73 thoughts on “April 2, 2015: Music to my Ears”

  1. Wild Playoff Watch: It's Finally Gameday Again Edition

    The Jets lost on Tuesday, shrinking the Wild's magic number to 5.

    The Ducks clinched the Pacific Division last night, so they will be either the #1 or #2 seed in the West.

    GAMES TONIGHT:

    NY Rangers @ Minnesota - If the Wild want to factor in the top 3 spots of the division, they pretty much have to win a bunch of games. A win of any kind all but locks down a playoff spot.

    Calgary @ St. Louis - Could go either way on this. A Blues loss gives MN another hope in the division race. A Flames loss moves the playoff clinching date closer. No overtime, please.
    Vancouver @ Chicago - The Canucks are irrelevant to the Wild's position or seeding in the playoffs. So Wild fans can go ahead and cheer for a Vancouver victory (I think I just threw up in my mouth typing that).
    Edmonton @ LA - The Oilers on the second night of a back-to-back are not a good bet to take out the Kings. But it would be nice if they did.

    St. Louis clinches a playoff spot if they match or exceed the points the Kings get tonight. Or if they earn more points than the Flames.
    Chicago clinches a playoff spot with a win and either a Flames regulation loss or an Oilers win. Or if Chicago gets a point and the Kings lose in regulation.

    2. I think I just threw up in my mouth typing that

      But we're rooting against Chicago. That makes up for it.

    3. Was just looking at the standings and I didnt realized the Rangers were the top points team in the East. I know that King Henrik has been hurt, so I just figured they were a midtable team.

      1. I knew they were at the top because one of the guys I work with is a Rangers fan (he's from NY). Since he hasn't complained about them at all this year, I assumed they were the best team in the league.

      2. Talbot's been unreal:

        In Lundqvist's absence, Talbot was 16-4-3 with a 2.16 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage and two shutouts. Link.

    4. You don't have to cheer for the Nuckleheads. If the Blues lose and the Hawks win, that just makes a Wild series with Nashville more likely, with the winner taking on whoever emerges from the CHI/STL heavyweight slug fest. That's not a terrible path in a stacked division. At least you're not on the same side as Alex Burrows for the night. Sheesh.

      1. I'm not really cheering for anything as far as the seeding goes. Look at last year, the Wild were going to just sneak in and end up playing the President's Trophy-winning Blues right up until the very last weekend. Instead the Avalanche won the division and the Blues got bounced in the first round anyway. There's no predicting it, but I love tracking all the scenarios.

        Mostly, I just think it would be great fun to finish above St. Louis or Chicago (Por que no los dos?).

        1. I think you know my response was less about cheering for teams as avoiding mouth-puking, and burrows, both equally yuck.

  2. The good from yesterday: I found out that my new boss likes April Fool's Day a lot, so as she was secretly wrapping her rival's office in plastic wrap, I was able to put her chair on the roof of our building. Not knowing that I was involved, she first blamed her rival. I happened to be standing next to them as they had the conversation where they determined that some mystery prankster was involved, and they decided to align to take out this threat, because "oh no, who could it be? we're in big trouble. etc." With a small amount of prodding from yours truly, they finally settled on blaming a different department, and they targeted them for revenge with donuts frosted with toothpaste and salt, as well as a couple things targeting known phobias held by some members of that department. My boss also decided to put toothpaste under the door handle of my car, not knowing my above involvement, just because. Once I succumbed to her prank, I finally revealed that it made me feel a lot better about having put her chair on the roof. There was much laughter. I like my new job.

    Also, my brother caught Ortiz's HR ball at yesterday's Twins game.

    The bad: My grandmother had a stroke (she's at the hospital now, it's an atypical stroke, no loss of mental function/body control on one side, but lots of nausea).

    1. With a small amount of prodding from yours truly, they finally settled on blaming a different department,

      Here's a surprise.

        1. Meh. The most impressive part is that someone as short as I am managed to reach the roof.

          1. Way to preempt the joak there Philo.

            Also, it's great to hear about how much better you feel with your new employer. I'd held out hope that you'd end up in a good place and it seems that's come to pass.

    2. Glad to hear the new job is going well. Sorry to hear about your grandmother, though. She is in our prayers.

  3. Last night's Timberwolves game was the first game in a long time I gave up on the team at halftime. Is baseball here?

      1. I was at the game yesterday. I had never heard of two of the players. The Toronto contingent definitely took over the crowd.

      2. Since Andrew Wiggins plays 40 some minutes a game, there has been as least some reason to watch. But last night, the whole effort by the team left me with a foul taste in my mouth.

          1. Why? Are there bench players he needs to give more court time to in order to evaluate? Are you worried about injuries?

            Seems like with a young, inexperienced player like Wiggins, who is expected to be a cornerstone of the organization for the next 5-6 years (at least), his greatest need at this point is court time.

            1. With a team that's had an injury history like the Wolves, that's exactly what I'd be worried about. Flip has already effed up with Pek by playing him a ton when he returned last time and I don't see why 10 fewer minutes per night would have much impact on Wiggins's development.

            2. 40+ is too much. I think 35 minutes is plenty. I happened to turn to the game on the radio last night as I driving through the suburbs on the way home. The game was completely out of hand -- the Wolves were down 30(!) -- and Wiggins had logged 41 minutes and was still in the game with 4 minutes to play. PBP guy Alan Horton was asking, "Hey why is Wiggins still out there at this point?" Good question.

    1. What was most annoying to me about that is that it was very quietly attached to a highway funding bill and passed with essentially no notice or debate. I know we have large stretches of not much in South Dakota (I travel through some of it all the time), and I don't claim to know what the ideal speed limit is, but it seems like it should at least have been a topic for discussion.

        1. They've been driving 80 through SD for years. I've driven all the way across the state a few times, and if I drive 75 I get left behind. Now I suppose they'll go 90.

              1. I'm mildly in favor of enforcing too fast for conditions non-limit speed limits.

                The problem with those, of course, is arbitrary enforcement, where the burden of proof effectively shifts to the driver rather than the peace officer.

              2. There's some debate about that. Wish I could find the link but most people treat the speed limit as a suggestion and instead drive as fast as they feel comfortable on the road. Wide lanes, great sight lines, very straight roads means people drive faster.

    2. Sounds to me like lawmakers are trying to raise the price of oil to help that industry. The reason we had a 55 mph limit in the '70s was to save on fuel, not because of safety. I used to go 70 on our 65 mph freeways until the gas prices shot up over $4 per gallon a few years ago. I slowed down to 65 and got a not insignificant bump in fuel economy. Even with prices down, I still go 65. I find it more relaxing to drive at the speed limit. I don't find myself frustrated by slow drivers nearly as much.

      1. I tend to drive right around 65 as well (in the right lane), partially for fuel savings and partially because I find it significantly less stressful to be the one getting passed rather than the one doing the passing.

        1. I'm a major advocate of cruise control. Yoyoing drivers (speed up, slow down, speed up) drive me bonkers. Cruise also removes the natural human impulse (male impulse?) to compete with passing drivers or to "catch up" to cars in front of you whenever there is a gap.

          2. Yes. I always use cruise on freeways if at all possible, largely because I'm so anal about my speed I'm constantly looking at my speedometer otherwise.

      3. South Dakota doesn't have much oil in it. Not like ND. Regardless, the net effect on the price of oil by raising the speed limit by 5 MPH in SD is, in a word, negligible.

        1. particularly considering the likely behavioral effects, as noted above by several. Some drivers consider the speed limit an upper bound. Others consider it advisory, some consider it a lower bound.

          I'm really not comfortable driving much faster than 70 at any time on the highway. For some long trips, I'm like Rhu -- I peg my speed at ~5 mph over the posted limit. On my daily commute (20 miles each way), I'm usually just over the posted speed limit on the way in, and well under on the way home. Go figure.

          1. I'm in the car a lot. The posted speed limit in ND is 75 on the interstate. That's what I drive there; 75 is fast enough. In Minnesota, it is 70; I typically drive 72 or 73.

        2. There are some areas of South Dakota that have had a little spillover effect from the North Dakota oil boom, but I think suggesting an attempt to help the oil industry is giving our legislators too much credit. I think they probably just want to be able to drive a little faster.

          'Kind of forbidden zoney' SelectShow

          1. Yea, I would put it to the general culture of predominantly rural, western states. Which is the state that had the $5 speeding tickets "good all day"?

            Montana!

            1. I got my first drivers license in southeastern Colorado. Wide. Open. Spaces. I had a buddy who lived way out in the country and one day my brother let me us his '69 Cutlass to drive him home. I got her just over 110 before the front end started to buck and I had to back it down. Good times.

              1. I was working for a used car lot as a lot attendant in Idaho and I had to follow one of the mechanics to someplace out in the middle of nowhere in farm country. I was in this little beat up truck they used for a shop truck. It was a manual and I think it was a 3 speed. Definitely not more than 4. I had to do 90 to 95 to keep the mechanic in view. I don't remember if it had a tachometer, but I remember a really high-pitched whine coming from the engine.

            2. The fastest I ever drove was in Montana when there actually was no daytime speed limit.
              On my drive back east, the speed limit was back. I think it was 85.
              I think it was Wyoming where there were signs advertising that in construction zones, fines double up to $70. Doing the math, I figured it was cheap to get a regular ticket.

          2. My pastor is famous (infamous?) for having difficulty following speed limits. This is mainly why he doesn't have a Jesus fish on his car or anything else that identifies it as being driven by a pastor. The only real consequences he's had from this is a few tickets and I think he's had to go to traffic school once or twice.

            1. That seems to be common among pastors, for some reason. Again, it's all cute and funny until there's an accident.

  5. I want to see at least .300 from Joe Mauer. If you go on the StarTribune.com sports section, and read the comments, he just gets killed; people say he needs to hit 30 homers, and that ship has sailed, but he's still one of the great singles hitters of our time, so I'd like to see him get his average up and play more consistently. Get a little of the Cal Ripken in him.

    a reasonable #HotMauerTake from a famous person!

    Hold Steady's Craig Finn on the 2015 Twins: 'You Gotta Stay Positive'

  6. I don't mean to alarm anyone, but Team USA is currently sitting in playoff position at the World Curling Championship (Canada, Norway and Sweden are in) after their round robin schedule. They just need Switzerland and Finland to lose their final matches tonight and they'll be in.

    1. Great to see they changed the ball's aerodynamics, not how it rebounds off the bat or worse, changed the bats. I think the old metal bats were a serious safety issue for pitchers. They reduced the speed of the ball coming off the bats and that reduced home runs. Now they've increased home runs by changing how the ball flies in the air, which means it loses its speed at a lower rate, but that would have almost no impact on a pitcher's reaction time, so pitchers remain safe while offense is improved.

      1. Now they've increased home runs by changing how the ball flies in the air, which means it loses its speed at a lower rate, but that would have almost no impact on a pitcher's reaction time, so pitchers remain safe while offense is improved.

        I don't think that follows. If the ball has a lower deceleration then the pitcher is going to have less time to react. What I think they did is affected the Magnus force so the ball's backspin imparts greater vertical force to make it travel farther. That they did it by lowering the seams makes sense. Dr. Adair wrote that a rougher ball (relative to what MLB uses) will decrease the Magnus force. My guess is the college ball was already rougher and now it's closer to what MLB uses. I wonder how this will affect pitchers too. I wouldn't be surprised if strikeouts increase too.

        1. Whether you reduce the drag on it or add some other force to it, I believe the effect is the same. My point is that they didn't increase the initial velocity of the ball off the bat, which would be dangerous to the pitchers. I don't believe the change in the reduction of velocity on the ball between it initially being hit and the ball getting to the pitcher 60 feet away (or more like 50-55 feet away when he releases the ball) is going to make any noticeable difference either in the real world or in a sampling of data.

  8. I'm sitting on a patio with the lady friend in 80° sunshine sipping on $0.99 happy hour margaritas. Not a bad afternoon.

    1. I would have to not have anything important planned the remainder of the day after 99-cent margaritas. Salud!

      1. Just getting some brisket from an excellent food truck then not having to work till 3 tomorrow 🙂

    1. I was surprised they kept him as the only backup catcher. His bat is certainly better than Fryer's and he's at least left-handed to complement Suzuki. He has versatility, but besides catcher, we already have better backups for the other positions he plays. I imagine he'll be most useful in Interleague games.

    2. It may be a temporary move until Pinto is healthy. If it's not, though, they might as well trade him for whatever they can get. He has nothing to prove by spending another season at AAA.

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