Friday BP: Five things you can do to avoid the lockout blues

Good morning, baseball fans!

If you’re anything like me, you’re getting really sick of this whole unnecessary lockout business. It’s really killed the offseason vibes, and right before the holidays, no less!

And it’s got me scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of content, which I’m sure you can tell! It’s not news to me! Anyway, today, let’s talk about five things you can do to try to fill the baseball shaped hole in your life until this thing ends.

5. Take up a new hobby

The start of the pandemic was a really cruddy time, full of fear and uncertainty. However, it wasn’t all bad! A lot of people took up new hobbies. Some people got really into gardening and home improvement, some learned how to make bread, others created villages that they have long since abandoned on Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You could do those things too! And while we’re at it, go check in with your Animal Crossing villagers. They miss you.

4. Finish that Christmas shopping

Listen, unless you’re an absolute madman, going to a physical store right now is to be avoided at all costs. But the delivery services can only work so much magic. They aren’t actually Santa’s elves, you know. So if you celebrate Christmas, don’t leave that online shopping for much longer or you’re going to make poor Joseph from UPS cry on Christmas Eve. You don’t want to make Joseph cry, do you?

3. Test your Giants trivia knowledge

Do you remember everyone who played for the San Francisco Giants in 2021? What about 2019? If you say yes, you’re a dirty liar. I covered that team and the roster churn made me nauseous on many a morning run of the beat writers. But you could prove me wrong by heading over to this list of Giants related quizzes by Sporcle.

2. Wrap those presents, you heathen

Sure, you finished all of your shopping. But I bet you’ve got a pile of gifts just sitting in your closet or guest bathroom, waiting until the last minute to wrap them in an eggnog fueled panic. Get ahead of the game. You’ve got the time.

1. Fall down a Giants-related YouTube rabbit hole

You start by pulling up highlights of Bruce Bochy’s retirement ceremony, transition to Barry Bonds dingers, and the next thing you know it’s seven hours later, and you’re mainlining caffeine and Tim Lincecum batting highlights, cursing the rising sun like some kind of troll under a bridge. It’s the best.

Old, random MCC article for you to read

What to enjoy in a game when the Giants are exceptionally bad (July 25th, 2017 - Doug Bruzzone)

How many days has it been since the owners chose to lockout the players?

It has now been 16 days since the owners chose to start this Mays-forsaken lockout. And they could end it at any time.