I guess it's college basketball season.
Well, at least there are bowls for a while.
* Deonta Vaughn was supposed to be the one thing UC could count on this season -- but he's struggled so far this season. That's bad news as the Bearcats ready for Big East play.
* Central Michigan won't announce its replacement for Butch Jones until after the bowl -- they probably want to avoid the whole one team with coaches loyal to four different programs (i.e., Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, Buffalo) thing. It's probably a good opportunity for the interim coach, Steve Stripling.
* Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy is planning on applying for a Rhodes Scholarship.
* Former Florida State DB Myron Rolle is currently studying at Oxford and how he hopes to cash in on the image of the scholar athlete.
* Jeff Passan says the Harang to the Dodgers talks aren't dead, but the Reds want a prospect from LA and a trade partner for George Sherrill. Not sure that's so easy.
* Rob Neyer has his Gold Gloves for the decade, and Scott Rolen is the choice at 3B -- and he offers this link that shows it's not all in the past -- 10 great plays by Rolen as a Blue Jay.
* Should the NL adopt the DH? A better question is should the AL drop it.
* Someone makes an argument I'd been thinking about recently -- for all the bitching about advanced stats, those doing the bitching usually accept ERA, which is pretty convoluted when you think about it.
* Nice effort last night by the racist nicknames.
* You see the highlights of the Pens-Devils last night? Sure, Marty Brodeur set another record, but what was really impressive was Jordan Staal getting hit in the face with a puck, bleeding all over the ice and then coming back. It may be cliche to talk about how tough hockey players are, but it's not inaccurate, that's for sure.
* I don't know if you've noticed too many of the photos on our site -- you should, they're amazing. One of our photogs -- Paul Armstrong -- reviews Avatar. I know it's supposed to be great, but I like Paul's review. I haven't seen the movie, but I've seen nothing that makes me want to see it. Still not sure I care to see it.
But it did provide this rant, which is interesting.
Well, at least there are bowls for a while.
* Deonta Vaughn was supposed to be the one thing UC could count on this season -- but he's struggled so far this season. That's bad news as the Bearcats ready for Big East play.
* Central Michigan won't announce its replacement for Butch Jones until after the bowl -- they probably want to avoid the whole one team with coaches loyal to four different programs (i.e., Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, Buffalo) thing. It's probably a good opportunity for the interim coach, Steve Stripling.
* Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy is planning on applying for a Rhodes Scholarship.
* Former Florida State DB Myron Rolle is currently studying at Oxford and how he hopes to cash in on the image of the scholar athlete.
* Jeff Passan says the Harang to the Dodgers talks aren't dead, but the Reds want a prospect from LA and a trade partner for George Sherrill. Not sure that's so easy.
* Rob Neyer has his Gold Gloves for the decade, and Scott Rolen is the choice at 3B -- and he offers this link that shows it's not all in the past -- 10 great plays by Rolen as a Blue Jay.
* Should the NL adopt the DH? A better question is should the AL drop it.
* Someone makes an argument I'd been thinking about recently -- for all the bitching about advanced stats, those doing the bitching usually accept ERA, which is pretty convoluted when you think about it.
* Nice effort last night by the racist nicknames.
* You see the highlights of the Pens-Devils last night? Sure, Marty Brodeur set another record, but what was really impressive was Jordan Staal getting hit in the face with a puck, bleeding all over the ice and then coming back. It may be cliche to talk about how tough hockey players are, but it's not inaccurate, that's for sure.
* I don't know if you've noticed too many of the photos on our site -- you should, they're amazing. One of our photogs -- Paul Armstrong -- reviews Avatar. I know it's supposed to be great, but I like Paul's review. I haven't seen the movie, but I've seen nothing that makes me want to see it. Still not sure I care to see it.
But it did provide this rant, which is interesting.
The NL should never get a DH. I love the fact that the pitcher hits in the NL. I think if a guy is in the field he should have to hold a bat in his hands. Also, if a pitcher is man enough to throw a ball at a guy to hit him, he should be man enough to face the same fate. I'm with Crash Davis when it comes to the DH that's for sure. I hate it.
ERA can be pretty deceiving, unless you are Grenke or someone who has an unbelieveably low ERA. I think where ERA doesn't tell the whole story is for a pitcher like Bronson Arroyo. If you remove or reduce 2 or 3 starts from his body of work each year, his ERA is signifcantly lower.
But when you are Pedro in his prime and have barely over a 2 ERA, lead the league in Strikeouts, and opponent batting average, you don't need advanced statistics to show how dominant that guy is.
I'm with you on ERA. In particular, it doesn't seem fair that relief pitchers do not get penalized for allowing inherited runners to score (other than the penalty of losing their job). While on the subject, I wish they would show during games a stat on how many inherited runners a relief pitcher allows to score.
Isn't a pitcher's job to not allow anyone to score, regardless of who put them on base?
So here's my weak attempt at a modified ERA (perhaps its already done somewhere). For each earned run allowed, I would credit half the run to the pitcher who allowed the man to reach base and the other half to the pitcher on the mound when the run is scored. Most of the time, both halves will go to the same pitcher just as it is now. (Splitting up runs between more than two pitchers would just start to get confusing...)
Gotta agree with the Avatar review almost 100%. Saw it, glad I went, probably wouldn't watch it again. Stunning to look at, story was lacking, and also tough to watch when you have two 50-something men that apparently have no clue about what theater etiquette is. Not only did they have several full volume conversations about what had just happened on the screen, one of them actually had two phone conversations before I was forced to lay the smack down.
I have about zero interest in seeing Avatar, but it really pisses me off when people act like that in a movie theater. Everyone knows you are supposed to be quiet at the movies, it's just people who have no regard for anyone but themselves being douches.
Thanks for the link love. I will say that Avatar is something to behold; it uses 3D better than any film before it (in the same way the Matrix used effects to enhance and aid the story), so it's worth it for that alone - stunning. But I'm old and grumpy and tend to want a bit more than simple visual entertainment.