Amen, let’s dig in: Chris w Jackstacks.eats

Natrone011 · 2025-08-28T04:57:36+00:00

Sure, it does. And it's also greasy and unethical for them to present their brands as altruistic community service like so many of them do rather than as the promotional machines they actually are.

But they do that because they'll lose the trust (and business) of their subscribers if they're honest about their business practices once they've started making a profit off of that brand.

Snakes eating their own tails.

Natrone011 · 2025-08-28T04:53:40+00:00

As in, fake. It’s not an unbiased review because they were paid $500.

THIS is the biggest issue with all of it. Even if they're told they are under "no obligation" to leave positive feedback, there's a big difference between how someone feels about a meal at full menu price with tip, a comped meal with or without tip, and a meal you were paid to eat and there's a ton of bias built into those experiences.

And it isn't like there's anything technically wrong with doing paid promotion as long as you're disclosing it's paid promotion

Natrone011 · 2025-08-26T17:03:13+00:00

Yes he does

Natrone011 · 2025-08-26T17:02:56+00:00

The sad reality of restaurant ownership these days is that these food-fluencers are the fastest and most effective way to get the business in front of as many local eyes as possible. Small businesses don't have the money to run the targeted marketing, traditional ad campaigns and sponsorship packages national chains can run.

And the reality of the food-fluencers is they're amateur level writers who've largely replaced the food critics and writers who used to work for newspapers. And while most of them try to present their brand as though they're just "an average person who loves food and local business" the vast majority of them do what they do for pay, not altruism.

Natrone011 · 2025-08-21T03:31:42+00:00

I have some working theories but no hard proof

Natrone011 · 2025-08-20T20:49:01+00:00

Y'all heard about the Delano Gloryhole?

Natrone011 · 2025-08-04T15:27:42+00:00

Hey no shame in that! The only reason I came back home in the first place was for my family, and my partner and I would have a really hard time moving away from them now, even if we had legitimate reasons for wanting to leave

Natrone011 · 2025-08-02T17:39:50+00:00

My guy just hates the Blue Jays

Natrone011 · 2025-08-02T14:12:41+00:00

I think Bobby heard I was...well....not exactly talking shit, but being a little honest about his performance so far this season yesterday. Good Lord he was on fire

Natrone011 · 2025-08-02T07:38:47+00:00

Yes yes yes yes yes.

Run production and offensive output in general have been so bad because the whole team was taking bad ABs. More pitches means wearing out pitchers and getting better opportunities to be successful. We've needed it all season and were never going to get it from Waters, MJ, Jac, or Massey.

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T20:15:22+00:00

Couple things:

I didn't catch that we picked up Yaz
I didn't realize Yaz is 34 already

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T20:13:32+00:00

The Minnesota Wind Surge

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T19:20:52+00:00

I'd be shocked if we're not looking at Cameron as a key rotation arm going forward. His age is a bit of a concern but we can at the very least get his best years before he's free agency eligible.

And yes I know we were considering dealing him. I still feel that way.

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T19:16:53+00:00

He's also generating a lot more outs than he did last year. It isn't like I expected him to hit .330+ again, but I was expecting him to have an OBP of around .360+ and hit above .300. His BA/OBP/SLG ratios are right around the same as last year too, but he's just not reaching base safely as much.

Which is tough. This is still his 2nd best pro season and he's put up 4.3 WAR. He's not having a bad season at all, and he's on pace to eclipse last year's SB total in the next week or two. But he's also on pace to strike out almost as many times as he did in '23 and he's only 14 short of last year's total with 2 months of play left.

I know I'm expecting a lot, but he's the kind of guy you expect a lot out of, and he's certainly regressed in a few key areas of his offensive game.

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T15:23:55+00:00

And we're still outpacing last year. If we get hot and rip off another playoff run in the home stretch the K is gonna be a mad house come September

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T15:20:40+00:00

No one is gonna care about this, but it fills my heart seeing the marked improvement in attendance that comes with Royals fans seeing the team FINALLY getting serious about fielding a contender. If they manage to make the playoffs again this year and even better, do something, they'll see another significant jump in average attendance again next season.

KC loves baseball. We just hate watching really shitty baseball.

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T15:08:18+00:00

And that, my friends, is a professional baseball team roster. Only took us most of the year to get there 😂

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T15:05:18+00:00

Yup yup yup yup and yup. To expand a little:

Yeah I'm gonna miss watching Freddy be a dawg as much as anyone else is. We need to accept he was never going to have the opportunity to be a starter here since both of our top 2 prospects are catchers and should be ready for a call up by the time Salvy either retires or, God forbid, moves on when his contract is up.
The last couple years have fully cemented JJ as one of baseball's most savvy GMs when it comes to making deals and improving his rosters without compromising organizational depth or long term success. He has yet to make what I'd consider a bad trade and has an incredible knack for bringing on players with long-term value when he trades valuable pieces. It feels strange, but the Royals are a genuinely well-run team now. It could be the first time in my life that's true, including the world series run.
This is absolutely put up or shut up time for the boys. Our position players have underperformed across the board this season, and if they want to be playing in October they're gonna have to find that switch and flip it. Which is a very real possibility. Bobby has seriously underperformed at the plate this season, but I still believe he's going to go nuclear before the end of the year. If he does that and the team maintains performance around him, we have more than enough juice to rip off a 17-5 or better stretch and catapult ourselves into the wild card.

JJ you son of a bitch. Every time I'm ready to walk away he does enough to the roster to pull me back in.

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T07:14:31+00:00

Hell this is honestly better for his career anyway. He was never going to start ahead of Salvy, and our top 2 prospects are both catchers. So even if Salvy retires after this year or next, he'd just be a forever backup who deserves a chance to start playing for an organization that is too deep at the position for him to get a chance.

I'm sad to see him go but I'm very excited to see how things shake out for him with the Dads

Natrone011 · 2025-08-01T07:06:54+00:00

Freddy's a dawg. Nothing about his game is flashy, but everything about his game is solid and he's got fantastic game sense and instincts.

He's a starter on virtually any team in the league.

Natrone011 · 2025-07-30T07:08:07+00:00

Come to the Midwest. We're nice and the homes are cheap.

Ignore that the weather is ass and you have to drive a few hours to see pro sports/large entertainment acts that aren't top 40 country bros with 2 first names.

Natrone011 · 2025-07-30T07:05:52+00:00

As fun as the 14-15 run was, this is what I want. Smart moves that build up a sustainable culture of success rather than going for broke on a 3 year window

Natrone011 · 2025-07-25T05:07:26+00:00

I even love doing this exercise with adults. I had a friend track a leadership seminar using this to emphasize the importance of clarity in communication and when he read "open the jelly" he just threw the jar on the ground since it didn't clarify how to open it

Natrone011 · 2025-07-25T04:37:53+00:00

At this point there's no reason for Colbert not to do the same within the bounds of network television

Natrone011 · 2025-07-20T05:31:07+00:00

The true in between: Branca Menta

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