When will the Macon Bacon baseball team change its name?
When pigs fly, according to the central Georgia team’s response to a group of plant-based activists urging them to stop promoting a meat that studies have shown has health risks.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which describes itself as an animal liberation research and advocacy organization, wrote a letter to the Macon Bacon’s president, Brandon Raphael, earlier in June.
It suggested the team update its name to include mention of a plant-based alternative – like “Facon Bacon or Mushroom Bacon” – to help their fans stay healthy, according to the letter.
The Washington, D.C.- based group of doctors cited research from the World Health Organization that showed eating processed meat like bacon raises the risk of colorectal cancer.
“They had a contest to pick a name, and they could have called it Macon Noise or Macon Hits and other kinds of fun things,” the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s president, Neal Barnard, told CNN.
“They came up with Macon Bacon, and they serve enough bacon to sink a ship at their stadium,” Barnard said.
The Macon Bacon’s mascot is a 7-foot slice of bacon named Kevin.
Courtesy Macon Bacon
The committee’s letter, dated June 1, suggested that the mascot should “reveal that he is actually plant-based bacon.”
The statement also requested the team update its concessions menu to include healthier options in place of its current selection, which features bacon-focused items like 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Steak-Cut Bacon and Bacon-Loaded Cheese Fries.
The team was “very surprised” to receive the letter but didn’t plan to respond until the committee ramped up their efforts to attract the Macon Bacon’s attention last week, according to Raphael.
“The group put up a pretty creative billboard in our city (that) had a skull and crossbones and said, ‘Macon residents – keep bacon off your plate,’” Raphael told CNN.
Raphael issued a statement on Wednesday responding to the committee and said the team was “disappointed in the disapproval” of its branding.
“The Macon Bacon do not view ourselves as a glorification of an unhealthy lifestyle; rather, we pride ourselves on being a fun-natured organization focused on bringing families and communities together (in) Middle Georgia and beyond,” Raphael’s letter stated.
The response also noted the team’s concession menu does include a plant-based option.
“With that, the Macon Bacon will be sizzling forever and will not consider a name change. Ever,” Raphael’s letter concluded.
Raphael told CNN that while the team’s intention wasn’t to take a stance, “we just don’t want to change our name, we’ve worked so hard to get where we are.”
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has targeted other sports teams, like the Milwaukee Milkmen, encouraging them to opt for branding that promotes healthier food choices.
The baseball team is located in the Dairy State of Wisconsin.
“We have been pushing them because there are very clear links between milk drinking and both prostate cancer and breast cancer,” Barnard said.
Not discouraged by the Macon Bacon’s response, Barnard said their reply of “no” is better than silence.
“What it means is they’re engaged, they’ve heard the message,” Barnard said.
In the latter half, journalist Linda Godfrey, an authority on anomalous animals and paranormal phenomena in Wisconsin,
discussed her new work on urban legends and ancient lore. Modern-day eyewitnesses describe creatures not known to exist in our time but which show up in ancient cultures such as in the Egyptian pantheon, where there was a dog-headed upright creature named Anubis that correlates with recent sightings of ‘Dogman.’ Godfrey has concluded that the strange sightings of anomalous creatures are not mass hallucinations– “it’s something that is happening to people in all walks of life,” she said, and “usually unexpectedly.”
Indigenous people have characterized the strange creatures as spirit beings that take physical form to procreate and demonstrate different qualities. While they can leave tracks and claw marks, Godfrey pointed out that when people have fired upon them or hit them with their vehicles, the creatures seem amazingly resilient, picking themselves up and dashing off into the woods. She delved into beings such as Slender Man, who first took off as a fictional meme on the Internet, leading to a case where two Wisconsin girls stabbed a schoolmate as a way to please Slender Man. The idea of a tall, stick figure actually dates back to the Native American lore of “Deer People,” she cited. Godfrey also talked about persistent sightings in central Wisconsin of panthers– animals that wildlife officials claim cannot be there. (https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2019/07/15)
Dedicated to Georgia Chess Association President Scott Parker
Although I liked the DGT board used by the USCF in the recent US Open festival of sorts, there were myriad problems. Some rounds had only three of the six boards displayed, with nary a move having been played in the others. There were times when a result was given as the moves continued. Because of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the last round I will say nothing concerning the last round. I will, though, say I found it very strange USCF posted nothing on the US Open for days, and when something was published it concerned “…our new National Girls Tournament of Champions winner.” Since I am putting this together Thursday afternoon I simply cannot recall the order in which the articles that followed appeared. After surfing on over to the website I noticed the order may be different because of some new articles. What I recall is a very short report on who won the tournament, followed by yet another article on girls, then an article written by GM Michael Rhode, which I intended to read but time did not permit, and it was taken down and is not currently on the main USCF webpage. Nothing can be found as to how to find it on the website. The fact that the USCF chose to publish articles on girls Chess before publishing anything on who actually won the event speaks loudly to what has happened to the USCF now that women are in charge. If girls Chess is the future of Chess, then Chess is dead, because the vast majority of girls stop playing the game around puberty, and there has been absolutely no evidence this will change in the future.
I liked the DGT board because it has no digital clanking monster analysis displayed. I do not like the fact that one cannot download the game(s). I obtained the moves of the game below the old fashioned way, writing them on a piece of paper. I have no idea if the moves given are correct, and there is no way of knowing from the information at hand. Such is Chess with the USCF…
A new article appeared today, Thursday, on the USCF webpage this morning four days after the conclusion of the event, by Al Lawrence. It is written, “The sudden death of one of the participants required the complete evacuation of the tournament hall for a 3 ½ -hour delay of all games in the ninth and final round. Read the US Chess statement posted that night here. Everyone showed respect for this necessity, as one of our own had ended life at the board. Liang-Gareyev was on Move 15 at the time all clocks stopped.” (https://new.uschess.org/news/eyes-wide-open-gareyev-wins-2018-u-s-open/)
One must wonder why the above could not have been published on the USCF website many days earlier. For example, I was elated upon learning the last round would begin at three pm in lieu of seven pm, which meant I could watch the whole round. Seven pm in Madison, Wisconsin is eight pm in Georgia, and I hit the rack before midnight. That afternoon I watched the opening part of the games before taking a nap, and shower, then having dinner. Upon springing Toby, the ‘puter, back to life to watch the action, the DGT board was, shall we say, a mess. I had no clue as to why, other than the problems finally overwhelmed the technology used by the USCF.
I have received emails concerning the unfortunate death at the board during the last round of the USO. My reply has been, “I am as in the dark as are you.” I am still in the dark, and flummoxed as to what occurred at the US Open. I have intentionally not written anything on this blog because I do not need to feed fuel to the rumors fire burning brightly on the internet. Maybe we will learn why the USCF stayed quiet about the situation so long; then again, maybe not…As of this writing there is still nothing written about the death during the last round…
I cannot say the following game was the best game played at the US Open, but it the best fighting game I saw on the DGT display. I ran the opening through the ChessBaseDataBase, and 365Chess. What was found follows. The only comment I will make concerning the rest of the game is that I cringed when Mr. Dean played his forty third move. It looks as though black had an advantage, albeit a small one, but nevertheless, an advantage. GMs wait for their opponent to play a weakening move such as the ill-fated weakening of his structure when playing 43…g5. That said, FM Jim Dean certainly made his GM opponent sweat bullets!
GM Jimenez Corrales 2635 vs FM Jim Dean 2249
2018 US Open rd 7
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 (SF at a depth of 49 considers this the best move while Komodo at a depth of 37 would play the the move played ten times more frequently than the game move, the usual, and standard 3…Bf5. I preferred the game move)
4 dxc5 (Komodo prefers 4 Nf3) 4…e6 (I vaguely recall an article in one of the New In Chess Yearbooks in which the author advocated playing 4…Nc6, which is the most played move. I also recall a GM writing he did not like this move because of the reply 5 Be3. The only one of the Big Three shown at the CBDB is Stockfish, and it plays the game move)
5 a3 (SF at a depth of 38 plays 5 Nf3, but changes it’s…what exactly does Stockfish change? If it were human I could write “mind,” but it’s a machine, so let us just say SF changes it changes it’s “crunching” and leave it at that for the time being because at depth 39 it would play 5 Bd3)
5…Nc6 (In another case of “let it run a little longer” SF would play 5…a6 at depth 41, but at the next level it would play the seldom played 5…Qc7. 5…Bxc5 is the most often played move with the game move a close second. Thirteen games have been played using 5…Qc7)
6 Nf3 Bxc5 7 b4 Bb6 8 Bd3 (Houdini plays 8 Bb2) 8…Nge7 (SF’s move, but Komodo prefers 8…a5)
9 O-O (SF plays 0 Bb3) 9…Ng6 10 Re1 (SF and Komodo play 10 Bb2) 10…0-0 (SF plays 10…a5, while Houdini plays 10…f6)
11 Bb2 f6 12 exf6 gxf6 13 Bxg6 (SF would play 13 c4. The game move is not shown at the CBDB, or 365Chess, so this move is a TN and the game has been taken into the street)
Armchair Warrior 