OK, I'm going to get in trouble for this post - but here goes.
I think I am missing something in the whole Palmeiro debacle.
48 hours ago, he was a player that most media personnel would still vote for into the Hall of Fame.
It was established yesterday that, during an investigation, Raffy told investigators that "the stuff I took from Tejada" - the B-12 injection - could have caused the positive test.
Due to this, Raffy is persona non grata and no one in baseball wants anything to do with him.
I just don't see how people can get from "A" to "B" from just the info that Raffy pointed to Tejada.
This is an investigation. It is the investigators job to ask tough questions and try to elicit information. This investigation was formed to understand how and why this happened, right?
Well, these are the answers that we get. Raffy had two choices - stonewall and refuse to point any fingers, or try to say how/why he got a positive test. He truly believes that the B-12 he received from Tejada caused his positive drug test.
Don't we want Raffy to answer these questions? We didn't set up the investigation to have players say: " yep, I did it - but I won't give any more info on where I got it or how widespread it is". The investigation - because it is an investigation! - will cause names to be named and other people will be associated with this.
People were crying for an investigation - the Gammons, Kurkjian types - months ago. Well, now you have it, and you don't like that it is causing other players' names to be mentioned. What would you like Raffy to do? Sit stone-faced? Then you can crucify him for obstructing the holy investigation.
Now, if Raffy said that Tejada took steroids instead of the B-12, that's one thing. You don't lie (if it is a lie) about others. But he's not. He's saying what he thinks to the investigators.
To say that "Raffy shouldn't rat out his teammates" is ludicrous. Do you want an investigation or not? Do you want to get to the bottom of this or not? If you do - which I'm not sure Gammons et. al does anymore - then names will have to be mentioned and this is the by-product.
There is no more "secret code" anymore among ballplayers when federal/congressional investigations are going on. That's like saying you can't prosecute a frat pledge who died during hazing because the brothers don't talk about what goes on in the frat basement.
Sorry to bust up the secret club, guys - but you wanted an investigation, you got it. Now deal with it.
Sep 23, 2005
KITT throw your hands in the air...
Since the Red Sox have decided to ruin my Septembah, I have to post this up for some humor. Credits to my wife for finding this "gem".
Yikes
Yikes
Sep 22, 2005
Eye of the Storm
Being the lowest man on the totem poll in a meeting yesterday with the VPs and President, it was decided that I will make the trek down to Austin, TX to help with the logistics for the Hurricane.
Eric asked me why would the insurance companies send people down during the Hurricane. Well the answer is pretty simple. We want our people down there, close by, so once the Hurricane is over, our people are the first to respond, with direction, checks, and support. If we waited until after the Hurricane, we wouldn't be able to get into the area. Seems to work very well. Maybe we should send our plan to FEMA.
Eric asked me why would the insurance companies send people down during the Hurricane. Well the answer is pretty simple. We want our people down there, close by, so once the Hurricane is over, our people are the first to respond, with direction, checks, and support. If we waited until after the Hurricane, we wouldn't be able to get into the area. Seems to work very well. Maybe we should send our plan to FEMA.
Sep 21, 2005
AL Calculus, Browns, and Lambeau
1. What a pennant race. Wow. If the Tribe holds on today (they are up 8-0), they are 2 1/2 back again of the Sox. More importantly, they now lead the "3-for-2" race for the Wild Card:
Tribe ----
Yanks 1/2 GB
Red Sox 1 GB
Two of these three teams - unless Chicago keeps losing or the A's win out - are making the playoffs. One will miss out.
2. What will it take? 3 days ago, I thought the Tribe would have to go 8-5 to get in. Well, it looks like they will go 2-1 vs. the Sox. Again, the standings and the schedule:
Tribe 89-63 @KC (4), TB (3), Chi (3)
NYY 88-63 Bal (1), Tor (3), @Bal (4), @Bos (3)
Bos 88-64 @Bal (3), Tor (4), NYY (3)
I think:
Yanks will win tomorrow, win 2 vs Tor, 3 vs Bal, 2 vs Bos. That's 8-3
Bos will win 2 vs Bal, 3 vs Tor, 1 vs NYY. That's 6-4.
If that holds, the Tribe needs to go 6-4 to beat Bos. If Bos takes 2 from NYY, then the Tribe needs to win 7. If Bos sweeps, then the Yanks go 6-5, and the Tribe needs to go 6-4.
3. This theories behind the math above will change every day from now until next Friday. What fun this is going to be.
4. This is an incredible race, with all of us looking at 4, maybe even 5 games each night. It just seems like the contenders don't lose. Teams have to win just to keep pace and not lose ground. A loss puts you in a bad mood for 12 hours until the next round of heart stopping games - and if your team wins, you are on cloud 9 again until the next night. Just a whole lot of fun.
5. What a sports weekend. Left for Green Bay on Saturday night - got to listen to the final 3 outs of a 5-4 win on Saturday while driving in rural Wisconsin. Stopped over in Oshkosh Sat night for drinks and to watch football highlights. Sun morning was tailgating (more below) and the Browns' WIN in Green Bay!
Of course, the downside was the looooooong drive after the game back to home. 6 hours' drive , after tailgating and raucous cheering - it made for a long day.
6. Green Bay during an NFL game is something else. The stadium is set in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It's kind of like taking a suburb with mdeium size houses - say, Timonium, MD or Parma, OH, and clearing out 2 blocks and placing a stadium there. The closest I can compare it to is the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore - although Lambeau seemed closer to houses than Memorial was.
Anyway- about 50% of the houses near the stadium rent out their yards for tailgates and parking. We arrived in Green Bay about 10:45 (for a 3:15 game), and decided not to park in a gas station. So we went down one of these side street - and people were there flagging cars into their yards. We pased one house with the inside of the garage painted yellow and green - with 3 TVs - and decided that was home for the day.
A great decision. For $10, we got:
- a parking spot about 2 blocks from the stadium - and we were not blocked in
- full use of bathrooms and TVs
- a full liquor bar
- use of their grill for our food - they had hamurers and hot dogs provided anyway
- beer set out for postgame parties
And they were the friendliest people, even to us enemy fans. The only fans they hated were (not surprisingly) Bears fans.
We have their card - so if anyone wants to go to a game, they are able to secure tickets and get them for you . I will post their name/address in a later post.
Again, I can't say enough about the hospitality of those fans (and clearly many others). What an enjoyable trip.
7. And we won! I think the game was shown to most of the nations, so it's nice to see us play well on TV. The MVP of the season so far is clearly the offensive line. 0 sacks in 2 games.
That being said, this team is going to get killed this weekend in Indy.....I always though we were going to be 1-2 at the bye week, and we can't do any worse than that. After that, it is home vs. Chi, @ Bal, home vs Det, @ Hous, home vs. Tenn, @ Pit, home vs. Miami, @ Minn, home vs Jax. Those are not the hardest 9 games in the world. I think we have a chance to go (in order....) W, L(?), W, W, W, L, W, ??, L - 5-3 over those 8, withthe Jacksonville game a possibility. In fact, 2 other L's - at Baltimore and at Minn - now seem possbile to grab. Who knows???
Enough rambling. Go Tribe!
Tribe ----
Yanks 1/2 GB
Red Sox 1 GB
Two of these three teams - unless Chicago keeps losing or the A's win out - are making the playoffs. One will miss out.
2. What will it take? 3 days ago, I thought the Tribe would have to go 8-5 to get in. Well, it looks like they will go 2-1 vs. the Sox. Again, the standings and the schedule:
Tribe 89-63 @KC (4), TB (3), Chi (3)
NYY 88-63 Bal (1), Tor (3), @Bal (4), @Bos (3)
Bos 88-64 @Bal (3), Tor (4), NYY (3)
I think:
Yanks will win tomorrow, win 2 vs Tor, 3 vs Bal, 2 vs Bos. That's 8-3
Bos will win 2 vs Bal, 3 vs Tor, 1 vs NYY. That's 6-4.
If that holds, the Tribe needs to go 6-4 to beat Bos. If Bos takes 2 from NYY, then the Tribe needs to win 7. If Bos sweeps, then the Yanks go 6-5, and the Tribe needs to go 6-4.
3. This theories behind the math above will change every day from now until next Friday. What fun this is going to be.
4. This is an incredible race, with all of us looking at 4, maybe even 5 games each night. It just seems like the contenders don't lose. Teams have to win just to keep pace and not lose ground. A loss puts you in a bad mood for 12 hours until the next round of heart stopping games - and if your team wins, you are on cloud 9 again until the next night. Just a whole lot of fun.
5. What a sports weekend. Left for Green Bay on Saturday night - got to listen to the final 3 outs of a 5-4 win on Saturday while driving in rural Wisconsin. Stopped over in Oshkosh Sat night for drinks and to watch football highlights. Sun morning was tailgating (more below) and the Browns' WIN in Green Bay!
Of course, the downside was the looooooong drive after the game back to home. 6 hours' drive , after tailgating and raucous cheering - it made for a long day.
6. Green Bay during an NFL game is something else. The stadium is set in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It's kind of like taking a suburb with mdeium size houses - say, Timonium, MD or Parma, OH, and clearing out 2 blocks and placing a stadium there. The closest I can compare it to is the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore - although Lambeau seemed closer to houses than Memorial was.
Anyway- about 50% of the houses near the stadium rent out their yards for tailgates and parking. We arrived in Green Bay about 10:45 (for a 3:15 game), and decided not to park in a gas station. So we went down one of these side street - and people were there flagging cars into their yards. We pased one house with the inside of the garage painted yellow and green - with 3 TVs - and decided that was home for the day.
A great decision. For $10, we got:
- a parking spot about 2 blocks from the stadium - and we were not blocked in
- full use of bathrooms and TVs
- a full liquor bar
- use of their grill for our food - they had hamurers and hot dogs provided anyway
- beer set out for postgame parties
And they were the friendliest people, even to us enemy fans. The only fans they hated were (not surprisingly) Bears fans.
We have their card - so if anyone wants to go to a game, they are able to secure tickets and get them for you . I will post their name/address in a later post.
Again, I can't say enough about the hospitality of those fans (and clearly many others). What an enjoyable trip.
7. And we won! I think the game was shown to most of the nations, so it's nice to see us play well on TV. The MVP of the season so far is clearly the offensive line. 0 sacks in 2 games.
That being said, this team is going to get killed this weekend in Indy.....I always though we were going to be 1-2 at the bye week, and we can't do any worse than that. After that, it is home vs. Chi, @ Bal, home vs Det, @ Hous, home vs. Tenn, @ Pit, home vs. Miami, @ Minn, home vs Jax. Those are not the hardest 9 games in the world. I think we have a chance to go (in order....) W, L(?), W, W, W, L, W, ??, L - 5-3 over those 8, withthe Jacksonville game a possibility. In fact, 2 other L's - at Baltimore and at Minn - now seem possbile to grab. Who knows???
Enough rambling. Go Tribe!
Sep 20, 2005
10 Things I didn't know 4 days ago....
1. Despite being somewhat entertaining, I'm now including football as topics that the BSG has no idea about. I trusted him this weekend and used his picks in a pickem pool and did OK, but not great. In another pickem pool I did my own, and won 10 games.
2. I truly hate ESPN. Last night's Katrina telethon was terrible. Who was that lady hosting? Ugh.... And I have nothing against women, but they should not be doing sports. Suzy Kolburn is horrible. Maybe its not her and just sideline reporters.
3. This USC team might be the best college team that I have seen ever. If you get a chance to watch them, it's worth your time. Here is a quote from the Arkansas coach " I’ve never been part of anything like this, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, some of it was self-inflicted, and some of it was flat-out helplessness. We couldn’t stop them. "
It got to a point where it didn’t matter what was called, Nothing was working, and they were beating us every which way, with a receiver, with a running back. They executed. We didn’t. They got us down so fast and in a hurry that I think it really gutted our spirit pretty good."
4. So, the byproduct of Katrina is an over-reaction by all other towns and the news to any storm that hits the coast. What will happen to the weather guys who continues to get the paths and the severity of these storms wrong? Instead of people just being dismissing these guys, they are now going to be the fall guy because it will be costing families and businesses money and time lost. Or will there be a huge clash with local government on their mandatory evacuations?
5. I know Eric won't say anything, so I will. How about those Indians? 2.5 games. Crazy!!!!!!
6. Crosby is back for the A's and Harden is very close. This weekend's series with the Angels is going to be intense. If I didn't have to go to Palm Springs, I think I would make the trip up to Oakland.
7. Was at the Salt Creek Cafe yesterday with my parents, and my mom struck up a conversation with the hostess about recognizing one part of the place where Alex and Jason from Laguna Beach made out, and the hostess told her that she was right (fucking crazy conversation that deserves its own post). She also said that they were in last week taping season 3. I think my mom and I are the only people really excited about that.
8. Jay and I might be sending Eric some letters of apology for slamming his prediction on winning the AFC North.
9. Was supposed to play golf today at Mesa Verde country club, but for the third time in a row, my Dad and I get rained out in CA. Severe Thunderstorms and major wind and rain....In fucking SoCal. What the Hell??? Last time was at Riviera Country Club in LA. My dad is currently a walking rain machine.
10. Why can't they create a normal hybrid or electric car? Don't they understand that people might want to drive one of these if they didn't look so bad? And When will Lexus or BMW decide to put out a luxury electric car.
2. I truly hate ESPN. Last night's Katrina telethon was terrible. Who was that lady hosting? Ugh.... And I have nothing against women, but they should not be doing sports. Suzy Kolburn is horrible. Maybe its not her and just sideline reporters.
3. This USC team might be the best college team that I have seen ever. If you get a chance to watch them, it's worth your time. Here is a quote from the Arkansas coach " I’ve never been part of anything like this, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, some of it was self-inflicted, and some of it was flat-out helplessness. We couldn’t stop them. "
It got to a point where it didn’t matter what was called, Nothing was working, and they were beating us every which way, with a receiver, with a running back. They executed. We didn’t. They got us down so fast and in a hurry that I think it really gutted our spirit pretty good."
4. So, the byproduct of Katrina is an over-reaction by all other towns and the news to any storm that hits the coast. What will happen to the weather guys who continues to get the paths and the severity of these storms wrong? Instead of people just being dismissing these guys, they are now going to be the fall guy because it will be costing families and businesses money and time lost. Or will there be a huge clash with local government on their mandatory evacuations?
5. I know Eric won't say anything, so I will. How about those Indians? 2.5 games. Crazy!!!!!!
6. Crosby is back for the A's and Harden is very close. This weekend's series with the Angels is going to be intense. If I didn't have to go to Palm Springs, I think I would make the trip up to Oakland.
7. Was at the Salt Creek Cafe yesterday with my parents, and my mom struck up a conversation with the hostess about recognizing one part of the place where Alex and Jason from Laguna Beach made out, and the hostess told her that she was right (fucking crazy conversation that deserves its own post). She also said that they were in last week taping season 3. I think my mom and I are the only people really excited about that.
8. Jay and I might be sending Eric some letters of apology for slamming his prediction on winning the AFC North.
9. Was supposed to play golf today at Mesa Verde country club, but for the third time in a row, my Dad and I get rained out in CA. Severe Thunderstorms and major wind and rain....In fucking SoCal. What the Hell??? Last time was at Riviera Country Club in LA. My dad is currently a walking rain machine.
10. Why can't they create a normal hybrid or electric car? Don't they understand that people might want to drive one of these if they didn't look so bad? And When will Lexus or BMW decide to put out a luxury electric car.
Sep 19, 2005
Sep 18, 2005
Turning 30
Why is turning 30 so big? Turning 16 was big. Turning 21 was big. Turning 30? I just don't get it.
Sep 17, 2005
Week 2 NFL Picks
Before we get to the picks, Derek asked a good question last week -
"Why not just take the top 2-3 picks instead of the whole slate of 17 games?"
Well, to break even, one needs to go 11-10 over 21 games (that's a 52.3% success rate). I believe that - given I can choose whatever game I want, I can pick them at 53-55%. Last year I was approximately 54.5% over about 400 games.
So - if you believe you have a 54.5% success rate, it behooves you to pick as many games as you can, since you have an advantage! THa't my theory. Let's hope I don't throw up a 45% year.
On to the picks:
New York Jets 23, Miami 13 - Desperation does set in for the Jets; they need this game and will get it.
Buffalo 16, Tampa 7 - I was not impressed with Tampa's O; Buffalo shouldbe able to handle them. Buffalo will have fewer turnovers and should score some points.
New England 24, Carolina 20 - Hoenstly, I have no idea what will happen here. It's tough to pick against NE at this time, however.
Cincinnati 31, Minnesota 17 - Last week was just the start of what Cinci's Offense can do.
Pittsburgh 23, Houston 10 - Don't know much about the Texans, but Pit should run all over them, if Buffalo did.
Baltimore 16, Tennessee 6 - Can't see Ten scoring more than 10 pts. versus the Ravens D.
Cleveland 38, Green Bay 37 - BSG sees Green Bay scoring 37 against the Browns; so do I, unfortunately, But the Browns will score some points, too!
San Diego 31, Denver 20 - Now SD is desperate, and will win against an overrated Denver team.
Kansas City 27, Oakland 24 - Hard not to like KC's D last week. A barnburner that I'll listen to on the way home form Lambeau.
Philadelphia 23, San Fran 6 - Everyone and their sister has the Eagles covering. When I see that, I run - and run fast -away from that game.
Detroit 17, Chicago 9 - I have a feeling Detroit is this year's version of the 2002 Bears - the team from nowhere that got a lot of breaks and went 13-3.
St Louis i , Arizona 0- Wow - this is one of those games where both teams should lose the game. The league office rules that Arizona loses i to 0; however, since i is an imaginary number, St Louis loses too. Both teams are 0-2.
(OK: Arizona 31, St Louis 28)
Atlanta 20, Seattle 17 - another game where anything can happen, and I won't be surprised.
Indianaplis 31, Jacksonville 23 - I know, the Jags beat them twice last year. But these are the games that Dungy is going to use for motivation this year in order to get HFA.
New York Giants 17, New Orleans 16 - This game will go a looooong way to tell us about this year. If NYG win, then Carolina could be weker tha we thought; if NO wins, then we know Arizona is a fraud.
Dallas 27, Washington 10 - Is this always the week 2 Monday nighter? I always get this game wrong every year.
Best bets: (last week: 9-8-1; overall: 9-8-1)
Jets -6
Buf +2
Buf/TB Under 35
Cin -3
Pit/Hou Under 39
Bal -4
Bal/Ten Under 37
Cle/GB Over 41
SD +3
SD/Den Over 45
Phi/SF Under 40
Det -1.5
Det/Chi Under 33
Az/Stl Over 43
Ind/Jax Over 46
Dal -5.5
NYG/NO Under 43
"Why not just take the top 2-3 picks instead of the whole slate of 17 games?"
Well, to break even, one needs to go 11-10 over 21 games (that's a 52.3% success rate). I believe that - given I can choose whatever game I want, I can pick them at 53-55%. Last year I was approximately 54.5% over about 400 games.
So - if you believe you have a 54.5% success rate, it behooves you to pick as many games as you can, since you have an advantage! THa't my theory. Let's hope I don't throw up a 45% year.
On to the picks:
New York Jets 23, Miami 13 - Desperation does set in for the Jets; they need this game and will get it.
Buffalo 16, Tampa 7 - I was not impressed with Tampa's O; Buffalo shouldbe able to handle them. Buffalo will have fewer turnovers and should score some points.
New England 24, Carolina 20 - Hoenstly, I have no idea what will happen here. It's tough to pick against NE at this time, however.
Cincinnati 31, Minnesota 17 - Last week was just the start of what Cinci's Offense can do.
Pittsburgh 23, Houston 10 - Don't know much about the Texans, but Pit should run all over them, if Buffalo did.
Baltimore 16, Tennessee 6 - Can't see Ten scoring more than 10 pts. versus the Ravens D.
Cleveland 38, Green Bay 37 - BSG sees Green Bay scoring 37 against the Browns; so do I, unfortunately, But the Browns will score some points, too!
San Diego 31, Denver 20 - Now SD is desperate, and will win against an overrated Denver team.
Kansas City 27, Oakland 24 - Hard not to like KC's D last week. A barnburner that I'll listen to on the way home form Lambeau.
Philadelphia 23, San Fran 6 - Everyone and their sister has the Eagles covering. When I see that, I run - and run fast -away from that game.
Detroit 17, Chicago 9 - I have a feeling Detroit is this year's version of the 2002 Bears - the team from nowhere that got a lot of breaks and went 13-3.
St Louis i , Arizona 0- Wow - this is one of those games where both teams should lose the game. The league office rules that Arizona loses i to 0; however, since i is an imaginary number, St Louis loses too. Both teams are 0-2.
(OK: Arizona 31, St Louis 28)
Atlanta 20, Seattle 17 - another game where anything can happen, and I won't be surprised.
Indianaplis 31, Jacksonville 23 - I know, the Jags beat them twice last year. But these are the games that Dungy is going to use for motivation this year in order to get HFA.
New York Giants 17, New Orleans 16 - This game will go a looooong way to tell us about this year. If NYG win, then Carolina could be weker tha we thought; if NO wins, then we know Arizona is a fraud.
Dallas 27, Washington 10 - Is this always the week 2 Monday nighter? I always get this game wrong every year.
Best bets: (last week: 9-8-1; overall: 9-8-1)
Jets -6
Buf +2
Buf/TB Under 35
Cin -3
Pit/Hou Under 39
Bal -4
Bal/Ten Under 37
Cle/GB Over 41
SD +3
SD/Den Over 45
Phi/SF Under 40
Det -1.5
Det/Chi Under 33
Az/Stl Over 43
Ind/Jax Over 46
Dal -5.5
NYG/NO Under 43
Sep 16, 2005
Spiro Agnew and the 2005 AL Playoff Picture
Looking at each of these teams still in the picture, I have the feeling that the fans of each of the teams have reason to feel queasy about their chances at the present time.
Take Boston, for instance. I'm sure Jay was not expecting to hear Jason Robards' voice right now: " Your position in the post-season is no longer secure"
Or Derek. Even with the Angels' gift last night, I bet Derek is not all too happy that he is tied for the lead instead of 2-3 games up at this point.
What about the Angels? Is Austin an Angels' fan? There are major concerns with that team.
I read the White Sox board yesterday after their stunning loss to KC - they all want Guillen fired and are in a panic mode.
Me? It's hard to believe that the Tribe is playing this well, and only has a 1/2 game lead in the wild card. This is unchartered territory for us, and we can't play this well for the last 16 games, can we?
The Yankees probably feel the most confident - since they look like they are on fire right now - but at this point, they would be left out of the playoffs- there's more work to do for them.
I'd guess we all are collectively the "nattering nabobs of negativity", as VP Agnew eloquently said in the 70s. We all have things to worry about. The final 16-17 games are going to be loaded with drama.
Take Boston, for instance. I'm sure Jay was not expecting to hear Jason Robards' voice right now: " Your position in the post-season is no longer secure"
Or Derek. Even with the Angels' gift last night, I bet Derek is not all too happy that he is tied for the lead instead of 2-3 games up at this point.
What about the Angels? Is Austin an Angels' fan? There are major concerns with that team.
I read the White Sox board yesterday after their stunning loss to KC - they all want Guillen fired and are in a panic mode.
Me? It's hard to believe that the Tribe is playing this well, and only has a 1/2 game lead in the wild card. This is unchartered territory for us, and we can't play this well for the last 16 games, can we?
The Yankees probably feel the most confident - since they look like they are on fire right now - but at this point, they would be left out of the playoffs- there's more work to do for them.
I'd guess we all are collectively the "nattering nabobs of negativity", as VP Agnew eloquently said in the 70s. We all have things to worry about. The final 16-17 games are going to be loaded with drama.
Sep 14, 2005
MLB Predictions
Yes, it is only Sept 14th and there is a lot of baseball to go but if Mike and Mike on ESPNRadio can do MVP, Cy Young and Wild Card updates *everyday* then we can do it too! My picks as of today (subject to revision of course!):
AL MVP: Arod (yes Ortiz is a beast, but Arod has been playing good defense this year. If Ortiz has a few more dramatic HR and they take the division with the NYY missing the playoffs then *maybe* you can make the case for Ortiz)
AL CY: Colon by default (has there been a crappier overall year for CY candidates in the AL??)
Manager of the Year: Wedge
AL East: Sox
AL Central: Sox
AL West: Angels
AL WC: Indians
AL Pennant: Indians (I kind of dismissed them last week, but every day they are really making me more and more of a believer. They have been incredible in the second half and they are going to roll into the playoffs having serious momentum (not unlike the Sox of last year).
NL MVP: Pujols (he has to win one of them right?)
NL CY: Carpenter (With Willis 2 and Rog 3)
Manager Of the Year: Cox
NL East: ATL
NL Central: Cards
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Marlins
NL Pennant: Marlins
Yup a repeat of the 97 WS! And I think the Marlins will win it again. If they actually do win it they would have 3 WS in the last 9 years - sickening.
Oh and I am officially panicking with the AL East lead down to 2.5 (2 in the AILC). If last year had never happened I'd probably be calling in sick to work right now with the horror of the Sox choking another one away. Those last three games at Fenway will be very important...
AL MVP: Arod (yes Ortiz is a beast, but Arod has been playing good defense this year. If Ortiz has a few more dramatic HR and they take the division with the NYY missing the playoffs then *maybe* you can make the case for Ortiz)
AL CY: Colon by default (has there been a crappier overall year for CY candidates in the AL??)
Manager of the Year: Wedge
AL East: Sox
AL Central: Sox
AL West: Angels
AL WC: Indians
AL Pennant: Indians (I kind of dismissed them last week, but every day they are really making me more and more of a believer. They have been incredible in the second half and they are going to roll into the playoffs having serious momentum (not unlike the Sox of last year).
NL MVP: Pujols (he has to win one of them right?)
NL CY: Carpenter (With Willis 2 and Rog 3)
Manager Of the Year: Cox
NL East: ATL
NL Central: Cards
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Marlins
NL Pennant: Marlins
Yup a repeat of the 97 WS! And I think the Marlins will win it again. If they actually do win it they would have 3 WS in the last 9 years - sickening.
Oh and I am officially panicking with the AL East lead down to 2.5 (2 in the AILC). If last year had never happened I'd probably be calling in sick to work right now with the horror of the Sox choking another one away. Those last three games at Fenway will be very important...
Lavender
To keep it light as Eric said, can everyone take note and not use the lavender scented deodorizer from Glade? Yesterday before a meeting with my VP and some outside consultants, I sprayed some of this shit in his office to get rid of the taco smell from lunch and instead of helping, it was made the room smell like lavender tacos. It was so bad that my eyes started to water at the beginning. When my VP came back in his office with the consultants, the look on his face was priceless, like "How could you of possibly made the room smell worse that it already did in 2 minutes." We apologized for the smell with one the one consultants saying that it smelled like a cheap hooker, which made all of us realize that we probably picked the wrong consultant.
Sep 13, 2005
Random Musical Interlude
Let's lighten things up here....
I can't listen to music at work, so whatever the last song I hear in the car before I get into our parking lot - that's the song that is stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I don't know why - it's just how my brain works.
Anyway, I could do a LOT worse than the song today: "Leavin' on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul and Mary.
"So kiss me, and smile for me.
Tell me that you'd wait for me
Hold me like you'd never let me go..........
I'm leavin' on a jet plane!
(whisper) don't know when I'll be back again."
Not a bad song to have in your head for 10 hours straight.
I can't listen to music at work, so whatever the last song I hear in the car before I get into our parking lot - that's the song that is stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I don't know why - it's just how my brain works.
Anyway, I could do a LOT worse than the song today: "Leavin' on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul and Mary.
"So kiss me, and smile for me.
Tell me that you'd wait for me
Hold me like you'd never let me go..........
I'm leavin' on a jet plane!
(whisper) don't know when I'll be back again."
Not a bad song to have in your head for 10 hours straight.
Sep 12, 2005
Katrina Autopsy
Newsweek has a pretty exhaustive recap of what went wrong with the Katrina response. Some 19 correspondents pieced together the timeline and various events that affected the delayed response. Don't let the title fool you, there is plenty of blame to go around, although ultimately I think everyone (even some Republicans in this space) agree where the "buck stops". This is a must read.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/
Some interesting things:
-The president boasting how he doesn't read or watch the news. I mean, the only other person who is proud of such things is Michael Derr, and I certainly don't want him running the country anytime soon. Warrants mentioning.
-The total lack of any plan in the state of LA. I can picture the officials sitting around saying "First I'll soil myself - then I'll come up with a plan."
-"Brownie, you're doing a heckova job". Nuff Ced
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/
Some interesting things:
-The president boasting how he doesn't read or watch the news. I mean, the only other person who is proud of such things is Michael Derr, and I certainly don't want him running the country anytime soon. Warrants mentioning.
-The total lack of any plan in the state of LA. I can picture the officials sitting around saying "First I'll soil myself - then I'll come up with a plan."
-"Brownie, you're doing a heckova job". Nuff Ced
Random thoughts...
1) Derek noticed that I am not as despondent over the Browns' loss as I have been in the past. A good question.
My expectations for this team is not very high. I realize we are in rebuilding mode, and I know our defense is going to be terrible, since we are going to the 3-4, except we don't have the right personnel to do that.
So the game confirmed those concerns. We let the Bengals move up and down the field...bend,bend, bend, and then break. Argh.
I'm happy, however, that I can watch an offense move the ball. It won't take a penalty to get a first down. When you've suffered through Ty Detmer, Doug Pedersen, Spergon Wynn, and Josh McCown over the past 5 years, you kind of forget what offensive football is. Not to say Trent Dilfer is great, but when is the last time a Browns QB threw for over 270 yards?
This will take time. I still would like to see 6-7 wins this year, but I want to see progress. I got some (not all - playcalling was questionable, and penalties killed us) progress in that first game.
2) How's that front four, Denver?
3) Boy, did I get an earful from a whole lot of fans in the country when our Browns fans cheered Tim Couch when he got hurt in a Sunday Night Game vs. the Ravens on Oct 6, 2002. Remember that?
So what happened last night? Ravens's fans cheered when Boller went down. Hypocrites.
And I love seeing a QB controversy in the division.
4) The Bengals will win this division.
5) Which Mike will be fired first? Tice? Shanahan? Martz? Holmgren? Wow. All four had bad losses.
6) Pick for tonight: Atlanta 24, Philly 20. Take the Falcons.
19 games to go, we are 1 1/2 games up. Wow. Keep winning, Tribe.
My expectations for this team is not very high. I realize we are in rebuilding mode, and I know our defense is going to be terrible, since we are going to the 3-4, except we don't have the right personnel to do that.
So the game confirmed those concerns. We let the Bengals move up and down the field...bend,bend, bend, and then break. Argh.
I'm happy, however, that I can watch an offense move the ball. It won't take a penalty to get a first down. When you've suffered through Ty Detmer, Doug Pedersen, Spergon Wynn, and Josh McCown over the past 5 years, you kind of forget what offensive football is. Not to say Trent Dilfer is great, but when is the last time a Browns QB threw for over 270 yards?
This will take time. I still would like to see 6-7 wins this year, but I want to see progress. I got some (not all - playcalling was questionable, and penalties killed us) progress in that first game.
2) How's that front four, Denver?
3) Boy, did I get an earful from a whole lot of fans in the country when our Browns fans cheered Tim Couch when he got hurt in a Sunday Night Game vs. the Ravens on Oct 6, 2002. Remember that?
So what happened last night? Ravens's fans cheered when Boller went down. Hypocrites.
And I love seeing a QB controversy in the division.
4) The Bengals will win this division.
5) Which Mike will be fired first? Tice? Shanahan? Martz? Holmgren? Wow. All four had bad losses.
6) Pick for tonight: Atlanta 24, Philly 20. Take the Falcons.
19 games to go, we are 1 1/2 games up. Wow. Keep winning, Tribe.
Supreme Court
I remember talking with Lee on why he was going to vote for Kerry instead of Bush and he said it was mainly due to social issues and the possible appointments to the Supreme Court. I laughed and said that no one is retiring and that he should calm down because even if someone does get appointed, I don't think that Bush would get a right wing judge approved.
Well with two judges gone, I'm starting to get pay a more attention to what is going on right now. The Terry Schibo debacle makes me a little worried as well as how to redefine the Right to Privacy, which this court will probably have a good chance to redefine in the upcoming years. This also applies to State vs. Federal jurisdiction which flows into tort reform, gay rights, and gun laws. And then add on the Abortion issue that I thought was put to rest, but apparently this could get overturned. Am I over-reacting due to CNN and MSNBC or should I really be concerned?
Well with two judges gone, I'm starting to get pay a more attention to what is going on right now. The Terry Schibo debacle makes me a little worried as well as how to redefine the Right to Privacy, which this court will probably have a good chance to redefine in the upcoming years. This also applies to State vs. Federal jurisdiction which flows into tort reform, gay rights, and gun laws. And then add on the Abortion issue that I thought was put to rest, but apparently this could get overturned. Am I over-reacting due to CNN and MSNBC or should I really be concerned?
Sep 11, 2005
Kick it Off
So its about 75 and sunny right now, and I can't make it out of my place due to several Irish Car Bombs and a couple of bottles of wine. Looks like I'm stuck watching opening day. Several gambling notes to start everything off.
-Betting activity is up again this year, despite my attempts to offer bad service so they go elsewhere. Massive amounts of calls, which surprises me since usually it takes a while for this to kick in. What do you think is causing this?
-I really do like Eric's analysis on how to break down a game, but he hasn't been all that successful, has he? Is it because he just doesn't do this for one game...or maybe 2-4 games. He does it for like 10-15 games. Over time the odds are just against him. Eric, I want you to give me the top 2 games per week to see if you loaded up on just those games you would be anymore successful than spreading it out over 15 games.
-VegasInsider is still an amazing site for gambling advice and news. I recommend this site for everyone. On Monday morning they have a great column breaking down the line changes in Vegas. Really cool.
-Betting activity is up again this year, despite my attempts to offer bad service so they go elsewhere. Massive amounts of calls, which surprises me since usually it takes a while for this to kick in. What do you think is causing this?
-I really do like Eric's analysis on how to break down a game, but he hasn't been all that successful, has he? Is it because he just doesn't do this for one game...or maybe 2-4 games. He does it for like 10-15 games. Over time the odds are just against him. Eric, I want you to give me the top 2 games per week to see if you loaded up on just those games you would be anymore successful than spreading it out over 15 games.
-VegasInsider is still an amazing site for gambling advice and news. I recommend this site for everyone. On Monday morning they have a great column breaking down the line changes in Vegas. Really cool.
Sep 10, 2005
NFL Picks, Week 1
Boy oh boy, talking about flying blind. That's what it feels like trying to pick these games.
In no particular order:
Buffalo 16, Houston 13. Each team seems to have no passing game - Carr is shaky and who knows what Losman will do. Both have strong running games; this should be a field-goal fest in Buffalo.
Kansas City 31, New York Jets 20 - Should be a good game with the Chiefs pulling away late. Just don't see the Jet's defense containing all the weapons of KC.
Minnesota 28, Tampa Bay 13. Can anyone see Tampa scoring more than, oh, 17 points? Minnesota will score at least 3 TDs. This probably won't be close at half.
Chicago 20, Washington 17. Some people rate the Browns as the worse team in football (like Yahoo!/TSN). I watches every second of that dreadful 17-13 Browns win over the Skins last year; the Skins can play as bad as anyone most of the time, and they are not getting better anytime soon. I watched Kyle play vs. the Browns in the last preseason game - and he seems to "get" it.
Denver 20, Miami 13. The Broncos will make enough mistakes to keep it interesting; however, I just don't think Miami's offense can do enough to win.
Pittsburgh 24, Tennessee 23. Too many questions for Pittsburgh for a returning 15-1 team. What will the loss of Burress do to Big Ben? How will the injuries at RB affect them? They are not good at stopping the deep threat, and Tennessee does have that in Bennett. I have this gut feeling that this will be MUCH cloer than people think.
Carolina 27, New Orleans 9. Count me as one of those who thinks the Katrina disaster will impact the Saints in a negative manner. I just can't see them hanging with one of the best teams in the NFC.
Jacksonville 31, Seattle 24. These are the type of games Mike Holmgren has not been able to win over the past 3-4 years in Seattle - a road game vs. a good (not great) opponent where Seattle on paper should have a chance. This will be a shootout - Seattle will score, and their defense will give up big plays and long drives - and in the end, Holmgren will find a way to lose it.
Detroit 28, Green Bay 17 - This is not to say that I think that Detroit will go 11-5 or something. I have a nagging feelign about Green Bay and their weaknesses on Defense and in certain areas on offense. Detroit will lead early and often, forcing Brett to throw many times - and when he does, he's bound to make mistakes.
San Diego 20, Dallas 10 - I'm not drinking the Dallas kool-aid, ESPECIALLY with Drew Bledsoe at the helm. It will be LT, LT and more LT for San Diego, adn they will control this game.
St Louis 34, San Francisco 7 - The 49ers remind me not of the 199 Browns, but of the 2000 Browns, a team trying to recover from a disastrous 2-14 season. The Browns' opener that year was at home vs. Jacksonville, and Jax won 31-10, I believe. It will be the same type of game. SF may hang around for a while , but in the end, the horses will win out.
NY Giants 17, Arizona 13 - I'll believe the Cards are for real when I see it. This is a game they traditionally lose, and they will again. This loss will haunt the Cards into December.
Baltimore 24, Indianapolis 20 - I could just write "Indianapolis 31, Baltimore 10" and be done with it - there probably won't be a lot of questions - but something just nags me here. Manning does not play well against good defenses. This is outdoors, and in prime time. Jamal will have a big game (the 4-month sentence will affect later in the year, not now). There will be defensive TD's (or returns deep into Colts territory). And in the opening game, the Ravens will want to answer all types of questions. I hate to say this, but the more I think about this, the more I am convinced that Bal will win - and most of you know how much that pains me.
Oh yes, there is:
Cleveland 23, Cincinnati 20.
16 Best bets (to-date: 0-0-1):
Buf/Hou under
KC
Min
Chi
Ten
Ten/Pit OVER
Car
Car/NO Under
Jax
Jax/Sea Over
Det
SD
SD/Dal Under
Stl
NYG/Az Under
Bal
(edited for readability)
In no particular order:
Buffalo 16, Houston 13. Each team seems to have no passing game - Carr is shaky and who knows what Losman will do. Both have strong running games; this should be a field-goal fest in Buffalo.
Kansas City 31, New York Jets 20 - Should be a good game with the Chiefs pulling away late. Just don't see the Jet's defense containing all the weapons of KC.
Minnesota 28, Tampa Bay 13. Can anyone see Tampa scoring more than, oh, 17 points? Minnesota will score at least 3 TDs. This probably won't be close at half.
Chicago 20, Washington 17. Some people rate the Browns as the worse team in football (like Yahoo!/TSN). I watches every second of that dreadful 17-13 Browns win over the Skins last year; the Skins can play as bad as anyone most of the time, and they are not getting better anytime soon. I watched Kyle play vs. the Browns in the last preseason game - and he seems to "get" it.
Denver 20, Miami 13. The Broncos will make enough mistakes to keep it interesting; however, I just don't think Miami's offense can do enough to win.
Pittsburgh 24, Tennessee 23. Too many questions for Pittsburgh for a returning 15-1 team. What will the loss of Burress do to Big Ben? How will the injuries at RB affect them? They are not good at stopping the deep threat, and Tennessee does have that in Bennett. I have this gut feeling that this will be MUCH cloer than people think.
Carolina 27, New Orleans 9. Count me as one of those who thinks the Katrina disaster will impact the Saints in a negative manner. I just can't see them hanging with one of the best teams in the NFC.
Jacksonville 31, Seattle 24. These are the type of games Mike Holmgren has not been able to win over the past 3-4 years in Seattle - a road game vs. a good (not great) opponent where Seattle on paper should have a chance. This will be a shootout - Seattle will score, and their defense will give up big plays and long drives - and in the end, Holmgren will find a way to lose it.
Detroit 28, Green Bay 17 - This is not to say that I think that Detroit will go 11-5 or something. I have a nagging feelign about Green Bay and their weaknesses on Defense and in certain areas on offense. Detroit will lead early and often, forcing Brett to throw many times - and when he does, he's bound to make mistakes.
San Diego 20, Dallas 10 - I'm not drinking the Dallas kool-aid, ESPECIALLY with Drew Bledsoe at the helm. It will be LT, LT and more LT for San Diego, adn they will control this game.
St Louis 34, San Francisco 7 - The 49ers remind me not of the 199 Browns, but of the 2000 Browns, a team trying to recover from a disastrous 2-14 season. The Browns' opener that year was at home vs. Jacksonville, and Jax won 31-10, I believe. It will be the same type of game. SF may hang around for a while , but in the end, the horses will win out.
NY Giants 17, Arizona 13 - I'll believe the Cards are for real when I see it. This is a game they traditionally lose, and they will again. This loss will haunt the Cards into December.
Baltimore 24, Indianapolis 20 - I could just write "Indianapolis 31, Baltimore 10" and be done with it - there probably won't be a lot of questions - but something just nags me here. Manning does not play well against good defenses. This is outdoors, and in prime time. Jamal will have a big game (the 4-month sentence will affect later in the year, not now). There will be defensive TD's (or returns deep into Colts territory). And in the opening game, the Ravens will want to answer all types of questions. I hate to say this, but the more I think about this, the more I am convinced that Bal will win - and most of you know how much that pains me.
Oh yes, there is:
Cleveland 23, Cincinnati 20.
16 Best bets (to-date: 0-0-1):
Buf/Hou under
KC
Min
Chi
Ten
Ten/Pit OVER
Car
Car/NO Under
Jax
Jax/Sea Over
Det
SD
SD/Dal Under
Stl
NYG/Az Under
Bal
(edited for readability)
Just wanted to share the good news...
Aug 11, 1987, I hit a 5-iron at Hunt Valley Blue #5, a par 3 of 170 yards - it landed about 20 feet short and released, taking the break and falling into the hole for my first hole-in-one.
Today, Sept 10, 2005, I hit another 5-iron at #12 at Brown Deer in Coralville IA from 180; it hit 3 feet short and slowly released dead-on to the flag and dropped for my second hole-in-one.
At this rate, Oct 9, 2023 should be another big day.
Today, Sept 10, 2005, I hit another 5-iron at #12 at Brown Deer in Coralville IA from 180; it hit 3 feet short and slowly released dead-on to the flag and dropped for my second hole-in-one.
At this rate, Oct 9, 2023 should be another big day.
Finally back home
Couple of quick notes on my travels:
-How the hell do the Terps only win by 3 against Navy. Is Navy decent or are we just that bad. Now we are down 7-2 at home against Clemson. Ugh. Oh, now the Terps are up 10-7. Nice 4th down conversion.
-Not a huge college football fan, but man there is a just a huge amounts of great games already in the early part of the season. Here are my quick thoughts on the season:
1)Despite the early loss, Oklahoma will still beat TX.
2) Big Ten will be amazing this year with Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan with great teams. Michigan isn't looking that good so far today against ND, so it might just come down to Iowa and Ohio State. Eric is big on Purdue, but I really have nothing to say about this.
3) The East Coast bias will really hurt USC this year if they falter against a solid Oregon on the road. Other than Oregon on the road, they really do have a cake walk to the National Championship again this year. Here is a question on the draft though. Is it possible that USC will have players go 1-2-3 in Leinart, Bush, and White in the NFL draft next year?
4) Pittsburgh- Was outclassed against ND last week and lost to Ohio last night. Wannstedt is just not a head coach. How many years will it take for everyone to realize this? And Cavanaugh is not a Offensive Coordinator. The difference between Carrol and Wannstedt is recruiting and game planning.
-This brings me to another comment on Wannstedt and Turner, two coordinators under Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys. How are these two guys still living off of their legacy from 10+ years ago? 10 years and just failed head coaching from these two with every team they were with. Turner with the Skins, Houston, and Raiders, and Wannstedt with Chicago, Miami, and Pitt. Its just amazing to me that there are GMs and ADs that still take a chance on these boobs every year, and writers will comment on their success with the Cowboys on why that team will succeed. Its like someone referencing my Spades Tournament organizational skills from college now in an interview with my current bosses. It just doesn't make sense.
Wanted to make this comment before, but my computer died. The Sportsguy is just slipping and getting way to political in his columns. His comments about the Bill Maher episode on HBO just continues to show how big of an idiot he can be sometimes. I watched this episode that he referenced, and it was just terrible. Now I think that John Stewart and Bill Maher's take on Bush and Republicans are almost identical, but the reason why I enjoy watching John Stewart is because he is funny and refreshing. I might not agree with Stewart, but he doesn't make me feel bad about not agreeing with him, and his skits and monologues are just classic. And he tries to present both sides (doesn't do that good of a job, but at least there is an attempt), respects different opinions, and he brings on all types of political guests and he conducts very solid interviews with them. On the other hand, Maher is just full of hate and I think he is stealing his jokes from 3rd graders. And the quality of his guests are just crap. If you have to resort to using "Josh" from West Wing as your main political advisor, you are in trouble. And for the Sportsguy to say that his jokes and analysis was right on, now puts him in the "John Kruk" category for political comments.
-Oh, but I will buy his book, or at least ask for it for my b-day (hint hint Eric).
-So I go from the San Remo in San Fran to the Four Seasons in Scottsdale. Now I've been to plenty of top notch hotels, but never a Four Seasons. And wow, what an amazing hotel. Everything from polishing your shoes, doing the laundry, turndown service that is second to none, and rooms that are bigger than most houses. And the service? Unbelievable. The first morning I get a wake up call and its actually a person telling me good morning and the expected weather for that day. The second day I get the wake up call, but accidentally hung up when I tried to pick up the phone. They called back, but I don't answer since I'm on my way to the shower. Before I can get into the shower (maybe 4 minutes), there is a knock on the door. Its security making sure I'm OK, because I didn't answer the wake up call. Then the last night I was there, I was coming back from dinner, the valet guy tells me to go to the front desk since there is a problem with my room. Security is there telling me that there is a swarm of bugs outside my front door and walks with me to my room to make sure everything is OK. How the fuck did they know I wasn't already in the room, and what car I drove? Pretty nice.
-So back to the San Remo. I sort of railed on it the first night I was there, but it got a little bit better over the weekend. I still think that the key to it all is to have a few drinks before going to bed. The place is cheap and I shouldn't expect anything more than a place to sleep and shower. I will stay there again the next time I'm up in San Fran or Oakland. Oh and I did find the shampoo, soap, and iron.
-Sonoma- Wow, what a nice place. Even if you don't like wine, it is worth making a trip up North to Sonoma, Santa Rosa, and Heildsburg. Stay out of Napa since its a little bit touristy. Great time, nice drive and an overall great day.
-Video Games- Madden Season starts up on Monday. My boys back East and I finally have 16 players with 2 teams each so we can do a complete season. Check out Hereford Nine for the Website and early lines for AFC/NFC/Superbowl futures.
-How the hell do the Terps only win by 3 against Navy. Is Navy decent or are we just that bad. Now we are down 7-2 at home against Clemson. Ugh. Oh, now the Terps are up 10-7. Nice 4th down conversion.
-Not a huge college football fan, but man there is a just a huge amounts of great games already in the early part of the season. Here are my quick thoughts on the season:
1)Despite the early loss, Oklahoma will still beat TX.
2) Big Ten will be amazing this year with Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan with great teams. Michigan isn't looking that good so far today against ND, so it might just come down to Iowa and Ohio State. Eric is big on Purdue, but I really have nothing to say about this.
3) The East Coast bias will really hurt USC this year if they falter against a solid Oregon on the road. Other than Oregon on the road, they really do have a cake walk to the National Championship again this year. Here is a question on the draft though. Is it possible that USC will have players go 1-2-3 in Leinart, Bush, and White in the NFL draft next year?
4) Pittsburgh- Was outclassed against ND last week and lost to Ohio last night. Wannstedt is just not a head coach. How many years will it take for everyone to realize this? And Cavanaugh is not a Offensive Coordinator. The difference between Carrol and Wannstedt is recruiting and game planning.
-This brings me to another comment on Wannstedt and Turner, two coordinators under Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys. How are these two guys still living off of their legacy from 10+ years ago? 10 years and just failed head coaching from these two with every team they were with. Turner with the Skins, Houston, and Raiders, and Wannstedt with Chicago, Miami, and Pitt. Its just amazing to me that there are GMs and ADs that still take a chance on these boobs every year, and writers will comment on their success with the Cowboys on why that team will succeed. Its like someone referencing my Spades Tournament organizational skills from college now in an interview with my current bosses. It just doesn't make sense.
Wanted to make this comment before, but my computer died. The Sportsguy is just slipping and getting way to political in his columns. His comments about the Bill Maher episode on HBO just continues to show how big of an idiot he can be sometimes. I watched this episode that he referenced, and it was just terrible. Now I think that John Stewart and Bill Maher's take on Bush and Republicans are almost identical, but the reason why I enjoy watching John Stewart is because he is funny and refreshing. I might not agree with Stewart, but he doesn't make me feel bad about not agreeing with him, and his skits and monologues are just classic. And he tries to present both sides (doesn't do that good of a job, but at least there is an attempt), respects different opinions, and he brings on all types of political guests and he conducts very solid interviews with them. On the other hand, Maher is just full of hate and I think he is stealing his jokes from 3rd graders. And the quality of his guests are just crap. If you have to resort to using "Josh" from West Wing as your main political advisor, you are in trouble. And for the Sportsguy to say that his jokes and analysis was right on, now puts him in the "John Kruk" category for political comments.
-Oh, but I will buy his book, or at least ask for it for my b-day (hint hint Eric).
-So I go from the San Remo in San Fran to the Four Seasons in Scottsdale. Now I've been to plenty of top notch hotels, but never a Four Seasons. And wow, what an amazing hotel. Everything from polishing your shoes, doing the laundry, turndown service that is second to none, and rooms that are bigger than most houses. And the service? Unbelievable. The first morning I get a wake up call and its actually a person telling me good morning and the expected weather for that day. The second day I get the wake up call, but accidentally hung up when I tried to pick up the phone. They called back, but I don't answer since I'm on my way to the shower. Before I can get into the shower (maybe 4 minutes), there is a knock on the door. Its security making sure I'm OK, because I didn't answer the wake up call. Then the last night I was there, I was coming back from dinner, the valet guy tells me to go to the front desk since there is a problem with my room. Security is there telling me that there is a swarm of bugs outside my front door and walks with me to my room to make sure everything is OK. How the fuck did they know I wasn't already in the room, and what car I drove? Pretty nice.
-So back to the San Remo. I sort of railed on it the first night I was there, but it got a little bit better over the weekend. I still think that the key to it all is to have a few drinks before going to bed. The place is cheap and I shouldn't expect anything more than a place to sleep and shower. I will stay there again the next time I'm up in San Fran or Oakland. Oh and I did find the shampoo, soap, and iron.
-Sonoma- Wow, what a nice place. Even if you don't like wine, it is worth making a trip up North to Sonoma, Santa Rosa, and Heildsburg. Stay out of Napa since its a little bit touristy. Great time, nice drive and an overall great day.
-Video Games- Madden Season starts up on Monday. My boys back East and I finally have 16 players with 2 teams each so we can do a complete season. Check out Hereford Nine for the Website and early lines for AFC/NFC/Superbowl futures.
Sep 9, 2005
The Champ is Here!
Well, the football season opened up last night but for the Pats the season seemed to "resume". They did their usual grind it out, nothing flashy "W" - almost like the season was Tivo-ed at the end of the Super Bowl and was unpaused last night. Of course they'll need to pick up their game when they play at Pitt and at Carolina, but I thought they looked decent. Run defense was a little suspect, offensive line still coming together, but overall not too shabby, besides you never want to peak in Sept.
I am really looking forward to watching the other two PT games this weekend. What matchups (besides your teams) are you looking forward to this weekend? BTW, one nice thing about your team playing in Prime Time is that it allows you to channel surf without restriction to any game on Sunday. Ahhh football season!! Time to be lazy and do nothing for 12 straight hours!
I am really looking forward to watching the other two PT games this weekend. What matchups (besides your teams) are you looking forward to this weekend? BTW, one nice thing about your team playing in Prime Time is that it allows you to channel surf without restriction to any game on Sunday. Ahhh football season!! Time to be lazy and do nothing for 12 straight hours!
My inner 6th grade schoolgirl
Last night, after the final of "Tampa Bay 7, NY Yankees 4" was flashed, my feelings resembled a 6th grade girl who just found out that the boy she likes likes her back..
"Oh My God... Oh My God... Oh My God... Oh My God"
We are actually leading the wild card race this late in the season. We have caught and overtaken two very good teams in NY and Oakland. I think it finally hit me that we are not playing over our heads, but are on the same level as these two.
The next 9 games are going to be crucial - well, aren't they all? - to see if the Indians can validate their status. We have a 9-game homestand against Minnesota, Oakland, and Kansas City.
At this point, I'll take 6-3. This is the last chance for the Twins - and Santana goes tonight - so the weekend will be difficult. And, of course, the A's series will be fascinating to watch, and all three games should be a struggle. And then we have to be careful not to have a letdown with Kansas City.
Wow. I can't believe this. I hope the team has their blinders on and continues their good play, no matter what the standings say.
"Oh My God... Oh My God... Oh My God... Oh My God"
We are actually leading the wild card race this late in the season. We have caught and overtaken two very good teams in NY and Oakland. I think it finally hit me that we are not playing over our heads, but are on the same level as these two.
The next 9 games are going to be crucial - well, aren't they all? - to see if the Indians can validate their status. We have a 9-game homestand against Minnesota, Oakland, and Kansas City.
At this point, I'll take 6-3. This is the last chance for the Twins - and Santana goes tonight - so the weekend will be difficult. And, of course, the A's series will be fascinating to watch, and all three games should be a struggle. And then we have to be careful not to have a letdown with Kansas City.
Wow. I can't believe this. I hope the team has their blinders on and continues their good play, no matter what the standings say.
Sep 8, 2005
Pick for Tonight
OK, all, here is my process for selecting what "wagers" to select on any given Sunday. Let's work through the process for tonight's game.
Of course, by "wagers", I mean for entertainment purposes only. Have to throw that in.
Step 1. Do NOT look at the lines before analyzing the games. I can't stress this enough. It's too easy to look at a line and immediately be biased one way or another - and then you get caught trying to analyze the game to defend your inital bias. (for example, you are surprised that Denver is "only" giving 5, and you end up analyzing the game to make sure you pick Denver)
When looking at games, you need to make sure you are unbiased with regard to the line. That's why I don't pick Cleveland games - I can't be unbiased when talking about the Browns.
Step 2. Look at the off/def matchups on each side and predict how that will play out. Ball control? Lots of possessions?
Taking tonight's game as an example:
NE O / Oak D: This seems like a classic game where NE has about 8-9 possessions, each of 7-10 plays, with a lot of Corey Dillon and eating up the clock. I'm guessing 20-24 points.
Oak O/NE D: The big play offense is there, but I believe Belicheck will be ready to contain Moss. Oak will move the ball - I especially like Jordan - but I can't see them putting up 3 or 4 TDs. NE will stop them inside the 20 on multiple occasions. I think Oak will kick 3-4 FGs as drives stall. I even started Janikowski in my fantasy league.
Step 3. Any intangibles to consider? Rookie QBs? Coaches? Home teams that are considered lightly? None especially in this game.
Step 4. Make a prediction of the final score given the above analysis.
My prediction: New England 24, Oakland 16
Step 5: Check the line
Line: NE -7 1/2, o/u 50
Step 6: If your prediction varies more than 3 points from the line or more than 6 from the over/under, go with it!
There we are: I will pick the under in tonight's game.
Step 7: Are there any hard-and-fast rules that are violated with this pick? Some rules are: Home underdogs in prime-time games are like 70% ATS; are you picking a team that hasn't covered in a while; is Marty Schottenheimer involved?
None for this game.
There we go! Good luck.
Of course, by "wagers", I mean for entertainment purposes only. Have to throw that in.
Step 1. Do NOT look at the lines before analyzing the games. I can't stress this enough. It's too easy to look at a line and immediately be biased one way or another - and then you get caught trying to analyze the game to defend your inital bias. (for example, you are surprised that Denver is "only" giving 5, and you end up analyzing the game to make sure you pick Denver)
When looking at games, you need to make sure you are unbiased with regard to the line. That's why I don't pick Cleveland games - I can't be unbiased when talking about the Browns.
Step 2. Look at the off/def matchups on each side and predict how that will play out. Ball control? Lots of possessions?
Taking tonight's game as an example:
NE O / Oak D: This seems like a classic game where NE has about 8-9 possessions, each of 7-10 plays, with a lot of Corey Dillon and eating up the clock. I'm guessing 20-24 points.
Oak O/NE D: The big play offense is there, but I believe Belicheck will be ready to contain Moss. Oak will move the ball - I especially like Jordan - but I can't see them putting up 3 or 4 TDs. NE will stop them inside the 20 on multiple occasions. I think Oak will kick 3-4 FGs as drives stall. I even started Janikowski in my fantasy league.
Step 3. Any intangibles to consider? Rookie QBs? Coaches? Home teams that are considered lightly? None especially in this game.
Step 4. Make a prediction of the final score given the above analysis.
My prediction: New England 24, Oakland 16
Step 5: Check the line
Line: NE -7 1/2, o/u 50
Step 6: If your prediction varies more than 3 points from the line or more than 6 from the over/under, go with it!
There we are: I will pick the under in tonight's game.
Step 7: Are there any hard-and-fast rules that are violated with this pick? Some rules are: Home underdogs in prime-time games are like 70% ATS; are you picking a team that hasn't covered in a while; is Marty Schottenheimer involved?
None for this game.
There we go! Good luck.
Sep 7, 2005
ESPN = = TASS
Wow. This is news I haven't heard on ESPN, or elsewhere:
Trev Alberts and Adrien Karsten
What other secrets are they hiding?
Trev Alberts and Adrien Karsten
What other secrets are they hiding?
Sep 6, 2005
Sports Thoughts and Ramblings
There are many good posts on here about the New Orleans tragedy. I'm going to try to lighten up the mood a little bit with my thoughts and ramblings about the recent happenings in the world of sports.....
1) Listened to the Cubs broadcast on Monday on the drive home from St Louis. My God, Ron Santo is an even worse homer than has been described to me.
2) I see the Steelers have signed Quincy Morgan off the scrap heap, having been released by Dallas. In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, "good luck with that".
3) I usually hate sideline reporters, but I have a soft spot for Michael Barkan.
4) Speaking of the US Open, I love watching the coverage on USA. It's parly because I adore the night tennis atmosphere in New York, but also because this means football starts on the last Sunday of the Open. The more matches that are played, the closer we get to the Sunday kickoff.
That being said, I think we can improve on USA's coverage of the US Open. The announcers- Ted Robinson, and Johnny Mac - are great, but it is usually forced to sign off at 10 pm CT for some Law & Order reruns. There was a great match last night between Ginepri and Gasquet that was cut off in the middle of the 3rd set so that we can watch Michael Moriary and Jerry Orbach. Please - this is tennis's two weeks in the sun! Shouldn't USA be forced to stay on until all night matches are over?
5) I am woefully unprepared for the start of the NFL season. I think it's because I'm still paying lots of attention to baseball! Never fear, Eric's gambling picks will appear in time for the games on Sunday morning.
6) Speaking of the Indians, they never fail to impress. Scottie picked it up yesterday with a great outing, and Cliffy followed it up with a gem today. With the Yanks giving one away tonight, we are just 1/2 game back of the WC lead... on September 6th! Wow. Every day feels like Week 15 of an NFL season - with only 24 hours between the next set of games.
7) College football: How anyone can rank Oklahoma ahead of TCU is mind-boggling..... Reading the St Louis apers this weekend, it's like they are crowning Ron Zook a miracle worker because he beat Rutgers at home in OT. Read that sentence again.....Hope Romeo can emulate the same success Charlie had on the first week.....
8) Got tickets for Lambeau on September 18th! Tailgating question I need help with: how would you set your schedule for the weekend given the following constraints:
- assume 5 hours to get up to Green Bay, 6 hours going back
- assume you can't leave earlier than 6 pm on Saturday, and you'd like to minimize any vacation days on Monday
- Kickoff is 3:15, and you need ample time for tailgating
How would you schedule the trip? Madison is 3 hours away ( about halfway), so that could be a great place to stop and party Saturday night....
9) For the game, I think I decided not to order another jersey this year. I have a white #31 (William Green) jersey that's still in great condition that will be the jersey for 2005. I haven't had luck with purchasing jerseys recently - in 2003, it was an orange Tim Couch jersey (released in 2004) and in 2004 it was a brown Jeff Garcia jersey (released in 2005).
1) Listened to the Cubs broadcast on Monday on the drive home from St Louis. My God, Ron Santo is an even worse homer than has been described to me.
2) I see the Steelers have signed Quincy Morgan off the scrap heap, having been released by Dallas. In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, "good luck with that".
3) I usually hate sideline reporters, but I have a soft spot for Michael Barkan.
4) Speaking of the US Open, I love watching the coverage on USA. It's parly because I adore the night tennis atmosphere in New York, but also because this means football starts on the last Sunday of the Open. The more matches that are played, the closer we get to the Sunday kickoff.
That being said, I think we can improve on USA's coverage of the US Open. The announcers- Ted Robinson, and Johnny Mac - are great, but it is usually forced to sign off at 10 pm CT for some Law & Order reruns. There was a great match last night between Ginepri and Gasquet that was cut off in the middle of the 3rd set so that we can watch Michael Moriary and Jerry Orbach. Please - this is tennis's two weeks in the sun! Shouldn't USA be forced to stay on until all night matches are over?
5) I am woefully unprepared for the start of the NFL season. I think it's because I'm still paying lots of attention to baseball! Never fear, Eric's gambling picks will appear in time for the games on Sunday morning.
6) Speaking of the Indians, they never fail to impress. Scottie picked it up yesterday with a great outing, and Cliffy followed it up with a gem today. With the Yanks giving one away tonight, we are just 1/2 game back of the WC lead... on September 6th! Wow. Every day feels like Week 15 of an NFL season - with only 24 hours between the next set of games.
7) College football: How anyone can rank Oklahoma ahead of TCU is mind-boggling..... Reading the St Louis apers this weekend, it's like they are crowning Ron Zook a miracle worker because he beat Rutgers at home in OT. Read that sentence again.....Hope Romeo can emulate the same success Charlie had on the first week.....
8) Got tickets for Lambeau on September 18th! Tailgating question I need help with: how would you set your schedule for the weekend given the following constraints:
- assume 5 hours to get up to Green Bay, 6 hours going back
- assume you can't leave earlier than 6 pm on Saturday, and you'd like to minimize any vacation days on Monday
- Kickoff is 3:15, and you need ample time for tailgating
How would you schedule the trip? Madison is 3 hours away ( about halfway), so that could be a great place to stop and party Saturday night....
9) For the game, I think I decided not to order another jersey this year. I have a white #31 (William Green) jersey that's still in great condition that will be the jersey for 2005. I haven't had luck with purchasing jerseys recently - in 2003, it was an orange Tim Couch jersey (released in 2004) and in 2004 it was a brown Jeff Garcia jersey (released in 2005).
Sep 4, 2005
Condolences?
Has anyone seen any sort of show of support from any other nation? Has anyone made any sort of official offer of condolences?
Not that they are comparable in scope, but when the tsunami hit, the United States led the relief efforts both in action (military and volunteer relief efforts) and financial assistance (I know that the financial part was sketchy to begin with) for countries that we are friendly with (India) as well as countries who hate us (Indonesia). We willingly lent our power and shared our wealth with whomever was in need, regardless of politics, race or religion. Now, I'm not asking for money from anyone else, or even assistance, but just some show of support would be nice. Everyone expects the U.S. to do everything for everyone else, but I think that we should all remember the underwhelming response from rest of the world when we have a problem. Fuck them.
Not that they are comparable in scope, but when the tsunami hit, the United States led the relief efforts both in action (military and volunteer relief efforts) and financial assistance (I know that the financial part was sketchy to begin with) for countries that we are friendly with (India) as well as countries who hate us (Indonesia). We willingly lent our power and shared our wealth with whomever was in need, regardless of politics, race or religion. Now, I'm not asking for money from anyone else, or even assistance, but just some show of support would be nice. Everyone expects the U.S. to do everything for everyone else, but I think that we should all remember the underwhelming response from rest of the world when we have a problem. Fuck them.
Sep 2, 2005
What Country is This?
I was watching CNN and MSNBC last night, and was just sickened with all that is happening in and around New Orleans. To see people out there for days with infants and small children, it is horrifying. The fact that their has been no real response or plan has been ridiculous. What about our magnicifent new Homeland Security Department that our wonderful administration setup (for billions of dollars)?? Wasn't this supposed to be the way federal/state/local officials could work together and "keep America safe"?? Well how safe do the people of NO feel right now?? Why are people suffering for **days** and bodies lying in the streets and nobody is bringing supplies and aid to this area?? We could sure use that National Guard of ours right about now, I think these situations are what the Guard is supposed to be used for. But instead they're across the globe helping to "liberate" Iraq. Oops. I know there are Guard coming over now (or in the next few days) but why the long delay?? Sheesh, if this had been a terrorist attack, imagine how much worse it would be? Here, we even had a few days warning!!
I loved the quote from our "leader" yesterday about how this is a "temporary disruption". Really? Tens of thousands (at least) are homeless, an American city is pretty much destroyed, we now have refugees in America, people are dying in the street, police are handing in their badges, businesses will not be rebuilt in the city anytime soon...yup it all adds up to me as a "temporary disruption" Mr President. As always, you have your finger firmly on the pulse of the situation.
Lastly, watching "Scarborough Country" (who I normally would never watch) last night even Joe Scarborough was appalled at the federal response. He was being extremely critical of the feds for not acting, openly questioning why last year in Florida they had three hurricanes in five days and were able to handle the situation efficiently, yet in New Orleans and around the gulf there has been virtually no action. You can draw your own conclusions on that.
Over the last view years I have been thinking occasionally "What Country is This?", as I feel more isolated from how our government chooses to "operate" on any number of topics. The images that we have all seen really struck that chord again with me, as I couldn't fathom seeing a scene like that in an American city. Lets hope the feds "get off their asses" (nice quote mr mayor) and get some help to those people down there before more people are left dead days *after* the hurricane hit.
I loved the quote from our "leader" yesterday about how this is a "temporary disruption". Really? Tens of thousands (at least) are homeless, an American city is pretty much destroyed, we now have refugees in America, people are dying in the street, police are handing in their badges, businesses will not be rebuilt in the city anytime soon...yup it all adds up to me as a "temporary disruption" Mr President. As always, you have your finger firmly on the pulse of the situation.
Lastly, watching "Scarborough Country" (who I normally would never watch) last night even Joe Scarborough was appalled at the federal response. He was being extremely critical of the feds for not acting, openly questioning why last year in Florida they had three hurricanes in five days and were able to handle the situation efficiently, yet in New Orleans and around the gulf there has been virtually no action. You can draw your own conclusions on that.
Over the last view years I have been thinking occasionally "What Country is This?", as I feel more isolated from how our government chooses to "operate" on any number of topics. The images that we have all seen really struck that chord again with me, as I couldn't fathom seeing a scene like that in an American city. Lets hope the feds "get off their asses" (nice quote mr mayor) and get some help to those people down there before more people are left dead days *after* the hurricane hit.
Sep 1, 2005
Making moves on an airplane
I'll make this quick and get right to the point. I like to be left alone on planes. Even when I'm flying with co-workers, I would rather them just shut up and let me do some work. Even if its a hot chick, I end up making some small talk for about 5 minutes and it quickly turns into the me explaining how you can hear the pilots on channel 7 and then I freeze up, turn on my computer and not say another word to them for the entire flight. Tonight, I end up boarding a Southwest flight to Oakland and there are only middle seats left. I spot out two women of medium size and decide to sit between them, since I need enough room to do some work. Right as I sit down, the one women in the window seat offers to switch with me since she thinks I will uncomfortable in the middle seat. She actually called me "large" twice trying to explain to the other lady why she was offering to switch. I accept and offer to buy her a drink in return but declines. To cut to the chase, we end up talking for a little bit and find out that she is 25, works for LexisNexis, is slightly above average looking, and loves wine and A's. That's right she loves the A's and Barry Zito. So the plane lands, and I'm packing up my laptop, she gives me her card and tells me to call her if I ever need her help using the search engine on lawsuits even though I told her that we use her main competitor. I find that a little odd and thought it was an opening, so as I was mentally putting together a quick battle plan to ask her to go to the A's game with me when the fucking lady in the aisle seat said out of the blue "It was nice meeting you both and you two should really exchange numbers and get married." ????????? What? For once I actually took the time to talk to someone on a plane, actually had a good conversation, had something in common, and had a perfect opening, and this lady fucks it up. Still went through with it, but it was rushed and wasn't exactly how I planned it. She gave me one of those "Well I would really love to, but I'm here visiting my father who is in the hospital" lines. Hmmm. Don't think she will be picking up her cell phone if a 818 area code shows up anytime this weekend.
This is why I never make moves on a plane...only on the street.
This is why I never make moves on a plane...only on the street.
The San Remo Hotel
No, not the fine gambling establishment in Vegas that has one of the only 24 hour sportsbooks, but the one in San Fran. Lee had me stay here with him and Katie a while back, and I sort of liked it. It's cheap, perfect location, and I thought it was pretty cool place. Well I don't know if I was drunk for the entire 48 hours I stayed here last time, but this place is major sketchy. No soap or shampoo (unless someone stole it), no clock, and no iron. How the hell am I going to get the wrinkles out of my linen pants? And to top it off, I'm in the exact same room as Lee was in last time, which had me thinking about what went on in here with him and Katie. Anyway, I need someone to call me at 7:00am (my time) to wake me up so I can move my freaking minivan that Hertz gave me, since I couldn't find a spot that would fit it. I'm in the President's Circle for Hertz and I request a freaking minivan. I'm such an ass.
Note: Jon and Brad, make sure you tell Suz and Beth to bring soap and shampoo. I'll check on an iron tomorrow morning.
Note: Jon and Brad, make sure you tell Suz and Beth to bring soap and shampoo. I'll check on an iron tomorrow morning.
Un F*N believable
I was going to post some lighthearted remarks about engineers being shot at and looters drying up the nation's supply of A1 sauce (both true stories)...
until I read that CNN and others are reporting that the Astrodome is full and is no longer taking refugees from the Superdome.
Read that again. This is mindboggling.
How could this possibly happen?
Who is running the local, state and federal emergency agencies, liberal arts majors?
What happened to counting? Capacity analysis? Crowd estimation techniques?
If things don't improve soon - and I mean 12-18 HOURS soon - Bush will be paying a big, big political price for this.
And you know what? That will be justified. As a Republican, I am embarrassed by the performance of FEMA over the last 2 days or so. It's not getting any better.
God help those still in New Orleans.
until I read that CNN and others are reporting that the Astrodome is full and is no longer taking refugees from the Superdome.
Read that again. This is mindboggling.
How could this possibly happen?
Who is running the local, state and federal emergency agencies, liberal arts majors?
What happened to counting? Capacity analysis? Crowd estimation techniques?
If things don't improve soon - and I mean 12-18 HOURS soon - Bush will be paying a big, big political price for this.
And you know what? That will be justified. As a Republican, I am embarrassed by the performance of FEMA over the last 2 days or so. It's not getting any better.
God help those still in New Orleans.
Aug 30, 2005
Katrina and New Orleans
The best place for information that I have found on the absolute destruction in New Orleans and other gulf coast cities is at: www.brendanloy.com.
If these stories and reports are true - 1) they seem valid and 2) there's no reason to openly doubt these - then there are some terrible things going on down there now, and it looks like New Orleans is in some serious trouble.
The magnitude of the damage seems to be lacking on CNN and other news channels.
If these stories and reports are true - 1) they seem valid and 2) there's no reason to openly doubt these - then there are some terrible things going on down there now, and it looks like New Orleans is in some serious trouble.
The magnitude of the damage seems to be lacking on CNN and other news channels.
NFL
How much of an impact have Fantasy Leauges, Gambling, and XBox had on the recent success of the NFL?
Aug 29, 2005
The sweet smell of victory
Aug 28, 2005
BuckSuperStereo
To steal from the BuckSuperStereo site of "Events that I wish I had my camera handy", here is what I saw last night leaving Hollywood Park, which is in Inglewood, at 9:00pm last night. Pulled up to a stop light that has an Adult Store that is boarded up, with a small door on the side for entrance. I've seen this place a thousand times before heading to Hollywood Park. Hookers and drunks are always going in and out of the place.
Well standing out front of the place were four white 9 year old kids rapping freestyle and making comments to the drunks walking by. They were actually rapping. I am totally lost for words.
Well standing out front of the place were four white 9 year old kids rapping freestyle and making comments to the drunks walking by. They were actually rapping. I am totally lost for words.
Text This!!!
In the Claims Insurance World, the advent of Text Messaging was a tremendous breakthrough. It allowed a claims operation from a centralized location to notify field claims handlers of new losses in their territory by Text Messaging them on their cell phones. Every new loss was text messaged to the claims handler with all the information they would need to make contact with our insured and in the end handle the claim faster and more efficient. We started using this back in 2000, and since then we have evolved to wireless broadband cards that allows us to issue checks to the insured on the spot.
But the backlash of this technology lies with the regular public. Now I don't mind kids text messaging back and forth, since we used to do stupid shit back in the day, plus they don't really know any better. But what sets me off are adults who text message. If anyone can give me a solid reason why an adult would text message another adult, then I will change my view, but until then, anyone who sends me a Text Message (without calling first) automatically gets put into the "What the Fuck is wrong with them" category. Especially when the message is long and I know that it probably took them 10 minutes to compose and send. Or it just says "Hey what are you up too?" Why not just call? Most of the time when I question the people who send me a message as to why they did it, their response is that they didn't want to bother me because it was too early or late to call. What they should know is that whenever you get a text message, the phone rings like you are getting a regular call, so its still bothering you. And with my Sprint phone, it takes me about 5 minutes to get to it and I still don't know how to erase them so it keeps a little message light lit up and I can't tell if I actually have a regular message. Just plain annoying.
But the backlash of this technology lies with the regular public. Now I don't mind kids text messaging back and forth, since we used to do stupid shit back in the day, plus they don't really know any better. But what sets me off are adults who text message. If anyone can give me a solid reason why an adult would text message another adult, then I will change my view, but until then, anyone who sends me a Text Message (without calling first) automatically gets put into the "What the Fuck is wrong with them" category. Especially when the message is long and I know that it probably took them 10 minutes to compose and send. Or it just says "Hey what are you up too?" Why not just call? Most of the time when I question the people who send me a message as to why they did it, their response is that they didn't want to bother me because it was too early or late to call. What they should know is that whenever you get a text message, the phone rings like you are getting a regular call, so its still bothering you. And with my Sprint phone, it takes me about 5 minutes to get to it and I still don't know how to erase them so it keeps a little message light lit up and I can't tell if I actually have a regular message. Just plain annoying.
Crap Music
Ben and I were arguing the other day about Maroon 5, and how much they suck. I'm not going to get into that argument since it should be agreed that Maroon 5 is just a glorified boy band with a couple of guitars, and their music makes N'Sync sound like Megadeath. But what should be noted is how long their songs have remained in the mainstream radio rotation. Their album was released back in early 2002 and they still dominate the airwaves with songs off that album. Here is the question...Has there been an album in the last couple of decades that continue to release songs 3 years later? Pearl Jam-Ten? Metallica-Metallica? On XM yesterday, Maroon 5 was on 4 different stations, with different songs. In my opinion this represents how much the music industry sucks right now, and their inability to find original and solid talent.
Aug 26, 2005
Quick Thoughts for a Friday Morning
Two totally unrelated questions:
Couldn't sleep last night due to work issues in our project management staff, so from 4:00-7:00am I watched episodes of Monk. Never watched it before. Very light and enjoyable, but this might of been because of the time. If I was watching this in the evening I'm not too sure if it would of held my attention for an entire episode. But I did find Monk's sidekick, Traylor Howard, very very attractive. Any thoughts on Monk?
Do you think Isreal's pullout from the Gaza is a setup? Do you think that when they get bombed again, they will make the case that they have tried everything that they could, and then just bomb the living shit out of everyone in that area with the blessing of everyone?
Couldn't sleep last night due to work issues in our project management staff, so from 4:00-7:00am I watched episodes of Monk. Never watched it before. Very light and enjoyable, but this might of been because of the time. If I was watching this in the evening I'm not too sure if it would of held my attention for an entire episode. But I did find Monk's sidekick, Traylor Howard, very very attractive. Any thoughts on Monk?
Do you think Isreal's pullout from the Gaza is a setup? Do you think that when they get bombed again, they will make the case that they have tried everything that they could, and then just bomb the living shit out of everyone in that area with the blessing of everyone?
Aug 24, 2005
Welcome
I would like to welcome Austin, who will be a regular poster on Flotsam Jetsam. For some reason he goes by the tag of LindaNelson (my boss's name), but seems to have his finger on the pulse of LA. He has broke some very important stories by either seeing it first hand or somehow hearing about it before they even made the papers or the internet. Here are a few of those stories over the past year:
- Matt Leinhart was dating Kristine from Laguna Beach.
- The Lawerence Phillips incident last weekend.
- Ike Austin accepting money to play at ASU.
- Derek Lowe sleeping with the Fox Sports girl.
- Matt Leinhart breaking up with Kristine and then dating Jessica Simpson's best friend (the one that lived with them).
- Michael Jackson's love affair with all those kids (Austin used to be a regular guest at Neverland).
So he will be our field reporter for good and accurate gossip about LA athletes. Also, I'm hoping he will add some insight for college football gamblers which seems to be lacking here at Flotsam and Jetsam. His knowledge in basically all College Sports is second to none.
Welcome
2005 AL Wild Card = 1986 Masters
Before the games last night, the AL Wild Card chase struck me as being very similar to the 1986 Masters.
During that final round when Seve and Kite were on 15, and Seve put the ball in the water and Kite made a routine birdie, Ben Wright announced that "we have a triple tie, a triple tie for the lead".
I love saying that - triple tie. Try it!
Anyway, the standings at that moment were:
Ballesteros -8 15
Nicklaus -8 16
Kite -8 15
Norman -6 14
Watson -6 15
The parellells to this year's WC are clear. Obviously, the Yankees are Seve - the team/player that has a lot of talent, but everyone loves to hate. Norman is the hard-charging Twins, and the Blue Jays seem like Watson - they're in it, but no one gives them a chance.
The only question is whether the Tribe or the A's play the part of Jack. My argument:
- Jack is from Ohio, and the Indians are in Ohio!
- Jack at that time had won 5 Masters; the Tribe has won 5 AL Pennants!
- Kite wears glasses, Macha wears glasses (I think).
There you go! My prediction is that the final standings will mirror the 86 Masters, where Seve 3-putted 17, Kite missed an 8 footer on 18 to tie, and Norman choked away a playoff with a bogey on 18.
Cle 90-72
Oak 89-73
Min 89-73
NYY 87-75
Tor 84-78
Sea 82-80
(See, someone had to play the part of Tommy Nakajima, so I picked Seattle. I guess that's where my analogy falls apart.)
During that final round when Seve and Kite were on 15, and Seve put the ball in the water and Kite made a routine birdie, Ben Wright announced that "we have a triple tie, a triple tie for the lead".
I love saying that - triple tie. Try it!
Anyway, the standings at that moment were:
Ballesteros -8 15
Nicklaus -8 16
Kite -8 15
Norman -6 14
Watson -6 15
The parellells to this year's WC are clear. Obviously, the Yankees are Seve - the team/player that has a lot of talent, but everyone loves to hate. Norman is the hard-charging Twins, and the Blue Jays seem like Watson - they're in it, but no one gives them a chance.
The only question is whether the Tribe or the A's play the part of Jack. My argument:
- Jack is from Ohio, and the Indians are in Ohio!
- Jack at that time had won 5 Masters; the Tribe has won 5 AL Pennants!
- Kite wears glasses, Macha wears glasses (I think).
There you go! My prediction is that the final standings will mirror the 86 Masters, where Seve 3-putted 17, Kite missed an 8 footer on 18 to tie, and Norman choked away a playoff with a bogey on 18.
Cle 90-72
Oak 89-73
Min 89-73
NYY 87-75
Tor 84-78
Sea 82-80
(See, someone had to play the part of Tommy Nakajima, so I picked Seattle. I guess that's where my analogy falls apart.)
NFC Quick Look
As part of my prep for my draft this Sunday, I like to take a look at all of the teams in the NFL and think about who I think will take a step forward, who will be about the same, and who will take a step back. This is certainly not an in-depth analysis, and I would encourage people to comment more in-depth. I would expect that Eric would have a pretty good commentary on the Browns and the AFC North in general. Derek, AFC West, Jay, AFC East, etc. With that being said, here's my first stab at the NFC.
NFC East
Iggles - we've talked about it on this site before, but I just can't see them taking much of a step back. Their defense is still pretty good, and even before T.O., they won 12 games. So maybe their schedule is harder and maybe T.O. as a distraction is worth another game or two. So they go 10-6? More of a commentary on the rest of the NFC East than anything else.
G-Men - Manning is hurt and still a second-year QB, Burress is not as good as he is being paid, Barber had a career year, and Shockey is one of the two most overrated TE's in the game (Heap is the other). That being said, their defense is pretty good, they are disciplined, and the rest of the NFC East sucks. They are not good, but will win more than the 6 that they won last year.
Redskins - the team that I root for. That being said, they are terrible. I think that they will improve from last year, but only to 8-8 or 9-7 at best. The defense is solid, but until the offense proves that it can move the ball and actually score points, the jury's out. Oh yeah, and Brunell will be starting by week 7.
NFC North
da Bears - wasn't Chicago in the exact same position last year when Grossman went down? frisky, might make some noise, but then their only hope hurt his leg and the rest of the season went down the toilet? so, don't you go out and get a decent back-up to protect against that? of course not. and that's why you deserve to be in this position.
Lions - no, not the crappy Black Crowes disc, the team with the sick WR trio. How long do you think that Harrington will be allowed to make mistakes before Garcia comes in? Mooch loves Garcia, and the weapons are there. I think that Kevin Jones is going to be good, and Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, and Roy Williams? Wow. I think that the defense is so-so, but we're just looking for competitive, not a Super Bowl.
Pack - I keep waiting for Favre to get hurt and he keeps throwing 30 TDs. I just feel like they are going to get old in a hurry. If Favre retires next season, is Green coming up close? He's been in the league 8 years, and isn't that about the time when RB's slow down? And without those two, who's left?
Vikes - addition by subtraction? with Moss gone, do they spread it around and actually bother with a running game? Culpepper is still the best QB in the NFC, their defense is improving, and their schedule is pretty easy. I think that the NFC North is theirs to lose.
NFC West
Cardinals - they can't be worse, right? Boldin and Fitzgerald now have Warner and his gimp thumb to throw him the ball and this guy JJ Arrington is supposed to be good. Denny Green will get them to a point, and then who knows. Again, they can't be worse, right?
Rams - Bulger is pretty good, Holt is still one of the elite WRs, and Steven Jackson looks like the real deal. I don't think that they are a SB threat, but they should put some numbers up.
49ers - yikes. I think that the only thing that you are looking at is Alex Smith and Frank Gore. And that's only for next year.
Seahawks - Shaun Alexander's contract year, will Hasselbeck finally turn into a consistent QB? After Darrell Jackson, do you even know any of their WRs? Did you know that they have a WR named Taco? No kidding. Sorry, I just can't get excited about them. Maybe it's an East Coast bias, but I don't really understand how they are any good (other than playing the 49ers twice). Anyone have any insight on this?
NFC East
Iggles - we've talked about it on this site before, but I just can't see them taking much of a step back. Their defense is still pretty good, and even before T.O., they won 12 games. So maybe their schedule is harder and maybe T.O. as a distraction is worth another game or two. So they go 10-6? More of a commentary on the rest of the NFC East than anything else.
G-Men - Manning is hurt and still a second-year QB, Burress is not as good as he is being paid, Barber had a career year, and Shockey is one of the two most overrated TE's in the game (Heap is the other). That being said, their defense is pretty good, they are disciplined, and the rest of the NFC East sucks. They are not good, but will win more than the 6 that they won last year.
Redskins - the team that I root for. That being said, they are terrible. I think that they will improve from last year, but only to 8-8 or 9-7 at best. The defense is solid, but until the offense proves that it can move the ball and actually score points, the jury's out. Oh yeah, and Brunell will be starting by week 7.
NFC North
da Bears - wasn't Chicago in the exact same position last year when Grossman went down? frisky, might make some noise, but then their only hope hurt his leg and the rest of the season went down the toilet? so, don't you go out and get a decent back-up to protect against that? of course not. and that's why you deserve to be in this position.
Lions - no, not the crappy Black Crowes disc, the team with the sick WR trio. How long do you think that Harrington will be allowed to make mistakes before Garcia comes in? Mooch loves Garcia, and the weapons are there. I think that Kevin Jones is going to be good, and Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, and Roy Williams? Wow. I think that the defense is so-so, but we're just looking for competitive, not a Super Bowl.
Pack - I keep waiting for Favre to get hurt and he keeps throwing 30 TDs. I just feel like they are going to get old in a hurry. If Favre retires next season, is Green coming up close? He's been in the league 8 years, and isn't that about the time when RB's slow down? And without those two, who's left?
Vikes - addition by subtraction? with Moss gone, do they spread it around and actually bother with a running game? Culpepper is still the best QB in the NFC, their defense is improving, and their schedule is pretty easy. I think that the NFC North is theirs to lose.
NFC West
Cardinals - they can't be worse, right? Boldin and Fitzgerald now have Warner and his gimp thumb to throw him the ball and this guy JJ Arrington is supposed to be good. Denny Green will get them to a point, and then who knows. Again, they can't be worse, right?
Rams - Bulger is pretty good, Holt is still one of the elite WRs, and Steven Jackson looks like the real deal. I don't think that they are a SB threat, but they should put some numbers up.
49ers - yikes. I think that the only thing that you are looking at is Alex Smith and Frank Gore. And that's only for next year.
Seahawks - Shaun Alexander's contract year, will Hasselbeck finally turn into a consistent QB? After Darrell Jackson, do you even know any of their WRs? Did you know that they have a WR named Taco? No kidding. Sorry, I just can't get excited about them. Maybe it's an East Coast bias, but I don't really understand how they are any good (other than playing the 49ers twice). Anyone have any insight on this?
Baseball
I hate the A's. I hate that my mood depends on if they win or lose. I hate that A's have reverted to their old habits of May. I hate getting consistently 2-3 hit by scrubs. I hate that my expectations have changed about 4 times this year. I hate that Crosby is out of control right now and is trying to pull every single pitch for a homer. I hate that Crosby has to bat third. I hate being passed by the Yanks and the Indians in the Wild Card race. I hate thinking that we are out of the playoff race this early, despite the fact that we play the Indians and the Yanks 3 more times each in the next month.
I love the fact no matter what happens this year, the rookies are all getting important playing time down the stretch. I love that our pitching staff that has been outstanding will be returning. I love that we will shed Dotel, Rincon, Duarzo, and Hatteburgs salary next year that will allow us to get that right handed power bat that we need. I love that Swisher, Johnson, Street, Blanton, and Haren have exceeded expectations as rookies and will allow us to get that one power bat. I love that our team will be twice as good next year and should walk away with the division.
I love the fact no matter what happens this year, the rookies are all getting important playing time down the stretch. I love that our pitching staff that has been outstanding will be returning. I love that we will shed Dotel, Rincon, Duarzo, and Hatteburgs salary next year that will allow us to get that right handed power bat that we need. I love that Swisher, Johnson, Street, Blanton, and Haren have exceeded expectations as rookies and will allow us to get that one power bat. I love that our team will be twice as good next year and should walk away with the division.
Aug 23, 2005
Episode II - Attack of the Bad GMs...
Hello all!! I've been locked away for quite awhile, I'm surprised I am still listed as "Contributor" on the Blog and not "Deadbeat". I figured if another week went by DZ would put my face on a milk carton. Sorry for the delay, its been hectic here...you know rehabbing my ankle and all...
Without further ado I'd like to start the list of worst trades and signings evah by "my" teams. Again, I am going with the original rules of keeping things within the last 25 years or so.
Last thing, I think the Red Sox are smart to be pulling out their last card in the deck and calling on their rookies to help their pen (Hansen and Papelbon mostly). What do they have to lose? Can they be worse than Remlinger's 18.56 ERA, lets face it the bar is pretty low. Pray Foulke can come back and maybe the two rookies can be enough of a band-aid that Timlin's are doesn't fall off by September.
Without further ado I'd like to start the list of worst trades and signings evah by "my" teams. Again, I am going with the original rules of keeping things within the last 25 years or so.
- Red Sox -
- Trade: Larry Andersen for Jeff Bagwell. Even though Andersen pitched well for the Sox in this 1990 deadline deal, it still was an awful deal. Made worse by the fact that GM Lou Gorman admitted he never saw Bagwell (in AA) play at all and felt that Scott Cooper and Boggs were ahead of Bagwell. One item in defense of Lou (who famously said "What would we do with Willie McGee??" when the Sox failed to put a waiver claim on him in an August deal where McGee was dealt) was that he felt Bagwell would not be a power hitter and Bagwell never hit double digit HRs early on, perhaps he developed that power by some other means??? Sox fans always fret extra over this one because Bagwell was a "native New Englander" being a Connecticut guy and growing up dreaming of playing for the Sox. Plus, its one thing to give up prospects for difference makers, but a 38 year old middle reliever? Yeesh.
- Free Agent: Matt Young. Although there are so many options here Young takes the cake. I think he had a $4 million contract and got like 3 Red Sox wins. Other options were Jack Clark (one good year, then basically became a corpse and filed for Bankruptcy), Jose Offerman (one good year, then became fat and terrible), BK Kim (re-signed him but still) 10 mil over 2 years.
- Draft: None of the names will mean much but look at any of the Gorman drafts post 1992, or any of the Duquette drafts (as well as unsuccesful forays into International Waters - Robinson Cano, Sang Lee, etc getting multi-million dollar deals)
- Pats
- Draft - Any of the players taken by the pre-BB GM. They had all those extra picks from the Parcells and Curtis Martin "defections", yet they did nothing with them. Not only did the guys selected during that era not contributing, something like 75% were *out of the league* within three years. You would almost have to try to select that poorly. Before this entire era of futility it would be OG Eugene Chung, who was a disaster from the start.
- Trade - Football trades are so tough to recall since they usually involve draft picks.
- Free Agent - Donald Hayes and Antonio Langham were both exceptionally awful as Patriots. I guess Hayes gets the nod since he was decent before arriving whereas Langham was bad before arriving, but was still starting since that 2000 team was crappy.
- Celts
- Draft - Well, Len Bias turned out the worst no doubt. They were really counting on him to add needed youth and athleticism to that championship team. However, one could argue they would have been better off if Acie Earl just died after they drafted him as he made almost no impact anyway. Close calls were the trio of bad choices Kedrick Brown, Joe Johnson and Joe Forte. Johnson eventually came into his own although everyone looks better playing next to Nash. Forte is out of the league and Brown should be enjoying the NBDL very soon.
- Free Agent - Pretty much anyone signed by GM ML Carr ("This train is bound for glory!!!!"). Lets see Nique, Pervis Ellison, Dana Barros, etc. But of course Rick Pitino also had some great ones Travis Knight, Vitaly Potopenko to name a few.
- Trade - Vin Baker. I mean Vin Freaking Baker!!!!!! The best thing about the Vin Baker trade is that it makes the Kenny Anderson for Chuancy Billups trade look like an excellent deal in comparison. Yes, Baker is STILL on the celtics cap this year :(
Last thing, I think the Red Sox are smart to be pulling out their last card in the deck and calling on their rookies to help their pen (Hansen and Papelbon mostly). What do they have to lose? Can they be worse than Remlinger's 18.56 ERA, lets face it the bar is pretty low. Pray Foulke can come back and maybe the two rookies can be enough of a band-aid that Timlin's are doesn't fall off by September.
Aug 21, 2005
Eric's Receiver Rankings
This seems to be the opposite of the RB's - if you can't get one of the top 9-10 WR's, forget it - they're all lumped in a group from #11-#30 or so.
"A" rated:
1. Harrison
2. Moss, R
3. Holt
"A-" rated:
4. Owens
5. Johnson, C
6. Wayne
7. Clayton, Mike
"B+":
8. Burleson
9. Jackson, D
10. Smith, S
11. Williams, Roy
12. Ward
13. Kennison
"B"
14. Johnson, A
15. Mason
16. Fitzgerald
17. Horn
18. Bennett
19. Walker
20. Boldin
21. Bruce
"B-"
22. Burress
23. Porter
24. Bryant
25. Johnson, Key.
26. Williams, Reggie
27. Moss, S
28. Moulds
"C+"
29. Branch
30. Smith, R
31. Chambers
32. Coles
33. Evans
34. Galloway
35. Smith, J
36. Driver
37. Robinson
38. Clayton, Mark
39. Houzmanzadeh
40. Edwards
Tight Ends:
1. Gates
2. Gonzalez
3. Witten
4. Crumpler
5. Heap
6. Shockey
7. Clark
8. Smith, LJ
"A" rated:
1. Harrison
2. Moss, R
3. Holt
"A-" rated:
4. Owens
5. Johnson, C
6. Wayne
7. Clayton, Mike
"B+":
8. Burleson
9. Jackson, D
10. Smith, S
11. Williams, Roy
12. Ward
13. Kennison
"B"
14. Johnson, A
15. Mason
16. Fitzgerald
17. Horn
18. Bennett
19. Walker
20. Boldin
21. Bruce
"B-"
22. Burress
23. Porter
24. Bryant
25. Johnson, Key.
26. Williams, Reggie
27. Moss, S
28. Moulds
"C+"
29. Branch
30. Smith, R
31. Chambers
32. Coles
33. Evans
34. Galloway
35. Smith, J
36. Driver
37. Robinson
38. Clayton, Mark
39. Houzmanzadeh
40. Edwards
Tight Ends:
1. Gates
2. Gonzalez
3. Witten
4. Crumpler
5. Heap
6. Shockey
7. Clark
8. Smith, LJ
Eric's Running Back Ratings
I'm struck by how deep this list is in terms of high-quality backs. I think there are RB's of great quality - not good, great -and the 12, 13, 14 spot.
For a yardage-heavy league:
"A" Backs:
1. Tomlinson
2. Holmes
3. Alexander
4. James
5. McAllister
6. Davis, D
7. Lewis, J
8. Portis
"A-"
9. Bell
10. Jordan
11. Jones, J
12. Dillon
13. McGahee
"B+"
14. Barber
15. Johnson, R
16. Green
17. Martin
18. Jones, K
"B"
19. Staley
"B-"
20. Jackson
21. Westbrook
22. Brown, K
23. Taylor
"C+"
24. Barlow
25. Arrington
26. Faulk
"C"
27. Suggs
28. Foster
For a yardage-heavy league:
"A" Backs:
1. Tomlinson
2. Holmes
3. Alexander
4. James
5. McAllister
6. Davis, D
7. Lewis, J
8. Portis
"A-"
9. Bell
10. Jordan
11. Jones, J
12. Dillon
13. McGahee
"B+"
14. Barber
15. Johnson, R
16. Green
17. Martin
18. Jones, K
"B"
19. Staley
"B-"
20. Jackson
21. Westbrook
22. Brown, K
23. Taylor
"C+"
24. Barlow
25. Arrington
26. Faulk
"C"
27. Suggs
28. Foster
Eric's Quarterback Rankings
Again, for a yardage-based league:
A 1. Manning, P
2. Culpepper
3. Green
A- 4. Bulger
5. McNabb
B+ 6. Hasselbeck
7. Palmer
8. Delhomme
B 9. Plummer
10. Vick
11. Brady
12. Collins
13. Pennington
14. Favre
B- 15. Warner
16. Leftwich
17. Carr
C+ 18. Griese
19. Detroit mess
20. Roethlisberger
21. Brees
22. Brooks
C 23. Bledsoe
24. Manning, E
25. Dilfer
A 1. Manning, P
2. Culpepper
3. Green
A- 4. Bulger
5. McNabb
B+ 6. Hasselbeck
7. Palmer
8. Delhomme
B 9. Plummer
10. Vick
11. Brady
12. Collins
13. Pennington
14. Favre
B- 15. Warner
16. Leftwich
17. Carr
C+ 18. Griese
19. Detroit mess
20. Roethlisberger
21. Brees
22. Brooks
C 23. Bledsoe
24. Manning, E
25. Dilfer
Fantasy Ratings...
Every year, before the draft, I prepare my making my own list of top 25/50 QB/RB/WR. I like to make my own evaluations first before being swayed by the magazine's opinions.
The steps I take:
1) Review each NFL team's depth chart, writing down the starting QB, 2RB, 2Wr and TE (or 3 WR); assess the team and any changes it made (coaching? philosophy?) and then give each player a preliminary grade;
2) Sort by grade (lump all the A's, A-minus's, etc) and see if anything is odd
3) Compare the initial groupings to the standard lists printed out by magazines
We have to take into account that I am in a yardage-heavy league. We only give out 2 pts for TDs, which I think is the right way to do it.
4) Make adjustments, and then rank within each grade.
OK - here we go!
The steps I take:
1) Review each NFL team's depth chart, writing down the starting QB, 2RB, 2Wr and TE (or 3 WR); assess the team and any changes it made (coaching? philosophy?) and then give each player a preliminary grade;
2) Sort by grade (lump all the A's, A-minus's, etc) and see if anything is odd
3) Compare the initial groupings to the standard lists printed out by magazines
We have to take into account that I am in a yardage-heavy league. We only give out 2 pts for TDs, which I think is the right way to do it.
4) Make adjustments, and then rank within each grade.
OK - here we go!
Aug 20, 2005
Kaufmann Stadium
Yes, this post is mostly a test to see if I can upload pictures correctly to the blog. Here is the four of us at Kaufmann this July. I hate this picture of me (and the boys look like they are kidnapped), but it's the only one I have handy.
By the way - we loved the stadium. Warren tried to run into the right-field fountains twice.
Who does all the work at Farmers?
I think this picture speaks volumes... check out the look on Derek's face.
Aug 19, 2005
Random Thoughts
Random Thoughts while I wait for traffic to die down on a Friday evening.
I really can't wait until Eric posts his blog about the formula for drafting. This might be the biggest thing since OPS. I'm in a personal record of 5 Fantasy Football leagues this year. What is the point now? I'm basically rooting for everyone, and I'm basically looking just to break even. And its not like I don't have enough to do on Sundays.
Did Jay's kid eat him? Haven't seen or heard for that Schillzilla in a long time.
XM Radio has turned me into a freak. I drive with the receiver in hand and constantly scroll through the channels looking for the next crap song that I haven't heard in years. I now have a 2 hour commute 2 days a week, and I can tell you that I do not put that receiver down for longer than 5 minutes. Its like I have ADD. I now have to issue a public apology to my brother for yelling at him for doing this exact same thing.
And fucking Tivo!!! Jesus. It has totally exceeded all of my expectations.
Going to a scrimmage on Sunday at USC with my buddy Austin. Expected attendance....50,000. Did the Terps even have scrimmages that we could go to?
Was I dreaming or was Coach Fridge actually on the front of ESPN.com the other day?
Why is everyone bitching about Madden 2006. I love the cone and they have corrected a couple of issues from last year's version. I'm sure the programmers didn't spend much time improving the look of the game, since they probably deep in development for the new game system coming out this winter, so what does everyone expect. Remember it wasn't that long ago that we were all playing GameDay and swore off Madden.
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10.
Question for Eric and RRD (or whoever else): What makes the top notch golfers decided which tournaments to play in (other than the majors). Why the Memorial? Why the Buick? Why not the Zurich Open in Baton Rouge? Is it because of the money? Course? Competition? It seems as if VJ plays in every single tournament, and the reason why he is racking up all of these wins is that Tiger, Mick, Els, and company don't play all the time. Just a thought.
The waves in Dana Point glow. That's right, they glow at night. Ben and I first thought it was the St. Regis shinning a blacklight down on the beach at night, or something like that. But nope, it's just "natural" as they say here. I have a feeling that someone has not been reading the "Do not Dump" signs in front of all of our drains.
It continues to amaze me at the incompetence of the people that I work with. I think that only 10% of the employees at a certain company understand and are smart enough to get things done. 60% of the people come in to work everyday and understand their place and usually stay out of the way, since they don't care. The remaining 30% are people who are completely clueless. They are so clueless that they get in the middle of everything, and just completely fuck up everything. For some reason they still have their jobs, despite continuous fuck ups. They tend to be managed by the same type of people who have no balls to tell them that they suck, so you could come across an entire department of complete fuckups. So you have these idiots causing delays because they don't understand the first thing about Business, Project Management, Finance, or just plain life in general. They tend to cause you possibly several hours of delays per day due to their crazy emails or continuous interruptions in meetings. I probably work an extra 10 hours a week fixing issues that they cause. It is absolutely amazing.
Small ball my ass
If I hear about the White Sox winning ways is due to small ball again, I'm going to kill myself. Spent some time getting a couple of facts together on this to just prove to you all that this is just not true.
In 2005, the White Sox are 13th in the league in Runs and Runs per game compared to 3rd in the league in 2004. In 2005, the White Sox are 28th in the league on OBP compared to 15th in 2004. On the bright side, they are 3rd in the league in SB, but with only a 69% success rate, which really hurts since they have attempted more steals than anyone else in the league. They have had 52 runners thrown out this year compared to 51 all of last year. Finally, they are 17th in the league in SH in 2005, compared to 13th last year.
So, let me get this straight. All those guys in the media (I'm looking at you ESPN), continue to say that the White Sox winning ways are due to playing small ball. Does small ball equate to getting on less, scoring less runs, and sacrificing less runners? Yes, they have stolen more bases than last year, but they are terrible at doing it. Couple all of this with hitting less homers, and you can see that their offense is not what caused the turnaround. Here is the obvious reason why they have turned it around:
3.67 ERA which is 5th in the league, compared to 4.91 (25th in the league) in 2004.
Is it because it is this simple, that Kruk, Morgan, Reynolds, and company totally ignore this fact? And I hate to say it, but its just not them. Its everyone!!!! Their offense got worse since letting Lee go and bringing in Podsednik (who is receiving all sorts of credit). Do you want a leadoff hitter, who is on pace to score only 86 runs, drive in 26 runs and walk 53 times with an OPS of .680? Oh, and he hasn't hit any homers. Is this the guy that is turning this team around? Can you imagine how good this team might of been with Lee batting behind Konerko? Wow.
In 2005, the White Sox are 13th in the league in Runs and Runs per game compared to 3rd in the league in 2004. In 2005, the White Sox are 28th in the league on OBP compared to 15th in 2004. On the bright side, they are 3rd in the league in SB, but with only a 69% success rate, which really hurts since they have attempted more steals than anyone else in the league. They have had 52 runners thrown out this year compared to 51 all of last year. Finally, they are 17th in the league in SH in 2005, compared to 13th last year.
So, let me get this straight. All those guys in the media (I'm looking at you ESPN), continue to say that the White Sox winning ways are due to playing small ball. Does small ball equate to getting on less, scoring less runs, and sacrificing less runners? Yes, they have stolen more bases than last year, but they are terrible at doing it. Couple all of this with hitting less homers, and you can see that their offense is not what caused the turnaround. Here is the obvious reason why they have turned it around:
3.67 ERA which is 5th in the league, compared to 4.91 (25th in the league) in 2004.
Is it because it is this simple, that Kruk, Morgan, Reynolds, and company totally ignore this fact? And I hate to say it, but its just not them. Its everyone!!!! Their offense got worse since letting Lee go and bringing in Podsednik (who is receiving all sorts of credit). Do you want a leadoff hitter, who is on pace to score only 86 runs, drive in 26 runs and walk 53 times with an OPS of .680? Oh, and he hasn't hit any homers. Is this the guy that is turning this team around? Can you imagine how good this team might of been with Lee batting behind Konerko? Wow.
Tiger & the PGA
Regarding Tiger leaving Sunday night from Baltusrol as the leader in the clubhouse.....
I originally felt that Tiger was well within his rights to leave that night. It was unlikely that all 5 of the leaders would come back to him, and if he had some pressing engagement, then he must have done a benefit/cost analysis in his head and decided it was worth the small risk and leave.
But now I'm not so sure.
What kind of message would it send if Phil, Vijay, Steve, and Thomas all come to the range on Monday to see - Tiger hitting ball after ball on the range? Wow.
Tiger, in effect, would be saying: "I have no faith in all of you. You all are going to cower in my presence."
They all have before, why not now?
If winning majors is so important to Tiger, and he has a chance to not only win one but mess with people's minds.... don't you do that? Especially since majors only come around once every four years?
I don't know. I didn't see any of Sunday's or Monday's action, so maybe my comments are out of line. But I think the mere presence of Tiger at Baltusrol on Monday would have caused a couple of them to fold.
I originally felt that Tiger was well within his rights to leave that night. It was unlikely that all 5 of the leaders would come back to him, and if he had some pressing engagement, then he must have done a benefit/cost analysis in his head and decided it was worth the small risk and leave.
But now I'm not so sure.
What kind of message would it send if Phil, Vijay, Steve, and Thomas all come to the range on Monday to see - Tiger hitting ball after ball on the range? Wow.
Tiger, in effect, would be saying: "I have no faith in all of you. You all are going to cower in my presence."
They all have before, why not now?
If winning majors is so important to Tiger, and he has a chance to not only win one but mess with people's minds.... don't you do that? Especially since majors only come around once every four years?
I don't know. I didn't see any of Sunday's or Monday's action, so maybe my comments are out of line. But I think the mere presence of Tiger at Baltusrol on Monday would have caused a couple of them to fold.
Aug 17, 2005
What might have been
Monday was the last real individual tournament of the year, the US Mid-Am Qualifier. I went to Chiacgo for the 18-hole qualifying round; 3 people advanced out of 45 or so.
Now, these USGA Qualifiers are crapshoots. Anyone who has played golf knows that some days, you wake up and your swing is clicking; but on other days, it just isn't there. If the swing isn't there on a qualifier - well, you just suck it up, shoot the best you can (75? 78?) and try again.
On the days where the swing is there, you have to take advantage. Monday was one of those days.
I came into the qualifier driving well, putting better (especially the 10-20 footers) and the weak link, my irons, were finally showing signs of life. Even though I hacked up the practice round on Sunday (and it's impossible to play a good round of golf after a 4 hour car ride), I felt good. Steve (my caddie, best friend from college) and I though -2 (69) would be a lock; anything under par would have a chance.
The course was 6500, par 71, and tight. I like it like that - I usually can keep the ball in play, and if the irons are working, who knows?
Well, I got off to a solid par on the opening hoel - the 10th - and the 11th was a 155 yard par 3. I hit the 7 iron to 3 feet. Birdie. Good start.
12 is a very tight (25 yard fairway, dogleg left, with OB about 10 yds left of the fairway) hole. I steered my drive into the trees left, and it dropped down. The punch out got a bad kick, I had to go over a tree and didn't make it; my wedge on was a bit fat, and my lag putt was 6 feet short. Now I need to make a 6' just for double. I did.
Argh. +1 after 3. The next 3 holes were tight par 4's; I went 4-4-4. Back on track.
16 is a short,tight par 5; 3 wood, 5 wood to 75 yards; 60 deg wedge to 6 feet. Birdie. Even.
Par 17; 18 is a short par 3. 9 iron to 15 feet. Steve and I see the line - 2 balls outside the left edge; unfortunately, I stroked it a bit too hard (I knew it when I hit it) and it caught the lip and missed. Par.
Even with the double, I finished at even for the back side. I feel good.
Par 1; par 2 even though I half-bladed a 7 iron. 3 is a 210 par 3; I hooked the 5 wood too much and that led to a bogey.
#4 is a 500 yard par 5; my drive was OK- hit a tree by bounced out inthe fairway, and my 3 wood ended up 35 yards short. I have a tight lie over a bunker with some green to work with; I hit a great low, spinning wedge to 10 feet.
Great; get back to even here, pick up another birdie along the way and who knows?
Steve and I have the line - it's on the right edge; I stroke it just the way I want.
The ball does not move and rolls over the edge. Par.
That was deflating. I am in a haze for the next two holes, and bogey #5 and #6 which are holes that I should make par on 90% of the time. I finish with 3 pars for a total of 74, +3. 70 (-1) qualified. Standings here.
I've never felt worse after shooting a 74. It was there. Even with the botched double on the 12th, I still could have done it. That putt on 4 will haunt me for a while. If that falls, there's no way I bogey 5 and 6, etc. etc.
The goal of qualifying for a USGA championship is so close, yet so far away. Maybe next year.....
Now, these USGA Qualifiers are crapshoots. Anyone who has played golf knows that some days, you wake up and your swing is clicking; but on other days, it just isn't there. If the swing isn't there on a qualifier - well, you just suck it up, shoot the best you can (75? 78?) and try again.
On the days where the swing is there, you have to take advantage. Monday was one of those days.
I came into the qualifier driving well, putting better (especially the 10-20 footers) and the weak link, my irons, were finally showing signs of life. Even though I hacked up the practice round on Sunday (and it's impossible to play a good round of golf after a 4 hour car ride), I felt good. Steve (my caddie, best friend from college) and I though -2 (69) would be a lock; anything under par would have a chance.
The course was 6500, par 71, and tight. I like it like that - I usually can keep the ball in play, and if the irons are working, who knows?
Well, I got off to a solid par on the opening hoel - the 10th - and the 11th was a 155 yard par 3. I hit the 7 iron to 3 feet. Birdie. Good start.
12 is a very tight (25 yard fairway, dogleg left, with OB about 10 yds left of the fairway) hole. I steered my drive into the trees left, and it dropped down. The punch out got a bad kick, I had to go over a tree and didn't make it; my wedge on was a bit fat, and my lag putt was 6 feet short. Now I need to make a 6' just for double. I did.
Argh. +1 after 3. The next 3 holes were tight par 4's; I went 4-4-4. Back on track.
16 is a short,tight par 5; 3 wood, 5 wood to 75 yards; 60 deg wedge to 6 feet. Birdie. Even.
Par 17; 18 is a short par 3. 9 iron to 15 feet. Steve and I see the line - 2 balls outside the left edge; unfortunately, I stroked it a bit too hard (I knew it when I hit it) and it caught the lip and missed. Par.
Even with the double, I finished at even for the back side. I feel good.
Par 1; par 2 even though I half-bladed a 7 iron. 3 is a 210 par 3; I hooked the 5 wood too much and that led to a bogey.
#4 is a 500 yard par 5; my drive was OK- hit a tree by bounced out inthe fairway, and my 3 wood ended up 35 yards short. I have a tight lie over a bunker with some green to work with; I hit a great low, spinning wedge to 10 feet.
Great; get back to even here, pick up another birdie along the way and who knows?
Steve and I have the line - it's on the right edge; I stroke it just the way I want.
The ball does not move and rolls over the edge. Par.
That was deflating. I am in a haze for the next two holes, and bogey #5 and #6 which are holes that I should make par on 90% of the time. I finish with 3 pars for a total of 74, +3. 70 (-1) qualified. Standings here.
I've never felt worse after shooting a 74. It was there. Even with the botched double on the 12th, I still could have done it. That putt on 4 will haunt me for a while. If that falls, there's no way I bogey 5 and 6, etc. etc.
The goal of qualifying for a USGA championship is so close, yet so far away. Maybe next year.....
Fantasy Football
Well, it's about that time. I will post my position rankings over the weekend in preparation for my draft on Monday, Aug 22. I really don't trust the rankings of the national magazines - they are too dependent on last year's stats; it seems their rankings are just a regurgitation of the yard leaders from the year before - so I use the national mags as a starting guide and then adjust according to changes in the coaches, FA, strategies, etc.
( Slightly off topic: it seems to me that you should be able to create a linear program (LP, for those nerds reading) that takes in the stats of the players and uses those to slove for an objective function that eqautes to any customized league.
For example, your objective function could be:
max z = (QB Yards/25) + (QB Passes)*2 +...+ (RB TD)*6 + (RB Yds/15) +...
where the coeffiecients of each variable are dependent on the league. Your constraints, of course, are the number of people at each position; you'd also want to constrain the ranking poistion of each player s- obviously, you couldn't take the #1 QB, #1 RB, #1 WR, etc - even though that would maximize the objective function. You'd have to set your constraint so that
(draft position of QB) + (draft position of RB #1) + .... > 100 (or so).
I wonder why this hasn't been created..... hmmmmm...... )
Anyway, back on topic - I have a choice between keeping Alexander or Jailbird Jamal Lewis. Any opinions? I'm almost set in my choice, but wanted to hear any last minute arguments.
(oops...did I let my anti-Ratbird bias show?)
( Slightly off topic: it seems to me that you should be able to create a linear program (LP, for those nerds reading) that takes in the stats of the players and uses those to slove for an objective function that eqautes to any customized league.
For example, your objective function could be:
max z = (QB Yards/25) + (QB Passes)*2 +...+ (RB TD)*6 + (RB Yds/15) +...
where the coeffiecients of each variable are dependent on the league. Your constraints, of course, are the number of people at each position; you'd also want to constrain the ranking poistion of each player s- obviously, you couldn't take the #1 QB, #1 RB, #1 WR, etc - even though that would maximize the objective function. You'd have to set your constraint so that
(draft position of QB) + (draft position of RB #1) + .... > 100 (or so).
I wonder why this hasn't been created..... hmmmmm...... )
Anyway, back on topic - I have a choice between keeping Alexander or Jailbird Jamal Lewis. Any opinions? I'm almost set in my choice, but wanted to hear any last minute arguments.
(oops...did I let my anti-Ratbird bias show?)
Aug 14, 2005
TO and Randy
I'm stealing from Dr. Z from SI.com, but can you imagine if the Raiders traded Jerry Porter for TO, and then you have Randy and TO on the same team?
Futures
As we prepare for the upcoming football season, here are the updated odds, requested by many of you.
AFC Champion
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1031.cfm
NFC Champion
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1032.cfm
Superbowl Winner
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1033.cfm
Over/Under
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1185.cfm
AFC Champion
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1031.cfm
NFC Champion
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1032.cfm
Superbowl Winner
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1033.cfm
Over/Under
http://www.vegasinsider.com/u/futures/NFL_1185.cfm
Aug 12, 2005
Need a camera
How can a homeless person be overweight? Just doesn't make any sense to me. Does grass have a high carb count. There is currently an overweight homeless women rearranging the tables in Starbucks right now, which is providing me endless amounts of amusement. Now she is drawing pictures with her highlighter on the floor. I wish I had Curr's camera phone right now...oh, now she is praying.
Craps!
One of the great things about Craps is that there are so many nicknames that players use to call their favorite number. Every time I play, I hear something different.
Some examples:
"Fever Dice" (5)
"Little Joe" and "Big Richard" (4, 10)
"Three women and me" (4, the easy way)
I heard a player Wednesday keep yelling "Square Pegs! Square Pegs!" on the come-out roll. I had no idea what that was. A 12? But I don't think he had any of the horn numbers....
Any other favorites?
Some examples:
"Fever Dice" (5)
"Little Joe" and "Big Richard" (4, 10)
"Three women and me" (4, the easy way)
I heard a player Wednesday keep yelling "Square Pegs! Square Pegs!" on the come-out roll. I had no idea what that was. A 12? But I don't think he had any of the horn numbers....
Any other favorites?
A Financial Lesson for all
Back in 1997, Argosy Casino first opened up in Cincinnati. It slowly grew in popularity over the next 2 years and now is a Cincinnati tourist destination.
Anyway, around 1998 or 1999, a couple of friends at work and I started to look at their stock. As a young company, it was pretty low at that point - I think it was $3 for most of 1998.
Numerous times during that year, I was thinking about pulling together $1500 or so and buy 500 shares. I believed in that stock - since I was going there once a month at the time! - and believed in the company.
Well, I checked the share price yesterday. Why don't you check it too. It's symbol is AGY.
I felt immediately sick.
Moral of the story: if you truly believe in a company and its prospects, do whatever you can to get the money and invest in what you believe.
(I'm buying Sirius next week.....)
Anyway, around 1998 or 1999, a couple of friends at work and I started to look at their stock. As a young company, it was pretty low at that point - I think it was $3 for most of 1998.
Numerous times during that year, I was thinking about pulling together $1500 or so and buy 500 shares. I believed in that stock - since I was going there once a month at the time! - and believed in the company.
Well, I checked the share price yesterday. Why don't you check it too. It's symbol is AGY.
I felt immediately sick.
Moral of the story: if you truly believe in a company and its prospects, do whatever you can to get the money and invest in what you believe.
(I'm buying Sirius next week.....)
Aug 10, 2005
T.O.
This post isn't to comment on T.O.'s actions or whether he was an idiot or not, but rather what type of impact will this have on the team.
Eric made some statements to me a couple of minutes ago that the Eagles will go 6-10 without Owens, since he is simply the most important person to any team in the league, and without him they will be a sub .500 team. I can't really argue with him on this since I can only think of maybe Manning and Brady being more important than TO to their own respective teams.
Theismann states that the Eagles are built on defense and the Eagles won't miss TO that much. King states that the Eagles have two outstanding rookie WR that might be ready to step up.
Even with these two rookie WRs stepping up, I have to agree with Eric that without TO, the Eagles are a 6-10 team. TO's impact was tremendous last year, up until he got hurt and then when he played in the Superbowl. I respect him as a player and I really could care less about his contract dispute, since owners regularly cut players before their contracts are up anyway.
Will be interesting to see how this plays out. And if TO is gone from the Eagles, who will win the NFC East and with what record?
Eric made some statements to me a couple of minutes ago that the Eagles will go 6-10 without Owens, since he is simply the most important person to any team in the league, and without him they will be a sub .500 team. I can't really argue with him on this since I can only think of maybe Manning and Brady being more important than TO to their own respective teams.
Theismann states that the Eagles are built on defense and the Eagles won't miss TO that much. King states that the Eagles have two outstanding rookie WR that might be ready to step up.
Even with these two rookie WRs stepping up, I have to agree with Eric that without TO, the Eagles are a 6-10 team. TO's impact was tremendous last year, up until he got hurt and then when he played in the Superbowl. I respect him as a player and I really could care less about his contract dispute, since owners regularly cut players before their contracts are up anyway.
Will be interesting to see how this plays out. And if TO is gone from the Eagles, who will win the NFC East and with what record?
Things that should be outlawed...
1) Stuart Scott hosting any game shows
2) Paul Begala doing political analysis
and
3) Any driving ranges that put out a sign saying "Irons Only".
Twice this year I got to ranges to work on my driver and 3 wood, only to be faced with this sign.
Don't be a cheapskate and buy the extra 50 yards to allow drivers to be hit.
Argh.
2) Paul Begala doing political analysis
and
3) Any driving ranges that put out a sign saying "Irons Only".
Twice this year I got to ranges to work on my driver and 3 wood, only to be faced with this sign.
Don't be a cheapskate and buy the extra 50 yards to allow drivers to be hit.
Argh.
Aug 8, 2005
Aug 7, 2005
TJ Hooker
Sitting here at the Starbucks now for 5 hours, I have seen roughly 50 girls between the age of 13-18 (guessing on the age since they all look young). Anyway, of these 50 girls, I would say that close to 85% of them, if kidnapped and put on the streets of Atlantic City to turn a trick, would not need a wardrobe change. Some of these outfits would make Lil Kim blush. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS??????? Oh, they are with them buying them coffee? OK, that makes sense. How are these parents so numb to what their kids wear out in public? I can understand if the kid sneaks out and puts this stuff on, but the parents are right there with them!!!!!! And its a fucking Sunday morning, not Friday night at the clubs. I give up. If some right winged person wants to make an ordinance for uniforms for kids in public, I just might volunteer to help them get it passed.
Not in my house
Another morning ruined by babies. I understand that I have a short fuse to begin with, but it's getting tougher and tougher to stay quiet when things like this happens.
8:00am at the local Starbucks. The Starbucks is filled with couples and older men reading the paper, while relaxing and listening to some nice blues on the stereo system. I grabbed a nice little table in the corner and I've been doing some work, when all of the sudden a young couple with their one year old kid comes in and starts to reek havoc. They grab the table next to me, and for the next 30 minutes the kid either is crying or screaming in joy, right in my ear. And the parents are laughing, taking pictures, and thinking that it is so cute. And to top it off, the area where they were sitting at was completely trashed as the kid tried to eat a muffin and left about 60% of it on the floor, and the parents didn't even bother to clean it up. After they left, the men in the place all had a bonding moment, as we all made eye contact and did the manly nod as to acknowledge how ridiculous all of that was.
Now, if we were in a grocery store, beach, park, or fast food joint, I would not get mad because I know how tough it is to control kids that young. But kids that young do not belong in nice restaurants or places like Starbucks, where people are trying to relax or have a nice morning or evening. There is a place of kids of that age and it shouldn't be where it is obvious that adults are trying to have a nice relaxing time. I would rather see a kid of that age in a bar than Starbucks, since it is at least noisy in a bar and it will drown out some of that ear piercing T-Rex shrieking.
Now if I was a real man, I would do what Brian (dog from Family Guy) did in the last episode, where he is drinking his coffee and some kid is crying right behind him and he turns around and just starts to yell right at the kid, and then goes to the parents "Isn't that annoying? Isn't this ruining your dinner? And nobody is doing anything to stop me? How do you like that? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
So for all of you that have kids this age, please think before you start trucking your kid around everywhere and assume that people won't mind. This seems to be happening all too often out here in CA recently.
8:00am at the local Starbucks. The Starbucks is filled with couples and older men reading the paper, while relaxing and listening to some nice blues on the stereo system. I grabbed a nice little table in the corner and I've been doing some work, when all of the sudden a young couple with their one year old kid comes in and starts to reek havoc. They grab the table next to me, and for the next 30 minutes the kid either is crying or screaming in joy, right in my ear. And the parents are laughing, taking pictures, and thinking that it is so cute. And to top it off, the area where they were sitting at was completely trashed as the kid tried to eat a muffin and left about 60% of it on the floor, and the parents didn't even bother to clean it up. After they left, the men in the place all had a bonding moment, as we all made eye contact and did the manly nod as to acknowledge how ridiculous all of that was.
Now, if we were in a grocery store, beach, park, or fast food joint, I would not get mad because I know how tough it is to control kids that young. But kids that young do not belong in nice restaurants or places like Starbucks, where people are trying to relax or have a nice morning or evening. There is a place of kids of that age and it shouldn't be where it is obvious that adults are trying to have a nice relaxing time. I would rather see a kid of that age in a bar than Starbucks, since it is at least noisy in a bar and it will drown out some of that ear piercing T-Rex shrieking.
Now if I was a real man, I would do what Brian (dog from Family Guy) did in the last episode, where he is drinking his coffee and some kid is crying right behind him and he turns around and just starts to yell right at the kid, and then goes to the parents "Isn't that annoying? Isn't this ruining your dinner? And nobody is doing anything to stop me? How do you like that? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
So for all of you that have kids this age, please think before you start trucking your kid around everywhere and assume that people won't mind. This seems to be happening all too often out here in CA recently.
Aug 5, 2005
Breaking news....
The sun came up in the east today!
Howard Dean goes off the deep end in criticizing Bush!
And, Courtney Brown is injured!
What are the chances of that happening? Shocking!
Howard Dean goes off the deep end in criticizing Bush!
And, Courtney Brown is injured!
What are the chances of that happening? Shocking!
The smartest man in America...
... now has a blog.
Michael Barone Blog
It's listed over at the side as well.
Barone is the pre-eminent political writer of the last 20 years, and his knowledge of American Politics is second to none. One of his first posts comments on the special election in OH's 2nd district, and contains warnings for both the Dem's and Rep's.
If you are a political junkie, like me, this is a must read.
Michael Barone Blog
It's listed over at the side as well.
Barone is the pre-eminent political writer of the last 20 years, and his knowledge of American Politics is second to none. One of his first posts comments on the special election in OH's 2nd district, and contains warnings for both the Dem's and Rep's.
If you are a political junkie, like me, this is a must read.
Real World
If you are bored with the new Real World in Austin, you can just wait until next year's Real World-Key West. And they are starting to film now, at the start of Hurricane Season, so they will have an additional storyline.
By the way, what is the over/under on the number of gays this time around. 3?4?
And my friend's quote the other night on how crazy the Real World has gotten, pretty much sums up the current status of the show. "I used to have to think through who the gay guy was. Now I don't even know who the black guy is."
By the way, what is the over/under on the number of gays this time around. 3?4?
And my friend's quote the other night on how crazy the Real World has gotten, pretty much sums up the current status of the show. "I used to have to think through who the gay guy was. Now I don't even know who the black guy is."
Aug 4, 2005
Power of Advertising
So I'm in Des Moines this year - twice - and I'm watching cable in the hotel room. Now, the cable there has local commercials - unlike DirecTV at our house, which just shows national commercials for teh cable stations.
Anyway, we're still undecided about where to take our vacation this year. We usually take a late vacation, and it seems we're getting lazier and lazier in planning it.
I'm watching poker, and all of sudden one of the commercials is a state asking you to come visit. "Legendary history... lakes... great food...". It's an ad for the state of North Dakota. It shows a beautiful steak being served (yummm), two kids happily jumping on hotel beds, Indian reservations (Freddie loved to go into tepees the last time we went to a state park)...
And then I see the commercial again an hour later. Yes, yes, it all make sense now. It's only a 7- hour drive to Fargo. Why not vacation in North Dakota? All we need is a hotel with a pool, beds, some Indians that Freddie and Warren could hassle with toddler questions.....it's a capital idea!
Gees. I came to my senses a few days later. What's wrong with me and my willpower that I was actually considering vacationing in North Dakota???
Anyway, we're still undecided about where to take our vacation this year. We usually take a late vacation, and it seems we're getting lazier and lazier in planning it.
I'm watching poker, and all of sudden one of the commercials is a state asking you to come visit. "Legendary history... lakes... great food...". It's an ad for the state of North Dakota. It shows a beautiful steak being served (yummm), two kids happily jumping on hotel beds, Indian reservations (Freddie loved to go into tepees the last time we went to a state park)...
And then I see the commercial again an hour later. Yes, yes, it all make sense now. It's only a 7- hour drive to Fargo. Why not vacation in North Dakota? All we need is a hotel with a pool, beds, some Indians that Freddie and Warren could hassle with toddler questions.....it's a capital idea!
Gees. I came to my senses a few days later. What's wrong with me and my willpower that I was actually considering vacationing in North Dakota???
Long time, no post
Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. Sorry about that hiatus. There was a golf tournament, a 4-day trip to Cincinnati, and work that all got in the way. Derek has posted some great topics over the past several days to cover.
Some thoughts on baseball:
1) I think Derek and I are on the same page when it comes to Raffy. For all you Pete Rose haters out there, one question for you:
If you are against Rose being in the hall, you'd also have to against Raffy going into the hall, right? It's only logical.
2) I was going to talk about the Tribe, but the devastating loss tonight kind of rained on that parade. A tough decision for Wedge - Millwood pitched 8 strong, and was under 95 pitches. Wickman pitched Tue and Wed, and declares himself "great" and "ready to go" if needed tonight. The Tribe leads 3-2 going into the 9th.
What do you do? A tough, tough call.
Wedge called for Wickman, and we end up losing on 2 solo HRs.
(I'm sure Derek thinks this is somehow sweet revenge- for what, I'm not sure.)
3) Is there a law that says that any male who:
- is overweight by 10-30 pounds
- is of the age 25-34, and
- has a bushy moustache/goatee
MUST be a Red Sox fan? Geesh.
4) I'm happy to see Washington fade into the night. It's just not right that a team that relocated in their 1st year makes the playoffs. Suffer a little first, God dammit!
Some thoughts on baseball:
1) I think Derek and I are on the same page when it comes to Raffy. For all you Pete Rose haters out there, one question for you:
If you are against Rose being in the hall, you'd also have to against Raffy going into the hall, right? It's only logical.
2) I was going to talk about the Tribe, but the devastating loss tonight kind of rained on that parade. A tough decision for Wedge - Millwood pitched 8 strong, and was under 95 pitches. Wickman pitched Tue and Wed, and declares himself "great" and "ready to go" if needed tonight. The Tribe leads 3-2 going into the 9th.
What do you do? A tough, tough call.
Wedge called for Wickman, and we end up losing on 2 solo HRs.
(I'm sure Derek thinks this is somehow sweet revenge- for what, I'm not sure.)
3) Is there a law that says that any male who:
- is overweight by 10-30 pounds
- is of the age 25-34, and
- has a bushy moustache/goatee
MUST be a Red Sox fan? Geesh.
4) I'm happy to see Washington fade into the night. It's just not right that a team that relocated in their 1st year makes the playoffs. Suffer a little first, God dammit!
The Official "Derek, get off your high horse and call 1-800-DIRECTV now" Thread
Derek:
You are the only person I know that has had a bad experience with DirecTV. (and it wasn't even DirecTV, it was one of their contractors.
I'm asking all the readers/lurkers to post their good experiences with DirecTV here to illustrate to you that the last time was a fluke.
They are sooo much better than any cable company. How many weeks now has it been since you had your baseball package?
Please, for the love of all that's good and clean in this world, call 1-800-Directv today. Swallow your pride - we all do sometimes! - and make the call.
Eric.
You are the only person I know that has had a bad experience with DirecTV. (and it wasn't even DirecTV, it was one of their contractors.
I'm asking all the readers/lurkers to post their good experiences with DirecTV here to illustrate to you that the last time was a fluke.
They are sooo much better than any cable company. How many weeks now has it been since you had your baseball package?
Please, for the love of all that's good and clean in this world, call 1-800-Directv today. Swallow your pride - we all do sometimes! - and make the call.
Eric.
Interesting Thought
Will we look back on Jose Canseco 20 years from now and say that he saved the game of baseball by outing the Steroid's Issue?
Also, if we remove the fact that Jose and Raffy did steroids, who had a bigger impact on the game of baseball?
Some very interesting topics on Sportstalk today.
Also, if we remove the fact that Jose and Raffy did steroids, who had a bigger impact on the game of baseball?
Some very interesting topics on Sportstalk today.
The Gooch
My asshole brother calls me up in the middle of Zito's no hitter and demands to know what is going on. I don't bite, but he persists and then I finally admit that Zito has a no hitter through 4 innings. What happens next? Homer, walk, and single. Of all people that know the power of the gooch, he plays that card to me, and I fall for it. I'm so pissed right now!!!!!!!! Can't wait for the Browns to start playing so I can make insane calls to him every 5 minutes.
And yes, I do think that I can control the outcome of a game by my actions.
And yes, I do think that I can control the outcome of a game by my actions.
Aug 3, 2005
Wingman
I absolutely hate the term wingman. I hate those Miller Lite commercials that celebrate the term wingman. After what I've been through tonight, it should be called "laying on a grenade." That's what I did tonight for my friend Ben. I laid on a grenade.
Update: Good news-If I ever need a fullback to create some holes in the defensive line, I think I got my girl. Bad news- she has teeth that would make John Elway jealous.
Update: Good news-If I ever need a fullback to create some holes in the defensive line, I think I got my girl. Bad news- she has teeth that would make John Elway jealous.
How can Fox continue to have Brit Hume on TV? The guy looks and sounds like someone who has been up for 48 hours straight. Just completely lifeless. And then you have Dan Abrams on MSNBC who seems like he is just mailing it in, and is completely off on most of his analysis.
Two questions here. Who is your most hated news person and who do you like the most?
Two questions here. Who is your most hated news person and who do you like the most?
No Limit
So played some poker last night at Hollywood Park. This will become the downfall of my graduate career, since Hollywood Park is conveniently located halfway between my office and home and it breaks up the 2 hour commute.
So met up with some friends there playing in a tournament and watched them for a while. Ended up playing 4-8 for about two hours and I was even. Went back over to check on my friends and one was out, while the other two were advancing pretty nicely. Anyway, my one friend Travis convinced me to join him at the no limit table. Hollywood Park has a couple of different No Limit games which actually is pretty nice. I played some $2-$3 no limit with a $100 buy in. There seems to be more talking at these tables as everyone is just having a good time. Also, you have more novice players than at the structured table for some reason. Now I've played some no limit games in Vegas and I was totally out of my league since I was in the shark tank at the Monte, but at Hollywood Park, it was a different story. Was up pretty large for most of the time, but then lost it all as by pocket queens lost to pocket aces. Ugh. Anyway, I think I'm getting out of the structured games and going into the no limit scene. Have a nice private game planned for Friday night, which will hopefully bankroll another run at Hollywood Park on Saturday. Will keep you all posted.
And I haven't commented on the A's recent run since I don't want to call out the Gooch.
So met up with some friends there playing in a tournament and watched them for a while. Ended up playing 4-8 for about two hours and I was even. Went back over to check on my friends and one was out, while the other two were advancing pretty nicely. Anyway, my one friend Travis convinced me to join him at the no limit table. Hollywood Park has a couple of different No Limit games which actually is pretty nice. I played some $2-$3 no limit with a $100 buy in. There seems to be more talking at these tables as everyone is just having a good time. Also, you have more novice players than at the structured table for some reason. Now I've played some no limit games in Vegas and I was totally out of my league since I was in the shark tank at the Monte, but at Hollywood Park, it was a different story. Was up pretty large for most of the time, but then lost it all as by pocket queens lost to pocket aces. Ugh. Anyway, I think I'm getting out of the structured games and going into the no limit scene. Have a nice private game planned for Friday night, which will hopefully bankroll another run at Hollywood Park on Saturday. Will keep you all posted.
And I haven't commented on the A's recent run since I don't want to call out the Gooch.
Aug 1, 2005
The Rafae Train
Baseball does not make it easy to love the game. Today Palmerio was suspended for Steriod use. Good. It was so obvious that he was lying to congress a couple of months ago. Its obvious that dozens of other players were using as well and eventually it will all come out because these ego maniacs can't stop using. And the ones that stopped using, you can see that they won't be in baseball for that much longer.
But does it really make a difference. 7 years from now when Palmerio is on the HOF ballot, I bet nobody will bring it up. Writers and Fans seem to have such a short term memory. People are now cheering Giambi, the media never made a story about Bonds actually admitting he used the cream (but he didn't know what it was), and Balco is the thing of the past.
But does it really make a difference. 7 years from now when Palmerio is on the HOF ballot, I bet nobody will bring it up. Writers and Fans seem to have such a short term memory. People are now cheering Giambi, the media never made a story about Bonds actually admitting he used the cream (but he didn't know what it was), and Balco is the thing of the past.
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