In this week’s edition of the boss’s email newsletter — Kristol Clear (sign up here!) — he writes about the conundrum of being a Mets fan conflicting with the next GOP debate.
What to do?
Here’s his advice.
Well, here’s a pretty pickle. The next Republican presidential debate is this Wednesday, at 8:00 p.m. ET. And the second game of the World Series, which features the New York Mets playing some team from some place with amber waves of grain, is also at 8:00 p.m. ET. What to do?
It was an easy choice a couple of weeks ago to watch the Mets-Dodgers rather than the Democratic debate. Indeed, the game provided a good excuse to skip two hours of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. But I do have an interest in the Republican candidates; after all, I’m likely to vote for one of them a year from now, and it would be nice to be able to figure out which one could be a GOP nominee both capable of winning and of governing. And each of the candidates has something to prove at this stage. The debate will be worth watching.
And so I look forward to watching it. Thanks to the miracle of DVR technology, at 11:00 p.m. or so, after the baseball game. If I were instead to watch the debate live and DVR the baseball game, there’d be some risk I’d inadvertently hear the result of the game, which would (to some degree) spoil the pleasure of watching it. Whereas if I watch the game and DVR the debate, and then happen to hear ahead of time about certain debate moments or exchanges, it’s much less likely to dampen my enjoyment of the debate, such as it will be, or corrupt my judgment. The only downside is I won’t be able to post anything on our website until very late that night or early the next morning–but I’m sure my less Mets-interested and more conscientious colleagues will rise to the occasion.
And then, on Friday night, another hard choice! The third game of the Series coincides with an epic match-up of undefeated college football powerhouses– Dartmouth at Harvard. Of course this one may be solved by the television gods, who may (inexplicably!) choose not to show the Harvard-Dartmouth game nationally. But if they do, the DVR will get called on again. Not that I know how to work it, really–I’ll have to have younger friends over to watch the games Wednesday and Friday evenings….
It was an easy choice a couple of weeks ago to watch the Mets-Dodgers rather than the Democratic debate. Indeed, the game provided a good excuse to skip two hours of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. But I do have an interest in the Republican candidates; after all, I’m likely to vote for one of them a year from now, and it would be nice to be able to figure out which one could be a GOP nominee both capable of winning and of governing. And each of the candidates has something to prove at this stage. The debate will be worth watching.
And so I look forward to watching it. Thanks to the miracle of DVR technology, at 11:00 p.m. or so, after the baseball game. If I were instead to watch the debate live and DVR the baseball game, there’d be some risk I’d inadvertently hear the result of the game, which would (to some degree) spoil the pleasure of watching it. Whereas if I watch the game and DVR the debate, and then happen to hear ahead of time about certain debate moments or exchanges, it’s much less likely to dampen my enjoyment of the debate, such as it will be, or corrupt my judgment. The only downside is I won’t be able to post anything on our website until very late that night or early the next morning–but I’m sure my less Mets-interested and more conscientious colleagues will rise to the occasion.
And then, on Friday night, another hard choice! The third game of the Series coincides with an epic match-up of undefeated college football powerhouses– Dartmouth at Harvard. Of course this one may be solved by the television gods, who may (inexplicably!) choose not to show the Harvard-Dartmouth game nationally. But if they do, the DVR will get called on again. Not that I know how to work it, really–I’ll have to have younger friends over to watch the games Wednesday and Friday evenings….
