you mean?

CB: If you feel something is wrong, what are you doing about it? I've spent holidays the last few years doing settlement work in the slums of London. You wallow in luxury all the year...

VM: I don't wallow... and think a few weeks playing Lady Bountiful...

CM: Come, Vin.

CB: It's not much, perhaps but it's the only thing I know. What have you been doing?

VM: I? Well....

CB: I see. Just talk. That's all right. It's easier.

VM: Listen, I didn't say--

CB: Oh, don't apologize. I know how comfortable it is to curl up with a book full of big words... and think you're going to solve the problems of the universe. But you're not. A bit of action is required now and then.

VM: Action? If that's what you and your class are asking for - maybe you'll get it one of these days.

CB: Maybe. But not from the talkers.

MM: Vin. Remember, Miss Beldon is a guest. If you have any manners at all...

VM: Manners? A humble working man is denied the reward of his artistry to gratify the vanity of an aristocrat--

MM: Quiet. This isn't your concern.

VB: I beg to differ. I'm concerned for a fellow man's dignity. And the indignity that's heaped upon him.

MM: You'll excuse me, I'm sure, Miss Beldon.

CB: Certainly.

TV Deal: Local Fans Put Back Together

Columbus Crew SC announced improvements to their TV deal last week. The big takeaway? Fans in the 75-mile radius around the team will be able to watch the team without a subscription to Time Warner Cable (TWC).

The change makes right a very clear wrong done to fans. Two years ago outgoing GM Mark McCullers put the exclusive rights deal with TWC. It was one of these things that broke out of local coverage and went national in how it locked out fans.

Making matters worse - instead of working with fans upset and not able to watch their favorite team, Crew officials went on the attack. Fans (along with writers, bloggers) were told that the deal was great and to stop being critical.

Ultimately, contract architect McCullers was shuffled out months ahead of time and the team and fans took their medicine for two years. Until this past week.

For fans, the deal was evil - no doubt. But was is all the way awful for the Crew? Was what happened any different than other markets? McCullers wasn't trying to be a jerk to fans, he was just doing what sports teams do to become the all powerful entities they are today.

The NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL didn't become what they are by being "fan friendly." They do it by trying to convert you into their own personal ATM machine. Have you stepped back and took a critical look at things recently? In fact, The deal the Crew made with TWC was not all that different from what the LA Lakers, one of the largest sports franchises in the world, have with the cable giant.

We'll see how things work out for the team this year. Will a measurable percentage of fans stay home to watch the games instead of fill the stadium like late season last year? After all, that is one of the reasonings behind a blackout deal. Will fans bother to watch on TV or will the numbers be about the same? Remember; Non-nationally televised MLS is strange in that more fans are at the game than watch on TV.

Looking back, the biggest mistake the Crew made wasn't the actual deal. It was the way the reacted to fan complaints. Fans don't like to be told how to feel, especially in an aggressive fashion.

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(I hope they refrain from herding fans towards what to do / how to feel in an icky passive fashion as well.)

This is how we imagine #CrewSC Season Ticket Members reacting to getting their cards in the mail this week... pic.twitter.com/LnvAWVbJ9U

— Columbus Crew SC (@ColumbusCrewSC) February 17, 2016

Eighth Annual Helltown Beer Game of the Year

Later than normal with this post this year as a new job has sapped much of my energy (mentally and physically). I'm setting in, finally, now. Time to get this post off the ground.

The Helltown Beer Game of the Year is how I mark time here on this site.

We'll start with the job change. In-between jobs I took a sabbatical. Not a miniature month long fake one. I real, saved up my pennies, 4.5 month-long event. Darn near mid-career retirement. It'll take me a while to completely digest this time but I did end up writing a bit about it towards the beginning by way of a video game called "Lifeless Planet." Go check it out. I might not be giving it my "game of the year" award, but it does get my perfect game, perfect time award (were I to have one).

2015 can only go to one game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD Projekt Red got it all right with this game all the way down to the physical copy containing a thank you card, poster, giant map and game manual.



The game is so far out in front of any other form of entertainment, it's almost too overwhelming to take it all in. Difficult to do, but I was floored by the visuals when I fired it up. From there you get wrapped up one of the early storylines called "The Bloody Baron" that mentally wisps you off to another land, place and time.

Nothing in this game is filler and checks off all my boxes. Engaging and coherent story has become one of the top check boxes for me. Maybe it's number 2, though. Right behind the "Does this game have a soul, does it have a feel, can I live in it."

Some games can be great fun but lack a soul. FIFA and the 2K NBA series come to mind, but sports games are an easy target. Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a perfect example. While last year I couldn't even finish "Unity," I did finish Syndicate. It wasn't without questioning what the heck I was doing.

The breezy gameplay and non-glitchy city of London helped. Everything just seemed slightly... off. It didn't feel like London or even England. And certainly not 1868.

It's interesting that I write this today as I just got finished watching the 1939 film "Goodbye, Mr. Chips." The movie is about the life and career of fictional boarding school teacher Charles Edward Chipping. It's a beautiful film that, at the start, takes place at the same time as "Syndicate," and shows me more about time and place in a single frame than the whole of this AC game. Such a missed opportunity.

Last two games worth mentioning, in regards to what I played this past year, are Fallout 4 and Until Dawn. I lost a lot of fun nights in the former until, ultimately, I permanently lost interest in the game. I'll likely go back to it, but I sort of just drifted away from it.

Until Dawn is a different beast. Glued me to my couch. It consumed me for a few short nights. I wrote a bunch about it over here. I love the game. Absolutely love it.

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Helltown Game of the Year Winners:

2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2014: This War of Mine
2013: Last of Us
2012: Sleeping Dogs
2011: Skyrim
2010: Red Dead Redemption / Heavy Rain
2009: Uncharted 2
2008: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

CCL Update

MLS vs Liga MX was the headline for this week's CONCACAF Champions League matches (well, "USA vs Mexico" in tone deaf MLS land) and, predictably, it hasn't gone well for MLS sides. It never has, really. In the latest version of this tournament MLS teams have only managed to beat Liga MX teams 2 times out of, now, 17 in this most recent form of the tournament.

Game 18 is up later tonight, where an old school NASL version 1.0 type LA Aztecs Galazy is taking on Santos, tonight, past my bedtime.

So far only Clint Dempsey has managed to keep MLS from completely bottoming out of this week's heavily promoted (on the MLS side) of CCL games. Some might say Dempsey has done the same for the US Men's team in the last couple World Cups.

DC lost to Queretaro 2-0 away. Seattle pulled out a draw against Club America 2-2 at home and just tonight, RSL lost away to Tigres 2-0.

[UPDATE: LA / Santos 0:0]

How Sausage is Made

Rob Oller's piece on the new Jesse Owens movie in the Columbus Dispatch today told me more about him than his subject. In it, he dances back and forth between the reality of who Owens was a man and Owens the myth. While he understands the difference, Oller ultimately appears let down to know that his childhood hero was a mortal man with flaws and scars, just like the rest of us.

"I respect the pursuit of accuracy. But the child in me believes in some benefit of not knowing how the sausage is made." - Rob Oller, "Owens' flaws don't diminish the man"

I'll have to see the movie to fully understand what he means by that, but I get what he's saying and it tells me a lot about the writer. Not wanting to know the details or inner workings of things, even a moment of turning a blind eye, is the how and why we get into big issues that we cannot untangle.

I'm not a writer. I am a person who enjoys the process. The parts of my brain that fire up and start making connections when I come across something inspiring... is a drug. The creative process is similar to painting, for me. Once it hits you, you know it and you begin working what it is on your mind and in your heart. Maybe all your organs. Maybe something cosmic enters in there, too.

From that point on, YOU become a sort of life sponge. By the time you are reaching for your pallet knife, grabbing the brushes and finding something to paint on you are taking in that / this particular moment in time. Once you start painting, all points between your head, heart, and your hand become a filter. Sometimes you'll know the result, sometimes not. That is what makes it beautiful.

Sports columnists all over the country go through this process multiple times a week. Opportunists, they watch the athletic world around them and strike at an angle they seem interesting, will sell papers and (most importantly) are low risk. There are some that view sports from the outside looking in and others that merely work within comfort zone bubbles.

It is easy to determine which is which in regards to the Columbus Dispatch. And that is fine. There are many, many that have the same voices, it's only the team color schemes and scale that change.

Maybe that should change, though. Maybe the idea of a Sports section in the newspaper should be limited to facts, figures and a few nice photos while everything else surrounding the game should be left to writers in the other sections of the paper.

The voices we are left with writing in the "sports" section these days are completely ill-equipped to handle the upper levels of sports, college to pro, local to global. Think about the complexity of what a Buckeye football game brings to the Columbus area. From pay for players to new buildings on campus to the Blue Jackets and their arena deal, to MLS single entity, to professional contracts of players, to the USSF and FIFA, to the lawyers, business professionals and all the kings men that make it all go.

A team valued at $1.5 billion by Forbes with $313 million in 2014 revenue can't afford $15 million to build a practice facility?

— Flick (@mikeflick) February 19, 2016

If they were looked at honestly, warts and all, these items show up in just about every other section of the paper other than the sports page. Keeping them within the boundaries of the "sports section" of a paper or online news outlet allows it to exist in a sort of fantasy playland and enable the business side to take advantage of people and communities instead of being part.

It's time we took a good long look at how the sausage is made and shuffle along the folks that see any benefit to looking the other way.

Columbus Broke The MLS Cup (he said hauntingly)

Of all the things that bounce around my head daily in regards to MLS, the fact that Columbus Crew SC finished the MLS Cup Playoffs with a losing record haunts this site. HAUNTS. I mean, Columbus ended up hosting the damn thing. I've danced around this topic indirectly over the past couple months, but tonight want to get straight to the heart of this thing.

He's lurking around this space somewhere. I gotta hunt this ghost down.

The MLS Cup Playoff is an ever changing beast. Each year brings changes. Remember a few years ago when East and West teams ended up playing in each other's bracket? Seems like an easy thing to avoid, but nay! Same with putting a control or two in that prevents a team in the final from making it with a 2 win and 2 loss Cup record.

MLS is always trying to squeeze as much out of their small league as they can. This past year gave us more weekend games and home / away series. From a business perspective, it sorta worked. If you think back to the 2014 version you'll remember quarter to half full stadiums for midweek matches and effectively zero folks watching on TV.

By avoiding the weeknight matches in 2015, the league remedied the attendance problem but the TV thing is still a thorn. Games on Sunday during "sports season" in the USA doesn't help, of course, but if they are running a summer schedule, that's going to be an ongoing issue.

That's just it. There are so many ongoing issues with MLS trying to nail down a playoff format. From the league being in continuous growth mode to the reality that they are only a small part of a larger game, not just in the world, but in their own region.

I'm right under the MLS logo. Thrilled.

The unique position of MLS is in opens doors that other major leagues in the US only dream of. It should be a crime they don't take action (though, from the look of things in the latest MLS CBA there appears to be a new thing with LigaMX in the works).

I've talked about this before. MLS / USSF needs to begin the process of linking up leagues. A system of promotion and relegation in North America is ideal, of course, but league leaders and voices make it seem like a plan cooked up in outer space that's possibly controlled by some foreign Euro-trash power under command of the Chinese government (not even half joking there).

Anyhow.

Simple solution to this, and their, problem is to put together a post-season cup that includes the top teams in MLS, NASL and USL. Make it group stage home/away. Tournament lasts a month. Winner gets that CONCACAF Champions League birth. We can do this now USSF.

Know how great it would be so see Columbus playing in St. Louis, Charleston, Raleigh, or Sacramento? It's refreshing to think about while the thought of another MLS Cup with MLS teams playing each other for the fifth and sixth time in a calendar year (and next year, and the year after)... sucks.

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The ghost lurks, still.

PES 16, ACC Screen Shots

A couple years ago, EA's FIFA franchise included a player / team editor. It was awesome. I'm a sucker for that stuff. In it, I created teams that ranged from NASL sides to childhood friends. The one I had the most fun with, though, was creating a team made up of Crew folks I had met in person, or out there in the social media universe.

EA tossed that feature into the dumpster for whatever reason so now I've moved on to the other triple-A game Pro Evolution Soccer. I gave it a test drive last year and found it to be a better representation of the game (although still far from what the sport actually is, of course).

Enjoyable as it was on the Xbox One, I could tell her roots were PC based. So, I bookmarked the game in my head and promised to try it out on my PC when I finally upgraded my PSU and graphics card.

Welp, yesterday day was that day and I couldn't be happier. She handles great on the PC and it is loaded with plenty of player and team custom creation options.

This go-round I've decided to us a very real Athletic Club of Columbus as the team name. I love that this 100+ year old club exists and would like to think that in an open to all and organized soccer pyramid, they would have a team participating. Using a existing place also helps with the creative process a lot. I even find myself working out things I otherwise wouldn't. For example: the kits would be made locally and paid for by club membership fees.

Anyhow. I've got 11 players in and about to work on a few more. It's great fun and allows my to quench my thirst for kit design (in a real 3-D space, something Adidas should try out).

If you're one of the few reading this, you are probably going in the game:) - Stay tuned for more!



Here's how it looks in motion.

The Exhibitionist

Anthony Precourt and his Columbus MLS team got the attention they were seeking when they released their new "alternate" kit this week. The complex yellow, white, red and powder blue combination was quirky enough to make it's way all the way up to many nationwide media markets.

Departing from the norm is nothing new in the larger soccer kit realm, but it is new for Columbus. Like the changes to the Cleveland Browns uniforms last year, it seems the efforts successfully (and predictably) jolted "midwestern sensibilities" enough to get some traction.

There's always a short term gain when you make changes like this. Jersey's will sell. People will continue to chatter, but there is a cost. Whether it's hidden or not is up to how smart the folks pulling the trigger are. For Crew SC, it was reported they were able to hang on to the traditional "banana kit," which helps lessen the impact on long-time fans as well as allow them to save players from important-game, late season embarrassment. You want your players going out there feeling like unbeatable kings and not worried about appearances.

Does the short-term reward out earn the lasting cost of sustaining the bush league, backwater, single-A team image, plying their trade in "flyover country"? Perhaps that's the kind of question an out of town operator / investor is perfectly equipped to answer.

Just not sure team fans want to know the answer.