http://thinkprogress.org/2009/02/27/jtp-congressmen-should-be-shot/
"Back in the day" Joe says people used to be shot for criticizing the troops. Exactly when was THAT, Joe?
The Republican party strongly opposed our entry into WWI and WWII, don't recall any shootings.
I guess Sam/Joe is talking about........the days when dueling was legal? From Wikipedia -- By the end of the 19th century, legalized dueling was almost extinct in most of the world.
So Sam/Joe seeks a return to the bygone days of....what? The Grant Administration? Someone ought to tell Sam/Joe that back then the GOP was pro-equal rights for blacks. So he would have to become a Democrat or take the "good" (wild dueling) with the "bad" (support for equal rights).
What a jackass.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Officiating
Bill Simmons has a column on espn.com that addresses the financial decline of the NBA. In the column he whines about how bad NBA officating is today. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090227
Look, are there some sub-par officials in the NBA? Sure. You have like 60 officials and some just aren't very good. But when you attend an NBA game, are you likely to see the same play called the same way? Yes. If a guy goes to the hoop and wildly tosses up a bad shot and runs someone over who might be moving slightly, that is a charge or a no call. Never a block.
If a guy goes to the hoop and clears out on a shotblocker -- always a charge.
If a guy spins quickly in the post without dribbling -- 98% of the time that is a walk.
If a guy puts his hand on the dribbler going to the hoop -- 98% of the time that is a foul.
Screen on a dribble handoff -- always a foul.
An NBA game is very easy to watch and basically controls itself. The rules are very clear and they are enforced similarly by every crew. Are their times when a questionable call goes against Simmons' team (the Celtics)? Yes. Does that mean that NBA officiating is "dreadful"? Well, let's compare.
Look at your other sets of officials.
1) NFL -- you NEVER know how an NFL game is going to be called. Ask the Arizona Cardinals how good NFL officiating is. The teams can combine to challenge calls 4 (and up to 6) times a game, plus there are automatic reviews in the last 2 minutes of each half and OT. So NFL officials get up to 8 "do overs" in the course of a game. The first replay rule the NFL adopted allowed all calls to be challenged. That had to be changed because the refs blew so many calls that the game could last 4 hours if you had a diligent coach (example, I recall a 3rd and 25 pass complete for 13 yards which the refs marked as a 10 yard gain -- the coach challenged and got his 3 yards back. It was still 4th and 12, but the officials blew the call and were challenged. Lesson -- NFL officiating is SO bad that you really need to limit replays to just the most important blown calls).
2) MLB -- You watch an MLB game and you have no idea how the strike zone is going to be called. It may be ankle high, it may be 4 inches on each side of the plate, a curve ball may never be a strike. MLB umpiring has been so bad that it has basically removed the overhand curveball from the game. Why throw a pitch that will 98% of the time be called high or low?
And the rule book is completely suspended for MLB umpiring. The book says that the strike zone goes up to the letters. Nope. The book says you have to tag a guy even if the throw beats him -- nope. The book says you have to touch second when making a double play -- yeah, hasn't happened since 1960.
They call safe and out at 2nd base 95% of the time based upon how good of a jump the base stealer got. Good jump -- lot of false safes. Poor jump -- lot of false out calls.
What is the one real hard call that MLB umpires have to make -- fair or foul on a high home run ball. So what happens? Train them so they get better at doing that? Nope -- instant replay.
3) College Basketball -- I honestly feel bad for kids playing college basketball. If you are an athletic college player, any drive to the hoop is a charge. If you are a dorky white guy inside, however, you can throw yourself to the ground on a post move, yell loudly and get a call.
Some games every pump fake is a travel and every bit of contact is a foul. Other games the 3-man crew acts like a guy doing spring AAU games -- absolutely nothing is called and it is every man for himself. So you have conferences like the ACC and the Pac 10 where guys foul out on a regular basis, then you have a conference like the Big Ten where you couldn't possibly foul out if you carried a lead pipe onto the floor and whacked every opponent while they were in the act of shooting.
Illinois lost a game to Penn State where they shot 0 free throws. Entire game -- 0. Then last night Illinois and Minnesota were 10+ minutes into the second half when the announcer noted -- "no free throws in this half for either team." Amazing, especially when you consider that it was a football game being played out on the floor on every possession. Then with about 5 minutes left a Gopher defender grabbed an Illinois player away from the ball (which happened on every Illinois possession) and the Illinois guy shoved him away. Foul on Illinois. Announcer Tim McCormick, "That foul wasn't consistent with how this game is being called." Ya think?
There are times when a college game would flow better if you just let the players call their own fouls. Home court advantage in college games? About 3 points for the crowd and 7 points for the officials.
So, is NBA officiating perfect? Certainly not. But is it superior to every other major level of officiating? Certainly yes.
Look, are there some sub-par officials in the NBA? Sure. You have like 60 officials and some just aren't very good. But when you attend an NBA game, are you likely to see the same play called the same way? Yes. If a guy goes to the hoop and wildly tosses up a bad shot and runs someone over who might be moving slightly, that is a charge or a no call. Never a block.
If a guy goes to the hoop and clears out on a shotblocker -- always a charge.
If a guy spins quickly in the post without dribbling -- 98% of the time that is a walk.
If a guy puts his hand on the dribbler going to the hoop -- 98% of the time that is a foul.
Screen on a dribble handoff -- always a foul.
An NBA game is very easy to watch and basically controls itself. The rules are very clear and they are enforced similarly by every crew. Are their times when a questionable call goes against Simmons' team (the Celtics)? Yes. Does that mean that NBA officiating is "dreadful"? Well, let's compare.
Look at your other sets of officials.
1) NFL -- you NEVER know how an NFL game is going to be called. Ask the Arizona Cardinals how good NFL officiating is. The teams can combine to challenge calls 4 (and up to 6) times a game, plus there are automatic reviews in the last 2 minutes of each half and OT. So NFL officials get up to 8 "do overs" in the course of a game. The first replay rule the NFL adopted allowed all calls to be challenged. That had to be changed because the refs blew so many calls that the game could last 4 hours if you had a diligent coach (example, I recall a 3rd and 25 pass complete for 13 yards which the refs marked as a 10 yard gain -- the coach challenged and got his 3 yards back. It was still 4th and 12, but the officials blew the call and were challenged. Lesson -- NFL officiating is SO bad that you really need to limit replays to just the most important blown calls).
2) MLB -- You watch an MLB game and you have no idea how the strike zone is going to be called. It may be ankle high, it may be 4 inches on each side of the plate, a curve ball may never be a strike. MLB umpiring has been so bad that it has basically removed the overhand curveball from the game. Why throw a pitch that will 98% of the time be called high or low?
And the rule book is completely suspended for MLB umpiring. The book says that the strike zone goes up to the letters. Nope. The book says you have to tag a guy even if the throw beats him -- nope. The book says you have to touch second when making a double play -- yeah, hasn't happened since 1960.
They call safe and out at 2nd base 95% of the time based upon how good of a jump the base stealer got. Good jump -- lot of false safes. Poor jump -- lot of false out calls.
What is the one real hard call that MLB umpires have to make -- fair or foul on a high home run ball. So what happens? Train them so they get better at doing that? Nope -- instant replay.
3) College Basketball -- I honestly feel bad for kids playing college basketball. If you are an athletic college player, any drive to the hoop is a charge. If you are a dorky white guy inside, however, you can throw yourself to the ground on a post move, yell loudly and get a call.
Some games every pump fake is a travel and every bit of contact is a foul. Other games the 3-man crew acts like a guy doing spring AAU games -- absolutely nothing is called and it is every man for himself. So you have conferences like the ACC and the Pac 10 where guys foul out on a regular basis, then you have a conference like the Big Ten where you couldn't possibly foul out if you carried a lead pipe onto the floor and whacked every opponent while they were in the act of shooting.
Illinois lost a game to Penn State where they shot 0 free throws. Entire game -- 0. Then last night Illinois and Minnesota were 10+ minutes into the second half when the announcer noted -- "no free throws in this half for either team." Amazing, especially when you consider that it was a football game being played out on the floor on every possession. Then with about 5 minutes left a Gopher defender grabbed an Illinois player away from the ball (which happened on every Illinois possession) and the Illinois guy shoved him away. Foul on Illinois. Announcer Tim McCormick, "That foul wasn't consistent with how this game is being called." Ya think?
There are times when a college game would flow better if you just let the players call their own fouls. Home court advantage in college games? About 3 points for the crowd and 7 points for the officials.
So, is NBA officiating perfect? Certainly not. But is it superior to every other major level of officiating? Certainly yes.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Snowy, Miserable Gray Day -- Time For An Old Story
As I sit here watching the snow drift down outside and dreading the ride home, I thought I would see if I could recall an old story to bore you all with. Problem is, I think I have told most of them, to mixed reviews. But since we are in a snowy pattern, I will tell you a story involving snow and if you have heard it before, just let it slide, OK.
Snow Story
When I was a younger man, I attended college in snowy Buffalo NY. When it starts to snow in Buffalo, a strange fear floats in the air. Because (like Kindergarten students and the ocean) you should never turn your back on the Buffalo snow. Well, one day about 23 years ago I was walking home from class about 3 p.m. and it started to snow. Now those of you who have never lived near a large lake don't know what "lake effect" snow looks or feels like, but when it starts to snow, the flakes are enormous and dump down on you like a blanket. It is big, heavy snow that accumulates very quickly. So I had 10 minutes to walk to the dorm, and by the time I got home I was covered in 2-3 inches of snow.
After I got home, it started snowing FAR harder. Now at this time I was dating a young lass I will call SC. SC was about 5'2" and petite. She had class that ended at 4. So about 4 o'clock I turn on the TV. It is time for He-Man. I loved the TV show He Man and the Masters of the Universe. I watched it every day at 4. Cartoon, completely designed for 8 year old boys. But I loved the show. Now on the particular episode He-Man's friend Orco had lost his (always somewhat limited) magical powers entirely and was in danger of being killed by Skeletor. Around 4:15, in walks SC, just absolutely covered in snow. She expects a huge greeting. Unfortunately, I am watching to see if Orco gets killed.
She is pissed. She walks out of my room and to hers. I wait until the commercial and go see her. Not happy.
HM, "Hi, how are you?"
SC -- Not good.
"Oh come on."
-- Look, why don't you go back into your room and watch He-Man. You care about He-Man more than you do me. I come in from a frigging blizzard and all I get is you sushing me so you can watch He-Man.
"Oh, come on. It is a good one today. Orco is in trouble."
-- Why do you love that little fag Orco?
"I don't love him."
-- HM, are you kidding? My lord, he could not be any more of a fag, yet you have this bizarre crush on him! Just get out of here and go back and worship your little fag Orco."
So, needless to say, that few minutes of TV cost me a few hours of groveling and sucking up.
On the plus side, Orco did manage to escape and was not killed.
P.S. -- Orco is not a fag. He was just a tiny wizard character on a cartoon....who I liked.
Death By Sex
http://www.asylum.com/2009/02/27/russian-man-dies-of-viagra-overdose-goes-out-on-top/
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2275504.ece
The Russian mechanic -- name "Tuganov", English equivalent "Tuggin'-off" -- felt the need to win a $4,300 bet by trying to pleasure two women non-stop for 12 hours.
While I appreciate his dedication to the bet, I think that if two women are willing to bet you that you can't have sex with them for 12 straight hours, you maybe ought to decline the bet and just, well, have sex with them for some amount of time that won't make your heart explode. Alternatively, you tell them you want a warm-up try that "doesn't count" to see if you want to make the bet. Then you do the best you can and say, "Nope, you were right."
And of course, no mention of Russian women would be complete without a few words from Yakov Smirnoff:
“I like American women. They do things sexually Russian girls never dream of doing - like showering.”
"In the Soviet Union, we have no prostitution. Russian women have trouble giving it away."
"Russian women: At 20, they look 40. At 40, they look 60. At 60—don't look."
"In the US, you can catch a cold. In Soviet Russia, cold catches you!" (not related to women, but pure Yakov gold)
"I read the employment announcement of "Part-Time Woman Wanted"; what a country! Even transvestites can get work!"
"I found out that when you get married the man becomes the head of the house. And the woman becomes the neck, and she turns the head any way she wants to."
Gerald Henderson -- Underrated
Gerald Henderson is currently down at #8 on the nbadraft.net draft board. Anyone who watches Duke play has to understand that this is WAY too low. Henderson, let's see, is an explosive offensive player, good shooter, handles the ball well, good passer, and a good defender. Oh, and his dad played 10+ years in the NBA.
There are two guys in the draft who are arguably better pro prospects than Henderson -- Blake Griffin (whom I view as the second coming of Charles Barkley) and Hasheem Thabeet (7'3" and he can run the floor and can catch the ball -- so he qualifies).
After that, nbadraft.net ranks 5 guys ahead of Henderson who are nowhere near as good as Henderson. James Harden? What do you tell your fans when you pick a 6'4" off guard as #3 and his weakness is listed as "not an elite athlete, poor first step." That you picked a white off guard in a black body?
Brandon Jennings? Stated to be 20-25 pounds too thin to play in the NBA. OK, great. And while Henderson's dad played in the league, Jennings' good friend............Marcus Williams....plays in the league (or is employed in the league may be more correct).
Jordan Hill? One NBA comparison I saw -- Chris Wilcox. Wow. Maybe you just use that #3 pick and get the REAL Chris Wilcox and also a good player?
Jeff Teague? Weakness? "6'2" and slight of build and not really a point guard". http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jeff-teague. Where do I sign up for THAT? NBA upside -- "Kevin Johnson" -- it is never a good thing when you have to go back 20 years to find a successful player with your skill set.
When you start seeing a guy like Chase Budinger with "NBA comparison -- Kelly Tripucka" you will know it is time to close the book on his possible chances as an NBA starter.
Earl Clark -- Explain to me what you like about Earl Clark. Is it his 41.7% shooting percentage as an inside player? His failure to dominate as a junior player? His 4 for 12 shooting effort against Minnesota in a neatral court loss? His complete lack of shooting range?
nbadraft,net has his NBA comparison listed as "Boris Diaw/Danny Granger" -- this is like listing my celebrity looks comparison as "Kevin James/Zac Efron". What the hell does THAT mean? Is he like 85% Boris Diaw and 15% Danny Granger? Vice versa?
So Henderson shoots 49% from the floor and 38% from 3 and gets 2.4 steals plus blocks a game. nbadraft.net comparison???? Dahntay Jones. Really. Dahntay Jones? A guy who played at Duke and could dunk and almost nothing else. Wow.
If the Wolves have the #6 pick and don't draft Gerald Henderson, they are insane.
HM
Jeanine Vailes -- Also Can't Sing
Again -- you wonder why they even have the early screening of these contestants if this level of singing can get through to the top 36. Wow.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Equal Time For My GOP Readers
As I am sometimes ripped for being a Democrat shill, I offer you the video of the person believed to be the #1 contender for the GOP nomination in 2012, followed by video from two guys who (it seems to me) taught him how to deliver important public speeches:
"The Exorcist" Piyush Jindal:
His Mentors:
And:
"The Exorcist" Piyush Jindal:
His Mentors:
And:
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Obama to Go After Tax Evaders
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/24/obama-to-target-tax-haven_n_169576.html
I REALLY like the line in the story from unidentified business groups, "Well, we can't hike taxes in a down economy!" These people are hiding assets and income in places like the Cayman Islands!! This is like Wesley Snipes arguing that the economy is best served by his decision not to pay taxes or file a return since he has more money to spend.
Amazing.
Greatest. Song. Ever.
You can keep your Stairway to Heaven and your White Christmas and your Midnight Train to Georgia. There has only ever been one song that captured the true greatness of life. And here it is.
Sam Brownback -- Pelosi and Kennedy Not "Real" Catholics
Much as I hate to agree with the Conway Twitty impersonator, he is right. This is a major reason why I am never tempted to join my wife and kids as a Catholic. If you are truly a Catholic, you believe and follow what the Catholic Church tells you to believe and follow. Plain and simple. So the people who are truly "religious" are (egad) the fundmentalist Christians (who believe every word told to them -- Jonah swallowed by a large fish and lived, Methusela lived until 800+ years old, two white folks gave birth to a whole world of races about 5,000 years ago, etc.).
Hey, you are either truly in a religion or you are not. You don't get to pick and choose. You do what the church tells you 100% of the time........until 30 years later when they tell you to do the exact opposite.
Needless to say -- I am not a big "organized religion" guy.
The Best Thing About Timberwolves Games
in my opinion, is the presence of the two blonde cheerleaders on the left.....
Apology to a Reader
I have one reader who has demanded an apology. I now issue that apology (you may choose either A or B):
A) I express my regret.
B) I am sorry if you were offended by my clever commentary. I wish you had not been offended.
HM
A) I express my regret.
B) I am sorry if you were offended by my clever commentary. I wish you had not been offended.
HM
Alan Keyes -- Oh My Lord
What frightens me most is NOT that there is some crackpot out there making ridiculous statements about how the United States will "cease to exist" under "usurper" Barack Obama. What frightens me most is that I received this video clip from someone who AGREES with Keyes and send the SPAM e-mail on behalf of the GOP out to 50 of his closest friends, saying, "Beware."
Look, I lived through Jimmy Carter and I lived through Richard Nixon and I lived through GWB, the nation will continue no matter how corrupt or incompetent (or both) our President is. We will be worse off when we have a poor President. We will be better off when we have a good one. But 1 month into ANYONE's administration is not the time for people who SAY they love America to say things like "He is not really President" and "He is a Communist" and "The entire U.S. will soon cease to exist."
It is bullshit, and, quite frankly, in many places in the world it would get you imprisoned and/or shot. So Alan Keyes, maybe you try to go find SOMEWHERE that you can get over 38% of the vote in an election (never elected to major office, in fact, has never come close), or maybe you spend your time trying to reconcile with the gay daughter whom you disowned when she came out. But this is not the time for idiots to toss bullshit against the wall and call for overthrow of the existing government. We have serious problems and you, while a problem, have no place in the discussion of how to solve our actual problems.
Go away.
Look, I lived through Jimmy Carter and I lived through Richard Nixon and I lived through GWB, the nation will continue no matter how corrupt or incompetent (or both) our President is. We will be worse off when we have a poor President. We will be better off when we have a good one. But 1 month into ANYONE's administration is not the time for people who SAY they love America to say things like "He is not really President" and "He is a Communist" and "The entire U.S. will soon cease to exist."
It is bullshit, and, quite frankly, in many places in the world it would get you imprisoned and/or shot. So Alan Keyes, maybe you try to go find SOMEWHERE that you can get over 38% of the vote in an election (never elected to major office, in fact, has never come close), or maybe you spend your time trying to reconcile with the gay daughter whom you disowned when she came out. But this is not the time for idiots to toss bullshit against the wall and call for overthrow of the existing government. We have serious problems and you, while a problem, have no place in the discussion of how to solve our actual problems.
Go away.
Monday, February 23, 2009
You Know What Really Grinds My Gears #3 -- The Oscars
You know what really grinds my gears? The Oscars.
Has there ever been a phonier award show presented by phonier people who want to pretend that they are important? Ever? And exactly how irrelevant have the Oscars become? I mean, there was a time when people actually went and SAW the movies that were in the chase for the "Best Picture" award. While this sometimes seems like it was 40 years ago, if you look at the "Best Picture" nominees from 1994, when Forrest Gump grossed $300MM and won, you see these names:
Four Weddings and a Funeral -
Pulp Fiction
Quiz Show
The Shawshank Redemption
All acceptable entertaining commercial pieces.
And in 1995, with Braveheart winning, we had as also-rans:
Apollo 13
Babe
Il Postino (The Postman)
Sense and Sensibility
14 short years later we have films in the running that I would never watch if you paid me. I rented "There Will Be Blood" from last year's list. Uh, someone wanna tell me what the hell THAT was all about? If I wanted to see a guy get beaten to death in a bowling alley, I would have followed Allen Iverson around as a youth.
And now we have the whole HD format and the director's odd decision to do the super-zoom-in. Look, I don't want to know that Kate Winslet could be a ZZ Top member if she so chose. I don't want a super-tight close up to show me that Amy Adams and Marissa Tomei are flat chested. Message received on regular-def. Don't need the extra info. So who holds up under the scrutiny of HD? Well, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway. And............yeah just about it.
So if you are a guy with 3 percent body fat or a striking 26 year old woman, yeah, looking good at the Oscars. Otherwise, no thanks.
So watching films that I will never see constantly monopolize awards that I don't care about -- that is the current state of The Oscars...............and that is what really grinds my gears.
HM
Has there ever been a phonier award show presented by phonier people who want to pretend that they are important? Ever? And exactly how irrelevant have the Oscars become? I mean, there was a time when people actually went and SAW the movies that were in the chase for the "Best Picture" award. While this sometimes seems like it was 40 years ago, if you look at the "Best Picture" nominees from 1994, when Forrest Gump grossed $300MM and won, you see these names:
Four Weddings and a Funeral -
Pulp Fiction
Quiz Show
The Shawshank Redemption
All acceptable entertaining commercial pieces.
And in 1995, with Braveheart winning, we had as also-rans:
Apollo 13
Babe
Il Postino (The Postman)
Sense and Sensibility
14 short years later we have films in the running that I would never watch if you paid me. I rented "There Will Be Blood" from last year's list. Uh, someone wanna tell me what the hell THAT was all about? If I wanted to see a guy get beaten to death in a bowling alley, I would have followed Allen Iverson around as a youth.
And now we have the whole HD format and the director's odd decision to do the super-zoom-in. Look, I don't want to know that Kate Winslet could be a ZZ Top member if she so chose. I don't want a super-tight close up to show me that Amy Adams and Marissa Tomei are flat chested. Message received on regular-def. Don't need the extra info. So who holds up under the scrutiny of HD? Well, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway. And............yeah just about it.
So if you are a guy with 3 percent body fat or a striking 26 year old woman, yeah, looking good at the Oscars. Otherwise, no thanks.
So watching films that I will never see constantly monopolize awards that I don't care about -- that is the current state of The Oscars...............and that is what really grinds my gears.
HM
Jim Bunning -- Start of His Apology
"I apologize if my comments offended Justice Ginsberg [sic]," Bunning said. "That certainly was not my intent....
Translation:
I am really sorry if YOU thought it was impolite for me to anticipate your death and tell you that I think you will be dead in 9 months so I can install a "conservative" judge in place of your dead rotting body.
If you were offended, I am sorry you were offended. Idiot.
P.S. -- I will not take the time to learn to spell your name correctly in my written apology.
Jim Bunning -- Baseball pitcher and Holiday Inn Express medical doctor.
Translation:
I am really sorry if YOU thought it was impolite for me to anticipate your death and tell you that I think you will be dead in 9 months so I can install a "conservative" judge in place of your dead rotting body.
If you were offended, I am sorry you were offended. Idiot.
P.S. -- I will not take the time to learn to spell your name correctly in my written apology.
Jim Bunning -- Baseball pitcher and Holiday Inn Express medical doctor.
Phil Mickelson -- Choker? Nope.
Much like I said in my item about the surprising defensive play of a young George Gervin, there are many things that will surprise you in this world that you generally take for granted. George Gervin -- horrible defender (well, not really). And now, Phil Mickelson -- horrible choker.
Per this link, Phil Mickelson has led going into the final round of a golf tournament 15 times. His record when leading going into the final round? 13-2.
His record when tied going into the final round? 6-5.
So while we have seen plenty of stupid and inconsistent play from Phil in final rounds, he is NOT gagging up huge leads and losing tournaments. The facts show us the exact opposite. If he is leading, he has a 87% chance of holding on to win.
When he is behind and trying to catch up? Sure he may start falling apart -- but how many majors has Tiger won while trailing after three rounds? Is it still 0?
HM
Per this link, Phil Mickelson has led going into the final round of a golf tournament 15 times. His record when leading going into the final round? 13-2.
His record when tied going into the final round? 6-5.
So while we have seen plenty of stupid and inconsistent play from Phil in final rounds, he is NOT gagging up huge leads and losing tournaments. The facts show us the exact opposite. If he is leading, he has a 87% chance of holding on to win.
When he is behind and trying to catch up? Sure he may start falling apart -- but how many majors has Tiger won while trailing after three rounds? Is it still 0?
HM
Jim Bunning -- "Yeah! Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Cancer!"
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. -- U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning predicted over the weekend that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months.
During a wide-ranging 30-minute speech on Saturday at the Hardin County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner, Bunning said he supports conservative judges "and that's going to be in place very shortly because Ruth Bader Ginsburg … has cancer."
"Bad cancer. The kind that you don't get better from," he told a crowd of about 100 at the old State Theater.
"Even though she was operated on, usually, nine months is the longest that anybody would live after (being diagnosed) with pancreatic cancer," he said.
Wow.
Someone maybe should tell Mr. Bunning that there is a Democrat President and Democrat-controlled Senate. Oh, and that it is kinda bad form to be so happy that someone has pancreatic cancer.
During a wide-ranging 30-minute speech on Saturday at the Hardin County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner, Bunning said he supports conservative judges "and that's going to be in place very shortly because Ruth Bader Ginsburg … has cancer."
"Bad cancer. The kind that you don't get better from," he told a crowd of about 100 at the old State Theater.
"Even though she was operated on, usually, nine months is the longest that anybody would live after (being diagnosed) with pancreatic cancer," he said.
Wow.
Someone maybe should tell Mr. Bunning that there is a Democrat President and Democrat-controlled Senate. Oh, and that it is kinda bad form to be so happy that someone has pancreatic cancer.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Bud Selig's Legacy -- the MVPs
Bud Selig has been baseball commissioner since 1992. Here are the NL and AL MVPs for the Selig years. I will bold the guys who are either admitted (albeit "accidental") steroid users and put in italics the guys who are heavily suspected as being steroid users:
2008 Albert Pujols - V
Dustin Pedroia - V
2007 Jimmy Rollins - V
Alex Rodriguez - V
2006 Ryan Howard - V
Justin Morneau - V
2005 Albert Pujols - V
Alex Rodriguez - V
2004 Barry Bonds - V
Vladimir Guerrero –
2003 Barry Bonds - V
Alex Rodriguez - V
2002 Barry Bonds - V
Miguel Tejada - V
2001 Barry Bonds - V
Ichiro Suzuki - V
2000 Jeff Kent - V
Jason Giambi - V
1999 Chipper Jones - V
Ivan Rodriguez - V
1998 Sammy Sosa - V
Juan Gonzalez - V
1997 Larry Walker - V
Ken Griffey - V
1996 Ken Caminiti - V
Juan Gonzalez - V
1995 Barry Larkin - V
Mo Vaughn - V
1994 Jeff Bagwell - V
Frank Thomas - V
1993 Barry Bonds - V
Frank Thomas - V
1992 Barry Bonds - V
Dennis Eckersley - V
So, 16 of the 34 MVP Awards were won by guys who were likely roiding at one point in their career. A-Rod and Bonds would argue that they have 4 "clean" awards, but how are we to know that? Cuz they say so?
But let's focus a bit tighter -- let's take 1996 to 2003 (the last several years pre-testing): 10 out of 16 guys -- 6 of them in the black ink. So somewhere between 37.5% and 62.5% of your MVPs have to be roiding before you will even require TESTING! Nice, Bud, real nice.
HM
2008 Albert Pujols - V
Dustin Pedroia - V
2007 Jimmy Rollins - V
Alex Rodriguez - V
2006 Ryan Howard - V
Justin Morneau - V
2005 Albert Pujols - V
Alex Rodriguez - V
2004 Barry Bonds - V
Vladimir Guerrero –
2003 Barry Bonds - V
Alex Rodriguez - V
2002 Barry Bonds - V
Miguel Tejada - V
2001 Barry Bonds - V
Ichiro Suzuki - V
2000 Jeff Kent - V
Jason Giambi - V
1999 Chipper Jones - V
Ivan Rodriguez - V
1998 Sammy Sosa - V
Juan Gonzalez - V
1997 Larry Walker - V
Ken Griffey - V
1996 Ken Caminiti - V
Juan Gonzalez - V
1995 Barry Larkin - V
Mo Vaughn - V
1994 Jeff Bagwell - V
Frank Thomas - V
1993 Barry Bonds - V
Frank Thomas - V
1992 Barry Bonds - V
Dennis Eckersley - V
So, 16 of the 34 MVP Awards were won by guys who were likely roiding at one point in their career. A-Rod and Bonds would argue that they have 4 "clean" awards, but how are we to know that? Cuz they say so?
But let's focus a bit tighter -- let's take 1996 to 2003 (the last several years pre-testing): 10 out of 16 guys -- 6 of them in the black ink. So somewhere between 37.5% and 62.5% of your MVPs have to be roiding before you will even require TESTING! Nice, Bud, real nice.
HM
Bobby Brown to Lead New Edition ------ Of Timberwolves
The Wolves traded Rashad McCants and Calvin Booth (40 seconds of play for the Wolves, ever) for failed Duke product Shelden Williams and point guard Bobby Brown.
Certainly a "no lose" situation for the Wolves. McCants was a horrible cancer who refused to play hard, and Booth will be out of the NBA when his contract expires.
The acquisition of Bobby Brown is intriguing. As I noted in an earlier blog item, at one point in time he was averaging 24 points per 48 minutes this year. He once scored 44 in a German League title game and was the #1 overseas American recruit in the off season.
Williams was never an NBA-level starter. He has no post game, no facing game, and struggled mightily as an on-the-ball post defender, even in college. When the Hawks promised to select him #5 overall, I thought it was an obvious trick. It was, on Hawks fans.
The acquisition of Williams bothers me from two standpoints: 1) the Wolves say he "fills a need" -- so the Wolves are actually gonna try hard to win games the rest of the way.....uh, why? and 2) I think it also sends a message that the Wolves believe Al Jefferson may not be ready to start next year, so they are trying to acquire a cheap stop-gap to fill minutes.
When asked how he planned to play as a Wolf, Bobby Brown replied:
-- "That is My Prerogative."
-- "Guys, how would I know? Why don't you just Cool It Now?"
-- (radio interview) -- "There's somethin' wrong with my line.....I get a click every time."
-- "If I don't play well, I just ask that you Don't Be Cruel."
-- "I thought I'd just start out by kinda Humpin' Around."
HM
So I Don't Forget -- Tyson Chandler Failed His Physical, so He Is Still a Hornet
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AqrZ.QqCkMOmakXRgRRa3so5nYcB?slug=aw-tradebuzz021709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Amazingly, the doctor who failed Chandler on his "bad toe" is the same guy who operated on it 2 years ago.
Tyson -- "Hey, I never missed an NBA game due to my toe."
Doctor -- "Look, Tyson, I know for a fact I did a shitty job operating on that toe. I am stunned you can even stand up. You will be an invalid in 4 years -- fail."
Amazingly, the doctor who failed Chandler on his "bad toe" is the same guy who operated on it 2 years ago.
Tyson -- "Hey, I never missed an NBA game due to my toe."
Doctor -- "Look, Tyson, I know for a fact I did a shitty job operating on that toe. I am stunned you can even stand up. You will be an invalid in 4 years -- fail."
NBA Injuries Are Great News........For The Devil
Garnett -- bad knee, getting an MRI today (non-contact injury, looked bad on ESPN): http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3920443
Amare -- detached retina, out at least 8 weeks. Yeah, and if they told you Wolverines would make good house pets, would you believe them? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3921500 In my opinion, he is done for the year. He has had problems with that eye already; his game is basically explosive interior offensive play. Um, yeah, not gonna like that retina bouncing around as he runs and jumps.
And will he be MORE hesitant to play interior defense? Is that even possible?
Boris Diaw continues his 2-year run of hurting the Suns through his play on the court.
Ginobili -- stress fracture, out 2-3 weeks. So the Spurs will be worse for a while.
The beneficiary of all of this heartache? Clearly the Lakers. At SOME point if you give Kobe the absolute best team in the league AND injure all of his team's competitors he HAS to win a title without Shaq.....right???
Off the injury front -- the Cavs also failed to make any major deal and will end up getting nothing for Wally Szczerbiak's expiring contract. Their fallback plan?? Earl Barron, Joe Smith or Mikki Moore. http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm Sad but true.
The Wolves are said to have lost out of Kirk Hinrich because they wouldn't offer Jason Collins instead of Mark Madsen (Madsen has next year left, Collins is expiring). Uh, OK.....
HM
Amare -- detached retina, out at least 8 weeks. Yeah, and if they told you Wolverines would make good house pets, would you believe them? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3921500 In my opinion, he is done for the year. He has had problems with that eye already; his game is basically explosive interior offensive play. Um, yeah, not gonna like that retina bouncing around as he runs and jumps.
And will he be MORE hesitant to play interior defense? Is that even possible?
Boris Diaw continues his 2-year run of hurting the Suns through his play on the court.
Ginobili -- stress fracture, out 2-3 weeks. So the Spurs will be worse for a while.
The beneficiary of all of this heartache? Clearly the Lakers. At SOME point if you give Kobe the absolute best team in the league AND injure all of his team's competitors he HAS to win a title without Shaq.....right???
Off the injury front -- the Cavs also failed to make any major deal and will end up getting nothing for Wally Szczerbiak's expiring contract. Their fallback plan?? Earl Barron, Joe Smith or Mikki Moore. http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm Sad but true.
The Wolves are said to have lost out of Kirk Hinrich because they wouldn't offer Jason Collins instead of Mark Madsen (Madsen has next year left, Collins is expiring). Uh, OK.....
HM
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Texas Court Determines the Roger Clemens Can Sue In Texas........Kinda
I missed this last week, but here ya go: http://dig.abclocal.go.com/ktrk/Clemensruling.pdf
The only portion of Clemens' suit that was allowed to stay in Texas was the portion regarding statements made to Andy Pettite. Since I don't think that Clemens will ever be able to establish damages on this claim.
Why? Let's see an example: I am training The Ultimate Warrior and tell him that Hulk Hogan is on roids.
The Warrior decides, "Well, gee, that seems pretty cool to me. I will do roids, too so I can be more like Hulk." Have I harmed Hogan? No. Actually, the person I told thought it was great and decided to copy the behavior himself.
Another example -- I tell Ron: "You know, Paul is gay....and he goes and picks up guys at The Gay 90s all of the time." Then Ron decides that sounds pretty awesome so he does it as well. Paul sues me for telling Ron that. To win my case I need to show that the behavior I described made Ron think less of Paul. Not much hope of that.
Clemens will be stuck in court in New York, where he is now basically a pariah. Good luck on that dealie, Rog.
The court also found that McNamee's statements made for the Mitchell Report were privileged and therefore cannot form the basis of a defanation claim EVEN IF MADE WITH MALICE!!!!!!!!!
So, yeah, bad ruling for Clemens.
The only portion of Clemens' suit that was allowed to stay in Texas was the portion regarding statements made to Andy Pettite. Since I don't think that Clemens will ever be able to establish damages on this claim.
Why? Let's see an example: I am training The Ultimate Warrior and tell him that Hulk Hogan is on roids.
The Warrior decides, "Well, gee, that seems pretty cool to me. I will do roids, too so I can be more like Hulk." Have I harmed Hogan? No. Actually, the person I told thought it was great and decided to copy the behavior himself.
Another example -- I tell Ron: "You know, Paul is gay....and he goes and picks up guys at The Gay 90s all of the time." Then Ron decides that sounds pretty awesome so he does it as well. Paul sues me for telling Ron that. To win my case I need to show that the behavior I described made Ron think less of Paul. Not much hope of that.
Clemens will be stuck in court in New York, where he is now basically a pariah. Good luck on that dealie, Rog.
The court also found that McNamee's statements made for the Mitchell Report were privileged and therefore cannot form the basis of a defanation claim EVEN IF MADE WITH MALICE!!!!!!!!!
So, yeah, bad ruling for Clemens.
NBA to Borrow $175MM at 8.275% to Bail Out Clubs
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/61537
Look, spin it any way you want, this is a sign that half the clubs in the NBA (including some winning clubs like the Magic) are bleeding cash. One thing that is obviously happening across the league is teams are dumping big salaries in future years for..........nothing. They are dumping good players (Tyson Chandler) for bad players (Joe Smith) with expiring contracts.
Rumored to be dumped soon: Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison and Marcus Camby.
Teams are playing tough with the Cavs (undoubtedly trying to avoid helping them keep LeBron) but it is hard for me to imagine that people will keep resisting that huge Wally Szczerbiak $13MM expiring contract.
Raef LaFrentz (yes, still alive) is a big trade name becuase he has a $12.7MM expiring contract.
The Cavs haven't sought an injury settlement with Eric Snow, hoping they can use his $7MM expiring contract in a trade.
The Wolves are said to be bidding hard for Kirk Hinrich's $30MM of remaining contract by using as bait..................(and I am not kidding) Mark Madsen and Brian Cardinal. The rub? The Bulls want Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins instead, because Collins has more cash coming off and is done this year!!!!!!!!!!!! (The Bulls are also said to want a #1, but come one guys, you are dumping salary -- you don't get a #1. McHale is no longer in charge of that).
The current Salary Cap is about $59MM. Every team except Memphis is over that cap. The real cap is the luxury tax, which this year is around $71MM. Twelve teams are above that level, but a few of them just barely: http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm
So..........what does this mean for the near future in the NBA?
1) The great guys will still get their money. LeBron and Wade don't have to fear poverty when their deals come up.
2) If league-wide revenues are down, the cap will go down and the luxury tax floor will go down. That means that if you are, say, the Bucks, that Richard Jefferson for Wally Szczerbiak deal you are being offered looks like this on a dollars and cents basis:
a) 2009-10 cap goes so far down that the luxury tax hits at $65,000,000 next year.
b) Wally's cost to you next year -- $0. You also have a total team salary of about $53M after paying your draft choices.
c) Jefferson's cost to you next year -- you probably are at $68MM, so you are $3MM over the luxury tax, so you pay in another $3MM, so you have a payroll of $71MM.
If you are Bucks management, is it worth taking an $18MM hit in a bad economy in the hopes that you may, what? Finish 8th in the East and get your ass kicked in round 1?
3) There are a ton of veteran players who are going to be taking $5-7-10-12MM pay cuts very soon.
Look at the "top salaries" list on hoopshype.com: http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm Then think of the guys who are going to take ENORMOUS pay cuts next year:
Stephon -- $22MM down to $0
Iverson -- $22MM down to..........$5MM?? Maybe $8MM?
Kidd -- $21MM down to $6??
Steve Francis -- $17.2MM down to $0
Raef LaFrentz -- $12.7MM down to $0
Shawn Marion -- $17.1 MM down to $7MM?? Maybe.
Mike Bibby -- $15.2MM down to what? $5MM
Wally S. -- $13MM down to....$4MM. Maybe.
Garnett's contract also calls for him to take an $8MM pay cut next year. (Kevin , of course, dropped his price as part of a 3-year $57MM extension that will keep paying him until he is pushing 40).
But just take THOSE guys. In the current economic climate, they are going to lose $121MM of salary.
The only guys I see anyone bidding hard on in 2009 are Odom, Boozer, Bynum and Okur -- http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9608 But do I think these guys will get more next year than they are getting this year or have left on their contract option? Probably only
Bynum. So you take off $121MM of salary and add on, what? Maybe $12MM for Andrew Bynum?
Teams will be spending far less next year.
HM
Look, spin it any way you want, this is a sign that half the clubs in the NBA (including some winning clubs like the Magic) are bleeding cash. One thing that is obviously happening across the league is teams are dumping big salaries in future years for..........nothing. They are dumping good players (Tyson Chandler) for bad players (Joe Smith) with expiring contracts.
Rumored to be dumped soon: Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison and Marcus Camby.
Teams are playing tough with the Cavs (undoubtedly trying to avoid helping them keep LeBron) but it is hard for me to imagine that people will keep resisting that huge Wally Szczerbiak $13MM expiring contract.
Raef LaFrentz (yes, still alive) is a big trade name becuase he has a $12.7MM expiring contract.
The Cavs haven't sought an injury settlement with Eric Snow, hoping they can use his $7MM expiring contract in a trade.
The Wolves are said to be bidding hard for Kirk Hinrich's $30MM of remaining contract by using as bait..................(and I am not kidding) Mark Madsen and Brian Cardinal. The rub? The Bulls want Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins instead, because Collins has more cash coming off and is done this year!!!!!!!!!!!! (The Bulls are also said to want a #1, but come one guys, you are dumping salary -- you don't get a #1. McHale is no longer in charge of that).
The current Salary Cap is about $59MM. Every team except Memphis is over that cap. The real cap is the luxury tax, which this year is around $71MM. Twelve teams are above that level, but a few of them just barely: http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm
So..........what does this mean for the near future in the NBA?
1) The great guys will still get their money. LeBron and Wade don't have to fear poverty when their deals come up.
2) If league-wide revenues are down, the cap will go down and the luxury tax floor will go down. That means that if you are, say, the Bucks, that Richard Jefferson for Wally Szczerbiak deal you are being offered looks like this on a dollars and cents basis:
a) 2009-10 cap goes so far down that the luxury tax hits at $65,000,000 next year.
b) Wally's cost to you next year -- $0. You also have a total team salary of about $53M after paying your draft choices.
c) Jefferson's cost to you next year -- you probably are at $68MM, so you are $3MM over the luxury tax, so you pay in another $3MM, so you have a payroll of $71MM.
If you are Bucks management, is it worth taking an $18MM hit in a bad economy in the hopes that you may, what? Finish 8th in the East and get your ass kicked in round 1?
3) There are a ton of veteran players who are going to be taking $5-7-10-12MM pay cuts very soon.
Look at the "top salaries" list on hoopshype.com: http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm Then think of the guys who are going to take ENORMOUS pay cuts next year:
Stephon -- $22MM down to $0
Iverson -- $22MM down to..........$5MM?? Maybe $8MM?
Kidd -- $21MM down to $6??
Steve Francis -- $17.2MM down to $0
Raef LaFrentz -- $12.7MM down to $0
Shawn Marion -- $17.1 MM down to $7MM?? Maybe.
Mike Bibby -- $15.2MM down to what? $5MM
Wally S. -- $13MM down to....$4MM. Maybe.
Garnett's contract also calls for him to take an $8MM pay cut next year. (Kevin , of course, dropped his price as part of a 3-year $57MM extension that will keep paying him until he is pushing 40).
But just take THOSE guys. In the current economic climate, they are going to lose $121MM of salary.
The only guys I see anyone bidding hard on in 2009 are Odom, Boozer, Bynum and Okur -- http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9608 But do I think these guys will get more next year than they are getting this year or have left on their contract option? Probably only
Bynum. So you take off $121MM of salary and add on, what? Maybe $12MM for Andrew Bynum?
Teams will be spending far less next year.
HM
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
NBA Trades and Rumors
Deal Done (old) -- Tyson Chandler from New Orleans to OKC for Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith. Um, OK.
Hornets -- D
OKC -- A
I know Chandler is seldom healthy, but let's face facts -- it is impossible to guard Chris Paul if he can come off a foul-line screen and lob for a dunk. Chandler gave them that option. It is now gone. Plus, their interior defense against the Lakers is now..........um, Peja, West and Wilcox? Sean Marks? They get cap relief....for two years..when they could have kept Chandler for one year and got more out of him as an expiring contract....an odd deal.
OKC has all of their good guys (Durant, Green, Westbrook) under contract cheap for a couple more years. They can afford Chandler's salary. Great move if they can get Chandler healthy.
Deal (done) -- Ike Diogu from Portland to the Kings for Michael Ruffin.
Portland -- F
Kings -- D
Close to the Uwe Blab for Mike Smrek deal for lack of impact.
Rumored deal -- John Salmons and Brad Miller from SAC to Chicago for Nocioni and Drew Gooden and various throw ins.
SAC -- F
Chicago -- B
Rarely do you get both the better set of players and the better contracts. Nocioni is signed until Patagonia is regained by its indigenous people and declares its independence.
Sacramento's wheeling and dealing nets them 17 on the active roster (2 above NBA maximum). So they figure to cut Quincy Douby and the great Sam Cassell (despite owing a conditional 2015 second round pick for him).
HM
Hornets -- D
OKC -- A
I know Chandler is seldom healthy, but let's face facts -- it is impossible to guard Chris Paul if he can come off a foul-line screen and lob for a dunk. Chandler gave them that option. It is now gone. Plus, their interior defense against the Lakers is now..........um, Peja, West and Wilcox? Sean Marks? They get cap relief....for two years..when they could have kept Chandler for one year and got more out of him as an expiring contract....an odd deal.
OKC has all of their good guys (Durant, Green, Westbrook) under contract cheap for a couple more years. They can afford Chandler's salary. Great move if they can get Chandler healthy.
Deal (done) -- Ike Diogu from Portland to the Kings for Michael Ruffin.
Portland -- F
Kings -- D
Close to the Uwe Blab for Mike Smrek deal for lack of impact.
Rumored deal -- John Salmons and Brad Miller from SAC to Chicago for Nocioni and Drew Gooden and various throw ins.
SAC -- F
Chicago -- B
Rarely do you get both the better set of players and the better contracts. Nocioni is signed until Patagonia is regained by its indigenous people and declares its independence.
Sacramento's wheeling and dealing nets them 17 on the active roster (2 above NBA maximum). So they figure to cut Quincy Douby and the great Sam Cassell (despite owing a conditional 2015 second round pick for him).
HM
Why Women Prefer Taller Men
http://personals.aol.com/articles/2009/02/12/why-do-women-all-seem-to-want-taller-men/?icid=200100397x1219427420x1201275556
I have to say, as a guy who likes to tell it like it is, I really enjoyed comment #10 from "Glen" -- "you start with height, but then you go to looks, then weiner size, then..." No wonder I was able to get a wife taller than I am!
I have to say, as a guy who likes to tell it like it is, I really enjoyed comment #10 from "Glen" -- "you start with height, but then you go to looks, then weiner size, then..." No wonder I was able to get a wife taller than I am!
Casey Carlson and Stevie Wright? They Can't Sing
But Casey is a bikini model, so she at least has that to fall back on.
Wow. You go through 200,000 people auditioning and THIS is the level of talent that makes it through to the top 36? Yikes.
Casey:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/casey-carlson-preforms-every-little-thing-she-does-is-magic-american-idol-hq-audio-only/2825959984
Stevie:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/stevie-wright-preforms-you-belong-with-me-american-idol-02-17-2009-hq-audio-only/2743266645
Wow. You go through 200,000 people auditioning and THIS is the level of talent that makes it through to the top 36? Yikes.
Casey:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/casey-carlson-preforms-every-little-thing-she-does-is-magic-american-idol-hq-audio-only/2825959984
Stevie:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/stevie-wright-preforms-you-belong-with-me-american-idol-02-17-2009-hq-audio-only/2743266645
Amanda Beard Engaged
This is a woman who has such a high opinion of herself that when asked if she would do Michael Phelps she said, "Ooooooh. Yuck, gross." So when I heard that Amanda Beard was engaged, I said, "What? To a picture of herself? To a mirror?" Then I heard that she was engaged to...........a photographer......who had previously taken pictures of her for a photoshoot........
How fitting. I guess that is better than a mirror b/c a professional photographer can make you look BETTER.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
65 Historians Rank the 42 Presidents pre-Obama
Remember that Obama is #44, but he isn't ranked and Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, so they rank him once. Therefore, #42 is as low as you can go.
I will put my thoughts in by each guy.
Disclaimer -- I concede that these historians have reviewed the resumes of these Presidents in more detail than I, particularly guys from the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. I am making my best comments from my own knowledge. If Benjamin Harrison was key in stemming some silver panic that I cannot recall, I apologize.
Top 10 As Ranked by 65 Historians
1. Abraham Lincoln -- Saved the union and ended slavery, kinda hard to dis' him.
902 ranking points
2. George Washington -- father of our country; you would think he would finish a little closer to Lincoln than he does.
854 ranking points
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt -- wait, I thought the GOP now BLAMES him for the Depression and Hitler and Pearl Harbor, etc? What? He was a good President? I guess Rush Limbaugh isn't always right!
837 ranking points
4. Theodore Roosevelt -- in retrospect, I think his crusade against the evils of big business came 100 years too soon to save us; also a big national parks guy
781 points
5. Harry S. Truman -- not sure why; this one really baffles me. He........what? Bombed the Japs and gave away Eastern Europe to Stalin? So...........????
708 points
6. John F. Kennedy -- Gets credit for great vision of going to the moon and integrating the schools, but somehow avoids LBJ's stigma of Viet Nam. Bay of Pigs anyone? Somewhat overrated.
701
7. Thomas Jefferson -- bought 50% of the lower 48 for $15MM cuz Napoleon needed the dough. This is like standing outside of the party where Salma Hayek dumps her billionairre hubby and having her say, "You, there, if you pay for my cab ride home you get to be my new boyfriend forever."
698
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower -- Interstate Highway system is still the most underrated achievement of any U.S. President.
689
9. Woodrow Wilson -- Does his wife get partial credit for her days running the nation? Always thought he was overrated.
683
10. Ronald Reagan -- After Jimmy Carter, we desperately needed him. He made us not hate ourselves so much. To say he was top 10 is a bit hard to take, but he was close.
671
11-20
11. Lyndon B. Johnson -- way too low. Let's see, Lincoln freed the slaves, then Rutherford B. Hayes basically let the south run wild for 80+ years and then a Texan said, "Yeah, enough! It is frigging 1964, maybe we stop southern apartheid." So Lincoln #1, LBJ #11......for a war he made the mistake of continuing.
641
12. James K. Polk -- never appreciated in his time. History always lists him as a top 10 guy. U.S. expansionist. One of his big detractors was.......Abe Lincoln -- which resulted in Lincoln losing campaigns until 1860.
606
13. Andrew Jackson -- Should be higher. I think that history professors are now going after him as a racist and kind of crazy. Back in his time, he was the guy who brought truer democracy to the White House. He kicked the living heck out of the Native Americans -- very popular at the time, but now no one wants to remember that Florida didn't used to be all Jewish people from NYC, and we didn't ever "own" much of America -- we just took it. Bashing Jackson as anti-Native is akin to being a Kennedy and shouting about how much you hate the fact that there were ever bootleggers.
606
14. James Monroe -- Monroe Doctrine. Stay out of our side of the world. Pretty strong words for a guy working with a 50 year old country whose war "wins" at that point consisted of out-lasting the superior opponent.
605
15. Bill Clinton -- There will always be the smear on the blue dress. But his economic success is unmatched in all of my years on this earth. As time goes by, he sneaks higher up the list. I think he will ultimately end up at #11 (cuz no one will ever allow him to be top 10).
605
16. William McKinley -- Odd entry here. OK, he won the Spanish-American war, I think. And he was killed after his second election. Annexed Hawaii. Um, it looks like the fact that he took over after the Panic of 1893 has swayed some folks.
599
17. John Adams -- No one ever liked John Adams. He must have been a real asshole. Let's see -- you took over for George Washington and continued our country forward? Hmmm. How does a spot just below William McKinley sound?
545
18. George H. W. Bush -- John Adams barely edges out GHWB as a President? I won't hold against GHWB the fact that he fathered that idiot son. He saw an economy that needed fixing and did the right thing. That cost him the 1992 election -- but at least he lost to Clinton, who was the better President.
542
19. John Quincy Adams -- no idea. This entry will tell you how few good Presidents we have had. 542
20. James Madison -- Seems awful low. I guess being run out of the White House by the British in the War of 1812 is kind of a low point.
535
21-30
21. Grover Cleveland -- Split terms. Had an amazing looking 21 year old wife. Um, I am out of bullets here.
523
22. Gerald R. Ford -- terrible President. I would place him down below #35. Did nothing other than pardon a known criminal in Richard Nixon. Congrats, you placed a President above the reach of the law. Good precedent to start. Prez from August 1974 to January 1977. No way he approaches top half.
509
23. Ulysses S. Grant -- thought to be ignorant, drunk and corrupt.........then time goes by and he is thought to be not so bad. Whatever. All I care about is that he kicked Bobby Lee's ass all across Virginia.
490
24. William Howard Taft -- fat, loved baseball, big bathtub, um, basically hated by Teddy Roosevelt. So I guess history has decided Teddy was right. Later was Chief Justice.
485
OK, at this point I think we need to stop and recognize something once again -- we have had a lot of REALLY bad Presidents. I am looking at the list from 25-42 and I gotta say -- other than Chester Arthur, John Tyler and Andrew Johnson, I don't have much good to say about any of them. So, of our 42 pre-Obama Presidents, we have at least 15 really, really terrible ones. Plus I would add on Ford. So 16 of 42 -- complete whiffs. 38.1% -- terrible. It is amazing we have made it this far in one piece.
25. Jimmy Carter -- Good god. The collapse of our entire banking system drops GWB below him as worst President of my lifetime, but please don't mention the word "malaise" or have a President wear a cardigan sweater on TV. I may start crying. Bottom 7, no higher than 35.
474
26. Calvin Coolidge -- whew. OK, best known for being the "least offensive" of the great Harding/Coolidge/Hoover trio. I guess given the competition, I can't deny him a lofty #26 spot.
469
27. Richard M. Nixon -- I am fine with this. If you look at his actual programs and policies, he was probably one of the last liberal Republicans. I think if you could find and nominate an actual liberal Republican nowadays, the GOP could easily re-take the White House.
450
28. James A. Garfield -- shot soon after taking office.
445
29. Zachary Taylor -- died soon after taking office.
443
30. Benjamin Harrison -- almost uniformly thought of as a poor President
442
31-42 -- As you can see, to be a bottom 12 President you really really have to suck.
31. Martin Van Buren -- secret gang side: the 8 (8th President); unsubstantiated rumor that he was Alexander Hamilton's illegitimate son. Presided over the "Trail of Tears" and an awful economy. Nicknamed "Martin Van Ruin." Stop me when you hear something good.
435
32. Chester A. Arthur -- I am fairly certain he presided over civil service reform, which in and of itself should boost him higher up the list. Plus he lived for a few years in Perry, NY (about 20 miles from where I grew up).
420
33. Rutherford B. Hayes -- ended Reconstruction in the South and basically doomed blacks to 80+ years of second class citizenship. Plus there was that whole stolen election thingy.....
409
34. Herbert Hoover -- shacks where unemployed workers lived in squalor were commonly called "Hoover-villes" Nuf said.
389
35. John Tyler -- Now let me stand up for one thing John Tyler did. When WH Harrison died, no one wanted to recognize Tyler as the "real" President. He stood his ground and said he was the real President. This was a key moment in executive branch history. That alone should get him up there in the low 20s or early 30s.
372
36. George W. Bush -- the worst in my lifetime. Let me add this -- of those elected twice, he ranks last (Nixon being the closest at #27). Of those who served two full terms, he ranks last (Grant at #23, 13 spots higher). As a member of the public who voted for President in 2004, I am embarrassed for our country.
362
37. Millard Fillmore -- did nothing, still better than GWB.
351
38. Warren G. Harding -- arguably worse than Bush, widely regarded as horrible. One author dubbed his early death in office "timely." Ouch.
327
39. William Henry Harrison -- Always thought that he shouldn't count. One month? I guess he loses points for being so stupid that he spoke in the rain without a heavy coat. But he certainly did far less damage to the country than others on the list. If you could rank him, I would rank him around 30. Certainly he has to stand as the place holder for "nothing good, nothing bad."
Right?
324
40. Franklin D. Pierce -- Now, plunging the nation dangerously closer to Civil War is probably a really, really bad thing. Plus that whole strident defense of slavery as constitutionally necessary doesn't play real well in the history books (basically told abolitionists to stop ruining our country by calling for an end to slavery). So, yeah, pretty awful. New Hampshire must be real proud.
287
41. Andrew Johnson -- now, he was impeached for disobeying laws that Congress passed that were probably unconstitutional. And he was handed a country that only Lincoln could really lead. So placing him #41 is kinda unfair.
258
42. James Buchanan -- when a state government acts to kick federal soldiers out of a United States fort........by force of arms.........and you do nothing, that is pretty bad. And when 1/4 of active federal troops surrender to troops from the State of Texas? You get down there in the low 30s? But when you take the position that states have no legal right to secede........and follow that with your opinion that the federal government can't keep them from seceding......you finish last.
227
I will put my thoughts in by each guy.
Disclaimer -- I concede that these historians have reviewed the resumes of these Presidents in more detail than I, particularly guys from the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. I am making my best comments from my own knowledge. If Benjamin Harrison was key in stemming some silver panic that I cannot recall, I apologize.
Top 10 As Ranked by 65 Historians
1. Abraham Lincoln -- Saved the union and ended slavery, kinda hard to dis' him.
902 ranking points
2. George Washington -- father of our country; you would think he would finish a little closer to Lincoln than he does.
854 ranking points
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt -- wait, I thought the GOP now BLAMES him for the Depression and Hitler and Pearl Harbor, etc? What? He was a good President? I guess Rush Limbaugh isn't always right!
837 ranking points
4. Theodore Roosevelt -- in retrospect, I think his crusade against the evils of big business came 100 years too soon to save us; also a big national parks guy
781 points
5. Harry S. Truman -- not sure why; this one really baffles me. He........what? Bombed the Japs and gave away Eastern Europe to Stalin? So...........????
708 points
6. John F. Kennedy -- Gets credit for great vision of going to the moon and integrating the schools, but somehow avoids LBJ's stigma of Viet Nam. Bay of Pigs anyone? Somewhat overrated.
701
7. Thomas Jefferson -- bought 50% of the lower 48 for $15MM cuz Napoleon needed the dough. This is like standing outside of the party where Salma Hayek dumps her billionairre hubby and having her say, "You, there, if you pay for my cab ride home you get to be my new boyfriend forever."
698
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower -- Interstate Highway system is still the most underrated achievement of any U.S. President.
689
9. Woodrow Wilson -- Does his wife get partial credit for her days running the nation? Always thought he was overrated.
683
10. Ronald Reagan -- After Jimmy Carter, we desperately needed him. He made us not hate ourselves so much. To say he was top 10 is a bit hard to take, but he was close.
671
11-20
11. Lyndon B. Johnson -- way too low. Let's see, Lincoln freed the slaves, then Rutherford B. Hayes basically let the south run wild for 80+ years and then a Texan said, "Yeah, enough! It is frigging 1964, maybe we stop southern apartheid." So Lincoln #1, LBJ #11......for a war he made the mistake of continuing.
641
12. James K. Polk -- never appreciated in his time. History always lists him as a top 10 guy. U.S. expansionist. One of his big detractors was.......Abe Lincoln -- which resulted in Lincoln losing campaigns until 1860.
606
13. Andrew Jackson -- Should be higher. I think that history professors are now going after him as a racist and kind of crazy. Back in his time, he was the guy who brought truer democracy to the White House. He kicked the living heck out of the Native Americans -- very popular at the time, but now no one wants to remember that Florida didn't used to be all Jewish people from NYC, and we didn't ever "own" much of America -- we just took it. Bashing Jackson as anti-Native is akin to being a Kennedy and shouting about how much you hate the fact that there were ever bootleggers.
606
14. James Monroe -- Monroe Doctrine. Stay out of our side of the world. Pretty strong words for a guy working with a 50 year old country whose war "wins" at that point consisted of out-lasting the superior opponent.
605
15. Bill Clinton -- There will always be the smear on the blue dress. But his economic success is unmatched in all of my years on this earth. As time goes by, he sneaks higher up the list. I think he will ultimately end up at #11 (cuz no one will ever allow him to be top 10).
605
16. William McKinley -- Odd entry here. OK, he won the Spanish-American war, I think. And he was killed after his second election. Annexed Hawaii. Um, it looks like the fact that he took over after the Panic of 1893 has swayed some folks.
599
17. John Adams -- No one ever liked John Adams. He must have been a real asshole. Let's see -- you took over for George Washington and continued our country forward? Hmmm. How does a spot just below William McKinley sound?
545
18. George H. W. Bush -- John Adams barely edges out GHWB as a President? I won't hold against GHWB the fact that he fathered that idiot son. He saw an economy that needed fixing and did the right thing. That cost him the 1992 election -- but at least he lost to Clinton, who was the better President.
542
19. John Quincy Adams -- no idea. This entry will tell you how few good Presidents we have had. 542
20. James Madison -- Seems awful low. I guess being run out of the White House by the British in the War of 1812 is kind of a low point.
535
21-30
21. Grover Cleveland -- Split terms. Had an amazing looking 21 year old wife. Um, I am out of bullets here.
523
22. Gerald R. Ford -- terrible President. I would place him down below #35. Did nothing other than pardon a known criminal in Richard Nixon. Congrats, you placed a President above the reach of the law. Good precedent to start. Prez from August 1974 to January 1977. No way he approaches top half.
509
23. Ulysses S. Grant -- thought to be ignorant, drunk and corrupt.........then time goes by and he is thought to be not so bad. Whatever. All I care about is that he kicked Bobby Lee's ass all across Virginia.
490
24. William Howard Taft -- fat, loved baseball, big bathtub, um, basically hated by Teddy Roosevelt. So I guess history has decided Teddy was right. Later was Chief Justice.
485
OK, at this point I think we need to stop and recognize something once again -- we have had a lot of REALLY bad Presidents. I am looking at the list from 25-42 and I gotta say -- other than Chester Arthur, John Tyler and Andrew Johnson, I don't have much good to say about any of them. So, of our 42 pre-Obama Presidents, we have at least 15 really, really terrible ones. Plus I would add on Ford. So 16 of 42 -- complete whiffs. 38.1% -- terrible. It is amazing we have made it this far in one piece.
25. Jimmy Carter -- Good god. The collapse of our entire banking system drops GWB below him as worst President of my lifetime, but please don't mention the word "malaise" or have a President wear a cardigan sweater on TV. I may start crying. Bottom 7, no higher than 35.
474
26. Calvin Coolidge -- whew. OK, best known for being the "least offensive" of the great Harding/Coolidge/Hoover trio. I guess given the competition, I can't deny him a lofty #26 spot.
469
27. Richard M. Nixon -- I am fine with this. If you look at his actual programs and policies, he was probably one of the last liberal Republicans. I think if you could find and nominate an actual liberal Republican nowadays, the GOP could easily re-take the White House.
450
28. James A. Garfield -- shot soon after taking office.
445
29. Zachary Taylor -- died soon after taking office.
443
30. Benjamin Harrison -- almost uniformly thought of as a poor President
442
31-42 -- As you can see, to be a bottom 12 President you really really have to suck.
31. Martin Van Buren -- secret gang side: the 8 (8th President); unsubstantiated rumor that he was Alexander Hamilton's illegitimate son. Presided over the "Trail of Tears" and an awful economy. Nicknamed "Martin Van Ruin." Stop me when you hear something good.
435
32. Chester A. Arthur -- I am fairly certain he presided over civil service reform, which in and of itself should boost him higher up the list. Plus he lived for a few years in Perry, NY (about 20 miles from where I grew up).
420
33. Rutherford B. Hayes -- ended Reconstruction in the South and basically doomed blacks to 80+ years of second class citizenship. Plus there was that whole stolen election thingy.....
409
34. Herbert Hoover -- shacks where unemployed workers lived in squalor were commonly called "Hoover-villes" Nuf said.
389
35. John Tyler -- Now let me stand up for one thing John Tyler did. When WH Harrison died, no one wanted to recognize Tyler as the "real" President. He stood his ground and said he was the real President. This was a key moment in executive branch history. That alone should get him up there in the low 20s or early 30s.
372
36. George W. Bush -- the worst in my lifetime. Let me add this -- of those elected twice, he ranks last (Nixon being the closest at #27). Of those who served two full terms, he ranks last (Grant at #23, 13 spots higher). As a member of the public who voted for President in 2004, I am embarrassed for our country.
362
37. Millard Fillmore -- did nothing, still better than GWB.
351
38. Warren G. Harding -- arguably worse than Bush, widely regarded as horrible. One author dubbed his early death in office "timely." Ouch.
327
39. William Henry Harrison -- Always thought that he shouldn't count. One month? I guess he loses points for being so stupid that he spoke in the rain without a heavy coat. But he certainly did far less damage to the country than others on the list. If you could rank him, I would rank him around 30. Certainly he has to stand as the place holder for "nothing good, nothing bad."
Right?
324
40. Franklin D. Pierce -- Now, plunging the nation dangerously closer to Civil War is probably a really, really bad thing. Plus that whole strident defense of slavery as constitutionally necessary doesn't play real well in the history books (basically told abolitionists to stop ruining our country by calling for an end to slavery). So, yeah, pretty awful. New Hampshire must be real proud.
287
41. Andrew Johnson -- now, he was impeached for disobeying laws that Congress passed that were probably unconstitutional. And he was handed a country that only Lincoln could really lead. So placing him #41 is kinda unfair.
258
42. James Buchanan -- when a state government acts to kick federal soldiers out of a United States fort........by force of arms.........and you do nothing, that is pretty bad. And when 1/4 of active federal troops surrender to troops from the State of Texas? You get down there in the low 30s? But when you take the position that states have no legal right to secede........and follow that with your opinion that the federal government can't keep them from seceding......you finish last.
227
Friday, February 13, 2009
Buffalo Plane Crash
As of this Wikipedia entry, I see no one I grew up with or went to school with. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Airlines_Flight_3407
The saddest story this far (for anyone outside of their friends and families, or Chuck Mangione (who lost 2 band members)) is the 9/11 widow who was going to celebrate her husband's 58th birthday by giving out a scholarship in his name at his old high school.
Initial thoughts on cause of crash -- fog and freezing rain in the area caused icing.
I grew up about 45 miles from 6038 Long Street, Clarence Center, NY: (picture of the house, pre-crash): http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/02/13/nyregion/13cnd-crash.4.ready.html.
Mapquest, by the way, lists no "6038 Long Street" in Clarence, NY. There is a Clarence, and a Clarence Center and they are a few miles apart. I would bet this occurred in Clarence Center.
Another sad day for my hometown area.
HM
The saddest story this far (for anyone outside of their friends and families, or Chuck Mangione (who lost 2 band members)) is the 9/11 widow who was going to celebrate her husband's 58th birthday by giving out a scholarship in his name at his old high school.
Initial thoughts on cause of crash -- fog and freezing rain in the area caused icing.
I grew up about 45 miles from 6038 Long Street, Clarence Center, NY: (picture of the house, pre-crash): http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/02/13/nyregion/13cnd-crash.4.ready.html.
Mapquest, by the way, lists no "6038 Long Street" in Clarence, NY. There is a Clarence, and a Clarence Center and they are a few miles apart. I would bet this occurred in Clarence Center.
Another sad day for my hometown area.
HM
Red States -- "We Don't Need That Federal Money"!
John McCain won 22 states in the 2008 election. I think it is safe to call these states "red" states (see map).
In 2005, someone did a survey of the federal money that a state receives versus the federal tax money that the state pays in. http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/266.html
Top 10 "Please Feed Us" States (states that pay in far less than they get back):
Blue -- New Mexico, Virginia
Red -- Mississippi, Alaska, Louisiana, West Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, South Dakota, Kentucky.
8 out of 10 -- McCain states. (Virginia was a Bush state in 2004, but is now Blue).
States 11-25 on the Federal Dole
Blue -- Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Iowa
Red -- Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, Idaho, Arizona, Kansas, Wyoming, Nebraska
13 out of 17 -- McCain states (Iowa was for Bush in 2004, but Blue this time).
So............of 22 states that went for McCain, 21 of them are getting at least $1.10 from the federal government for every dollar they put in. The only exception to this rule is Texas.
So why are they constantly crying "We don't need that federal money!"??? They already have it.
In 2005, someone did a survey of the federal money that a state receives versus the federal tax money that the state pays in. http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/266.html
Top 10 "Please Feed Us" States (states that pay in far less than they get back):
Blue -- New Mexico, Virginia
Red -- Mississippi, Alaska, Louisiana, West Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, South Dakota, Kentucky.
8 out of 10 -- McCain states. (Virginia was a Bush state in 2004, but is now Blue).
States 11-25 on the Federal Dole
Blue -- Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Iowa
Red -- Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, Idaho, Arizona, Kansas, Wyoming, Nebraska
13 out of 17 -- McCain states (Iowa was for Bush in 2004, but Blue this time).
So............of 22 states that went for McCain, 21 of them are getting at least $1.10 from the federal government for every dollar they put in. The only exception to this rule is Texas.
So why are they constantly crying "We don't need that federal money!"??? They already have it.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
American Idol Top 36
By my count they have 9 REALLY good looking girls out of 18 (had 10 of 18, but they just DQ'ed one -- probably because she listed someone with 19 Entertainment as her "best friend").
Of the 18 guys they have left, I would be surprised if 11 of them had ever kissed a girl (and probably for 7 or so I would be surprised if they ever had any interest in doing so). This would definitely explain the last minute decision to add two blue-collar working guys to the final 18. Imagine that discussion with Simon -- "Paula, we need guys in the contest who the moms at home could imagine having sex with." Paula, "But the 19 gay guys we have to choose from are way better singers."
So, straight men, gay men, and lesbian viewers -- lot of eye candy for you. Straight females -- um, enjoy the music and root hard for Matt and Michael.
Of the 18 guys they have left, I would be surprised if 11 of them had ever kissed a girl (and probably for 7 or so I would be surprised if they ever had any interest in doing so). This would definitely explain the last minute decision to add two blue-collar working guys to the final 18. Imagine that discussion with Simon -- "Paula, we need guys in the contest who the moms at home could imagine having sex with." Paula, "But the 19 gay guys we have to choose from are way better singers."
So, straight men, gay men, and lesbian viewers -- lot of eye candy for you. Straight females -- um, enjoy the music and root hard for Matt and Michael.
Charissa Thompson Dating Larry David?
By the way, I heard on the radio yesterday a rumor that Charissa Thomspon is dating Larry David. If this is true, then she should be forced to relinquish her top 5 finish in the "Sexiest Sportscaster" category and move into the "Possibly legally-blind Sportscaster" category.
The radio sidekick reported this, leading the host to say, "Not true, can't be true" about 45 times. It was like listening to a 10 year old kid learning about Santa.
Erin Andrews Still Sexiest -- World's Deserts Still Hot
http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/02/12/erin-andrews-voted-sexiest-sportscaster/?icid=200100397x1218135925x1201243694
In other happenings:
Earth Still Round.
Kobe Still Jackass.
LeBron James, Still Good Basketball Player.
Economy Still Not At a Historical High Point.
In other happenings:
Earth Still Round.
Kobe Still Jackass.
LeBron James, Still Good Basketball Player.
Economy Still Not At a Historical High Point.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
What Really Grinds My Gears #4 -- Sports Reporters Who Give A-Rod Credit
You know what really grinds my gears? Sports reporters who give A-Rod Credit for his "apology."
Peter Gammons -- yeah, "So A-Rod, my love, you only took from 2001 to 2003, right honey?" A-Rod, "That is pretty much true." PG, "OK, next question." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look, I know you suffered a stroke and the game you love is a complete cesspool of cheating, but you are doing an interview as a journalist! "Pretty much true"? AM to HM, "Hey, honey, so you haven't been screwing any other girls since say, 2004, have you?" HM, "Yeah, that is pretty much true." AM, "Wow. What a relief!" HM's thought -- Well, except for that girl in 2007, but hey, "pretty much true."
Steve Lyons was on Fox Sports radio yesterday and said, "I don't care what these guys did. I just want to see the contests." He compared it to knowing that gladiators died in the days of Rome, but still wanting to see the events. O.............K........... These are ILLEGAL substances, Steve. It is a federal felony to distribute them. I am sure it is a crime to possess them without a valid prescription. Do you really think we ought to have guys getting injections as they approach the plate (fans can ooh and ahhh about how much juice is going into A-Rod's ass while he is on deck -- you can sell the job of injecting good looking ball players to the biggest groupie or gay male fan)? So your position is, what? That it is OK to juice so long as I don't know about it? Great journalist there.
And as bad are the other folks who accept bullshit "apologies" like those offered by Jason Giambi ("I am sorry.........for some unnamed thing I maybe did, please forgive me"), Andy Pettite ("I did it once when I was injured to help the club........which is why I was 235 pounds with 6% body fat for several years.") and now A-Rod. Folks say, "Well, you gotta give A-Rod credit for apologizing."
Here is A-Rod's apology, translated:
I took drugs, yes, didn't know what I was taking, cuz I was naive, so I took something I don't know what it was. But I am sorry I did that.
Because I took something I did not know what it was, they say I failed a drug test. I would really like to see that test, cuz that is news to me........even though I was told I failed way back in 2004. And I took these unknown drugs to prove that I was the best of all-time.....which you can only really prove by using illegal drugs......for the Texas Rangers (who are never in the championship hunt).
But I am sorry that I was naive, and under pressure, to take something I didn't know what it was. So I could get better (by taking something I didn't know what it was -- could have been boiled rat poison or cooking oil, who knows? But I am pretty sure it made me hit 50+ HRs, so I am fairly sure it wasn't cooking oil....though I would really like to see those tests...that I knew the results of 5 years ago).
But yeah, after 2003 -- pretty much clean.....though I really hope no one pushes that very much anymore. Oh yeah, and the reporter who caught me? What a stalker bitch. I hate her....for revealing I was naive and took stuff I didn't know what it was and maybe failed a test.........which I doubt. And I never lied to Katie Couric in 2007 -- it isn't a lie if YOU believe it is true. And I still do/did. Leave me alone.
Giving credit to A-Rod for that masterpiece? That really grinds my gears.
Peter Gammons -- yeah, "So A-Rod, my love, you only took from 2001 to 2003, right honey?" A-Rod, "That is pretty much true." PG, "OK, next question." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look, I know you suffered a stroke and the game you love is a complete cesspool of cheating, but you are doing an interview as a journalist! "Pretty much true"? AM to HM, "Hey, honey, so you haven't been screwing any other girls since say, 2004, have you?" HM, "Yeah, that is pretty much true." AM, "Wow. What a relief!" HM's thought -- Well, except for that girl in 2007, but hey, "pretty much true."
Steve Lyons was on Fox Sports radio yesterday and said, "I don't care what these guys did. I just want to see the contests." He compared it to knowing that gladiators died in the days of Rome, but still wanting to see the events. O.............K........... These are ILLEGAL substances, Steve. It is a federal felony to distribute them. I am sure it is a crime to possess them without a valid prescription. Do you really think we ought to have guys getting injections as they approach the plate (fans can ooh and ahhh about how much juice is going into A-Rod's ass while he is on deck -- you can sell the job of injecting good looking ball players to the biggest groupie or gay male fan)? So your position is, what? That it is OK to juice so long as I don't know about it? Great journalist there.
And as bad are the other folks who accept bullshit "apologies" like those offered by Jason Giambi ("I am sorry.........for some unnamed thing I maybe did, please forgive me"), Andy Pettite ("I did it once when I was injured to help the club........which is why I was 235 pounds with 6% body fat for several years.") and now A-Rod. Folks say, "Well, you gotta give A-Rod credit for apologizing."
Here is A-Rod's apology, translated:
I took drugs, yes, didn't know what I was taking, cuz I was naive, so I took something I don't know what it was. But I am sorry I did that.
Because I took something I did not know what it was, they say I failed a drug test. I would really like to see that test, cuz that is news to me........even though I was told I failed way back in 2004. And I took these unknown drugs to prove that I was the best of all-time.....which you can only really prove by using illegal drugs......for the Texas Rangers (who are never in the championship hunt).
But I am sorry that I was naive, and under pressure, to take something I didn't know what it was. So I could get better (by taking something I didn't know what it was -- could have been boiled rat poison or cooking oil, who knows? But I am pretty sure it made me hit 50+ HRs, so I am fairly sure it wasn't cooking oil....though I would really like to see those tests...that I knew the results of 5 years ago).
But yeah, after 2003 -- pretty much clean.....though I really hope no one pushes that very much anymore. Oh yeah, and the reporter who caught me? What a stalker bitch. I hate her....for revealing I was naive and took stuff I didn't know what it was and maybe failed a test.........which I doubt. And I never lied to Katie Couric in 2007 -- it isn't a lie if YOU believe it is true. And I still do/did. Leave me alone.
Giving credit to A-Rod for that masterpiece? That really grinds my gears.
What Really Grinds My Gears #5 -- Minnesota Driving Issues
You know what really grinds my gears? Minnesota drivers and Minnesota road design.
Minnesota drivers, first of all, have no idea of how to merge into traffic. Sometimes six cars squeeze ahead into one spot, sometimes one guy prevents everyone from merging. Hey idiots -- one for one rule -- you let one car in, then you go, then one car goes behind you and the next guy in line goes, etc., etc.
And how about the folks who decide that they police the left lane of traffic. "It says speed limit 60, so I will go 59." Get the hell out of the lane!!! If there are cops, there are cops. Accept common practice. Do you go downtown and force people into the crosswalk, or trip them when they try to cross when it says "Don't Walk"? If no, then just get the hell out of the left lane. I wanna get to where I am going!! People are passing you on the right!
And hey, road designers, this is the 12th biggest state in the union. Any real reason why people exiting off southbound Highway 169 onto Interstate 394 East have to share an exit lane with people getting onto 169 South from Interstate 394? Any idea why you inconvenienced 400,000 cars a day to save maybe 500 feet of pavement? And you built an intersection with I-35 (runs all the way through Texas) where people going south had to cross 4 lanes of traffic just to stay on I-35? And it will take 4 years to reconstruct the fix to that wonderful design?
That is what really grinds my gears.
HM
Minnesota drivers, first of all, have no idea of how to merge into traffic. Sometimes six cars squeeze ahead into one spot, sometimes one guy prevents everyone from merging. Hey idiots -- one for one rule -- you let one car in, then you go, then one car goes behind you and the next guy in line goes, etc., etc.
And how about the folks who decide that they police the left lane of traffic. "It says speed limit 60, so I will go 59." Get the hell out of the lane!!! If there are cops, there are cops. Accept common practice. Do you go downtown and force people into the crosswalk, or trip them when they try to cross when it says "Don't Walk"? If no, then just get the hell out of the left lane. I wanna get to where I am going!! People are passing you on the right!
And hey, road designers, this is the 12th biggest state in the union. Any real reason why people exiting off southbound Highway 169 onto Interstate 394 East have to share an exit lane with people getting onto 169 South from Interstate 394? Any idea why you inconvenienced 400,000 cars a day to save maybe 500 feet of pavement? And you built an intersection with I-35 (runs all the way through Texas) where people going south had to cross 4 lanes of traffic just to stay on I-35? And it will take 4 years to reconstruct the fix to that wonderful design?
That is what really grinds my gears.
HM
Happy 45th Birthday.........Sarah Palin
She is almost 2 months older than I.
Hard as it is to believe, I had a terrible time trying to find attractive real pictures of Palin. There are plenty of fakes (included one of those posted here), but despite the $150,000 wardrobe, I didn't see one where I said, "Yeah, awesome, great looking!"
Anyway, Happy 45th, old lady. I credit her with introducing me to the term "GILF". Not a term I really wanted to even think about until Sarah made it possible for me to fathom.
State of Louisiana Needs $27.5MM to Pay Saints and Hornets
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3898122
Step 1 -- drop the Hornets. Sorry, but taking that $7MM and distributing it to customers on Bourbon Street waiting to "wash your favorite girl" makes far more econmic sense than spending it on the losing proposition that is the Hornets in a town with basically no industry and is what? The 873rd biggest media market?
(OK, it is 41st, two spots above Buffalo -- maybe we see a return of the Buffalo Braves!?!?).
Step 2 -- I think you just go to the Saints and say, "Shit, we don't have the money." Do you think that the NFL wants to dilute its brand in a big football region (LA, AL, MS, FL panhandle)? Try to work something out.
Maybe Lousiana Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal can just call on God (which ever one he is worshipping nowadays) to exorcise the evil out of the economy???
Step 1 -- drop the Hornets. Sorry, but taking that $7MM and distributing it to customers on Bourbon Street waiting to "wash your favorite girl" makes far more econmic sense than spending it on the losing proposition that is the Hornets in a town with basically no industry and is what? The 873rd biggest media market?
(OK, it is 41st, two spots above Buffalo -- maybe we see a return of the Buffalo Braves!?!?).
Step 2 -- I think you just go to the Saints and say, "Shit, we don't have the money." Do you think that the NFL wants to dilute its brand in a big football region (LA, AL, MS, FL panhandle)? Try to work something out.
Maybe Lousiana Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal can just call on God (which ever one he is worshipping nowadays) to exorcise the evil out of the economy???
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
OMG
Nice decision on the e-mail, followed by an even better decision on the heart-felt apology:
http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-not-to-apologize.html
http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-not-to-apologize.html
What Really Grinds My Gears #6 -- Boxing Graphics
You know what really grinds my gears? Boxing graphics.
"Thrown/landed" -- just let me watch the frickin' fight. It only counts if the judges say it does, and 34.7% of fights are fixed, so why keep track on screen. And when Lennox Lewis fights Andrew Golata, do we really need a graphic saying:
Trunks:
Lewis -- Red
Golata -- White/Red
? Is one guy not black with dreadlocks and the other guy not white with a crew cut? Is that going to change during the match? Is Golata gonna turn black or is Lewis going to fashion his hair after Golata's?
So that is what really grinds my gears.
Enough for today.
HM
"Thrown/landed" -- just let me watch the frickin' fight. It only counts if the judges say it does, and 34.7% of fights are fixed, so why keep track on screen. And when Lennox Lewis fights Andrew Golata, do we really need a graphic saying:
Trunks:
Lewis -- Red
Golata -- White/Red
? Is one guy not black with dreadlocks and the other guy not white with a crew cut? Is that going to change during the match? Is Golata gonna turn black or is Lewis going to fashion his hair after Golata's?
So that is what really grinds my gears.
Enough for today.
HM
What Really Grinds My Gears #7 -- Fruits and Vegetables
You know what really grinds my gears? Fruits and vegetables.
8 helpings a day -- yeah right. And it takes like 4 months to grow me 89 cents worth of snap peas in my garden? And who can eat 600 zuchinnis? And why when I go to Florida is it a crime when I stop my car by the roadside and eat as much fruit off the orange trees as I can eat while I am standing in the field? Doesn't the Bible say that is OK?
So that is what really grinds my gears.
What Grinds My Gears #8 -- The Local News
You know what really grinds my gears? The local news. Yeah, I didn't know until today that there was a fire 18 miles across town. But I will sure as heck have known it by 12:01, and 5:01, and again at 6:01 and now at 9:01 and 10:01. Do I really need to know that someone from the worst part of north Minneapolis got shot today in a gang-related incident? And do I need to know it five times in 10 hours? It's like, "Hey man, there were 25 killings today on the North side!" No man, there were five and you got to see them 5 times. And also -- why don't hire female anchors purely on looks anymore?
So that is what really grinds my gears.
What Grinds My Gears #9 -- Tattoos
You know what grinds my gears? Tattoos. The way I figure it, by 2020 every inch of every NBA basketball player will be covered by a tattoo. So what exactly is the point here? Are ya saying "I look like someone on meth who just found $6 extra and a friendly tattoo artist?" I mean, it used to be that girls has the tramp stamp above their jeans to show us, basically "I am easy" (well, that plus an anklet). But now they get a tattoo all of the way down one arm. Are you Samoan? Does this mean your arm is kinda trampy? And what is with the bright colors?
So that is what really grinds my gears.
What Grinds My Gears #10 -- Phil Jackson's Face
I was put in mind today of the great Peter Griffin rant about Lindsay Lohan:
You know what really grinds my gears? This Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay Lohan with all those little outfits, jumping around there on stage, half-naked with your little outfits. Ya know? You’re a... You’re out there jumping around and I’m just sitting here with my beer. So, what am I supposed to do? What you want? You know, are we gonna go out? Is that what you’re trying to - why why are you leaping around there, throwing those things all up in my, over there in my face? What do you want, Lindsay? Tell me what you want? Well, I’ll tell you what you want, you want nothing. You want nothing. All right? Because we all know that no woman anywhere wants to have sex with anyone, and to titillate us with any thoughts otherwise is - is just bogus.
So, in keeping with the tone of that worthless yet humorous rant, I thought I would try to put together 10 off the top of my head:
10. You know what grinds my gears? Phil Jackson's face -- beard, then huge beard, now NO BEARD!! And why does he now look 40? What the hell is that? And why is he so smirky? Smirk on, Mr......Smirky. Cuz ooh, I coached Shaq and Michael! Ooh, managed to win titles with two of the best 10 players of all time. Oooh. Get your beard back and put away the smirk.
That's what grinds my gears.
Monday, February 09, 2009
A-Roid Story #2 -- I took Roids 2001 to 2003.
Yeah, uh huh.
http://www.fanhouse.com/news/mlb/a-rod-admits-taking-banned-substance/335008?icid=200100397x1217726953x1201259277
This is like someone saying, "I got every girl I ever wanted when I went to the bars while wearing a blue shirt. Then, you know what, one day I decided I wasn't going to wear a blue shirt ever again."
o............................k.................................
http://www.fanhouse.com/news/mlb/a-rod-admits-taking-banned-substance/335008?icid=200100397x1217726953x1201259277
This is like someone saying, "I got every girl I ever wanted when I went to the bars while wearing a blue shirt. Then, you know what, one day I decided I wasn't going to wear a blue shirt ever again."
o............................k.................................
Top 10 Reasons Chris Brown Says He Beat Up Rihanna
10. "She dresses like a frickin' pirate all of the time. Wouldn't that piss YOU off!?!?"
9. She kept reading the part of his Wikipedia entry that says, "Has often been compared to Michael Jackson."
8. Rihanna saying that Jordan Sparks was the talented half of the "No Air" duet.
7. Made fun of his Doublemint Gum commercial.
6. Found her black book that had him listed between "Charlie Brown (guy who gets those royalties now)" and "Courtney Brown (failed defensive tackle)."
5. Kept saying, "Chris, come stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, a, a, a, a...." A man can only take so much.
4. Would refer to him in fits of anger as "T-Lame".
3. Street cred.
2. When he snuck up behind her and said, "Guess who?" she said, "Little Wayne? Kanye? Diddy? T Pain? T.I.? Ne-Yo? Jamie Foxx?" And he was afraid the list would reach 20+ before she reached his name.
1. She......................just..................wouldn't...............listen.
HM
9. She kept reading the part of his Wikipedia entry that says, "Has often been compared to Michael Jackson."
8. Rihanna saying that Jordan Sparks was the talented half of the "No Air" duet.
7. Made fun of his Doublemint Gum commercial.
6. Found her black book that had him listed between "Charlie Brown (guy who gets those royalties now)" and "Courtney Brown (failed defensive tackle)."
5. Kept saying, "Chris, come stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, a, a, a, a...." A man can only take so much.
4. Would refer to him in fits of anger as "T-Lame".
3. Street cred.
2. When he snuck up behind her and said, "Guess who?" she said, "Little Wayne? Kanye? Diddy? T Pain? T.I.? Ne-Yo? Jamie Foxx?" And he was afraid the list would reach 20+ before she reached his name.
1. She......................just..................wouldn't...............listen.
HM
Chris Brown Beats Rihanna Until She Has "No Air"
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/02/eyewitness-at-hospital-i-could-hear-rihanna-screaming.php
When asked by police what happened, Rihanna stated, "Well, first he smacked me in the face, then he kicked me in the Patella, ella, ella, A, A, A."
When asked by police what happened, Rihanna stated, "Well, first he smacked me in the face, then he kicked me in the Patella, ella, ella, A, A, A."
Al Jefferson -- Blown ACL, Out For the Season
From my e-mailbox (as a season ticket holder).
The Timberwolves today announced that center Al Jefferson will be out indefinitely after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) study done this morning revealed the extent of the injury, which occurred in Minnesota's game last night at New Orleans. The date for surgery has yet to be determined.
"This is an unfortunate situation for Al and we wish him a quick recovery," said Timberwolves head coach Kevin McHale. "Al has been playing at an all-star level all season and has been our go-to-guy on the court. Knowing Al, he will work hard in his rehab efforts to get back on the court as soon as possible. In the interim, I'm confident that the other players on our roster will step up and meet this challenge."
Jefferson has appeared in all 50 games for the Timberwolves this season with averages of 23.1 ppg (7th in NBA), 11.0 rpg (6th in NBA), and 1.7 bpg. The fifth-year center is one of just three players in the NBA (Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan) to post at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game this season. Jefferson also ranks fifth in the NBA with 30 double-doubles in 2008-09 and is shooting 49.7% from the field while averaging a career-best 73.8% from the free-throw line. In his five-year NBA career, Jefferson has posted averages of 14.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
The Timberwolves today announced that center Al Jefferson will be out indefinitely after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) study done this morning revealed the extent of the injury, which occurred in Minnesota's game last night at New Orleans. The date for surgery has yet to be determined.
"This is an unfortunate situation for Al and we wish him a quick recovery," said Timberwolves head coach Kevin McHale. "Al has been playing at an all-star level all season and has been our go-to-guy on the court. Knowing Al, he will work hard in his rehab efforts to get back on the court as soon as possible. In the interim, I'm confident that the other players on our roster will step up and meet this challenge."
Jefferson has appeared in all 50 games for the Timberwolves this season with averages of 23.1 ppg (7th in NBA), 11.0 rpg (6th in NBA), and 1.7 bpg. The fifth-year center is one of just three players in the NBA (Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan) to post at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game this season. Jefferson also ranks fifth in the NBA with 30 double-doubles in 2008-09 and is shooting 49.7% from the field while averaging a career-best 73.8% from the free-throw line. In his five-year NBA career, Jefferson has posted averages of 14.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
Vlad Rad -- Phil Jackson's System Hurts Role Players
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3893917
Here is what I have always said about the "Triangle Offense" -- it is a good offense if you have a superstar offensive player because it generally milks 15-20 seconds off the clock and gives your shitty guys something to do and then you end up with the ball in the hands of your best guy with 5-10 seconds on the clock.
Which is basically what Vlad Rad says here.
The Triangle has been an absolute disaster when run without a top 5 NBA scorer to bail it out at the end of the game (Quinn Buckner anyone? Tim Floyd anyone?).
Here is Jamal Mashburn discussing Quinn Buckner's triangle offense
(December 3, 1993):
Mashburn stated that the players don't know what to do on the floor with the triangle offense. He said that the players just run to spots instead of focusing on the game.
Again, when you have shitty players on the floor, the offense gives them something to do ("run to spots").
HM
Here is what I have always said about the "Triangle Offense" -- it is a good offense if you have a superstar offensive player because it generally milks 15-20 seconds off the clock and gives your shitty guys something to do and then you end up with the ball in the hands of your best guy with 5-10 seconds on the clock.
Which is basically what Vlad Rad says here.
The Triangle has been an absolute disaster when run without a top 5 NBA scorer to bail it out at the end of the game (Quinn Buckner anyone? Tim Floyd anyone?).
Here is Jamal Mashburn discussing Quinn Buckner's triangle offense
(December 3, 1993):
Mashburn stated that the players don't know what to do on the floor with the triangle offense. He said that the players just run to spots instead of focusing on the game.
Again, when you have shitty players on the floor, the offense gives them something to do ("run to spots").
HM
Tiger's New Son -- Charlie Woods
http://www.fanhouse.com/news/main/tiger-woods-wife-gives-birth-to-son/333872?icid=200100397x1218161218x1201170591
Answer -- "Chuck Woods"
Question -- What did Craig Stadler do when his driving was really, really bad?
Answer -- "Chuck Woods"
Question -- What did Craig Stadler do when his driving was really, really bad?
Roided Up A-Rod: A Big "Fuck You" To Baseball Purists
So, all you folk who want to keep Barry Bonds out of the Hall of Fame -- you gonna vote in drug-pumping A-Rod? Yeah, fuck you.
And for all you Bob Costases and Tim McCarvers and Buster Olneys who yearned for the day that Stray Rod/A=Roid broke Bonds' records and "did it clean" -- fuck you. Continue to live in your ivory tower where unicorns plant magical baseball plants and feed you Fenway Franks while wearing caps from the old Gashouse Gang. I will choose to live in the actual world, where A-Rod is as big of a steroid fraud as Bonds, maybe bigger because he allowed folks to see him as the savior from all things roid. "I have never felt overmatched on the field" Roid-Rod told 60 Minutes in 2007. Yeah, cuz you had so much HGH coursing through your veins that you could hit a ball 800 feet if need be (see pic -- that sweat on his chest could increase your muscle mass by 15% if you re-injected it).
At least we know from Bonds' DETRACTORS that he spent a good portion of his career off the juice. A Rod went from a 185 pound excellent-fielding shortstop to a 230 pound mediocre-fielding third baseman before the age of 35. Yet he somehow maintained an unbelievably sculpted body? Geez, how do you gain 45 pounds (which I know how to do) and still gain absolutely no fat? Seems a tad odd to me.
And, per reports, he got specific "head's up" warnings from the union when he was going to be tested??? So he was protected by MLB.....who knew he was a juicer....nice job guys, way to clean up the sport.
But you know, they managed to catch Juan Rincon, so their steroid program right now is clearly state of the art......
HM
Friday, February 06, 2009
Biggest Mouth
Marco Hort sets a record with over 250 drinking straws (pictured).
Peter King replied, "I don't know how, um, "it" translates into drinking straws, but I think if I have a little more, er, "working out" with Brett this off season that I can challenge the record.
Some background for the unitiated: http://www.realclearsports.com/blog/2008/07/is_peter_king_cheating_on_bret.html
Just Like An Old "Wings" Episode
http://abcnews.go.com/blotter/Story?id=6813806&page=1
Roy -- "I got a gorgeous woman lined up as my date for my party tonight."
Antonio -- "Yeah, right, Roy. How much did you have to pay for THAT!?!"
Roy -- "Hey, Roy Biggins doesn't have to pay for sex."
(Antonio leaves)
Roy (to Brian and Joe) -- "The Roy Biggins CORPORATION does...."
HM
Roy -- "I got a gorgeous woman lined up as my date for my party tonight."
Antonio -- "Yeah, right, Roy. How much did you have to pay for THAT!?!"
Roy -- "Hey, Roy Biggins doesn't have to pay for sex."
(Antonio leaves)
Roy (to Brian and Joe) -- "The Roy Biggins CORPORATION does...."
HM
Unemployment Rises to 7.6%, Lakers Sweep Celtics -- How Much Worse Can It Get?
In this bleak, bleak world of February 5, 2009, it wouldn't hurt to hear a few words of encouragement fom Samwise Gamgee:
"It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."
Blondie -- "Dreaming" -- Live 1979
Heard this song this morning and thought I would share. Greatest all-time drum action on a pop song (non-instrumental)?
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Bernie Madoff -- How Exactly Do You Lose $50B?
I guess the joke answer is that "you lose $10B one day and then lose that same amount for each of the next 4 days."
These folks probably don't find that real funny: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/st_madoff_victims_20081215.html and the bigger list:
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/madoffclientlist020409.pdf
But seriously, how hard would it be to steal $50B? Nearly impossible. What in the hell would you spend it on? Eliot Spitzer could have had an $8,000 call girl in a $2,000 hotel suite every night for 10 years -- total cost? $36,500,000. Buy 200 $200,000 sports cars -- $40,000,000. Buy Brad Pitt's 2 most expensive houses -- $30,000,000.
So now you add all of that up and you get -- About 1/10 of 1 billion dollars. I guess my point is this -- the money/assets are out there somewhere. He probably stole and has nothing much to show for, at most, $5B and he probably lost 50% in the market.
So -- (50B divided by 2) minus 5B = $20B in assets.
They exist somewhere. I would imagine his clients know people who know where to find them.
These folks probably don't find that real funny: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/st_madoff_victims_20081215.html and the bigger list:
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/madoffclientlist020409.pdf
But seriously, how hard would it be to steal $50B? Nearly impossible. What in the hell would you spend it on? Eliot Spitzer could have had an $8,000 call girl in a $2,000 hotel suite every night for 10 years -- total cost? $36,500,000. Buy 200 $200,000 sports cars -- $40,000,000. Buy Brad Pitt's 2 most expensive houses -- $30,000,000.
So now you add all of that up and you get -- About 1/10 of 1 billion dollars. I guess my point is this -- the money/assets are out there somewhere. He probably stole and has nothing much to show for, at most, $5B and he probably lost 50% in the market.
So -- (50B divided by 2) minus 5B = $20B in assets.
They exist somewhere. I would imagine his clients know people who know where to find them.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- Pancreatic Cancer
http://news.aol.com/?feature=331141
If you want to know her likely USSCt replacement, look to find a female U.S. Court of Appeals judge who was originally nominated by a Democrat.................
and who hasn't paid their federal taxes in some manner............
If you want to know her likely USSCt replacement, look to find a female U.S. Court of Appeals judge who was originally nominated by a Democrat.................
and who hasn't paid their federal taxes in some manner............
Christian Bale -- Um, Angry
How he manages to go on for 4 minutes in a childish tantrum is beyond my comprehension. The guy is 35 years old. He makes Russell Crowe seem like a pleasant doorman at an upscale London apartment building.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Ghost of Andre the Giant to Alex Boone -- You Can't Touch Me as a Drunkard!
(Refer to article below for Alex Boone incident).
I recall a Sports Illustrated article about a guy who followed around Andre the Giant for a while and tried to match him beer for beer one night. Couldn't find that, but here is a much more impressive article on Andre's drinking prowess. One number stands out -- 119.
http://www.zimbio.com/Andre+the+Giant/articles/4/Andre+Giant+Greatest+Drunk+Earth
I recall a Sports Illustrated article about a guy who followed around Andre the Giant for a while and tried to match him beer for beer one night. Couldn't find that, but here is a much more impressive article on Andre's drinking prowess. One number stands out -- 119.
http://www.zimbio.com/Andre+the+Giant/articles/4/Andre+Giant+Greatest+Drunk+Earth
Bengals Admit -- "Now We Are Almost Certain to Draft Alex Boone In First Round"
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1233653552210720.xml&coll=2
A 312 pound man blew a 0.24 on the BAC meter? OK. This chart only goes up to 240 pounds.
But let's assume that the guy started drinking at 2PM and was arrested at 10PM.
Using the chart, we see that a 170 pound man gets about 0.023 drunker with every drink he takes, while a 240 pound man gets about 0.016 drunker with every drink he takes.
I think we need to assume that a 310 pound man gets only 0.009 drunker with every drink he takes. (Note that a 240 pound man with 12 drinks in one hour is only at 0.188).
I think that this means that a 310 pound man to get to 0.24 has to have consumed 26 drinks in one hour.
26 drinks.
So, he does some shots. He also would need to keep drinking heavily because his body is burning up 0.015 ever hour.
Let's do a possible drinking scenario for this future Bengal:
Hour 1 -- 8 beers, 4 shots
Hour 2 -- 7 beers, 3 shots
Hour 3 -- 6 beers, 2 shots
Hour 4 -- 5 beers, 1 shot
Hour 5 -- 4 beers
Hour 6 -- 3 beers
Hour 7 -- 2 beers
Hour 8 -- 1 beer
So he has consumed 46 drinks in 8 hours. At 0.009 per drink, he is at 0.414 BAC, but then you have to subtract 0.015 for each hour he has managed to stay alive at this pace.
.414 - (8 X 0.015) = .294
Pretty damn close. So he drinks 36 beers (a case and a half) and 10 shots to get to .294. You would need to reduce five drinks to get to .24, so let's say 31 beers and 10 shots.
Pretty Damn Impressive, but no Andre the Giant (see piece above).
A 312 pound man blew a 0.24 on the BAC meter? OK. This chart only goes up to 240 pounds.
But let's assume that the guy started drinking at 2PM and was arrested at 10PM.
Using the chart, we see that a 170 pound man gets about 0.023 drunker with every drink he takes, while a 240 pound man gets about 0.016 drunker with every drink he takes.
I think we need to assume that a 310 pound man gets only 0.009 drunker with every drink he takes. (Note that a 240 pound man with 12 drinks in one hour is only at 0.188).
I think that this means that a 310 pound man to get to 0.24 has to have consumed 26 drinks in one hour.
26 drinks.
So, he does some shots. He also would need to keep drinking heavily because his body is burning up 0.015 ever hour.
Let's do a possible drinking scenario for this future Bengal:
Hour 1 -- 8 beers, 4 shots
Hour 2 -- 7 beers, 3 shots
Hour 3 -- 6 beers, 2 shots
Hour 4 -- 5 beers, 1 shot
Hour 5 -- 4 beers
Hour 6 -- 3 beers
Hour 7 -- 2 beers
Hour 8 -- 1 beer
So he has consumed 46 drinks in 8 hours. At 0.009 per drink, he is at 0.414 BAC, but then you have to subtract 0.015 for each hour he has managed to stay alive at this pace.
.414 - (8 X 0.015) = .294
Pretty damn close. So he drinks 36 beers (a case and a half) and 10 shots to get to .294. You would need to reduce five drinks to get to .24, so let's say 31 beers and 10 shots.
Pretty Damn Impressive, but no Andre the Giant (see piece above).
Casey Carlson -- Minnesota Girl. Is she the REAL American Idol "Bikini Girl"
While the Katrina girl is admittedly nice to look at -- this Minnesota girl appears to have a fuller portfolio.
http://www.campusgirlsusa.com/gallery09.php?gid=25
Don't tell Kara Dioguardi (who is horribly threatened by good looking women). Look, Kara, try to understand that you want people to WATCH THE SHOW!!! Do good looking female contestants help viewership? That would be a yes. So stop trying to get the hot females thrown off. Teenage girls will eventually do your job for you once fan voting starts.
http://www.campusgirlsusa.com/gallery09.php?gid=25
Don't tell Kara Dioguardi (who is horribly threatened by good looking women). Look, Kara, try to understand that you want people to WATCH THE SHOW!!! Do good looking female contestants help viewership? That would be a yes. So stop trying to get the hot females thrown off. Teenage girls will eventually do your job for you once fan voting starts.
Upstate New York Commentary
I can honestly tell you -- when watching this live I was laughing my ASS off. A few inside tidbits:
1) In upstate it snows so much that around November 15 you take off your regular car tires and replace them with "snow tires." These are not generally (except maybe in extreme rural areas up north) studded tire. They are just tires specially made to perform better in snow. Then around April 15 you take the snow tires off the car and go back with your regular tires.
When I moved to Minnesota I asked when I should put my snow tires on out here. Reply -- "Huh?"
So a reference to "snow tires" is pure upstate NY.
2) Mouth breather's convention in Ithaca -- when I was in law school I had a number of friends from NYC and surrounding areas. I told them I was from upstate -- "Oh, Rockland County?" (That is about 50 miles north of NYC). No. Near Buffalo. "That isn't upstate; that is Canada. What is that, like, 200 miles away?" Try 350+.
Anyway, so why would the good "Governor" choose Ithaca? Well, that is where Cornell and Ithaca college are. Many NYC folks have visited there. So when you are addressing an NYC audience, you don't go with "Utica" or "Plattsburgh" or "Batavia" -- they have absolutely no idea where any of those places are (you may as well say "qjejelrhjroruidldlrjvia"). So you go with
Ithaca.
By the way, my dad grew up 37 miles from Cornell (probably 25 as the crow flies -- you have to go around one of the Finger Lakes) on a farm that even today screams "Appalachia." I cannot even imagine the interaction (if any) between Cornell students and the general populace even 10 miles out of Ithaca.
3) One wedding -- this is the only miss in the routine. In far upstate NY (north of the old Erie Canal) there is limited population and very little in-migration, but south of that line there are millions of people and cities like Buffalo and Rochester have a lot of black, Italian and Polish population -- hardly all related people. Even the smaller upstate areas have a decent gene pool(Ithaca's metro area, for example, has 100,000 people, many Cornell grads -- Binghamton has about 50,000 people, many grads of SUNY Binghamton). So I laughed at this joke, but it is pretty far off the mark.
HM
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
"All-Star" Jameer Nelson Out With Torn Labrum
I guess you better go place a huge bet on the Western Conference now!!!!!!!!!
Look, I have nothing personally against the guy (I have heard he is a nice guy) but he is 9th amongst Eastern Conference guards in Efficiency. Do they have 9 guards on the Eastern Conference team? If so, maybe you can find a big man to put on the team now.
Magic record during an earlier 5 game stint without "all-star" Jameer????? 4 and 1.
http://www.fanhouse.com/news/main/magics-nelson-out-with-shoulder-injury/327506?cid=6
Look, I have nothing personally against the guy (I have heard he is a nice guy) but he is 9th amongst Eastern Conference guards in Efficiency. Do they have 9 guards on the Eastern Conference team? If so, maybe you can find a big man to put on the team now.
Magic record during an earlier 5 game stint without "all-star" Jameer????? 4 and 1.
http://www.fanhouse.com/news/main/magics-nelson-out-with-shoulder-injury/327506?cid=6
Pew Research Poll Finds That America's Most-Desirable City Is....Denver
Pecentage of people who, when asked, said that they would like to live in this city or its surrounding metropolitan area:
Denver 43% yes -- HM vote -- sure.
San Diego 40% yes -- HM vote -- sure
Seattle 38% -- never been, no idea. 38% of people would like to live where it rains for 3 months straight?
Orlando 34% -- uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, no.
Tampa 34 -- slightly better than Orlando.........but no
San Francisco 34 -- yep
Phoenix 33 -- never
Portland 31 -- yes
Sacramento 29 -- Kevin Martin and the Maloofs not a big enough draw, so no.
San Antonio 29 -- never
Boston 28 -- yes
Miami 28 -- sure
Atlanta 26 -- one of my least favorite cities, so no.
DC 25 -- yes
New York 24 -- yes
Philadelphia 24 -- sure
Chicago 24 -- one of my favorites, yes
Dallas 24 -- see Atlanta
Houston 23 -- see Dallas
Las Vegas 23 -- if I were 19 years old, yes, thereafter...no.
Riverside 23 -- how does this even get a vote? No.
Los Angeles 21 -- tough one, but probably yes for the weather, strong emphasis on "or metro area" for me
Baltimore 20 -- see L.A.
St. Louis 18 -- nope.
Pittsburgh 17 -- yes. Closest thing to a decent city anywhere near my home area
Minneapolis 16 -- I am here, ain't I? (By the way -- Sacramento 29 and Minneapolis 16? Wow.)
Kansas City 15 -- seems fine every time I visit, a few more MO votes and it would have been the 4th most southern city in a blue state not located on a coast. (Current winners of that honor -- Albuquerque, followed by Las Vegas, followed by Denver....or is KC south of Denver?)
Cincinnati 13 -- I like Cincinnati, despite the fact that I chose MPLS over it in 1988 and despite its unfortunate border with northern Kentucky.
Cleveland 10 -- No -- I lived in Buffalo, don't care to re-live that.
Detroit 8 -- I didn't realize that Detroit had 8% of the U.S. polling population! No.
Final Stats -- 16 yes, 13 no, 1 with insufficient info.
Denver 43% yes -- HM vote -- sure.
San Diego 40% yes -- HM vote -- sure
Seattle 38% -- never been, no idea. 38% of people would like to live where it rains for 3 months straight?
Orlando 34% -- uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, no.
Tampa 34 -- slightly better than Orlando.........but no
San Francisco 34 -- yep
Phoenix 33 -- never
Portland 31 -- yes
Sacramento 29 -- Kevin Martin and the Maloofs not a big enough draw, so no.
San Antonio 29 -- never
Boston 28 -- yes
Miami 28 -- sure
Atlanta 26 -- one of my least favorite cities, so no.
DC 25 -- yes
New York 24 -- yes
Philadelphia 24 -- sure
Chicago 24 -- one of my favorites, yes
Dallas 24 -- see Atlanta
Houston 23 -- see Dallas
Las Vegas 23 -- if I were 19 years old, yes, thereafter...no.
Riverside 23 -- how does this even get a vote? No.
Los Angeles 21 -- tough one, but probably yes for the weather, strong emphasis on "or metro area" for me
Baltimore 20 -- see L.A.
St. Louis 18 -- nope.
Pittsburgh 17 -- yes. Closest thing to a decent city anywhere near my home area
Minneapolis 16 -- I am here, ain't I? (By the way -- Sacramento 29 and Minneapolis 16? Wow.)
Kansas City 15 -- seems fine every time I visit, a few more MO votes and it would have been the 4th most southern city in a blue state not located on a coast. (Current winners of that honor -- Albuquerque, followed by Las Vegas, followed by Denver....or is KC south of Denver?)
Cincinnati 13 -- I like Cincinnati, despite the fact that I chose MPLS over it in 1988 and despite its unfortunate border with northern Kentucky.
Cleveland 10 -- No -- I lived in Buffalo, don't care to re-live that.
Detroit 8 -- I didn't realize that Detroit had 8% of the U.S. polling population! No.
Final Stats -- 16 yes, 13 no, 1 with insufficient info.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Kobe Takes Out Andrew Bynum's Knee.........And Lakers' Title Chances
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3879472
With Odom, Gasol, Kobe, the Lakers are a very good team. With Odom, Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Kobe, the Lakers were basically impossible to match up with.
Now Bynum is said to be out 8-12 weeks. "And if they told you Wolverines would make good house pets, would you believe them?" The guy is 285 pounds, he has had two straight years of leg problems. This is like when the Rockets tried to tell us Yao was out for a little while with his broken knee bone. Guys, he ain't playing any decent basketball until November 2009.
In my opinion, the BEST case for the Lakers is that Bynum can actually play basketball "in 12 weeks." OK, so that is April 27, 2009 -- after the end of the regular season. And so he is ready by May 1 -- you gonna play him 20+ minutes a game on a surgically-repaired wheel when he is 22 years old? You gonna play him when he hasn't run since Groundhog Day (the day, not the movie)?
I frankly don't see this as a very viable option for the Lakers. This also takes away a monster inside presence and replaces it with............um.....................who? Luke Walton? Vlad-Rad? Vujacic? Yeah, Lakers fans saw that movie in the NBA Finals last year -- wasn't what they liked.
Who knew that Kobe would become THIS jealous that the young man was eclipsing him as a Laker star? For shame, Devil. For shame:
HM
With Odom, Gasol, Kobe, the Lakers are a very good team. With Odom, Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Kobe, the Lakers were basically impossible to match up with.
Now Bynum is said to be out 8-12 weeks. "And if they told you Wolverines would make good house pets, would you believe them?" The guy is 285 pounds, he has had two straight years of leg problems. This is like when the Rockets tried to tell us Yao was out for a little while with his broken knee bone. Guys, he ain't playing any decent basketball until November 2009.
In my opinion, the BEST case for the Lakers is that Bynum can actually play basketball "in 12 weeks." OK, so that is April 27, 2009 -- after the end of the regular season. And so he is ready by May 1 -- you gonna play him 20+ minutes a game on a surgically-repaired wheel when he is 22 years old? You gonna play him when he hasn't run since Groundhog Day (the day, not the movie)?
I frankly don't see this as a very viable option for the Lakers. This also takes away a monster inside presence and replaces it with............um.....................who? Luke Walton? Vlad-Rad? Vujacic? Yeah, Lakers fans saw that movie in the NBA Finals last year -- wasn't what they liked.
Who knew that Kobe would become THIS jealous that the young man was eclipsing him as a Laker star? For shame, Devil. For shame:
HM
Dude! Why Do I Always Watch the HD Feed?
Imagine being a young single male Cardinals fan and watching Fitzgerald run for the go-ahead score..................then you get 10-15 seconds of this: http://www.fanhouse.com/news/superbowl/porn-clip-interrupts-super-bowl-in/324941?icid=200100397x1217559590x1201223509
Dude! First thing I would do was check to make sure I didn't hit the On Demand button by mistake. Then as a young single guy I would turn to the nearest attractive single woman at my Super Bowl party and ask her if she saw that.........and if she said yes than I would ask her to critique the clip...........
Dude! First thing I would do was check to make sure I didn't hit the On Demand button by mistake. Then as a young single guy I would turn to the nearest attractive single woman at my Super Bowl party and ask her if she saw that.........and if she said yes than I would ask her to critique the clip...........
Gary Russell's TD a Surprise -- But How About Percy Howard?
Gary Russell (former Gopher) had a TD yesterday that moved him one TD ahead of Walter Payton on the Super Bowl TD list, bringing Russell into a multiple-way tie with many folks, including William Perry and.........Percy Howard.
Now, some of you may not recall the great Percy Howard. That would include, I believe, everyone under the age of 38 and everyone who was not a huge fan of the Cowboys going into Super Bowl X. Percy caught a 34 yard TD pass from Roger Staubach with the Cowboys down 21-10 late in the game and then later had a chance at a potential game winner which evaded him (per one report -- bouncing off his shoulder pad, per another "way over his head" per Percy, "I would have had it but I was pushed").
Howard was called into duty as Dallas's Golden Richards suffered a broken rib on an away from the ball hit by Mel Blount and could not play
Career catches in the NFL for Percy Howard? One.Career catches in college and the pros for Percy Howard? One.
But it was for a TD....in the Super Bowl.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Howard
Michael Phelps's Hand Written Apology (Before Legal Review)
I think that I may have uncovered the actual apology of Michael Phelps that was given to his attorneys and turned into his public statement of apology today.
Here goes:
American public? -- fuck you. What the fuck do you expect from me? Did you see my Saturday Night Live performance? I am not a fucking rocket scientist. I had 20 lines to remember and a week to learn them -- I learned none and read off the teleprompter. Sarah Palin is MAryl? Mary-all? Mar-al? Streep compared to me. So does it surprise you to learn that I am a stoner who smokes a lot of pot? How else do you think I down 20,000 calories a day? Ya think Ricky Williams is a stoner? Amateur hour baby. I stop hitting the pipe about 2 weeks before a competition -- man am I ever angry when that competition comes around! Shit. OK. Oh. Huh? What? (Twinkie stain)...................................... Anyway, I am sorry if you thought I was some sort of great American who stands for apple-fucking-pie and loving his chubby mom. Let me refresh for you folks -- I was hanging with 20 to 30 year old athletes when I was 15. I got busted for drunk driving at Athens when I was 19. I have been pictured playing high stakes cash poker in Vegas. With that as background, are you idiots really surprised that I went to a Gamecocks (huh, I said "cock"...........so did some sweat-pants-dropping thong wearing sorority chicks that night -- let me clue you in, when I am in the SC, Phelps Phans like to phuck Phelpsie!!).
So, um, yeah, apologize (Cheetos stain). I sincerely apologize because I am supposed to and because I might lose more money if I don't and well, yeah, whatever. Where the booze, ladies, weed and poker chips at, bitches?
And plus....I am 23 and from Baltimore -- ya think cuz I can swim that I am somehow a good guy. ppppppttt! Here is an idea -- if yur, um you're?, um, your? kid is 6'3" with a 30 inch inseam, maybe I am a good role model. Otherwise, I don't know, maybe find a chess player somewhere.
Love (my weed),
Michael Phelps -- America's Sweetheart
Some Super Bowl Queries
1) Has God forsaken Kurt Warner? I mean, he puts his trust in God and he gets basically a fork in the eye courtesy of God's favorite -- admitted drug dealer Santonio Holmes???
2) Could Mike Tomlin's coaching have been much worse? You take the kickoff and jam the ball down to the 6 inch line against a pretty mediocre defense. You have a twenty minute booth review where you can get your offense together and call any play you want. And you....................kick an 18 yard field goal??
Then with about 52 seconds to play Santonio Holmes scampers all of the 5 1/2 yard line (marked at the 7 -- I am not real sure why, but the officiating wasn't exactly stellar all game long).
This represents a perfect situation for Pittsburgh. They are in easy field goal range to tie. They can huddle up and run a play at about 25 seconds to play. They will either score a TD and leave AZ no time at all or they will get a field goal and leave AZ no time at all.
Tomlin? Immediate time out. With 49 seconds left. OK, um, whatever. So you now go to the sideline and come out and run the ball once, right? Take 20-25 seconds off the clock then throw on 2nd and 3rd down? Nope. Throw, incomplete. Throw, miracle catch for TD with 35 seconds left.
So you leave AZ time to get to mid-field. Why Arizona runs ANY play at that point other than Hail Mary to Larry Fitzgerald's side is anyone's guess.
3) Can the Super Bowl Really End On a Pass/Fumble Issue That Isn't Reviewed? I mean, yeah, we have replay reviews because we want the right call to be made in key situations. Like, say, the final play of a Super Bowl????????? No, other key situations like whether the Bengals made a first down in OT against Philly........
I think the right call was made, but frankly I also though Ben scored in the 1st quarter and Warner fumbled when hit before another replay challenge.
4) Did Ken Whisenhunt sleep at all last night wondering why he ran the ball so gd many times? One thing most apparent to anyone who had ever seen a football game was that Arizona wasn't going to make much hay trying to penetrate the Pittsburgh D with 1,000 year old Edgerrin James. And if that was Whizzy's plan, then why in the hell would he choose to kick off to start the game? Right? You're gonna pound the ball, maybe you want to establish that right at the kickoff and not after you immediately fall behind (what should have been 7-0 against competent coaching).
5) Has Keanu Reeves now fallen behind Alex Flanagan for "Most Wooden Performer of All-Time"? I mean, this is the Super Bowl. Turn up the intensity a tad, Alex. You have to go some to make Andrea Kramer look like a junior high school cheerleader, but Alex made all-time bland performers like Mel Torme, Pat Boone and Perry Como look like Kid Rock.
2) Could Mike Tomlin's coaching have been much worse? You take the kickoff and jam the ball down to the 6 inch line against a pretty mediocre defense. You have a twenty minute booth review where you can get your offense together and call any play you want. And you....................kick an 18 yard field goal??
Then with about 52 seconds to play Santonio Holmes scampers all of the 5 1/2 yard line (marked at the 7 -- I am not real sure why, but the officiating wasn't exactly stellar all game long).
This represents a perfect situation for Pittsburgh. They are in easy field goal range to tie. They can huddle up and run a play at about 25 seconds to play. They will either score a TD and leave AZ no time at all or they will get a field goal and leave AZ no time at all.
Tomlin? Immediate time out. With 49 seconds left. OK, um, whatever. So you now go to the sideline and come out and run the ball once, right? Take 20-25 seconds off the clock then throw on 2nd and 3rd down? Nope. Throw, incomplete. Throw, miracle catch for TD with 35 seconds left.
So you leave AZ time to get to mid-field. Why Arizona runs ANY play at that point other than Hail Mary to Larry Fitzgerald's side is anyone's guess.
3) Can the Super Bowl Really End On a Pass/Fumble Issue That Isn't Reviewed? I mean, yeah, we have replay reviews because we want the right call to be made in key situations. Like, say, the final play of a Super Bowl????????? No, other key situations like whether the Bengals made a first down in OT against Philly........
I think the right call was made, but frankly I also though Ben scored in the 1st quarter and Warner fumbled when hit before another replay challenge.
4) Did Ken Whisenhunt sleep at all last night wondering why he ran the ball so gd many times? One thing most apparent to anyone who had ever seen a football game was that Arizona wasn't going to make much hay trying to penetrate the Pittsburgh D with 1,000 year old Edgerrin James. And if that was Whizzy's plan, then why in the hell would he choose to kick off to start the game? Right? You're gonna pound the ball, maybe you want to establish that right at the kickoff and not after you immediately fall behind (what should have been 7-0 against competent coaching).
5) Has Keanu Reeves now fallen behind Alex Flanagan for "Most Wooden Performer of All-Time"? I mean, this is the Super Bowl. Turn up the intensity a tad, Alex. You have to go some to make Andrea Kramer look like a junior high school cheerleader, but Alex made all-time bland performers like Mel Torme, Pat Boone and Perry Como look like Kid Rock.
Alex -- it is the Super Bowl. Comes once a year. Maybe you rachet up the enthusiasm to 3 out of 10? By the way, since President Obama wants to get involved with sports rules (hates the BCS) why doesn't he decree by executive order that a tightly-clothed Erin Andrews has to always work the Super Bowl? It may be unconstitutional, but almost every appeals court in America is heavily male. Even if Erin gets an injunction (and why would she want one?) it will get dissolved on appeal.
6) How In The Hell Is Matt Millen Allowed To Comment On NFL Games? The guy completely ruined a franchise. Destroyed it. If it were a bank it would be Lehman Brothers (deemed unworthy of a bailout). Yet there he is on TV spouting off about how great the game was and what a great job the NFL did.
Even GWB has had the common sense to hide out in Texas and catch up on cartoon viewing while staying out of the spotlight. Not Millen -- there he is, giving us the opinions that helped lead to this Wikipedia entry:
In 2001, Millen left broadcasting to assume the job of the Detroit Lions' CEO and de facto general manager. At that time, Millen had no prior player development or front office experience.
Since Millen's arrival in 2001, the Lions were 31-84, 26 games below .500, and had lost nine or more games each season. During the early part of Millen's tenure (2001-2003), the Lions failed to win a road game for three years (0-24) before opening the season with a win at the Chicago Bears in 2004. Overall, the Lions are 8-50 on the road since 2001.[6] Millen himself admitted to an interviewer in 2008 that the team's record under his leadership has been "beyond awful".[7] The Wall Street Journal said that NFL executives admit in private that Millen "has made more bad draft decisions than anyone else in two centuries".[8]
The decision of NBC to give Millen a high profile post at the Super Bowl is like hiring the mother of your ex-fiancee to sing at your wedding reception. When you dumped your ex....by fax....at the altar.....3 months before your current wedding....and stated in the fax that the reason was you hated her mother. Shit, she might show up and sing OK, she might need the money, but maybe you could have done something different, heh?
7) Springsteen's Song Selection: Um, Unusual???? As of 1990 I owned every Burce Springsteen album ever made. He did one song off his new album (fine, whatever) but the three pre-1990 songs were an interesting choice.
a) Yeah, you gotta do "Born to Run" since it is your signature song, but doesn't it have to go first or last?
b) You start out with "10th Avenue Freeze Out." An OK song, but certainly an odd choice when you have the whole Springsteen catalog to choose from. If your idea is that you want to do something upbeat, then how about we try a far superior song like "Sherry Darlin'" off "The River"??
c) "Glory Days" -- OK, an ode to a guy who was a "big baseball player" could maybe be re-made to a football song.....but they did a horseshit job (he could throw that hail Mary, make you look like a fool?).
Sub out "Glory Days" go with "Born in the USA".
So, if you gave me a 12 minute Springsteen set, I would try to do some medleys of various songs. But if you only gave me full songs to do I would go:
Born in the USA
Sherry Darlin'
90 seconds of a new song
Born to Run
But I would be real tempted to just go: Born to Run, followed by Rosalita. That is almost 12 minutes, and at the end everyone would be very happy.
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