Ugh...thanks, hj. It's a rather stressful time on the home front right now. We're out of this house in 22 days, and don't know where we'll be landing. The Milkmaid's looking rather aggressively for a promotion in the Seattle area, but in order to finish the school year here in Phoenix we need to figure out somewhere to live for two weeks more, at least. The timing of all of this is driving us insane.
I don't want to muscle-in on anyone else's duties/role here, but I can always pinch-hit for the CoC if need be. With the time difference, it's quite easy for me to make sure everyone in the States gets a fresh steaming pile cup first thing in the morning.
I generally set them up the night before...but the last two nights have had me with a lot of stuff on my mind. If it gets to be habit-forming, I'll ask for backup, but as of now I'm not worried. Thanks, though.
httpv://youtu.be/Gb3h34KFmgk
Guess who that is scoring the try?
*this guy*
that was a lot of "three yards and a cloud of dust", matriculating down the field.
5-11? I thought I told you guys I wanted a .500 record when I got back
Greg Gibson makes a bad call against the Twins, and pays for it:
httpv://youtu.be/BiH7cXhGbs4
I'm sure that hurt like hell, but I really don't think the ball got him in the nuts. Close enough for Youtube work.
Hey, Shorty!
I don't know what's more impressive - being taller or uglier than Pek.
He could really use a beard.
Who is that dude? He's gotta be like 7-3 and 400 lbs.
Try 7'8. He's the tallest living American, from Rochester, MN. He's a BIG Pek fan. Then again, who isn't a big Pek fan.
In that case, I revise my guess to 500 pounds.
Sign him up for the Kevin McHale Big Man Camp!
J.J. Barea sounded off on the roster last night, saying that there are guys that don't care about winning on this club. I suppose that's Randolph, SCB, and maybe Martell. Of course, Darko!, but does he count anymore?
There may be some guys not playing right now who might have told J.J. to cool his engines on that front. Pretty sure that Love, Rickey, and Luke all want to win. The big fella looks like a winner, too.
Maybe J.J. was just frustrated because he made a terrible turnover at the end of the game when the Wolves could have tied it up.
J.J. is not a good point guard at the end of games. There's definitely some truth to what he's saying, but without Love, Rickey and Luke, the Wolves just aren't a good team.
That would be like losing Mauer, Morneau and Span all at the same time. Worse, really, because basketball has fewer players on the court and those three dominate control of the ball when they are playing.
I can't imagine the Twins playing without Mauer, Morneau, and Span. Oh, wait...
To the extent that Barea is right, I think this is an area where having a weak D-League hurts the NBA. I think most MLB players, individually, feel the need to play pretty hard in the "meaningless" August/September games because there are generally players getting called up who are trying to take their job. It basically never happens in the NBA that a team has 2-3 injuries to contributing players and those players are replaced from the D-League, but it happens every year that baseball teams call up players from the minors to replace injured (or underperforming) players, and sometimes to very good effect (see: 2006 Twins, for example.)
I had a bunch written here, but what's the point. It's an awful article and your summary nails it.
Basically, what sean said. Also, I think it's possible that even without steroids, baseball players could make themselves stronger than they are already if they had different strength and conditioning coaches. (And tangentially, I think the Twins' medical staff takes some of the heat for what the S&C coaches should really be held responsible for. The medical staff treats players after they are broken, but the S&C coaches ought to get the players strong enough so they don't break so much. And to the extent that anyone can spot mechanical changes that will prevent pitchers from breaking, that's a problem for the pitching coaches to address.)
Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot turns 10 today. I can't believe it's been 10 years. When it came out I was working at an arcade part time. It was two years before J & I were together. I was holding pretty strange hours since I frequently didn't work until 4 in the afternoon. This album was pretty much stuck in my CD player for most of that spring & summer. It's just hard to imagine that 10 years has gone by that quickly.
YHF completely changed the way I listened to music. Before I heard it, I had no idea what was possible musically. I was almost entirely Top 40 radio and whatever my parents had on in the car* before that. YHF opened up a whole new world to me. It's #1 on my list of favorite albums, both for it's musical merit and the nostalgic place I have for it in my heart.
*A lot of Buffett.
I have never heard it.
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, a documentary about Wilco while they were recording YHF is available on Netflix streaming. I started watching it a while back, but I wasn't in the right mood for it.
I love anything Wilco related, so my opinion is less than biased, but IATTBYH is a really interesting movie. I agree with you though that you have to be in the mood for it.
Yeah, I thought the part that I saw was good, I just misjudged what I was in the mood for and really was looking for something more light-hearted.
I've been meaning to watch this for years, but haven't. Unfortunately my internet connection is too crappy for Netflix. I should probably just buy it.
Hmmm.... I smell a classic album review on the horizon.
Hey guys, sorry about Saturday. I wished for a perfect game for my birthday. I should have been more frigging specific.
So... I am currently working on a script for a comic I co-write. Our next storyline may very well involve some MLB "stars." Brainstorming questions for the group:
What MLB players could you see agreeing to coach a little league baseball team?
What MLB players could you see refusing to endorse a defective toy?
What MLB players could you see agreeing to shamelessly endorse said toy?
What MLB players could you see as most-likely to accidentally gamble on a game and recieve a lifetime ban?
What MLB players would you most like to see lampooned in some sort?
We're just starting off, so no idea if anything I'm asking about would even make it into the storyline, but I figured this'd be as good a place as any to invite suggestions.
1 Brandon Phillips. Seriously great guy to his fans. Once went to a little league game on his day off because a kid tweeted him and asked him to come.
2 I'd use Eckstein or Jeter. Anything that promotes them as paragons of virtue is funny to me.
3 I wish Jose Lima was still alive. Can you use a dead player?
4 Accidentally? Carlos Gomez.
#1 - Agreed. I've only heard great things about Phillips
Jose Lima would have been perfect! Shoot.
Also, we need a player who can fit into the sensibilities of this strip. Jeez... too bad about Lima.
I could see J
Jim agreeing to coach a little league team. But he would be much, much funnier if he were to play his Dugout character.
Not a player anymore, but I could see Ozzie "accidentally" gambling on a game.
I could see Nyjer Morgan endorsing a defective plush toy.
What is this Dugout thing people are referring to? I feel like this is something I should know, but I don't...
so A-Rod wishes players would 'talk shop' after the game more often. The story doesnt say whether he has gone out of his way to talk shop with the younger players after the game. Wouldnt that be a sign of being a team leader?
I'm pretty sure that is what this is alluding to:
When I was 23, 24, it was fine for me to go work out early in the morning in the wintertime, or come out here early for my pregame routine, and do it by myself. Now I feel like if I don't have three or four guys with me, it's a failure, you know? Because if I learn something new in this game every day after all this time, I'm sure they can, too.
Also, from Cano, referring to Rodriguez:
"He helps me all the time," Cano says.
I stand corrected
And yeah, maybe that isn't specifically after the game, but it's not like A-Rod can stop guys from rushing home to their apartment or wherever.
I wonder if any of this gives the NBA a little pause about allowing Tom Benson to buy the Hornets.
This wasn't during that year.
In other funny news "This is 1,000 percent false." Nice.
Can we just disband that franchise now?
That is SO MANY PERCENTS!
It is all of the percents. All of them.
If proven to be true, wow.
So, Mickey Loomis knows that Brad Childress didn't have his microphone turned on?
Nah, he was listening to Mike Tice chewing on his pencil.
what's a Norwood Teague? Whatever he is, it's nice to see the school upholding the principles of amateurism.
Teague has a base salary of $240,000 at VCU. Terms of his deal are unknown, but he should get a significant bump. Maturi's salary of $451,000 ranks eighth of the 10 Big Ten schools that disclose salary data, according to a USA Today database.
he is one of us!!!! some sort of distant relative played basketball for Gophers back in the '20s
He seems like a reasonable, competent guy. As such I look forward to him being terrible and staying 10 years too long.
I had thought I was getting free nosebleed tickets to the game tonight. Nope, turns out they are Legends Club seats. I can't wait to spend the whole game in the cocktail lounge!
Hey! Check out me, Corn, AMR, and Algonad in Section 120! We are meeting at The Depot at around 5:45 or so.
Reusse gets in a pretty good body punch yesterday:
"You should have seen him when we started practice that spring," Bateman said. "Jeff had this big windup, where he swayed back in his delivery, then kind of lunged forward. But most of the time his front foot would hit the ground before his arm started forward. He was flying all over on the mound."
So, what you're saying, Coach, is that Jeff Boresz as a Division III freshman was a shorter version of Francisco Liriano?
"You said that, not me," Bateman said.
Just found out my two-day practice bar exam for my bar review are all day Friday and Saturday of SABR weekend. So stupid.
Hmmm... that's basically the entirety of what you're paying for, since everything you learn in the lectures is offset by the pain inflicted in simply attending them.
the Royals currently have a 10 game losing streak. They have also not won a home game (0-9). They play Toronto tonight before going on a road trip. If they lose tonight, it means they will have gone winless at home for the entire month of April.
Plus their AAA team sucks (and yet is better than Milwaukee's AAA team, whose fundamentals tonight were horrible).
Clete Thomas already has twice as many PAs for the Twins as Revere did before being demoted. Doumit really needs to start hitting so Gardy will stick him in RF when he's not catching. Doumit's range has to be better than Thomas' ability to make contact, right?
Actually, Doumit is in RF tonight with Plouffe in LF, Wheeling Ham DHing and Morneau at first.
actually, Casilla has the flu some PlouffE is at 2nd and Parm in LF
clearly, DH is Consuela's best defensive position. But is it the Twins' best defensive alignment, given the options? Oy.
I feel for Span out there.
Alex Wimmers is on the disabled list with a right elbow strain.
Tommy John surgery is next!
but seriously, this injury bug needs to fly away to the Philippines or something.
Ugh...thanks, hj. It's a rather stressful time on the home front right now. We're out of this house in 22 days, and don't know where we'll be landing. The Milkmaid's looking rather aggressively for a promotion in the Seattle area, but in order to finish the school year here in Phoenix we need to figure out somewhere to live for two weeks more, at least. The timing of all of this is driving us insane.
I don't want to muscle-in on anyone else's duties/role here, but I can always pinch-hit for the CoC if need be. With the time difference, it's quite easy for me to make sure everyone in the States gets a fresh steaming
pilecup first thing in the morning.I generally set them up the night before...but the last two nights have had me with a lot of stuff on my mind. If it gets to be habit-forming, I'll ask for backup, but as of now I'm not worried. Thanks, though.
httpv://youtu.be/Gb3h34KFmgk
Guess who that is scoring the try?
*this guy*
that was a lot of "three yards and a cloud of dust", matriculating down the field.
5-11? I thought I told you guys I wanted a .500 record when I got back
Did you specify a team?
Finished Season 4 of Breaking Bad last night
I'm hoping if your prediction comes true that'll mean...
But what I really see down the road is
Dude,
Removed for my poor use of Spoiler tags.
Greg Gibson makes a bad call against the Twins, and pays for it:
httpv://youtu.be/BiH7cXhGbs4
I'm sure that hurt like hell, but I really don't think the ball got him in the nuts. Close enough for Youtube work.
Hey, Shorty!
I don't know what's more impressive - being taller or uglier than Pek.
He could really use a beard.
Who is that dude? He's gotta be like 7-3 and 400 lbs.
Try 7'8. He's the tallest living American, from Rochester, MN. He's a BIG Pek fan. Then again, who isn't a big Pek fan.
In that case, I revise my guess to 500 pounds.
Sign him up for the Kevin McHale Big Man Camp!
J.J. Barea sounded off on the roster last night, saying that there are guys that don't care about winning on this club. I suppose that's Randolph, SCB, and maybe Martell. Of course, Darko!, but does he count anymore?
There may be some guys not playing right now who might have told J.J. to cool his engines on that front. Pretty sure that Love, Rickey, and Luke all want to win. The big fella looks like a winner, too.
Maybe J.J. was just frustrated because he made a terrible turnover at the end of the game when the Wolves could have tied it up.
J.J. is not a good point guard at the end of games. There's definitely some truth to what he's saying, but without Love, Rickey and Luke, the Wolves just aren't a good team.
That would be like losing Mauer, Morneau and Span all at the same time. Worse, really, because basketball has fewer players on the court and those three dominate control of the ball when they are playing.
I can't imagine the Twins playing without Mauer, Morneau, and Span. Oh, wait...
To the extent that Barea is right, I think this is an area where having a weak D-League hurts the NBA. I think most MLB players, individually, feel the need to play pretty hard in the "meaningless" August/September games because there are generally players getting called up who are trying to take their job. It basically never happens in the NBA that a team has 2-3 injuries to contributing players and those players are replaced from the D-League, but it happens every year that baseball teams call up players from the minors to replace injured (or underperforming) players, and sometimes to very good effect (see: 2006 Twins, for example.)
Loser, loser, loser,...
Shorter Tom Verducci: I miss teh 'roids.
I had a bunch written here, but what's the point. It's an awful article and your summary nails it.
Basically, what sean said. Also, I think it's possible that even without steroids, baseball players could make themselves stronger than they are already if they had different strength and conditioning coaches. (And tangentially, I think the Twins' medical staff takes some of the heat for what the S&C coaches should really be held responsible for. The medical staff treats players after they are broken, but the S&C coaches ought to get the players strong enough so they don't break so much. And to the extent that anyone can spot mechanical changes that will prevent pitchers from breaking, that's a problem for the pitching coaches to address.)
Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot turns 10 today. I can't believe it's been 10 years. When it came out I was working at an arcade part time. It was two years before J & I were together. I was holding pretty strange hours since I frequently didn't work until 4 in the afternoon. This album was pretty much stuck in my CD player for most of that spring & summer. It's just hard to imagine that 10 years has gone by that quickly.
YHF completely changed the way I listened to music. Before I heard it, I had no idea what was possible musically. I was almost entirely Top 40 radio and whatever my parents had on in the car* before that. YHF opened up a whole new world to me. It's #1 on my list of favorite albums, both for it's musical merit and the nostalgic place I have for it in my heart.
*A lot of Buffett.
I have never heard it.
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, a documentary about Wilco while they were recording YHF is available on Netflix streaming. I started watching it a while back, but I wasn't in the right mood for it.
I love anything Wilco related, so my opinion is less than biased, but IATTBYH is a really interesting movie. I agree with you though that you have to be in the mood for it.
Yeah, I thought the part that I saw was good, I just misjudged what I was in the mood for and really was looking for something more light-hearted.
I've been meaning to watch this for years, but haven't. Unfortunately my internet connection is too crappy for Netflix. I should probably just buy it.
Hmmm.... I smell a classic album review on the horizon.
Hey guys, sorry about Saturday. I wished for a perfect game for my birthday. I should have been more frigging specific.
shya!
No talk of Whirled Peas here??
Nope, it's over there.
So... I am currently working on a script for a comic I co-write. Our next storyline may very well involve some MLB "stars." Brainstorming questions for the group:
What MLB players could you see agreeing to coach a little league baseball team?
What MLB players could you see refusing to endorse a defective toy?
What MLB players could you see agreeing to shamelessly endorse said toy?
What MLB players could you see as most-likely to accidentally gamble on a game and recieve a lifetime ban?
What MLB players would you most like to see lampooned in some sort?
We're just starting off, so no idea if anything I'm asking about would even make it into the storyline, but I figured this'd be as good a place as any to invite suggestions.
1 Brandon Phillips. Seriously great guy to his fans. Once went to a little league game on his day off because a kid tweeted him and asked him to come.
2 I'd use Eckstein or Jeter. Anything that promotes them as paragons of virtue is funny to me.
3 I wish Jose Lima was still alive. Can you use a dead player?
4 Accidentally? Carlos Gomez.
#1 - Agreed. I've only heard great things about Phillips
Jose Lima would have been perfect! Shoot.
Also, we need a player who can fit into the sensibilities of this strip. Jeez... too bad about Lima.
I could see J
Jim agreeing to coach a little league team. But he would be much, much funnier if he were to play his Dugout character.
Not a player anymore, but I could see Ozzie "accidentally" gambling on a game.
I could see Nyjer Morgan endorsing a defective plush toy.
What is this Dugout thing people are referring to? I feel like this is something I should know, but I don't...
see here
Nyjer Morgan is actually the answer to all of these questions.
I think you meant Tony Plush.
#4 Torii Hunter
Balls, I was just coming by to say that. I suppose I might have known we couldn't go this long without naming him.
Whoa, I actually meant Hunter for #3.
He's versatiile
You're makin' 'em count, ben.
3. Jonathan Papelbon
4. Jonathan Papelbon
5. Jonathan Papelbon
I see I'm about 2 hours late (and didn't scroll down). Petunia would also be funny to mock.
What MLB players could you see as most-likely to accidentally gamble on a game and recieve a lifetime ban?
You're looking for real-life players, yes? Otherwise, the answer to this one is the "Dugout" encarnations of Papelbon and Manny.
Edit: This was for Philo. My bad.
Yeah, real-life players. Still, those two ain't bad in real life either.
dark matter...?
What do my daughter and A-Rod have in common? They both put the toothpaste on their brush now.
so A-Rod wishes players would 'talk shop' after the game more often. The story doesnt say whether he has gone out of his way to talk shop with the younger players after the game. Wouldnt that be a sign of being a team leader?
I'm pretty sure that is what this is alluding to:
Also, from Cano, referring to Rodriguez:
I stand corrected
And yeah, maybe that isn't specifically after the game, but it's not like A-Rod can stop guys from rushing home to their apartment or wherever.
So, um, the Saints... wow.
VA-CATE! VA-CATE! VA-CATE! VA-CATE! VA-CATE! VA-CATE! VA-CATE!
I wonder if any of this gives the NBA a little pause about allowing Tom Benson to buy the Hornets.
This wasn't during that year.
In other funny news "This is 1,000 percent false." Nice.
Can we just disband that franchise now?
That is SO MANY PERCENTS!
It is all of the percents. All of them.
If proven to be true, wow.
So, Mickey Loomis knows that Brad Childress didn't have his microphone turned on?
Nah, he was listening to Mike Tice chewing on his pencil.
what's a Norwood Teague? Whatever he is, it's nice to see the school upholding the principles of amateurism.
he is one of us!!!! some sort of distant relative played basketball for Gophers back in the '20s
He seems like a reasonable, competent guy. As such I look forward to him being terrible and staying 10 years too long.
Extensions for everyone!
If you enjoy the NBA game and the absurd, you will enjoy this piece on the history of the Nets.
I had thought I was getting free nosebleed tickets to the game tonight. Nope, turns out they are Legends Club seats. I can't wait to spend the whole game in the cocktail lounge!
Hey! Check out me, Corn, AMR, and Algonad in Section 120! We are meeting at The Depot at around 5:45 or so.
Reusse gets in a pretty good body punch yesterday:
Just found out my two-day practice bar exam for my bar review are all day Friday and Saturday of SABR weekend. So stupid.
Hmmm... that's basically the entirety of what you're paying for, since everything you learn in the lectures is offset by the pain inflicted in simply attending them.
the Royals currently have a 10 game losing streak. They have also not won a home game (0-9). They play Toronto tonight before going on a road trip. If they lose tonight, it means they will have gone winless at home for the entire month of April.
Plus their AAA team sucks (and yet is better than Milwaukee's AAA team, whose fundamentals tonight were horrible).
Clete Thomas already has twice as many PAs for the Twins as Revere did before being demoted. Doumit really needs to start hitting so Gardy will stick him in RF when he's not catching. Doumit's range has to be better than Thomas' ability to make contact, right?
Actually, Doumit is in RF tonight with Plouffe in LF, Wheeling Ham DHing and Morneau at first.
actually, Casilla has the flu some PlouffE is at 2nd and Parm in LF
clearly, DH is Consuela's best defensive position. But is it the Twins' best defensive alignment, given the options? Oy.
I feel for Span out there.
Alex Wimmers is on the disabled list with a right elbow strain.
Tommy John surgery is next!
but seriously, this injury bug needs to fly away to the Philippines or something.
Of course he is.