97 thoughts on “January 22, 2013: Almost Here”

  1. When I lived alone in Winona, there was nothing worse for my loneliness than to see a friend for two days and have them leave. It's a crushing feeling.

  2. I cut off my nose to spite my face pretty good at work last night. Some people parked in a no parking zone, so I dumped the Zamboni right in front of them to make their exit annoying, but not impossible or even difficult. Then I realized that in doing that I had blocked the no parking zone, so I had to shovel the snow out of the way.

    1. Hey, if you want to put a positive spin on it, you got to spite someone while getting a work out in for WGOM fitness.

  3. This NBA season has been pretty disappointing so far for Wolves fans. But, if there's any consolation to be had, it's that you have to look down in the standings to see Kobe and Dwight. It's obvious that Howard hates Kobe and he might very well end up somewhere else, meaning that the Lakers could be without Howard and pretty much with tied hands to replace him. The best thing would be if they traded Nash to a contender before the deadline.

      1. He did, indeed. I seem to remember a number of people wondering how Nash and Kobe could possibly co-exist, so its not like it wasn't a known issue.

  4. Three teams in NY and three in LA. Make it happen, Billy Smith!

    ...adding, there's no doubt but that NY is a huge and terrific baseball market, so a third team there makes a lot of sense. LA is a Lakers town, for sure, but three teams there would also make sense. Good for the league, good for the other teams in the league, too.

    1. I realize it's not an apples to apples comparison but there are 6 London teams in the 20 team British Premier League.

      1. Of the 92 fully professional soccer clubs in England (20 Premiership + 24 each Championship, League One, and League 2), there are 6 London clubs in the EPL, 3 in the Championship, 2 in League One, and 3 in League Two - 14 total. Plus a myriad of teams in semi-pro and fully amateur leagues.

        1. London has ~13.7 million people compared to England's 53 million, or 25.9% of people living in London (wow, that's a lot). Same comparison to NYC: 22.1 million in the CSA versus a USA population of 315 million for 7%. London has way more than 26% of football teams, but let's assume it should just be proportional to area population:country population. There are 217 teams in MLB+MiLB, including two teams in Canada. That means the NYC CSA should have about 15 baseball teams. My crude counting says there are currently six teams in the NYC CSA.

  5. I'm headed over to the Historic New Orleans Collection to do some freelance installation work. They've contracted me for the month of February, but have hinted that there may be a more permanent position in the near future.

    1. Best of luck! Also, that Bacchus king is a real let-down. They went from Will Ferrell to ... some guy who was on MASH a hundred years ago?!

    1. Heh, that sounds like everyone in my office with the exception of me. Man, I love that crisp, cold air.

      1. dido. i'm also sick of the relishing on the lack of snow. chicago hasn't had more than 1" of snow on the ground for over a year now. you know, because it's not like we need to moisture or anything.

        1. The only thing I really dislike about winter is extreme ice on the roads. If it's not dangerous to drive in, I'm fine with it.

          I love snow, I need to get out snowboarding one of these days.

          1. My eyelids were sticking shut at the bus stop this morning from tears freezing. I found that to be unpleasant.

              1. I really enjoy when I breath in deep through my nose, and my nostrils sort of stick together briefly. Then there's the frozen facial hair thing. Makes a man feel alive.

                1. Okay, nostrils is cool. Eyelids less so.
                  Ice in the mustache? Fantastic. It feels so Dune: conserving moisture. Yes, I pull the icicles out with my teeth and let them melt.

                    1. Out shovelling... Time to come in for water, prevent dehydration? Not yet, I've been saving these for when I'm parched!

                2. The frozen facial hare is definitely the revelation for this winter for me. I've always liked the cold, but that just adds a new dimension of coolness.

                  1. I can remember walking to class in college one day, bearded. There was no wind that day, but the air temperature was a crisp -31F. Yep, that was an experience.

                    1. I can remember one day in Northfield, slated to be a football recruitment weekend. We walked to the Muni to pick up "supplies". -50F. The beer was purchased warm, but was adequately chilled by the time we returned. Recruitment visits were canceled, so we were forced to drink the beer ourselves.

              1. Waiting for the late bus in Middle School - just showered after buckets - hair was still wet and froze. Ah, Minny!

            3. I had the same experience with my eyelids while walking to the bus. Definitely an unusual sensation.

      3. Right there with you. Twenty below is a bit on the chilly side, but there's something about that absolutely crisp air. I love chilly weather.

          2. Can get the same effect by growing out beard and then shaving or even cutting back to a 1.5 spacer.

  8. So, I hear that the Phillies are considering Delmon Young. Gotta love this:

    Dash Treyhorn @DashTreyhorn: At least Delmon Young will bring down the team's average age.

    1. aaaand done!

      i liked this comment:

      albertmn - Jan 22, 2013 at 3:08 PM
      Just when Ben Revere thought he would never have to cover extra ground in the OF for Delmon again….

      1. I'm so extremely glad he ended up in Philadelphis now that the Pirate has revealed that he substitutes "Delmon" for "Dayman". This is the best.

      2. I'm sure those Phillies fans will be generous and overlook any deficiencies of his since no one can doubt his talent.

          1. I enjoyed this one:
            That said, he can now go out after hours, take cheap punches at people, throw bats, yell anti-Semitic remarks all he wants and he still may be the most upstanding citizen in Philadelphia…..

    2. Major League Baseball just valued this guy at $750K, and that has to tell you something about what to expect.

      I can't wait to see who plays closer to their contract - Butters or Twinkletoes.

        1. I suggest you make yourself a steak and guinness pie and a bowl of mash, and wash the mess down with that oyster. Oh, I can't wait to get back to Dublin.

            1. Steak and Guinness Pie:

              1 -2 lbs Sirloin cut into 1 inch cubes
              a medium onion diced
              some carrots cut into rounds
              a clove or two of garlic minced
              maybe some celery
              some flour
              some salt
              some pepper
              some oil
              1 -2 cans Guinness extra stout (any dark beer will do, really)
              Chicken or beef stock (water will do in a pinch)

              Season the flour with a pinch of cayenne, salt and pepper and dredged the meat, gently brown in a large(ish) dutch oven with about a tbsp of oil. Remove meat when browned on all sides, add onion, garlic, and celery cooking over medium low heat until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Return meat to pan, add carrots, and pour in a can and a half of Guinness. Consume the rest of the Guinness. Add stock, or water, to cover the works and bring to a simmer and cover. Cook until the meat is falling apart tender, about 2 hours. Uncover and reduce the liquid by about half by increasing the heat and stirring constantly. At this point you can burn the crap out of this really easily, so be warned. Also, you could have just consumed this served over a bowl of mashed potatoes and not taken the extra step to make this even more unhealthy.

              Now, you'll need a package of puff pastry.

              Unroll the pastry, cut into long rectangles, fill the lower half with a couple of spoonfuls of Guinness stew, fold top half over, crimp together edges with a fork, and cut vents into the top with a sharp kitchen knife. Bake according to the package. Allow these to cool for a bit as they are like napalm right out of the oven. Learn from my mistakes.

              Mash = mashed potatoes. Irish style would include swede (turnips) and possible parsnips.

              1. I should add that a lot of folks add tomato in some form or another to this dish, and while I get the idea that an acid may help balance the sweetness from the malt, I find that notion ridiculous.

    2. [Fred] McNeill, a first-round draft pick in 1974, played 12 seasons in Minnesota and was the subject of a 2011 Outside the Lines story. McNeill had a successful post-football career as a lawyer before being becoming afflicted by early-onset dementia. Now 60, McNeill no longer practices law and is primarily looked after by his family and professional caretakers.

      Ugh.

    3. We'll know for sure in a couple years when high schools start, hopefully, dropping the sport.

      1. I think it will take longer than that. Hopefully, it will at least mean that middle schools/junior highs will start dropping it (at least full contact) and PeeWee numbers will start to go down. Of course, if they can prove only a couple seasons of football will show some real damage, that could really speed things up. So far, it seems they have only studied those that played a long time professionally, which undoubtedly included many years of football prior to that.

        1. Yeah, it'd be great if people like me were looked at. I only played for four years, so my brain would probably be telling.

          1. dido. I played 4 1/2.

            I am eager EAGER for pee wee tackle football to be eliminated. What a horrible idea.

    4. The NFL once attacked Bailes’ and Omalu’s research and denied the link between football and CTE. The league later reversed its position and acknowledged a scientific connection between football and long-term brain damage.

  13. Remember last month when there was this mini build up to the end of the world because the Mayan Calendar ended? I wonder what happened to the people that truly believed in it.

  15. Zach 'one of us!!!!!' Parise with another goal.
    so yeah, time to get excited for the Wild until the team has 500 injuries.

    2. Did they change it? The only goal for the Wild tonight was by Heatley (assisted by Parise). So much for 48-0.

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