Cup of Coffee

March 18, 2014: No, it’s Just a Duck

71 Comments

A guy at work saw a duck on the screen that was clearly just a duck and asked (legitimately) if it was the AFLAC duck. He may be watching too much commercial TV.

71 thoughts on “March 18, 2014: No, it’s Just a Duck”

  1. I've never seen anything like the Memphis Tigers trolls who have invaded the GWHoops message board the past few days. It's truly unbelievable the volume of stupid, hate, and ignorance that suddenly descended on a quiet little place where about 30 people (myself included) have been chatting about a A10 basketball team for the past 20 years.

  2. Final reminder before I lock the fantasy team list. We have everyone returning except yickit and spooky. I'll be closing the team list this afternoon unless I hear from either one of you two or other people who want to join.

    Also, the keeper deadline is this Friday. Please enter you keepers as soon as possible.

    Thanks!

    1. 'Spoiler' SelectShow

        1. I always thought of him as a not-good pitcher who had some good luck in 2001. Of course, his injuries were certainly bad luck.

            1. FIPs of 4.82 and 4.77 in 1999 and 2000, respectively, then 4.27 in 2001, 4.92 in 2002, 5.35 in 2003 and 5.03 in his comeback year of 2005. FIP- of 98, 97, and 94, then 110, 119, 117 (100 is average, lower is better). So, an average (or barely above average) pitcher prior to 2001. Then a good season. Then a bad pitcher.

              but even so, you gotta wonder about that one good season. Look at his BABIPs: .288, .325, .243, .292, .299, .319. That 2001 number really sticks out (as does the 2000 number in the other direction, I guess). Or look at his RE24 (runs above average based on the 24 base/out combinations): -0.76, -3.90, +41.92, -7.62, -23.13, -33.53. Only one career season in positive territory. Average, then good, then bad.

              1. He was an All-Star pitcher, FO dished out a poor contract, then got injured. I wasn't trying to summarize his entire career in that hint, for crying out loud. It certainly helped at least one person.

              2. Check out his 2001 game logs. An absurd amount of his innings came against the two weakest offenses in the league: Detroit and Kansas City.

    1. Heh. My sister posted that on the Book of Face, and a bunch of her out-of-state friends jumped on her. They're all still in college, so I've had a fantastic time sniping at them for "embracing mediocrity" and implying that they'll end up working in fast food because of their views on this game.

      1. "Grey Duck" is a better game.
        Not only is color switching available, but so is animal-switching. "Grey Dog".
        Or even not hearing just "Duck". How many times did I witness kids standing up when the circling kid said "Duck, duck, duck, pink duck"?

        However, this comment:

        The game stems from a time when herding and watching the domestic fowl was the job of children. Domestic ducks and Geese actually look quite similar. They are both white and similar is size. Geese have different colored beaks and feet and a slightly long neck. The running part of the game comes from the fact geese are vicious and will chase any threat they see. SO, here you are, a kid deal with a muddle of water fowl and herding them back to the enclosure for the night. You rap on them lightly with a switch to keep them going the right direction. But the geese? The geese you just hope follow the flock. Because if you hit the wrong goose with a switch and piss it off, it chases you. Thus, you run when you find the goose.

        I assume it's apocryphal, but still that's awesome.

  6. This seems an interesting article on repeat TJ surgery.

    "If they can rip out the ligament God gave them, they can rip out the ligament we give them."

  7. I watched ESPN's 30 for 30 about the 1983 NC State national title. I highly recommend it. I remembered that they upset Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma with Hakeem and Clyde Drexler, but I didn't realize they had to beat UNC with Sam Perkins and Michael, and Virginia with Ralph Sampson in the ACC tourney to get there and then beat Virginia again to get to the Final Four. Almost every game in the 2 tourneys that team played, they were trailing in the final minutes but came back to win. Jim Valvano twice intentionally fouled in a tie game to stop the opponent from draining the clock for a final shot (pre shot clock era) and they won both games.

        2. That's funny after Sano's injury I was thinking of putting a cross through 2014 and adding 2015 to that banner but I didn't know how.

          1. I used a sharpie. But now most other pages don't make any sense.
            And I'm too scared to do it at work. (What will the IT guy think?)

  9. Kinda fun, I just passed Corey Brewer in the skyway, walking the opposite direction. I did a double take and he was already looking past* me. B-Ball Ref has him at 6'9" and 185#. My drivers license has me 11" shorter but the same weight...

    *over

    1. I love Corey Brewer. He is one of my favorite T-Wolves of all time. Dude plays so hard and he makes some dumb plays, but he plays so hard.

      'Spoiler' SelectShow

      1. The Gators had 3 players in the first 9 picks that draft: Al Horford, Brewer, Noah. The Wolves also drafted Chris Richard in the second round.

        1. Well, they both hit the pro-level in 2007, were traded from Minnesota in their year-24 season and are currently 28 years old. If only he'd develop into a All-Star worth 8.4 WS (in the sense that WS and WAR could be comparable)...

          1. But seriously, I like the guy too. It's just another spot where the Wolves had a high(ish) first round pick who didn't turn into a long-term answer for the team.

            1. Interestingly, he IS turning into a "long-term answer" for the team. Just not the perennial all-star caliber player one hopes to get from a lottery pick.

              1. watching the Wolves host the Kings the other night, the Brewer/Caged Lion matchup intrigued me. Brewer was totally overmatched on the defensive end, as Williams just overpowered him. Adelman had to go to Mbah a Moute, and then Hummel (I think, haven't seen the 4th quarter yet) to slow Williams down.

                Makes you wonder why that version of Williams doesn't show up more often.

                Brewer obviously needs to add a few pounds of muscle in order to compete better with bigger, stronger SFs.

      3. I'm the exact opposite. I cannot stand Brewer. Just can't stand watching him leaking out to cherry-pick some free baskets and then clanking his corner 3's.

        1. his TS% and eFG% are at career highs this year, fwiw.

          When you have rebounders like Pek and Love, an outlet passer like Love, and a facilitator like Rickey, you need someone like Brewer to run break-outs. I bet he averages over 2 fast-break layups per game.

  10. Got my tickets for wolves vs Lakers with the boy. It will be his first non nose bleed seat.

  11. I kinda get the appeal of rooting for the Yankees now. In my Winning Eleven 8* season with FC Des Moines, I have about 8x my yearly budget in the bank, and I easily increase that every season, so money is no object. This big gooney Dutch leftback at PSV kept giving me fits on his overlapping runs. So next transfer window, I bought him and now he's causing problems on my behalf.

    *Complete with His Holiness Pope Eddie XXIII on the cover

  13. A plumbing question:

    It seems like about once an hour or so, the water to my toilet tank runs for about 2-3 seconds. I can't figure out what would be causing the float to drop down to trigger the water to turn on.

    2. If there's no wetness near the toilet, I'd suggest checking the flapper to make sure that isn't leaking. What kind of toilet is it?

      1. Ditto, but I ignored it since it would stay silent if the flapper was in just the right spot. Then the toilet that we actually used decided it couldn't have enough water. New float in that toilet and eventually the new flapper will go in the other.

      2. That's why I was curious what kind of toilet it is. I have a Mansfield and replacing the flapper involves removing the tank.

          1. Yeah, no kidding. I was having problems with the fish handle sticking. Thought I was gonna have to replace the whole valve assembly. Fortunately, the broken stop cap could be replaced in 10 seconds.

          1. It's a reference to a specific podcast, one I know HD listens to. Men in Blazers, to be specific.

            I momentarily had a Bale and Robben confused because they both only have one move-cut inside and shoot with their left. But only Robben has a dodgy flapper (i.e. he runs around with one arm just flopping all over the place)

  15. Little bit of a brag here...

    A week ago I got back a decision from the MN Court of Appeals. We won. Cool.

    Today I got a handwritten note from an attorney with another organization (that specializes in the area of law that I practice in) congratulating me and thanking me for the decision because it will make his life - and that of lots of disadvantaged people - easier. Very cool.

Comments are closed.