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Around SBN: Jim Irsay: We Can Make It Work With Peyton Manning

Wednesday June 25th DLD, "The Day the DFA Died"?

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at the risk of taking you at your word, that's crazy talk

(regarding our buddy Emil)

I know what they say about sample size, but I refuse to believe that this is not a guy who can continue to go 3/5 with 2BB, 1HR, and 5RBI every two games.

Let’s see. Assuming he goes 0-fer on the other night he plays, that’s a season line of batting .300 with 162 BB, 81 HR and 405 RBI.

by rebus on Jun 25, 2008 8:01 AM PDT reply actions  

So, what does your fave add-on do, exactly?

Also, “landslide” timed-out for me. For others?

Firefox rocks. Agree with your assessment.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 8:05 AM PDT reply actions  

Super Drag and Go

If you drag a link (not to anywhere, but just click/drag/release) it opens in a new tab in the background.

Say you open AN and start browsing through, you just drag and release every Post/FanPost/etc. of interest and when you’re done finding them they’re loaded in the background.

I find myself going nuts when I use other people’s computers and can’t browse through sites that way.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 9:06 AM PDT up reply actions  

Is it really so much harder to just do

right-click then “open in new tab”?

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

the new link dialog box has a specific "open in new window?" checkbox

Personally, I think the default should be “yes” (with the option to not).

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

Boo

Usually I want links to open in a new tab, and I do that by middle-clicking. But I find it annoying when links spawn new windows (or tabs) without my having asked for it.

"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.

by andeux on Jun 25, 2008 1:55 PM PDT up reply actions  

itchy trigger finger?

A mouseover will show whether it’ll spawn.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 2:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

100% agree with Andeux

Except for me it’s right-click, not middle-click.

I hate unrequested new windows.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions  

do y'all have single-click-linking right/middle buttons?

When I right-click on links, in order to actually open (whether in a new window, tab, or otherwise) I have to select the option off the right-click pulldown menu.

Auto-spawn = less work

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 2:09 PM PDT up reply actions  

Drag and Go is the least work

Which is why I like it. No using the right click menu isn’t super hard, but it certainly takes longer than just dragging the link an inch down.

All I can really say is try it and see if you like it. I guarantee it’s worth every penny.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 2:13 PM PDT up reply actions  

For me

left click = open
middle click = open in new tab
right click = brings up menu including choices of new window or new tab

auto-spawn = less choice

"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.

by andeux on Jun 25, 2008 2:20 PM PDT up reply actions  

pro-spawn vs pro-choice?

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 2:36 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'm pro-Spahn

but I was always a big Warren fan…

Florida ain't no place for a self-respecting A's fan.

by Leopold Bloom on Jun 25, 2008 2:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

Two buttons on my mouse

both at home and at work.

When I say right-click, yes, I mean the pulldown menu. But “open in new tab” is second on the list, so it’s just a tiny little drag. Less than the one inch nevermoor describes.

I’m not trying to convert anyone to my way, just answering the question.

More generally, I’ve never been one of those speed freaks who wants to save every microsecond of productivity. Even if the computer were instantaneous in everything, I’d still take a few seconds to look out the window, or a few minutes to get up and walk around.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 4:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

Does a chord-click do anything?

Can’t you can emulate a middle-click by clicking both left and right buttons at the same time?

by calgbear on Jun 25, 2008 6:21 PM PDT up reply actions  

At home on the Mac now

Your “chord-click” behaves the same as right-click. If I remember, I’ll try it at work tomorrow. (Mostly just out of curiosity, I’ve never had any desire to emulate a middle-click….)

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 10:16 PM PDT up reply actions  

Weird.

For links that navigate to a different area within the same site, sure – if I’m paging through the Washington Post or something, I don’t want a zillion tabs opening all over the place. But those sorts of links are never set to auto-open new tabs, so it’s really a non-issue.

But links that propel you to a different site? If you’re choosing the “open in new tab” option most of the time, why wouldn’t you want that to be the default behavior? It seems counterintuitive (and illogical) to prefer the default to be the thing you don’t usually do. If it happens to be one of those (exceedingly infrequent, for me) times that you didn’t want the new tab, just close the tab you’re in, and all is well.

In any event, the add-on allows you to differentiate: To open with normal behavior, just click the link. To open in a new tab, drag and drop the link. Plus the drag/drop search function is mildly useful.

by 74mk on Jun 25, 2008 2:20 PM PDT up reply actions  

See, I'm just the opposite

When I go to, e.g. sfgate or AN, I tend to read through the index page, middle clicking on articles or diaries in which I am interested, and then read those articles, closing the new tabs as I go. But if I’m reading on article with just a single interesting link to some other site, I tend to finish the original article and then (left) click through to the reference, without any need to open/close an extraneous new tab.

But the point is that the choice is up to me, and is only a single click either way. Why would I want to install an add-on and retrain my fingers just to restore the same functionality that I would have in the first place if people didn’t insist on the “target=blank” nonsense?

"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.

by andeux on Jun 25, 2008 2:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

{clicks with middle finger}

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions  

Huh.

For those of us with no middle-click, it’s more annoying: right-click plus another click. Though I suppose [ctrl]+[click] is a bit faster.

1. I’d put my “open new sites in a new tab” behavior at close to 100%.

2. I get really aggravated when I forget to right-click, and accidentally change the page I’m on to the thing I wanted to see in a different tab. This, to me, is far more problematic than very occasionally enduring the affront of a new tab opened against my will.

3. Ergo, default auto-spawn is preferable.

Different strokes, I suppose. We need a poll, clearly.

By the way: If you read a bunch, and tend to flag lots of items to read later, this (no new tab, never fear) is a pretty good tool.

by 74mk on Jun 25, 2008 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

what's more

If you click on a link without opening a new window, and then go back to the AN page from whence you came, you often default to a previous iteration of the page, and “lose” comments.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 4:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

Now THAT is annoying

I wish I could set AN so that it doesn’t mark everything unread unless I tell it to.

For me it comes up not so much when I accidentally leave the page (which I rarely do), but rather when I don’t have time to finish reading a long thread and I want to close it up for later, or (at work) when stupid IE crashes on me.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 5:01 PM PDT up reply actions  

this whole thread reminds me of a class i had in college

where we learned the “click”, the “click and drag”, the “double click”....ahhh, computers in the early days….(only ten years ago)

There's no crying in baseball!

by gigglingone on Jun 25, 2008 7:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

I was thinking it reminded me of high school.

“I like this clique”

“well I like this one”

“well you couldn’t get into any of them you band dork”

“WELL F%#@ YOU”

uhhh..maybe I shouldnt go to the next reunion after all.

"Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it?"-Steve McCatty

by 5Aces on Jun 26, 2008 8:37 AM PDT up reply actions  

That sounds familiar

My web-reading habits are about the same as yours, Andeux.

I’d guess that I want a new window about 60% of the time, a new window 5% of the time, and the same window/tab about 35% of the time.

More relevant to my preferences is that I just don’t see what the big deal is between a single click and a click-drag-click. They’re all negligible, so I don’t care. But I hate having to download crap and fuss with my preferences.

If the preference gnomes were to hack my computer in the middle of the night and change it to the behavior that 74mk or nevermoor is recommending and I would have to download a plug-in to switch it back to my way, I wouldn’t do that either. I’d just get used to the new way. Because bottom line, it’s just not worth screwing with it.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 4:58 PM PDT up reply actions  

But you should resist

both because it’s a no-go area and because the Woofing Gods don’t only follow baseball.

Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream

by Englishmajor on Jun 25, 2008 8:07 AM PDT reply actions  

Meh

All that site does is pure statistical compilation. No bias/projection/etc.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 9:07 AM PDT up reply actions  

Anybody happen to see the completely ridiculous situation from the Mets game last night?

Talk about an umpire abusing his power, huh?

I mean, the dude came out after Beltran, then bumped into Manuel, then ejected them both.

He had better get suspended.

by mikev on Jun 25, 2008 8:40 AM PDT reply actions  

Eventually, the umps may drive MLB to a technological solution to their over-reaching.

I continue to believe the best ones are consistent, accurate and invisible—three attributes that seem to be in eclipse among the current crop. I do not believe that much of the game’s soul would be lost by going to an automatic balls-n-strikes caller, assuming it’s accurate beyond reproach and the systems are set up so that they are utterly impervious to tampering.

These umps are a tired act.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 8:56 AM PDT up reply actions  

I think it would be a really really hard adjustment

Since I firmly believe that the majority of marginal breaking balls are called “wrong” by all umpires. As an example, curveballs that start high and break just down enough feel really high and are always called balls. I think the theoretically perfect automated system would “miss” those calls and drive everyone crazy.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 9:10 AM PDT up reply actions  

"Bug" or "Feature?"

I say the latter.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 9:45 AM PDT up reply actions  

Possible.

But pitchers would probably all be pissed when backdoor sliders that miss the plate but hit the glove don’t get called either.

My prediction would be mass hysteria (complete with human sacrifice + dogs and cats living together)

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions  

They need to institute a rule that allows teams to eject umps from a game.

In search of a new signature. Say something funny and you may see your comment here!

by DMOAS on Jun 25, 2008 9:11 AM PDT up reply actions  

my ONLY problem with going to any automated system ...

... is the Diebold Effect, where a party on the receiving end of any negative outcome blames les eminence grises for gaming the system to favor the other (more popular/more populous/more Seligulous) team.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions  

Sunshine = disinfectant?

The publicker the calls are shared in realtimey-ness the better, as the less susceptible to shenanigans.

I wish I felt differently, as I’d rather argue for tradition and “humanity” (for want of a better term for a series of other, related factors), but these umps have exhausted my goodwill.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions  

I'm assuming that Pitch F/X would not be going away...

making anything along those lines really noticeable.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions  

I wasn't clear

I don’t fear actual shenanigans to favor BOS/NYY/CHN, but the litany of fan/blog/podunk-newsman paranoid conspiracy-mongering about the presumed shenanigans.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions  

Is that any different or any worse than all the conspiracy theories we already see?

Hawk Harrelson is absolutely convinced the umpires are out to screw the Sox. I hear fans talking about it about various teams all the time.

And we did have a situation in the NBA that makes this sort of speculation not totally crazy.

http://bocropleasestopswingingatbadpitches.blogspot.com/

by thejd44 on Jun 25, 2008 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions  

Two thoughts

1: Totally egregious. That guy definitely deserves a suspension and to have any post-season appearances taken away.

2: Props to MLB.com for putting (or at least allowing) the video on the front page. I can’t tell if it’s on there b/c it’s most watched, but even in that case they could easily block it NFL style.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions  

I was watching that game live at the time...

I could not believe the overreaction from the blue…..It was like he wanted to toss Beltran and was just provoking him..was wild.

Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on Jun 25, 2008 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions  

Grrrr.

"God doesn't pay attention to your cute little hypotheticals." -- Jeff from LL

by oblique on Jun 25, 2008 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Brian Runge is one of the umpires whose name I always remember because he's a jerk (and bad)

I can’t even remember what the original call that made me notice him was, but it was years ago and now whenever I see him I expect bad things.

http://bocropleasestopswingingatbadpitches.blogspot.com/

by thejd44 on Jun 25, 2008 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions  

Who was the third Hawaiian last night?

Or did I misunderstand the comment in the game thread?

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 9:27 AM PDT reply actions  

shane komine.....

the original hawaiian punch… ;)

by rh40 on Jun 25, 2008 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions  

Oh, so I did misunderstand then.

I thought someone was saying there were three Hawaiians in the game.

I mentioned this on the game thread, but it was just after the new thread opened, so I think most people didn’t see it: Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez were both born in Honolulu. They were both in the Mets rotation for several years in the late 1980s. It seems probable that the Mets played a team some time during that period that had another Hawaiian on it. Whether that counts as three Hawaiians in the game depends on what you mean by “in the game”, since it’s doubtful Darling and Fernandez would ever both pitch in the same game.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions  

I'm just glad Lenn Sakata got his props...

He’s the greatest emergency catcher of all time!

"I'm tying my dog to the railroad track, choo choo train's gonna break his back; We used to call him Spot, but now he's called Splat; That's the kind of person we are... Oh baby won't ya come home with me?"- 'The Dicky & Dino Show' from The Young Ones, 1984

by Gaijin_Suketto on Jun 26, 2008 5:47 PM PDT up reply actions  

Nice job

embedding that link – maybe i’ll try it now….

"...in baseball you wear a cap." -- george carlin

by Hot Cup Joe on Jun 26, 2008 7:33 PM PDT up reply actions  

Emil's supposed platoon advantage

I haven’t found his minor-league splits, but his MLB splits are totally inconsistent—some years he has a trad platoon advantage, some years he hits both lefties and righties, and some years he has a reverse platoon advantage. I’d love to see someone with better stat chops than myself do a fanpost on it.

All due credit and appreciation to Emil for his HR last night, but I’m just not sure he should be starting even against LHSPs.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 9:47 AM PDT reply actions  

one quick thin from his batted ball stats

since 2005, his LD% has dipped and his IFFB% has risen. they’re nearly even this season.

fangraphs

I do think it’s somewhat valuable to have guys up there hacking now and then as a change of pace for the pitcher.

by rebus on Jun 25, 2008 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions  

If you want that, why not just tell all your current hitters to swing at the first pitch once a game?

(Note, I don’t think that’s a good strategy either. But at least it would remove the need to explicitly go out and sign a crappy hitter to implement it.)

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 10:58 AM PDT up reply actions  

crappy doesn't necessarily mean impatient

I mean, look at Kendall.

Not that Emil is anything special (or even anything average), but he does present a different batting style. Of course it would be nice if the results were more Vlad than Betancourt, but it can be somewhat useful in close games.

by rebus on Jun 25, 2008 12:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

Most impatient hitters suck

Not all, but most. And the ones that don’t, like Torii Hunter, tend to be seriously overvalued.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 12:51 PM PDT up reply actions  

The rule-proving exception, of course, is Vlad

It is very hard to have a respectable OBP without being patient, and for all the Moneyball jokes, OBP did fuel our franchise’s resurgence before everyone else caught on.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 12:55 PM PDT up reply actions  

Luis Castillo sucks

You seem to be proving the point.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 1:11 PM PDT up reply actions  

Wait, did you mean Jose Castillo?

Luis Castillo doesn’t suck (or didn’t, before he got old) but he also isn’t impatient.

Jose Castillo sucks.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions  

anticastilloite!

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

nicely done

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 1:45 PM PDT up reply actions  

Christ, what a Castillole

"You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy."

-Charles Manson

by kaweahkaweah on Jun 25, 2008 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions  

I meant Luis.

I’m not sure how he’s been above average this season offensively. Of course Jose Castillo sucks.

by rebus on Jun 25, 2008 1:45 PM PDT up reply actions  

oh

the whole idea was that Kendall, L. Castillo are patient, yet below average hitters.

by rebus on Jun 25, 2008 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions  

Shrug

In his prime, Castillo was an above-average leadoff hitter. He’s still OK; he hasn’t had a below-average OBP since 1998.

When he was combining above-average OBP with steals and good defense at second base, he was a solid asset. Unfortunately, he has lost a lot of the speed and good defense.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 2:23 PM PDT up reply actions  

Vlad

Overrated or not? Just curious.

by methodrampage on Jun 25, 2008 3:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

Overrated yes, overvalued no

The Angels got him for a very club-friendly contract. I have no objections whatsoever to hiring him for the price they paid.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 3:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

Uh, J.P.?

Stop digging.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 9:54 AM PDT reply actions  

So why Firefox?

I hear people who swear by it…..Is it really that much difference from IE?

Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on Jun 25, 2008 10:07 AM PDT reply actions  

Haha...nice...

But why, what makes such a big difference really?

Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on Jun 25, 2008 10:25 AM PDT up reply actions  

I think that's mostly because IE is so awful.

If you’re on IE, you should definitely switch. (Unless you’re using it at work, as I am right now, and aren’t the one making the decision.) IE sucks.

But it you’re on something else, I don’t think the switch makes such a big difference. I have a Mac at home and it comes with Safari. Now I’m not claiming Safari is better than Firefox, or even equal - I honestly don’t know - but I do know that it’s good enough that I’ve never had any reason to want to bother switching.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions  

Certainly true that IE is awful

I don’t really know much about Macs/Safari so I can’t comment on that switch, but since it’s designed by Apple it may well be better for Macs (since so much of their stuff is proprietary).

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions  

Faster, more efficient, more customizable, more secure, less buggy

Basically, IE is still the most popular, so hackers focus on viruses that work on IE (same reason viruses always target PCs), Firefox is both more secure and different.

Because the browser itself doesn’t have many features (hence the 1000s of add-ons available) it is also much smaller both in file size and performance required.

Finally, it is programmed by a consortium of real people donating their time, and thus (at least in my experience) the features it has are more necessary – people thought it was worth their time to program them – than gimmicky.

Also, for nerds like me, it actually correctly implements web protocols rather than trying to add custom/silly features that result in incorrect implementations. In other words, if everyone used Firefox instead of IE, websites would be programmed better.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions  

so the more apt analogy, per web functionality, would be ...

Firefox:IE::[any of Beane’s managers]:Dusty Baker

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions  

Interesting Quote from Rollins
When he comes back now, it’s not exactly the same. “I didn’t grow up watching games in this stadium,” he said. “Now it’s a football stadium that they play baseball games in. When I grew up, it was a baseball stadium.”

I could agree more.

by jeffro on Jun 25, 2008 10:10 AM PDT reply actions  

So why don't you?

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 10:19 AM PDT up reply actions  

Replacing the grass in center with Mount Davis was a travesty

And would be even if they hadn’t done the YMCA every single effing 7th inning stretch during the construction process.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Reminds me of a pet peve my boss shared

People who say ‘I couldn’t care less’ when they actually mean ‘I could care less.’

by easyraider on Jun 25, 2008 11:28 AM PDT up reply actions  

Does anybody ever actually mean

“I could care less?” Or is the above pet peeve inverted?

"God doesn't pay attention to your cute little hypotheticals." -- Jeff from LL

by oblique on Jun 25, 2008 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions  

Oh snap

I could care more about this particular issue.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yikes.

I’m going to go to Costco and get a multipack on “hours of sleep”

"God doesn't pay attention to your cute little hypotheticals." -- Jeff from LL

by oblique on Jun 25, 2008 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions  

*of

I can’t even spell a two-letter word right.

< breaks down, commits self >

"God doesn't pay attention to your cute little hypotheticals." -- Jeff from LL

by oblique on Jun 25, 2008 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions  

Here in
hell Florida, there are no Costco’s…well, there is one, an hour and some change north…if traffic’s good…

Florida ain't no place for a self-respecting A's fan.

by Leopold Bloom on Jun 25, 2008 2:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

What?

I assume your boss doesn’t understand sarcasm.

Root for the Giants? Not even if they're playing al-Qaeda!

by Monday Fan on Jun 25, 2008 11:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

Except that he's wrong

The Oakland Coliseum was a football stadium from day one. It was built specifically to be a home for the Raiders, though it was designed to be adaptable for other sports.

Root for the Giants? Not even if they're playing al-Qaeda!

by Monday Fan on Jun 25, 2008 11:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

Community Interlude?

American Pie lyrics here

Okay, I’ll start:

A long A-N time ago,
We barely remember how Emil Brown used to drive in runs,
And I knew if he got the chance
That he’d bounce one atop the fence,
And we’d be happy for a little while…

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 10:19 AM PDT reply actions  

k

But free-swinging made me shiver,
and I did more damage to my liver,
Bad news on Billy’s doorstep,
Frank could not take one more step.

"There's only one Ken Griffey ." Jay Bruce

by tresselfan on Jun 25, 2008 10:24 AM PDT up reply actions  

Refrain

So why? why? can’t the oakland a’s buy
Drove the Chevy for a bevy
of young talented guys
Them bad old teams were chargin’ arms and legs
Singin’ “I’ll trade him the day that I die”
“I’ll trade him the day that I die”

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions  

no, no, no

Any A’s-centric adaptation of that song must replace “Chevy” with “Chavvy.” Not negotiable.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 10:53 AM PDT up reply actions  

Nothing drives Chavvy

Except hard hit grounders up the line.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 11:07 AM PDT up reply actions  

I thought that, as well

"There's only one Ken Griffey ." Jay Bruce

by tresselfan on Jun 25, 2008 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions  

What the heck rhymes with Chavvy?

Something about Street drinking Robert Mondavi?

Only thing I can think of.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

lavvy (short for lavatory)

- To connote crappiness (authentically or ironically) of EC or another player
- To recall the time Macha kung-fu’ed Blanton free from the clutches of the dugout loo

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions  

You can't fight in here--

- zis is the war room!

Jeez - I wonder how they manage the collaborative process at mozilla?

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions  

Not quite that absolute

Chevy can be kept if it is in explicit reference to Rickey’s birth in the backseat of a ‘57.

by green star oakland on Jun 25, 2008 10:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

Did you write the book on stats,
And do you have faith in our team’s bats,
If Moneyball tells you so?
Do you believe in walks, not swings,
Can OPS+ make you sing,
And can you teach me how to run real slow?

by easyraider on Jun 25, 2008 11:38 AM PDT up reply actions  

Well, I know that you’re in love with Joe…
Because you won’t agree that he’s so-so
You both took down your ‘cakes
Ahh to dig those bats that rake
I was a lonely teenage Travis Buck
with a shin split condition and a BA that sucked
But I knew i was out of luck…
the day Car Gon arrived

by madmongoose on Jun 25, 2008 12:37 PM PDT up reply actions  

Did anyone listen to Huston's "Sex in the City" interview on Buan's show last night?

Children, until we have taught them better, will be perfectly happy with a seasonal round of games in which conkers succeeds hopscotch.

by salb918 on Jun 25, 2008 11:05 AM PDT reply actions  

Yes. As a result, I have a theory about his regular, three-game lapses.

That will get me in trouble.

So forget I mentioned it.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 1:33 PM PDT up reply actions  

I thought (I think) the same thing.

Get this man a, um, girlfriend!

Children, until we have taught them better, will be perfectly happy with a seasonal round of games in which conkers succeeds hopscotch.

by salb918 on Jun 25, 2008 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions  

eye sensitivity revisited

This is indeed funny … but when I simply read the phrase “bloodshot eyes,” my eyes start watering profusely.

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 11:15 AM PDT reply actions  

Hey, guess what!

Not everybody has ultimate control over what browser their primary computer uses, or what plugins they can… plug in. So when regular users complain about particular ads, they should be listened to, not told to “just block ads with all the freely available ad-blocking stuff that’s out there, DUH.”

There's no textbook for how to treat a geriatric tapir.

by Poppy on Jun 25, 2008 11:38 AM PDT reply actions  

Are you okay?

Did you have a run-in at the SJSU registrar’s office again?

pam5981: Patience is a virtue that I do not possess.
ohtobe21likehuston: But you're good at drinking and cussing. Two out of three ain't bad.

by pam5981 on Jun 25, 2008 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions  

(gets out of Poppy's way today)

pam5981: Patience is a virtue that I do not possess.
ohtobe21likehuston: But you're good at drinking and cussing. Two out of three ain't bad.

by pam5981 on Jun 25, 2008 1:35 PM PDT up reply actions  

You never irritate me.

Don’t worry, I’ll be out of AN’s way for the rest of the week.

There's no textbook for how to treat a geriatric tapir.

by Poppy on Jun 25, 2008 1:36 PM PDT up reply actions  

Now that can't be true.

pam5981: Patience is a virtue that I do not possess.
ohtobe21likehuston: But you're good at drinking and cussing. Two out of three ain't bad.

by pam5981 on Jun 25, 2008 2:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

"Abandon hope all ye who enter the SJSU Registrar!"

Send transcripts in, and they’ll be lost FOREVER!!

(oaklandSMASH, SJSU alum who lived to tell about it)

Green Hulk Fists

by oaklandSMASH on Jun 26, 2008 12:34 AM PDT up reply actions  

Hey

I’m just providing suggestions since it was a topic last night. In the end they seem to be very limited in scope on the site (although I could be wrong since I’ve never seen one). If my lead in to today’s DLD helped a few people take annoying web ads out of their lives I’m happy. If you’re at work and forced to use IE (and cannot download third party software), I’m sorry I can’t help.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions  

I don't personally have any problem with any of the ads, because I ignore them.

But replies like:

Where are these google ads everyone whines about
Oh, right, I have one of the thousands of pieces of software freely available on the internet that blocks ads.

...aren’t helpful. Nice of you to be helpful with the info in the DLD, though. Next time try to include the helpful information at the same time you’re dismissing people’s “whining” and their possible unawareness of freely available software.

There's no textbook for how to treat a geriatric tapir.

by Poppy on Jun 25, 2008 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions  

I draw the line at complaints about boobies in the ads.

That’s a little over-the-topless.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

Those damned jigg...um, google ads

"You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy."

-Charles Manson

by kaweahkaweah on Jun 25, 2008 1:32 PM PDT up reply actions  

Not safe for work

Booble

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 1:57 PM PDT up reply actions  

Meh

All mid-low-round college guys… no one of real consequence there. Oh well. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 12:21 PM PDT up reply actions  

Uh oh.

Lets hope Beane stays away from the lead-based water pipes.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions  

Huh?

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 12:51 PM PDT up reply actions  

The fall of the Roman Empire

The use of lead water pipes for all water drove everyone nuts.

Or so one of my personal favorite theories goes.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 12:57 PM PDT up reply actions  

Hm, I'm not buying that one

I’d imagine the effect of lead pipes would have been similar to the effect of mercury-containing vaccines… in other words, whatever negative effects the lead had would be more than canceled out by the positive effects of, you know, not drinking your water a la sewage.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

This guy has some paint he'll let you have --

for cheap.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

He sold

me a bag of glass, I think…

Florida ain't no place for a self-respecting A's fan.

by Leopold Bloom on Jun 25, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

Perhaps.

I just like it as a simple reason that late-era Romans acted so unbelievably crazy. Apparently they (they being elites) used a ton of lead pipes/vessels (because it made the water taste sweeter). I have to think there’s some correlation, but maybe civilizations just have “use by” dates.

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions  

There are hundreds of theories

about the decline of the Roman Empire. It’s pretty much the #1 thesis question for historians. Everyone has to take it on eventually.

The lead pipes theory was popular for decades, largely for its amusement value, but I’m with Paul on that one: It might be an interesting little minor feature, but it’s not even close to explaining the fate of the Empire.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions  

No, that's Transoxiana

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions  

pax sabeana

Children, until we have taught them better, will be perfectly happy with a seasonal round of games in which conkers succeeds hopscotch.

by salb918 on Jun 25, 2008 2:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, there really is no pithy explanation for it

What happened, happened. You could write libraries as to why.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions  

That's certainly true

As much as anything it was trying to expand beyond the Mediterranean and resulting logistics problems.

Just so long as Beane uses sugar to sweeten his water and doesn’t go totally nuts I’m happy. Of course, if the Barbarians can hold off on invading Oakland that would help too.

As a final note on this (admittedly strained) analogy. Does Fremont = Constantinople?

by nevermoor on Jun 25, 2008 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions  

more strained analogy

The Imperium Romanum of Rome

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 2:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

It's

Istanbul, not Constantinople.

Florida ain't no place for a self-respecting A's fan.

by Leopold Bloom on Jun 25, 2008 2:58 PM PDT up reply actions  

Christ, what a Constantinople

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 4:16 PM PDT up reply actions  

You're treading near my own favorite interpretation.

It’s sort of a Pirenne antithesis.

A clear continuity of culture can be traced from Rome in its Eastern Empire through the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates to the Ottoman Empire. The Roman Empire did not fall. It was disrupted, but then it shifted, adjusted, evolved, and let go of the West. But since western historians are determined to view Rome as “us” and France/Germany as “us” and Syria/Egypt as “them”, they see the abandonment of the West as the end of the empire and do not sufficiently appreciate its continuity in the East.

Pirenne very successfully lays out how the empire is fundamentally a Mediterranean empire. Then he shows how Egypt, the Levant, Asia Minor, Africa, Spain, and even Italy are “lost” to the empire, concluding that the empire fell because it couldn’t exist without them. But what was “lost” was France, not the entire rest of the Mediterranean. The empire, as defined by Pirenne as an economic network based on the Mediterranean, although disrupted, remained intact under a new

If you ask me, the far more interesting question is why the Ottoman empire declined. I think that question is not given nearly enough serious study, neither in the West nor elsewhere.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

Hm, the racy image seems to be gone

Same for others?

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 2:16 PM PDT reply actions  

that's two awesome names on the 1st-half scores

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ugur Boral

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 2:37 PM PDT up reply actions  

I can see I'll be avoiding AN during the Olympics

If you post results in a DLD (or really anywhere other than a thread with a big EURO 2008 SPOILER heading) it seriously diminishes the enjoyment of people who are going to watch the game later on.

In this case it looks like the telecast was hosed anyway… but that doesn’t change the overall point.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 3:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

I have learned to just go nowhere on-line when Im watching a game or show later....

So impossible to avoid the spoilers, and often times in weird places. I actually managed to watch the US Open playoff at about 4:30 with zero clue who won, probably my first success in the last 10 events I tried to do that with. The Olympics will be impossible, although it sounds liek swimming finals will all be in US primetime and in the morning/afternoon in China which helps.

Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on Jun 25, 2008 3:51 PM PDT up reply actions  

I know... still, it's just a pain in the ass

I mean, did people come on here blathering about the ending to Harry Potter VII?

If not, how is that any different? Either way it’s a spoiler.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 4:46 PM PDT up reply actions  

Turns out it was

Dumbledore’s butler, Arthur. Who’d have thought?

Florida ain't no place for a self-respecting A's fan.

by Leopold Bloom on Jun 25, 2008 4:58 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah, but if it's just the author's comment

during an interview and not actually in the book, does it count as canonical fact?

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions  

I think there's a greater expectation of sports events

watched in real time. I’m with Oaktown Power on this one. If I’m going to watch any sporting event after the fact, I make it a point not to go online anywhere.

I live in Seattle, but last year I had a game between the A’s and some-team-that-isn’t-the-Mariners spoiled for me by a random comment in line at the grocery store. You can’t be too careful.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions  

Ditto that

I think I dvr more A’s games than I watch live on EI…so I steer clear of the internet.
Really tough with afternoon games and I am surrounded by Angel fans at work –
‘sucks for your A’s Dude.’
‘thanks a-hole.’

by easyraider on Jun 25, 2008 4:49 PM PDT up reply actions  

so how long are we supposed to wait for you to catch up before we can mention something?
have you seen the crying game yet? because the chick was really a dude.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Jun 25, 2008 5:00 PM PDT up reply actions  

There’s no Crying Game in baseball!

Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 5:01 PM PDT up reply actions  

Dave Stewart begs to differ

"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.

by andeux on Jun 25, 2008 5:10 PM PDT up reply actions  

That does seem like a reasonable and clear standard.

I recommend others try to meet it.

I, on the other hand, will go the extra mile and join Monkeyball in not mentioning the Olympics until … well, ever.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 5:25 PM PDT up reply actions  

Well, to each his own, I guess

I don’t understand that viewpoint at all, but I suppose plenty of people don’t understand watching baseball, either.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 5:29 PM PDT up reply actions  

I barely have enough time to follow baseball.

If I had more time to devote to sports, I’d use it to see more A’s (or M’s) games.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 6:00 PM PDT up reply actions  

I will take a slightly different stance

and ignore most of the Olympics, but will dvr the finals of beach volleyball to see if there is another “celebration” for Walsh/May.

"Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it?"-Steve McCatty

by 5Aces on Jun 26, 2008 8:42 AM PDT up reply actions  

This brings to mind a scene from the first season of Friends

Ross: [blah blah blah, fretting about his wife’s new workout partner] ... didn’t you see Personal Best?

Joey: No … but I’m gonna!

[prepares to search YouTube]

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jun 26, 2008 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions  

okay that’s reasonable, but what about for things other than tape delayed sporting events, like harry potter?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Jun 25, 2008 9:47 PM PDT up reply actions  

I dunno, there are no hard and fast rules here...

for a fiction/mystery book, I’d be inclined to say “wait until people can get it out from the library and read it,” which is probably like six weeks…

Basically, enough time that someone who can’t catch it on the first go-round doesn’t get ambushed by the results/ending/whatever before they have their shot. Use judgment.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 10:28 PM PDT up reply actions  

I did watch the game "live" today

and didn’t see some of the best parts. Apparently a thunderstorm in Vienna took out the ESPN feed. I ran back to my office to follow it online because at least there I knew what was going on. At LaVal’s we were all just yelling at the tv, so no one could hear the commentators saying what was going on….

There's no crying in baseball!

by gigglingone on Jun 25, 2008 7:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

Italiano promoted

to Stockton.

"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.

by andeux on Jun 25, 2008 5:56 PM PDT reply actions  

bout time

Pessimism FTW! ... Wait what?

by Zonis on Jun 25, 2008 6:02 PM PDT up reply actions  

Oh no! You ruined it for me

I was totally dvring that!

In search of a new signature. Say something funny and you may see your comment here!

by DMOAS on Jun 25, 2008 6:48 PM PDT up reply actions  

WOOOOOOOO! SPRING BREAK!

4-2 Nats thus far in the 7th, Bases Loaded, No Outs for the Nationals!

Pessimism FTW! ... Wait what?

by Zonis on Jun 25, 2008 6:02 PM PDT reply actions  

and wouldn't ya know

Strike Out
Pop Up
Ground Out

Pessimism FTW! ... Wait what?

by Zonis on Jun 25, 2008 6:07 PM PDT up reply actions  

Stop posting about the Angels

Every time someone here posts about them, they do some absurdly improbable thing and win yet another game by one run.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 25, 2008 6:27 PM PDT up reply actions  

See, it's not just luck after all.

"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.

by andeux on Jun 25, 2008 6:29 PM PDT up reply actions  

and with that said

LAA ties it in the top of the 8th, now 4-4

by SwisherThresher on Jun 25, 2008 6:28 PM PDT up reply actions  

Nats Walkoff Win!

SPRING BREAK! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Pessimism FTW! ... Wait what?

by Zonis on Jun 25, 2008 7:08 PM PDT reply actions  

Congrats Fresno State

As a San Jose State alum, that’s hard to say, but it is nice to see a team from the WAC beat every baseball goliath put in front of them unlike how the Hawaii Rainbows getting trounced in the BCS.

For now, I’m glad your bulldogs are the bulldogs of baseball.

Green Hulk Fists

by oaklandSMASH on Jun 26, 2008 12:31 AM PDT reply actions  

Well, some Bulldogs or other had to win...

All truth, though, props to them. This might well be the single most improbable NCAA title in the history of collegiate athletics.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jun 26, 2008 8:18 AM PDT up reply actions  

It's nice shot in the arm to the athletic department.

They have certainly endured their share of woes without the championships. Most of it self inflicted mind you.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Jun 26, 2008 10:19 AM PDT up reply actions  

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