My new Popular Woodworking Magazine came today. . .

[Tony Shea]

Edwin, Edwin, Edwin,

You have touched my nerve. I will never endorse an American League team. They play with ten men. That ain't baseball. Still, you have hit my soft spot, so I will offer the following: My son, now 36 has a genuine Mickey Mantle autograph from roughly 1991. My son and he shared thesame barber in Atlanta. The Mick used to fly to Atlanta every month to get his hair cut, when he did not live there. No joke. My current neighbor (the guy down the road is considered a neighbor here in the Shenandoah Valley) played minor league ball with Mickey and he tells me stories from time to time. My neighbor has the same wife he had back then. He lives in a small house nearby and keeps it gorgeous. He is deep into his 80s now.

I learned to love Mantle, but I loved Maris more. He struggled with his fame, and yes, it is true that his hair fell out in huge quantities. But accept the Yankees? Never ! FWIW, although they have big bats, their pitching this year is dreadful. No championship for the Yanks this year. :>)

But you can take revenge from this: The NY Mets, NY Titans, and the NJ Americans formed shortly after I moved to NJ as a ten year old kid. Obviously, I was going to pick up all new teams. There was no such thing as a TV fan back then. The Mets played in the Polo Grounds and for 25 cents and a Wonder Bread wrapper you could sit in the bleachers. The Titans were part of the AFL and were totally underfunded. They went belly-up. A rich guy named Sonny Werblin bought them out and renamed them the NY Jets. Kids got into Jets games for 25 cents also but it became 50 cents plus a Wonder Bread Wrapper, also at the Polo Grounds. The NJ Americans played in Teaneck, NJ Armory, and kids got in free. That is no joke. The Armory.

I went to MANY of those games facing the wrath of my parents and a significant number of beatings. I watched Elio Chicone (sp?), Choo-Choo Coleman, and now my memory fades. I watched all three teams lose games beyond count, and endured laughter of all my friends. Then suddenly, The Mets got this guy named Tom Terrific. The Nets got a guy named Julius Erving. The Jets drafted a guy named Joe Namath. After all those beatings, and Wonder Bread wrappers things were looking up. And I was eighteen ! And a high school graduate !

In 1967 I was drafted into the Army . In 1968 and 1969 I served in Vietnam. In 1968 and 1969 Julius Erving became Dr. J and the Nets won the ABA championship, Red, White, & Blue ball notwithstanding and I think also was absorbed into the ABA. The NY Jets won the 2nd Super Bowl. And the NY Mets won the World Series. All while I was in a war.

I did not forgive them then. I do not forgive them now. Mets, Jets, and Nets are all dead to me ! I will never ever root for them again.

I was born in Wisconsin so I root for the Pack. I live in Virginia, so I root for the Skins. My son went to Clemson so I root for them even though I attended Georgia Tech. But I will never ever root for the Yankees. Ten men.

And if you don't enjoy that fan story, I have nothing to offer. But I LOVE woodworking !

Preach brother! I can't even make a story up that interesting but I live in Maine therefore am a New England/Boston fan through and through. I was born in CO but lived most my life in Maine. I have been a Patriots/Red Sox/Bruins/Revolution/Portland Pirates/Maine Hockey fan for years. And lucky for us we have had an amazing run in almost all areas. So to say that I despise the Yankees, Jets, Nets, and Bills is an understatement.

[Jerry Olexa]

Ahhh..The rivalry that will never end : Boston vs NY in ALL sports!!! Makes those games even better!!! I understand..I lived in New England (briefly but loved it) and now root for Red Sox, Celtics etc although I now reside in Illinois (UGH)....Well said above by 2 loyal fans!!!!

[Jack Frederick]

Ok, as long as it has gone this way. In ‘58 when I was 9, I excitedly ran up to my father asking, “So, Dad, how are the Brooklyn Dodgers going to do this year?” This was a moment. I remember what he was wearing and the concern and uncertainty on his face. Finally he said, “well, Jack, there are no Brooklyn Dodgers any longer.” We went around and around for a while, with me sticking to the,”They can’t leave. They are the BROOKLYN DODGERS”. As time went by I moved my loyalty across town the the wonderful New York Yankees, and have been there since regardless of where I lived. When I lived in the Boston area for 25 years I would wear a Yankee hat or jacket into my customers. They would go nuts. I’d tell them, “where would you be without me? Someone to hate.” They were great Sox fans and the World Series to me is the American League East Championship. I don’t understand Mets fans. How can you root for a team whose nickname is the Mets-a-Mets-a’s. I still rejoice when the dodgers loose.

[Tom Vanzant]

Jerry, I had a strength of materials exam where the prof gave a collection of terms and values. You had to manipulate those figures and apply them to the formulas for each question. One classmate made a mathematical error in the data that carried throughout the exam, so all of his answers were wrong. He argued his case successfully enough to get a passing grade, but as the prof told him, “your building fell down.” All the details count in the real world.

[Patrick McCarthy]

And it is mere shadow of itself.
New owner, new writers, and so on.

I miss all of the old writers, but I will see if the new writers can keep me interested. If they do, I will renew, if not . . . .

I do not expect much, this explains a lot,

Lowell, as another commented, this seems to be a repeat theme for you. Might i suggest you try a subscription to something else, such as Playboy or National Geographic , and see if it keeps your attention? While I am here, I am reminded about the old guy (obviously a contemporary) describing those two magazines as taking him places he has never been and showing him sights he will never see. Try it and we will look forward to a more enthusiastic post from you next month . . . . if you can tear yourself away from reading. Just sayin'

[Jim Koepke]

I still rejoice when the dodgers loose.

As one who grew up in the SF bay area my feelings are the same.

Though having moved away 11 years ago has me not paying much attention other than to occasionally looking at the standings and box scores.

jtk

[Charles Guest]

I will let the subscriptions run out. I also enjoy bitching about it.

I agree with what I think is your central premise: how can somebody rescue a dying form by thinking less content is the answer? The answer is to put your back, heart, and soul into it and then accept the result. It's sort of like department stores that think the answer to dwindling brick and mortar sales is to carry less merchandise in-store. It defies logic and common sense. Who awaits the postman with bated breath for a magazine they know will have less content than it used to, and who will drive to a department store to shop when they know it will have less selection than it used to. Not going to happen in either case.

[Frederick Skelly]

I agree with what I think is your central premise: how can somebody rescue a dying form by thinking less content is the answer? The answer is to put your back, heart, and soul into it and then accept the result. It's sort of like department stores that think the answer to dwindling brick and mortar sales is to carry less merchandise in-store. It defies logic and common sense. Who awaits the postman with bated breath for a magazine they know will have less content than it used to, and who will drive to a department store to shop when they know it will have less selection than it used to. Not going to happen in either case.

That's an interesting line of thought. I hadn't thought about it. I will now that you mentioned it though. Thanks!
Fred

[Charles Guest]

That's an interesting line of thought. I hadn't thought about it. I will now that you mentioned it though. Thanks!
Fred

Yep. Wake me up when less sells better than more. People's first reaction is to cut costs. It apparently never occurred to the PW crew to publish a magazine that no woodworker dare do without. There's a happy medium between Ned and His First Reader and an uber artsy/uber advanced magazine, the latter which has been done before a time or two and wasn't successful -- and years before competing content was available on the internet.