Russ Oates
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roates33.bsky.social
Russ Oates
@roates33.bsky.social
240 followers 150 following 430 posts
You probably know me from Purple Row or SB Nation, maybe vaguely seeing me at a particular history conference over the years.
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roates33.bsky.social
My father collected hockey pucks with team logos on them in the 70s and 80s (including the Atlanta Flames and the original Colorado Rockies). We added the early 90s expansion team pucks and stopped then. So I decided to add to my dad's collection again, got the Kraken and Mammoth today.
Two hockey pucks laying side by side. On the left is the Seattle Kraken puck, which has that team name written in an arc at the top of the puck and a "S" that looks like a kraken. Underneath it is "National Hockey League". On the right is the Utah Mammoth puck with that written in an arc at the top. In the middle is a Mammoth with "National Hockey League" underneath it. The main color is a light blue on each puck.
October 30, 2025 at 1:20 AM
roates33.bsky.social
Went to my first NY Rangers game in 11 years back on Sunday.
The view from Section 209 at Madison Square Garden during a New York Rangers game. The Rangers are in their blue jerseys on the left and the Washington Capitals in their white jerseys on the right.
October 17, 2025 at 9:55 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Just finished the ARC of Books & Bewitchment by @delilahsdawson.bsky.social that's written under the pen name Isla Jewell. If you're looking for a comfy, cozy story with a bit of magic, this is the story for you when it comes out next year. Plus. there's a whole opening-a-bookstore story!
Books & Bewitchment Isla Jewel That is what is written on the book cover. Flying books and the silhouettes of a man and a woman also appear on it.
October 5, 2025 at 10:22 PM
roates33.bsky.social
This should be reevaluated and graded down.
A yellow-gold box with "3.0" in white and ten small circles below it, three colored white.
September 24, 2025 at 2:21 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Found this screen grab from 2010 when Tulo ended a Rockies loss with his bat in two pieces, one sticking out from home plate. I always think of this as being almost as memorable as Helton celebrating the NLCS win.
A screengrab from a 2010 Colorado Rockies game. A Dodgers catcher walks in front of Troy Tulowitzki at the end of a Rockies loss. Tulowitzki's bat is broken into two long parts. One is slender and sticking up from home plate.
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 AM
roates33.bsky.social
Awesome time at Twisted Spine where @delilahsdawson.bsky.social read from House of Idyll, did a Q&A, and signed books.
Delilah S Dawson House of Idyll A book cover with a bleeding unicorn A signed title page To Russ House of Idyll Delilah Dawson's signature and a unicorn stamped in the lower right Delilah Dawson reads from House of Idyll.
September 12, 2025 at 2:27 AM
roates33.bsky.social
The cool goodies for my (Kindle) preorder of @delilahsdawson.bsky.social's House of Idyll (out Tuesday!) arrived. Looking forward to getting a physical copy of it signed at the Twisted Spine on Thursday!
A bookmark that says Delilah S. Dawson House of Idylee with a red unicorn that appears to be dripping blood, stickers that say Guillotine, Bloom, and Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd, and a book plate that says for Russ!
September 7, 2025 at 12:52 AM
roates33.bsky.social
I played Dungeons & Dragons once, about 10 years ago. I was a mage and wound up casting a massive damage-dealing fireball that defeated the enemy. It was a ton of fun.

And that's what reading @delilahsdawson.bsky.social's Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd is like.
Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft: Heir of Strand Delilah S. Dawson On the book cover are seven individuals, including a human and and orc. There are bats flying around a castle as well.
August 29, 2025 at 6:29 PM
roates33.bsky.social
A fantastic read by a debut novelist (and friend). Avery, a young graduate living in NYC, must deal with her abuser appearing in her life again now that he's set to be the best man at her best friend's wedding. The writing will draw you in and make you not want to put it down.
The cover of She Used To Be Nice: A Novel by Alexia LaFata. A young woman wearing a white tank top with a gold chain around her neck and her hair flowing down her left shoulder. Her face is covered by a blotch of red.
August 17, 2025 at 8:26 PM
roates33.bsky.social
A light-hearted, humorous book arriving later this year.
A Fae in Finance Juliet Brooks On the cover is a woman, the Fae Princeling with green wings, and teh Gray Knight. After seeing the title and cover art, I thought A Fae in Finance would be a hilarious read. It certainly was! Miri works for an investment bank (with a horrible boss!) and gets stuck in Faerie after a work visit. Thus starts her quest to get back to the human world. From human-Fae misunderstandings, teaching Fae about taxes and human customs, and making sure her cat Doctor Kitten is well taken care of, Miri is going to outsmart her Fae captors. This is a great start to a new series with a story you won't want to put down, and I look forward to new installments.
August 10, 2025 at 3:32 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Catching up on some of my backlog and finished @delilahsdawson.bsky.social's It Will Only Hurt for a Moment today. A woman arrives at an artists' retreat on the grounds of an abandoned hotel that the owner just doesn't want to talk about. A gripping horror/mystery novel you won't want to put down!
The cover of Delilah S. Dawson's It Will Only Hurt for a Moment. At the bottom of the cover is a woman submerged in water except for her head. At the top of the cover is an abandoned building and trees but it is upside down.
July 27, 2025 at 9:39 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Unfortunately there was no Stone Cold Stunner performed into my friend's 40th birthday cake yesterday, but there was this banner.
Vinny 7:13 I just whipped 40's ass!
July 14, 2025 at 7:12 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Can't stop, won't stop getting @univpressofkansas.bsky.social books. Just days later the next one appears
Book cover: The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: The War Nobody Knew by Michael M. Walker.
July 2, 2025 at 4:19 PM
roates33.bsky.social
This fresh take on Charles Evans Hughes from @univpressofkansas.bsky.social is going to be a great summer read
An image of a book: Charles Evans Hughes and the Dawning of Modern America by Joanne Raitano. The cover has an image of Hughes with his beard and side-sweeping mustache.
July 1, 2025 at 3:12 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Today's Rockies news is (probably) just another reminder of this:
A tweet from edsbs that says: Again, follow your dreams, because unqualified idiots are paid to do things they shouldn't be doing every day, why not you
June 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Clearing out some old photos and found this Jon Gray mood pic from 2015. Pretty good start with 5 shutout innings and 6 Ks, so I don't remember why he had this look. The Rockies lost 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th.
A photo of Major League pitcher Jon Gray when he was with the Rockies. His arms are folded across his chest.
June 22, 2025 at 11:34 PM
roates33.bsky.social
That @univpressofkansas.bsky.social summer sale arrival!
An image of two books. On the left is A Violent Peace: A Global Military History of the Interwar Period. On the right is Resisting Reagan: Liberal Strategies in a Conservative Age
June 16, 2025 at 8:12 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Hey @iamhectordiaz.com, saw some great shitposting on LinkedIn today.
80% of the employees you onboard should be fired within 15 days. That's where we are at at my firm, and we're crushing it. It all comes down to a new hire's pacing during onboarding. If each individual is onboarded in the same way, with the same checklist, you know exactly how they're pacing against their previously onboarded peers. Wasting time in "get to know you" calls and endless Zoom meetings and piles of documents? Not us. Here's our process: For the first two weeks, new hires barely talk to their manager because they're too busy going through a checklist with 100+ items to complete: • Reading company docs • Sitting in on team calls as observers • Watching "Never Been Kissed" at least 17 times Each day ends with a 15-minute check-in with their manager where their manager is filling out a scorecard of: • Are they getting it? i.e. Could they follow the plot that Josie was a reporter embedded within a high school, even though she was -- important -- 25 years old? • Do they get creeped out that a romance is playing out between an English teacher and a student he believes to be a minor, or do they agree with me that it's a fantasy to begin with and handled appropriately anyway? • Can they make the initial buy that Drew Barrymore - a cutie-pie by any metric we have programmed into our Al model - could reasonably be considered a "Grossie?" There's no hand-holding. No ramping. Just small daily evaluations of "are they good at work" coupled with team sentiment of "do we like working with them" and "do they have original ideas for how to update 'Never Been Kissed' into a premium streaming show. It feels like Peacock to us, but do they think Amazon? Netflix? Is Crackle still happening? You owe it to the great people who are already on your team to only let other great people in, much like Josie. And if they can't, they're out.
June 7, 2025 at 5:02 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Putting a LEGO Statue of Liberty together 🗽🗽🗽
An image of a LEGO Statue of Liberty
May 30, 2025 at 6:55 PM
roates33.bsky.social
OK, so the moment it happened still exists!
Spencer E Hall Super important fanshot: https://www.sbnation.com/2015/1/29/7947813/man-drifts-with-child-is-now-king-of-dads Brian Floyd Hand on one sec Michael Katz King of Naboo full scene! Spencer E Hall goddamit I hate my children right now Michael Katz hahaha I thought it was just a sick troll Spencer E Hall I am resigning Brian Floyd still laughing Ryan Nanni yesssss EDSBS is mine I'm gonna sell it for parts
May 13, 2025 at 8:07 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Unfortunately it appears the original message has been deleted, but what a great running gag!
A series of Slack messages with a link to a YouTube video of the Battle of Naboo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qZJ85MdS-g
May 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
roates33.bsky.social
And inside part of the S and T is the Devastator chasing the Tantive IV.
An image of a LEGO set. A Star destroyer is chasing a rebel cruiser, like how Episode 4 starts
May 2, 2025 at 5:32 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Building my first ever LEGO set of the just released Star Wars logo
A LEGO set of the Star Wars logo. In the background is the word star in yellow. In the foreground is the bottom half of the word wars.
May 2, 2025 at 5:09 PM
roates33.bsky.social
Can I go back a few weeks and say receiving this awesome graphic you made?
Joint Enterprises, Development, & Investments New York (April 2, 2025) — The following statement was released today by Russ Oates, through his personal representatives C.E. Hughes and Porter Engle, Co-Chairmen of Joint Enterprises, Development, & Investments (“JEDI”), in response to questions about his future career plans: ‘I’m back.’ -30-
April 23, 2025 at 9:04 PM
roates33.bsky.social
It's too bad Lost never did a story line where Desmond turned out to be Jesus, connecting the show with The Gospel of John movie.
A screenshot from the movie The Gospel of John that shows Henry Ian Cusick (Lost's Desmond) playing Jesus.
April 20, 2025 at 1:19 PM