Random Reds Rumblings

[Geki Ace]

I hate Jones because the only thing he ever uses to back up what he says is the fact that he played the game.

Newsflash, Tracy. You were a journeyman bench player with a .717 career OPS who was out of the league before you turned 31.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Now Furman is at it tonight on Extra Innings:

"Stats are for losers!"

[CincyRedsFan30]

This battle between Richard from Indian Hill and most of the other callers on Extra Innings is funny and getting funnier.

The way Tracy reacts to it all is funny too.

This guy that just called in said he wanted to meet him outside the gates and somehow compete over who gets a ticket to go into the game or something.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Well, since I've been talking about my extensive writing lately, here is my recently completed feature story for my journalism class:


Owner Dale Ferguson has worked at the Fayette Cigar Store for 50 years.
“It’s been in my family since the ’30s,” Ferguson said.
During his time running the company, he has had encounters with many people and has seen and heard a lot.
As one of the biggest and most popular cigar stores in the state, that isn’t surprising.
What he and co-manager Christina Condra like more than probably anything else about running the company is the variety of people they get to talk to on a daily basis, even if the place is usually very busy and often very stressful, being they are the only two people currently employed.
“It’s high maintenance,” Condra said.
Hours and days often pass quickly in the store. To Condra, it almost doesn’t seem real.
“I’ve been here for over five years, and it doesn’t seem like it,” she said.
Both her and Ferguson agree that the best part of their job is often what makes it stressful, as no two days are alike in what they bring.
In talking to both of them, it is clear that interacting with the people is what brings them daily joy.
They certainly have had a variety of people who come into the store, including actor Toby McGuire, former National Football League star O.J. Simpson and three top artists from Hustler magazine who left a signed autograph.
All types of people who come into the store, including millionaires and what Condra describes as “thieves and con-artists.”
As the city of Lexington has threatened to take the company away (multiple times), many of those different types of people voiced their opinion that they wanted the place to be kept. They even referred to Dale Ferguson as the “Mayor” of Lexington.
It certainly isn’t because the building is flashy.
It is very old and worn looking inside. An old crank shift elevator, where going up and down is done manually, is still used by Ferguson and Condra.
The front of the building was completed during the Civil War. The middle was completed at the turn of the 20th Century. The back was finished in the 1920s.
The building used to be home to the Phoenix National Bank when each section was completed. The cigar store didn’t move to the spot until 1975.
Ferguson and Condra have been upset about what they perceive as disrespect of their business from the city of Lexington. They say the building was supposed to become the Lexington Court House. It didn’t, but they still are angry about the bids they’ve received for the place, which have often been as little as $10.
Despite their anger, they still go about selling their many different varieties of cigars and other merchandise with as much friendliness as ever.
They say shipment of the cigars varies a lot.
“It depends on what we need and when. Magazines are (delivered) every Thursday,” Condra said.
The cigars come from a variety of countries, including 48 kinds from Nicaragua, 178 kinds from the Dominican Republic and 38 kinds from Honduras.
“We have about $300,000 worth of cigars,” Condra said.
Both Ferguson and Condra say each of the cigars sells well, including those priced as high as $275.
“We’re really one of the leading tobacco stores in the state,” Ferguson said.
While they are proud of their cigars and how popular they are, what makes both of them truly proud is the close relationships they build with their customers and people in general.
They both freely admit that they call many of their customers by their first name.
While they don’t trust everyone who comes into their store, once they get to know what a person is like, they don’t even worry about whether that person is browsing around alone or not in the building. They learn whom they can trust and whom they can’t.
They appropriately had a news crew from San Diego come in a couple of years crew who did a human interest story on their company.
They’ve also had their ideas heard by other media outlets, including a variety of newspapers.
“I think a lot of it is because we’ve been here forever,” Condra said.
Both people concede that sometimes it gets tough being the only workers there. They have tried to hire other people at a variety of times, but none of them lasted, as some of them were caught stealing and others were simply too lazy, including some of their own family members.
They expect to have people who work hard to make the company work.
Sometimes having no help can be very tough.
“You have to master patience to a degree,” Condra said.
Patience is a virtue, particularly for Ferguson and Condra, who won’t allow anything to stand in their way of interacting with people.
Although those people can sometimes get frustrating with their constant requests and constant desires to make purchases, the fact that those people are fellow humans to talk to makes it well worth it for the two people in charge.
“It’s like a bad addiction. They’re part of town,” Condra said.

[redsrbetter]

nice work CRF!

[Geki Ace]

They certainly have had a variety of people who come into the store, including actor Toby McGuire, former National Football League star O.J. Simpson and three top artists from Hustler magazine who left a signed autograph.

Oh, haha. OJ Simpson is a former NFL star and those who work for Hustler are "artists"? You crack me up.

(Nobody gives a damn about some shitty cigar store in Lexington except people who smoke cigars. And people who smoke cigars are not worthy of having opinions. Therefore, nobody gives a damn about some shitty cigar store in Lexington.)

[CincyRedsFan30]

Thanks for that insight, Geki.

For the record, I was using her(the lady's) wording in calling Simpson a star and them artists. It's how these stories are structured. Strong adjectives are supposed to be used.

And this story wasn't about the cigar store(which is quite well known, btw), it was about the people.

Again, thanks for the comments.

[missionhockey21]

So Arroyo, Williams and Claussen have all thrown gems recently and we couldn't muster up the one or two runs needed to support them? This offense has just been anemic lately. Although the weather didn't help matters today. I jumped up about three or four times thinking a ball was out of here, but instead of run production power we just had warning track power. The Phillies sure know how to position their defense though.

[Geki Ace]

The Reds need some roids in their punch.

[CincyRedsFan30]

As I said even during the Astros series in which we won two of three, the beginning of the end is approaching.

Nothing that happened this weekend makes me waver in that thinking.

Non-clutch hitting and awful bullpen work.

Also bad news in that Dave Williams might have saved his spot in the rotation because of one good outing.

In addition, the team continues to keep awful players like McCracken on the roster while leaving Denorfia in Louisville while our offense CONTINUES to make me ZZZZZZZ. 1 run scored in the last 21 innings is beyond miserable.

The collapse continues.

[Slyder]

As I said even during the Astros series in which we won two of three, the beginning of the end is approaching.

Nothing that happened this weekend makes me waver in that thinking.

Non-clutch hitting and awful bullpen work.

Also bad news in that Dave Williams might have saved his spot in the rotation because of one good outing.

In addition, the team continues to keep awful players like McCracken on the roster while leaving Denorfia in Louisville while our offense CONTINUES to make me ZZZZZZZ. 1 run scored in the last 21 innings is beyond miserable.

The collapse continues.

Im not ready to throw in the towel yet, this team started fast and im sure that, by looking at the moves thus far, the FO is trying their best to find replacements for those who need replaced. Am I expecting 100+ wins out of this team like it started out? No, we dont have enough pitching YET.

Who do you start Denorfia over? Griffey, Kearns, or Dunn (assuming they dont want to move him to 1b perminantly) I understand most of the moves thus far, they want to give Denorfia everyday at bats so that they he has a chance to play everyday and work on what he needs to work on and not have the bright lights of MLB on him everyday quite yet.

The one that leaves me scratching my head is McCracken over Freel. Is freel really that hurt?

[CincyRedsFan30]

I would actually consider moving Griffey to 1B. Leave Dunn in LF and put Denorfia in CF. Dunn isn't great in LF, but CF and RF would be better and Griffey could lessen his injury chances. Plus, I think he could play 1B pretty well.

It's time for Denorfia to either play for the Reds or be used as a trading chip. He's proven himself enough in AAA.

And McCracken should be cut when Denorfia joins the team, independent of anything dealing with Freel, who isn't at 100 percent right now.

I would call up a couple of our AA bullpen arms who have pitched well. None of them could possibly be worse than guys like Rick White have been over and over again.

I'm surprised Krivsky hasn't dumped White and Hammond and called up a couple of them and hasn't dumped McCracken yet. He mostly has awful AB at the plate and he dropped a routine flyball the other day which just made me dislike him more.

[DirtyKash]

The Reds have an interleague series against Detroit coming up, so they'll be able to use a designated hitter. I will laugh if it's McCracken.

[CincyRedsFan30]

You'll laugh and I'll scream, so we have those two bases covered, which is more bases covered than the Reds have had over the last several games.

[Slyder]

You'll laugh and I'll scream, so we have those two bases covered, which is more bases covered than the Reds have had over the last several games.

I'll cover the sigh of imbelief. With Griffey back he should be the DH EVERYDAY. To use anyone else is pointless. Maybe by then Freel will be healthy and rested he seemed to do very very well in CF while Griffey was out.