81 thoughts on “January 24, 2017: Another Sad Song”

      1. Speaking of which, our new Newbery Medal winner is the very fine Minneapolis writer (and Anne Ursu pal) Kelly Barnhill. The writing talent in this state is incredible.

      2. Also of considerable note: March Book Three made a killing at the awards yesterday, and deservedly so. I read it last fall after it was longlisted for the National Book Award (which it ultimately won), and I can't praise it enough. It's not simply that John Lewis is impressive (although he certainly is), it's that the book is a concise and fascinating look at a particular moment in our country leading up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act--yet it never feels like a history lesson, it simply feels like a fantastic read. And as a graphic novel, I'm guessing it's a 2-hour read, tops.

        1. I didn't think a serious topic would translate well to graphic novel but I enjoyed Persepolis. I think it kept the dark subject matter from being too dark.

            1. I've been meaning to pick that one up; I enjoyed his earlier American Born Chinese. Yang is the current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and his Reading Without Walls challenge is very cool.

  3. UW's Athletic Department is seeking $273 million in upgrades to its facilities in the new campus master plan. Here's what the assistant AD for business development had to say about the proposal:

    Speaking from his own experience, McIntosh said improvements to UW athletic facilities "are investments that we make in our student-athletes that have a return later on."

    He said the 800 or so student-athletes in the 23 sports programs at UW "are the direct beneficiaries" of the millions of dollars that are spent on capital projects.

    How do additional premium seating areas at Camp Randall and the Kohl Center factor into this discussion?

    "That improvement becomes an asset for us and a revenue-generator that allows us to support other facets of the overall student-athlete experience," McIntosh said.

    I was curious, so I decided to see how many students could be supported for that amount of money. Using Spring 2017 semester in-state tuition rates projected over the course of an academic year, UW could create full-tuition, four year scholarships for 6,507 students. If fees were included that number would drop to 5,831.5 students with full scholarships covering their undergraduate years. In 2015, the last year for which data has been published, there were 29,580 undergraduate students enrolled in the Fall semester.

    So, UW could choose to spend that money on the 2.7% of students who are employed by the Athletic Department, or it could free 19.7-22% of its undergraduates from any student debt.

    1. It depends on the revenue generated. If they can really get a good return on investment, they could reduce tuition for even more students.

        2. Maybe not, but they weren't going to in the first place. That doesn't change the investment math.

          1. I wonder what kind of return the school could get from its students if they were a little more debt-free exiting university, not to mention benefits to the state from that same group.

            1. One wonders, particularly if the terms of the scholarship required that the student reside in the state for X years following graduation.

                1. It's okay; I laughed. That kind of requirement would not be dramatically than what is required for students receiving military scholarships via an ROTC program. (This typically seems to be X number of years on active duty.) Obviously there would be no mandated state service requirement; the intent would be to support the scholarship fund through the addition to the tax base. The state is losing a fair percentage of its young folks to other parts of the country, and a program like this might help retain some of that fresh talent. I do wonder about whether this would ultimately drive down entry-level salaries if there was an excess of available labor, but presumably other measures could be taken to lure employers interested in a high quality, well-educated labor force working in an area with lower cost of living (thus, lower pressure on living wage rates).

                  What I would want to see ironed out, though, are the contingencies for students accepted into graduate or professional programs at institutions outside the state. I have mixed feelings about students moving immediately from undergrad to grad programs, but would not want to set up some kind of legal barrier for applicants accepted into programs beyond the borders of the state.

      2. You're assuming that money that the Athletic Department receives ever finds its way back out to the rest of campus. The AAD's comment pretty clearly conveys that they don't intend on sharing any windfalls with any student-students.

        1. Hey now, I imagine it occasionally finds its way to football boosters who may occasionally walk around other parts of campus.

  4. One of my Christmas gifts was a ticket to the Twins Winter Meltdown on Saturday. LaTroy Hawkins and Jack Goin are the featured speakers. I'm working on questions for each... anyone got ideas?

    2. How does Jack feel that his time in the ticket department prepared him to head analytics for a major league baseball team?

  7. The Twins have re-signed Yohan Pino. He's one of those guys I really like for no particular reason, so I'm glad to have him back in the organization, but it'll be a bad sign for how the season is going if he actually pitches for the Twins.

  8. Best Minnesota Court of Appeals writing this week:

    And we offer - purely as dictum - that when one is characterized, rightly or wrongly, as a frighteningly obsessive ex-boyfriend eligible for a harassment restraining order, the typical strategy for a reversal does not include aligning oneself with an allegedly opium-induced author whose obsession with his deceased lover and other macabre poetry and prose are most commonly narrated for their chilling effect.

    2. How does this conversation go between client and lawyer? I mean, I know you're supposed to best represent them and all, but when they insist on reciting poetry, do you reach that point in the hearing and then just waggle eyebrows and exchange knowing glances with the judge? Are judges sympathetic to lawyers with idiotic clients, or do they look down on them for being unable to adequately persuade the questionable judgement out of the defendant?

      1. IANAL, but if my client was reciting Poe and the judge glanced in my direction, this is exactly the faced I'd make

          1. "The pendulum of justice has created a pit in his stomach, your honor. So my client will rave 'n he's admittedly odd, but his heart is good. That's the telltale sign that you should rule in his favor. "

          1. I don't believe I have ever given that look, and I would do everything in my power to avoid doing so. Zealous advocacy, and all that. I find myself curious how your judge responded (or not?) to such looks, either on or off the bench?

            1. I imagine one could substitue with the *sets jaw and looks fixedly upon blank spot above the bench* and probably tiptoe a middle ground of sorts.

            2. In most cases, the attorney would have tipped us off ahead of time in chambers (and told opposing counsel, obviously), that his/her client was determined to have a certain argument taken, and usually it was based on the client's own testimony.

              I can only remember one time where the judge interrupted a hearing to scold the attorney for making a face, but that was about strike 100 for her.

  9. MLB.com says the best free agent signing the Twins have ever made is...Paul Molitor?

    I think I know why they excluded Jack Morris (although that reason is technically incorrect), but Chili Davis provided the same amount of value and was a key part of the '91 World Champs.

    2. yeah, I'd go with Chili as well because ring, but strict-value wise it's a wash. Almost identical WAR at the same position.

      1. Yep, Chili and Molitor are pretty equal value-wise. What it comes down to for me is that someone on the '91 Twins would have to be the DH. Maybe that's Larkin, or Bush, or Sorrento, or a committee, but I think the drop-off would've been substantial. I don't think the Twins get to the World Series without someone of Chili's caliber as the regular DH. And that's not even accounting for Chili's .866 OPS in the ALCS or .856 OPS in the World Series, which is where I think the argument for the ring comes in.

        Still, Jack Morris signed the same year and has a better indispensability argument than Chili. (Would the Twins have signed another free agent, or relied even heavier on some combination of Paul Abbot, Willie Banks, Tom Edens, and Denny Neagle?) The reason Morris is DQ'd on MLB's list is kind of bogus, but I'm not going to sweat a lost opportunity for yet another Morris haigiography.

        Now, if the Twins had signed Greg Maddux, David Cone, or Jimmy Key in 1993... (a fella can dream)

          1. Yeah, of course. Almost triple the value of Davis and Molitor. Above average catcher for 6 seasons is a damn good scrap heap find.

          2. Man, I totally Battey'd Harper. Absolutely. I know most observers rated him as a poor catcher, but I don't think he was Doumit-bad. Probably closer to Suzuki, but a well above average bat to go along with the mediocre glove.

  10. I'd be remiss not to mention two more musicians from bands I've long championed that have passed from this world in recent days.

    Mike Kelley, drummer of New Wave champs The Only Ones

    Overend Watts, bassist for Mott the Hoople

    As the lyrics to The Ballad of Mott opine--And Overend's just a rock and roll star

      1. My younger brother and I used to play football with an Itza Ball (anyone remember those?) out in the street when we were kids. We had an imaginary team called the Las Vegas Dice, complete with imaginary players and uniforms--natch. Overend Watts was the speedy wideout. (The other flanker was named Ariel Bender--after Mott's guitarist.)

  11. for those who have not seen it yet, do yourselves a favor and seek out Triumph the Insult Dog at the inauguration. Equal opportunity insults. Ok, mostly of Trump-supporter stereotypes, but everyone seems to be taking it pretty good naturedly.

  12. Good God, the MP markers on the Milwaukee subdivision are horrendous. I think the railroad hired alcoholics to install them, then they were all knocked down by a snowplow, and other alcoholics were hired to put them back up where they fell. The distances between signs are anything but 5280', and I'm amazed that they are even in the right order.*

    *the opinions expressed are solely my own and not those of my employer

    1. I'm not saying we have to routinely take out your signs and put them back in...but I can see how such a thing might happen...

      "Mile" Posts

      2. saw a tweet last night suggesting it was a Garnett-related buzzer beater from March of 2007 ... I didn't remember the Ridnour winner, but was like "What about K-Lub?"

        1. I think the KG one was a "from a loss to a win" scenario while the other two were tied heading into the shot. (pretty sure that's right, anyway. Haven't looked it up.)

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