Showing posts with label Good Talk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Good Talk. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Who's your name again?
Yeah, no time for blogging. My life is currently absorbed in various wedding preparations and making sure that I get enough work done so that I don't get dragged back to the office in the middle of the "Electric Slide". See you on the otherside.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
What's in a name?
Ever since I started paying attention to politics I've enjoyed checking in on various websites and reading the comments that readers leave behind. As abrasive and crazy as people can be in public it doesn't even come close to what is exhibited when these people get the protection of electronic anonymity.
It is in these forums where you will see every example of awful debate, immaturity, ignorance, and zero class. You might think that people who immerse themselves in politics might be somewhat interested in a good eye opening debate. In fact they usually just want to stay safe within the secure confines of like minded people. Occasionally they may lead a sortie consisting of straw man arguments, blanket statements, ad hominem attacks, and the ever present violation of Goodwin's law but they will then retreat swiftly and ignore and points made against them.
Perhaps my favorite element of this little world would have to be the user names of conservatives on these message boards. It's very rare to see a simple last name + year of birth combo or anything equally innocent. Instead you get declarations that instantly make them better Americans than you. Take this page for example. On this page you get the following:
Old Yankee
Tea Party Patriot
Preacher 's justice
Patriot
wakeuppeople
Don't tread on me!
real American
One_Nation_Under_God
Statesman/Patriot
mad vet
Concerned_American
american boy
These are actually kind of tame compared to other pages I've seen but the point remains the same. Is it wrong that I think this is hilarious? It's kind of like a preemptive strike. "Sure you can try to refute my logic of why Obama is purposely trying to destroy the country but you can't win because the word 'Patriot' is in my username." That's the only way I can interpret this stuff.
Is there a reason that conservatives spend a good portion of their time telling each other how American or how patriotic they are? Is this part of the mentality that leads them to believe they can instantly discard any opposing viewpoint simply because they think the other person is a "libtard"?
I consider myself a "real American". I consider myself patriotic. I am firm in my beliefs and yet I have no need to tell everyone just how American I am. Part of me wants to ignore the circle jerk that is conservative discussion but the other part can't help but think about dudes who tell everyone how much ass they get to cover for the fact that they aren't getting any.
So it's absolutely fine that these people need to dub themselves "SuperPatrioticMan" or "MoreAmericanThanU" but it really does not mean a god damn thing. It also means nothing when Sean Hannity names 2 bimbos and himself the "Great American Panel". There is no validity behind the name "Keep America Safe" when in actuality all you are doing, Liz, is performing revisionism on the past.
So what's in a name? Absolutely nothing... as long as you're capable of seeing past the book cover.
It is in these forums where you will see every example of awful debate, immaturity, ignorance, and zero class. You might think that people who immerse themselves in politics might be somewhat interested in a good eye opening debate. In fact they usually just want to stay safe within the secure confines of like minded people. Occasionally they may lead a sortie consisting of straw man arguments, blanket statements, ad hominem attacks, and the ever present violation of Goodwin's law but they will then retreat swiftly and ignore and points made against them.
Perhaps my favorite element of this little world would have to be the user names of conservatives on these message boards. It's very rare to see a simple last name + year of birth combo or anything equally innocent. Instead you get declarations that instantly make them better Americans than you. Take this page for example. On this page you get the following:
Old Yankee
Tea Party Patriot
Preacher 's justice
Patriot
wakeuppeople
Don't tread on me!
real American
One_Nation_Under_God
Statesman/Patriot
mad vet
Concerned_American
american boy
These are actually kind of tame compared to other pages I've seen but the point remains the same. Is it wrong that I think this is hilarious? It's kind of like a preemptive strike. "Sure you can try to refute my logic of why Obama is purposely trying to destroy the country but you can't win because the word 'Patriot' is in my username." That's the only way I can interpret this stuff.
Is there a reason that conservatives spend a good portion of their time telling each other how American or how patriotic they are? Is this part of the mentality that leads them to believe they can instantly discard any opposing viewpoint simply because they think the other person is a "libtard"?
I consider myself a "real American". I consider myself patriotic. I am firm in my beliefs and yet I have no need to tell everyone just how American I am. Part of me wants to ignore the circle jerk that is conservative discussion but the other part can't help but think about dudes who tell everyone how much ass they get to cover for the fact that they aren't getting any.
So it's absolutely fine that these people need to dub themselves "SuperPatrioticMan" or "MoreAmericanThanU" but it really does not mean a god damn thing. It also means nothing when Sean Hannity names 2 bimbos and himself the "Great American Panel". There is no validity behind the name "Keep America Safe" when in actuality all you are doing, Liz, is performing revisionism on the past.
So what's in a name? Absolutely nothing... as long as you're capable of seeing past the book cover.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Oh how the mighty have fallen
When I first started writing this blog it was almost a year ago and the Red Wings were looking like a power to be reckoned with despite some flaws. Fast forward to now and the team that has consistently been among the league leaders in wins is fighting for a playoff spot. What the hell happened?
Granted, the Red Wings are currently surging, but it is still concerning to see them hanging out just a little north of the playoff cutoff. It could be worse. Only a week ago they were barely hanging on the 8th spot but a 5 game win streak has them now in 6th place. With 7 games left to play it could still come crashing down.
So what happened to the Wings? For starters, they are all a year older now. Detroit doesn't exactly have youth on their side and it's been some time since they last did. Like all teams that rely on key veteran pick-ups there will inevitably come the day when everyone turns old all at once. Considering they are still qualifying for the playoffs that day hasn't come yet, but things are looking like they are going downhill. It was never more evident than it was in last years Stanley Cup when the younger Penguins were skating circles around the Wings. Pretty soon they are going to have to replace a lot of key guys. Looking over their roster there area lot of 30s (Datsyuk 31, Draper 38, Franzen 30, Holmstrom 37, Cleary 31, Lidstrom 39, Rafalski 36, Osgood 37).
What else has gone wrong? Well for a couple years now the Wings have been getting by with some pretty sub-par goaltending. I respect the hell out of Osgood but he really only had average talent to begin with and he's not getting any better. In his last 5 years he has only finished the season with Save % above .900 twice. When the team as a whole is dominating you can get by but now that age is catching up and the high profile free agents would rather choose a team like Chicago it's really not going to cut it anymore. They appear to be on to something with this cat Jimmy Howard who appears to have stolen the starting job so my hopes are that he will help should the team make it to the playoffs.
Finally, and with no disrespect to Mike Babcock, the days of Scotty Bowman are over. That man was one of the greatest coaches in the NHL and I was very sorry to see him go. Babcock is getting it done, but it remains to be seen if he is only doing so with the foundation that Bowman left behind.
It's disappointing to see the Red Wings lost their dominance after so many years of beating the snot out of everybody. I am keeping one flicker of hope alive, however. Once the playoffs begin it's a whole new season. They have about a million years of playoff experience on that squad and a fresh new goaltender to work with. I wouldn't put them quite out of Stanley Cup contention yet.
On a side hockey note our Syracuse Crunch have broken ties with the Blue Jackets and affiliated themselves with the Anaheim Ducks. I hate the fuckin Ducks. That is all.
Granted, the Red Wings are currently surging, but it is still concerning to see them hanging out just a little north of the playoff cutoff. It could be worse. Only a week ago they were barely hanging on the 8th spot but a 5 game win streak has them now in 6th place. With 7 games left to play it could still come crashing down.
So what happened to the Wings? For starters, they are all a year older now. Detroit doesn't exactly have youth on their side and it's been some time since they last did. Like all teams that rely on key veteran pick-ups there will inevitably come the day when everyone turns old all at once. Considering they are still qualifying for the playoffs that day hasn't come yet, but things are looking like they are going downhill. It was never more evident than it was in last years Stanley Cup when the younger Penguins were skating circles around the Wings. Pretty soon they are going to have to replace a lot of key guys. Looking over their roster there area lot of 30s (Datsyuk 31, Draper 38, Franzen 30, Holmstrom 37, Cleary 31, Lidstrom 39, Rafalski 36, Osgood 37).
What else has gone wrong? Well for a couple years now the Wings have been getting by with some pretty sub-par goaltending. I respect the hell out of Osgood but he really only had average talent to begin with and he's not getting any better. In his last 5 years he has only finished the season with Save % above .900 twice. When the team as a whole is dominating you can get by but now that age is catching up and the high profile free agents would rather choose a team like Chicago it's really not going to cut it anymore. They appear to be on to something with this cat Jimmy Howard who appears to have stolen the starting job so my hopes are that he will help should the team make it to the playoffs.
Finally, and with no disrespect to Mike Babcock, the days of Scotty Bowman are over. That man was one of the greatest coaches in the NHL and I was very sorry to see him go. Babcock is getting it done, but it remains to be seen if he is only doing so with the foundation that Bowman left behind.
It's disappointing to see the Red Wings lost their dominance after so many years of beating the snot out of everybody. I am keeping one flicker of hope alive, however. Once the playoffs begin it's a whole new season. They have about a million years of playoff experience on that squad and a fresh new goaltender to work with. I wouldn't put them quite out of Stanley Cup contention yet.
On a side hockey note our Syracuse Crunch have broken ties with the Blue Jackets and affiliated themselves with the Anaheim Ducks. I hate the fuckin Ducks. That is all.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
More Political Hypocrisy
The world of politics is full of hypocrisy. It's kind of sad that these people are in charge of the most powerful nation on this here planet. However, this is the hand we are dealt, and all we can do is point out the BS and hope that eventually these people may feel shame. So here's some recent WTFs, bullet point style:
- Sarah Palin used to skip across the border to get some of that Canadian health care
- Uber Anti-gay Senator Roy Ashburn was caught driving home drunk from a gay nightclub with a "friend"
- Karl Rove is critical of "smear tactics" being used in campaigns
I don't even have to discuss these. They speak for themselves.
Good talk, see you out there.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Jim Bunning: Right idea at the wrong time.
Republican Senator Jim Bunning recently came under intense criticism over the past couple weeks for his continued opposition to a bill to extend unemployment benefits that were about to expire. I'm not exactly positive on the process of Congress (nor do I ever hope to devote that much time to understanding it) but he was able to single-handedly stop the benefits from passing. In a time when people are losing their jobs and being left vulnerable without medical insurance and those things we working people take for granted it was too easy for every pundit and political talking head to take shots at the guy. In the end, the bill passed.
Believe it or not, I side with Bunning.
His opposition was simple: don't extend the benefits unless we can pay for it. Is there anything wrong with that? How much better would the economic situation of the USA be if we just made sure that we could afford what we were buying? Want some entitlement programs? Fine, just be sure they're paid for. Want to go to war? Sure, how about making sure the money is there (and the WMDs, but I digress).
It seems so ridiculous that the same things that citizens can get in trouble for with the government can be done by the government without a second thought. Except for 1997-2001, our nation has not had a budget surplus in 30 years. Can you even wrap your head around that kind of spending? We have not been out of debt since the 70s. That's just... wow.
I give credit to Bunning for being the one guy to go out there and stick his neck out. Who's to say how that will play out the next time he's up for election.
I do have to disagree with the timing, however. As I said, this is a crucial time for the unemployed. This isn't like holding back on welfare or any other program typically criticized by the right. So as to why he chose this issue and this time I can't say why. He apparently thought that it was the right situation to make his stand.
Something has to change in this cycle we have gotten ourselves in to. Democrats spend too much and Republicans don't take enough in. It all amounts to the same thing. Where are the politicians who believe in both tax cuts and reduced spending? As our (soon to be) ex-governor in NYS has learned, it is extremely unpopular to be the guy who tries to clean up the mess. It would take a large influx of elected officials to all get together on this, because one or two just won't get it done. There's too much money involved. Too many special interests. Too much corruption.
I have to believe that the people we have put in to positions of power want to help this country dig itself out of the hole. I just hope that it isn't too late before they remember what they are in DC to do.
Believe it or not, I side with Bunning.
His opposition was simple: don't extend the benefits unless we can pay for it. Is there anything wrong with that? How much better would the economic situation of the USA be if we just made sure that we could afford what we were buying? Want some entitlement programs? Fine, just be sure they're paid for. Want to go to war? Sure, how about making sure the money is there (and the WMDs, but I digress).
It seems so ridiculous that the same things that citizens can get in trouble for with the government can be done by the government without a second thought. Except for 1997-2001, our nation has not had a budget surplus in 30 years. Can you even wrap your head around that kind of spending? We have not been out of debt since the 70s. That's just... wow.
I give credit to Bunning for being the one guy to go out there and stick his neck out. Who's to say how that will play out the next time he's up for election.
I do have to disagree with the timing, however. As I said, this is a crucial time for the unemployed. This isn't like holding back on welfare or any other program typically criticized by the right. So as to why he chose this issue and this time I can't say why. He apparently thought that it was the right situation to make his stand.
Something has to change in this cycle we have gotten ourselves in to. Democrats spend too much and Republicans don't take enough in. It all amounts to the same thing. Where are the politicians who believe in both tax cuts and reduced spending? As our (soon to be) ex-governor in NYS has learned, it is extremely unpopular to be the guy who tries to clean up the mess. It would take a large influx of elected officials to all get together on this, because one or two just won't get it done. There's too much money involved. Too many special interests. Too much corruption.
I have to believe that the people we have put in to positions of power want to help this country dig itself out of the hole. I just hope that it isn't too late before they remember what they are in DC to do.
Monday, March 1, 2010
You gotta love sports! (USA! USA! USA! Edition)
Happy Monday! Meh, no such thing. Especially when it isn't football season. Anyway, the Olympics are over and that makes me happy as the NHL gets back in to the groove and I no longer have to come to terms with the fact that I treated curling as a reasonable sporting alternative for two whole weeks.
First off, congrats to Canada for pulling out a big win to take the gold in hockey. If it weren't for Ryan Miller I can guarantee that USA would not have sniffed the gold medal game. Simply put, he was amazing. In the end, however, it simply seemed like the Canadian team was constantly working with a man advantage. They straight up out-played us and if it weren't for a last second goal by Parise, the game wouldn't have been nearly as big as it now seems. I'm kind of pissed that the phenomenon known as Crosby-over-adulation reared its ugly head again. Crosby was, for the most part, invisible for most of the tournament. Just like with the Stanley Cup, though, one play suddenly makes him a freakin' hero. Blow me, Crosby. On a side note that is in no way related to my Red Wing fandom, I have to give a ton of credit to Brian Rafalski. It seemed like he was on the ice at all times and leading just about every offensive surge. Hopefully he can carry that spunk back in to the regular season because he was playing like a turd prior to the Olympic break.
Secondly, yeah f'in USA! It's practically a given that we yanks will show up and just dominate the field. Just give us all the medals. We takes them!
Thirdly, it has come to my attention that I have reason once again to tune in to the YES network this week. That's right, baseball is back! Sure it's only spring training. Whatever, it's still sports.
Fourth, with baseball being back, it looks like it's time for me to finalize the fantasy baseball tiers. I participated in a public league draft last week for practice and I think I did alright. The very frustrating thing was the fact that Yahoo's draft program was constantly disconnecting. If it happens to be your turn to pick and you have some guys loaded in to your queue and you disconnect at the same time, the comp automatically selects the first guy in the list for you. This was to my detriment at least twice. But my offense is loaded. My pitching, not so much.
So there you have it sports fans.
Wait, I forgot something.
Fifthly, SU brought the lumber against 'nova this past Saturday. Being the fair weather SU fan that I am, I've decided it is now safe for me to get on the bandwagon. Rankings come out this afternoon and if SU doesn't get #1 then I am calling shenanigans.
First off, congrats to Canada for pulling out a big win to take the gold in hockey. If it weren't for Ryan Miller I can guarantee that USA would not have sniffed the gold medal game. Simply put, he was amazing. In the end, however, it simply seemed like the Canadian team was constantly working with a man advantage. They straight up out-played us and if it weren't for a last second goal by Parise, the game wouldn't have been nearly as big as it now seems. I'm kind of pissed that the phenomenon known as Crosby-over-adulation reared its ugly head again. Crosby was, for the most part, invisible for most of the tournament. Just like with the Stanley Cup, though, one play suddenly makes him a freakin' hero. Blow me, Crosby. On a side note that is in no way related to my Red Wing fandom, I have to give a ton of credit to Brian Rafalski. It seemed like he was on the ice at all times and leading just about every offensive surge. Hopefully he can carry that spunk back in to the regular season because he was playing like a turd prior to the Olympic break.
Secondly, yeah f'in USA! It's practically a given that we yanks will show up and just dominate the field. Just give us all the medals. We takes them!
Thirdly, it has come to my attention that I have reason once again to tune in to the YES network this week. That's right, baseball is back! Sure it's only spring training. Whatever, it's still sports.
Fourth, with baseball being back, it looks like it's time for me to finalize the fantasy baseball tiers. I participated in a public league draft last week for practice and I think I did alright. The very frustrating thing was the fact that Yahoo's draft program was constantly disconnecting. If it happens to be your turn to pick and you have some guys loaded in to your queue and you disconnect at the same time, the comp automatically selects the first guy in the list for you. This was to my detriment at least twice. But my offense is loaded. My pitching, not so much.
So there you have it sports fans.
Wait, I forgot something.
Fifthly, SU brought the lumber against 'nova this past Saturday. Being the fair weather SU fan that I am, I've decided it is now safe for me to get on the bandwagon. Rankings come out this afternoon and if SU doesn't get #1 then I am calling shenanigans.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
2010 Fantasy Baseball Preview
As you can probably tell, fantasy baseball has been on my mind lately. I'm constantly looking for news of who's going where and who's recovering from off-season surgery and who's winning the position battles and all that junk. So, with spring training on the horizon it's time to do an early preview.
Now, the main league that I play in is a little different from others. The traditional scoring is 5x5 (Hitters: R,HR,RBI,SB,AVE/ Pitchers: W,SV,K,EAR,WHIP). The scoring in this league is 8x8 (includes K,OBP,XBH for hitters and L,HR,CG for pitchers).
Because most of your traditional rankings from sites and magazines aren't set up for our scoring system, I've made it my mission to construct the perfect Excel spreadsheet that could do all of these rankings right. Letting this be done by nothing but pure numbers and a couple of adjustments from me (who's on the rise, declining, streaky, contract year, etc.) let's me get a good look at everything without being swayed by names and teams. I use nothing but the last 3 years of stats with the weight being .5 for last year, .3 for 2 years ago, and .2 for 2 years ago. When I list a statistic it will be that weighted average.
So, without further ado, here are my top ten hitters and pitchers:
1-Albert Pujols, 1B, STL, Score:100
No surprise here. Pujols has been the stud of studs for a few years in a row now. He's dominant in 7 of those 8 categories and was actually solid in the 8th (stolen bases) last year, as well. In 5x5 he is a beast enough, but with our 3 added categories his dominance is enhanced in that the guy never strikes out (59 weighted ave) is an OBP machine (.455!!!), and leads in XBH (84). It's not even a question that Pujols should be the first guy off the board. First base is perhaps the deepest position this year but giving up this much production for the sake of position scarcity is silly. The next closest guy is an 86. That shows how ahead of the pack Prince Albert is.
2-Hanley Ramirez, SS, FLA, Score:86
As I said, The drop-off from Pujols to everyone else is pretty significant. But just as Pujols is a no-brainer for #1, HanRam is great at #2. The distance between Albert and Hanley is kind of what the distance is from Hanley to the next best shortstop (Rollins, if you can believe that). There is no category that Ramirez is weak in. He does strike out a bit much (18%) and he could hit a few more XBH, but you're still getting a young stud capable of going 30/30 who posts an OBP of close to .400. He's also at the magical age of 27. The top 2 picks are easy, after this it gets difficult.
3-Prince Fielder, 1B, MIL, Score:83
Fielder was a beast last year, and actually a steal in the second round for me. He had a down year in 2008 but bounced back with a vengeance and has managed to hit 130 dingers in the past 3 years. That's alot. He also is a lock for about 100 runs per game and last year tied Ryan Howard for first in RBIs at 141. He's no drag on the batting average either at .290. Fielder is still young and, although I think 2009 is his ceiling, may not have reached his ceiling yet. His down year makes me hesitant to take him this early in a draft, but the numbers don't lie.
4-Ryan Braun, OF, MIL, Score:83
Quite a 1-2 punch they have in Milwaukee, eh? Braun burst in to the bigs in 2007 and hasn't stopped mashing since then. He's hit at least 30 HRs each year and is also averaging a little more than 15 SBs as well. There's really nothing bad to say about this kid. He'll help you in every category and still has room to grow. Nice.
5-Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, MIL, Score:82
What?!?! This one surprised me more than anything on the list. Ellsbury will give you speed, speed, and more speed (65 SBs). He'll also score a whole pile of runs (100 Rs) and even knock in a few to boot (59 RBIs). The one thing you won't be able to count on too much would be power, although he could still manage close to 10 HRs. Considering this is his peak year he could get 15 but that might be a wishing a bit much. I'm guessing that one of the reasons Ellsbury gets so high a score is that 625 ABs would only get you about 65 Ks, which is fantastic. So in this guy you have a kid playing for a great team who can carry at least 2 of your categories without hurting you anywhere at all. The new Carl Crawford perhaps? Nope, I say he's even better. On a side note, I hate the fackin Sawx.
6-Alex Rodriguez, 3B, NYY, Score:80
A-Rod makes a rise back up the ranks after showing himself to be pretty well recovered from the surgery he had last year. He missed a big chunk of the season and managed to come back and have one of his most productive and, more importantly, his most clutch season to date. He shrugged off alot of the criticism he received for not performing in September and October and just went out and played ball. Rodriguez gives you across the board production and should be higher except for the fact that his ABs over the last years have been decreasing (583-510-444). There's also this matter to consider but it should be no surprise to anyone that this guy is a fruitcake. If I ended up with the #3 pick there's a good chance that I may go with Rodriguez simply because I am concerned about the depth at 3rd this year.
7-Ryan Howard, 1B, PHI, Score:80
I do not like Howard. Perhaps I should give him a shot some day, but those Ks scare me. In a 5x5 league he's a great pick, but in this league anyone who averages close to 200 strikeouts better have a "SP" next to his name. That being said, you know that with Howard you are going to get 40 HRs and 130+ RBIs in the bank. He isn't even that big of a drain on the average at .269. Another thing going in his favor is that he is a monster when it counts (1.060 OPS in September). So you can snag Howard feeling safe in the power numbers, but you might need an Ichiro or two to make up for his deficiencies.
8-Dustin Pedroia, 2b, BOS, Score:80
Seemingly overhyped after his 2008 MVP season, Pedroia quietly posted an almost identical year in 2009. He won't knock your socks off in the power department but he will keep you afloat in every single category. My weighted averages have him at 112 R, 14 HR, 72 RBI, 47 K, 18 SB, .309 AVE, .372 OBP, 65 XBH. It is said that doubles can often translate in to HRs as a player reaches the peak ages of 27-28, and Pedroia has been hitting as many doubles as guys like Hanley, Teixeira, Miggy, and Holliday. I don't see Pedroia having a 30 HR power outburst, but it's quite possible that he could put together a 20/20 season this year. If not, you still have a guy who contributes everywhere and never strikes out. Pay for the safety and consistency, hope for the breakout.
9-Mark Teixeira, 1B, NYY, Score:80
Two Red Sox and now two Yankees, and thus the balance is restored. Teixeira is a man beast and the move to NY has definitely agreed with him. He started off the year extremely slowly, as did just about all the Yankees, but once A-Rod joined the lineup, Tex exploded. The only thing not to like about him is having to hear Sterling yell "A text message!!! from Teixeira!!!" every time he goes deep. Anyway, snag Teixeira and pencil in 100/35/110/.300. Not too shabby. He doesn't even strike out a ton for a slugger and his OBP is close to .400.
10-Miguel Cabrera, 1B, DET, Score:79
As I said, 1B is deep this year with 5 in the top ten. There's also 3 more in the top 20 (Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, and Joey Votto). Cabrera's numbers are nearly identical to Teixeira. You get a little better average and a little less power so you can basically decide what you need more and go from there. Cabrera should have better numbers but he has shown a lack of maturity and Detroit was awful last year and provided him with no help. Their next best guy on the list is a tie between Ryan Raburn and Magglio Ordonez. Not good. Still, they may still have some surprises (watch for Raburn and Sizemore) and Miggy is turning 27 this year. He came under a lot of criticism for some drinkings issues last year so it's possible he may come out with something to prove. Hitting has just been so easy for him, perhaps he is getting lazy. Still, if the numbers he has been posting have been due to lazy, then I can't wait to see what he does when he gets motivated.
Now for the pitchers
1-Roy Halladay, PHI, Score:100
Toss up here between Halladay and Lincecum but Roy gets the nod due to a superior track record in September. After years of looking dominant every damn day while facing teams the beasts of the AL East you now get to see him face such juggernauts as the Braves, the Nationals, and the suddenly punchless Mets. Halladay has an amazing K/BB ratio of about 5.0 and keeps the ball in the park pretty well which will come in handy in Philly's little stadium. He also was averaging a record of 17-9 with the awful offense of Toronto backing him. So now we'll see if that gets better with Utley, Howard, Rollins, Victorino, Werth, and Ibanez for support. Halladay also gets extra credit for being a complete game machine.
2-Tim Lincecum, SF, Score:99
The new hotness is this guy. He'll get you close to 250 Ks and outstanding ratios. Also, he's most likely still improving. If he was playing for any other team the Wins would be 20+ but SFs lineup is so bad that DeRosa and Huff are considered improvements. It's possible that this guy could soon get hit with the inevitable trip to see Dr James Andrews with how hard he throws but that same story could be applied to every pitcher in baseball.
3-Zack Greinke, KC, Score:95
Greinke has always shown promise but just couldn't get his shit together until he finally did last year. Prior to that he was faced with erratic performances and anxiety disorders. I drafted this guy about 3 years ago. Where the hell was the good stuff then? Anyway, he emerged in a big way last year and absolutely dominated the league for the first half of the season. There was a little bit of returning to the mean in the second half but he was still an unquestioned ace. He's good for 200 Ks, an ERA around 3, and a WHIP under 1.20. I doubt he will be as good as last year, but anything close would be fantastic. The Win potential, like with Lincecum, will be hampered by a team that just signed Ankiel to start in their outfield. It's like they're trying to be awful.
4-CC Sabathia, NYY, Score:94
Sabathia is the definition of a workhorse. I keep thinking he's going to fall to pieces after all the overworking he has been put through but he keeps on trucking through. If any pitcher has a chance at 20 wins it's this guy with that Yankee lineup behind him, not to mention Hughes and Rivera to close out the game. The 200 K potential is there, as well as a good ability to keep the ball in the park which is especially handy considering the home run tendencies being shown in the new park.
5-Dan Haren, ARI, Score:92
I am not a big fan of Haren. The experts keep scoffing at his track record but it doesn't make it less true. Haren is a guy you draft, for sure. He strikes guys out, he doesn't walk anyone or give up home runs, and his command ratio is amazing (5.04 K/BB). However, if you draft this guy, you need to sell sell sell at the All Star Break. His ERA consistently gets worse by a whole run in his 1st half/ 2nd half splits. I'm sure the one year that I end up with Haren on my roster and trade him he'll end up going apeshit in the second half. That's just the way it works.
6-Cliff Lee, SEA, Score:90
Great pickup by Seattle who now gets to boast one of the best pitching duo in baseball. Lee's recent success is somewhat surprising. He doesn't exactly have a great strikeout rate (6.9 K/9) but he does have good control and doesn't seem to be prone to the "one bad inning" that gets guys like AJ Burnett. His move to the NL with the Phillies caused his stock to skyrocket. He now moves back to the AL, which could be a concern. He does have the spacious Seattle outfield to work with and a couple of the best outfielders as well. Also, LAA appears to have lost some of its' punch so the teams he will be facing may not be any worse than what he dealt with in the East. We'll see, but nothing scares me enough to keep him out of my top 10.
7-Adam Wainwright, STL, Score:90
I've always liked Wainwright. He's similar to Lee with a little more heat and a little less control. He also gets the benefit of working with Dave Duncan and an offense that now has Pujols and Holliday. It seemed at one point that Wainwright was going to get to the 20 win benchmark last year but he came up one short. For the last couple years you used to be able to get Wainwright late in drafts or off the waiver wire. His breakout season and Cy Young nomination of 2009 has changed all that. He's now catapulted himself in to the spotlight. I'll probably avoid him from now on as I would want to get a guy who gets more Ks if I am going to have to give up a as high a pick as I probably will now that he is getting the recognition, but it was a good run while it lasted.
8-Felix Hernandez, SEA, Score:87
Here's another guy with which I have a long history, having drafted him a couple times. Turns out I missed out on his breakout year in 2009. Can you believe this dude is only 23? He was born the same year as my fiance for christ's sake! Where he once exhibited some flashes of wildness and a control problem, he now has his walk rate down to 2.9 BB/9. He'll also get you to that 200 K range and a 3.00/1.20 ERA/WHIP. There isn't anything not to like about King Felix at this stage. Is it possible that, at only 23, he could get even better?
9-Javier Vazquez, NYY, Score87
Call me skeptical but I don't believe that Javier will be ranked this high next year. He has always exhibited superior control and skills (9.25 K/9, 2.10 BB/9, 4.41 K/BB) but he never could completely translate that all in to a solid ERA. The one skill he has lacked is keeping the ball in the park. Combine that tendency with his new home in NY and you might be asking for trouble. He has also shown that the AL gives him a much greater degree of difficulty. There's no question that this was a great pickup for the Yanks in which they gave up almost nothing (sorry Melky), but make no mistake that 2009 was a career year. You can still count on a pile of Ks and a great WHIP. You might even see 18 wins or so. But the ERA will probably be around 4. Good, but maybe not good enough for top 10.
10-Josh Beckett, BOS, Score:86
We're getting a lot of guys that I don't like at this point. Beckett is a frustrating pitcher. You know that at any moment he can throw a no hitter, but you could also end up with 5 runs and an early exit. He has a similar HR problem like Vazquez. In fact, he and Vazquez are very much alike, playing for two power house AL East teams. They're both going to strike out a lot of guys and get you alot of wins, but they both will be inconsistent for no rhyme or reason. They're also both in a contract year. Maybe that will squeeze a little extra effort out of them. As for me, I'd rather wait a bit and grab Verlander or Tommy Hanson.
So there's the lists. There's still a lot of room for tweaking and who knows what will happen in spring training. I'm fuckin ready for it though.
Now, the main league that I play in is a little different from others. The traditional scoring is 5x5 (Hitters: R,HR,RBI,SB,AVE/ Pitchers: W,SV,K,EAR,WHIP). The scoring in this league is 8x8 (includes K,OBP,XBH for hitters and L,HR,CG for pitchers).
Because most of your traditional rankings from sites and magazines aren't set up for our scoring system, I've made it my mission to construct the perfect Excel spreadsheet that could do all of these rankings right. Letting this be done by nothing but pure numbers and a couple of adjustments from me (who's on the rise, declining, streaky, contract year, etc.) let's me get a good look at everything without being swayed by names and teams. I use nothing but the last 3 years of stats with the weight being .5 for last year, .3 for 2 years ago, and .2 for 2 years ago. When I list a statistic it will be that weighted average.
So, without further ado, here are my top ten hitters and pitchers:
1-Albert Pujols, 1B, STL, Score:100
No surprise here. Pujols has been the stud of studs for a few years in a row now. He's dominant in 7 of those 8 categories and was actually solid in the 8th (stolen bases) last year, as well. In 5x5 he is a beast enough, but with our 3 added categories his dominance is enhanced in that the guy never strikes out (59 weighted ave) is an OBP machine (.455!!!), and leads in XBH (84). It's not even a question that Pujols should be the first guy off the board. First base is perhaps the deepest position this year but giving up this much production for the sake of position scarcity is silly. The next closest guy is an 86. That shows how ahead of the pack Prince Albert is.
2-Hanley Ramirez, SS, FLA, Score:86
As I said, The drop-off from Pujols to everyone else is pretty significant. But just as Pujols is a no-brainer for #1, HanRam is great at #2. The distance between Albert and Hanley is kind of what the distance is from Hanley to the next best shortstop (Rollins, if you can believe that). There is no category that Ramirez is weak in. He does strike out a bit much (18%) and he could hit a few more XBH, but you're still getting a young stud capable of going 30/30 who posts an OBP of close to .400. He's also at the magical age of 27. The top 2 picks are easy, after this it gets difficult.
3-Prince Fielder, 1B, MIL, Score:83
Fielder was a beast last year, and actually a steal in the second round for me. He had a down year in 2008 but bounced back with a vengeance and has managed to hit 130 dingers in the past 3 years. That's alot. He also is a lock for about 100 runs per game and last year tied Ryan Howard for first in RBIs at 141. He's no drag on the batting average either at .290. Fielder is still young and, although I think 2009 is his ceiling, may not have reached his ceiling yet. His down year makes me hesitant to take him this early in a draft, but the numbers don't lie.
4-Ryan Braun, OF, MIL, Score:83
Quite a 1-2 punch they have in Milwaukee, eh? Braun burst in to the bigs in 2007 and hasn't stopped mashing since then. He's hit at least 30 HRs each year and is also averaging a little more than 15 SBs as well. There's really nothing bad to say about this kid. He'll help you in every category and still has room to grow. Nice.
5-Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, MIL, Score:82
What?!?! This one surprised me more than anything on the list. Ellsbury will give you speed, speed, and more speed (65 SBs). He'll also score a whole pile of runs (100 Rs) and even knock in a few to boot (59 RBIs). The one thing you won't be able to count on too much would be power, although he could still manage close to 10 HRs. Considering this is his peak year he could get 15 but that might be a wishing a bit much. I'm guessing that one of the reasons Ellsbury gets so high a score is that 625 ABs would only get you about 65 Ks, which is fantastic. So in this guy you have a kid playing for a great team who can carry at least 2 of your categories without hurting you anywhere at all. The new Carl Crawford perhaps? Nope, I say he's even better. On a side note, I hate the fackin Sawx.
6-Alex Rodriguez, 3B, NYY, Score:80
A-Rod makes a rise back up the ranks after showing himself to be pretty well recovered from the surgery he had last year. He missed a big chunk of the season and managed to come back and have one of his most productive and, more importantly, his most clutch season to date. He shrugged off alot of the criticism he received for not performing in September and October and just went out and played ball. Rodriguez gives you across the board production and should be higher except for the fact that his ABs over the last years have been decreasing (583-510-444). There's also this matter to consider but it should be no surprise to anyone that this guy is a fruitcake. If I ended up with the #3 pick there's a good chance that I may go with Rodriguez simply because I am concerned about the depth at 3rd this year.
7-Ryan Howard, 1B, PHI, Score:80
I do not like Howard. Perhaps I should give him a shot some day, but those Ks scare me. In a 5x5 league he's a great pick, but in this league anyone who averages close to 200 strikeouts better have a "SP" next to his name. That being said, you know that with Howard you are going to get 40 HRs and 130+ RBIs in the bank. He isn't even that big of a drain on the average at .269. Another thing going in his favor is that he is a monster when it counts (1.060 OPS in September). So you can snag Howard feeling safe in the power numbers, but you might need an Ichiro or two to make up for his deficiencies.
8-Dustin Pedroia, 2b, BOS, Score:80
Seemingly overhyped after his 2008 MVP season, Pedroia quietly posted an almost identical year in 2009. He won't knock your socks off in the power department but he will keep you afloat in every single category. My weighted averages have him at 112 R, 14 HR, 72 RBI, 47 K, 18 SB, .309 AVE, .372 OBP, 65 XBH. It is said that doubles can often translate in to HRs as a player reaches the peak ages of 27-28, and Pedroia has been hitting as many doubles as guys like Hanley, Teixeira, Miggy, and Holliday. I don't see Pedroia having a 30 HR power outburst, but it's quite possible that he could put together a 20/20 season this year. If not, you still have a guy who contributes everywhere and never strikes out. Pay for the safety and consistency, hope for the breakout.
9-Mark Teixeira, 1B, NYY, Score:80
Two Red Sox and now two Yankees, and thus the balance is restored. Teixeira is a man beast and the move to NY has definitely agreed with him. He started off the year extremely slowly, as did just about all the Yankees, but once A-Rod joined the lineup, Tex exploded. The only thing not to like about him is having to hear Sterling yell "A text message!!! from Teixeira!!!" every time he goes deep. Anyway, snag Teixeira and pencil in 100/35/110/.300. Not too shabby. He doesn't even strike out a ton for a slugger and his OBP is close to .400.
10-Miguel Cabrera, 1B, DET, Score:79
As I said, 1B is deep this year with 5 in the top ten. There's also 3 more in the top 20 (Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, and Joey Votto). Cabrera's numbers are nearly identical to Teixeira. You get a little better average and a little less power so you can basically decide what you need more and go from there. Cabrera should have better numbers but he has shown a lack of maturity and Detroit was awful last year and provided him with no help. Their next best guy on the list is a tie between Ryan Raburn and Magglio Ordonez. Not good. Still, they may still have some surprises (watch for Raburn and Sizemore) and Miggy is turning 27 this year. He came under a lot of criticism for some drinkings issues last year so it's possible he may come out with something to prove. Hitting has just been so easy for him, perhaps he is getting lazy. Still, if the numbers he has been posting have been due to lazy, then I can't wait to see what he does when he gets motivated.
Now for the pitchers
1-Roy Halladay, PHI, Score:100
Toss up here between Halladay and Lincecum but Roy gets the nod due to a superior track record in September. After years of looking dominant every damn day while facing teams the beasts of the AL East you now get to see him face such juggernauts as the Braves, the Nationals, and the suddenly punchless Mets. Halladay has an amazing K/BB ratio of about 5.0 and keeps the ball in the park pretty well which will come in handy in Philly's little stadium. He also was averaging a record of 17-9 with the awful offense of Toronto backing him. So now we'll see if that gets better with Utley, Howard, Rollins, Victorino, Werth, and Ibanez for support. Halladay also gets extra credit for being a complete game machine.
2-Tim Lincecum, SF, Score:99
The new hotness is this guy. He'll get you close to 250 Ks and outstanding ratios. Also, he's most likely still improving. If he was playing for any other team the Wins would be 20+ but SFs lineup is so bad that DeRosa and Huff are considered improvements. It's possible that this guy could soon get hit with the inevitable trip to see Dr James Andrews with how hard he throws but that same story could be applied to every pitcher in baseball.
3-Zack Greinke, KC, Score:95
Greinke has always shown promise but just couldn't get his shit together until he finally did last year. Prior to that he was faced with erratic performances and anxiety disorders. I drafted this guy about 3 years ago. Where the hell was the good stuff then? Anyway, he emerged in a big way last year and absolutely dominated the league for the first half of the season. There was a little bit of returning to the mean in the second half but he was still an unquestioned ace. He's good for 200 Ks, an ERA around 3, and a WHIP under 1.20. I doubt he will be as good as last year, but anything close would be fantastic. The Win potential, like with Lincecum, will be hampered by a team that just signed Ankiel to start in their outfield. It's like they're trying to be awful.
4-CC Sabathia, NYY, Score:94
Sabathia is the definition of a workhorse. I keep thinking he's going to fall to pieces after all the overworking he has been put through but he keeps on trucking through. If any pitcher has a chance at 20 wins it's this guy with that Yankee lineup behind him, not to mention Hughes and Rivera to close out the game. The 200 K potential is there, as well as a good ability to keep the ball in the park which is especially handy considering the home run tendencies being shown in the new park.
5-Dan Haren, ARI, Score:92
I am not a big fan of Haren. The experts keep scoffing at his track record but it doesn't make it less true. Haren is a guy you draft, for sure. He strikes guys out, he doesn't walk anyone or give up home runs, and his command ratio is amazing (5.04 K/BB). However, if you draft this guy, you need to sell sell sell at the All Star Break. His ERA consistently gets worse by a whole run in his 1st half/ 2nd half splits. I'm sure the one year that I end up with Haren on my roster and trade him he'll end up going apeshit in the second half. That's just the way it works.
6-Cliff Lee, SEA, Score:90
Great pickup by Seattle who now gets to boast one of the best pitching duo in baseball. Lee's recent success is somewhat surprising. He doesn't exactly have a great strikeout rate (6.9 K/9) but he does have good control and doesn't seem to be prone to the "one bad inning" that gets guys like AJ Burnett. His move to the NL with the Phillies caused his stock to skyrocket. He now moves back to the AL, which could be a concern. He does have the spacious Seattle outfield to work with and a couple of the best outfielders as well. Also, LAA appears to have lost some of its' punch so the teams he will be facing may not be any worse than what he dealt with in the East. We'll see, but nothing scares me enough to keep him out of my top 10.
7-Adam Wainwright, STL, Score:90
I've always liked Wainwright. He's similar to Lee with a little more heat and a little less control. He also gets the benefit of working with Dave Duncan and an offense that now has Pujols and Holliday. It seemed at one point that Wainwright was going to get to the 20 win benchmark last year but he came up one short. For the last couple years you used to be able to get Wainwright late in drafts or off the waiver wire. His breakout season and Cy Young nomination of 2009 has changed all that. He's now catapulted himself in to the spotlight. I'll probably avoid him from now on as I would want to get a guy who gets more Ks if I am going to have to give up a as high a pick as I probably will now that he is getting the recognition, but it was a good run while it lasted.
8-Felix Hernandez, SEA, Score:87
Here's another guy with which I have a long history, having drafted him a couple times. Turns out I missed out on his breakout year in 2009. Can you believe this dude is only 23? He was born the same year as my fiance for christ's sake! Where he once exhibited some flashes of wildness and a control problem, he now has his walk rate down to 2.9 BB/9. He'll also get you to that 200 K range and a 3.00/1.20 ERA/WHIP. There isn't anything not to like about King Felix at this stage. Is it possible that, at only 23, he could get even better?
9-Javier Vazquez, NYY, Score87
Call me skeptical but I don't believe that Javier will be ranked this high next year. He has always exhibited superior control and skills (9.25 K/9, 2.10 BB/9, 4.41 K/BB) but he never could completely translate that all in to a solid ERA. The one skill he has lacked is keeping the ball in the park. Combine that tendency with his new home in NY and you might be asking for trouble. He has also shown that the AL gives him a much greater degree of difficulty. There's no question that this was a great pickup for the Yanks in which they gave up almost nothing (sorry Melky), but make no mistake that 2009 was a career year. You can still count on a pile of Ks and a great WHIP. You might even see 18 wins or so. But the ERA will probably be around 4. Good, but maybe not good enough for top 10.
10-Josh Beckett, BOS, Score:86
We're getting a lot of guys that I don't like at this point. Beckett is a frustrating pitcher. You know that at any moment he can throw a no hitter, but you could also end up with 5 runs and an early exit. He has a similar HR problem like Vazquez. In fact, he and Vazquez are very much alike, playing for two power house AL East teams. They're both going to strike out a lot of guys and get you alot of wins, but they both will be inconsistent for no rhyme or reason. They're also both in a contract year. Maybe that will squeeze a little extra effort out of them. As for me, I'd rather wait a bit and grab Verlander or Tommy Hanson.
So there's the lists. There's still a lot of room for tweaking and who knows what will happen in spring training. I'm fuckin ready for it though.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Potpourri of politics & underpants
Well holy crap... I finally have a moment to breathe. Yesterday I was at work for about 12 hours and today I had another 8 insane crazy hours. Not leaving yet, but I just took a moment to peruse a few stories over at Huffingtonpost.com before getting back at it. Here's what stuck out:
Apparently, way too many Republicans believe stupid shit.
The next article deals with underpants-bomber of Christmas '09. Obama administration opponents have had their panties in a bunch over the handling of the terrorist and believe that officials did everything in their power to protect that guy. The criticism lies in that this criminal was read his miranda rights before he had finished talking at which point he clammed up and ceased to give information. However, we have since learned that he was read his rights after he had finished talking. Guess how much that was discussed on conservative radio. Joe Scarborough? Pat Buchanan? Anybody?
In addition, we now know that the 2001 shoe bomber was also read his rights. Not only that, the man was read his rights 5 minutes after being taken in to custody. It's funny, I may have been drunk and fresh out of college at the time, but I do not recall hearing a Republican uproar about that event?
There isn't really too much to discuss about this, only one easy conclusion to make: The Republicans are apt at politicizing terror.
This is, of course, nothing new. That was the platform they ran on in 2004. They took a failed terrorism attack in 2009 and have done nothing but pile on Obama. What happened on 9/11 when the worst terror act in history occurred? The nation pulled together. What happened in 2009 when one man fails in an attack? Impeach the president!!!
Why? I don't think there is any particular reason other than how worthless our current politicians are. Everything is a game to get back in power. I'd like to think there was a time when these fools worked together to make the country a better place. For now, though, scorched earth tactics rule the day.
My final political story of the day is on James O'Keefe, of the ACORN pimp n' hoe fame. This is the fellow that broke open the floodgates on the community organization with only a ridiculous costume, a smokin hottie dressed like a skank, heavily doctored footage of ACORN offices, and the balls-to-the-wall enthusiasm of Beck, Hannity, and O'Reilly.
O'Keefe was recently arrested for a plot that he and 3 others had to unveil the malicious reasons that N.O. senator Mary Landrieu for not responding quickly enough to her constituents. These four boneheads dressed up like telephone guys and lied their way in to her office where they attempted to tamper with the phones.
Since then, O'Keefe has enjoyed the full compliment of FOX News to speak up in his favor and speak about how wrongful the arrest of these 4 bright young flowery men has been. Oddly enough, it is the craziest of them all, Beck, who has backed away from these actions the quickest.
I can only imagine what the response of FOX would have been had these 4 been minorities, rather than 4 white boys of affluent backgrounds. You know it would be a shit storm. Call them what they are: criminals. Not only were they stupid enough to think a game of dress up would be sufficient, they brought this rookie shit to a government office. Again, change the skin color or religion of these children and there is no doubt that Rush Limbaugh would be on the radio crying about how weak Obama was in the face of a terrorist attack.
And finally, and perhaps the most important, we come to the last story of note. The February issue of Cosmo has declared that the thong is dead. I can't really tell why, and it will be a cold day in hell when I crack open an issue of Cosmo and try to figure out why. I just think they're wrong. A large segment of the female population hate the idea of visible underpants lines. I assume that many also feel that they make them feel sexy. And what will the strippers do without them? So fuck you, Cosmo. There's a good thing going on and your blatant use of propaganda and attempts to create a story will not be tolerated. So go back to writing stories about "100 ways to please your man" and leave the serious stuff for the professionals.
What kind of half-ass operation are they running over there anyways.
'til next time piiiiilgrims
Apparently, way too many Republicans believe stupid shit.
- 39% believe Obama should be impeached. Why?
- 36% believe Obama was not born here. Sigh...
- 63% believe Obama is a socialist. Awesome.
- 24% believe that OBAMA WANTS THE TERRORISTS TO WIN.
- 21% believe ACORN stole the 2008 election.
- 23% believe their state should secede.
- 53% believe Palin is more qualified.
The next article deals with underpants-bomber of Christmas '09. Obama administration opponents have had their panties in a bunch over the handling of the terrorist and believe that officials did everything in their power to protect that guy. The criticism lies in that this criminal was read his miranda rights before he had finished talking at which point he clammed up and ceased to give information. However, we have since learned that he was read his rights after he had finished talking. Guess how much that was discussed on conservative radio. Joe Scarborough? Pat Buchanan? Anybody?
In addition, we now know that the 2001 shoe bomber was also read his rights. Not only that, the man was read his rights 5 minutes after being taken in to custody. It's funny, I may have been drunk and fresh out of college at the time, but I do not recall hearing a Republican uproar about that event?
There isn't really too much to discuss about this, only one easy conclusion to make: The Republicans are apt at politicizing terror.
This is, of course, nothing new. That was the platform they ran on in 2004. They took a failed terrorism attack in 2009 and have done nothing but pile on Obama. What happened on 9/11 when the worst terror act in history occurred? The nation pulled together. What happened in 2009 when one man fails in an attack? Impeach the president!!!
Why? I don't think there is any particular reason other than how worthless our current politicians are. Everything is a game to get back in power. I'd like to think there was a time when these fools worked together to make the country a better place. For now, though, scorched earth tactics rule the day.
My final political story of the day is on James O'Keefe, of the ACORN pimp n' hoe fame. This is the fellow that broke open the floodgates on the community organization with only a ridiculous costume, a smokin hottie dressed like a skank, heavily doctored footage of ACORN offices, and the balls-to-the-wall enthusiasm of Beck, Hannity, and O'Reilly.
O'Keefe was recently arrested for a plot that he and 3 others had to unveil the malicious reasons that N.O. senator Mary Landrieu for not responding quickly enough to her constituents. These four boneheads dressed up like telephone guys and lied their way in to her office where they attempted to tamper with the phones.
Since then, O'Keefe has enjoyed the full compliment of FOX News to speak up in his favor and speak about how wrongful the arrest of these 4 bright young flowery men has been. Oddly enough, it is the craziest of them all, Beck, who has backed away from these actions the quickest.
I can only imagine what the response of FOX would have been had these 4 been minorities, rather than 4 white boys of affluent backgrounds. You know it would be a shit storm. Call them what they are: criminals. Not only were they stupid enough to think a game of dress up would be sufficient, they brought this rookie shit to a government office. Again, change the skin color or religion of these children and there is no doubt that Rush Limbaugh would be on the radio crying about how weak Obama was in the face of a terrorist attack.
And finally, and perhaps the most important, we come to the last story of note. The February issue of Cosmo has declared that the thong is dead. I can't really tell why, and it will be a cold day in hell when I crack open an issue of Cosmo and try to figure out why. I just think they're wrong. A large segment of the female population hate the idea of visible underpants lines. I assume that many also feel that they make them feel sexy. And what will the strippers do without them? So fuck you, Cosmo. There's a good thing going on and your blatant use of propaganda and attempts to create a story will not be tolerated. So go back to writing stories about "100 ways to please your man" and leave the serious stuff for the professionals.
What kind of half-ass operation are they running over there anyways.
'til next time piiiiilgrims
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
My Personal Curse
What it is, jive turkey!!! I've got a problem. Actually, I have 3 problems:
First of all, I've been cursed with incredible good looks.
Second of all, I spend too much time on fantasy sports.
And third, I can't seem to buy a friggin championship in said fantasy sports.
Early playoff exits are my thing. I've managed to win one football championship a few years ago, and I believe I took another in hockey two years ago. My recent past, however, leaves something to be desired. If I recall correctly, my most recent performances go a little something like this:
Hockey
2006-Finished 9 out of 10, most likely because of the incredibly gay team name of "Hockey Town Hussies"
2007-Team name change to "Le Chuck" results in CHAMPIONSHIP!!! Suck it!
2008-Trip to Colombia and not setting line up results in 2nd place out of 12.
2009-Not finished but currently climbing the charts.
Football
2006-"Sexy Time Explosion" isn't so sexy at all and finishes 8 out of 8
2007-"Hot Beef Injection" gets the silver
2008-"Mandalorian Merc's" finishes with the 1st seed and then is immediately eliminated in the 1st round. End result: 7th out of 16
2009-"SherrifGonnaGetcha" again finishes with the 1st seed. I roll my way in to the semi's where I eliminated. End result: 3rd out of 12
Baseball
2006-My fightin' "Underpants Gnomes" can only manage an 8th place finish out of 10th.
2007-"Tater Chips" is a little better, getting 5th out of 12.
2008-"Logjammin" scores the 2nd seed. After the 1st round bye I immediately lose in the playoffs. End result: 3rd out of 14.
2009-"Logjammin" finishes with the 1st seed with perhaps the best roster ever in the history of fantasy baseball where I then again LOSE IN THE GOD DAMN SEMI'S!!! End result: Fucking 3rd.
So my average finish is:
2006-8th
2007-3rd
2008-4th (Despite 1st and 2nd place finish)
2009-3rd (Despite 2 first place finishes)
So what the hell is this shit??? What is the issue? I have no fucking idea. All I know is that is getting really friggin annoying to have my team eliminated in the playoffs by the dude who autodrafts and checks his team twice a month.
Across the last 4 fantasy seasons I have finished either 1st or 2nd in the regular season and I have nothing to show for it.
Am I cursed? Am I destined to never get a hold of the gold in the two sports with money on the line (hockey doesn't pay)? If not it is certainly not for lack of trying.
Football I can certainly understand because it's a complete crapshoot. You never know who's going to get TDs. It's the most popular fantasy sport because it is, undoubtedly, the easiest to play. However, I'm obviously doing something right if I've managed to finish 1st two years in a row.
It's baseball that really bothers me. Baseball is the nerdy extra complicated cousin to Football. Baseball guys love stats. I love stats. I have designed, and am always making improvements on, my own personal excel spreadsheet designed to properly rank and tier almost 500 players which I check almost every single damn day. Excessive? You bet your ass. Do I love indulging in to that deep level of nerdery. Absolutely.
It makes me wonder what the hell it is for when I have nothing to show for it, however. I keep telling myself, "Fuck it. Next year I'm going autodraft", but I never do.
So, I'm all prepped for the 2010 baseball season. And while just about everyone else in the league will, at best, by a magazine the day before the draft and wing it, I'm going to be the numbnuts still debating at the last second if Felix Pie belongs in the same tier as Jason Heyward, despite the fact that neither may even get a single at-bat this year.
Whatever, fuck everyone else. This year I'm going to win. If not, well, just like following the Redskins, the failure gets a little easier each time.
First of all, I've been cursed with incredible good looks.
Second of all, I spend too much time on fantasy sports.
And third, I can't seem to buy a friggin championship in said fantasy sports.
Early playoff exits are my thing. I've managed to win one football championship a few years ago, and I believe I took another in hockey two years ago. My recent past, however, leaves something to be desired. If I recall correctly, my most recent performances go a little something like this:
Hockey
2006-Finished 9 out of 10, most likely because of the incredibly gay team name of "Hockey Town Hussies"
2007-Team name change to "Le Chuck" results in CHAMPIONSHIP!!! Suck it!
2008-Trip to Colombia and not setting line up results in 2nd place out of 12.
2009-Not finished but currently climbing the charts.
Football
2006-"Sexy Time Explosion" isn't so sexy at all and finishes 8 out of 8
2007-"Hot Beef Injection" gets the silver
2008-"Mandalorian Merc's" finishes with the 1st seed and then is immediately eliminated in the 1st round. End result: 7th out of 16
2009-"SherrifGonnaGetcha" again finishes with the 1st seed. I roll my way in to the semi's where I eliminated. End result: 3rd out of 12
Baseball
2006-My fightin' "Underpants Gnomes" can only manage an 8th place finish out of 10th.
2007-"Tater Chips" is a little better, getting 5th out of 12.
2008-"Logjammin" scores the 2nd seed. After the 1st round bye I immediately lose in the playoffs. End result: 3rd out of 14.
2009-"Logjammin" finishes with the 1st seed with perhaps the best roster ever in the history of fantasy baseball where I then again LOSE IN THE GOD DAMN SEMI'S!!! End result: Fucking 3rd.
So my average finish is:
2006-8th
2007-3rd
2008-4th (Despite 1st and 2nd place finish)
2009-3rd (Despite 2 first place finishes)
So what the hell is this shit??? What is the issue? I have no fucking idea. All I know is that is getting really friggin annoying to have my team eliminated in the playoffs by the dude who autodrafts and checks his team twice a month.
Across the last 4 fantasy seasons I have finished either 1st or 2nd in the regular season and I have nothing to show for it.
Am I cursed? Am I destined to never get a hold of the gold in the two sports with money on the line (hockey doesn't pay)? If not it is certainly not for lack of trying.
Football I can certainly understand because it's a complete crapshoot. You never know who's going to get TDs. It's the most popular fantasy sport because it is, undoubtedly, the easiest to play. However, I'm obviously doing something right if I've managed to finish 1st two years in a row.
It's baseball that really bothers me. Baseball is the nerdy extra complicated cousin to Football. Baseball guys love stats. I love stats. I have designed, and am always making improvements on, my own personal excel spreadsheet designed to properly rank and tier almost 500 players which I check almost every single damn day. Excessive? You bet your ass. Do I love indulging in to that deep level of nerdery. Absolutely.
It makes me wonder what the hell it is for when I have nothing to show for it, however. I keep telling myself, "Fuck it. Next year I'm going autodraft", but I never do.
So, I'm all prepped for the 2010 baseball season. And while just about everyone else in the league will, at best, by a magazine the day before the draft and wing it, I'm going to be the numbnuts still debating at the last second if Felix Pie belongs in the same tier as Jason Heyward, despite the fact that neither may even get a single at-bat this year.
Whatever, fuck everyone else. This year I'm going to win. If not, well, just like following the Redskins, the failure gets a little easier each time.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The problem with polls
The problem is, of course, that everyone has one supporting what they want to say.
Take health care reform, for example. For this entire debate I have heard Republican after Republican declare that "the American people have spoken" or "the American people don't want this". I'm not sure what specific poll they are referring to, but I assume that there must be one somewhere supporting that statement.
Then you have stuff like this. There you have it; a poll showing support for the public option.
So who's right? Ultimately, it doesn't even matter. It's like the global warming debate. Who's right: the scientists who say it exists or the ones who don't?
Information can be a powerful thing. Information is the source of power in this modern era, but you can cherry pick it any way you want to tell the public whatever you want. I'm in the accounting field. I know what can be done.
It would be nice to assume that people would not take advantage of the powers of information, but power is power. If you had a movement that was near and dear to your heart, who's to say what lengths you would go through to see it successful.
So, as I always do, I will pay attention to the great modern debates and the people on both sides. As for the information, don't mind me if I look in to it myself.
Take health care reform, for example. For this entire debate I have heard Republican after Republican declare that "the American people have spoken" or "the American people don't want this". I'm not sure what specific poll they are referring to, but I assume that there must be one somewhere supporting that statement.
Then you have stuff like this. There you have it; a poll showing support for the public option.
So who's right? Ultimately, it doesn't even matter. It's like the global warming debate. Who's right: the scientists who say it exists or the ones who don't?
Information can be a powerful thing. Information is the source of power in this modern era, but you can cherry pick it any way you want to tell the public whatever you want. I'm in the accounting field. I know what can be done.
It would be nice to assume that people would not take advantage of the powers of information, but power is power. If you had a movement that was near and dear to your heart, who's to say what lengths you would go through to see it successful.
So, as I always do, I will pay attention to the great modern debates and the people on both sides. As for the information, don't mind me if I look in to it myself.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
"Well we all want something beautiful/ Wish for something true"
New jams from the Foo Fighters. This tune comes courtesy of their Greatest Hits album released last month. Unfortunately, that little nugget of new music comes along with the news that the Foos are going on a little hiatus for some time. Perhaps the fault of that decision is on the label as they forced the release of the record despite the bands protestations that their greatest hits have "yet to be written".
The Foo Fighters have always been something of an anomaly for me, much like 311. The Foos rose from the ashes of Nirvana like the mighty Phoenix (or some other city in Arizona) and I've always been a fan. Following them has naturally always involved comparing them to Nirvana, but the two are really nothing alike. Kurt Cobain was a depressed, suicidal, angst-ridden rock god. Dave Grohl is an upbeat, goofy, fun-loving rock star. The Foo Fighters seem just a touch too radio-friendly compared to their peers; a little too pop, but I've always liked them.
Hopefully this break won't be a long one. Good new music is hard for me to find as I find myself looking into more classic rock, old school hip hop, blues, and jazz. So take your time, Dave, just be sure to come back.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
My first World Series as a Yanks fan
For most of my life I hated baseball. It seemed too boring, too slow, too blah. Shortly after college when a few of my friends were fanatics for the Red Sox I decided I should at least start to see what was doing and, as a suggestion from Best Man, started rooting for the joke-of-the-MLB Detroit Tigers. I can't say that I actually watched a single game during this time but at least now when these Sawx fans were going on and on about baseball I could talk about my favorite player, Juan Gonzalez. Wow, look at me!
Shortly thereafter I started dating uber-Yanks fan Hot Mary and she got me watching the Evil Empire on a regular basis. This was a new thing for me. For my entire sports fan life I have had to deal with only being able to see my Redskins on teevee on those rare instances when local coverage had them playing a NY team. But with the Yankees I could watch them every day all day. It just about blew my mind. Couple that with how I started to play some fantasy baseball and I was officially hooked.
Unfortunately, I had come on to Yankee fever just around the time that they lost total sense in building an effective roster. It was all to similar to my Redskins fandom in that they just picked some aged has-been, threw a sweaty fist full of dolla bills at them, and expected success. Much like the Underpants Gnomes business model, except where the Gnomes used this formula"
1. Collect Underpants
2. ????
3. Profit!
The Redskins/ Yankees do this:
1. Throw money at old men
2. ????
3. Profit!
Anywho, the point is that this is an exciting year for me because it is the first time I will be able to watch a World Series and have a sincere interest (excluding the times I hope the Red Sox crash and burn).
Enter the Phillies. If ever there was a team in the NL equipped to handle the Yankees, Philadelphia would have to be worthy of that distinction. They play excellent defense, they can hammer the ball, they have some fantastic baserunners, and they have adequate pitching.
So please indulge me in my position by position analysis:
Catcher
Excuse me but this is a decided no-brainer. Yes, Ruiz has been raking so far this postseason with an OPS of 1.000, but I would have to be stupid to think that he was in any way shape or form a better catcher than Jorge Posada. Posada will go down as one of the better offensive catchers in MLB history. He has the resume, and he has the experience. The only thing that bites the Yanks in the ass is that Girardi decided that Jose Molina should catch for Burnett. Girardi has had a habit of over managing this ballclub. Burnett is such an erratic pitcher that the difference the catcher makes is borderline negligible. Hopefully, he comes to his senses and starts Posada.
Winner-Yanks
First Base
This is great matchup: Teixeira vs Ryan Howard. Both are big time sluggers, and Howard has been on fire so far. If this was to be based on current postseason performance so far I'd have to give the edge to him, but this isn't fantasy baseball, and defense does count. Perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of the Yankees this year has been the effect Teixeira's glove has made on the team. It is an immense relief to look at first and not see Giambi looking like lost retard at the mall. Call me crazy, but I think Teixeira's bat is bound to wake up this week.
Winner-Even
Second Base
Another good one with Chase Utley and Robinson Cano. Both are batting great this year, and both play sound defense. These may be the two best second basemen in the league, although Pedroia and Roberts both deserve consideration. However, where Utley has the clear advantage is the fact that the dude is a great base runner having stolen over 20 bags this year.
Winner-Phils
Third Base
This isn't even close. Alex Rodriguez vs Pedro Feliz. One has an OBP of 548, the other is 212. One has 12 RBIs, the other has 2. One of them is currently leading the team is just about every offensive category, the other, well, the other is Pedro Feliz. It's amazing the turnaround A-Rod has gone through. I hated this guy for his first couple years in NY. As soon as he stopped complaining about Jeter and how no one loved him he just turned on fire. So, you're telling me that when you stop worrying about stupid shit and just start playing ball you might be a little better at the game? Who knew?
Winner-Yanks
Shortstop
Rollins vs Jeter. The move to the leadoff spot has worked wonders for Jeters game. This year has seen a resurgence in both his hitting and defensive work. He still has a tendency to hit in to double plays too much, but the leadoff spot has helped to cut down on that problem. Rollins, on the other hand has seen a big drop off in his performance. The guy is supposedly a multi-talented threat as a 20 homer/20 stolen base kind of guy, but so far this postseason he has neither. The talent is there, but he is definitely underachieving.
Winner-Yanks
Outfield
Here you have Damon-Melky-Swisher vs Francisco/Ibanez-Victorino-Werth. This is a position in which the Phillies have a clear cut advantage. Francisco and Ibanez will probably be juggled at the DH spot depending on who the Yankees are pitching but both are solid players. Francisco is definitely the superior outfielder but Ibanez swings a mean bat. Victorino is the spark plug of the offense and base stealing threat. Werth has had a breakthrough season in which he mashed over 30 homers. For the Yankees, Damon has found that hitting in new Yankee stadium has definitely agreed with him, but his weak arm has been well documented. Cabrera is having a career year after initially losing the center fielder job to Brett Gardner. Swisher carried this damn team on his back in the early season, but this postseason has not been kind to him.
Winner-Phils, by a mile
DH
This is probably going to come down to Matsui vs Ibanez/Stairs. Given what Ibanez is capable of doing as seen in the early season, it looks like he could carry the advantage, but he has definitely not been hitting the ball well. Stairs is hard to get a good idea on as he has only had 4 plate appearances so far. Matsui has found some success in the DH spot now that his legs no longer enable him to play in the field. He's only hitting about 240 but he's also been walked 8 times.
Winner-even
Rotation
Sabathia vs Lee-This should be a great matchup. I wonder what Cleveland thinks about seeing two of their former Cy Young winners going head to head in game 1.
Pedro vs Pettitte-Two postseason veterans. Sounds like fun to me. Pedro has lost alot but he's a compensated and, so far, has been pitching well this year. Pettitte is postseason warrior and has been throwing the ball very well.
Hamels vs Burnett-These are two fellas who are capable of shutting down the opposition at any given moment. However, they're also capable of having a complete blowup. It's hard to believe that Hamels was the hero of World Series last year for Philadelphia. What the hell happened to that guy?
Blanton vs Gaudin-These two might not get a turn in the rotation if either team gets what they want. If they do, Blanton would probably have the advantage. He had himself a comeback year
while Gaudin is adjusting from leaving the spacious confines of PETCO park to the homer fest known as Yankee Stadium
Winner-Even
Bullpen
What was one the strength of the Yankees in the Hughes-Rivera combo is now looking quite suspect with Phil's recent troubles. Girardi is also mismanaging the relief arms and seems to have a problem with letting Robertson get it done. Philly on the other hand is suddenly seeing Lidge throw the ball with authority after a miserable regular season. However, they have a number of struggling arms in Madon, Happ, and Park.
Winner-Yanks
Management
Girardi is managing like an asshole.
Winner-Phils
All told, the matchup looks great. I think it will be close and I think it will be dramatic.
Prediction- Yankees in 7
Let's go Yanks!!!
Shortly thereafter I started dating uber-Yanks fan Hot Mary and she got me watching the Evil Empire on a regular basis. This was a new thing for me. For my entire sports fan life I have had to deal with only being able to see my Redskins on teevee on those rare instances when local coverage had them playing a NY team. But with the Yankees I could watch them every day all day. It just about blew my mind. Couple that with how I started to play some fantasy baseball and I was officially hooked.
Unfortunately, I had come on to Yankee fever just around the time that they lost total sense in building an effective roster. It was all to similar to my Redskins fandom in that they just picked some aged has-been, threw a sweaty fist full of dolla bills at them, and expected success. Much like the Underpants Gnomes business model, except where the Gnomes used this formula"
1. Collect Underpants
2. ????
3. Profit!
The Redskins/ Yankees do this:
1. Throw money at old men
2. ????
3. Profit!
Anywho, the point is that this is an exciting year for me because it is the first time I will be able to watch a World Series and have a sincere interest (excluding the times I hope the Red Sox crash and burn).
Enter the Phillies. If ever there was a team in the NL equipped to handle the Yankees, Philadelphia would have to be worthy of that distinction. They play excellent defense, they can hammer the ball, they have some fantastic baserunners, and they have adequate pitching.
So please indulge me in my position by position analysis:
Catcher
Excuse me but this is a decided no-brainer. Yes, Ruiz has been raking so far this postseason with an OPS of 1.000, but I would have to be stupid to think that he was in any way shape or form a better catcher than Jorge Posada. Posada will go down as one of the better offensive catchers in MLB history. He has the resume, and he has the experience. The only thing that bites the Yanks in the ass is that Girardi decided that Jose Molina should catch for Burnett. Girardi has had a habit of over managing this ballclub. Burnett is such an erratic pitcher that the difference the catcher makes is borderline negligible. Hopefully, he comes to his senses and starts Posada.
Winner-Yanks
First Base
This is great matchup: Teixeira vs Ryan Howard. Both are big time sluggers, and Howard has been on fire so far. If this was to be based on current postseason performance so far I'd have to give the edge to him, but this isn't fantasy baseball, and defense does count. Perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of the Yankees this year has been the effect Teixeira's glove has made on the team. It is an immense relief to look at first and not see Giambi looking like lost retard at the mall. Call me crazy, but I think Teixeira's bat is bound to wake up this week.
Winner-Even
Second Base
Another good one with Chase Utley and Robinson Cano. Both are batting great this year, and both play sound defense. These may be the two best second basemen in the league, although Pedroia and Roberts both deserve consideration. However, where Utley has the clear advantage is the fact that the dude is a great base runner having stolen over 20 bags this year.
Winner-Phils
Third Base
This isn't even close. Alex Rodriguez vs Pedro Feliz. One has an OBP of 548, the other is 212. One has 12 RBIs, the other has 2. One of them is currently leading the team is just about every offensive category, the other, well, the other is Pedro Feliz. It's amazing the turnaround A-Rod has gone through. I hated this guy for his first couple years in NY. As soon as he stopped complaining about Jeter and how no one loved him he just turned on fire. So, you're telling me that when you stop worrying about stupid shit and just start playing ball you might be a little better at the game? Who knew?
Winner-Yanks
Shortstop
Rollins vs Jeter. The move to the leadoff spot has worked wonders for Jeters game. This year has seen a resurgence in both his hitting and defensive work. He still has a tendency to hit in to double plays too much, but the leadoff spot has helped to cut down on that problem. Rollins, on the other hand has seen a big drop off in his performance. The guy is supposedly a multi-talented threat as a 20 homer/20 stolen base kind of guy, but so far this postseason he has neither. The talent is there, but he is definitely underachieving.
Winner-Yanks
Outfield
Here you have Damon-Melky-Swisher vs Francisco/Ibanez-Victorino-Werth. This is a position in which the Phillies have a clear cut advantage. Francisco and Ibanez will probably be juggled at the DH spot depending on who the Yankees are pitching but both are solid players. Francisco is definitely the superior outfielder but Ibanez swings a mean bat. Victorino is the spark plug of the offense and base stealing threat. Werth has had a breakthrough season in which he mashed over 30 homers. For the Yankees, Damon has found that hitting in new Yankee stadium has definitely agreed with him, but his weak arm has been well documented. Cabrera is having a career year after initially losing the center fielder job to Brett Gardner. Swisher carried this damn team on his back in the early season, but this postseason has not been kind to him.
Winner-Phils, by a mile
DH
This is probably going to come down to Matsui vs Ibanez/Stairs. Given what Ibanez is capable of doing as seen in the early season, it looks like he could carry the advantage, but he has definitely not been hitting the ball well. Stairs is hard to get a good idea on as he has only had 4 plate appearances so far. Matsui has found some success in the DH spot now that his legs no longer enable him to play in the field. He's only hitting about 240 but he's also been walked 8 times.
Winner-even
Rotation
Sabathia vs Lee-This should be a great matchup. I wonder what Cleveland thinks about seeing two of their former Cy Young winners going head to head in game 1.
Pedro vs Pettitte-Two postseason veterans. Sounds like fun to me. Pedro has lost alot but he's a compensated and, so far, has been pitching well this year. Pettitte is postseason warrior and has been throwing the ball very well.
Hamels vs Burnett-These are two fellas who are capable of shutting down the opposition at any given moment. However, they're also capable of having a complete blowup. It's hard to believe that Hamels was the hero of World Series last year for Philadelphia. What the hell happened to that guy?
Blanton vs Gaudin-These two might not get a turn in the rotation if either team gets what they want. If they do, Blanton would probably have the advantage. He had himself a comeback year
while Gaudin is adjusting from leaving the spacious confines of PETCO park to the homer fest known as Yankee Stadium
Winner-Even
Bullpen
What was one the strength of the Yankees in the Hughes-Rivera combo is now looking quite suspect with Phil's recent troubles. Girardi is also mismanaging the relief arms and seems to have a problem with letting Robertson get it done. Philly on the other hand is suddenly seeing Lidge throw the ball with authority after a miserable regular season. However, they have a number of struggling arms in Madon, Happ, and Park.
Winner-Yanks
Management
Girardi is managing like an asshole.
Winner-Phils
All told, the matchup looks great. I think it will be close and I think it will be dramatic.
Prediction- Yankees in 7
Let's go Yanks!!!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
We takes the money!!!
Working for a bank has given me some insight in to the current banking crisis that, unfortunately, is more bad news than good. On the bright side, I have the pleasure of being employed at an institution that has not required any TARP funds in order to stay afloat. We have suffered losses, obviously, but nothing to the extent where the business is suddenly in trouble.
It seems to me that the largest banks are the ones that have been hit the hardest and have needed bailouts the most. Now, if about 95 banks have failed as I read recently then a good chunk of them must have been small but most of this money has gone to financial institutions that have risen above the pack. Why is that? Why would the supposed "cream of the crop" be hurting the most? I suppose there are a number of reasons to account for that whether it's blatantly over-the-top executive pay, risky investments, poor accounting practices, or whatever. But these are the guys who have gobbled up most of the government money and, if this report is true, have not learned a thing from their recent struggles. Or perhaps they did learn. Maybe they learned that every time they fuck up the government will come and throw them another fist full of cash.
Where all banks are affected by this is by the FDIC insurance. This is the funding that makes sure we, the customers, don't lose our money when a bank goes under. Prior to the banking crisis the bank I work for had to pay something in the thousands for insurance. After the crisis we were hit with a special assessment fee that hit us up for a cool $2.5 million. Very soon they are getting together to find out about an additional assessment that could hit us up for about $10 million. I do a lot of peer analysis for the company and I've seen that these fees have knocked net income figures for a number of banks in to the red, taking what looked like a promising year in a time of trouble and change and wiping it out.
So here's the way I see it: we, the smaller banks are busy propping up all the failed banks and a good number of the big boys. The huge banks of the world get government cash injected which they are using to do everything but what they were told to do. These banks then go and buy out the little guys who are getting crippled by increased insurance costs. These banks then continue sketchy investment practices, albeit with less inclination to lend to their customers. They eventually fail again, people get laid off, government throws more money at them.
So who wins in all of this? The executives, obviously.
Why does it seem that everything is set up for the guys at the top? And when is somebody up there going to do something about it?
It seems to me that the largest banks are the ones that have been hit the hardest and have needed bailouts the most. Now, if about 95 banks have failed as I read recently then a good chunk of them must have been small but most of this money has gone to financial institutions that have risen above the pack. Why is that? Why would the supposed "cream of the crop" be hurting the most? I suppose there are a number of reasons to account for that whether it's blatantly over-the-top executive pay, risky investments, poor accounting practices, or whatever. But these are the guys who have gobbled up most of the government money and, if this report is true, have not learned a thing from their recent struggles. Or perhaps they did learn. Maybe they learned that every time they fuck up the government will come and throw them another fist full of cash.
Where all banks are affected by this is by the FDIC insurance. This is the funding that makes sure we, the customers, don't lose our money when a bank goes under. Prior to the banking crisis the bank I work for had to pay something in the thousands for insurance. After the crisis we were hit with a special assessment fee that hit us up for a cool $2.5 million. Very soon they are getting together to find out about an additional assessment that could hit us up for about $10 million. I do a lot of peer analysis for the company and I've seen that these fees have knocked net income figures for a number of banks in to the red, taking what looked like a promising year in a time of trouble and change and wiping it out.
So here's the way I see it: we, the smaller banks are busy propping up all the failed banks and a good number of the big boys. The huge banks of the world get government cash injected which they are using to do everything but what they were told to do. These banks then go and buy out the little guys who are getting crippled by increased insurance costs. These banks then continue sketchy investment practices, albeit with less inclination to lend to their customers. They eventually fail again, people get laid off, government throws more money at them.
So who wins in all of this? The executives, obviously.
Why does it seem that everything is set up for the guys at the top? And when is somebody up there going to do something about it?
Monday, August 24, 2009
Should I be sharing this???
Yes I should. Because it's my fucking blog.
Fantasy baseball. Either you dig it or you don't. I happen to dig it. I put together the perfect draft strategy this year. I had all my positions tiered and all that jazz and I came in to the draft full of piss and vinegar. It went a little something like this.
1. (4) Miguel Cabrera 1B,3B - success!
2. (25) Prince Fielder 1B - success!
3. (32) Chase Utley 2B - success!
4. (53) Magglio Ordóñez OF - fail...
5. (60) John Lackey SP - traded for Reyes - fail...
6. (81) James Shields SP - traded for Reyes - fail...
7. (88) Joakim Soria RP - success!
8. (109) Matt Wieters C - traded... for somebody - success!
9. (116) Pablo Sandoval C,1B,3B - success!
10. (137) Adam Wainwright SP - success!
11. (144) Ricky Nolasco SP - first couple months fail... - since then success!
12. (165) Kevin Slowey SP - DL'd fail...
13. (172) Heath Bell RP - success!
14. (193) Ryan Theriot SS - traded for Reyes - fail...
15. (200) Chad Qualls RP - traded for somebody - success!
16. (221) Rick Ankiel OF - fail...
17. (228) Shin-Soo Choo OF - sleeper success!
18. (249) Cameron Maybin OF - fail...
19. (256) Hiroki Kuroda SP - success!
20. (277) Travis Snider OF - fail...
21. (284) Kenshin Kawakami SP - eh...!
22. (305) Skip Schumaker 2B,OF - success! but didn't need him
Sleepers, studs, and cheap closers were all part of the strategy. Then, with the idea that I didn't really like Lackey or Shields, and that I didn't really like Theriot, I pulled a preseason trade.
Mar 24 9:12pm
José ReyesDL (NYM - SS)
Denard Span (Min - OF)
Mar 24 9:12pm
Ryan Theriot (ChC - SS)
John Lackey (LAA - SP)
James Shields (TB - SP)
An infield of Fielder, Utley, Cabrera, and Reyes?? That's sick! Well, Reyes ended up being lost for the year and Theriot has hit a career number of home runs... whatever.
Also, most of my pitchers started the year playing like shit and my one OF i trusted, Ordonez, suspiciously lost all power around the time that players are starting to get scared off of PEDs. I cried about everything on the message board and was going to quit, much to my fiance's delight.
Then I decided I was going to get back in the game. I traded off excess talent and picked up new talent off the wire and traded those guys as well. Long story short, in Week 10 I was last out of 14 teams. Then, 10 weeks later, I'm half a game out of first... having gone 9-1, with every one of those wins being an ass whippin.
My return to glory goes a little something like this:
1 Smell the Glove Win 10 - 4
2 The Four Train Loss 6 - 8
3 Serenity Now Loss 3 - 13
4 Communist Kickboxers Loss 3 - 12
5 ChroniclesOf Reddick Loss 2 - 14
6 bases loaded Win 10 - 4
7 The Chinese Bandits Loss 7 - 8
8 Bars Of Clay Tie 6 - 6
9 Bulletproof Tigers Loss 5 - 10
10 0 Loss 5 - 10
11 Clemens Cell Mates Win 12 - 3
12 Spanish Pantalones Win 12 - 3
13 Happy Hour Heroes Win 14 - 1
14 Smell the Glove Win 11 - 4
15 The Four Train Loss 4 - 9
16 Serenity Now Win 8 - 7
17 Communist Kickboxers Win 13 - 3
18 ChroniclesOf Reddick Win 14 - 1
19 bases loaded Win 11 - 5
20 The Chinese Bandits Win 15 - 1
21 Bars Of Clay
22 Bulletproof Tigers
My team is currently pissing excellence scoring a dominating 114-37-9 since week 10. Woo!
Fantasy baseball. Either you dig it or you don't. I happen to dig it. I put together the perfect draft strategy this year. I had all my positions tiered and all that jazz and I came in to the draft full of piss and vinegar. It went a little something like this.
1. (4) Miguel Cabrera 1B,3B - success!
2. (25) Prince Fielder 1B - success!
3. (32) Chase Utley 2B - success!
4. (53) Magglio Ordóñez OF - fail...
5. (60) John Lackey SP - traded for Reyes - fail...
6. (81) James Shields SP - traded for Reyes - fail...
7. (88) Joakim Soria RP - success!
8. (109) Matt Wieters C - traded... for somebody - success!
9. (116) Pablo Sandoval C,1B,3B - success!
10. (137) Adam Wainwright SP - success!
11. (144) Ricky Nolasco SP - first couple months fail... - since then success!
12. (165) Kevin Slowey SP - DL'd fail...
13. (172) Heath Bell RP - success!
14. (193) Ryan Theriot SS - traded for Reyes - fail...
15. (200) Chad Qualls RP - traded for somebody - success!
16. (221) Rick Ankiel OF - fail...
17. (228) Shin-Soo Choo OF - sleeper success!
18. (249) Cameron Maybin OF - fail...
19. (256) Hiroki Kuroda SP - success!
20. (277) Travis Snider OF - fail...
21. (284) Kenshin Kawakami SP - eh...!
22. (305) Skip Schumaker 2B,OF - success! but didn't need him
Sleepers, studs, and cheap closers were all part of the strategy. Then, with the idea that I didn't really like Lackey or Shields, and that I didn't really like Theriot, I pulled a preseason trade.
Mar 24 9:12pm
José ReyesDL (NYM - SS)
Denard Span (Min - OF)
Mar 24 9:12pm
Ryan Theriot (ChC - SS)
John Lackey (LAA - SP)
James Shields (TB - SP)
An infield of Fielder, Utley, Cabrera, and Reyes?? That's sick! Well, Reyes ended up being lost for the year and Theriot has hit a career number of home runs... whatever.
Also, most of my pitchers started the year playing like shit and my one OF i trusted, Ordonez, suspiciously lost all power around the time that players are starting to get scared off of PEDs. I cried about everything on the message board and was going to quit, much to my fiance's delight.
Then I decided I was going to get back in the game. I traded off excess talent and picked up new talent off the wire and traded those guys as well. Long story short, in Week 10 I was last out of 14 teams. Then, 10 weeks later, I'm half a game out of first... having gone 9-1, with every one of those wins being an ass whippin.
My return to glory goes a little something like this:
1 Smell the Glove Win 10 - 4
2 The Four Train Loss 6 - 8
3 Serenity Now Loss 3 - 13
4 Communist Kickboxers Loss 3 - 12
5 ChroniclesOf Reddick Loss 2 - 14
6 bases loaded Win 10 - 4
7 The Chinese Bandits Loss 7 - 8
8 Bars Of Clay Tie 6 - 6
9 Bulletproof Tigers Loss 5 - 10
10 0 Loss 5 - 10
11 Clemens Cell Mates Win 12 - 3
12 Spanish Pantalones Win 12 - 3
13 Happy Hour Heroes Win 14 - 1
14 Smell the Glove Win 11 - 4
15 The Four Train Loss 4 - 9
16 Serenity Now Win 8 - 7
17 Communist Kickboxers Win 13 - 3
18 ChroniclesOf Reddick Win 14 - 1
19 bases loaded Win 11 - 5
20 The Chinese Bandits Win 15 - 1
21 Bars Of Clay
22 Bulletproof Tigers
My team is currently pissing excellence scoring a dominating 114-37-9 since week 10. Woo!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Rozlúčiť, Hossa. We hardly knew Ye.
Well, that didn't take long. Hossa has come to the decision that the road to the Stanley Cup goes through Chicago. Or maybe he just decided that he'd like to lay in a big pile of money every night like Scrooge McDuck. Not only was he MIA during the playoffs, he immediately jumps ship from a perennial Stanley Cup threat despite stating his desire for a championship.
I guess I can't blame him. Sometimes it makes sense to get paid if you can't win it big and Chicago is a young up-and-coming team.
But Chicago has no excuse for locking the dude up for 12 years. He'll be in his 40s by the time he's done cashing in on this gig. Have fun with that one.
I guess I can't blame him. Sometimes it makes sense to get paid if you can't win it big and Chicago is a young up-and-coming team.
But Chicago has no excuse for locking the dude up for 12 years. He'll be in his 40s by the time he's done cashing in on this gig. Have fun with that one.
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