Edinburgh News

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Edinburgh News

#1 Post by Vic »

By Hamish Campbell
Evening News Staff Writer

Edinburgh, Scotland – Friday’s introduction of the Claymores' new general manager was supposed to be professional, genial and, above all, routine.

It was anything but.

Vic Caleca, a neophyte g.m. with no reputation for baseball acumen to speak of, turned his inaugural news conference into a confrontational bit of farce that left local media and longtime fans shaking their heads in wonderment.

Things got off to a peculiar start when team staffers deposited a laptop computer on the conference room lectern and then turned it to face the gathered media. Caleca, it turned out, was not in Edinburgh, but at his home in the United States and would be “meeting” the locals via Skype.

His explanation: “That’s a long-ass flight, and the weather there is sketchy at best.”

Caleca’s next few minutes were standard issue baseball talk about building on the team’s proud traditions, bringing in fresh talent to complement the old, and ultimately taking the Claymores to the playoffs. If the sound was a bit “tinny” over the laptop’s speakers, it was perfectly adequate to deliver those platitudes.

Where things fell apart was when Caleca invited questions.

The first was a corker: What did he have to say about rumors that veteran - and well-regarded - manager Kijuro Yoshida had rejected an offer from Caleca to take over the Claymores and accepted a spot with the Duluth Warriors, instead?

“I do not comment on conjecture or rumor,” Caleca said.

When informed that not only was the news widespread but included details that Yoshida had spurned the Scottish offer because it was insultingly low, Caleca jabbed his finger at his laptop camera.

“Did I miss the line on your nametag that said ‘team owner,’ son? Unless I did, how this team spends its finite resources is none of your concern,” he said.

When the reporter retorted that the Claymores were an institution in Edinburgh and its business was a matter of public interest, Caleca smirked.

“The Claymores are a private business,” he said. “And while we value the affection and attention of our fans, that does not include divulging details of private negotiations with job candidates.

“It just so happens that we are currently in discussions with several extremely qualified and exciting young baseball men about our managerial opening, and we’ll be happy to discuss that further WHEN and only WHEN we have something to report.”

With that, the laptop screen went blank, canned bagpipe music played through the conference room public address system, and reporters – shouting new questions – were ushered from the room.

Not an auspicious beginning.

It’s possible, of course, that Caleca will be able to bring winning baseball to Edinburgh.

For now, though, all the Claymore faithful can do is wonder what owner Brad Kern was thinking with this most eccentric hire.
Last edited by Vic on Fri Jan 04, 2019 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Vic Caleca
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Re: Edinburgh News

#2 Post by Borealis »

Shhhhhh... We've got ourselves a feisty one!!

Excellent intro, Vic!!
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Re: Edinburgh News

#3 Post by Vic »

Thanks, Mike ... hey, quick question. Do you know how to insert hyperlinks into the text here? I wrote the piece in a Word document on my Mac laptop (the same one used in the news conference? Well, perhaps ...) and had hyperlinks to the two team pages in there, but they did not copy over. I’m thinking it might be easiest to just do links here in the forum.

Any pointers would be most welcome.

Thanks!
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Re: Edinburgh News

#4 Post by Borealis »

Ah... yeah, that is a bit of a trick. Hyperlinks will transfer from Word if you publish the the Main page, but here in the forums you have to manually add them.

As you write in a forum text box, you will see the various formatting items above the box. Highlight what you want to set as a link and click the 'URL' button. That will place a [url ] and a [/url ] around your text. Place an '=' sign behind the first URL (but in front of the bracket) and paste in the web address you are inking to.

You'll notice I did it above. You can click the quote button below my post and see exactly how it looks.

I hope that helps!
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Re: Edinburgh News

#5 Post by Sandgnats »

Awesome Vic! Do the Claymores have a new Scotch sponsor yet?
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Re: Edinburgh News

#6 Post by Vic »

Thanks, R.J.:

After that press conference, I suspect they’ll be lucky to get Boone’s Farm Apple Wine ...
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Re: Edinburgh News

#7 Post by Sandgnats »

haha like Highlands Whiskey Red. The worst Scotch ever produced!
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