January 28, 2014: Chicken or the Egg

Yesterday an MLB middle reliever that I've gotten to be sort-of friends with came in the store, and we joked about how middle relievers go on forever waiting for some team to realize that you only create "proven closers" by taking a chance on unproven closers. He confirms the love affair management has with the Save stat, even with years now of folks pointing out how bad it is. Ah, baseball...so great, and so slow to adapt sometimes.

70 thoughts on “January 28, 2014: Chicken or the Egg”

  1. Spooky: if you tell me who it is, I can be an unreasonably big fan of his. (I assume he's not a Yank or BoSok at the time, seeing as he's in AZ, not FL.)

  2. I had a city councilperson tell me last night that "you can't legislate public safety."

    Really? Aren't a lot of the laws based on public safety?

    He also said I should want my property value to go down. That way, I can pay less taxes.

    1. He also said I should want my property value to go down. That way, I can pay less taxes.

      That, of course, is true for that segment of the population that never wants to sell or leverage their property.

        1. So, I should amend to reduce that subset to those who don't want to sell or leverage and are unconcerned about the impact of a reduced tax base.

        1. I can also pay less in income taxes by making less reportable income.

          FTFY. Yes, I'm finally watching Weeds. (Just about to start the fourth season.)

          1. You still are required to pay taxes on illegal income. (Not tax advice. Consult a professional! )

    2. He also said I should want my property value to go down. That way, I can pay less taxes.
      I've seen the valuation go down and the taxes to still go up. Hooke's Law doesn't seem to be in play here.

  3. There was only one winter league game played yesterday. What am I supposed to do all morning?

    1. Put your feet up and relax, dude. If you don't slow down with all the content I'm afraid you'll have a case to sue everyone when you develop carpal tunnel.

  4. NBB, did you get your Mac to play along with the Cribbage site yet?

    The NBB-AMR and bhiggum-Dread Pirate matchups are the only first-rounders left.

    1. Technical difficulties were resolved by switching to another browser (FireFox) on the Mac (Mozilla!!10-1!11one).

      Match 1 of the AMR-NBB slugfest is underway. The score is neck and neck at 31-30, with the cosmonaut in the lead. AMR is visiting the lounge to put the kids to bed.

      1. Ground Control: the Cosmonaut ran out of oxygen - AMR bested me after three: (me) 121, 101, 113 (he) 112, 121, 121.

    1. That first picture on the article of Ramogi Huma is bizarre. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be of the man in the background (white) or the cropped man in the foreground (black).
      The name doesn't help: it could be Finnish.
      Foreground guy is presenting something, but looks young enough that maybe he's a player.
      Later on, there's a pullquote with Huma's picture that is unambiguous.

      Spoiler SelectShow
          1. Many student athletes are provided scholarships and many other benefits for their participation. There is no employment relationship between the NCAA, its affiliated institutions or student-athletes.

            That is spectacular double-speak. Faculty members voluntarily teach. Many are provided tenure, pay, and many other benefits for their participation.

            1. I feel like they could have gotten away with this argument when you could work a minimum-wage summer job to pay for a year of college. 3 quarters of full-time tuition at Northwestern University comes in at $45K/year. Minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25/hour. Even if you get to deduct all of your tuition (not sure you can), you'd need to work 5,455 hours at minimum wage just to earn enough for tuition--that's roughly 136 weeks of full-time employment.

              Is it still solicitation if I pay in gold bracelets instead of cash?

              1. The IRS doesn't count college financial aid (grants, fee waivers) as taxable income. It's just the schools exercising price discrimination. So, hey, the kids on scholarship aren't getting paid anything, by that standard. Fee waivers and grants-in-aid are voluntary on the school's part. Lots of kids who aren't competitive athletes representing the school are getting fee waivers and grants-in-aid too.

        1. That show is funny on a bad day, gold on a day where the panelists are quick witted. I would love to see Robin Williams on the panel one day.

          1. The episode with Weird Al and Brian Posehn was incredibly good. I caught part of The State reunion episode last night, I'd love them to do a Mr. Show reunion episode.

  5. First attempt at using a smart phone to access the site, and I feel it's important to auto-connect halfz-bakef. The attendant on the Dallas leg found out the trip was for our 25th and brought us a little bottle of champagne, so...winning! Next stop Honolulu

    1. dang. Have a great trip, Rhu and Mrs. Runner. And congrats! 25 is a big number.
      httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY-XDQN6ipE

  6. dont know how many people are tape delaying the soccer match, so I'll put it under spoils

    'Spoiler' SelectShow
    1. Once again, NBC Sports online has failed to load for me, so I didn't get to see anything today.

    1. I just needed to get past my childhood distaste for his too-adult mannerisms. Michael was nice, Prince was weird.

    2. I appreciate Queen a lot more than I used to. I think it has to do with understanding what they're doing as musicians better.

  7. The Hold Steady released their covers song EP tonight. The choices, while not expected have some real gems.

    1- All Through The City - Dr. Feelgood
    2- Closer to the Stars- Soul Asylum
    3- Hard Luck Woman - Kiss
    4- I Gotta Get Drunk - Willie Nelson
    5- The Last Thing I Ever Wanted Was To Show Up and Blow Your Mind - Those Bastard Souls

    The fifth track, in my opinion is the stand out but it is worth a listen and for a good cause if you have a couple bucks to spare.

  8. Watching SOTU: what's all that stuff in front of Boehner? Some kind of energy machine?

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