I have a very romantic seven hour drive with two kids in the car in front of me today. Hopefully you all have better plans.
30 thoughts on “February 14, 2020: Love Day”
We're going to be watching friends' toddler. Yeah, me neither.*
*I think we're going eagle watching on Monday holiday instead.
Mrs. A and I will have supper at our favorite local cafe. Other than that, pretty much a normal day.
I just started a 13 hour shift at the joint, and my lovely bride will join me for the last 5 hours of said shift.
If the two kids are in the car in front of you and not your car, that doesn't sound so bad. 😉
Well played.
🙄
Token presents for kids and spouses this morning. Full day of school and work. Making a nice steak (non-vegan) for dinner, salad and potatoes. Kids to bed at some point, and then Philosofette and I will head to the bedroom...
...
To watch The Good Place. We're about halfway into Season 4, and it is burning up our brains.
Season 4 sort of lost me. It mostly got me back on board by the end, but there was a big hole in the middle.
It is almost entirely plot and forward movement right now. I want to reach an end point, but in a good way. I suspect a rewatch will be funnier. That was how I felt about season 3 too though. And that was a lot funnier the second time through.
There was a bit of of a hiccup in the middle, yeah, but I think the finale was excellent. The road there could have been a little more refined, I think.
Yeah, agreed with mostly all here. It does stick the landing though.
I took the day off. When the missus gets home, we are getting in the car to drive to LA-LA Land to visit the Boy. Might splurge for a McDonald's cone somewhere on I-5.
The Astros seem to be getting hammered for their apology press conference. I'm not defending them, exactly, but I really don't know what they could say at this point that would satisfy anyone. They deliberately chose to do something that they knew was wrong for the benefit of themselves and their team. They are retaining those benefits. What words can they say that would convince anyone that they now regret it and wish they hadn't done it?
Pretty much the opposite of everything they've said.
They've done an absolutely amazing job of throwing gasoline on an already raging fire. Every single damage control instinct they've had since Taubman has been not just wrong, but disastrously so.
"What we did was wrong. If I could go back and do things differently, I would. I am genuinely sorry for how our actions impacted the game and other players in the league. We understand that people are going to question the legitimacy of our World Series and our future performance and that is fair."
"And I'm donating all my WS winnings plus $### to XXX."
What Beau wrote would be better than what they said, but I don't think it would convince very many people. Donating the World Series winnings might help. In the situation they're in, I think the only thing that will convince people is actions, not words.
The job when you get caught doing something bad is not to convince people you've changed. It's to set the groundwork that maybe, eventually, with enough time, your actions can be convincing. If you add fuel to the fire, then the chance of forgiveness is virtually impossible. See: Pete Rose
And saying it didn't actually matter but then saying it did matter a minute later doesn't go over well.
Sure there are people who will never accept an apology or whatever, but if they played their cards right, they could satisfy enough people to get the media to lean in more on Manfred for failing to punish them appropriately.
At one point the Astros’ owner claimed the cheating had no impact on results! The least they could do is not insult everyone’s intelligence.
Do any of us really expect a genuine apology from multi-millionaire ball players and a billionaire owner. Really? I know there are a few down to earth ball players and ex-ballplayers, but it really doesn't shock me that this owner and his players can't manage a heartfelt apology. I strongly believe that the Astros hitters who participated in this charade, including Marwin Gonzalez, are more upset that Fiers ratted them out and that the media and fans have "overreacted" to this whole thing, than they are truly remorseful for cheating the way they did. Remorseful that they got caught? Sure. Remorseful that they are being called cheaters by the entire world? Yeah... I believe they are remorseful for that. Between their fan fest and these interviews, I really won't feel bad for the multiple beanings they will receive, as well as fan harassment. Oh... and Justin Verlander can just f'ck off.
I got liquor store duties tonight. Always a great way to spend this holiday!
I mean that loss last night was pretty terrible, but still...
Yeah. Bruce ain't the problem. But I don't know that having Bruce around was going to make a difference this year or next.
So ... whatever.
I'm in full on "tear it all down for as many draft picks as you can get" mode with this team.
The No. 1 reason NHL coaches get fired? Goaltending, of course! Of the bottom 10 teams in save percentage this season, six of them have made coaching changes: San Jose (29th), New Jersey (28th), Nashville (27th), Minnesota (25th), Vegas (24th) and... https://t.co/sD0UMpnM6Y
This is where hockey statistics get a little complicated. All other things being equal, there is a strong chance that a goalie will have a higher save percentage on a strong defensive team versus a weak defensive team. For instance, I remember when Dubnyk was one of the league leaders a few years back. The team in front of him did a great job of limiting goals from premium scoring areas on the ice. We gave up a lot of shots from the perimeter which are low percentage scoring chances. So, I would argue that, in many cases, poor team defensive play is more responsible for a poor save percentage than the individual goalie's performance. Boudreau was never my guy. He is not a bad coach, but I just did not like his style of play.
A little bit of the "coverage sack" and/or "interceptions under pressure" effect. It's almost as though the team composition and playing scheme matter a lot.
New GM Bill Guerin:
If players are hurt by this, then maybe they’re players we shouldn’t have here. There has to be accountability, and people are going to be held accountable.
Guerin was probably going to bring in his guy at the end of the season anyway. Doesn't sound like they're going to rebuild mode yet.
She (in training for Tokyo Marathon in 2 weeks) has a 20 mile run tomorrow in 12F. So tonight she got the runner special: skinless/boneless chicken thighs, baked sweet potato, and kale salad with berries, mandarin oranges, and toasted almond slices. Hooch marinade for the chix I made a couple weeks back: red Chinese peppers with seeds, jalapenos, garlic, rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, fish sauce, soy sauce.
We're going to be watching friends' toddler. Yeah, me neither.*
*I think we're going eagle watching on Monday holiday instead.
Mrs. A and I will have supper at our favorite local cafe. Other than that, pretty much a normal day.
I just started a 13 hour shift at the joint, and my lovely bride will join me for the last 5 hours of said shift.
If the two kids are in the car in front of you and not your car, that doesn't sound so bad. 😉
Well played.
🙄
Token presents for kids and spouses this morning. Full day of school and work. Making a nice steak (non-vegan) for dinner, salad and potatoes. Kids to bed at some point, and then Philosofette and I will head to the bedroom...
...
To watch The Good Place. We're about halfway into Season 4, and it is burning up our brains.
Season 4 sort of lost me. It mostly got me back on board by the end, but there was a big hole in the middle.
It is almost entirely plot and forward movement right now. I want to reach an end point, but in a good way. I suspect a rewatch will be funnier. That was how I felt about season 3 too though. And that was a lot funnier the second time through.
There was a bit of of a hiccup in the middle, yeah, but I think the finale was excellent. The road there could have been a little more refined, I think.
Yeah, agreed with mostly all here. It does stick the landing though.
I took the day off. When the missus gets home, we are getting in the car to drive to LA-LA Land to visit the Boy. Might splurge for a McDonald's cone somewhere on I-5.
The Astros seem to be getting hammered for their apology press conference. I'm not defending them, exactly, but I really don't know what they could say at this point that would satisfy anyone. They deliberately chose to do something that they knew was wrong for the benefit of themselves and their team. They are retaining those benefits. What words can they say that would convince anyone that they now regret it and wish they hadn't done it?
Pretty much the opposite of everything they've said.
They've done an absolutely amazing job of throwing gasoline on an already raging fire. Every single damage control instinct they've had since Taubman has been not just wrong, but disastrously so.
"What we did was wrong. If I could go back and do things differently, I would. I am genuinely sorry for how our actions impacted the game and other players in the league. We understand that people are going to question the legitimacy of our World Series and our future performance and that is fair."
"And I'm donating all my WS winnings plus $### to XXX."
What Beau wrote would be better than what they said, but I don't think it would convince very many people. Donating the World Series winnings might help. In the situation they're in, I think the only thing that will convince people is actions, not words.
The job when you get caught doing something bad is not to convince people you've changed. It's to set the groundwork that maybe, eventually, with enough time, your actions can be convincing. If you add fuel to the fire, then the chance of forgiveness is virtually impossible. See: Pete Rose
And saying it didn't actually matter but then saying it did matter a minute later doesn't go over well.
Sure there are people who will never accept an apology or whatever, but if they played their cards right, they could satisfy enough people to get the media to lean in more on Manfred for failing to punish them appropriately.
At one point the Astros’ owner claimed the cheating had no impact on results! The least they could do is not insult everyone’s intelligence.
Do any of us really expect a genuine apology from multi-millionaire ball players and a billionaire owner. Really? I know there are a few down to earth ball players and ex-ballplayers, but it really doesn't shock me that this owner and his players can't manage a heartfelt apology. I strongly believe that the Astros hitters who participated in this charade, including Marwin Gonzalez, are more upset that Fiers ratted them out and that the media and fans have "overreacted" to this whole thing, than they are truly remorseful for cheating the way they did. Remorseful that they got caught? Sure. Remorseful that they are being called cheaters by the entire world? Yeah... I believe they are remorseful for that. Between their fan fest and these interviews, I really won't feel bad for the multiple beanings they will receive, as well as fan harassment. Oh... and Justin Verlander can just f'ck off.
I got liquor store duties tonight. Always a great way to spend this holiday!
Whoa.
Wild fires coach Bruce Boudreau
I mean that loss last night was pretty terrible, but still...
Yeah. Bruce ain't the problem. But I don't know that having Bruce around was going to make a difference this year or next.
So ... whatever.
I'm in full on "tear it all down for as many draft picks as you can get" mode with this team.
This is where hockey statistics get a little complicated. All other things being equal, there is a strong chance that a goalie will have a higher save percentage on a strong defensive team versus a weak defensive team. For instance, I remember when Dubnyk was one of the league leaders a few years back. The team in front of him did a great job of limiting goals from premium scoring areas on the ice. We gave up a lot of shots from the perimeter which are low percentage scoring chances. So, I would argue that, in many cases, poor team defensive play is more responsible for a poor save percentage than the individual goalie's performance. Boudreau was never my guy. He is not a bad coach, but I just did not like his style of play.
A little bit of the "coverage sack" and/or "interceptions under pressure" effect. It's almost as though the team composition and playing scheme matter a lot.
New GM Bill Guerin:
Guerin was probably going to bring in his guy at the end of the season anyway. Doesn't sound like they're going to rebuild mode yet.
She (in training for Tokyo Marathon in 2 weeks) has a 20 mile run tomorrow in 12F. So tonight she got the runner special: skinless/boneless chicken thighs, baked sweet potato, and kale salad with berries, mandarin oranges, and toasted almond slices. Hooch marinade for the chix I made a couple weeks back: red Chinese peppers with seeds, jalapenos, garlic, rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, fish sauce, soy sauce.