64 thoughts on “April 26, 2014: Opportunity”

  3. NBBW morning smoothie FTW: soymilk, apples, pecans, frozen cherries, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla protein powder, sea salt, flaxseed - in the Vitamix. Something she got from her Clean website.

      1. Delish (and Clean).

        Just bought a buffalo steak (not Clean) and took out the meat grinder - buffalo jerky on the way.

  4. Wild Playoff Watch

    Game 5 tonight - 8:30 Central in Denver.

    Minnesota's power play hasn't been great (2 for 12), but it's been a lot better than Colorado's (1 for 15, that one goal being an empty netter at the end of Game 2). These games have all been close enough that if either team finds some success with the man advantage it could be decisive.

  5. Sheenie and I are planning to go to the Twins game today. A quick peak at Stubhub and... WTF is wrong with Minnesotans? No bargains anywhere...

    1. My brother in law and I were going to go to the Wild game on Thursday. Tickets were in the 80 dollar range. It fell through, but we thought maybe Monday's game...

      Now they're north of 120... oops.

      1. Ended up getting tickets from a scalper who "got it" when I showed that I was willing to walk away because, you know, supply greatly exceeds demand. The best part of the tickets was entry into the Metropolitan Club. Now, I do not understand at all why someone would "go to a restaurant" at a baseball game, but, hey, it was indoors and heated which was what Sheenie needed after 6 innings of a biting breeze.

        1. Now, I do not understand at all why someone would "go to a restaurant" at a baseball game

          If it was yesterday's game, I definitely can understand why.

          1. But people are making reservations in there. They spent $$ (let's say $15, maybe $25, who knows) to get into the game to then go sit at a table and eat a meal for an hour or two from a spot THAT CANNOT SEE ANY OF THE FIELD! If you're going to just "watch" on TV, any old Applebee's should be just fine.

            1. We would occasionally partake of the brunch buffet in the Metropolitan Club before games - but I am in agreement on sitting in there during the game.

              My favorite part of the pregame meal there is when the Star Spangled Banner plays. People don't know whether to stand and take their hats off or sit and continue eating. Lots of people half-commit, either removing their hats while seated or propping themselves up at the table as if they are about to go back to the buffet. By the end of the song most people are standing, but the awkwardness of that moment cracks me up every time.

              1. Makes sense. Sheenie said she would understand coming early and eating during BP. We did that once at the restaurant in the warehouse overlooking Camden Yards.

    2. I remember as a kid wondering where Bobby D had gone to, not realizing his K rate was so crazy. I remember Brant Alyea as well, but don't remember any hot streak. We could barely keep Steve Braun, Steve Brye, and Brant Alyea separate in our minds. That said, Colabello isn't striking out at a prodigious rate, and like he's said, his RBI's are a product of baserunners. I hope he does have a great season, which means the lineup in front of him had a great season, too.

  7. Brian Dozier still leads the AL in runs scored, but Joe Mauer is tied for second with 19. Plouffe is tied for 4th with 18.

  8. Fulham with a point this morning and Norwich have just gone down 1-0. This is somewhat encouraging.

  9. Wellll shhiiiittt - a 2-0 lead after 75 minutes to draw 2-2 is less encouraging now that I read the match report. Those two more points would have moved them clear of Norwich.

      1. The way Villa has been playing, the 15-20th spots are all pretty maleable. The last two weeks of the season are going to be nuts.

    1. Alex is a heck of an artist- I am amazed at how easily recognizable many of them are (even with the togas!).

      Also, DPWY's really cracks me up.

      2. ok, help me out. I can pick out DPWY's. But who else should I be recognizing (as a non-Leche-er)?

        1. 5: kg2005
          10: This Guy
          15: greekhouse
          16: Geoff

          The Milkmaid is 2, my parents are 7 and 13, and my brothers are 14 and 17. The artist is 9.

          2. Ok, I see them now. And I missed the original jack benny comment, but I definitely see it. If only he had fingers on his chin and his other hand wrapped around his elbow.

  11. Hey did theta mini-caucus ever get planned? I could probably show up somewhere after 9:00p

  12. Can we talk about officiating in hockey games? I'm a casual fan, and absolutely a homer. But there seem to have been a couple egregious calls in this Wild-Avalanche series, and I'm wondering if that is normal? I'm thinking specifically of the just-happened McLeod smacking people off the faceoff and cross-checking (I will confess that Coyle was involved in some of it too, but for just one player to get called seemed bogus), and in an earlier game where there was a penalty against Colorado, then a skirmish, then somehow the teams ended up 4-on-4, without any consideration of that earlier penalty against Colorado. And the whole "knock the net off" thing from game 1 still irritates me. But that might just be a bad rule.

    Are the Wild just a really dirty team and this is fair? Is it just unfair? Home team advantage? Top seed advantage? Am I just wrong in my assessments?

    1. During regular season games I've seen the Wild get away with some stuff, too. Historically I haven't noticed bad calls going more one way than another, but I don't see most games.

      1. I don't see most games either, which is why I don't really have a sense for it. I know that people get away with things - that doesn't bother me so much. If they hadn't called any penalty at the end of the 2nd there, I wouldn't have bothered posting this. What bothers me is when it's a call that seems to be opposite of what makes sense.

    2. Refs love coincidental penalties to a fault. Whether this is reality or not, they tend to view it as keeping things under control by sending more people to the box.

      Sometimes home ice and a loud playoff crowd can have an effect, but it isn't supposed to.

      I would say the calls last night were a another level of poor refereeing from what is common in the NHL.

      1. It really doesn't seem like it. Maybe others who have watched more games this season can speak more to this, but it seems more like it's going to be flashes of good from here on out.

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