The opening ceremonies are in the can and today we start the Games proper. I'm just hoping for a nice showing from the local basketball team.
93 thoughts on “July 28, 2012: For the Gold”
the Twins are tied with KC for 4th place in the AL Central. the last time they were in 4th position was April 29
They still have a run differential of -95. Although they are not last in baseball anymore, as the Astros have surged ahead and are a whopping -119
That means the Twins were -106 before last night's game.
Teething sucks.
ORAJEL!!
Tried that at 4 am, didn't work as well as I'd hoped. We're down to trying frickin mysticism with an amber necklace.
Voodoo and animal sacrifice should be your last resort.
This is a wise man.
Well, you want to avoid the risk of a zombie event whenever you can.
You're still cutting teeth at your age? I'll alert the folks at Ripley's.
30 year molars
When I was 30, my wisdom teeth had not yet come in. They never did come in and I eventually had them cut out.
I had mine out in college, all four at the same time, one of them impacted. One socket didn't clot very well and I bled about a half-pint into my pillow while I slept. Got up the next morning, took a couple of painkillers with a beer and went to play in a softball tournament. Only ten of us showed up, so I had them put me last in the order and out in right. I played half an inning in the field and another guy (mercifully) showed up, so I took myself out of the game and watched the rest from the bench. God, I did some stupid stuff in my youth.
I still haven't had my wisdom teeth out. Dentists have been telling me to do it for about thirty-five years now, but they've never bothered me a bit, so I don't see the point.
Three of mine came in perfect, and would never have caused any problems. The fourth came in perpendicular to the others. I still didn't need it out until last summer, when I started to get headaches because it was starting to push against the other molars.
I played flag football two days after mine were out. They stuck me at center, which crazily has the least to do. Hike the ball and stand there (we played a no blocking at the line type of flag football. Drake also didn't allow slide tackling in soccer. I really don't blame them, the training us referees received was woeful and we wouldn't have been able to do much of anything if someone got seriously hurt.)
had all four of mine out (three impacted) under general anesthesia the summer between freshman and sophomore years in college. Made the mistake of having a date a few days later when the pain pills ran out. There wasn't a second date. Which, all things considered, worked out fine.
In re: Teething sucks - I can agree. My kiddo has been suffering from split personality for about 2 months; happy as get-all one moment and huge, blubbering crocodile tears the next. She finally popped the bottom two about 2 weeks ago and was happier for a time. This week, the first of her top row has almost shown up.
Trinket is working on numbers 5 and 6 . For some reason, these two have been particularly bad for her. It ends eventually, right?
Pete's been on 6 for awhile now, but he didn't seem to have many/any problems. a little fussy at times but no more than usual. we'll see if that holds up when the next batch comes in.
and of course, after i typed that, i noticed 2 more coming in on the bottom.
The calf has, best I can see, all his teeth and has for a while. However he still hasn't stopped trying to eat his hand on a daily basis.
Runner daughter got her first six early, and the last six just before her first birthday. It was nice that her cheeks would redden up when she was teething so that we could easily tell what was making her uncomfortable.
Watching bicycle road racing through the pastoral English countryside. But I'm so American I keep hoping for a massive crash.
same here.
from wiki
Box Hill lies within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' is a very British way of saying 'park'
Ha! There's a rider named Cavendish. That's the most British thing I've ever seen.
You know what this event needs to make it really interesting? Of course you do.
I think that Cavendish dude was from the Isle of Man
Spooky, I didn't even relize that the Brits had a basketball team.
Watched Women's fencing this morning with HPR. If there were club closer thn St Paul, I could see him getting into that. Even better would be samurai swordfighting lessons tho.
I watched some fencing too. Lee Keiffer's match was intense.
I also watched some table tennis and cycling. It's all way more fun once every 4 years with country affiliation.
Spooky, I didn't even relize that the Brits had a basketball team.
POPS!!!!!eleventy!!! It's ridiculous that Wes Johnson can survive in the NBA for years, yet Pops bounces around the fringes and ends up in Europe despite producing well in limiting time. He would easily have contributed as a energy-guy backup PF and have been an improvement for about half the league.
Wes is still on his rookie contract. Let's see if he survives beyond that.
I'd also suggest that there is no shortage of energy-guy backup PF types out there. You have to get in the right situation to have a long career as one of those frequent DNP-CP, 15-min/g guys.
Oh, I don't doubt it. But there's no reason some clown like Brian Cardinal or Tony Battie can have a long NBA career and he can barely sniff the last spot on the roster.
no good reason, you mean.
I suspect it's the same with fringe players in every sport. Drew Butera is certainly no better than a lot of other catchers, but he happened to be in the right place at the right time and got the right person to like him. The same for guys like Jason Tyner and Willie Eyre. Some guys have long careers and never really do anything, while others can't get a shot no matter what they do.
Some guys have long careers and never really do anything (Lexi Casilla), while others can't get a shot no matter what they do. (Anthony Slama, although he is hurt)
I wish I had a much larger selection of channels. Cycling's probably the last thing I'd choose, given the events happening right now.
I am currrntly feeling that way about women's basketball.
the women haven't been shooting or taking care of the ball very well.
We're flipping between women's buckets and women's soccer, US vs. Colombia. NBC has a couple of nice apps for phones/pads that might help you find alternate events online and on TV.
Just got a recommendation from Twitter to follow the Yankees' PR feed. I understand their algorithm, but I clicked that X so fast.
From the not a big deal, but come on department: the bathroom sink is clogged. I announce to my wife that I am going upstairs to unclog it. She beats me up there, the most remote bathroom in our house, to wash her hands and fill the sink with water literally 5 seconds before I walk in the room with the pail. We have two other bathrooms and a kitchen sink that were closer. I don't understand.
Passive-aggressive handwashing is the new market inefficiency.
You're dealing with a woman and you expect to understand?
shya, right!
The depths to which we are to fail to understand are constantly amazing to me.
Yep - most definitely this. After 8 years of marriage, I'm beginning to comprehend how little I understand.
"I swear, sometimes she does it just 'cause she can do it." Brad Paisley, "Waitin' on a Woman"
I heard a strange sound coming from the laundry room today. I asked the Mrs what it was. She responded with "it is the washing machine, I am sure you wouldn't know that however since you never use it". I responded with "it wouldn't make any noise if I didn't pay for it". As you can imagine that did not go over well.
I'm puttin' that in a screenplay, Buffalo.
Women's soccer: USA strikes first v. Colombia.
Game log and recap alert: I'm going to need a pinch hitter for both today.
I can take the game log, nibbish. I need to do a little paying forward.
I can nab the recap
Team Archery was unbelievably exciting. U.S. got the silver, with Italy taking the gold by one point on the very last shot. So much fun. Especially since the U.S. apparently had no business in the final match.
I wonder if my little brother was watching that. He coaches a few archery teams at the local middle school through the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). He's had teams competing at the NFAA Nationals in Louisville for the past several years now, and they've done pretty well.
It's the off-season, so you what? The Kincks are totally great! 4LTR:
Like Brooklyn, the Knicks should consider anything less than home-court advantage in the first round (the No. 4 seed or better) a disappointment. Judging from Stoudemire's championship-or-bust comments during the Las Vegas Summer League, the Knicks are indeed expecting big things.
Their overpaid, knee less power forward whose game doesn't mesh with their ball-stopping "star" says they are going to win at the Vegas summer league? I'm sure Miami is really scared. To wit:
Clearly, they've decided that the way to beat the Heat is by stopping them at the rim, and by adding Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas to a roster that already featured Tyson Chandler, the Knicks now have some of the staunchest paint protectors in the league.
Camby and Thomas? I was a pretty good shot blocker 30 years ago, too.
Here's the starting five: Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Chandler. Not bad, but it's potentially volatile, of course, because of Smith. But adding a professional and leader like Jason Kidd (his recent DWI arrest notwithstanding) to the mix should help keep the locker room straight.
I was going to ridicule the concept of Kurt Thomas as a shot blocker, but apparently he's averaged 1.7 blocks/36 minutes for his career, and over 1.3/36 minutes the last two years. Of course, he'll also be 40 next season, and averaged just over 15 min/g last year. So, yea, I'm gonna ridicule the concept of Kurt Thomas as a shot blocker.
Camby, on the other hand, can still defend the rim.
Jeremy Lin mattered because of the Knicks: Even though Lin ended up signing with the Rockets, his new team was mostly an afterthought. The Rockets signing Lin got just 4.75 minutes of coverage, while ESPN spent 11.25 minutes specifically on the Knicks letting him go, along with some remember-the-good-times montages for good measure. Even with the craziness surrounding the Lin saga last week, ESPN coverage still paled in comparison to the height of Lin's success in February. He still holds the SportsCenter one-week record for mentions this year, with 350
There's a long list of things you never think of to tell your kids not to do until they do them. Just added to my list is "Don't bring the bag of dog poop in the house to ask me if you're done picking up after the dog." :rolleyes
Don't be surprised if that bag spontaneously combusts on your front porch.
CC to the Pirate:
I think I've fixed your first table. If you remove the extra blank lines in your second table, that should fix that one as well.
I'll give it a shot.
Best athlete name of the XXX Olympiad to date: Destiny Hooker.
* Destinee
Pretty good volleyball player, too.
From Jim Bowden on tWWL, a column called 5 blockbuster trades that make sense, insider:
Minnesota Twins send Francisco Liriano, Jared Burton, Justin Morneau, Josh Willingham and cash to the San Francisco Giants for Brandon Belt, Kyle Crick, Mike Kickham and Heath Hembree
he Giants make a blockbuster move to get back to the World Series but at a serious long-term price. In Liriano, the Giants get another quality starting pitcher to put behind Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong and Tim Lincecum. In Burton, the Giants upgrade the back end of their bullpen to help struggling Santiago Casilla. The Giants also add two middle-of-the-order bats with Willingham in right field and Morneau at first base.
The Giants of course are banking on Morneau to have a strong second half after recovering from a wrist injury and concussion, but they don't seem to have faith in Belt, and he should be playing somewhere. The Twins also would have to send enough cash to cover a good portion of the remainder of Morneau’s contract, which consists of what’s left on this year’s $14 million, as well as the $14 million due Morneau in 2013. But they're paying Morneau no matter what, so they might as well get some talent for him while they can. All of these moves help the Giants win (and in 2013).
The Twins, on the other hand, get an inexpensive long-term solution at first base in Belt, a top young starting pitching prospect in Crick, a future closer in Hembree and another middle-of-the-rotation starter in southpaw Kickham. In this trade, the Twins obviously build for the future and lower payroll significantly.
You know what, I might be okay with this. Here is some additional info on the Giants players.
I know that Bowden isn't exactly popular around here (Trend Worse), but he did call Greinke to the LAAAA in the same article including one of the prospects going to the Brewers.
I don't think the Twins necessarily need a long-term solution at first base. Especially since Belt bats left-handed.
I can agree with that. I did some light reading on some of the pitchers listed and it looks like there is some upside there-- even if one of them is a closer-type.
I guess the question is how long do the Twins feel it will be until they believe they can compete again? If they think they compete during the Willingham contract, cool let's hang onto him. At the same time his value is sky high right now and it is probably worth entertaining offers.
The biggest reason against trading Willingham is I think it could set the precedent that the Twins are willing to sign a player to multiple years and trade them the first year. Especially considering Willingham is (sadly) the largest free-agent signing in franchise history.
I don't think the Twins should expect to compete in 2013, so 2014 seems to be the earliest and that's probably a bit optimistic. I'm thinking trade Span in the offseason, Willingham at the deadline in 2013, and Morneau whenever.
I love how all the sportscasts tonight made mention that Christian Ponder was 16-17 in practice last night. *rolleyes*
If only he could play against the Vikings' secondary every game!
I wonder if the 49ers touted Joe Montana's practice stats.
The Vikings are hilarious.
so NBC brought in Ryan Secrest to read tweets on TV. awesome
I am appauled with NBC's coverage so far. I'd hoped they might learn from Beijing and Vancouver, but they haven't. I'll be figuring out a UK proxy to get BBC coverage first thing in the morning.
Do share if you find one or more.
NBC is kind of in a tough spot with the games being in London. Primetime, big time events there is afternoon here, so people are awake and know whats going on. NBC wants to show those events in Primetime, which is understandable since they paid a lot of money for the broadcast rights. The two are not going to jive.
Although, it being a weekend, they should show the good events like swimming live because, its the weekend and people are generally not at work.
It's not even the live vs. delay thing, because they are streaming everything live on-line. I would prefer more live coverage, and I'll find it somewhere if they don't give it to me. I'm more upset with the stupid puff pieces that take up 10 or 15 minutes instead of showing the events. To me, the competition/results are enough story. I don't need to be bombarded with the extraneous stuff.
I hear ya, but broadcasters have been doing fluff pieces forever and a lot of people love them. Myself, I wish they would relegated them to one NBC owned channel (hell, The Weather Channel never shows weather anymore. Put them there) and run them 24/7 and leave more time for the sports.
Yeah, the puff pieces are for the people that generally aren't sports fans but will turn on the Olympics, like my parents and my in-laws. They eat that stuff up. The general sports fan will watch regardless.
Even when they show events, they spend so much time on set-up versus showing the actual event that it makes the Olympics almost unwatchable. I tried to watch some of it last night, but the ratio fiddling around versus showing events was about six to one.
I thought that's what Matt Lauer was doing during the Opening Ceremony. Honest to God, it sounded like they were narrating the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade again.
so, there is this
Aaron Gleeman @AaronGleeman
Twins trade Francisco Liriano to White Sox for minor leaguers Pedro Hernandez and Eduardo Escobar. At first glance, very disappointing.
Well, balls. Not very happy about this.
One silver lining, I guess- I'm looking forward to A.J. trying to block all the sliders in the dirt.
This is about the worst possible destination for him. I'm so mad right now.
I am thinking Liriano is probably going to give up a ton of HRs in that bandbox known as US Cellular
The Twins have 9 more games against the White Sox. Hopefully this is some sort of double-agent trade where Frankie realized he could be of more help to Minnesota by serving up homers TO them.
Terry Ryan traded him within the division because the brain trust knows all the hot points to take advantage of and wanted as many opportunities as possible.
It'll drive down his value, and the Twins will re-sign him in the offseason.
the Twins are tied with KC for 4th place in the AL Central. the last time they were in 4th position was April 29
They still have a run differential of -95. Although they are not last in baseball anymore, as the Astros have surged ahead and are a whopping -119
That means the Twins were -106 before last night's game.
Teething sucks.
ORAJEL!!
Tried that at 4 am, didn't work as well as I'd hoped. We're down to trying frickin mysticism with an amber necklace.
Voodoo and animal sacrifice should be your last resort.
This is a wise man.
Well, you want to avoid the risk of a zombie event whenever you can.
You're still cutting teeth at your age? I'll alert the folks at Ripley's.
30 year molars
When I was 30, my wisdom teeth had not yet come in. They never did come in and I eventually had them cut out.
I had mine out in college, all four at the same time, one of them impacted. One socket didn't clot very well and I bled about a half-pint into my pillow while I slept. Got up the next morning, took a couple of painkillers with a beer and went to play in a softball tournament. Only ten of us showed up, so I had them put me last in the order and out in right. I played half an inning in the field and another guy (mercifully) showed up, so I took myself out of the game and watched the rest from the bench. God, I did some stupid stuff in my youth.
I still haven't had my wisdom teeth out. Dentists have been telling me to do it for about thirty-five years now, but they've never bothered me a bit, so I don't see the point.
Three of mine came in perfect, and would never have caused any problems. The fourth came in perpendicular to the others. I still didn't need it out until last summer, when I started to get headaches because it was starting to push against the other molars.
I played flag football two days after mine were out. They stuck me at center, which crazily has the least to do. Hike the ball and stand there (we played a no blocking at the line type of flag football. Drake also didn't allow slide tackling in soccer. I really don't blame them, the training us referees received was woeful and we wouldn't have been able to do much of anything if someone got seriously hurt.)
had all four of mine out (three impacted) under general anesthesia the summer between freshman and sophomore years in college. Made the mistake of having a date a few days later when the pain pills ran out. There wasn't a second date. Which, all things considered, worked out fine.
In re: Teething sucks - I can agree. My kiddo has been suffering from split personality for about 2 months; happy as get-all one moment and huge, blubbering crocodile tears the next. She finally popped the bottom two about 2 weeks ago and was happier for a time. This week, the first of her top row has almost shown up.
Trinket is working on numbers 5 and 6 . For some reason, these two have been particularly bad for her. It ends eventually, right?
Pete's been on 6 for awhile now, but he didn't seem to have many/any problems. a little fussy at times but no more than usual. we'll see if that holds up when the next batch comes in.
and of course, after i typed that, i noticed 2 more coming in on the bottom.
The calf has, best I can see, all his teeth and has for a while. However he still hasn't stopped trying to eat his hand on a daily basis.
Runner daughter got her first six early, and the last six just before her first birthday. It was nice that her cheeks would redden up when she was teething so that we could easily tell what was making her uncomfortable.
Watching bicycle road racing through the pastoral English countryside. But I'm so American I keep hoping for a massive crash.
same here.
from wiki
'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' is a very British way of saying 'park'
Ha! There's a rider named Cavendish. That's the most British thing I've ever seen.
You know what this event needs to make it really interesting? Of course you do.
httpv://youtu.be/rxfzm9dfqBw
Trotsky!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coi86g8bxE8
Curses, trumped again.
I think that Cavendish dude was from the Isle of Man
Spooky, I didn't even relize that the Brits had a basketball team.
Watched Women's fencing this morning with HPR. If there were club closer thn St Paul, I could see him getting into that. Even better would be samurai swordfighting lessons tho.
Ask and Ye shall receive, AMR.
I watched some fencing too. Lee Keiffer's match was intense.
I also watched some table tennis and cycling. It's all way more fun once every 4 years with country affiliation.
Spooky, I didn't even relize that the Brits had a basketball team.
POPS!!!!!eleventy!!! It's ridiculous that Wes Johnson can survive in the NBA for years, yet Pops bounces around the fringes and ends up in Europe despite producing well in limiting time. He would easily have contributed as a energy-guy backup PF and have been an improvement for about half the league.
Wes is still on his rookie contract. Let's see if he survives beyond that.
I'd also suggest that there is no shortage of energy-guy backup PF types out there. You have to get in the right situation to have a long career as one of those frequent DNP-CP, 15-min/g guys.
Oh, I don't doubt it. But there's no reason some clown like Brian Cardinal or Tony Battie can have a long NBA career and he can barely sniff the last spot on the roster.
no good reason, you mean.
I suspect it's the same with fringe players in every sport. Drew Butera is certainly no better than a lot of other catchers, but he happened to be in the right place at the right time and got the right person to like him. The same for guys like Jason Tyner and Willie Eyre. Some guys have long careers and never really do anything, while others can't get a shot no matter what they do.
Some guys have long careers and never really do anything (Lexi Casilla), while others can't get a shot no matter what they do. (Anthony Slama, although he is hurt)
I wish I had a much larger selection of channels. Cycling's probably the last thing I'd choose, given the events happening right now.
I am currrntly feeling that way about women's basketball.
the women haven't been shooting or taking care of the ball very well.
We're flipping between women's buckets and women's soccer, US vs. Colombia. NBC has a couple of nice apps for phones/pads that might help you find alternate events online and on TV.
Just got a recommendation from Twitter to follow the Yankees' PR feed. I understand their algorithm, but I clicked that X so fast.
From the not a big deal, but come on department: the bathroom sink is clogged. I announce to my wife that I am going upstairs to unclog it. She beats me up there, the most remote bathroom in our house, to wash her hands and fill the sink with water literally 5 seconds before I walk in the room with the pail. We have two other bathrooms and a kitchen sink that were closer. I don't understand.
Passive-aggressive handwashing is the new market inefficiency.
You're dealing with a woman and you expect to understand?
shya, right!
The depths to which we are to fail to understand are constantly amazing to me.
Yep - most definitely this. After 8 years of marriage, I'm beginning to comprehend how little I understand.
"I swear, sometimes she does it just 'cause she can do it." Brad Paisley, "Waitin' on a Woman"
I heard a strange sound coming from the laundry room today. I asked the Mrs what it was. She responded with "it is the washing machine, I am sure you wouldn't know that however since you never use it". I responded with "it wouldn't make any noise if I didn't pay for it". As you can imagine that did not go over well.
I'm puttin' that in a screenplay, Buffalo.
Women's soccer: USA strikes first v. Colombia.
Game log and recap alert: I'm going to need a pinch hitter for both today.
I can take the game log, nibbish. I need to do a little paying forward.
I can nab the recap
Team Archery was unbelievably exciting. U.S. got the silver, with Italy taking the gold by one point on the very last shot. So much fun. Especially since the U.S. apparently had no business in the final match.
I wonder if my little brother was watching that. He coaches a few archery teams at the local middle school through the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). He's had teams competing at the NFAA Nationals in Louisville for the past several years now, and they've done pretty well.
It's the off-season, so you what? The Kincks are totally great! 4LTR:
Their overpaid, knee less power forward whose game doesn't mesh with their ball-stopping "star" says they are going to win at the Vegas summer league? I'm sure Miami is really scared. To wit:
Camby and Thomas? I was a pretty good shot blocker 30 years ago, too.
Haha. Raymond Felton is their point guard.
Guess who wrote this steaming pile of dung.
I was going to ridicule the concept of Kurt Thomas as a shot blocker, but apparently he's averaged 1.7 blocks/36 minutes for his career, and over 1.3/36 minutes the last two years. Of course, he'll also be 40 next season, and averaged just over 15 min/g last year. So, yea, I'm gonna ridicule the concept of Kurt Thomas as a shot blocker.
Camby, on the other hand, can still defend the rim.
thats no shock. Take a look at last week's Bristolmetrics at Deadspin
There's a long list of things you never think of to tell your kids not to do until they do them. Just added to my list is "Don't bring the bag of dog poop in the house to ask me if you're done picking up after the dog." :rolleyes
Don't be surprised if that bag spontaneously combusts on your front porch.
CC to the Pirate:
I think I've fixed your first table. If you remove the extra blank lines in your second table, that should fix that one as well.
I'll give it a shot.
Best athlete name of the XXX Olympiad to date: Destiny Hooker.
* Destinee
Pretty good volleyball player, too.
From Jim Bowden on tWWL, a column called 5 blockbuster trades that make sense, insider:
You know what, I might be okay with this. Here is some additional info on the Giants players.
I know that Bowden isn't exactly popular around here (Trend Worse), but he did call Greinke to the LAAAA in the same article including one of the prospects going to the Brewers.
I don't think the Twins necessarily need a long-term solution at first base. Especially since Belt bats left-handed.
I can agree with that. I did some light reading on some of the pitchers listed and it looks like there is some upside there-- even if one of them is a closer-type.
I guess the question is how long do the Twins feel it will be until they believe they can compete again? If they think they compete during the Willingham contract, cool let's hang onto him. At the same time his value is sky high right now and it is probably worth entertaining offers.
The biggest reason against trading Willingham is I think it could set the precedent that the Twins are willing to sign a player to multiple years and trade them the first year. Especially considering Willingham is (sadly) the largest free-agent signing in franchise history.
I don't think the Twins should expect to compete in 2013, so 2014 seems to be the earliest and that's probably a bit optimistic. I'm thinking trade Span in the offseason, Willingham at the deadline in 2013, and Morneau whenever.
I love how all the sportscasts tonight made mention that Christian Ponder was 16-17 in practice last night. *rolleyes*
If only he could play against the Vikings' secondary every game!
I wonder if the 49ers touted Joe Montana's practice stats.
The Vikings are hilarious.
so NBC brought in Ryan Secrest to read tweets on TV. awesome
I am appauled with NBC's coverage so far. I'd hoped they might learn from Beijing and Vancouver, but they haven't. I'll be figuring out a UK proxy to get BBC coverage first thing in the morning.
Do share if you find one or more.
NBC is kind of in a tough spot with the games being in London. Primetime, big time events there is afternoon here, so people are awake and know whats going on. NBC wants to show those events in Primetime, which is understandable since they paid a lot of money for the broadcast rights. The two are not going to jive.
Although, it being a weekend, they should show the good events like swimming live because, its the weekend and people are generally not at work.
It's not even the live vs. delay thing, because they are streaming everything live on-line. I would prefer more live coverage, and I'll find it somewhere if they don't give it to me. I'm more upset with the stupid puff pieces that take up 10 or 15 minutes instead of showing the events. To me, the competition/results are enough story. I don't need to be bombarded with the extraneous stuff.
I hear ya, but broadcasters have been doing fluff pieces forever and a lot of people love them. Myself, I wish they would relegated them to one NBC owned channel (hell, The Weather Channel never shows weather anymore. Put them there) and run them 24/7 and leave more time for the sports.
Yeah, the puff pieces are for the people that generally aren't sports fans but will turn on the Olympics, like my parents and my in-laws. They eat that stuff up. The general sports fan will watch regardless.
Even when they show events, they spend so much time on set-up versus showing the actual event that it makes the Olympics almost unwatchable. I tried to watch some of it last night, but the ratio fiddling around versus showing events was about six to one.
I thought that's what Matt Lauer was doing during the Opening Ceremony. Honest to God, it sounded like they were narrating the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade again.
so, there is this
Well, balls. Not very happy about this.
One silver lining, I guess- I'm looking forward to A.J. trying to block all the sliders in the dirt.
This is about the worst possible destination for him. I'm so mad right now.
I am thinking Liriano is probably going to give up a ton of HRs in that bandbox known as US Cellular
The Twins have 9 more games against the White Sox. Hopefully this is some sort of double-agent trade where Frankie realized he could be of more help to Minnesota by serving up homers TO them.
Terry Ryan traded him within the division because the brain trust knows all the hot points to take advantage of and wanted as many opportunities as possible.
It'll drive down his value, and the Twins will re-sign him in the offseason.