Pledge week begins in earnest as of today, although many of you already gave a couple of days ago when the button went up. Well, thanks! Thanks, too, to hungry joe for heading up the finances.
Anyway, Jerry Lewis will be by later to do that physical comedy we all love so much. Enjoy!
I finished step one of the Furious clone homebrew last night. Now the hardest part is having to wait two weeks for the fermentation to find out if I suck at something.
I've done Furious clones twice now, and have been pleased both times. I think the Simcoe dry-hopping in the later stage covers any sins in the beginning.
Had Captain Lawrence Imperial IPA at Plan B (burger joint in West Hartford) yesterday. Nummy.
Just watched the clip of Brady punting last night. Punting on third down? That was my favorite move on Madden a decade ago, but only once I was so far behind that it was just to annoy my opponent (usually in the 2nd quarter). Never had the opportunity to use it when ahead.
that was a good move. But leaving Brady in for the whole 4th quarter? What was the point of that?
I think Brady was still in to destroy any Tebow 'magic'
its not the first time Brady has punted. he had 1 for 36 yards in 2003. Its just Belichik being Belichik and let you khik and thats why I kind of love the Pats. They are giant aholes and let you know about it. Its like when Barry Bonds was roided up.
A Friend just linked to a certain ESPN columnist on FB and said "Reilly is already one of my favorite writers."
I'm now re-evaluating everything I know about my friend. I think the end result will be that I forget that this happened altogether.
dw is 2-2 on his picks from yesterday.
Pat Reusse writes about homerism on tv
I generally agree with him here. While I expect a little homerism on the local sports, I also expect the tv crew to be critical when the team is doing stupid things like booting a routine grounder or a stupid turnover.
I think the radio announcers do a little better job on that front
That last quote from FSN pretty much sums it up. They don't even try to refute anything he says.
I find the homerism terribly annoying. It is ok to have a positive spin but it has to have some basis in reality.
and the corollary as well: when the opposing team does something outstanding, it's correct to acknowledge that, too (and not whine and pout -- I'm looking at you, Hawk!)
That last quote from FSN pretty much sums it up. They don't even try to refute anything he says.
Yeah, it's ironic that in response to this particular piece, FSN North finally decided to tell it like it is.
How does this mesh with the Mauer = Pussy meme?
Or was that just the Strib writers?
I don't even ask that they be particularly critical. I'd just like them to be honest. When a guy boots it, just say that he booted it. Don't make him out to be the worst fielder in baseball, but don't make excuses for him, either. Just say what happened and leave it at that.
Agreed. As a viewer, I hate to be insulted.
Unfortunately, we appear to live in a post-nuance world. You're either a bum or a hero, obviously.
I like that Reusse pointed out explicitly (re: Slowey) that DicknBert are given specific topics from higher up that they are allowed to be critical about. The unwashed masses then repeat these criticisms as gospel. If it wasn't just a game, it'd be a bit terrifying.
Is this a rare situation where the journalist works for the company it's paid to talk about? I bet ABC wouldn't be happy if Diane Sawyer began criticizing employees within the company.
Also, how bad does broadcasting have to be for another journalist to take a full column to criticize it?
Scott Baker leaves the ball up.
better not have a Guitar Hero game in the clubhouse. Joel Zumaya to the Twins
Zumaya? Interesting.
His last pitch as a Tiger was at Target Field, against now-Tiger Delmon Young and the Twins. I don't know if that's interesting enough to mention, but I didn't get to be the most prolific commenter by being selective.
That has potential to be a great move. Interesting that they gave him a major league deal. My concern is that they consider this the final piece of the bullpen. Hopefully, they'll still bring in a guy that is more durable as well. Zumaya and the Twins' trainers and doctors probably isn't the ideal fit.
I think giving him a major league deal is definitely better than some of the other free agents (Hacker last year, I think Bulger this year) that have gotten those from the Twins in the last couple offseasons.
I am worried that his arm might come off. I know we've said that before about other pitchers (Guerrier, mostly), but Zumaya throws hard enough he might manage to do it.
Joe C reporting it's a nonguaranteed major league deal, so Twins can cut him in spring training and only pay a prorated portion of his deal.
Beer is a superfood. Ain't science great?
Yes, yes it is.
This IU game is not fun.
I just clicked over to it- Indiana is that terrible, or is Ohio State that good? Or just a combination of the two?
Ohio State is the better team, probably, but IU shouldn't be being beaten by this much.
Number of road teams that have won in the NFL playoffs this year: zero. Quite the exciting two weeks..
Giants trying to change that. Packers can't hold onto the ball.
So I've gotten to the point that, whenever I see Mike Pereira make an appearance on an NFL broadcast, I just assume the officials blew a call and he's there to make up some convoluted bs about how it was the right call.
I don't think I've ever heard him come out and say the refs got it wrong, so yeah, I think you nailed it.
Heh, except he just said today that the refs botched the Jennings fumble.
Ah see, now there's what happens when I make comments when watching without sound.
But yeah, how long has he been on the job? It seems the last couple of years have had more bizzare rule interperations (that bs Calvin Johnson "no-catch" last year, for instance.) than in any time period I can remember, and its corresponded with seeing more of him on tv.
Mike Pereira was the NFL's Vice President of Officiating from 2004-09. So the rules got weird after he left the front office?
Oh, he's just an analyst? Weird. Who the hell is in that position now, the Ginger Hammer himself? I would totally expect Goodell to muck something like that up.
Some dude named Carl Johnson, a former line judge, which was what Pereira did before getting promoted. I still blame Goodell for any shenanigans.
He said it was an opinion call, and his opinion was different from Leavey's, not that Leavey blew it, if I recall correctly. Convoluted bs, like cheaptoy said- I'd rather he either flat out said the refs were wrong or right.
You're right, he still couched his words carefully to avoid criticizing the ref (Reusse's next column idea?), but it wasn't too hard to determine that the refs botched it.
I think the ref decided not to change the ruling just because Joe Buck thought they should.
You're absolutely right, bhiggum.
/TroyAikmanvoice
Which is weird, because I, for one, opt to change a lot of things when Joe Buck says stuff... like the channel.
I realized some time ago that word had come down for NFL broadcasters not to criticize the officials.
Which is all the more reason I like that Dazzle can rant, "That's a terrible call!" Well, except that it's Dazzle that's saying it.
Wow, that's quite a way to end the half.
Yar. GB's defense is bad.
So, in the end, every team in the Vikings' division won just as many as the Vikes, but the Vikes get the best draft pick.
Just think if the Twins had finished last every year during the last decade. Our team would be so stacked right now
Twins tried that in the 90s. Doesn't work so great in baseball.
Gophers win at Penn St. to give them consecutive road wins in the Big Ten. Something they haven't done since Jan. 2008. That got them ranked 18th in the AP poll before they lost their next game at Northwestern.
that game was unwatchable. Everyone on the floor was playing with 3 fouls by halftime
If it is okay with everyone I was just going to go ahead and keep posting Wolves game logs until there is a lack of interest or I forget about it.
If anyone steps forward saying they have a concept for a Wolves log they'd like to share, I'll let you know, but in the meantime, go nuts.
I picked the wrong road team to win today. It must be nice to have a secondary like the Giants that can man up on some recievers to allow the sack guys to pressure Rodgers
I am rooting for the 49ers next week
Finally got to the latest Ritchie offering of Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows.
Couple of thots, as I am very familiar with the canon. First impression was the over exposure to Moriarty. In the series, he is rarely to be seen/heard. I didn't mind it, but it wasn't true to the spirit of the orig. I did like the use of Roma, chess, and the
, which made it personal.
The verbally-anticipated fight scenes has good legs, used also in the earlier film.
.
What's next. H. of the B'villes.? Not sure they could muster the funding for that.
I enjoyed the movie, about as good as the first. I thought they overused the visualization of the fight scenes, though most of the fights ended up deviating from his planned out versions, so it wasn't that big of a deal. My favorite part, I started laughing about ten seconds before anyone else in the theater knew what was going on-
I like Ritchie's films a lot, and I hope they can manage another film with the same crew.
If only there was a movie day soon...
Unless it's Holmes getting clues from the Digicon/Facebook/et.al.
Someone on the Book of Faces pointed out that Aaron Rodgers still has fewer playoff victories at Lambeau Field than Daunte Culpepper. Amusing.
I may not give a crap about the NFL anymore, but I've taken a lot of crap about '98 since I've been living in Wisconsin. I'm not going to give crap back about this, but I will feel a little better on the inside.
Also, apparently Rodgers should not have taken the Discount Double Check.
Yeah, that whole thing just crashed and burned.
Why did it have to be the Giants though?
Go Niners, I guess.
I'm rooting for the 49ers for the rest of the playoffs. Jim Harbaugh secured himself a rooting interest for life for his work with the Colts' playoff run in '95. For interesting's sake, I'll root for the Ravens in the AFC to set up a Harbaugh Bowl. Also, that means the Patriots lose.