65 thoughts on “January 9, 2014: Everlasting Cough”

  1. I was too tired last night to stay up for it. But, lying in bed, I got an update: with 2:47 left, the Wolves were up 7. I woke up this morning to a loss and only one more point scored. How in the hell does this happen? What are they trying to do, make me go all Vikings on them?

    1. I stayed up and it was deflating. They aren't playing great at the end of games, but at the same time, extreme bad luck is smacking them around. Gerald Green misses that shot 9 times out of 10. It was off balance and falling away with Brewer in his face (although I thought he got there late. If he rotates over smoother, Green definitely misses).

      I also still want to know why the Suns received no technicals for arguing calls, most egregious being Markieff Morris at the end of the first half. That was some terrible officiating.

      1. There is some bad luck but 0-10 is beyond luck. Especially when you consider how many 4th quarter leads they have lost the last couple years.

        I don't watch enough to know the reasons but I would guess it would come down to lack of defense and lack of a wing that can create his own shot.

        1. Earlier in the fourth quarter, the Suns called a timeout because Gerald Green had the ball and wasn't making a point of getting the ball to Goran Dragic, who was torching the Wolves. So who makes the winning shot on a fadeaway 18-footer? Green. The guy the Suns didn't want to have the ball earlier in a critical part of the game. The argument could be that it shouldn't have come down to that shot attempt, that the Wolves should have put the game away and not turned it over and other stuff, but luck was not on their side either. I've seen plenty of teams play poorly down the stretch but still are able to win (the Gophers last two games comes to mind). I think if the Wolves just get over the hump and win a close game then they won't be thinking about it so much and will begin to win more. Plus, it sounds like the Suns this year are like the Orioles of 2012.

    2. on the FSN broadcast, Jim Pete called the second to final Wolves possession correctly during the timeout. Rubio at the top, then a Pek Love double drag screen and Rubio finds someone. He also said that the defense does not have to worry about Rubio shooting the ball which makes it more difficult to find an open guy. Its exactly what happened and Rubio ends up throwing the ball away because he was pinned on the baseline.

      It stinks because the Wolves are a better team with Rubio on the floor than Barea, but the lack of a late game offense threat from the guard is killing them.

        1. Because the Wolves only run two plays at the end of games. Double drag screen and get Kevin Love open at the slot three. Pretty easy to defend if you know whats coming.

  2. I know the Baseball HoF election process is flawed and all and needs to be fixed, but now that the vote is over I hope the story moves on from 'this stinks' to talking about how great the 3 players elected were. It seems like their story has been overlooked.

    1. I'm also hoping that sincere efforts to fix the problems with the process start too. I've been mentally drafting a message to LEN3, since he's the current president of the writers, and all that. Basically a "I can completely understand why people are upset about the deadspin vote (I would be too if I were a voter who took the process seriously), and I get that reasonable people will disagree re: steroids, but... the way things are now is not cool, be the guy to fix it, not the guy to patch up a small thing and kick the can down the road.

      1. I don't know what format you're planning on putting that message into once you've crafted it, but that's a post I'd love to read.

      2. I can understand the discomfort the BBWAA might feel about LeBatard and Deadspin without in any way agreeing that he should be punished. He mocked the process, but the ballot he cast was perfectly legit. There were several other voters who made a mockery of the voting process by casting ridiculous ballots. They are the ones LEN3 should be concerned about.

          1. I will add that the BBWAA should require public ballots. Secret ballotting is a farce. Whom does it protect other than the idiots?

            1. And if Skip Bayless and Murray Chass prove anything, it is that idiocy is no bar to making a living in sports journalism.

        2. Did he really mock the process? He said he was having trouble deciding and wanted to put it to a vote. (From what I read, I didn't read it closely, though.) I don't always think it's a great approach, but "wisdom of crowds" is a legitimate technique in some settings. You could even consider it research to ask others for their opinions (more so than just "going with your gut" at least.) And as you said, the outcome was reasonable as well.

          2. I'm not sure what kind of trouble this is going to bring me. I imagine I'll probably have my vote stripped. But I don't want to be a part of the present climate without reform anyway. Given that climate, doing THIS has more impact than my next 20 years of votes as sanctimony bars the HOF door on the steroid guys. Because, in a climate without reform, my next 20 years of votes will be counted but not actually heard. At least this gets it heard, for better or for worse.

            He did not say "I am mocking the voting process". But I think his intention was pretty clear from the context. Including this line:

            I was afraid you guys were going to have me voting for Jacque Jones and no one else.

        3. I can't find the quote now, but someone based their ballot solely off rWAR. That's not very different from having a few thousand people vote for the candidates and using the results.

            1. If I'm a newspaper editor, I'm demanding that any writer in my employ who has a vote provide me with a copy of his/her ballot and a story justifying the vote, for publication in my paper. Win-win.

              Of course, this won't stop the morons like Gurnick. But maybe it would force the folks who cast votes for the fringe guys to pause and reflect a bit.

              I can see symbolic "homer" votes (a Twins beat writer voting for Jacque Jones) as perfectly legit. And in a year like this one, with many deserving candidates, I can see leaving Maddux off one's ballot in order to cast a saturated ballot with other names (such as a symbolic vote, or a strategic vote for a Piazza or, gasp, even a Morris). But why are these bozos allowed to cast their ballots in secrecy? That's just stupid. Nobody's job or safety is at stake. The only thing at stake is one's reputation for intelligence.

              1. The only thing at stake is one's reputation for intelligence.

                I love this.

                Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue. Proverbs 17:28.

              2. You see, this whole steroids thing was just a conspiracy by MLB to get at the BBWAA.

  3. I still can't believe how many point blank shots the Wolves missed last night. Man. They need someone who can dunk the basketball in traffic.

    1. Everything the Wolves did on offense in the last two minutes wa awful. Rubio was awful. Jeebus, just clear out and give Pek a couple isos. It is not rocket science. Pek was killing the Suns down low in the 4th.

  4. As some of you are aware, I went on a little concert searching kick this morning. Anyone up for a road trip?

    Also, Drive-By Truckers and Blitzen Trapper at First Ave, 3/27/14. Tickets on sale tomorrow at noon. Come celebrate my birthday with me!

    1. I've been fawning over the Coachella lineup all morning. Outkast AND The Replacements both reunited?!

        1. Other acts I would definitely see: NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL, Neko Case, Pharrell, Nas, MGMT, Trombone Shorty

          Also a few bands I don't know too much about but I've heard good things - HAIM,Woodkid (I like the one song of his I've heard on the Bacardi(? Smirnoff?) commercials), Ellie Goulding, Foxygen, Chvrches, Wye Oak

          1. Yes on all of those. Did you listen to the HAIM track here yesterday? Pretty good stuff.

            1. I'd heard of them for awhile, but yesterday was the first time I'd actually heard them. I liked it, but that's all I know of them. I should probably bump them up the "To Listen To"* list.

              *Possibly worse than my "To Read" list, if that's possible.

                    1. That's for that link, I always love getting exposed to a new bit from Mr. Show. I still think the Pre-taped Call-in Show is the funniest sketch comedy in the history of the world.

      2. On the one hand I hate festivals, on the other hand the acts are really good. If I weren't already planning another trip to LA for July I'd probably strongly consider it.

      3. Outkast is a phenomenal live band (not just "as far as rappers go"*, among live acts in total).
        Go. Enjoy yourselves.

        *Yes, I love hip-hop,(at times, we seem to have drifted apart lately), but I've seen more frustrating live hip-hop acts than any other genre.
        Formula time:
        E(L(X)) = C x E(R(X)) / (M(L(X)) - V(R(X))) + ε
        X is a rapper or rap group
        L(X) is the live act of X
        R(X) is the recordings of X
        E() is a function for the enjoyment I derive
        M() is a function for the number of microphones on stage
        V() is a function for the number of vocalists
        C is a constant scalar
        ε is a normally distributed random variable with mean 0.

        Maybe things have improved over the last decade.

        1. I've gone to the last couple of Soundsets and tagged along to a few other hip-hop shows with Sheenie (who is way more into it than I) and agree that they can be really frustrating. because so much of the culture is about machismo). A local guy named Muja Messiah (sp?) was probably the worst performer I have ever seen.

    2. JazzFest's lineup will be announced on Tuesday. It was incredibly fun last year, and I know Sheenie would like to return as long as life doesn't intervene.

      1. I heard a panel discuss this issue on npr yesterday. What alarms me most is how quickly the comments seem to escalate. The description of the vitriol on other sites made me happy to have the WGOM.

    1. I've always wondered why these dudes don't hire friends / family / professional drivers more often.

  8. GW playing on NBCSN. This is the fifth time I've been able to watch them sitting on my couch. (Stan Van Gundy doing color)

    1. Heh. I did one application a year or two ago that was rejected (the video was too long...oops!) and haven't done it since. But, yeah, that's somewhat ridiculous.

      Comment highlight:

      Can they leave him on the island?

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