1. On Tuesday Dick's Sporting Goods was selling Astros World Champs gear at ridiculously low prices. World Series replica jerseys, hoodies, pullovers, polo shirts were all $10 each. With free shipping. (I'm at a place in my life where the jersey doesn't make the most sense for me, so I bought three hoodies for $30, and free shipping).
2. Dodgers jerseys were even cheaper.
3. Late yesterday (Wednesday) morning pretty much everyone - including me - got an email saying that their order was cancelled. Here's the language from the email I received:
We are sorry to inform you that due to a pricing error on our website, we need to cancel your order for the majestic MLB World Series Jersey. In the event of a pricing or promotional error occurs, we reserve the right to cancel any orders that were affected by the issue...
...You will receive an email from us that will list the item(s) on your order that were cancelled and cannot be fulfilled due to the pricing error. If you've placed an order that included additional items outside of the Majestic MLB World Series Jersey, we will work to fulfill those items. Rest assured that your credit card has not been charged for the items. Customers are only charged upon shipment.
A few things here: as I've already noted, I did not buy a jersey, I bought three hoodies. I have not yet received the itemized email with a listing of what was cancelled. As of 6:01am this morning the charges are still "processing" in my bank account.
4. The jerseys that were on sale for $9.98 are back online under different SKU numbers, indicating that they removed the massively discounted ones - probably after realizing that pretty much every Astros fan with internet access were buying them left and right.
5. People started calling Dick's customer service line and were told their order had not been cancelled, that the pricing was a mistake, but while the jerseys would likely be cancelled, pricing on other items might be honored. And that the email everyone received was just a precaution. That's a whole lot of rationale being tossed around with no clear-cut answer as to what's going to actually happen.
6. Academy knows what's up.
I had a student not long ago who got a 10 on a test. Yeah, a 10 (ten). When I put the grade in the gradebook, I entered it as "100," because I guess my brain told my fingers "10" and my fingers thought, "That's ridiculous it's almost impossible to get a 10 on a multiple-choice test," and threw that extra 0 in there. I printed the grades and posted them in my classroom. When the student came in, saw their grade and sat down, I could hear them talking to the person sitting next to them saying, "I thought I bombed that test!" (They were absent when I initially handed their tests back to them, and I hadn't gotten around to giving said student their test). That's when I realized what I'd done, and I left it. "You have experienced the concept of grace and mercy," I told the student, put their test - face-down - on their desk, and promptly walked off.
Look, did I know that Dick's deal was crazy? Yes. Did I take advantage of said crazy deal? Also yes. Did I actually think that I would receive three hoodies originally marked for $65 each for $30 total? Maybe not. But I thought the Big Bad Corporation would own up to the mistake they inflicted upon themselves - and they might! But that really sucks for the people who bought the jerseys - people who couldn't afford the $135 they originally cost (I'm in this camp) and looked at this deal as a Christmas miracle. I'll be 38 years old in February. I have been inside of a Dick's Sporting Goods exactly once in my life, and if Dick's keeps this up then I'll be forced to continue my protest in the form of only going to a Dick's Sporting Goods store or website once every 19 years. Fix it, Dick's, or I'll see you in 2036.
On to the link(s):
*Jose Altuve was named the AP Male Athlete of the Year. Bill White: Jose Altuve symbolizes the best in all of us.
*From May, Sam Miller writes that, for the same two minutes every game, Yu Darvish is an awful pitcher.
In case you were wondering, this is still up at Yankee Stadium. pic.twitter.com/6voYXlEiaF— Mia O'Brien (@MiaOBrienCBS2) December 27, 2017
