Political Pumpkins
If you want some fun, try Googling that.
Update: One site reports 68% Obama pumpkin patterns downloaded versus 32% McCain patterns
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Why This One is Special
I've been a baseball fan since 1962 and during that time have had the good fortune to attend 8 World Series in 3 different cities and 5 different ball parks. In 6 of those Series, I saw the final game. Mets win in 1969, Yankees win in 1977 and 1996, Orioles lose in 1979, and Yankees lose in 2003. I also saw one Yankees-Mets game in 2000 and all the home playoff and Series games for the Phillies in 1993.
So where does this one fit in? I was certainly more excited in 1969 and 1977, but I was a lot more excitable way back then. But this year it just made me really happy. I've been watching this group of players develop for a long time and all this year I've been totally impressed by their focus and resilience and their absolute refusal to get down on themselves or give up. This was the first Series I've seen where one team won primarily because they were stronger mentally. The Phillies overcame every setback and got hot when they needed to be (24-6 in their last 30 games!). And they play really good baseball, fun baseball to watch. It's been a very easy team to root for. So as much as I'm happy as a fan and happy for the city, I'm especially happy for the players.
Which players? Let's see...
I've got no problem with Cole Hamels winning MVP. In many ways, the Series revolved around him and he did everything that was asked of him.
Jimmy Rollins had an inconsistent offensive year, but his spirit set the team's upward trajectory into motion and there's nobody I'd rather have a ground ball hit to with the game on the line.
Pedro Feliz can now say he drove in the winning run in the World Series. Didn't have a job on January 30.
Chase Utley plays the game the way man was intended to. Ryan Howard is a absolutely brutal fielder but an absolutely brilliant power hitter, unlike any I've ever seen, and I've seen a bunch of them.
Pat Burrell was never as great as hoped, but he's been a consistent positive presence in the middle of the lineup.
Brett Myers is the ultimate head case, had the most amazing at bat of the postseason, and pitched way better in the Series than the box score shows.
Brad Lidge, so totally maligned for a couple of high profile failures, had as good a season and postseason as any reliever ever. Read the interview where he talked about how he felt before that last pitch and then marvel at how that state of being led to his throwing as perfect a pitch as you'll ever see. And Ryan Madson suddenly went from pretty good to amazing at exactly the right time.
Carlos Ruiz, who was a net negative offensively all season long, really raised his game when it counted.
Geoff Jenkins, a non-entity all year, especially in the clutch, had a career defining moment.
And then there's the scrap heap, most of whom we owe Pat Gillick thanks for. J.C. Romero (released last year- 2 Series wins this year!), Jayson Werth (the best offensive player in the Series), Shane Victorino, Scott Eyre, Chad Durbin (not so great of late, but a huge contributor in the first half when they were scuffling), Greg Dobbs, and last, but certainly not least, Jamie Moyer, who looked finished both before the Phils got him and again at the end of last year (and several times before that).
As an aside, I really liked the way Fox showed each individual player reacted to the final strike.
So now we're left with that game they play once a week. Just think how differently football would be played if they had to play 6 games a week for 162 games. It would look almost nothing like what we see now. And once that's over a couple months of guys rushing back and forth between nets and then in mid February we start all over again. I can't wait.
I've been a baseball fan since 1962 and during that time have had the good fortune to attend 8 World Series in 3 different cities and 5 different ball parks. In 6 of those Series, I saw the final game. Mets win in 1969, Yankees win in 1977 and 1996, Orioles lose in 1979, and Yankees lose in 2003. I also saw one Yankees-Mets game in 2000 and all the home playoff and Series games for the Phillies in 1993.
So where does this one fit in? I was certainly more excited in 1969 and 1977, but I was a lot more excitable way back then. But this year it just made me really happy. I've been watching this group of players develop for a long time and all this year I've been totally impressed by their focus and resilience and their absolute refusal to get down on themselves or give up. This was the first Series I've seen where one team won primarily because they were stronger mentally. The Phillies overcame every setback and got hot when they needed to be (24-6 in their last 30 games!). And they play really good baseball, fun baseball to watch. It's been a very easy team to root for. So as much as I'm happy as a fan and happy for the city, I'm especially happy for the players.
Which players? Let's see...
I've got no problem with Cole Hamels winning MVP. In many ways, the Series revolved around him and he did everything that was asked of him.
Jimmy Rollins had an inconsistent offensive year, but his spirit set the team's upward trajectory into motion and there's nobody I'd rather have a ground ball hit to with the game on the line.
Pedro Feliz can now say he drove in the winning run in the World Series. Didn't have a job on January 30.
Chase Utley plays the game the way man was intended to. Ryan Howard is a absolutely brutal fielder but an absolutely brilliant power hitter, unlike any I've ever seen, and I've seen a bunch of them.
Pat Burrell was never as great as hoped, but he's been a consistent positive presence in the middle of the lineup.
Brett Myers is the ultimate head case, had the most amazing at bat of the postseason, and pitched way better in the Series than the box score shows.
Brad Lidge, so totally maligned for a couple of high profile failures, had as good a season and postseason as any reliever ever. Read the interview where he talked about how he felt before that last pitch and then marvel at how that state of being led to his throwing as perfect a pitch as you'll ever see. And Ryan Madson suddenly went from pretty good to amazing at exactly the right time.
Carlos Ruiz, who was a net negative offensively all season long, really raised his game when it counted.
Geoff Jenkins, a non-entity all year, especially in the clutch, had a career defining moment.
And then there's the scrap heap, most of whom we owe Pat Gillick thanks for. J.C. Romero (released last year- 2 Series wins this year!), Jayson Werth (the best offensive player in the Series), Shane Victorino, Scott Eyre, Chad Durbin (not so great of late, but a huge contributor in the first half when they were scuffling), Greg Dobbs, and last, but certainly not least, Jamie Moyer, who looked finished both before the Phils got him and again at the end of last year (and several times before that).
As an aside, I really liked the way Fox showed each individual player reacted to the final strike.
So now we're left with that game they play once a week. Just think how differently football would be played if they had to play 6 games a week for 162 games. It would look almost nothing like what we see now. And once that's over a couple months of guys rushing back and forth between nets and then in mid February we start all over again. I can't wait.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
A Bit More Baseball Commentary
I had finally settled down about how miserable it was at the ballgame last night, and was happy not to have to go there tonight. Then I read something on the Phillies site that got me all riled up again. It's a quote from Bob duPuy (doo-PAY), MLB's president and CEO, talking about how well the Phillies (and by proxy, MLB) handled dealing with ticket policies:
On Tuesday, DuPuy said fans were given ample notification on Monday night to retain their tickets in case of a rainout or suspension. Traditionally, stubs are needed to obtain tickets to another game during the regular season.
So let's say I'll stipulate that all baseball tickets say that the ticket is to be used in case of a rainout and I'll note that I did keep my ticket. But there was NO announcement of any type at any time regarding the delay, only an announcement when they suspended the game. In fact, my biggest frustration (aside from the obvious actual baseball-related one) was that nobody had any information. It's nice they put it on the board, but if you're in the concourse to get out of the rain, which is where most of the people were, you can't see the board, especially when it's so crowded. We actually left as soon as we saw the radar weather on TV, so we never heard anything.
There are monitors all over the park. None had any useful information of any kind. Most just had a note to FOX affiliates to run their own programming. Fortunately, I'm a partial season ticket holder, so I got an e-mail telling me what the procedures were, but that was after I was already home. It was very poorly handled and I don't think they oughta be patting themselves on the back.
I had finally settled down about how miserable it was at the ballgame last night, and was happy not to have to go there tonight. Then I read something on the Phillies site that got me all riled up again. It's a quote from Bob duPuy (doo-PAY), MLB's president and CEO, talking about how well the Phillies (and by proxy, MLB) handled dealing with ticket policies:
On Tuesday, DuPuy said fans were given ample notification on Monday night to retain their tickets in case of a rainout or suspension. Traditionally, stubs are needed to obtain tickets to another game during the regular season.
"Our tickets say that," DuPuy said. "The club announced it. They announced it as soon as we went into the delay. It went up on the board and they announced it again when the game was suspended. I think the club handled it very well, and I hope that the fans did in fact hold their tickets.
So let's say I'll stipulate that all baseball tickets say that the ticket is to be used in case of a rainout and I'll note that I did keep my ticket. But there was NO announcement of any type at any time regarding the delay, only an announcement when they suspended the game. In fact, my biggest frustration (aside from the obvious actual baseball-related one) was that nobody had any information. It's nice they put it on the board, but if you're in the concourse to get out of the rain, which is where most of the people were, you can't see the board, especially when it's so crowded. We actually left as soon as we saw the radar weather on TV, so we never heard anything.
There are monitors all over the park. None had any useful information of any kind. Most just had a note to FOX affiliates to run their own programming. Fortunately, I'm a partial season ticket holder, so I got an e-mail telling me what the procedures were, but that was after I was already home. It was very poorly handled and I don't think they oughta be patting themselves on the back.
Secret Information
In case anyone was wondering what it's like in the Faculty Restroom (at least the one on the ground floor), here's a summary:
It's kind of a big empty thing, even bigger than it needs in order to be "accessible," so there's lots of floor space. The light turns on automatically when you go in. There's the usual sink and toilet. Adjacent to the toilet is a rack full of small brown paper bags, I guess in case you want to pack a lunch in there. There are 2 soap dispensers, right next to each other. One is the regular pump kind and the other is the fun kind where you put your hand under it and it squirts you a dollop of foam. I'm not used to a 2:1 soap dispenser to sink ratio and make sure to use each kind of soap equally over the course of a day.
There are also 2 paper towel dispensers- the kind with the pre-folded brown towels and the integrated trash chute (though this one lacks the actual towels), and also one of those new fangled ones where you pull down from the center and the roll is used from the inside out. It's clear, so you can see the paper move. It also periodically rips too high up and there's no towel sticking out to grab. It's an imperfect technology.
Finally, there's a map telling you which way to go to get out of the building in case of a fire or fire drill (boy, are fire drills easier in a building that's up to code). It tells you to turn right and if you can't turn right, then turn left. The wall's straight ahead, so that's all the options.
As I write, I've decided that I will begin to decorate this room. I'll keep you posted.
In case anyone was wondering what it's like in the Faculty Restroom (at least the one on the ground floor), here's a summary:
It's kind of a big empty thing, even bigger than it needs in order to be "accessible," so there's lots of floor space. The light turns on automatically when you go in. There's the usual sink and toilet. Adjacent to the toilet is a rack full of small brown paper bags, I guess in case you want to pack a lunch in there. There are 2 soap dispensers, right next to each other. One is the regular pump kind and the other is the fun kind where you put your hand under it and it squirts you a dollop of foam. I'm not used to a 2:1 soap dispenser to sink ratio and make sure to use each kind of soap equally over the course of a day.
There are also 2 paper towel dispensers- the kind with the pre-folded brown towels and the integrated trash chute (though this one lacks the actual towels), and also one of those new fangled ones where you pull down from the center and the roll is used from the inside out. It's clear, so you can see the paper move. It also periodically rips too high up and there's no towel sticking out to grab. It's an imperfect technology.
Finally, there's a map telling you which way to go to get out of the building in case of a fire or fire drill (boy, are fire drills easier in a building that's up to code). It tells you to turn right and if you can't turn right, then turn left. The wall's straight ahead, so that's all the options.
As I write, I've decided that I will begin to decorate this room. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Argh!
So I'm sitting at this ballgame, getting wetter and wetter, and my wife says to me (very nicely, by the way) "I thought you said there was only going to be a tenth of an inch of rain." And I said, well, that's what Accuweather said, but maybe I made a mistake and looked at Inaccuweather by mistake."
Reminds me of a Far Side cartoon where two guys are in the jungle and covered with bugs. One of them is holding a spray can whose label says "ON" and the other one is yelling, "You idiot, you brought the wrong stuff."
In any event, that was a truly miserable experience, though the first 3 innings were fine.
So I'm sitting at this ballgame, getting wetter and wetter, and my wife says to me (very nicely, by the way) "I thought you said there was only going to be a tenth of an inch of rain." And I said, well, that's what Accuweather said, but maybe I made a mistake and looked at Inaccuweather by mistake."
Reminds me of a Far Side cartoon where two guys are in the jungle and covered with bugs. One of them is holding a spray can whose label says "ON" and the other one is yelling, "You idiot, you brought the wrong stuff."
In any event, that was a truly miserable experience, though the first 3 innings were fine.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Mind Control
I was listening to one of my favorite songs yesterday while I was driving and realized that the last time I'd heard that song I was driving in the same place. Why in the world would I remember something like that? What possible purpose could retaining where you heard a song have? What biological imperative is served by retaining your song hearing location. Did this somehow cause my ancestors to flourish while others died out?
Actually, I've come up with something. I remember that last time I was so into the song I took a curve too quickly and ended up swerving around a little. So was it some 5ht degree survival instinct? Hard to know.
And referring back to something a said a few days ago, if you think you're in control of your brain, how come that song's been stuck in your head for hours now?
I was listening to one of my favorite songs yesterday while I was driving and realized that the last time I'd heard that song I was driving in the same place. Why in the world would I remember something like that? What possible purpose could retaining where you heard a song have? What biological imperative is served by retaining your song hearing location. Did this somehow cause my ancestors to flourish while others died out?
Actually, I've come up with something. I remember that last time I was so into the song I took a curve too quickly and ended up swerving around a little. So was it some 5ht degree survival instinct? Hard to know.
And referring back to something a said a few days ago, if you think you're in control of your brain, how come that song's been stuck in your head for hours now?
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
End of Preschool (revised to include more graveside musings)
Starting next week, we have full school weeks for the first time since September. It'll be a relief to actually be able to teach something. It's hard to keep any kind of focus when you're constantly interrupted, so although I like the time off, I'm ready to get going.
I went to a funeral today for someone I never met, the father of a colleague. It was truly interesting. He sounds like the coolest guy ever and I'm sorry I never met him (not that there's any reason I would have). This is the second time I've had this experience. The first was a friend's father who died much younger, so the funeral was much bigger because most of his friends and relatives were still alive. This is not so much the case with a 97-year-old. When you go to a funeral of someone you know, you think about the person who died. When you don't know the person, you start thinking about yourself.
And of course, the big question...
So I guess I'd like to hope that lots of people will come and say lots of nice things about me, but I think it's better if I kind of don't care. Being a good person is more important than being well-liked in the larger scheme of things, and you can't really control how anyone feels about you anyway. And if you don't believe that, how good are you a controlling your own feelings about other people?
Starting next week, we have full school weeks for the first time since September. It'll be a relief to actually be able to teach something. It's hard to keep any kind of focus when you're constantly interrupted, so although I like the time off, I'm ready to get going.
I went to a funeral today for someone I never met, the father of a colleague. It was truly interesting. He sounds like the coolest guy ever and I'm sorry I never met him (not that there's any reason I would have). This is the second time I've had this experience. The first was a friend's father who died much younger, so the funeral was much bigger because most of his friends and relatives were still alive. This is not so much the case with a 97-year-old. When you go to a funeral of someone you know, you think about the person who died. When you don't know the person, you start thinking about yourself.
Oh man, I really need to buy a burial plot.
This place is pretty nice. But there are a lot of dead people here.
I wonder where else you could get buried.
Who'd come to my funeral?
I need to expand my circle of friends so more people would come.
No, that's ridiculous. Why do I care who comes?
Oh man, I'm going to die.
And of course, the big question...
What would they say about me?Sometimes I find it hard to draw a distinction in my motivations between doing stuff because it's the right thing to do and it'll make someone else feel good, and doing it so people will like me, think well of me. I really tried to give that stuff up long ago, and have been fortunate to find that in many cases if you do the former, the latter will follow. But I don't want to overly trust my motivation because it seems easy to slip into doing unselfish things for selfish reasons.
So I guess I'd like to hope that lots of people will come and say lots of nice things about me, but I think it's better if I kind of don't care. Being a good person is more important than being well-liked in the larger scheme of things, and you can't really control how anyone feels about you anyway. And if you don't believe that, how good are you a controlling your own feelings about other people?
Feel The Beat
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I've complained about how every "R&B" song has the same beat and is therefore boring. I've reconsidered. And I've amended my opinion to include the idea that this is perhaps a conscious strategy, to mine every last dollar out of a particular microstyle of music and then move on once it runs dry. Kind of like the aliens in Independence Day without the cool space ships and death ray.
I got 3 Mitch Hedberg CDs for my birthday and if you've never heard him, I highly recommend him, though he's definitely not to everyone's taste. My favorite so far: "A friend of mine showed me a picture and said, 'This is a picture of me when I was younger.' Every picture is of you when you were younger. If you show me a picture of you when you're older, I'll say, let me see that @#$%^&*! camera."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I've complained about how every "R&B" song has the same beat and is therefore boring. I've reconsidered. And I've amended my opinion to include the idea that this is perhaps a conscious strategy, to mine every last dollar out of a particular microstyle of music and then move on once it runs dry. Kind of like the aliens in Independence Day without the cool space ships and death ray.
I got 3 Mitch Hedberg CDs for my birthday and if you've never heard him, I highly recommend him, though he's definitely not to everyone's taste. My favorite so far: "A friend of mine showed me a picture and said, 'This is a picture of me when I was younger.' Every picture is of you when you were younger. If you show me a picture of you when you're older, I'll say, let me see that @#$%^&*! camera."
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Bar Mitzvah Report
Reader Discretion Advised - Contains some complaints and downright whining
I had the opportunity to attend a Bar Mitzvah this weekend in New Jersey. It was an upscale affair, with a Beatles theme (when I was a kid, the theme was always "Bar Mitzvah"). The room was decorated in a very cool way and the music was excellent and the DJ's dancers were early rounders from So You Think You can Dance. The kids were cute and funny and had a really good time. Everything was well done and terrific and I hated it.
It was nothing about this specific event. I've never been to one of these parties where I wasn't generally put out. I tried to figure out why, aside from the ridiculous music volume (I'm sorry, does anybody really want it that loud), and the best thing I could come up with is that I have issues with authority. I don't like people telling me what to do. "Get up!" "Dance" "Raise Your Arms Up" "All the men on the floor!" "Everybody up here for a picture!" And if someone tells me to do something and I don't, I really do not want the next words out of their mouth to be "Come on..."
Plus it's always the same. Who decided that a half hour of a party should be devoted to lighting candles? All good parties have their own momentum and nothing kills momentum like sitting for 30 minutes and listening to an extended Academy Award acceptance speech. That's why they have reminder music at the Oscars, but here they play the music and then the honoree just starts right up again as soon as the music's over. So if it's always the same and they play the music too loud to talk to anyone (I swear I'm bringing earplugs next time), what do I do?
Unfortunately, I'm no longer allowed to do what I did when I was younger, which is to misbehave. I saw lots of kids behaving miserably but everyone thought it was cute. Nobody would think it was cute if I laid down on my back on the stage and started screaming. Why is that? I'm just as cute as any 5 year-old. But I can't even act like I want to misbehave because it will upset people. And I don't even get a hoodie.
Okay, I've said it. Now I feel better.
Reader Discretion Advised - Contains some complaints and downright whining
I had the opportunity to attend a Bar Mitzvah this weekend in New Jersey. It was an upscale affair, with a Beatles theme (when I was a kid, the theme was always "Bar Mitzvah"). The room was decorated in a very cool way and the music was excellent and the DJ's dancers were early rounders from So You Think You can Dance. The kids were cute and funny and had a really good time. Everything was well done and terrific and I hated it.
It was nothing about this specific event. I've never been to one of these parties where I wasn't generally put out. I tried to figure out why, aside from the ridiculous music volume (I'm sorry, does anybody really want it that loud), and the best thing I could come up with is that I have issues with authority. I don't like people telling me what to do. "Get up!" "Dance" "Raise Your Arms Up" "All the men on the floor!" "Everybody up here for a picture!" And if someone tells me to do something and I don't, I really do not want the next words out of their mouth to be "Come on..."
Plus it's always the same. Who decided that a half hour of a party should be devoted to lighting candles? All good parties have their own momentum and nothing kills momentum like sitting for 30 minutes and listening to an extended Academy Award acceptance speech. That's why they have reminder music at the Oscars, but here they play the music and then the honoree just starts right up again as soon as the music's over. So if it's always the same and they play the music too loud to talk to anyone (I swear I'm bringing earplugs next time), what do I do?
Unfortunately, I'm no longer allowed to do what I did when I was younger, which is to misbehave. I saw lots of kids behaving miserably but everyone thought it was cute. Nobody would think it was cute if I laid down on my back on the stage and started screaming. Why is that? I'm just as cute as any 5 year-old. But I can't even act like I want to misbehave because it will upset people. And I don't even get a hoodie.
Okay, I've said it. Now I feel better.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday Brain Dump
Had a birthday 2 weeks ago. I'm now a bit more than 7 1/2 in dog years.
Here's my update on living in our new home:
People have kind of settled in and figured out how to live with what we've got. If this means carrying desks from room to room or accepting that it's not physically possible to walk around the classroom, so be it. For a not very organized person such as myself, the worst part is getting to the other building and then realizing that you've forgotten something. On the positive side, we had a nice chance to use the outdoor space at the school today for Israeli dancing and balloon animals, allowing us to hear music during lunch and popping balloons for the rest of the day.
As for the teaching side of things, we seem to have gotten past the whole white board controversy and now feel that we can write with impunity.
This past week I decided I would take the other staircase (known affectionately as Stairs 2) to see if I saw different people there, and I did. It's maybe a little scruffier over on that side of the building, though I don't think it has anything specifically to do with the stairs. In fact, the staircases are completely blank. No decoration, no message boards, though in Stairs 1, there's a wall of glass bricks that is blindingly bright in the morning.
Do you get the sense that I'm running out of things to talk about? It's a building. Buildings don't change quickly (as long as the architects didn't make any rounding errors). I've managed to cover my new desk with unsorted paper, and we still have good coffee in our office, but sometimes it feels like we're just passing though the building, while at the old place it kind of felt like we were living there (though, of course, we were not the only life forms living there). Maybe I'll have more of a sense for it once we have more than 2 school days in a row at some point.
Had a birthday 2 weeks ago. I'm now a bit more than 7 1/2 in dog years.
Here's my update on living in our new home:
People have kind of settled in and figured out how to live with what we've got. If this means carrying desks from room to room or accepting that it's not physically possible to walk around the classroom, so be it. For a not very organized person such as myself, the worst part is getting to the other building and then realizing that you've forgotten something. On the positive side, we had a nice chance to use the outdoor space at the school today for Israeli dancing and balloon animals, allowing us to hear music during lunch and popping balloons for the rest of the day.
As for the teaching side of things, we seem to have gotten past the whole white board controversy and now feel that we can write with impunity.
This past week I decided I would take the other staircase (known affectionately as Stairs 2) to see if I saw different people there, and I did. It's maybe a little scruffier over on that side of the building, though I don't think it has anything specifically to do with the stairs. In fact, the staircases are completely blank. No decoration, no message boards, though in Stairs 1, there's a wall of glass bricks that is blindingly bright in the morning.
Do you get the sense that I'm running out of things to talk about? It's a building. Buildings don't change quickly (as long as the architects didn't make any rounding errors). I've managed to cover my new desk with unsorted paper, and we still have good coffee in our office, but sometimes it feels like we're just passing though the building, while at the old place it kind of felt like we were living there (though, of course, we were not the only life forms living there). Maybe I'll have more of a sense for it once we have more than 2 school days in a row at some point.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Greetings of the Season
One of my favorite things about Halloween is that you get to see ads containing the word, "Spooktacular."
In fact, I will personally eschew using the actual word and use only "spooktacular" between now and November 1.
Any more advertising speak I ought to be incorporating into my vernacular?
And speaking of ads, is there any other baseball fan out there who is ready to tear down every DirecTV dish they see until they stop running that "Poltergeist" commercial. It's on 3-5 times, every single game. Ugh! Don't buy the media if you don't have enough material to run. Even a clever concept gets tired if you beat people over the head with it.
One of my favorite things about Halloween is that you get to see ads containing the word, "Spooktacular."
In fact, I will personally eschew using the actual word and use only "spooktacular" between now and November 1.
Any more advertising speak I ought to be incorporating into my vernacular?
And speaking of ads, is there any other baseball fan out there who is ready to tear down every DirecTV dish they see until they stop running that "Poltergeist" commercial. It's on 3-5 times, every single game. Ugh! Don't buy the media if you don't have enough material to run. Even a clever concept gets tired if you beat people over the head with it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Matt Bleeping Stairs
I've been playing Rotisserie baseball for 25 years now, since the year the original book came out and probably 10 years before anyone invented the name "fantasy sports." It's an American League-only league, which is nice because I can root for the Phillies without having to root against my own team. This also means that I know every player in the league. of course, most of them are just stat lines to me, not personalities. Matt Stairs is different, I guess just because he's such an unlikely-looking player. Watching him run after a ball in right field is pretty comical, similar to the way John Kruk used to run. And he was always a mid-season pickup in our league when you had an injured player and needed to add some home runs. So I couldn't be happier for the guy. It's my favorite personal story so far this year.
I should also add, I don't think I've ever heard a player interviewed after hitting a home run and having them say, "Yeah, I was trying to hit it out." They always mumble something about just trying to make good contact, or looking for a pitch to drive, because it's bad form, I guess, to be swinging for home runs. And every baseball interview has been ruined for me by Bull Durham, so this is very refreshing.
I was afraid if I started on baseball I'd never stop, but here's just one more thing- just as important as the home runs was the pitching performance of Eyre and Madson in the 6th inning. The Phillies could have fallen apart after yet another atrocious Ryan Howard error, but Eyre and Madson got out of a second and third, nobody out situation without giving up even one more run. I don't have the relevant books on runs scored in these situations, but I know that if you have a runner on 3rd and nobody out he scores over 90% of the time, and I think the average runs scored from that situation is around 2. So stopping them there was key. As lousy as it felt being behind, it was only 2 runs.
I've been playing Rotisserie baseball for 25 years now, since the year the original book came out and probably 10 years before anyone invented the name "fantasy sports." It's an American League-only league, which is nice because I can root for the Phillies without having to root against my own team. This also means that I know every player in the league. of course, most of them are just stat lines to me, not personalities. Matt Stairs is different, I guess just because he's such an unlikely-looking player. Watching him run after a ball in right field is pretty comical, similar to the way John Kruk used to run. And he was always a mid-season pickup in our league when you had an injured player and needed to add some home runs. So I couldn't be happier for the guy. It's my favorite personal story so far this year.
I should also add, I don't think I've ever heard a player interviewed after hitting a home run and having them say, "Yeah, I was trying to hit it out." They always mumble something about just trying to make good contact, or looking for a pitch to drive, because it's bad form, I guess, to be swinging for home runs. And every baseball interview has been ruined for me by Bull Durham, so this is very refreshing.
I was afraid if I started on baseball I'd never stop, but here's just one more thing- just as important as the home runs was the pitching performance of Eyre and Madson in the 6th inning. The Phillies could have fallen apart after yet another atrocious Ryan Howard error, but Eyre and Madson got out of a second and third, nobody out situation without giving up even one more run. I don't have the relevant books on runs scored in these situations, but I know that if you have a runner on 3rd and nobody out he scores over 90% of the time, and I think the average runs scored from that situation is around 2. So stopping them there was key. As lousy as it felt being behind, it was only 2 runs.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Baseball Blogging
I haven't written much about baseball because there's such an overload of baseball-related material online that I can't imagine that I have much to add, but I went to the first 2 LCS games and so I guess I'll give it a try.
Here are a few postseason observations:
I don't care how much people boo him and I'm certainly not rooting for him at this time, but I enjoy watching Manny Ramirez hit more than anyone else in baseball.
The Phillies have gone this far with zippo from Howard, and if that doesn't show you they're a TEAM, then nothing will.
The most important play in the NLCS game 1 was Victorino busting it down the line to force the hurried throw from Furcal. The previous inning, we were talking about how dominant Lowe was, and then he just suddenly lost it. Baseball's odd in that it's the only sport where the defense has the ball, and if the guy taking care of the ball falters, the entire game changes in a heartbeat.
During game 1, the Phanatic smashed a Dodger helmet with dreadlocks hanging off the back. When asked about it, the guy who plays the Phanatic said, "I had some dreadlocks in my office and..." Anybody else out there able to make that statement?
I'm always grateful to get through a game and not see some now word that really starts with 'f' started with 'ph.'
People actually take a rooting interest in the cartoon train race they sometimes show during pitching changes.
They did "Guess the Attendance" at game 2 and the choices ranged from 45,200 to 45,800. They must have thought there was too much skill involved when they spread them out a bit more. "Naw, there couldn't possible be more than 45,600 people here!" BTW, crowds are slightly smaller than during the regular season because they've made one whole section into an extra press box.
And finally, if you missed the Red Sox-Rays Game 2, you missed something special And did you know they have a big tank out beyond centerfield with actual rays in it?
I haven't written much about baseball because there's such an overload of baseball-related material online that I can't imagine that I have much to add, but I went to the first 2 LCS games and so I guess I'll give it a try.
Here are a few postseason observations:
I don't care how much people boo him and I'm certainly not rooting for him at this time, but I enjoy watching Manny Ramirez hit more than anyone else in baseball.
The Phillies have gone this far with zippo from Howard, and if that doesn't show you they're a TEAM, then nothing will.
The most important play in the NLCS game 1 was Victorino busting it down the line to force the hurried throw from Furcal. The previous inning, we were talking about how dominant Lowe was, and then he just suddenly lost it. Baseball's odd in that it's the only sport where the defense has the ball, and if the guy taking care of the ball falters, the entire game changes in a heartbeat.
During game 1, the Phanatic smashed a Dodger helmet with dreadlocks hanging off the back. When asked about it, the guy who plays the Phanatic said, "I had some dreadlocks in my office and..." Anybody else out there able to make that statement?
I'm always grateful to get through a game and not see some now word that really starts with 'f' started with 'ph.'
People actually take a rooting interest in the cartoon train race they sometimes show during pitching changes.
They did "Guess the Attendance" at game 2 and the choices ranged from 45,200 to 45,800. They must have thought there was too much skill involved when they spread them out a bit more. "Naw, there couldn't possible be more than 45,600 people here!" BTW, crowds are slightly smaller than during the regular season because they've made one whole section into an extra press box.
And finally, if you missed the Red Sox-Rays Game 2, you missed something special And did you know they have a big tank out beyond centerfield with actual rays in it?
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Gatekeepers
I remember the Watergate scandal, well enough to know that there was no actual gate involved, but I never anticipated that every political scandal from that moment on would get the word "gate" attached to the end.
I remember the Watergate scandal, well enough to know that there was no actual gate involved, but I never anticipated that every political scandal from that moment on would get the word "gate" attached to the end.
Politics as Unusual
I'm not that old, but I've lived through a number of elections and this one is odd by any calculation. We have a historically unpopular (for excellent reasons) lame duck president, and a black man who defeated a former First Lady running against a cranky old guy and his running mate, who, depending on who you talk to, is either unfit or merely unprepared for the vice presidency. And thanks to the Internet the whole affair is public in real time with an absolute flood of information and commentary.
So this brings us to the big question. Why are there undecided voters and who in the world are they? I was thinking about this watching the debate last night and hearing mostly familiar talking points and wondering if there was anyone hearing this stuff for the first time. I mean, 42 % of the TV audience was watching the debate and were they really seeing something new? You really have to be consciously avoiding information to, for example, not know Obama's position on Iraq. I mean, I know all about Project Runway without watching it, just by being alive in America. It's cultural osmosis. Can you really miss all this stuff just by not being interested?
So it seems to me that these people must be doing this on purpose. Perhaps they're desperately lonely and crying out for attention, so they really like getting phone calls from both sides. Maybe there's money in it. I'm sure they're all hoping that the creators of "undecided voter" focus groups will seek them out and ask them to be on TV or to hold the little dials that CNN gives to those mysterious people in Ohio. As Henslowe says in Shakespeare in Love, I don't know. It's a mystery.
Update
I swear I didn't see this (from The Daily Show) until after I'd written the above...
I'm not that old, but I've lived through a number of elections and this one is odd by any calculation. We have a historically unpopular (for excellent reasons) lame duck president, and a black man who defeated a former First Lady running against a cranky old guy and his running mate, who, depending on who you talk to, is either unfit or merely unprepared for the vice presidency. And thanks to the Internet the whole affair is public in real time with an absolute flood of information and commentary.
So this brings us to the big question. Why are there undecided voters and who in the world are they? I was thinking about this watching the debate last night and hearing mostly familiar talking points and wondering if there was anyone hearing this stuff for the first time. I mean, 42 % of the TV audience was watching the debate and were they really seeing something new? You really have to be consciously avoiding information to, for example, not know Obama's position on Iraq. I mean, I know all about Project Runway without watching it, just by being alive in America. It's cultural osmosis. Can you really miss all this stuff just by not being interested?
So it seems to me that these people must be doing this on purpose. Perhaps they're desperately lonely and crying out for attention, so they really like getting phone calls from both sides. Maybe there's money in it. I'm sure they're all hoping that the creators of "undecided voter" focus groups will seek them out and ask them to be on TV or to hold the little dials that CNN gives to those mysterious people in Ohio. As Henslowe says in Shakespeare in Love, I don't know. It's a mystery.
Update
I swear I didn't see this (from The Daily Show) until after I'd written the above...
John Oliver polls undecided voters (a large portion of which fall squarely in the 'stupid' category) to find out what issues are important to them.
"Let's look at the latest numbers. Right now, nationwide, it's Obama 49, McCain 43, Undecided 8. Those Undecideds can still break either way. But who are they? As you can see, they fall into a variety of categories: Attention seekers; racist Democrats; the chronically insecure; and "the stupid. That is 45% of the Undecideds, John. They are the swingiest of the swing voters. And they, as they always do, will decide this election."
Saturday, October 04, 2008
I Can't Help Myself
I don't understand how people can actually have a serious conversation about Sarah Palin without suddenly breaking out in uncontrollable laughter. I have never seen anything like this. There's a part of Isaac Asimov's classic "Foundation" trilogy where a diplomat from the powerful people comes to visit the planet of the less powerful (sorry for the lack of detail, it's been probably 30 years since I read it). He does a great deal of talking during this time and when he leaves the general feeling is that he was supportive and consrtuctive and that relations will be better. Then linguists analyzed what he actually said and found that everything he said was canceled out by something else he said and that in total, he had said absolutely nothing. I felt this way sometimes during the vice presidential debate.
I don't understand how people can actually have a serious conversation about Sarah Palin without suddenly breaking out in uncontrollable laughter. I have never seen anything like this. There's a part of Isaac Asimov's classic "Foundation" trilogy where a diplomat from the powerful people comes to visit the planet of the less powerful (sorry for the lack of detail, it's been probably 30 years since I read it). He does a great deal of talking during this time and when he leaves the general feeling is that he was supportive and consrtuctive and that relations will be better. Then linguists analyzed what he actually said and found that everything he said was canceled out by something else he said and that in total, he had said absolutely nothing. I felt this way sometimes during the vice presidential debate.
Those grueling two-day weeks
I know everyone's waiting to read my continuing saga of the New School Building (actually I know no such thing, but it sounds good), so here goes.
The biggest change in the "school life" seems to be the cafeteria and lunchroom. The room is beautiful- bright and spacious. It's a pleasure to be in there. And having actual food available for lunch has altered the way people come to school. I'm not sure if anyone anticipated how many people would want to buy their meals. The food is good, but what's more interesting is how everyone ends up in this nice room together at the same time. As much as the larger/split quarters is missing the intimacy of the old school, having a community gathering point helps to bring everyone together.
For the faculty, who have a nice little side area with booths reserved for them, it has turned out to be a great opportunity to spend time together. I've eaten lunch and talked at length with people I've never said more than "Hi" to in the past. It's such a nice thing that I actually have nothing snarky to say about it. Oh, wait. How about, we've gotten to spend so much time together that the topic of conversation has moved beyond "what route did you take to get here and how long did it take you?" There, that feels better. I actually did learn a better route from one of these conversations.
On other fronts, there's still plenty of discussion about how tight the classrooms are. The big thing, for the teachers at least, is the white boards. There's something not quite right about them. Not as far as the color is concerned. They're white. But certain markers, almost unpredictably, seem determined that their markings will live on forever. And the erasers that came with the boards do no such thing. This has led to the creation of a family of urban legends about what kinds of markers to use and how to erase them.
Some of the classrooms are not carpeted and have rolling chairs for the teachers. This is great fun. I can easily propel myself from one end of the room to the other, (I have a lot of practice from late night chair races back in my advertising days). I'm looking forward to developing a technique to draw full board-length parallel lines in Geometry.
On Friday I got all the way to the athletic building for a class without The Phantom Tollbooth and had to scurry back and fetch it. That's a long way to scurry.
I know everyone's waiting to read my continuing saga of the New School Building (actually I know no such thing, but it sounds good), so here goes.
The biggest change in the "school life" seems to be the cafeteria and lunchroom. The room is beautiful- bright and spacious. It's a pleasure to be in there. And having actual food available for lunch has altered the way people come to school. I'm not sure if anyone anticipated how many people would want to buy their meals. The food is good, but what's more interesting is how everyone ends up in this nice room together at the same time. As much as the larger/split quarters is missing the intimacy of the old school, having a community gathering point helps to bring everyone together.
For the faculty, who have a nice little side area with booths reserved for them, it has turned out to be a great opportunity to spend time together. I've eaten lunch and talked at length with people I've never said more than "Hi" to in the past. It's such a nice thing that I actually have nothing snarky to say about it. Oh, wait. How about, we've gotten to spend so much time together that the topic of conversation has moved beyond "what route did you take to get here and how long did it take you?" There, that feels better. I actually did learn a better route from one of these conversations.
On other fronts, there's still plenty of discussion about how tight the classrooms are. The big thing, for the teachers at least, is the white boards. There's something not quite right about them. Not as far as the color is concerned. They're white. But certain markers, almost unpredictably, seem determined that their markings will live on forever. And the erasers that came with the boards do no such thing. This has led to the creation of a family of urban legends about what kinds of markers to use and how to erase them.
Some of the classrooms are not carpeted and have rolling chairs for the teachers. This is great fun. I can easily propel myself from one end of the room to the other, (I have a lot of practice from late night chair races back in my advertising days). I'm looking forward to developing a technique to draw full board-length parallel lines in Geometry.
On Friday I got all the way to the athletic building for a class without The Phantom Tollbooth and had to scurry back and fetch it. That's a long way to scurry.
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