October 2021 – Ryan Benbow's Blog

22 Ways to Fix Baseball

October 31, 2021November 2, 2021
by Ryan

Some people know me as a bit of a baseball fan. Really, I’m a fan of whichever sport happens to be in season between baseball, basketball, and football. But yes, baseball is one of the sports I follow closely. For evidence of this, you can read about my baseball vacation from this summer, in which I traveled the Midwest attending seven Major League Baseball games in six different ballparks in one week. This past week, I have watched the World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Houston ~~Cheaters~~…Astros, which just ended with the Braves winning, 4 games to 2. Congratulations to the Atlanta Braves!

As much as I like baseball, there are some things about the sport that I would like to see changed to make it even better. Fortunately, I have just been appointed the new Supreme Emperor of Major League Baseball. This allows me the ability to change anything I want about baseball without needing permission from the owners, players, or TV networks. As such, I would like to announce several changes to the sport, starting next year.*

*I may not have actually been appointed Supreme Emperor of Major League Baseball, and may not currently have the authority to implement these changes. Let’s just pretend that I do, though.

Before I announce these changes, I want to put in a plug for Taco Bell’s “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion and let you know that you can get a free taco on November 4. Every year when this promotion has been in place, if a stolen base occurs during the World Series, everyone in America can get a free taco at participating Taco Bell locations on a particular date. I even wrote about my experiences with this promotion last year as well. This year, the Braves’ Ozzie Albies became the 2021 Taco Hero by stealing a base in Game 1, so feel free to get yourself a free taco from a participating Taco Bell location on November 4.

TV Shows

I Finally Finished The Office

October 24, 2021
by Ryan

Many of you who know me already know that I am a big fan of the TV show The Office, which aired on NBC for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013. In fact, two of my previous posts on this blog are about that very show, including my painstakingly detailed recaps of The Office Basketball Game from Season 1 and The Office Olympics from Season 2. However, as much as I enjoyed the show, I completely stopped watching it altogether after Season 7. Once Steve Carell, the lead actor who played regional manager Michael Scott, left in 2011 to focus on his film career, I said that they should wrap it up right then and there, and there was no way I could keep watching it without Michael. The Office would continue for two more seasons without my viewership, finally ending in 2013 after Season 9. Over the years, although I remained a fan of the show’s first seven seasons, I completely boycotted watching Seasons 8 and 9. Other people who shared my fandom of The Office would make a reference to a particular quote or episode from the last two seasons, and I would look at them blankly and say, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is that from the last two seasons?” And they would say, “Oh that’s right, you’ve never watched the end of The Office! You need to finish watching that show!” But as I can be stubborn about certain things, I never did. That is, until just recently.

Jeopardy

Jeopardy Volume 3

October 16, 2021
by Ryan

For those of you who have been reading my blog since last year, you may recall that I have two previous posts about Jeopardy Math, which combine two of my areas of interest – math and the TV game show Jeopardy. Last year, my original post on this topic explored the question of the highest possible score in a game of Jeopardy, and I followed that up with another post in May which explored some mathematical scenarios regarding proper wagering on the show. You can go back and find those previous posts here and here.

Today, for those of you who follow the show, I have some more thoughts to share on Jeopardy. However, this won’t be a math-related post. Rather, I’d like to focus into another subject we learn in school – grammar. (If you’ve watched the show with any regularity over the last several weeks, you probably already know exactly where I’m going with this.) While I’m at it, I would actually like to explore two separate questions here. First, what should constitute an acceptable response on Jeopardy? And second, who should be the permanent host of Jeopardy?

Month: <span>October 2021</span>

22 Ways to Fix Baseball

I Finally Finished The Office

Jeopardy Volume 3