Cup of Coffee

March 30, 2015: Coffee

85 Comments

I believe there's a new study out there showing that the more coffee you drink, the more it does to counteract excessive alcohol consumption. So, drink up everyone. All around.

85 thoughts on “March 30, 2015: Coffee”

  1. Ah. This was meant to be the call for game log writers. With every passing season of futility people are less into it, but let me know.

    Recaps have been spotty at best, so maybe toward the end of games, citizens can claim them if they want them?

    I'll do the game logs on Thursdays since I typically have it off.

    Game Logs

    Sunday: Can of Corn
    Monday: hungry joe
    Tuesday: cheaptoy
    Wednesday:
    Thursday: spookymilk
    Friday: davidwatts
    Saturday: nibbish

    Game Recaps

    Sunday: socaltwinsfan
    Monday: Can of Corn
    Tuesday:
    Wednesday:
    Thursday:
    Friday: davidwatts
    Saturday: nibbish

    1. As with last year, I'll take any game recaps no one else wants, other than Saturday games. However, if other people want to do all the recaps, that's fine with me, too.

    2. Recaps have been spotty at best

      This is the opposite of true. Recaps have been constant and wonderful. It's other volunteers to cover the recaps that have been spotty at best.

      2. sean, might want to update the main author for the books column too. Daneeka's Ghost deserves props.

            1. I was going to bring it back, but I just don't get to see many games and I am feeling overextended a bit this month/year.

              Maybe a playoff version will appear. Emphasis on maybe.

              1. After the first half+ of the season, I stopped thinking much about hockey discussions here. I'm just excited to be talking about them at all at this point.

                1. I really have no means of watching the Wild, so its basically impossible for me to remain interested. But since I work in Blackhawk-country, I would really like the Wild to finish ahead of them this year.

      2. Re-reading, I interpreted the slash for both logs and recaps. Let me know if you want only one.

      1. Added nibbish (for logs and recaps since that was how it was last year), Can of Corn, and socaltwinsfan.

  2. I've missed a lot more of the college basketball tournament than I've watched, but from what I have seen, my chief takeaway is that college basketball players can't shoot worth a darn. Is that correct, or is it a small sample size illusion.

    1. shooting in big arenas with terrible backgrounds is always a challenge in the tournament. But alleged bad shooting in college is not a new phenomenon.

      Scoring and shooting percentages in N.C.A.A. Division I men’s basketball have been dropping for decades, though opinions vary on the reasons.

      Coaches point to a decline in talent with young stars leaving early to play professional ball. Some say the way the game is played has changed, with defenses more physical and offenses more perimeter-oriented because of a lack of talented big men. In addition, the copious amount of scouting video helps coaches devise strategies to counter an opponent’s strengths.

      that story is from 2013.

      fwiw, 135 D-I men's teams had adjusted FG pcts above 50 pct this season. In 2001-02, 132 had adjusted FG pcts above 50 pct. Adjusted FG pct is more useful than straight FG pct because it weights 3-pters. So I'm not really sure that the empirical argument about shooting having fallen is true in this larger sense. Programs have gotten much more strategic about utilizing the three point shot.

      In 2014-15, 101 men's D-I teams shot 50+ pct from 2-pt range. In 2001-02, only 91 shot over 50 pct from 2-pt range.

      1. so far in the postseason, 59 of 148 men's D-I teams have shot over 50 pct from 2-pt range (includes the NCAA tournament, NIT, and the College Insider tournament or whatever that thing is called) and 68 of 148 have had adjusted FG pcts over 50 pct.
        In 2001-02 postseason play, 40 of 105 men's D-I teams shot 50+ pct from 2-pt range and 41 of 105 had adjusted FG pcts over 50 pct.

        that's a striking change towards greater shooting efficiency. Basically, the same share of teams shot over 50 pct from 2-pt range in 2001-02 postseason as is true today, but a much higher share has a 50+ adjusted FG pct today.

        1. It could certainly be that I just happened to hit games with poor shooting. And in fact, I was really thinking about outside shooting. The games I saw featured enough bricks to rebuild the Berlin Wall.

          2. I've had the same luck with the games I've watched. So in our SSST of 2, it's accurate that college players are bad shooters. They also play really slowly!

            1. Yea, things have changed from the days of yore.

              httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omAbizqDzBM

            2. I have had people tell me with a straight face that college basketball is played faster than the NBA.

    1. Remember, despite the large pictures on the main page and the colorful dice attached to your post, everyone navigates via the recent letters to the editor feature. That's a little awkward for the feature author. My advice is to have no shame and make up something.

  4. so, my 80-year old father just joined Facebook. Does that mean I have to move to Instagram, or just stop arguing politics?

      1. Can't go there yet. The kids haven't all been chased off of Instagram yet by my generation.

    1. aaaaand I'll have to look at this one later, but...
      "Temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

    2. I've listened to him enough that I could deliver pretty much all of these in the exact same cadence from memory. Didn't read them all, but they left some of the best tags out, like on the Dannon joke and 13th floor joke.

  7. Blaine Boyer has made the Twins plus Gibson is sick, so Boyer will start tonight's spring training game in a bullpen game. All scheduled pitchers will go two innings.

      1. Don't worry, he probably won't be around long. I don't like how they're evaluating bullpen guys. Boyer's K rate this spring was less than 5 and he has a .161 BABIP. Meanwhile, Mark Hamburger, a guy from Minnesota, has already been sent down despite 10 Ks and 2 BBs in 9.2 IP. He allowed only 10 base runners, but 7 of them ended up scoring so he has a bad ERA. Oh well, guys like Boyer and Stauffer will make it easier to make room for Hamburger, Tonkin, Oliveros and Burdi when the time comes.

  8. Just finished jousting with Rhubarb_Runner on CribbagePro - he handily defeated me and is moving on to greatness.

    1. The dealer shook me down pretty good for those wins, though. No eating out for a while

      btw, you forgot the quotes around "greatness" 😉

      btw II, I think we should all standardize "WGOM" as the CribbagePro password -- it's case sensitive, we've found

        1. Yeah, I double checked in my copy of All About Cribbage and the preferred term is His Nobs. I'd always used Nobs growing up. I've learned to use Pairs Royal, and Double Pairs Royal though.

          1. Pairs Royal?

            We've already referred to Nobs for having the appropriate jack in one's hand and "heels" for flipping a jack on the cut.

            2. My grandma would always say, "fifteen four and he is five." I had a friend who would call out when a Jack was cut, "Two for talkin!"

    1. I will nitpick this line, however:

      As much as people rip Hunter, they ignore that Antony is right that defensive positioning means a lot more in how good a defender is.

      Antony is right that defensive position is important… but he’s also giving Hunter the credit for being good at positioning. If that were true, then Hunter wouldn’t have bad defensive metrics in the first place – the stats don’t care HOW you get to balls, whether through positioning or speed, just that you get to them. Unless the underlying implication is that the Tigers were overriding Hunter’s instincts and repositioning him, Antony’s comment doesn’t actually address the concerns about Hunter’s defense.

      Thankfully someone finally stated what I'd been thinking all along

      1. Yes. My sentiments exactly. Also someone else pointed out that Twins in the past haven't shown to get more out of their outfielders by better positioning.

    2. I actually think that the Twins are smart to quote those counting stats. Most fans have no idea that this is kind of useless information.

  10. Anybody want to take a 1998 Sienna off my hands?

    Asking $2K obo. Kelly "fair condition" price is about $3,200. Edmonds.com "rough" price is about $1,800. I'd said it's on the rougher side of "fair," but it passed smog today with no problem.

  11. So if the Twins (as per the radio ad) now have an official pillow, does that make them a sleeper pick this season?

    1. Given that the link went to the Toast, I expected that to be by Mallory Ortberg, who is quickly becoming the Jon Bois for those who prefer Jane Austen remakes and art history to athletic contests and video games.
      Perhaps I should look at the other things the Toast has to offer?

  15. Rod Carew's 3000 hit game
    Interesting video because:
    - Bob Kurtz and Harmon Killebrew are calling the game
    - Its a direct feed of the game. You hear the banter in between commercials
    - California Angles. Its sounds weird to hear that nowadays
    - The Big A looks different today.
    - Powder Blues!

    I really do wish MLB would open up the vaults and have old games up on YouTube. Doesnt even have to be special games. I would love to watch a random Twins game from say 1996 or 1986.

      1. They do show "Twins Classics" but it seems those are mostly games from the previous season.

        1. Yeah, that's what I mean. I wish they actually showed games from years ago. Even games from 2001 or 2002, when the "Get to Know 'em" Twins were getting started, would be fun.

    2. Special video - all those Twin greats under one roof - TonyO at 1BC, and Harmon sqwauking:
      - Gaetti shanking a practice grounder
      - Hrbek under 225lbs
      - in RC's 2AB, Viola throws wild for the first pitch

      1. I watched it this morning, because I had nothing else to do, and even though I don't remember the specifics besides Rod's early single, since I was in attendance I knew the following would inevitably happen:

        • Twins lose.
        • Brian Downing would deliver the critical hit/HR
        • He Who Must Not Be Named

  16. Cribbage update:

    Zee German just beat me like a rented mule.

    Also, Pongo is, meh. Not the greatest platform. I blame it for my bad cards and worse play.

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