DLD - 3/2/10
by YonYonson on Mar 2, 2010 7:12 AM PST
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Non-baseball stuff first:
If you haven't read Chris Jones' Esquire feature on Roger Ebert, do so now.
But now everything he says must be written, either first on his laptop and funneled through speakers or, as he usually prefers, on some kind of paper. His new life is lived through Times New Roman and chicken scratch. So many words, so much writing — it's like a kind of explosion is taking place on the second floor of his brownstone. It's not the food or the drink he worries about anymore — I went thru a period when I obsessed about root beer + Steak + Shake malts, he writes on a blue Post-it note — but how many more words he can get out in the time he has left. In this living room, lined with thousands more books, words are the single most valuable thing in the world. They are gold bricks. Here idle chatter doesn't exist; that would be like lighting cigars with hundred-dollar bills. Here there are only sentences and paragraphs divided by section breaks. Every word has meaning.
Even the simplest expressions take on higher power here. Now his thumbs have become more than a trademark; they're an essential means for Ebert to communicate. He falls into a coughing fit, but he gives his thumbs-up, meaning he's okay. Thumbs-down would have meant he needed someone to call his full-time nurse, Millie, a spectral presence in the house.
Millie has premonitions. She sees ghosts. Sometimes she wakes in the night screaming — so vivid are her dreams.
Ebert's dreams are happier. Never yet a dream where I can't talk, he writes on another Post-it note, peeling it off the top of the blue stack. Sometimes I discover — oh, I see! I CAN talk! I just forget to do it.
Deadspin's Will Leitch also weighed in on Ebert.
Rapper Lil Wayne starts his one-year jail term today.
Baseball:
San Jose voters would approve of A's moving to town, poll says. However, Santa Clarans don't feel the same way about the 49ers.
San Jose voters polled approve the A's move by 53 to 35 percent — a significant jump from two previous polls done by the same firm in October and June of last year.
Prospect Justin Souza inspired by younger brother, who has cystic fibrosis.
"When my cardio gets hard and I have to push myself, I think of my brother, and I keep going," Souza said Monday. "He can't do this, so I will. I have to take advantage of my health, I can't forget that."
Cory Souza, now 20, received a double lung transplant when he was 9 years old. Doctors in Sacramento had told his parents, Rick and Kathy, that Cory's cystic fibrosis had advanced to the point that he had only three days to live.
Olympic fever struck Phoenix Muni. Don't worry, everyone's OK.
"I just jumped off my couch, yelling, I was so excited," Brad Ziegler said. "Anytime we have a team playing for national honor, I really get into it. There is so much grit and passion.
"When you see someone competing for your country ... I'll always be there supporting them as much as I can."
"What a great game!" exclaimed Jerry Blevins, replaying in his mind Canada's eventual 3-2 overtime victory over the United States in the Olympics' gold-medal game. "As much as I was disappointed by the outcome, you can't fault the U.S. team for how hard they played."
"Of course," Michael Wuertz said, "we're going to have to hear about that all year from players from Canada.
The A's do not have any Canadian natives in their Spring Training camp -- none of the 20 who played in the Majors last season -- so they'll be spared any up-close lip.
Brett Anderson has slimmed down a bit.
"I'll never have a six-pack (abs) or anything," said Anderson, who will be one of the starters in today's intrasquad game. "But I can see my kneecaps now."
SportsPickle, run by the hilarious DJ Gallo, has its first baseball preview of the year — the Washington Nationals.
STARTING PITCHING ... Stephen Strasburg is the name to know here. The phenom should fill seats for each one of his appearances. It's not too much of an exaggeration to say he should be Washington's best starting pitcher in almost 40 years. Beyond Strasburg there isn't much. If the Nationals really want to sell tickets, they should make Strasburg a long reliever so fans can see him pitch almost every game.
LINEUP ... Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn in the three and four spots are fun to watch at the plate. That's probably why the Nationals are batting shortstop Cristian Guzman second in the order. Guzman had just 16 walks in 555 plate appearances last year. He does his job by quickly getting out so everyone can enjoy the main attractions. True team player.
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Photo day pics
Kind of boring compared to years before.
"Macha hates you"- Tacoma fans heckling Kielty
They should just name the Buck pictures "Have bat will travel"
I am just teasing
PREPAREDNESS_Because those goddamn zombies aren’t going to kill themselves
Juchscherer
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
So, why is AN all of a sudden reverting to Narrow view all the time?
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
So it's not just me
Okay… did he break AN again?
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
I noticed it last night at home
and now today on a different machine, so…
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
Same offseason regimen as Anderson
A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@
by monkeyball on Mar 2, 2010 11:43 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
THIS IS RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
I thought you might like the idea.
I can’t do Opening Night after all, and gigs thought this might be a good alternative.
What do you mean you can't do opening night.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
No you don't. You're not feeling well.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
TWSS :-(
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
IT'S YOUR COMPANY YOU CAN TAKE A DAY OFF IF YOU WANT
I mean, congratulations. You should hire me to do all your IT work.
Remotely.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
I'm in a pub, drinking warm beer, sititng near a log fire.
At least, I think I am. I might be asleep in Schipol Airport dreaming all this.
it is weird, but right now, quite good.
I suspect that you think tilting at windmills means something other than what it does.
The ninth fastest thirty year old in San Francisco
I love the dutch.
I suspect that you think tilting at windmills means something other than what it does.
The ninth fastest thirty year old in San Francisco
"There's two things I hate. People who are intolerant of other people, and the Dutch"
-Nigel Powers
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
I am Dutch
Well, Frisian. But we’re better looking!
If Pennington manages 17 HRs, I’ll vow to consume an article of clothing to achieve a humorous effect --Joey C.
Good milk and good cheese is good English and good Fries
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
I'm 1/4 Frisian.
My mother’s mother.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
I love the quote from Brett Anderson!
Dude, if you can’t see your knees you know it’s time to lay of the late night chili dogs….
:0
"By the end of the year, I'll have Dallas throwing right-handed'' -Ben Sheets
Just noticed an interesting stat
You know which pitcher is 5th all-time in career strikeout-walk ratio?
Ben Sheets.
You know who’s 6th?
Dan Haren.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
Video Games
Today, MLB 2K10 and MLB ’10: The Show are out. I am playing MLB ’10: The Show right now.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 10:49 AM PST reply actions
Yes
Speaking of which, I must get back over there!
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 10:59 AM PST up reply actions
Crap
When is it due, teacher?
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 3:21 PM PST up reply actions
Impossible
The game was just released today!
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 3:25 PM PST up reply actions
Did Professor Gigs stutter?!
GET TO WORK, SB!
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 2, 2010 3:36 PM PST up reply actions
Is it cool?
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
The real question:
Is it cooler than MVP 2005?
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 12:59 PM PST up reply actions
answer:
No.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
That's all I need to know...
In my current game (my drunk friend accidentally erased my NINE SEASON LONG dynasty <A’s nine-peat, of course!>),
the computer randomly generated a AAA catcher under Leopold_Bloom’s real name, and holy fuckbiscuits is he on fire! I brought him up to the show in “May” and he might just make the all-star team. Dude’s already won me three games as a walkoff, twice with walks and once with a walkoff 2-run shot.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 3:40 PM PST up reply actions
fantasy-me is insanely skilled.
Women want him and men want to be him.
He parties like a rock star, rocks the Casbah, and rocks Falco on Amadeus’ off-days.
In fact, he stole all my rock on.
Bastard. I still love him, though.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 2, 2010 3:53 PM PST up reply actions
It's all those holy fuckbiscuits he eats.
You should try them.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
It's all he can afford on his salary...
I’ve got him on a 6 yr, 1.2m contract.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 10:58 PM PST up reply actions
I call him G_S Comiskey.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 3:26 PM PST up reply actions
Throw the World Series, I dares ya!
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 3, 2010 4:07 PM PST up reply actions
Sure
It is super fun.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 1:11 PM PST up reply actions
This is my first chance to get The Show...
… now that I have a PS3 post-Christmas. So, questions:
1) Do you like it better than the 2K series?
2) How off are the rosters in The Show (not ratings, mind you, just missing players, unsigned FAs, etc.)?
3) How bad are the A’s?
"Smokey, this be not the foul jungles of the darkest East Orient. This be ninepins. We are bound by laws."
There is no comparison, the Show is a million times better than 2K
The rosters arent too bad, most people are where they should be from what I’ve seen.
As for the A’s….
They are 23 overall
17 in defense
8 in pitching
30 in hitting
What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.
Out of what? 50? 100?
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
I'm guessing those are their rankings in relation to the rest of the league
Although the defensive ranking seems low, the pitching and hitting make a lot of sense under that rubric.
"Smokey, this be not the foul jungles of the darkest East Orient. This be ninepins. We are bound by laws."
Yeah, Joey, it is their rankings relative to the league.
What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.
Agreed
As far as rosters go, you can always update them.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 3:23 PM PST up reply actions
17 in defense?
wtf? I hate those ranking systems, they’re always bogus.
"The A's get some action but they do not score..." -Glen Kuiper
"Anyone who calls themselves the Angels Angels should have to start over and ride the short bus." -timmeh from McCovey Chronicles
ranking the a's offense dead last out of all 30 teams is even dumber
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
Is it?
I mean, we’re not no. 30, but I could see how someone might think that. But who could look at our lineup at see a 17th-ranked defense?
Taken down with hearts alive, our hearts alive.
going by runs scored?
there’s no way the a’s are outscored by all of kc, sea, tor, bal, cws, pit, sf, was, sd, hou and cin.
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
Fair enough.
But I’m still scratching my head on how they could get the defense ranking so wrong.
Taken down with hearts alive, our hearts alive.
After buying and playing the game last night...
… I can say that they definitely do not look at their Fangraphs info. Raj is underappreciated, but Sweeney is rated as below-average… in left field. Just as an example.
"Smokey, this be not the foul jungles of the darkest East Orient. This be ninepins. We are bound by laws."
It's odd.
You’d think that of all sports, baseball is the one that offers the greatest opportunity to make a true close-to-perfect simulator, what with the wealth of statistical data and all.
Taken down with hearts alive, our hearts alive.
The point isn't to simulate baseball
The point is to simulate what people think baseball is. Thus, players have identifiable hot streaks and slumps, get noticeably better in games where they’ve led off with a home run, record dramatically worse BABIP against elite pitchers, and basically do all the things that you would intuitively (but wrongly) think that real-life players do.
It’s much simpler to pander to the audience than to use a game as some kind of didactic exercise.
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
If the simulation were perfect,
you’d have to wait till April before you can play.
And you could only play once a day, or occasionally twice.
And you can’t play if it’s raining outside.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Doesn't EA Sports tout Madden as an accurate predictor of football games?
Or is that just ESPN on a slow news day?
I suppose I get why they put things like hot streaks in, but rating the A’s 17th on defense is akin to making Michael Vick a slow runner. It’s just factually wrong, and it’s not something that the public believes to be true either.
Taken down with hearts alive, our hearts alive.
I thought most Madden games had scores of like 70-56 if you played a full 60-minute game
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
They seem to.
But doesn’t ESPN always talk about how “Madden predicted the Saints to win!!!”?
Taken down with hearts alive, our hearts alive.
Yeah that is pretty dumb, especially since they only scored what, 30 runs less than texas? In a pitchers park.
"The A's get some action but they do not score..." -Glen Kuiper
"Anyone who calls themselves the Angels Angels should have to start over and ride the short bus." -timmeh from McCovey Chronicles
I keep getting drawn back to iglew's WLD
but I should post here on the general principle that link dumps should be daily!
I know that there are some Wire fans on AN. I got a kick out of this video, comparing three Wire songs to songs that Elastica “wrote” 15 years later. I guess if they are going to rip someone off, then at least they chose a really good band. Evidently this whole business resulted in a lawsuit — link
obviously wire are much more impressive in every way, but many of the songs from elastica's album are quite catchy
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
I knew about "Connection"
but not the other two.
That’s how I got into Wire, oddly enough. Some old crustpunk I used to drink with heard “Connection” on the radio, back in 1995, and yelled out “That’s a f’n Wire song. Stupid C***s!”
I asked him more about Wire and he played me Manic Hispanic’s cover of “12xU”, which is pretty awesomesauce. I bought “Pink Flag” shortly thereafter, and it didn’t really do it for me. However, “Chairs Missing” (with bonus tracks) blew my mind sideways, and I later grew to love “Pink Flag” and “154”.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 12:57 PM PST up reply actions
What's your favorite version of "Down in the Hole"?
Season 4 for this guy, but season 3 was pretty good.
"Smokey, this be not the foul jungles of the darkest East Orient. This be ninepins. We are bound by laws."
Why do I get the feeling no one will find this amusing...
"Smokey, this be not the foul jungles of the darkest East Orient. This be ninepins. We are bound by laws."
I find it amusing and contentious
as season two is clearly the best version. Give me Tom Waits any day of the week.
FTR, I DESPISED season three. Aaron Neville can go to hell.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 2, 2010 2:00 PM PST up reply actions
I read it ten times before I figured out the joke
but it is funny. I’ll pick season 1 cause I’m old.
I got the reference
but only after thinking about it for a couple of minutes. I’ve only seen seasons 1 and 2. Initially I had a strong preference for the season 1 version, but I’ve come to like them both.
I hated season 5's when I first heard it, but over time it became my favorite.
by LongLiveLangerhans on Mar 2, 2010 3:13 PM PST up reply actions
I heart Steve Earle,
but…Tom Waits.
It’s like you’re eating gorgonzola when it’s clearly brie time, baby!
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 2, 2010 3:15 PM PST up reply actions
I don't even know what in the hell y'all are talking about,
but Tom Waits kicks everybody’s ass,
with the possible exceptions of Captain Beefheart and Louis Armstrong,
because Captain Beefheart + Louis Armstrong = Tom Waits.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 3:45 PM PST up reply actions
We're talking about theme songs to a television show, G_S.
And neither Cap’n BeefyHearty nor Louie Armstrong never sang it, to my knowledge.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 2, 2010 3:54 PM PST up reply actions
but Armstrong would've been the best, if he had
and Ty Cobb could have sung it even better, if he’d wanted to.
Just do what I do and watch it over and over and over again.
I’m actually reading David Simon’s Homicide right now, and in a week I’ll be in New Orleans where my second highest priority will be tracking down Simon on the set of his new show.
by LongLiveLangerhans on Mar 2, 2010 7:00 PM PST up reply actions
It's fun to see how many plotlines and little moments from Homicide and The Wire were based on real incidents
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
I hope I'm not giving away too much for those who haven't seen it,
but my favorite “this-really-happened” is when a certain character escapes a shootout by jumping from a four-story window. In real life, it was a six-story window, but the building they were filming in only went to five and no one would believe four, anyway.
Listen, when he jumps out the window during that shootout, that was something Donnie Andrews actually did. He jumped out of the sixth floor of the Murphy Homes when he was caught in an ambush and out of ammunition. Did he think about it? No, but he did it and he survived and he was able to limp away. It happened. He also jumped off the Poplar Grove rail bridge another time. It’s legend. There are people who will tell you about it in West Baltimore other than Donnie. It’s not just something he’s making up. If you make that jump, you’re dead. If I make that jump, I’m a puddle on the ground.
By the way, I can’t remember if I posted that interview before (the one from Vice magazine) but it is a must read for The Wire fans.
by LongLiveLangerhans on Mar 2, 2010 7:40 PM PST up reply actions
it is reminiscent of something else that's happened recently.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 3:29 PM PST up reply actions
I thought about that AS IT HAPPENED.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 11:16 PM PST up reply actions
I was actually thinking of the copy-machine lie detector thing
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
I oughta check out one'a'them television shows one'a'these days.
Movin’ pitchers, how’bout’it?
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 7:58 PM PST up reply actions
I like Tom Waits.
But when it comes to this particular song, I like Earle’s version better. It’s a close call, though. The version sung by the kids (season four) is not that far behind, either.
by LongLiveLangerhans on Mar 2, 2010 7:02 PM PST up reply actions
tom waits, obv
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
Blind Boys fo me.
Stewart: "What really needs to be clear is it wouldn't have mattered if there was an earthquake or not. We were going to beat the Giants.
You made the right choice.
If you had something to say about show tunes, then it belongs in mine. But the Wire goes here.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
my original comment was about the band Wire,
not the show ‘The Wire’. But it went in that direction, obviously.
... Sorry for hijacking...
"Smokey, this be not the foul jungles of the darkest East Orient. This be ninepins. We are bound by laws."
ESPN the Mag (and insider) ridiculously cheap
13 bucks for a 4 year subscription.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
I signed up for 4 years.
That’s a ridiculous $0.125 per issue. I figure this way I get Insider super cheap and will stop being pissed off that I can’t read half of ESPN.com.
On the other hand, it probably just means more articles about the Red Sox and Yanks. Oh well.
I bleed green and gold!!! (my doctor is worried)
thanks mikev!
I was about to pay 30 bucks for two years! I owe you big time. (well, like 50 bucks at least)
What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.
No wonder it feels like time is flying by!
Days may be getting shorter.
don't grow up too fast / and don't embrace the past / this life's too good to last
Right?!
My foreman and I were talking about this today. At first it sounded scary, but axis shifts happen for a variety of reasons. Both internal and external.
are any of them evil?
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 3:29 PM PST up reply actions
all of them.
If the Earth were truly pure and good, it would sit there like a lump and not move, like a good little planet.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 3, 2010 4:08 PM PST up reply actions
"Earth, you are so fucking grounded when you get home," said the Center of the Universe.
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
I am (pleasantly) surprised curling got so many votes in the poll
After these last two weeks, I have a newfound love for it. Something about the curlers not fishing for endorsements/sponsorships and being just normal guys and gals is really cool.
"Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I'm trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?" - Rickey
or maybe it was those hot swedish curling chicks that you liked ; )
the only fishing they do is maybe ice fishing
They weren't bad, either
It seems like the women played a methodical game: more blocking and strategy, whereas the men seemed to do runbacks more often. Who knows, though, that’s only my impression.
"Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I'm trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?" - Rickey
by cuppingmaster on Mar 2, 2010 12:34 PM PST up reply actions
I interpreted the question as "what did you spend the most hours watching"
and since curling matches take awhile, and were uninterrupted by Mary Carillo’s moose-hugging adventures, I figured it had to be what I’d watched most. What I enjoyed most? Nein.
Curling
It is one of those events where you spend the first five minutes thinking this is rubbish and the next six hours glued to the screen.
by DeJay on Mar 3, 2010 11:46 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Agreed
Hot chicks helped make it through those five minutes too.
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
Thanks for posting the piece on Roger Ebert
I knew that Ebert had been ill, but I didn’t realize the scope of it and I didn’t know that he has been writing so extensively now. Great article!
Thanks!
I bleed green and gold!!! (my doctor is worried)
He was on Oprah today.
I got home too late to see it, but he has a computerized voice thingy now.
You can see it on her site.
time to tarp off seats at phoenix municipal stadium?
Intrasquad game to start in 15 min. and only about 25 people in stands, some of them A’s employees.
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
Justin Upton
The Arizona Diamondbacks are closing in on a six-year contract with outfielder Justin Upton, a baseball source confirmed Tuesday and the deal could be announced as soon as Wednesday.
FOXsports.com reported that the deal will be worth in the $50 million range.
Just 22 years old, Upton posted a 4.6 WAR and 7.4 UZR in right field last season.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 1:23 PM PST reply actions
whoa, I thought those Longoria contracts were going to stop
Isn’t the general assumption they lose money for the players?
They do, but it works out better for the players
in case of injury or sudden general suckiness. Sure, he could wait it out for more money, but there’s always the chance that the huge contract down the road never materializes. As PaulThomas likes to say, it’s a lot like taking out an insurance policy.
Taken down with hearts alive, our hearts alive.
I understand that, and if I were a player I'd be tempted
but I thought the Players’ Association was really pushing against these and I’m surprised someone who’s already on a team is going for it.
Nah. The Players Union loves long term deals.
What’s strange is that Upton is allowing three FA years to be bought out.
Still, he’ll only be 28 at the end of the contract, so he’ll have another monster deal to sign then.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
I haven't seen that
I’ve seen several articles like this one
Such deals are controversial with the players’ union, which is leery of players bargaining away too much future earning power.
but don't the dbacks know the a's are planning on signing upton for $250m?
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
Sigh
Maybe we can sign someone else instead.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 2, 2010 3:51 PM PST up reply actions
gabe gross will probably be available
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
Is it just me?
Every time I see a picture of Chris Carter I think of Pedro Serrano in Major league?
Let's just hope he can hit that curevball
and doesn’t need to sacrifice any chickens to Joebu.
I'll have a sandwich and a draft(sic). - Bill King (RIP)
Mostly hockey
Mostly at work streaming… but got to go outside for the last two games, LOUUUUUU
But I got exposed to a good dose of curling… I wanna try it now
100% Athletics, 100% Baseball. 2009 Athletics, 40% Baseball.
No, I will not buy insurance from you!
Joe Vu, on the other hand, I can trust.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
reply fail...
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 3:49 PM PST up reply actions
wait, are you trying to say Jesus cant hit a curveball?
What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.
errr...sell allstate insurance?
What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.
really? it's Jobu?
Well now I’ve lost all respect for Jairo Garcia Joe Vu.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 7:43 PM PST up reply actions
I voted for skiing
but then again, I’m probably the only person on this site— hell, in this state— who made a conscious effort to make sure that I didn’t get the results of biathlon events spoiled to me before I could watch the full replays of them…
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
I wonder if I'm the only one here
who went to a high school that had a biathlon program.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
I can't imagine many schools have one now
it’s hard enough keeping football and basketball teams going at many schools.
My school had one when I was a freshman, but
that was the final year. Skiing and shooting are both popular in Anchorage. At least they were in the 1970s. Things changed after the Pipeline was built.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Okay, without researching old
threads myself where there are certainly many references….
Can somebody give me their two cents on Hotel advice reasonably close to Phoenix Muni Stadium as I may pull the trigger for March 17th & 18th games there….and my OCD kicked in reviewing them all on the internet.
alaska A residing in northern Idaho.
There's a Motel 6 down the street
Not sure if you require 5-star accommodations, but that does the trick.
"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." - Satchel Paige
Soaker recommends the chain motels on East Apache in Tempe
America’s Best Value Inn, Days Inn, Super 8 (Soaker’s choice!) and a couple others. You’re within walking distance of the ASU restaurant/bar scene for the evenings, and to get to the games you can take the light rail instead of driving and parking.
If I get a chance I may post a review of the Tempe/South Scottsdale brewpubs. The valley’s brewpub scene seems to be dominated by the chains (BJ’s, Rock Bottom, Gordon Biersch and Oggi’s), which are fine but who wants to go to a chain restaurant when you’re traveling? On my list , all within reasonable distance of Phoenix Muni, are: Papago Brewing in South Scottsdale, Four Peaks in Tempe, Dave’s Electric Brewpub in Tempe, and Sleepy Dog in Tempe (not a restaurant but they encourage you to bring your own food and drink their own brew there; sounds intriguing).
thanks soak, er, soaker
I am hip to all the choices but not so much to the nuances like walk to accessibility to light rail (the phoenix light rail metro transit what-ever website is somewhat obtuse to a non phonecian).
alaska A residing in northern Idaho.
All day pass for light rail is $3.50
If you were staying at one of the motels I suggested (just beyond the southeast corner of the ASU campus) you would board at Apache and Dorsey. It’s 5 stops/13 minutes over to Priest and Washington (station just down from Phoenix Muni). In between is a station at 3rd and Mill, near the northwest corner of campus. Mill Avenue has lots of places to eat and drink. It’s very walkable to go across campus between there and the motels, or with the all-day pass just hop on the light rail.
For sure, when I got hipper to light rail map. I was going to go Super 8 in Tempe at ASU
BUT, I got slama-jammed with work thats gonna spill into my planned trip and I had to take a sober reality check and gotta for-go. $%$^$^^
Figure I’ll make it up with a regular season game in Seattle or Oak.
alaska A residing in northern Idaho.
I'm sorry
I hate it when
$%$^$^^
happens
"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton
I'm just curious
am I the only one who didn’t watch any of the Winter Olympics? I have nothing against those type of sports but I just didn’t find myself being interested in any of it.
My girlfriend wasn’t into any of it either so we ended up watching a bunch of movies the past couple of weeks instead of the Olympics.
I only watched about 30 mins of it with my parents the last week
I’m not that interested in it. I did read quite a few yahoo.com articles about it though.
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
I am a big hockey fan, so I did watch those if they were on.
But other than that, I wasn’t too interested in most of the sports.
What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.
I only saw like 10 minutes of Speed skating
changing channels while a program i was watching was in commercials.
I also watched no Olympics.
This time of year I don’t watch much of anything, but I wouldn’t be interested in Olympics regardless.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
This explains the (otherwise inexplicable) lack of Olympians in your post about Sweden
Fortunately, I’ve now remedied that omission…
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
Thanks for the contribution.
My part was already way too long. For me, writing a link dump is an exercise in deciding what to cut, not what to add.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
I watched about 30 minutes of the Olympics while I was over at a friend's house.
This probably says more about NBC’s coverage than it does about the winter Olympics but there seemed to be a large focus on spills and crashes. That doesn’t really interest me and I’d rather not watch at all. If I had cable, I would probably have put hockey and curling on as background noise.
by LongLiveLangerhans on Mar 2, 2010 7:14 PM PST up reply actions
I don't know anyone with as big a presence in the Olympic posts
that watched no Olympics.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 3:32 PM PST up reply actions
meh.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 5:51 PM PST up reply actions
You.
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
Hi
Did somebody call? I have my eyes on the busy college basketball slate of games tonight. I really need fifth-ranked Kansas State to lose by nine points or less. Twelve points is the deficit they face right now at second-ranked Kansas.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 3, 2010 6:58 PM PST up reply actions
you know, I think Don and me were right eight months ago.
No fucking way you’re a 17 year-old in Fresno. You’re a 60 year-old bookie. In Vegas.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 11:17 PM PST up reply actions
Quiet
You’ll blow my cover!
Also, I’m now 18 and I live in Modesto.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 4, 2010 4:23 PM PST up reply actions
I didn't watch any of it, either.
The nationalism thing pisses me off. I wish the Olympics were a flagless, stateless competition between athletes.
If that takes the big money out of it, and people aren’t interested because their “Hurray for my country” factor is taken away, then so be it.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 3, 2010 4:11 PM PST up reply actions
I endorse this statement 100%
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
That makes me dislike the coverage
but not necessarily the Games themselves. In some sports nationality makes a difference — like the US Nordic Combined skiiers wanting to medal for the first time in US history — but in a lot of cases I think its the fans with the hangups, not the athletes. The US and Canadian hockey players are teammates in the NHL; Lindsey Vonn’s best friend on the alpine tour is evidently Maria Riesch of Germany.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
Why does it piss you off?
OK, so it’s an arbitrary rooting interest. Is rooting for the A’s or Niners or whoever somehow NOT an arbitrary rooting interest? All rooting interests are basically arbitrary.
And I think you’d find, if you paid close attention to what actually goes on at the Olympics, that almost everyone involved— fans, locals, whatever— is coming at it with a “I hope everyone does great and our people just do a little bit more great” attitude. Compare this to domestic sports leagues where fans openly hope that players on rival teams get injured.
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
Maybe the people involved in the games are more positive and rooting for their competitors, too
but many fans and national olympic committees fetishize medals and take their country’s medal count very seriously.
Would it diminish your enjoyment of the games if athletes’ nationality was downplayed, and there were no flags or national medal counts?
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 4, 2010 4:04 AM PST up reply actions
The flag thing when they win bothers me becasue it's become part of the routine now.
Flag salespeople have to love it, though.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 4, 2010 11:18 AM PST up reply actions
What... are you looking to diversify?
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 4, 2010 5:18 PM PST up reply actions
Who are these people out there who "fetishize" medal counts?
I’ve never met one. And I’m like the most intense Olympics fan there is. Maybe the NOCs do, since I imagine it impacts their funding, but I (yet again) fail to see what’s wrong with that.
I like knowing who the American athletes are, but I wouldn’t be sorry to see medal counts go for basically instrumental reasons (they’re great for spoiling results, especially in the Winter Games where there are fewer events).
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
Unlike you, I wasn't avoiding Olympic spoilers
National medal counts were all over the place, including Yahoo’s front page, and the front pages of most sport sections online, and USA Today.
I think you’re right that the most hardcore of olympic fans are the least nationalistic and in it for the pure athletics rather than anything the athletes supposedly represent. It’s just that the olympics give nonhardcore fans the excuse to have an orgy of patriotism and nationalism that in many ways, overshadows the spirit of what the games were meant to be in the first place.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 4, 2010 5:15 PM PST up reply actions
The Olympics aren't the only thing that cause people
to have mega-orgies of patriotism. Seems like lots of holidays, product purchases, and lifestyle choices are made because of a false/inflated sense of patriotism.
I don’t really see anything wrong with the medal counts. I know here people look down upon that in many areas here, but it’s a big deal for the Russians and Japanese, for sure. The point is to send your best athletes, and to a larger point, develop athletes in your country. This fosters both, indirectly.
"Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I'm trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?" - Rickey
by cuppingmaster on Mar 4, 2010 10:07 PM PST up reply actions
don't forget war.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 4, 2010 10:09 PM PST up reply actions
For the third and, at least for the moment, last time
I challenge you to present me with a shred of hard evidence of these “orgies” of “patriotism and nationalism” which were apparently spontaneously (but secretly!) breaking out the world over.
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
If you believed NBC's coverage
From what I saw they showed all sorts of “ooh big deal” BS about several countries. The idea of one country losing in a particular event (was it Norway?) was unthinkable and then to lose to country X (was it Sweden?) was in the words of the broadcasters like the Red Sox & Yankees. It was and does happen. A lot? Meh, probably more than you think and less than G_S thinks? And NBC really couldn’t contain themselves over medal count discussions. Now I didn’t watch too much of it, but what little I did see it was pretty overwhelmingly there and a turn off. As someone who clearly watched a lot more of it, maybe I was just coming in at the wrong time, otherwise I’m really not sure what feed you were watching or else you were smartly skimming through it all.
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
Sounds to me like selective reporting
and fanning the flames by the media.
Kind of like partisanship in U.S. politics.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Oh my God, rivalries? In sport?
That cannot possibly be! Every team must oppose every single other team with equal (but not excessive) vigor!
The medal count was discussed once daily, at roughly 10:30 PM. The Norway-Sweden thing was discussed periodically when Al Trautwig and Chad Salmela ran out of other interesting things to say about a long cross-country race, which to be honest was fairly often. Then again, it’s hard to come up with interesting commentary at every stage of an 18-mile race.
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
They could have talked about -sen vs -son.
Or Grieg vs Alfven. Or the Kalmar Union.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Seriously with the snark?
You “challenged” to “present” “hard evidence” and blah blah blah. Look, NBC played up the nationality and the medal counts and the BS, etc. etc. (more than you claim, but whatever). Did their audience care? Who the hell knows and that’s an entirely different discussion, but some people who follow the Olympics do care about the nationalistic orgy of medals and the ilk of cheering their country above others. Not ALL, probably not most, some, maybe only a few do. Who the hell really cares. But when it does happen and when it’s pushed by NBC like a junkie (forgive the hyperbole) it’s annoying at best. The Olympics themselves aren’t about that, that I agree with, but they get sold by outside sources like NBC using these methods and when they do (however more or less often as any of us think), it’s just generally annoying and reeks of BS.
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
What's BS is your claims about the coverage
I have many, many critiques of NBC’s Olympics coverage (for christ’s sake, I wrote a four-page letter to them complaining about it at one point), but over-pushing of the medal count is not one of them.
You yourself said two posts ago that you “didn’t watch too much of it.” This is like someone saying Jack Cust sucks based on watching one game where he struck out three times. I mean, it’s just factually false that NBC heavily pushed the medal count as a storyline.
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
I watched on average about an hour or so a day of NBC's coverage
and quite a bit of CNBC’s. Not a lot (by my definition) and by no means the Jack Cust sucks level of misinterpretation. And I did admit to a level of hyperbole on that front. Yahoo! went orgasmic on it, but NBC made it fairly known when I did tune in to them (maybe it was just individual commentators with nothing better to say) but it did come up often enough for me to notice). If anything, the analogy is watching Cust strike out nearly every AB I see and thinking he strikes out often, nothing more, nothing less. I made no misinterpretation of NBC’s coverage here. As a point of fact, I made very little interpretation of it at all. Sources like NBC (and even worst, Yahoo!) did report on it. And when they did, as I’ve continually said, it was annoying and BS.
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
Yahoo wasn't covering the Games, it was reporting on them
and, I might add, doing so in such a way as to (I think) intentionally spoil results so that people would spend less time watching NBC’s ads and more time, for instance, clicking on Yahoo’s (I’m sorry, I refuse to put a fucking exclamation point randomly into the middle of a sentence) ads.
NBC did not focus very much attention on medal counts because it was flat-out impossible to do so without giving away upcoming results to any viewer who paid attention to anything. As I said, almost all of it was at either the very end of the day or after everything except the live-on-the-East-Coast stuff had been wrapped up. If you kept tuning in at 10:30 every night, then yeah, you might have seen a lot of it, because you were taking a severely biased sampling.
It may be that had it been logistically possible for them to spend more time banging the medal count drum, that they would have. I don’t know. God knows they found enough other stupid ways to waste time showing things other than sporting events. Either way, however, logistical reality stepped in the way.
Shawn Spencer: "I’m receiving a transmission from your husband. Really more of a voicemail, if I'm being honest. A status update. Perhaps a twitter."
Burton Guster: "I believe it’s called a tweet."
Shawn Spencer: "There’s no way I’m saying that."
Lee and Slusser were all over the intrasquad game today.
From their Twitter feeds.
susanslusser – Top 3 vs. Ross: Davis walk, steal (with ease), Pennington walk. Visit to mound byStassi. Chavez groundout moves runners up. #Athletics
about 5 hours ago via web
JaneMLB – After reaching first on a walk issued by Tyson Ross, Rajai jumps out to eary lead and steals second. Rickey would be proud. #Athletics
Lee also has some notes on her blog
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
too bad there aren't any video clips out there
I saw clips from the Giants and Mets intrasquad games but no A’s (so far).
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
I'm really starting to get the old baseball fever
one of the symptoms is that I’ve convinced myself all the A’s pitchers are going to stay healthy and the A’s are going to the playoffs.
Thanks for the link
the bullpen should be a strength. Hopefully the boys can win a lot of 4-3 type games.
I am so excited to see Rajai Davis play this year.
I sincerely hope his two walks today are a harbinger of a commitment to plate discipline and getting on base by any means possible and/or necessary.
I also sincerely hope that whoever hits behind him in the order doesn’t get too distracted by that green & gold comet orbiting counterclockwise around the pitcher.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 7:53 PM PST up reply actions
A year ago G_S could you have imagined you'd ever write
I’m so excited to see Rajai Davis play?
He was so much fun to watch last year and I sure hope he keeps it going. Next to Suzuki I think he’s my favorite player on the team.
No, not at all.
I’m really high on him this year because I read an interview with him in the offseason (I don’t remember where, sorry) and I just got the impression that he was going to be super locked-in and crazy confident this upcoming season.
I want to see him walk a lot more. Two today are a nice start.
"The rich people want what the poor peoples got, and the poor people want what the rich peoples got. You can never please anybody in this world"- The Shaggs, "Philosophy Of The World," 1968
by Gaijin_Suketto on Mar 2, 2010 11:09 PM PST up reply actions
Hey, iPhone-ers
MLB.com AtBat 2010 is up in the App Store
Another sign the baseball season draws near!!
"Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I'm trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?" - Rickey
From Slusser (via twitter)
Hey, is that Bobby Crosby playing SS for the #Athletics? No, it’s Adam Rosales, but it’s tough to tell the difference: http://tiny.cc/nQl3z
Taken down with hearts alive, our hearts alive.
by danmerqury on Mar 3, 2010 10:10 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Burn, SuSlu!
"Smokey, this be not the foul jungles of the darkest East Orient. This be ninepins. We are bound by laws."
Bye Bye Buan(y)
http://twitter.com/susanslusser
Some guy named Chris Townsend is taking over extra-innings. Guess Robert is moving behind the scenes. I don’t know anything about Townsend, but this bums me out.
Say what you want about Buan and his baseball knowledge, but he was fun and was always about good times…
Ellis for President
Aww, I love Buany.
I haven’t listened to Extra Innings in years, but earlier in the decade I listened every night. Good times.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
more info from Jane Lee's blog
The A’s this morning announced that nationally-syndicated broadcaster Chris Townsend will host the A’s radio postgame show on XTRA Sports 860 this season. “A’s Talk with Chris Townsend” will make its debut tomorrow immediately following the team’s opener. Ken Korach, Ray Fosse and Vince Controneo will handle tomorrow’s game broadcast, with the pre-game show starting at 11:30am PST. Meanwhile, Robert Buan will continue to contribute to the club’s postgame show by providing on-site interviews.
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
Yes, I could get Buaned-out at times but over-all I was cool with him.
alaska A residing in northern Idaho.
Audio indicates kid directed planes at NY airport
All he was doing was repeating what his Dad, the real air traffic controller, said and then the Dad was giving detail instructions. And it was only for a few planes. Sure, I don’t want controllers distracted but I think the company is overreacting.
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
I'm at odds
On one hand, there are very few professions where I kid doing dad’s job isn’t sort of “cute” in a way. But unfortunately kids can easily distract anyone else in the room with them and all it would take is for one of those ATCs to lose focus and Houston, we have a problem. Considering how busy NY is in general makes things significantly worse. I don’t think he should be fired if this is his only offense on the job, but a suspension seems fair as long as it doesn’t impeded or otherwise hamper his internal job prospects. It’s over and done with, let him learn from the suspension and move on.
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
Uh oh...
Rosales’ look is all-too familiar
…but from a distance, especially, he’s got the same look: the height, the frame, the high socks, the No. 7 jersey. Rosales has darker hair and different facial features, but otherwise … it’s eerie.
“Oh my gosh, it’s unbelievable,” said second baseman Mark Ellis, who played alongside Crosby for his entire time with Oakland and counts Crosby among his best friend. “The first day I saw Adam, when I saw him swing the bat, it’s exactly alike, and the way he walks, everything. Then I saw him in uniform, and with the number and the socks up … it’s the same.”
"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." - Satchel Paige
Can we DFA him now?
Leopold Bloom on why he loves Mr. Peter Gammons, his best buddy:
"Peter Gammons systematically ignored and/or ran down the A’s in the pages of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News for a good ten year stretch in the late seventies and early to mid-eighties. Trust me, the c**ksucker hates our team."
I wonder if Rosales' dad reads AN
"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." - Satchel Paige
I love that the MLB site
has a countdown clock to the first ST game. I happened to click in when it said 23 Hours 59 Minutes.
Less than a day, kids!
yay!
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 3, 2010 5:52 PM PST up reply actions
Random link
Who wants to kayak the LA river??
If Pennington manages 17 HRs, I’ll vow to consume an article of clothing to achieve a humorous effect --Joey C.
interesting
"The A's get some action but they do not score..." -Glen Kuiper
"Anyone who calls themselves the Angels Angels should have to start over and ride the short bus." -timmeh from McCovey Chronicles
So.....
since I am lazy…. will the first A’s game be on mlb audio or some other feed at all?
alaska A residing in northern Idaho.
Yes
It will be on KTRB.
The Ultimate Opportunist
by Rated-R Superstar on Mar 3, 2010 7:38 PM PST up reply actions
I just read Will leitch's piece on Ebert
(somehow I missed it the first three days)
What a touching homage. I’ve done stupid, stupid things like Leitch talks about and still painfully regrets. Anxiety of Influence.
sock puppets have never successfully defended castles. -nm
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