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Gonzo: Mailbag: Snowballs, Cliff Lee

While wishing you happy holidays, it's time to empty the mailbag. I was watching the Jets/Falcons game. After the Falcons scored to go ahead 10-7, two snowballs landed in the end zone, about 10 feet from Tony Gonzalez. No one seemed to care or mention it. Philly fans are monsters and wish to do harm to the world. New York fans?  Salt of the Earth.

A  fan gets hit by a snowball during the Eagles-49ers game on Sunday. (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)
A fan gets hit by a snowball during the Eagles-49ers game on Sunday. (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)Read more

While wishing you happy holidays, it's time to empty the mailbag.

I was watching the Jets/Falcons game. After the Falcons scored to go ahead 10-7, two snowballs landed in the end zone, about 10 feet from Tony Gonzalez. No one seemed to care or mention it. Philly fans are monsters and wish to do harm to the world. New York fans?  Salt of the Earth.

Shooting a flare, big deal.  A few snowballs, not a big deal. 

Kevin,

Flares, batteries, punches - these are things that shouldn't be fired or thrown at a game. Snowballs? Hardly in the same category. People need to take a deep breath and untwist their knickers.

What did the high and mighty crowd expect to happen? I was out on Saturday night with some friends, and the first thing we did was toss snowballs at each other. The only thing I regret is that Bob Ford wasn't around. He would have made a fine target.

How big of an idiot are you? "The snowball problem: Lighten up" was the single handely [sic] stupidest thing I've ever seen from a journalist. The article states that not only do you think it's okay to do that but encourages it. 

Sean,

For the record, I didn't encourage it. I said it wasn't the crime of the century or even all that surprising.

How big an idiot am I? Pretty big. But I know that single "handely" isn't the term you want to use there. Even if it was, it isn't spelled that way. So, you know, pot and kettle, brother.

Some big swipes you took at [Andy] Reid and [Jeffrey] Lurie. From my perspective, they've accomplished a lot more in their respective professions than you have at yours. Just what have you accomplished?

Daniel,

As I've written repeatedly, Reid and Lurie deserve credit for making the franchise a perennial playoff contender. They've won a lot of games together - and good for them. It certainly beats following the Chiefs or Lions or Raiders. It's the "best organization in football" and "gold standard" business that gives me pause. I don't understand how they can say that without having won a title. It's a professional, not personal, criticism, and I don't think it's that wildly out of line.

Re: What I've accomplished. Very little. I won the Bad Hemingway contest in high school (students crafted crazy stories in Papa's style), which was pretty sweet. And I came in third (out of three) in a congressional race once.

I do regularly whip my grandmother at Scrabble, though. Since it's a word game, I feel like I can claim those victories as career achievements.

Was texting with friends about the [Roy] Halladay trade. We are all spoiled and we wanted [Cliff] Lee AND Halladay. So the idea was floated to start a website where Phillies fans could donate $10 to the "Get Halladay, Keep Lee Foundation." We thought we could get a million fans to donate $10 and push our payroll to $150 million.   

Justin,

I understand why Ruben Amaro Jr. traded Lee. He said he didn't want to leave the farm system without some top-quality prospects. I get it, but I would have gone another way. I'd happily trade tomorrow for a championship today. Keeping Lee, even if it meant crippling the minor-league operation, would have helped the Phils' quest for another title.

Anyway, if you're still up for passing the hat around, send word or just ship the money this way. Page 2 could use a new pair of shoes.

Saw your article on collecting bits of Spectrum History. I took a picture - lousy lighting and all - just before the lights went down for the start of the second Grateful Dead set on 5/2/09. It was a picture of the Dead banner hanging in the Spectrum rafters. About three songs before the end of the show, I looked up to see the banner was gone.

Now we know what really happened to the famed tapestry after all.

Chip,

Allegedly. We allegedly know what happened. That's one of those important newspaper terms that the lawyers like us to use so the Grateful Dead won't sue the company. (Get in line if you're considering it, gentlemen.)

But, yeah, Spectrum officials think the band cut down the banner and made off with it - probably under the cover of darkness (and maybe some interesting-smelling smoke).

Your [NFL] picks suck. Your fantasy player picks suck. Each week I go the opposite.

Do you know or are you just guessing?

Paul,

I've tried for years to accurately forecast the future. Tarot cards. Ouija boards. Crystal balls. None of it works. And you don't even want to know how many fortune cookies I've eaten. (Hint: At night I curl up next to an insulin needle.) My apologies for failing so miserably on that front - though, in the interest of fairness, it should be noted that I'm above .500 on the Sunday Sixer.

Please remember that this is all for entertainment purposes. Even Nostradamus got it wrong now and then. Which reminds me: I'm taking the over on his 2012 prediction.