Cup of Coffee

May 28, 2015: Misdirected

59 Comments

I had a guy in the store yesterday who was really, really annoyed with me personally because his favorite TV manufacturer doesn't make a TV in the size he wanted. People are strange.

59 thoughts on “May 28, 2015: Misdirected”

  1. Wild Playoff Watch: Back to Back

    Wild ran over the Flames last night, and eventually broke through to score 3 in the third period.
    That drops the Wild's magic number to 9 with 7 games left in the season.

    Since the last Playoff Watch the Blackhawks have lost two games, making the Central quite a bit closer.

    3rd - Chi - 94 pts (8 gms left)
    4th - Min - 93 pts (7 gms left) - MIN plays CHI in the second-to-last game of the season and holds the tiebreaker over CHI. So if CHI drops one point somewhere along the line, MIN controls its fate in the race for third place.
    5th - Wpg - 90 pts (7 gms left)

    GAMES THIS WEEKEND

    Tonight -
    LA @ Minnesota - The Wild have four games left in this homestand, and with some wins could clinch a playoff spot by the time they head out on the road again.
    Dallas @ Vancouver - This probably doesn't affect the Wild's playoff situation much.
    Nashville @ Washington - Predators clinch a playoff spot with a win.
    Anaheim @ NY Islanders - Ducks clinch a playoff spot with a point.

    Sunday -
    Calgary @ Nashville - A Nashville win drops the Wild's magic number. I wouldn't mind the Wild facing Nashville in the first round.
    Chicago @ Winnipeg - No overtime, please.

      1. I know ... they're assigned multiple back-to-backs (like five or six) in the final two weeks and yet they get a four-day break thrown in, just for fun.

    2. Parise reached the 30 goal mark last night. Now in the Top 10 most in a season in franchise history (from hockey-reference)

      Goals
      1. Marian Gaborik 42 2007-08
      2. Marian Gaborik 38 2005-06
      3. Brian Rolston 34 2005-06
      4. Brian Rolston 31 2006-07
      Brian Rolston 31 2007-08
      6. Jason Pominville 30 2013-14
      Marian Gaborik 30 2001-02
      Marian Gaborik 30 2006-07
      Marian Gaborik 30 2002-03
      Zach Parise 30 2014-15

      1. Reminds me just how poorly the previous administration handled the Gaborik situation.

    1. Best Bloody Mary I've had was in a biker bar in La Crosse, Sconnie - Del's Bar. Pickle juice, baby.

      That same day we took a tour of the House of Heileman...

      1. One Saturday last summer I drove my wife sixty miles to St. Cloud just so we could get a DB Searle's Bloody Mary. The day turned out even better when we found out that Waldo's Pizza had re-opened on St. Germain and we had a pie for dinner before heading home.

        I think that I've been to Del's, I had a few LaCrosse adventures when I was in college, but the details are dim. Was that place around in the 80's?

  3. The Twins are taking a terrible outfield north this year. The Buxton era cannot start soon enough.

    2. Phil Mackey sums up my thoughts about this move

      Phil Mackey @PhilMackey ·
      Here's the thing: Pelfrey throws hard enough to be a good short-burst reliever. And you can make a lot of money doing that too.

      1. Pelfrey is 31 with a career ERA+ of 88 and his only good years coming in the NL.
        Milone is 28 with a career ERA+ of 97 with all of his career in the AL.
        Good to know track record matters more than a handful of innings against widely varying competition in games that don't count.

      2. Actually, Milone's track record is better than Nolasco's, who is 32 with a career 91 ERA+ and all of his career prior to Minnesota in the NL. The only real difference between Nolasco and Pelfrey is that Nolasco actually can strike batters out. Nolasco has a much better FIP than Pelfrey but has never been able to get his ERA to be as good as his FIP.

      2. I thought he was a pariah because he a polysyllabic vocabulary. Or because he insisted he was hurt when he was hurt.

    6. I am glad he's not happy about it. And I am glad that didn't factor into the decision.

    7. From Reusse on Pelfrey's trade desire:

      OK, let’s form two lines: the teams not interested in Mike Pelfrey as a starter on the left, and the Sioux City Explorers and the Kansas City T-Bones on the right.

  6. More from Neal:

    1. Is there such a thing as preventative Tommy John surgery? We could use a procedure like that.

    1. AMR discussed our match on email and decided it would be best to wait for you to start hounding us.

        1. To be fair, I believe I still haven't seen the final results from the last set of Boggle answers I submitted.

    2. Printer and I are working on scheduling ours...well, "working" is a little generous; emails have been exchanged.

    3. Question. It's best of three, right? Do skunks count as two? Then it could be tied after 3

  9. Just wondering, have we made game log and recap assignments for this year? Opening Day is on our six and closing fast.

    1. I don't think we've done anything yet. I'll be willing to pick up whatever recaps no one else wants, except for recaps of Saturday games (Sundays tend to be a bit busy for me).

  10. Shane Robinson is probably going to make the team as a backup outfielder. He played 268 games with the Cardinals. I can honestly say I have never heard of this guy.

  11. So, making Julia Child's beef bourguignon today with several twists - in other words, use up what we have in the fridge.

    Instead of bouquet garni I'm using cilantro. Instead of burgundy I'm using the dregs of two bottles of wine (Italian red and rose). No celery, so using the end-stalks of broccolini I was saving for smoothie materiel. Instead of beef broth I used up the rest of the mushroom broth. No worries, pearl onions are the star of this show.

  13. I've never really paid much attention to Spring Training because I'm always of the mindset that it's small sample size theater, and putting much weight in those games is pointless rather than the player's rest of his career. Anyway, I flipped on today's game for a couple of innings and heard Dick'n'Bert praising Eric Fryer's great spring multiple times. Since I've paid no attention, I assumed he was hitting .350+ with multiple homers. Then, I see him come up and it says he's batting .200 in 7 games.

    To quote Norm MacDonald: "Wait, what?"

    2. There's really no reason for Eric Fryer to be on the forty-man roster, much less go north with the team, unless both Josmil Pinto and Chris Herrmann are hurt. I don't think much of the Herrmannator, either, but at least he hit well in AAA last year and can play more than one position.

      1. Herrmann has been good enough with the bat in the minors that if he were considered even decent defensively as a catcher, he would only be a catcher. My guess is Herrmann will make the team so either he can be a third catcher so the Twins can use Pinto or Suzuki as a DH or so he can pinch hit or pinch run for Fryer when Fryer starts. Currently, Fryer is not listed on the 40-man, but Pinto and Herrmann are.

  14. Programming note: team USA plays team Canada at 5:30 today on ESPN 3 in the 2015 Worlds. The second and alternate on team USA are from Madison.

    1. And after two very nice ends, ending with a gorgeous double to score three, the US team is of to a much better start than they normally get in international competition. They're not embarrassing is out there!

      1. That was a hell of a game. Bout as good as I've seen then throw. Shame espn isn't going to have any more USA games, that I could find.

        1. I got a call at the last minute to sub in a bonspiel at St. Paul Curling Club. I watched this in the bar after my team was eliminated. That was about as fun as it gets.

  15. Hey everyone, the new feature "Getting Dicey" will start up on Monday. This will replace Pixel Perfect Memories as our monthly gaming discussion. I'm open to new names, and it's not just for board games, video games are still welcome. My goal is to publish it during the fourth week of the month. A little late this time, but I'll try to be on time next month.

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