25 thoughts on “February 12, 2015: My Only Piece of Consumer Advice”

1. Another note - the keeper league is open for the year. The eligible keepers and rules are located at http://goo.gl/t16gXg

   1. Egad! My team is going to be terrible.

   2. This is the only fantasy league I get into anymore. One of these days, I'm going to finish in the top half! (A moral victory, if you will.)

2. my friend in real life (not just BookFace) with a love letter to books and a jab at puffed up small town code enforcers. So, you are warned, it's forbidden-zonish.

3. Programming note: This weekend is the start of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which is basically the Canadian national championship of women's curling. It is being broadcast on WatchESPN for those that have access.

   This will be very good curling.

   1. For a second there, I was excited/confused that this was going to be a telecast of a Hearts tournament.

      1. That would be.... at least more exciting than when Poker was big.

         1. I adore Poker, but I could get into televised Hearts.

4. It's spring and the air is filled with hope! David Schoenfield on your favorite nine.

   'Spoiler'

   SelectShow

   27. Minnesota Twins Big offseason moves: Named Paul Molitor manager; signed RHP Ervin Santana and OF Torii Hunter; signed RHP Tim Stauffer; umm ... Tom Milone changed his number. Most intriguing player: Center fielder Byron Buxton was baseball's top prospect entering 2014 but suffered a series of injuries -- wrist, dislocated finger, concussion -- that limited him to 31 minor league games in the regular season before a stint in the Arizona Fall League. He's still a potential superstar (Keith Law has him ranked as his No. 2 prospect in baseball) and could reach the majors this season. Due for a better year: Joe Mauer's move to first base was supposed to get him in the lineup more often; instead he played just 120 games and he hit just .277, the lowest of his career. He turns 32 in April so there's no guarantee he gets back to hitting .300, especially considering his walk-to-strikeout ratio has decreased from better than even just two seasons ago to 60 walks and 96 K's in 2014 (still a strong ratio compared to the MLB average, but this is a guy who walked more than he struck out most of his career). Due for a worse year: Danny Santana hit .319/.353/.472 as a rookie, fueled by a .405 BABIP -- the highest by a player with 400 plate appearances since Rod Carew in 1977. Santana never hit .300 in the minors so look for a sizable decline. I'm just the messenger: I know a lot of Twins fans are kind of excited by the rotation -- well, at least compared to recent Twins rotations: Phil Hughes had a breakout year, they signed Ervin Santana, Kyle Gibson won 13 games in his first full season, Alex Meyer appears ready for a shot and Ricky Nolasco can't be that bad again. Well, Nolasco can be that bad again and I'm skeptical about the Santana signing. He had a 3.95 ERA with the Braves (3.39 FIP) but now moves over to the American League and won't have Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons playing behind him. Plus, there's this problem: Torii Hunter and Oswaldo Arcia are penciled in as two starting outfielders, two guys who would have trouble covering enough ground in a beer league softball outfield. Hunter had minus-18 defensive runs saved and Arcia minus-10 (in about half a season of playing time). The Twins ranked as the second-worst defensive team in the majors via defensive runs saved in 2014 and that's going to be a big issue again. The final word: There is potential here on offense, which ranked fifth in the league in runs. But I don't see any improvement coming there as players such as Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe have likely peaked and Santana regresses. The defense is still a problem and the rotation -- which had the worst ERA in the majors in 2014 -- still doesn't do a lot for me. It looks like another holding year as the Twins wait for Buxton and Miguel Sano to arrive. Prediction: 68-94

   This is outrageous! I'm sure Torii could be a pretty good beer league softball outfielder.

   1. What would Barkley say?

      1. Obvious answer?
         httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsReWvglK_I

5. So although nobody anywhere would call me "fat," I'm about 25 pounds more than my usual. I've only ever been successful by taking drastic measures and my plan is to go thirty days without beer or fast food. My activity isn't really a problem. It's just a stupid intake of those two things. I can get addicted to basically anything, so hopefully sit-ups qualify as "anything."

   1. Ever since joining the Y last fall, I've put on at least 5 lbs, and I already had some to lose back then. I like to think it's muscle weight, but I can't kid myself for long

   2. Let's not get drastic...how much beer are we talking about? Maybe you could just lighten up. No need to be a masochist.
      By all means dump the fast food, though.

   3. I have my obsessive-compulsive tendencies (everyone is somewhere on that continuum, after all), but not an addiction-susceptible makeup. Still, I would advocate for ritualizing your alcohol consumption. I have one beer per day on about 90 pct of days. I have a favorite beer glass, and I don't drink shite.

      Beer is one of the things that brings joy into my life. Not the buzz from alcohol, but the savoring of good beer. Denying yourself things that bring you joy is...puritanical. It works for some people, but I just can't advocate for it. Unless you get joy from hurting yourself or others!

      My moralizing two cents....

      1. I feel you on this completely, but when I get into a bad patch, one beer a day isn't a thing. I guess I can take a shot at it but I should at least have few sober days before considering it.

      2. I personally don't see the need for more than one/two of any drink. I drink to hydrate or along with a meal, and I wouldn't drink more than a couple glasses of water at a time, so why any other drink? That said, I do enjoy lemonade in excess, I guess.

         1. May need to stage an Intervention with you, Rhu.

   4. If I could make one suggestion.... Try to drop sugar from your diet. Basically meaning sweets. Cookies, cake, donuts, candy bars, whatever. Then watch what other processed foods have sugar in them (Ketchup as an insane amount, as does fruit in yogurt, Orange Juice too). You'll be amazed how much you can lose by eliminating sugar and sweets.

      Oh and God yes stop with the fast food.

      1. I really don't eat sweets. Like, maybe a bag of Skittles per month? But the fast food is a major culprit here. It's been a better month than normal but my ideal month would involve doing it never.

         1. You still eat Skittles after the "Ruined the Rainbow"?
            (Substituting Green Apple for Lime. Now there's disappointment in every bag!)

      2. Sugar = bane of my existence

   5. You could start next Wednesday and make it 40 days instead of 30...

      1. I did think the timing was appropriate. Must be in the air.

6. David Carr was more of an acquaintance than friend (I first met him during his drug-crazed years in Minneapolis during the 80's), but he certainly crammed a lot of living into his 58 years. He also owned a painting of mine that hung in his office at home for the past 15 years, or so. (It was a wedding gift from his best man.) Rest in Peace, sir.

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