Cup of Coffee

February 3, 2012: Spilled Milk

84 Comments

My brother was fired from a job that he absolutely adored because of a rock-stupid decision that, when he told me about it, caused me to tell him this was inevitable. Friends, if you ever get to run your own store, keep it in your pants.

84 thoughts on “February 3, 2012: Spilled Milk”

  1. Not to turn the WGOM into Craigslist or anything but I have two pieces of computer equipment I'm trying to sell:

    HP Officejet 4500 Wireless printer. Brand new, used once. It DOES NOT print from an Ipad or Iphone which is why we are replacing it. I have disc and ink cartridges. Only 2 pages have been printed from machine. $50?

    Dell 17" flat screen moniter. Probably 4 years old but never had a problem with it. Have the disc too. Make me an offer.

    If interested and can pick up, (I live in SW Minneapolis) send me a text at 612 807-0650

            1. A that's how do those, yeah.
              That's a how do those, yeah.
              That's how a do those, yeah.
              That's how do a those, yeah.
              That's how do those a, yeah.
              That's how do those, a yeah.
              That's how do those, yeah a.

              Nope, don't think that was the problem.

                1. Oh, I got the joke about the missing word. I just decided to run another joke into the ground.

  2. Maybe my mind's in the gutter, but the title "Spilled Milk" seems really gross for the type of situation 'milk has outlined.

    1. Your mind's in the right place, though I thought of that second meaning after my intended one (he made a mistake, and there's no use crying over it now).

    1. Yes. I just used it twice this morning to look up WAR leaders for Twins for your question. I mentioned this before here, but before I got the subscription, I never thought I would use it enough to make it worthwhile. After getting it, it's almost instinctive to answer any baseball question with "Oh, I bet play index could answer this!" I believe the price has gone up since I first subscribed a few years ago, but I get the feeling it would apply to all Sports Reference sites. Right now, only baseball's play index is behind the paywall, but I think the others will migrate there in the future as additional features are added.

      Another example: I did a comparable player search on Cuddyer in October to try to guess how he'll perform in the future. This is a somewhat recent feature, the ability to search players listed in a previous search. I get the feeling I've only just begun to figure out how to really use that.

      2. I've got a few other fungoes in mind which would be enhanced by a subscription, but you're right - there's a considerable amount of utility behind it. Plus, after years of using b-ref for free, it's probably only fair to kick a little into the kitty.

  4. So I'm practically the only person in my office today. I have a pile of work, but it's of the "go at your own pace, finish it whenever" variety. I'm already bored with the internet and with my phone. I'm thinking about doing some pushups or crunches or something to pass the time.

    1. I work a 2 pm-10 pm shift regularly, and usually after about 5:30, there's no one else around and I don't have much interesting to work on. I do a lot of stretches or light exercises about every hour or I'd fall asleep.

  5. the NFL Commissioner said that there will be 13 Thursday Night NFL Network games next season. I am not a fan of that plan

    1. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, the NFL Network's broacast crew is much better than any of the chuckleheads at Fox or CBS. On the other hand, football is already kind of at its saturation point for me, and tons of people don't have NFL Network.

      1. tons of people don't have NFL Network

        I'd be one of those without it, and with no plans to get it. I don't like the way the NFL is heading.

      2. I understand that the NFL Network needs some programming, and the most logical choice is to air NFL games. The plan should be to air those games on Saturday night, but the NFL doesnt want to step on the toes of its minor league system. I like footballas (I would rank it as my second favorite sport behind baseball), but each year my like for it has waned a bit because its just everywhere.

        1. This isn't just "some programming", it's very lucrative programming. Ratings for games on the NFL Network have been shockingly high. I would bet on more and more games there as the NFL works to collect $3 or $4 a month from every cable/satellite subscriber in the country.

          1. according to this article, ESPN charges $4.69. I read an article not too long ago (that I cant seem to find) that ESPN is the to revenue maker for the entire Disney Corp.

            The only thing, I think, holding the NFL Network back on airing more than 13 games is the 100 gazillion dollars (estimated) they get from CBS, FOX, and NBC for the over-the-air rights

            My cable company offers the NFL Net, but its on a tier that I dont have and cant really afford to upgrade to

        2. I think there are legal restrictions against the NFL playing on Friday and Saturday nights during HS and college football season, which is why you start to see more Saturday NFL games after the college season ends (or at least between the end of the regular season and the increasingly lengthy bowl season.)

          1. There may not be legal reasons, but clearly NCAA and NFL have agreed to not schedule on top of each other for the most part.

            1. There are legal reasons.

              The law has been interpreted to include the so-called "blackout rules" which protect a home team from competing games broadcast into its home territory on a day when it is playing a game at home. It also, in effect, protects high school football and college football game attendance by blacking out pro football games locally on Friday evenings and Saturdays during those sports' regular seasons; these measures effectively outlawed the broadcasting (and, in practice, the playing) of NFL games on those days, since virtually all of the country is within 75 miles of at least one high school game on Friday night in September and October. This portion of the act has since been partially circumvented; the NFL extended its season in 1978 to allow several weeks of Friday night or Saturday games if the league so wished. Friday night games are still extremely rare (the NFL only plays on Friday nights if Christmas Day lands on Friday), but late-season Saturday games have been common since that time.

              1. Aaah, Moss learns something new every day. Thanks, Ubes.

                It's great how the law is anti-anti-competitive behavior...except for when it's not.

                1. Yeah, it's a bizarre law, but probably the sort of thing that you would regularly see in most oligopolies (with the few competitors in the marketplace willing to cut deals with one another to their mutual benefit.)

                  1. so, the statute does NOT exempt pooled broadcasting contracts that would allow competition with Friday Night Lights games or saturday collegiate games. It's not so much a matter of "interpretation" as it is explicit language.

                    Sec. 1293. Intercollegiate and interscholastic football contest
                    limitations

                    -STATUTE-
                    The first sentence of section 1291 of this title shall not apply
                    to any joint agreement described in such section which permits the
                    telecasting of all or a substantial part of any professional
                    football game on any Friday after six o'clock postmeridian or on
                    any Saturday during the period beginning on the second Friday in
                    September and ending on the second Saturday in December in any year
                    from any telecasting station located within seventy-five miles of
                    the game site of any intercollegiate or interscholastic football
                    contest scheduled to be played on such a date if -
                    (1) such intercollegiate football contest is between
                    institutions of higher learning both of which confer degrees upon
                    students following completion of sufficient credit hours to equal
                    a four-year course, or
                    (2) in the case of an interscholastic football contest, such
                    contest is between secondary schools, both of which are
                    accredited or certified under the laws of the State or States in
                    which they are situated and offer courses continuing through the
                    twelfth grade of the standard school curriculum, or the
                    equivalent, and
                    (3) such intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest
                    and such game site were announced through publication in a
                    newspaper of general circulation prior to August 1 of such year
                    as being regularly scheduled for such day and place.

                    -SOURCE-
                    (Pub. L. 87-331, Sec. 3, Sept. 30, 1961, 75 Stat. 732; Pub. L. 89-
                    800, Sec. 6(b)(3), Nov. 8, 1966, 80 Stat. 1515.)

                    1. My point was just that the NFL is legally restricted from broadcasting their games on Fridays and Saturdays, all quotes from the great repository come with the usual caveats.

    2. I'm stunned that they haven't already added regular Tuesday night games. There's a bigger gap between Tuesday to Sunday than from Sunday to Thursday.

      1. At this rate, they could have play-in games to the playoffs. Teams that might be in it have their games time-shifted to Saturday. Then Tuesday night, the #6 and #7 seeds play for the right to play again on Sunday, to face the #3 seed. Only Wednesdays will be safe.

    3. I hear about stuff like this and it makes me feel even better about having cut the cable TV cord. I'd never watch NFL Network, and I don't feel like subsidizing it for those who do (and you absolutely can bet that it will eventually be part of basic cable in every market in the country).

      1. Right there with you. I feel better and better about cutting it out every day. I think I generally found myself not watching the Thursday games back when I did get it anyway.

    2. Just heard his press conference on Common Man. To Hamilton's credit, he pretty much laid it all out and told what happened. He didn't try to make excuses or hide anything.

    1. that's pretty awful. we had a small taste of that with Pete, and i wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

      1. yeah, that's rough. It makes the reflux issue the trinket has not seem like an issue at all.

    2. It's getting pretty damn dusty in here, Stick. Thanks a lot.

      Moss can't even imagine. Moss' littlest was born the day Morneau got kneed in the noggin. He went home with us the next day, and has been healthy as can be ever since. It's weird thinking that your friend's son was born almost two months earlier but didn't get out of the hospital until a couple weeks later.

      2. Sad story. I made the mistake of reading it at work. It sounds like they have a wonderful outlook on their time they had with him.

    2. Classic stuff. Hadn't seen that before.

      Moss has probably mentioned it around here before, but Moss' dad was one of Koos' first baseball coaches out in western MN (if not the first). Pops used to say that he got Koos into pitching, but Moss never believed it -- until Moss' uncle (on the other side -- Mom's brother), who was the batboy, verified it. And as they say, the rest is history.

    3. I'd Battey'd Kenny Landreaux. He was one of those guys I imagined to be much better than he actually was (along with John Castino; those two were in line to be my favorites of my high school years; one got traded, one had a career-debilitating injury).

      Landreaux was the Twins' A-S game representative in 1980. He accumulated -0.2 rWAR that season.

      Castino was named as one of the 50 "Greatest" Twins in 2010, despite a career 278/329/398 (96 OPS+) slash line. He was a wonderful fielder before back problems and spinal fusion surgery ended his career.

  9. The NBA All-Star starters have been determined. Kevin Love finished fifth for forwards, with the starters (Durant and Griffin) waaaaay ahead. Rubio was actually third, but leagues behind Kobe and Chris Paul.

    Carmelo's starting in the East. I really had the impression that Carmelo was an open book at this point, but apparently not.

    1. I'm glad that all-star games are pretty much not worth watching. Durant and possibly Rose (although he does play in Chicago) excepted, I hate all those guys.

      1. Yea, I have an in-jest explanation for the data ready to go, but have bolted it down to prevent escape into the wild.

    2. Does that article ever mention whether partners were involved? That could explain the "success rate."

      1. LOL. The worst possible situation is Democratic satisfaction and Republican frequency. That kind of bi-partisanship cannot stand, man!

        1. ok, the doors are open.

          I figured that all of the Republicans were closeted gay men, and all of the Dems were drug-addled hippies. That explains the data perfectly.

    3. The "study" (aka math.com promotional press release) covers singles, yet all the LTEs are from married men.

    2. This boyo sat in the Sousaphone chair in 5th grade band (a reach to say I was playing it), on top of a stack of books so I could reach the mouthpiece. Two words serve: spit valve.

      1. uh, we prefer "condensation valve" in the business.

        I was thrilled when this past Sunday one of the girls I had in choir informed me that she will be playing trombone in 5th grade next year. I promised her I would bring my old trombone and show her how to set it up and use for a while.

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