Thursday, January 10, 2008
still an idiot
John Zogby--K-Mad's boy--tonight on The Daily Show: "I don't know." I guess that's a slight improvement on 2004 when he picked Kerry.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Baseball writers are the most myopic group of morons to ever walk to earth.
This is a constant. It is a fact which hasn't changed over time. This week they completely ignored Tim Raines and Alan Trammell (again). Bert Blyleven is still waiting. And, of course, there is Ron Santo. We all know about that injustice.
Was is it any better 30+ years ago? It took Eddie Mathews five years to get in. When he retired he was the greatest 3rd baseman of all time, and only Schmidt and Brett have passed him since (and i'm not sure Brett was better). But that wasn't good enough for many brainless baseball writers.
How about this one: in 1956 Hank Greenberg was elected after NINE YEARS* on the ballot. When he retired only 4 hitters had a higher career OPS: Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Foxx. Only two hitters have passed him since: Bonds and Pujols. He missed about 4 seasons because of WWII. And while he retired when he was 36, it wasn't because of ineffectiveness. He had the 9th best OPS in the NL that year. He's a slam dunk, first ballot guy and it ain't even close.
In 1937, Cy Young only got 76% of the vote. Gee, isn't there a pitching award or something named after him?
Why are baseball writers so fucking stupid? The Veterans' Committee sucks, too. And if fans had their way, Steve Garvey or Don Mattingly would get in, or some shit.
Therefore, the four of us should decide (Fung can vote for cricket). Three votes gets you in.
*So says Jayson Stark. I'm not sure he's right though. If there was a 5-year waiting period then Greenberg spent 4 years on the ballot. Has there been a 5-year waiting period since the beginning? Corms?
Was is it any better 30+ years ago? It took Eddie Mathews five years to get in. When he retired he was the greatest 3rd baseman of all time, and only Schmidt and Brett have passed him since (and i'm not sure Brett was better). But that wasn't good enough for many brainless baseball writers.
How about this one: in 1956 Hank Greenberg was elected after NINE YEARS* on the ballot. When he retired only 4 hitters had a higher career OPS: Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Foxx. Only two hitters have passed him since: Bonds and Pujols. He missed about 4 seasons because of WWII. And while he retired when he was 36, it wasn't because of ineffectiveness. He had the 9th best OPS in the NL that year. He's a slam dunk, first ballot guy and it ain't even close.
In 1937, Cy Young only got 76% of the vote. Gee, isn't there a pitching award or something named after him?
Why are baseball writers so fucking stupid? The Veterans' Committee sucks, too. And if fans had their way, Steve Garvey or Don Mattingly would get in, or some shit.
Therefore, the four of us should decide (Fung can vote for cricket). Three votes gets you in.
*So says Jayson Stark. I'm not sure he's right though. If there was a 5-year waiting period then Greenberg spent 4 years on the ballot. Has there been a 5-year waiting period since the beginning? Corms?
If Smiff Reconsiders...
...then this would have been the perfect car for him. Except, of course, it's already been sold...
"OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."
"OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."
Oh, Whitey (cont)
Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman apologizes to Tiger Woods for 'lynch' comment
Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman has apologized after saying during Friday's telecast of the PGA Tour's opening event that today's young players should "lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley."
Once again, whiteys pounce on annudder whitey and say "Look, we're not racist coz we're yelling at the racist." Which would be fine if she were a racist, and not someone who just said something dumb.
If we're all gonna get so riled up every time someone says lynch, then we should just ban the word and be done wif it.
Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman has apologized after saying during Friday's telecast of the PGA Tour's opening event that today's young players should "lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley."
Once again, whiteys pounce on annudder whitey and say "Look, we're not racist coz we're yelling at the racist." Which would be fine if she were a racist, and not someone who just said something dumb.
If we're all gonna get so riled up every time someone says lynch, then we should just ban the word and be done wif it.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Clinton tears
Not to be confused with crocodile tears.
Somewhere, let the goddamn cartelists light their cigars and congratulate each other. One of them won in New Hampshire.
Put it this way, if Rupert Murdoch were to vote in the next election, he would pick Hillary over two of the top three Refucklicans running...
But goddamn, she can do exactly what the pollsters tell her...
Somewhere, let the goddamn cartelists light their cigars and congratulate each other. One of them won in New Hampshire.
Put it this way, if Rupert Murdoch were to vote in the next election, he would pick Hillary over two of the top three Refucklicans running...
But goddamn, she can do exactly what the pollsters tell her...
Things That Continue to Suck
Big 10 football. Please, no more Fuckeyes in the championship game. Let's see, they didn't play one team (before yesterday) with fewer than 4 losses. They played a bunch of cupcakes out of conference (all you need to know is two of them were MAC teams). They lost to Illinois at home. (Like Ohio State, Illinois was crushed in their bowl game.) Seeing as they were blown out last year, it's no surprise (with an even lesser quality team) they were blown out this year.
Speaking of awful... in case you missed it, a MAC team (Blowing Green) lost 63-7 in their bowl game. And they lost to TULSA! It was the largest margin of victory in bowl history, topping Alabama's 61-6 win over Syracuse in the 1953 Orange Bowl (who could forget dat one?).
And you know there are at least twice as many bowl games than there should be when the Big 10 are in eight of them and the MAC are in three of them. And they were a combined 3-8.
Speaking of awful... in case you missed it, a MAC team (Blowing Green) lost 63-7 in their bowl game. And they lost to TULSA! It was the largest margin of victory in bowl history, topping Alabama's 61-6 win over Syracuse in the 1953 Orange Bowl (who could forget dat one?).
And you know there are at least twice as many bowl games than there should be when the Big 10 are in eight of them and the MAC are in three of them. And they were a combined 3-8.
Dumbya is an @$$hole: Example #4,156
from His Days Are Numbered: George W. Bush Countdown 2008 Calendar (378 days to go!)
Shades of Disdain
At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden in June 2006, Bush took issue with the sunglasses worn by Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten. "For the viewers," the president said to the TV cameras, "there's no sun." Though apparently difficult for Bush to imagine, Wallsten--who ignored the president's comment--wasn't wearing shades to be cool; he was wearing them to protect his eyes, which suffer from a degenerative eye disease.
Shades of Disdain
At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden in June 2006, Bush took issue with the sunglasses worn by Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten. "For the viewers," the president said to the TV cameras, "there's no sun." Though apparently difficult for Bush to imagine, Wallsten--who ignored the president's comment--wasn't wearing shades to be cool; he was wearing them to protect his eyes, which suffer from a degenerative eye disease.
funny stuff...
Shawon Dunston and Todd Stottlemyre both got one vote for the HoF.
2008 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting
Rich "Goose" Gossage was elected Tuesday to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The following are the results of the balloting with 406 of the 543 votes (75 percent) required for
election:
Name Ballots received Percentage
---- ---------------- ----------
Rich Gossage 466 85.8
Jim Rice 392 72.2
Andre Dawson 358 65.9
Bert Blyleven 336 61.9
Lee Smith 235 43.3
Jack Morris 233 42.9
Tommy John 158 29.1
Tim Raines 132 24.3
Mark McGwire 128 23.6
Alan Trammell 99 18.2
Dave Concepcion 88 16.2
Don Mattingly 86 15.8
Dave Parker 82 15.1
Dale Murphy 75 13.8
Harold Baines 28 5.2
Rod Beck 2 0.4
Travis Fryman 2 0.4
Robb Nen 2 0.4
Shawon Dunston 1 0.2
Chuck Finley 1 0.2
David Justice 1 0.2
Chuck Knoblauch 1 0.2
Todd Stottlemyre 1 0.2
Jose Rijo 0 0.0
Brady Anderson 0 0.0
2008 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting
Rich "Goose" Gossage was elected Tuesday to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The following are the results of the balloting with 406 of the 543 votes (75 percent) required for
election:
Name Ballots received Percentage
---- ---------------- ----------
Rich Gossage 466 85.8
Jim Rice 392 72.2
Andre Dawson 358 65.9
Bert Blyleven 336 61.9
Lee Smith 235 43.3
Jack Morris 233 42.9
Tommy John 158 29.1
Tim Raines 132 24.3
Mark McGwire 128 23.6
Alan Trammell 99 18.2
Dave Concepcion 88 16.2
Don Mattingly 86 15.8
Dave Parker 82 15.1
Dale Murphy 75 13.8
Harold Baines 28 5.2
Rod Beck 2 0.4
Travis Fryman 2 0.4
Robb Nen 2 0.4
Shawon Dunston 1 0.2
Chuck Finley 1 0.2
David Justice 1 0.2
Chuck Knoblauch 1 0.2
Todd Stottlemyre 1 0.2
Jose Rijo 0 0.0
Brady Anderson 0 0.0
maybe they'll grow gills
Feds delay decision on declaring polar bears endangered species
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Federal officials said Monday that they will need a few more weeks to decide whether polar bears need protection under the Endangered Species Act because of global warming.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Federal officials said Monday that they will need a few more weeks to decide whether polar bears need protection under the Endangered Species Act because of global warming.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Decadent Westerners (cont)
Beyond regifting, now it's ungifting
So, lemme get this straight. We had this event we called "Christmas", which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Then we added this gift giving thing, because, well, Jesus got gifts when he was born, so we should give gifts too. Which is fine I guess, nothing wrong with that really.
Then we all went bonkers and decided we should turn it into an orgy of purchasing gifts for every single person you ever knew and all the people those people know. I mean, what happened to buying a gift for everyone in your immediate family (0r maybe just for the people you'll be spending Christmas with) and everyone else gets a card (if you even do that)? How can you possibly know what 200 different people will want? That's why people get i-tunes gift certificates for people without iPods.
And, of course, instead of discussing the real problem, which is why do we get so many gifts and/or why can't we devise a way to make sure we get people what they want (gift lists anyone?) we discuss how to get rid of the crap we got that we don't like. Which we never do, so we need bigger houses and bigger cars to keep it all. Speaking of which, why would you buy a car for someone else for Christmas?
So, lemme get this straight. We had this event we called "Christmas", which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Then we added this gift giving thing, because, well, Jesus got gifts when he was born, so we should give gifts too. Which is fine I guess, nothing wrong with that really.
Then we all went bonkers and decided we should turn it into an orgy of purchasing gifts for every single person you ever knew and all the people those people know. I mean, what happened to buying a gift for everyone in your immediate family (0r maybe just for the people you'll be spending Christmas with) and everyone else gets a card (if you even do that)? How can you possibly know what 200 different people will want? That's why people get i-tunes gift certificates for people without iPods.
And, of course, instead of discussing the real problem, which is why do we get so many gifts and/or why can't we devise a way to make sure we get people what they want (gift lists anyone?) we discuss how to get rid of the crap we got that we don't like. Which we never do, so we need bigger houses and bigger cars to keep it all. Speaking of which, why would you buy a car for someone else for Christmas?
Upping the Ante
I remember the days when there was silence on the bus to work. Bliss! You could sit there and stare out the window (when they cleaned them) and just daydream on the way to work. Then they decided to put in a voice announcement system. Not a bad idea, good for those tourists so they know (approximately) where they are, and for those who can still daydream so they can be reminded to get off.
Little did we know. They then added little reminder messages to the loop. "Don't lean against the door." "Don't eat, drink or play your radio loudly." "Don't reveal your whole life story to the bus while talking on your cell phone." And so on. Then more major announcements. "We're fixing the brown line up, so expect delays." Last week, it was all about how they will have to cut back service and increase fares on January 20 if they don't get more money. Today, they upped the ante. You're just sitting there, thinking "Ach, this announcement again." And then, they slipped in, "If additional funding is not secured, this bus route will be eliminated."
The CTA have their own propaganda machine. And they're using it. To no effect. So I'm supposed to call Springfield and tell them how important mass transit is to me? Somehow my call will make them fix it? I just love how one part of goverment wants me to do their dirty work so another part of government will give them what they want. What's needed here is (gasp!) competition.
The CTA sucks because they're the only game in town and there are no threats to them. So they can squander money then ask for more. Of course, we all realised that and so we cut back deliberately on how much we gave them to force them to shape up. BUT THEY HAVE NO INCENTIVE TO SHAPE UP! So the government will keep arguing with itself, and we'll all get the shaft. So break up the monopoly! Let others compete to transport me to where I want to go! If we want the problem solved, that's what we should ask for, not for the money pit to get more money poured down it. (Briggs will be so proud...)
Oh, and to the CTA, perhaps your next message should include "If additional funding is not secured, your current bus driver will be fired."
Little did we know. They then added little reminder messages to the loop. "Don't lean against the door." "Don't eat, drink or play your radio loudly." "Don't reveal your whole life story to the bus while talking on your cell phone." And so on. Then more major announcements. "We're fixing the brown line up, so expect delays." Last week, it was all about how they will have to cut back service and increase fares on January 20 if they don't get more money. Today, they upped the ante. You're just sitting there, thinking "Ach, this announcement again." And then, they slipped in, "If additional funding is not secured, this bus route will be eliminated."
The CTA have their own propaganda machine. And they're using it. To no effect. So I'm supposed to call Springfield and tell them how important mass transit is to me? Somehow my call will make them fix it? I just love how one part of goverment wants me to do their dirty work so another part of government will give them what they want. What's needed here is (gasp!) competition.
The CTA sucks because they're the only game in town and there are no threats to them. So they can squander money then ask for more. Of course, we all realised that and so we cut back deliberately on how much we gave them to force them to shape up. BUT THEY HAVE NO INCENTIVE TO SHAPE UP! So the government will keep arguing with itself, and we'll all get the shaft. So break up the monopoly! Let others compete to transport me to where I want to go! If we want the problem solved, that's what we should ask for, not for the money pit to get more money poured down it. (Briggs will be so proud...)
Oh, and to the CTA, perhaps your next message should include "If additional funding is not secured, your current bus driver will be fired."
Sunday, January 6, 2008
And then it was weird...
because the best editorial about business, morality and government was at Baseball Prospectus written by the resident founder and depressive, Gary Huckabee. He even comes up with a little gem: "[s]elective protection of the young teaches hypocrisy."
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