112 thoughts on “November 20, 2012: World’s Greatest”

  2. Mousal update: a couple of weeks ago, I put a little box of DCON in my garage. I went on a trip to ND and when I came back, all of the pellets had been taken. Were they eaten? Taken for storage? Well, the first afternoon I got back, I found a dead mouse lying on my driveway. I have since been informed that the neighbors to the East found a dead mouse in their yard. (The neighbor to the West is the guy who has trapped north of 30.) It seems that the mice have been ingesting the poison, with the desired results. I put two new boxes in the garage and I have seen no activity. Have I gotten the lot of them? Maybe.

      2. That frickin mouse deserves it.
        Book teaches kids that it's never OK to say no to kind requests.

        If you give a mouse a cookie,
        he's going to ask for a glass of milk.

        If you tell him to just be happy he got a cookie,
        you'll have the rest of the day to yourself.

          1. No. I'd rather read score of Sandra Boynton books in a row than a single If You [redacted] a [redacted] a [redacted] book. Whiny freaking mouse.

            If I'd've written Go the [redacted] to Sleep, it would have been shorter:

            Go back to bed,
            quietly please dear,
            or we'll have to lock your door.

            [We turned the doorknob around so she couldn't accidentally lock herself in her room again, but there are other advantages.]

            1. A cow says "Moo". A sheep says "Baa". Three dancing pigs say "La-la-la". No, no you say, that isn't right. A pig says "Oink" all day and all night!

              This, or some variation of this, runs through my head about 40 minutes out of every hour...

              1. Our My favorites are The Going to Bed Book and But Not the Hippopotamus!
                Hearing my little AJR say "Armadillo" in the second of those titles was pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.
                Before she could express preferences, I read her The Going to Bed Book every single day, at least once. So, with her getting it at least 400 times and CER and HPR maybe 150 times each, and maybe 50 for LBR, I'm at least Three Quarters of the way to having read the book a thousand times.

                1. I started reading But Not The Hippopotamus! with a Brittish accent, and I do the animal pack line in a cockney tone. I needed to find little things to spice up the books. The ABC's book is all about actions now.

                  1. I can dig it.
                    "OY! Come Join th'lot o us!"
                    I can't even imagine a proper Cockney, other than "Oy"

                    I do Theo Lesieg*'s Ten Apples Up on Top! with different voices for the Lion (mixing it up, I haven't settled), Dog (as me as possible), the Tiger (subcontinental accent: I assume he's a Bengal), and the Mama Bear (growly, schredding my vocal cords).

                    I've also been reading AJR stories from Rev. W. Awdry's Railway Series (a/k/a Thomas the Train), and I realized that Sir Topham Hatt works really well with a Nixon impersonation.

                    *Dr. Suess writing but not illustrating

                    1. "'AY" works pretty well too, but I think the key on that one is the volume, more than anything else.

                1. A little girl at daycare couldn't say my daughter's name, "Lilja" and just went with "La-la"...it stuck. Then we got the book and my kiddo decided that it must be about her. We're working on getting her to tell us what the other animals say; her favorite is currently the horse - "whinny & neigh" in the voice of a 15-month-old. Now that, my friend, is the definition of cute.

        4. My daughter read "Cat in the Hat" to me the other night. No, she hasn't memorized it, it is on my iPad and she hadn't seen it in a year. What kind of mother leaves her two little kids at home alone all day long, anyway?

    2. Mice are in our walls. Based on the fact that I haven't found any mangled corpses, it would appear that either they're not stupid enough to come into the house proper, or that they simply haven't found a way to do so.

      Either way, they're tapping and scratching and whatnot, and it's driving my cat and my wife insane. Me? I sleep right through it.

        1. The last time we Dcon'd, one of the little bastards found its way up into the space beneath our bathroom cabinet before croaking. It took an air purifier three days to eliminate the smell even after I retrieved the body. We've been hesitant to poison since then.

      2. I've been dealing with mice. I had a guy come out and seal up the outside, theoretically trapping them inside. That's when they finally started going for the bait and I kilt about 6 or so. And I used expanding foam to seal off their interior pathways.

        Unfortunately the remaining mice/mouse is/are in the ceiling above the kitchen. Our kitchen ceiling is made from what may be the rescued clapboard that used to be on the house and has these 1/2-inch gaps in between the boards. They're up there chewing and kicking crap (literally) down on the floor, counter, etc. It's disgusting. I can't get in to that space, so I can't trap them, I don't want poison raining down with everything else. I think I'm at call-an-exterminator stage. Or shotgun-through-the-ceiling stage.

        Not sure yet.

    3. I've got a vole problem. What are the effects of the poisoned carcasses on pets? My neighborhood has lots of dogs that might play with or eat the dead voles.

      1. I think if pets ingest Dconned animals, they've also ingested Dcon.
        Not sure if the concentration's potent enough to kill them, or how many they'd need to eat.
        Still, in that case, I'd play it safe.

  3. Randy Wittman has a coaching record of 56-145 since 2009, including 0-9 this year with the Wizards.

    1. maybe he can come work for the Kings.

      for the record, I think Aileen Voisin is a blowhard idiot, mostly whining that Petrie is not media-friendly enough.

      The fact Petrie refused to publicly address his players' suspensions when approached by local news outlets? That he sat on his stool in the arena's tunnel and remained stone-faced while the ejected Robinson walked past him en route to the locker room? That he stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the increasing importance of the 24/7 news cycle and the explosion in blogs and talk shows?

      These are systemic, rotting-at-the-core issues, yet Petrie's approach is to pretend none of this exists. He is an isolationist at a time when the masses want to be included, especially in small-market, one-team towns. Want to be heard. Want to be appreciated. Want some reason to believe that the world isn't ending, that the Kings aren't leaving, and that with something resembling an offense, the team would be entertaining and uplifting, and certainly better than 2-8.

  5. I just heard that the JRR Tolkien estate is suing the studio that made "The Hobbit" for marketing an online gambling app based on Tolkien characters because it "hurts his legacy" or some such. And allowing Denny's to base a menu on hobbitry doesn't????

  6. Lean - I didn't get over to the Casa during yesterday's XI wrap-up conversation so I'll say it here - Congratulations on the win. You played a h*ll of a game.
    -MDB aka CoC

    1. Thanks. I've been meaning to send you a message about some other stuff too, but also wanted a bit of a post-wrap with you. I hope it didn't hurt too much when I picked Gilman.

      1. Broke my little bucket heart...but I was planning to do the same; he was the weaker competitor (no matter your claim of matrimonial fidelity).
        Many of the others have questioned my decision to let you live at 5. All I can say is that I'd spent 4 months being trained learning to trust you implicitly...had to living on the outside. Up until then, it had served us well. I just didn't take into account your fear of me devotion to him.

        1. Yeah, I told Kelly part way through about how I was being very dedicated to protecting you and Chubby, in part because that would hopefully create real trust, and any flip against me would hopefully be perceived as a betrayal by the flipper, and if you guys had to wrestle with that, then maybe I could survive when I otherwise shouldn't.

          1. That said, you also had no more reason for trusting Chubby at that point, so your path to the final 2 became pretty precarious.

            1. Yup. Also, your plaintive "I'll just cry if Chubby survives longer than me" hit a nerve. I have no idea why it resonated, but there you are.

              1. Oh yeah, I went all emotional with my plea there, reaching out to a base desire outside the game. It was true - I really wanted at least 4th, given my previous finishes (2nd, 3rd) - but it was also true that making it past 4 would be a lot easier than making it past 5.

                2. I couldn't either. And you have a note to that effect, about how I thought I got close but not all the way there... It just proves CoC's humanity, is all. The weakling.

    2. Hey CoC, can you confirm (or deny) the conversation I claimed to have had with you during my walk with tha Spoons.

        1. Yes, but more specifically the content. Did I tell you about how through Survivor IX I basically succeeded by just lying low and letting everyone else do all the heavy lifting and maneuvering?

          1. Yes and yes...but I didn't necessarily imitate it on purpose. My position gelled over the course of the first few challenges and then crystalized when the big Alliance formed with me on the outside. That being said, I was primarily lying low with them. I felt like I did my fair share of lifting within the Core, constrained of course by the limitations of my status and the needs of our long-term strategy.

              1. Thanks for the affirmation...I knew Gloop was a true challenger, I just never quite put together how accurate that assessment was.

            2. Cool, it's a tricky position to be in and you handled it perfectly. I was just trying to remember if that conversation actually happened (my brain was pretty shot by that point). Also, I'm sure I warned you to watch out for Geoff!

  7. From tWWL:

    If you're looking for a team that will undergo a midseason makeover like Boston did, I give you the Minnesota Timberwolves. Did you notice that they have a top-five defense right now? Yes, the Timberwolves, who ranked 21st on defense last season, have been nasty on that end of the floor.

    But of course it's not the same team. The Wolves have missed the offensive magic of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, but the young duo should rejoin the team sometime in December. And their return should dramatically improve the team's bottom-10 ranking on offense.

    Secondly, the oft-injured defensive savant, Andrei Kirilenko, has missed at least 10 games in each of his past eight seasons in the NBA. Though the Timberwolves have caught a nasty case of the injury bug, it somehow hasn't plagued Kirilenko yet. If and when that happens, expect their offensive and defensive rankings to fly in opposite directions.

    emphasis mine.

    Because you know, injuries are contagious.

  8. Yay, B1G!

    The top of the conference is largely shaky, and the bottom has never been worse: I imagine Purdue and Minnesota and Illinois would struggle to finish .500 in the MAC.

    Jerry Kill still has a MAC quality team, but he's getting the $$$ to get Bowl EligibleTM against the likes of UNLV (3OT win against a 2 win team that lost to Colorado State by three touchdowns, who in turn lost to NDSU by 15 points) and Western Michigan. Oh, and those other two conference dregs.

    1. Combined B1G-MAC standings, per Sagarin:

      Rank Team
      16 - Ohio State
      18 - Nebraska
      20 - Michigan
      26 - Wisconsin
      31 - Northwestern
      37 - Penn State
      40 - Northern Illinois
      42 - Michigan State
      50 - Kent State
      59 - Ball State
      61 - Toledo
      66 - Minnesota
      67 - Purdue
      69 - Iowa
      72 - Indiana
      79 - Bowling Green
      91 - Ohio
      113 - Western Michigan
      122 - Central Michigan
      126 - Illinois
      131 - Miami-Ohio
      135 - Buffalo
      145 - Eastern Michigan
      171 - Akron
      178 - Massachusetts

        1. Hey, at least they are scheduling reasonable opponents. How about Alabama playing 1-9 Western Carolina at home? I wonder how much Western Carolina got paid to give Alabama a bye week.

        2. Pfff, wouldnt' even put them in the top of of the B1G Whatever.

          Edited: Obviously, this was supposed to nest under the NDSU talk.

      2. For comparison, Brewster's 2010 squad was 93rd ranked, Kill's 2010 Northern Illinois squad was 46th.

        In Elite coaching news, the 2011 Washington State Cougars were 83rd-ranked and the 2012 Leach-led Washington State Cougars are 100th-ranked. Leach has 4 years left on a deal that pays him about $2.2M/year.

        2. Gophers by Sagarin going back to the beginning of his archive:

          Rank - Year
          44 - 1998
          16 - 1999
          62 - 2000
          69 - 2001
          46 - 2002
          24 - 2003
          38 - 2004
          27 - 2005
          48 - 2006
          123 - 2007
          75 - 2008
          64 - 2009
          93 - 2010
          88 - 2011
          66 - 2012

          Avg. Rank - Coach
          42 - Mason
          89 - Brewster
          77 - Kill

          1. ONE top-20 finish and two top-30 finishes in 15 years. Seems like a good return on investment to me....

            1. It is pretty gross that Kill's $1.2M/year contract is probably pretty low for the B1G--since it's a 7-year deal if he stays all 7 years it seems like he could pretty easily be the lowest-paid head coach in the conference by the end of the deal. I doubt that doubling down on that would really get the Gophers anywhere, though.

          1. I think it's safe to say he wasn't supposed to make the team worse. There is also some sort of scandal or what-have-you in their program this year.

            1. In case it's important to anyone, I'm actually curious.
              I didn't realize Leach was coaching again. I had wanted him for the MN job, so part of me wants him to succeed somewhere else so I can feel smart and say "look what MN coulda had."

              1. Looks like it's AMR vs. ubelmann, then. 🙂 I wasn't ever sold on Leach, especially for what MN would have had to pay him (twice what Kill makes, essentially). Leach seems like the sort of coach that may win you a lot of games (but may not if your program isn't based in Texas), and may also leave you with 3 years of NCAA scholarship/recruiting restrictions after he takes your money.

    2. Sun Belt teams have beaten SEC teams twice this year, including a defeat over a then #8 ranked Arkansas. The bottom feeder af the Big 12 have always been bad. Before this UCLA turnaround, the Pac10/12 has been USC and Oregon. The Big 10 is miles ahead of the Big East football, and the Big 10 just poached their best team.

      I think this guy was bitter when he wrote the article because he had to endure watching Wisconsin football.

    3. If you're going to make that comparison, you failed to mention a win over Syracuse, which is bowl eligible and handed Louisville its only loss.

    1. OK, I dig that. Looks like something that's been there forever because the team was too cheap in the 80's and 90's and now it's clunky classic that they've finally only modernized slightly. Sure beats the old Mets-based orange and blue bison, which was a Mountain West/WAC logo. Simultaneously reminds me of Mr. Redlegs and the recent Blue Jays fix (though without being as good as either). Using the same B cap that the buffalo wears would be a plus.

      In other MILB logo/uni news, the Reading Phillies are now the Reading Fightins and also the Baseballtown Hotdogs. Holy split personalities! I think the Punching F is great and I might actually buy that Ostrich hat. (I absolutely love how random the concept for that uni set is.) And the Hotdogs set is good enough, not good, but better than the RailRiders. But you can't be two teams. Pick one uni set (the Ostrich set! the Ostrich set!) and stick with it. Also: why not the Phightin' Phils? Or the Reading Readies? Fightin' Readies?

  10. Rick Adelman quote of the week:

    Jon Krawczynski ‏@APkrawczynski
    Adelman says Pek is a go for tomorrow night. "As long as he doesn't go bowling tonight." #Twolves

  11. So the reason I drove through Mankato recently (without stopping to visit Philosofer) was because both my uncle and my grandma in Omerha were in the midst of some fairly serious medical treatments. I just got word that the uncle is being released from the hospital after about a month in the isolation unit to go home with hospice care for his last few days. When I saw him, he looked absolutely awful, but at least I got to say goodbye. He lived a very, very interesting life full of incredible peaks and valleys. Thankfully, all the major valleys (except for this recent onset of leukemia) were before I was born.

  12. I wonder what franchise's managers would form the best team of players. Here's the Twins for example.

    C:
    1b: Tom Kelly
    2b: Billy Martin, Billy Gardner, Gene Mauch, Cal Ermer
    3b: Frank Quilici, Johnny Goryl
    Ss: Ron Gardenhire, Bill Rigney
    Of: Sam Mele, Cookie Lavagetto
    P: Ray Miller

    I never realized that the franchise had been managed almost exclusively by futility infielders.

    1. Here's the Mighty Whities, for comparison:

      C: Ray Schalk, Al Lopez, Jeff Torborg, Paul Richards
      1b: Jim Fregosi, Lew Fonseca
      2b: Eddie Collins, Johnny Evers, Eddie Stanky
      3b: Robin Ventura, Jimmie Dykes,
      Ss: Donie Bush, Ozzie Guillen, Marty Marion, Don Kessinger
      Of: Larry Doby, Hugh Duffy, Fielder Jones, Jimmy Callahan
      P: Bob Lemon, Ted Lyons, Ed Walsh, Kid Gleason, Clark Griffith, Don Cooper

      That's a pretty impressive squad.

    2. Just for fun, here is KCR (minus a couple of short-term interims that I was too lazy to include):

      C: Tony Pena (GG, AS), Bob Boone (GG, AS), Ned Yost, John Wathan, Jack McKeon (minors)
      1b: Tony Muser
      2b: Joe Gordon (HOF), Billy Gardner
      3b: Buddy Bell (GG, AS), Mike Ferraro
      SS: Dick Howser, Trey Hillman (AA)
      OF: Hal McRae (AS), Whitey Herzog, Charlie Metro, Jim Frey (AAA)
      P: Bob Lemon (HOF)

    3. you need to include the Senators' managers if you are gonna do the whole history of the Whities.

      Bucky Harris was a HOF 2b
      Joe Cronin was a HOF SS
      Walter Johnson was Walter Johnson.

    1. Too bad the 'Bring couldn't make it. I can just see that sweet rig pulling a boat parked in Times Square.

  15. This thread at the Dish is fascinating to me. Probably too Forbidden Zoney? for discussion here, but I wanted to leave the link in case our resident veterans (e.g., Can of Corn, CarterHayes, others?) thought it appropriate to discuss here or on the bookface.

    1. Thanks for the link...the stuff before the medals thread is really interesting though probably forbidden. As for ribbons, medals & the like - I'll have to consider a response, but at first blush, I don't think the subject is necessarily forbidden zone material.

  16. A little not safe for work. I can relate to this story. This has to be about someone here, right?

    1. Thielbar!!!!!! To think, it was less than eighteen months ago when he was a member of the St. Paul Saints getting heckled unmercifully by (among others) CoC and me.

  18. My mom is kicking the traditional Thanksgiving Turkey to the curb and starting a new tradition. Thanksgiving Ham.

    I approve.

    1. I'm brining the turkey again this year. None of my family had tried it until I insisted on giving it a go last year. I'm pretty sure I'm stuck doing turkey forever now.

      1. A brine bath and some clove butter under the skin have been crowd pleasers at the slaughterhouse the last several years. I'm thankful that I don't have to cook much this year (save for a bit of grill work...).

        1. I once did a maple glazed turkey with a white-wine gravy. It was fantastic. Found out yesterday that we're hosting my sister-in-law instead of going somewhere like I'd originally thought. Just my sister-in-law, so an entire turkey seems absurd. I gotta figure something out soon.

  20. Can of Corn,
    I'll be at my Uncle's on Thanksgiving Afternoon, near Lake Phalen.
    You still live near there? Will you be around on Thursday? I'll bring some good beer if you say yes.

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