Cup of Coffee

March 26, 2013: Drudgery

81 Comments

My mother-in-law may need a screening process when she buys books for my daughters. I've read a lot of seriously poorly-written books to them in the past couple of months. Some even have punctuation errors on every few pages. It's like she personally knows the authors and they're handing us the first drafts. Oy.

81 thoughts on “March 26, 2013: Drudgery”

  1. For some reason I gave my four-year old nephew, for his birthday, a horror children's book. The reading level was probably fine for him, but I got it for the five-year-old me who had already watched The Shining and loved all things spooky, not my nephew who screams and cries in terror during Madagascar III.

    1. loved all things spooky

      I'm going to resist this time, but I can't promise to be so restrained in the future.

    2. I have no problem with books that my son isn't yet old enough to enjoy/understand as I know we'll get to them later. However, there's no question that the books I most dread reading came from either my mother or my mother in law. It's just a small number, but they're so painful!

  2. So, looking up a Philip Glass track last night (I went with Chick Corea for the joke though), I pressed play on a youtube of the full album Koyaanisqatsi while Aaron Dilloway was playing in my iTunes. And then an hour disappeared.

        2. Former boss was an elderly gentleman in San Francisco. He once went with his wife to a spa, and they brought out the list of massages/treatments - didn't really see anything that he was interested in. Then he saw the Zero Sensory chamber.

          It was some device in which you were put into a container where you floated on a bed in a small pool of water. They close the lid so that it is completely dark.

          After getting in and having them close the lid, he said they opened it in what seemed like a minute later - he wondered if something was wrong. They told him his hour was over.

  3. Rochester played to a 2-2 tie with Durham yesterday. Kyle Davies started and went three hitless innings. Mark Sobolewski was 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored both Rochester runs.

    1. Did I miss the Twins getting Kyle Davies?
      With Elarton, they're partway to Former Royals Yahtzee!

  4. The Twins arent the only ones with a decline in ticket sales.

    Season-ticket renewals were down about 10 percent over last season, and tickets remain for many games throughout the year.

    The Sox have tried to put together a more fan-friendly team as well, emphasizing chemistry after a season in which the team was widely regarded as both unlikable and unwatchable.

    Perhaps, after a few $5 beers, the team will be able to change that.

    1. I'm glad to see them doing something nice with that. It was a wonderful old ballpark, and it's been treated pretty badly over the last decade or so.

  6. With the last pick of the 2nd round in the 1979 draft (40th overall), the Minnesota Empire Builders snagged Dan Gladden. We immediately prepared him a lawn.

    (Havana traded Bob Forsch for an extra first rounder and snagged both Gary Gaetti and Greg Gagne. Ugh! Randy Bush is still available, but I don't pick again for twenty spots.)

    1. Isn't Bush better than Gladden rate wise? Does Gladdens slightly better defense and more playing time make up for his horrific offense (85 and 88 notwithstanding)

      1. Gladden offers much more defense and baserunning. He was a pretty decent CFer before joining the Twins.

        1. And Randy Bush goes 59th (one pick ahead of me) to Havana. They're killing me!

  7. The University of Minnesota has gone to the NCAA tourney just 12 times in its history (vacated tourney years included) and the Gophers just fired their coach that got them there three times in six seasons without cheating. He got them to the second round this season for just the sixth time ever and only the fourth time without cheating. He also won 20 games five times in six seasons (including this year with one of the most difficult schedules in the nation) while Clem Haskins did it just five times in 13 seasons (three of which came in the vacated seasons). This firing feels a lot like when Mason was fired. They better have someone good lined up. I don't want another Brewster situation to go through.

    1. I was kind of on the fence about the situation, but after reading around yesterday I think I am now convinced that this is a good move (outside on the money). Tubby brought the program to respectability, but was probably never going to break through to be a top tier B1G program. This was supposed the best team the program has had since the Clem Haskins days and players/the offense regressed (what happened to Rodney Williams?). The 124 wins in 6 years looks great, but was only 46-62 (.426) in Big Ten play. Never finish with a winning B1G record (was 9-9 twice). Is there a coach at a power conference school that can survive not winning in conference?
      It sounds like Mr. Teague has a plan (no search committee!) and I guess I'll trust him. Just as long as the hire hire is not Jim Breuster.

    2. I hope so to and I'll preface this with saying that I'm happy he runs a clean program* and I don't necessarily blame him for losing Joseph, Cobbs, Iverson or White. I'm sure there was a lot more behind the scenes that played into their decisions.

      That being said, I don't want to compare him to the U of M's basketball past. As you pointed out, there's not been much success. I want to compare him to the well-run & "successful" programs both within the B1G and nationally. I would like to see the top-level recruits show more improvement during their stay on campus (see Williams, Jr. and Sampson III) or have some of the untouted recruits surprise us. I'd like to see an offense and a defensive system that works with the players' strengths (especially if you can't compete with Michigan State, Duke, et el for the Tyus Jones-level recruits).

      I don't think it's too much to expect a better finish to the season from a group of mostly healthy players that you recruited and have had 4+ years with. I don't think it's a bad thing for Norwood to demand a better result or for the fans to be unhappy with the game the Gophers played against FL (or any of the final 18 games of the season). You don't have to win out, but if you can beat IN and WI during that stretch, you can't have bad losses like the ones to Nebraska, Purdue & Northwestern.

      *that we know of

    3. It is, of course, worth noting that prior to 1975, only conference champions were eligible for the tournament. It expanded to 32 teams in 1975, then by steps to 64 in 1985.

    4. The University of Minnesota has had an above-.500 record in conference play 43 times in their history, but zero times with Tubby. I think it basically boils down to that. The NCAA tournament field is ridiculously huge and teams in the major conferences should have aspirations higher than just barely sneaking in.

      As for whether or not he runs a clean program, as the NCAA currently stands, we have no idea who runs a clean program and who doesn't. There is effectively no enforcement of the rules and punishments are completely arbitrary. If Minnesota brings in someone who can bend the rules more than Tubby and get away with it, I say why not. D1 basketball is amateur in name only and the NCAA's top three priorities are revenue, profit, and viewership. If the Gophers are only in it to run a clean program, they could run an excellent club team which would cost a lot less money and probably teach the students a lot more in the process.

      1. >.500 B1G seasons by coach (1971-present)
        Tubby 0 for 6
        Monson 2 for 8
        Clem 5 for 13
        Dutcher 4 for 11
        Musselman 3 for 4

        Musselman, Dutcher, and Haskins all were fired amid scandals. FWIW.

    5. I'm hearing a lot of speculation that the Gophers want Shaka Smart. Of course, what we want and what we get are often not the same.

      1. For me, it doesn't have to be Shaka*. Teague just has to display a similar knack for identifying and evaluating young coaching talent like he helped do with Smart and Anthony Grant at VCU.

        *but I wouldn't turn him away

    2. You can tell how well Drew Butera has handled the pitching staff so well the last two years from all the 20-game winners the Twins have produced.

      1. And imagine how good Johan Santana would have been with Drew Butera instead of that overpaid know-nothing Mauer!

        1. Maybe he would have gotten the CYA in 2005 and an MVP award in one of his deserving years.

    3. that 'article' is half troll, quarter snark, quarter truth.

      When Butera sticks his glove out to a pitcher, it presents a calming effect that slows down the spin of a pitcher's fastball and makes it gently land into his glove.

      made me laugh.

      1. That's what I was hoping, but Bleacher Report isn't generally known for having a sense of humor. It reads like something from the Onion.

        1. My brother-in-law used to be a staff writer for them (as this guy is). They are assigned topics to write about. It is entirely possible this guy was given the "Butera being sent down is bad for the Twins" topic by his editor, and then, knowing better, turned it into a joke.

          1. Nevermind. I asked my brother-in-law's opinion. Here's his response.

            Ha! No. Worked with this guy. He's really that bad a writer, too. It's all real. And none of the editors I ever worked with there would order an article about Drew Butera.

            1. The only way this guy keeps his job is by getting many people to comment on how bad he is. Unbelievable.

              1. In a sense, though, it doesn't matter if the article is good or bad as long as it drives a lot of traffic to the site, right?

                1. That appears to be Bleacher Report's business model, which is why I avoid it for the most part.

                  1. I check it out off and on for the WTF value. If you consider the source it can be entertaining.

                  2. Here's the beauty of it, though. If the Twins' pitching stinks this year, he can say, "See? I was right!"

                    1. I fail to see how your writing will change.
                      (For some reason the apple one from a while ago stuck with me.)

      1. That is one quality t-shirt he is wearing when he is calling the networks.

      1. POINT!!!!!!! (Thanks for the help from the ref missing the clear penalty by Edu)

        1. I am shocked that the ref didn't take either opportunity to call a penalty. Apparently the CR and the AR who signaled a foul on Bradley's "push" in the box are brothers, must have been an interesting halftime meeting.

          1. There was also a corner in the last ten minutes in which Besler clobbered a Mexican player going for the header on the near post. The cross was to the far post, so the referee may not have seen it, but it was another blatant penalty in the area (but that could be makeup for the "foul" he called on the US on its first corner early in the game).

            The possible penalty on Bradley looked like it had a good amount of acting involved. Yes, he had his hands on the player's back, but there he barely extends his arms yet the forward fell about ten yards.

  13. yay a tie!
    I know a point is good an all, but the competitor in me is frustrated by the Americans playing for the tie (or was Mexico's d that good? Im no expert)

    1. I would say that the US didn't play for the tie but were happy to get it. If they were playing for a tie, Klinnsman would have probably taken off a forward and put Beckerman into the midfield. They seemed to generally be pushing for a goal when they got possession, but Mexico usually regained possession before the US could do much with their possession.

      The reality of the Hex is that home field advantage is huge for everyone and you're extremely likely to advance if you can win at home and get at least a tie on the road. I fully expect Mexico to advance, but they are in a bit of a hole now with only 2 points in 2 home games.

    2. For reference, in the last Hex, there were 4 away wins in 30 games. No team had more than one away win. In this Hex, there have been no away wins in 9 games.

    3. If the US was playing for a tie, they wouldn't have subbed in Brek Shea in the final ten minutes. Instead, they would have added another defensive player (and probably pulled Beasley who was getting absolutely torched in the final 30 minutes).

      Jurgen gambled trying to steal a goal, but it didn't work. They didn't really park the bus until the final five minutes which is perfectly acceptable to me to make sure you don't give away the two points at the very end.

      1. Agree with Ubes and Pirate. I have to wonder is Mexico's defense that good or is USMNT ball handling skills that atrocious?

        1. I was chatting with Mags throughout the game. It was driving us crazy in the second half that the US would have a good possession, get within thirty yards of the Mexican goal, and then commit a completely unforced turnover. Edu did it a couple of times and Davis had a really egregious one.

          There's also the standard "Eddie Johnson makes a nifty run before crossing the ball thirty yards away from any teammate" play that they ran a few times as well.

          1. I also loved the corner (late in the first half?) that sailed over everyone's head and crossed the other sideline, I think in the air.

            1. Yes, that one came from Gomez. He played an excellent corner to Cameron that was negated on the "foul" and followed it up with one of the worst corners imaginable.

          2. Last night was super frustrating to watch, but turned out to be rewarding in the end.

            Omar Gonzalez and Besler for joint MOTM.

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