Your “The Skies of November Turned Gloomy” Tuesday Evening Open Thread

NFL Nuggets:

  • Ben Roethlisberger is among four Steelers added to reserve/COVID-19 list, joining already quarantined teammate Vance McDonald.
    • They all will be isolated for five days. Each will have to pass COVID-19 tests throughout the week if they want to be able to play in Sunday’s game against Cincinnati.
    • When reached for comment, Big Ben downplayed the seriousness of the situation:
      • “WOO! BIG BEN GET TO STAY HOME WITH CORONAS! I THOUGHT ME DONE DRINKING!! HARF HARF!!”
Don’t worry – he’s Christian now. God forgave this.
  • If you are getting the feeling it’s 1982 again, you aren’t far off as the NFL is looking at the 1982 playoffs as a contingency plan for the 2020 playoffs.
    • This is where the 16-team playoff comes into play, as that’s what they did during the strike-shortened 9 game season.
      • It will be based on whether all 32 teams can play a sixteen game schedule, and if they can’t & then have to rely on winning percentages to determine playoff eligibility.
        • The extra team will compensate for discrepancies in record based on games played.
    • The league believe that its contact tracing & isolation protocols should help it get through the regular season without missing any games, but that they have to be prepared in case such an eventuality needs to be confronted.

Well, it was 45 years ago today that the lake they call Gitche gumee did its thing.

For the few unfamiliar with the event or legend, the Edmund Fitzgerald was a freighter that carried iron ore from Duluth, Minnesota & Superior, Wisconsin to various steel mills along the eastern Great Lakes. The boat was launched in June 1958, and at the time was the largest ship that worked the Great Lakes. It sank on November 10, 1975 with 29 men on board, in Canadian waters due to hurricane-force winds (over 70 mph) that caused the ship to break in two. It had been trying to make it to Whitefish Bay, near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to ride out the storm because the port authorities had closed the Soo locks between Lakes Superior & Huron. While the exact specifics of how the boat sank are unknown, the stern of the ship landed upside-down on the lakebed, indicating the ship broke up before sinking.

The scientific thinking is that a freak wave caused the hull to be lifted out of the water, and the weight of the water on the deck caused the ship to bend. The scientists are divided over whether the boat was bent over the wave in a convex fashion, forcing it to split in two, or the hull was suspended in mid-air between two or three rogue waves, causing a concave space under the boat where a lack of buoyancy would have caused the ship to crack under the weight of its cargo. A third theory, which forms the basis of the USCG report, involves the weight of the ship carrying it too low in the water to avoid being overcome by the waves and water ingress, possible grounding near Caribou island which weakened the keel or hull, and the ship taking on too much water to extricate, causing the fatal split that resulted in its sinking.

In any event, when the ship began to crack, the iron ore in the hold – 26,116 long tons of taconite pellets – rushed to the bow, accelerating the damage & driving the bow straight down into the lake. The stern flipped over during sinking because air trapped in the hull kept it more buoyant as it sank. The wreck site itself is the two major pieces of the hull and a confused debris field representing the middle 200 feet of the ship.

The Edmund Fitzgerald‘s sister ship, the Arthur M. Anderson, the last ship to hear from the Edmund Fitzgerald before it sank, keeping radio contact until it went silent, is still active & working the Great Lakes today. Seriously – it worked today.

In doing my research today, I was impressed with how many academic papers cited the Gordon Lightfoot song, and that many of them used the lyrics to break up their papers into chapters. Of course, the real legacy in Canada is subsequent generations of musicians who think being a balladeer involves writing some god-awful lament every time there is a disaster, to promote “healing” or “understanding”, and that “songwriter” is enough qualification for a government grant to produce “art” that society usually doesn’t want to “buy”.


Tonight’s sports:

  • NCAA:
    • Kent State at Bowling Green – 7:30PM | ESPN2
    • Miami (Ohio) at Buffalo – 8:00PM | ESPN

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day or Veteran’s Day, depending on your side of the closed border. Here’s a brief video on the Canadian version of the topic,

and despite the current apocalypse, do take a moment of your day tomorrow at 11:00 to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

5 5 votes
Article Rating
Beerguyrob
A Canadian man-child of indeterminate age, he stays young by selling alcohol at sporting events and yelling at the patrons he serves. Their rage nourishes his soul, and their tips pay for his numerous trips to various sporting events.
Subscribe
Notify of
90 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

If this woman is so very good at public relations how come I’ve never heard of this “Texans” franchise before?

Mr. Ayo

Got some free time tonight. Time to catch up on the new season of the Simpsons!

Senor Weaselo

Boo-urns!

Don T

I knew nothing about the Edmund Fitzgerald. You rock, Rob.

Viva La Tabula Raza

That just blows my mind that someone hasn’t heard of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but I am old. Similarly though, some fifteen years ago a younger colleague of mine visited down here in South Texas, and I took him out for an afternoon of beers and music in Luckenbach, Texas. He had never heard of the song; I was gobsmacked. Everyone can’t know everything.

Last edited 4 years ago by Viva La Tabula Raza
Gumbygirl

I just read an article about Willie Nelson. He is 87 years old. That shocked the shit out of me, for some reason.

Viva La Tabula Raza

I think he finally stopped smoking weed. He outsmoked Snoop Dogg a couple years back. He lives up Hwy 281 from me; one badass mofo.

Gumbygirl

I will never stop smoking weed. I’ll be cruising around on my rascal with tunes blasting and a big fatty in my hand!

Viva La Tabula Raza

So, you are lording it over Willie is my takeaway? 😀comment image

Last edited 4 years ago by Viva La Tabula Raza
Gumbygirl

Never! Willie is the best, and I guess he smoked his fair share. And mine, and everybody’s in Texas.

Viva La Tabula Raza

He smoked enough to put a zeppelin into the air.

SonOfSpam

(The Bachelorette is on TV in my house)

New show: The Bachelor, except all his suitors are dudes. And he’s not gay. YET,.

Who’s watching? EVERYONE!

SonOfSpam

OR

He’s expecting 30 girls named Ashley.

And it’s 30 pre-op transsexuals named Ashley!

Holy shit, brb gotta pitch this to my neighbor*

*In Southern California, everyone’s neighbor is a coked-up network exec.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Man, I am *way* overdue for writing an episode of DFO Insider.

BrettFavresColonoscopy

/snorts line

Senor Weaselo

Hey, you can do that all you want in Oregon. So we’re all going to Make It Snow’s and make it snow!

BrettFavresColonoscopy

I enjoy singing along with Gordon Lightfoot’s music.

That will be all.

SonOfSpam

You better take care.

That will be all.

Gumbygirl

You’re not supposed to confess what you do in your room.

Senor Weaselo

In fairness it’s code for jackin’ it

SonOfSpam

Gordon Lightfoot or Gordon Tighthand?

You Mistook My Lust For Love

More like Gordon Righthand amirite?!?

SonOfSpam

Opening act: Hairy Chafin’

Gumbygirl

Peter, Pull, and Merry!

BrettFavresColonoscopy

Damn Yankee-ing It

SonOfSpam

Flogging Molly (the Dolphin)

Gumbygirl

The BEATles.

SonOfSpam

HARF HARF JACK GRAY OF THE GRAY STRIPEZ

Gumbygirl

You might want to see a doctor for that.

You Mistook My Lust For Love

10cc. No name changes needed.

SonOfSpam

Journey (to the bathroom where I jerk off)

Senor Weaselo

Or the Beat-Alls, except the Powerpuff Girls took that parody back in 2001 and it wasn’t pornographic in the slightest!

Gumbygirl

I don’t remember that one, and I loved the Powerpuff Girls. If I magically transformed into a cartoon character, it would be Buttercup.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Watched episode 1 of The Umbrella Academy last night, gonna rum up and watch episode 2 forthwith.

BrettFavresColonoscopy

Honestly, we really enjoyed that. Season two was….not amazing from a story / writing perspective but really freaking entertaining. Kinda how I felt about For All Mankind.

SonOfSpam

Pitch: “My Chemical Romance, but a show.”

(Not an insult, may watch someday)

Game Time Decision

Just saw that Crave in Canada now has all the Bond movies

Woooooooooooooo

ballsofsteelandfury

NICE!

Senor Weaselo

Breaking news: Zombie Apocalypse ended by me.

I finished the bottle.

Gumbygirl

Way to take one for the team!

Senor Weaselo

Gotta say, it was one of my favorite sauces.

BrettFavresColonoscopy

/puts down machete

scotchnaut

Tommy Heinsohn, a sorta good player that happened to play for the Celtics in their heyday, and a ridiculous homer during his announcing career is catching bounce passes from Bob Cousy on a farm in upstate Massachusetts now.

ballsofsteelandfury

Funny, I didn’t know hell was a farm in upstate Massachussetts.

-Lakers fans in the 80s

SonOfSpam

He’s fucking Johnny Most’s throat-hole in hell.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

As a kid growing up in New England during the 80’s, Tommy’s homerism was apparent even to me.

Unsurprised

Of course. Someone created a porn star version of those fathead wall decals.

scotchnaut

Kudos to you for going down that hellhole.

Unsurprised

Just call me Indiana Bones

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

“Ha ha ha ha YOU belong in a museum, Dr. Bones!”

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

“Grumble grumble more like I belong in your mom grumble grumble.”

litre_cola

So do you display those prominently in the rumpus room?

Game Time Decision

Do they contain more or less plastic than the original?

Game Time Decision

Trying to figure out which band or artist BGR is shading

Last edited 4 years ago by Game Time Decision
SonOfSpam

(decides not to post link to 26 minute “Vegas Concert Bloodbath Suite”)

You Mistook My Lust For Love

The Tragically Hip is one group that comes to mind (e.g., Fifty Mission Cap), but there are numerous other perpetrators.

Unsurprised

It only took seven months and five near misses but I’m going to be working from home.

Viva La Tabula Raza

Excellent, congrats…

TheRevanchist

Make sure you wear clothes on your zoom calls.

Game Time Decision

*shirt
** pants optional

TheRevanchist

Aim the camera up, but remember to trim the nose hair.

Unsurprised

I would never work for someone that required pants.

Unsurprised

We don’t use video at work. It’s a good thing™

rockingdog

sports r cool:

there are now 5 universities/colleges that have graduated both an NFL SuperBowl winning QB and a president.
-Miami of Ohio
-Michigan
-Naval Academy
-University of Delaware
-Stanford

King Hippo

Is Joe Biden a ELITE President-Elect??

SonOfSpam

I mean…does Gerald Ford really count?

Gratliff

Ted Lasso is a way better series than I expected it to be

Dunstan

Anyone watching/watched The Queen’s Gambit?

Sharkbait

It has no business being as good as it is. I binged it in a weekend and am excited there are already orders for 2 more seasons.

Gratliff

It’s almost worth if for the $200 or so charge that’s gonna catch me off guard whenever my free year runs out. There is a lot of shit that I can’t tell from syfy’s library in there. Anything else on here worth checking out?

Sharkbait

Not sure. I…uhh…watched it other ways.

BrettFavresColonoscopy

It’s perfect for this era. Genuinely nice.

herodotus450

The ship was about 730 feet long, and the wreck is only about 500 feet below the surface of the water.

scotchnaut

Funny how a Red Wings fan knows so much about wrecks…

/POW! ZINGO! PUNCH!

scotchnaut

“Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.”

-Moose, apparently

ArmedandHammered

If I may ask, what happened, did some sort of beef occur with someone?

ballsofsteelandfury

That’s a long story. I addressed it on the Sexy Friday Open thread.

ballsofsteelandfury

Make that the Saturday Night Open Thread!

Gratliff

Basically, someone suggested samoas are better than thin mints and everything got out of hand

TheRevanchist

All the cookies are better than thin mints. What’s to argue?

scotchnaut

SEATTLE DEEP DISH PIZZA IS JUST A CASSEROLE!*

/wipes hands clean

*Nailed It!

King Hippo

toss in some fish??

Gratliff

Look motherfucker, I’ve had enough of people being wrong on the internet around here

TheRevanchist

You are absolutely right…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

… about what I did to your mother, Trebek

BrettFavresColonoscopy

This guy gets it.