Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Con Man interview-Matthew Cox
Video interview at Soft White Underbelly

“You can’t be a scumbag and then be upset when people do scumbag things to you!”

I’ve been watching interviews on Mark Laita’s channel Soft White Underbelly from time to time over the years, and I’ve even featured a few in my Monday’s News on the March segment. What I find so compelling and worthwhile about Laita’s work is how it offers powerful reminders – the kind that rarely reach the public – of just how easy it is to let yourself slip. “Everything you do matters, and you have to carry that with you.”

This featured interview stood out to me because it’s rare to see a narcissist who actually recognizes he’s a narcissist – a conman and a scoundrel – and speaks so frankly about it. Not only that, but it’s painfully clear in the way he carries himself why he was so influential, yet manipulative enough to bend the system and make an absolute fortune from it.

Beyond being informative and engaging, the interview brims with dark humour that had me chuckling throughout. Matthew Cox – the conman himself – is an animated and assured communicator, and it’s hard to imagine him not being “successful” in almost any vocation. After all, modern society tends to reward people with the very traits he possesses in spades.

The Ghosts of Oakland
Sports article at Coco Crisp’s Afro

What Coco Crisp’s Afro lacks in frequency of publication, it more than makes up for in pizzazz, quirky humour, and pure diversion. Sometimes less really is more – and that certainly rings true in the case of Gary Trujillo’s sports blog dedicated to the Oakland A’s baseball club. My only exposure to the A’s had been through the movie Moneyball – until I stumbled across Gary’s blog, and I’m sure glad I did. You don’t need to be well-versed in baseball’s inner workings to get a real kick out of his writing; the articles are simply entertaining on their own merit.

Gary won’t mind my sharing in full his latest post from Coco Crisp’s Afro, which had me laughing out loud by the end. The Field of Dreams reference is an absolute humdinger. In fact, there are too many classic lines to mention, but he definitely saved the best one for last – it’s a f%&king doozy.

So, without further ado, folks – I present to you The Ghosts of Oakland::

Dave Beard wasn’t famous, and that’s kind of the point.

In the long, cracked pavement of baseball history, there are the guys who get their faces on baseball cards kids actually want, and then there are the guys who just sort of show up. The grinders. The ones who throw when their arms are wet noodles and nobody’s in the stands except some drunk guy in section 128 yelling, “Let’s go, Oakland!” like it still meant something.

Beard was one of those guys. A righty from Atlanta, he was called up from minor league purgatory (Tacoma) in 1980…when the Coliseum still smelled like cigarettes, wet concrete, and stale beer. He was twenty and looked like the kind of kid who’d help you move a couch without being asked. The big names were long gone—Catfish, Reggie, Vida. But what was left was a weird hangover phase and a bunch of kids trying to keep the lights on.

Billy Martin was managing back then when managers looked like they could, and would get into a bar fight—chain-smoking, yelling, driving pitchers into the ground because that’s what men like him did. Beard fit right in and didn’t complain. Just threw until his shoulder felt like rubber bands about to snap. In ’82 he was damn good—ten wins, eleven saves, the kind of numbers that make you think maybe this game could love him back.

But baseball doesn’t love anyone for long.

By ’83 his arm was mush and the radar gun didn’t care. The A’s had moved on. Salt Lake. Iowa. Bus rides and near empty stands. Motel rooms with buzzing air conditioners. Beard became another name on the transaction wire, another face fading into the cocaine static of the 1980s. His last game came in ’89—the same year Field of Dreams tried to deke us into thinking this whole thing was about redemption and fathers playing catch in cornfields. Beard knew better. Baseball was about labor. It chewed you up, then asked for seconds.

He finished 19–20 with a 4.70 ERA. That’s not failure…that’s survival.

No one’s naming their kid after Dave Beard. There’s no statue, no tribute video, just a box score and the faint outline of a man who once mattered for a minute. But if you look close enough—past the lights, the money, and the bullshit—you can see the beauty in it.

How to Survive a Heart Attack Alone After 60 – 7 Life Saving Tips Every Senior Must Know
Informational video at Her Health 60+

After those two lighthearted features above, I’ll wrap up this Monday segment on a more solemn – but important – note. The topic is heart attacks (yukky, I know) and what to do if you’re alone at home and suddenly experience what seems to be one. It’s something I’d honestly never thought about before, but I’m glad this information crossed my feed. In the unlikely event it does happen, I’d like to be in a better position to survive it than I might otherwise be.

Below is a breakdown of what to do (according to the video) if you ever find yourself in this frightening situation – which may involve symptoms such as chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, pain radiating to other areas of the body, nausea, or cold sweats:

7. call respective emergency number (911 in US, 123 in Colombia) immediately within 5-10 minutes – don’t second guess
6. chew an aspirin (325 grams)
5. loosen tight clothing and sit upright to reduce strain
4. cough strongly if feel faint to keep blood flowing
3. unlock the door and keep phone nearby
2. take slow deep breaths to calm
1. stay still and calm as possible

That is all. Thank you for reading.