This Week in Blernsball

It's the offseason...what do we talk about? Thankfully for us, there was lots of stuff going on in the baseball world this week to fill a podcast!

The Red Sox brought back not innogultycent manager Alex Cora to helm the team, following a year of firing/suspension, does that spell a reversal of fortunes for the team? (Spoilers: probably not)

The Mets sale officially went through, and the new ownership cleaned house on the front office. Does this mean a new day is dawning in Flushing? A Mets fan can dream.

The Blue Jays re-upped Robbie Ray for one year at $8 million, potentially signalling to the market that they're ready to spend this offseason.

The Houston Astros are turning on each other, with their ex-GM suing them for wrongful termination.

This Week's Futurama Episodes of the Week: The Tip of the Zoidberg (Ben), The Cyber House Rules (Jacob)

This week, the World Series ended, but who cares because JACOB HAS A PUPPY NOW AND EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!!!!

We talk about the Justin Turner COVID mini-scandal, the award races, Tony LaRussa, The Mandalorian and mourn the passing of Patron Saint of the Podcast Sir Sean Connery with a review of the all-time great film The Hunt for Red October. Also, THERE'S A PUPPY APPEARANCE (watch the video version if you actually want to SEE the puppy.)

Futurama Picks of the Week: Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences (Ben), Bend Her (Jacob)

Enjoy Your Week. PUPPY!

The World Series is here! Even though we talked all about the World Series on last week's YouTube only live stream (stupid YouTube not letting us download) this time there are games to look back on and recap. 

We also take a look at how the pandemic may impact next season, will there even be a traditional season? How will Minor League Baseball function? Will we even see minor leagues in the foreseeable future?

Don't worry, there are also dumb jokes this week.

This Week's Futurama Episodes of the Week: The Inhuman Torch (Jacob), That Darn Katz! (Ben)

The 2020 disaster generator keeps rolling right along. Not only did we lose two Hall-of-Famers this week, in Whitey Ford and Joe Morgan, but San Diego Padres star Tommy Pham was also stabbed outside a strip club (don't worry he'll be ok).

We're forced to ask ourselves the question, after their celebration against the Yankees, and their facing the Astros, are we all Rays fans now? It feels weird, doesn't it?

In a new game, Dr. Sean Connelly or Actor Sean Connery, Ben is challenged to determine if the President's doctor or Indiana Jones' father said something. Harder than it sounds when you say them all with a Scottish accent!

This week's Futurama Episodes of the week: The Six Million Dollar Mon (Ben), Benderama (Jacob)

Remember to Vote!

Round one of the playoffs has come and gone, and we're still recovering from the Fall Frenzy of eight games in one crazy day. This week we look back at the first round, ahead at the rest of the playoffs and see what the offseason might hold. Will including fans for the World Series prove to be a wise move? With so much uncertainty about how next season is shaping up, this free agency season is going to be an interesting one. 

This week, Connery's Corner becomes Cage's Corner, where we look at one of Nic Cage's most 90's films; Face/Off where he faces off with John Travolta in the John Woo directed action blockbuster where an FBI agent swaps faces with a terrorist mastermind. It has it all, doves, gun-fu, overacting! If anybody tells you your movie is too crazy to work, remind them that this made over $250 million at the box office.

Remember to F***ing Vote. The US Election is 28 days away as of the time of release. Make sure you have a voting plan for how and when you will vote. Your vote counts, no matter how you cast it. Want somebody better looking than us nerds to tell you this? Good news! You can check out https://www.getyourbootytothepoll.com/ to have Atlanta area strippers remind you of the same stuff us nerds have been harping on for weeks!

This week's Futurama Episodes of the Week: The Route of All Evil (Ben), Love's Labors Lost in Space (Jacob)

Get ready for a butt-numb-athon, this one is a doozy, clocking in north of three hours! Coming to you LIVE (formerly) from Game 1 of the Blue Jays - Rays Wild Card Series. Want an audio commentary of what was a pretty uneventful game, loaded with Futurama goofs and Simpsons gags? You've definitely come to the right place!

This week in Blernsball, we're into the stretch drive. With only a week to go until the playoffs, we're breaking down how the playoff picture is shaping up, what the first round will be looking like, and who the frontrunners for the MVPs are.

After that we're completely off the rails, breaking down how awesome the new Netflix series Kobra Kai is. Seriously, if you haven't watched it, go watch it NOW!

In F***ing Vote, we're reminding listeners that elections have consequences, like who a Supreme Court Justice will be, or how the district lines will be drawn for the next elections. There's also an election coming up in British Columbia, so Canadians, get out and vote too! It's National Voter Registration Day on the day this episode releases, so visit NationalVoterRegistrationDay.com or Vote.gov to ensure you're registered to vote in the US General Election if you're an American citizen, or elections.bc.ca if you live in British Columbia.

In Connery's Corner, we talk about the time Sean Connery met Nic Cage, in "The Rock" the best Michael Bay movie ever made. "Welcome to the Rock!"

Finally, our Futurama Picks of the Week: Decision 3012 (Ben), Hell is Other Robots (Jacob)

This week, we said goodbye to two absolute legends of baseball, Tom Sever and Lou Brock. The two helped define baseball for a generation of fans in the 1960s and 70s. TWIB sends our best to their families.

We break down the playoff picture in the National League with a foodie look at the best dishes from each of the contending cities.

This week on our "Fucking Vote" segment, we remind you that your vote affects those around you, not just you. Remember to register to vote in the US elections if you are eligible at https://www.vote.gov, or find information about the New Brunswick general election at https://www.electionsnb.ca/.

In honour of Roberto Clemente Day, players all across the league will be wearing number 21 on Wednesday, September 9, to commemorate the great player and humanitarian, potentially as part of a push to see his number retired across the sport.

This Week's Futurama Episodes of the Week: Assie Come Home (Ben), Radiorama (Jacob)

We almost had a normal feeling week in baseball. The trade deadline came and went with some surprising results, including San Diego and Toronto loading up for what they hope will be lengthy playoff runs, and Ben's beloved Red Sox not completely burning it all to the ground. Of course, it can't all be good news, and in Oakland we had another COVID outbreak bringing infections to all three regions of the league. 

In a new, temporary, segment we call "Fucking Vote" we're outlining the important reasons our American listeners, regardless of political affiliation, should go and vote this November, or earlier if possible. This week's reason is that your vote makes a difference in the formation of the government. With over 1/3rd of eligible Americans not voting last General Election, too many people pass up the opportunity to have a say in what goes on nationally, and locally. Get registered and learn about your polling options at vote.gov

In the ever-popular "Connery's Corner", we explore a movie so bad, it made Sean Connery quit acting altogether. Check out the terrible League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, featuring 19th-century literary characters teaming up, Avengers-style, to fight a villainous plot that made no sense.

This Week's Futurama Episodes of the Week: The Bots and the Bees (Jacob), The Honking (Ben)

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains strong language and discussion of the issues of race and racism in society. 

This isn't a normal episode of This Week in Blernsball, but given the developments over the last several days, we felt it was necessary for the discussions we have in this episode to take place. In light of the Jacob Blake and Kenosha, WI protest shootings, the NBA, WNBA, MLB, and MLS all cancelled games on Wednesday night in an act of solidarity by the players. We talk about the meaning behind the protests by the athletes, how pro sports and societal unrest can't co-exist and why things need to change.

Sorry for the lack of goofs and jokes this episode, but things are too serious for that right now. We promise that if the world gets better, we'll resume the funnies in our next scheduled episode.

RESOURCES

Black Lives Matter's Ways To Help Page

Book Recommendation: How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Donnovan Bennett on Twitter @donnovanbennett

Jemele Hill on Twitter @jemelehill

To follow Jacob and Ben on Twitter to see more of our opinions on the topic, follow @jmsmorris and @BenjaminKBlum