GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- So, I've been married two months today and been here for more than a month. Odd.
Of course, the fact my wife is very understanding and supportive are two of the many reasons I married her. She may say the fact that I go away for long periods of time is one of the few reasons she could think of why she married me...
* So yeah, sorry this is late. Been a crazy couple of days. And not in a good way. But oh well.
* But hey, it's Chapmania day. Buy your t-shirt now. Be the first one on the block to wear it.
It should be cool -- and on TV, so there's that. I won't have to break out the video camera. I've been doing less of that, because, well, it takes a while.
* As for tomorrow, it's our one day off. I'm taking it off. I'll have a fill-in for TOL, but hope you understand.
* One of my favorite writers who focuses on the Reds, Justin Inaz, looks at some big questions this season. I tend to agree with most he writes there, but do not agree about the Aroldis Chapman analysis and prediction.
* I think too many people are worried about the contract situation with Chapman, the people inside the organization I talk to -- and these are people with intimate knowledge of the contract -- say it's not even a concern. At most, it'll cost them a couple more million, but if he earns that, it's worth it. And remember, the big man isn't a very patient man.
* Social media can be a headache for basbeall's GMs. Funny, it doens't seem to be as big of a problem in baseball as in football. Maybe "problem" is the wrong word, but I haven't seen Twitter as being as big among the baseball players as the football (and NBA, but that may as well be a foreign country for us in Cincinnati). Anyway, I think Jon Adkins is the only Red I know of on Twitter (@JonAdkinsWV)
* Former Red Eddie Guardado, one of my favorites that I've covered, may be calling it quits. Another one of the good guys, Josh Fogg, was released by the Mets.
* Tony La Russa shared some Cardinals history with his players. Very cool.
* This review makes me want to read The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime
* I've spent my whole time in Goodyear avoiding using an Airplane! joke, so I'll avoid another here -- Bill Goldberg is being inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
* The Cincinnati Rollergirls start their season this weekend. I like their comercial:
I've been to a couple of bouts and always had fun. I'm looking forward to a couple of more this season.
* The return of NBA Jam is gaining more and more buzz -- ESPN's Marc Stein looks at who should be in the game.
* March Madness and Top Chef. Sure.
* Bacon-flavored toothpicks? Why not?
* Amazon is getting really worried about the iPad.
* Avatar will have at least three DVD release dates. And I won't be buying that piece of crap in any form. Good god, I hated that movie. It was pretty to look at, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn my brain off. Look! Shiny things!
* Corey Feldman on Corey Haim's death.
* An iPad for your CDs and DVDs.
* Awesome news I missed last week -- Sub Pop (and the Afghan Whigs) is now available on eMusic.
* Even more awesome news -- new Hold Steady.
* The Miami Herald talks to Jeff Tweedy about growing up.
* IFC talks to Carrie Brownstein, the former Sleater-Kinney guitarist and current NPR writer and actor (and includes a tease for a possible SK reunion).
* The top 13 hidden tracks. I saw a link to this and there was no way I was going to link to it if it didn't have the right No. 1. I linked it.
* I know this happened last week, but I wasn't around (in this medium) so yeah, a tribute to the late, great Alex Chilton with what may be his best-known song (and then the song about him).
Also, the aforementioned Brownstein writes about Chilton and pretty much nails it. One of my friends had been working on a Big Star book for years. I don't know if he ever got around to finishing it. I know he'd done much of the legwork....
Oh, and it sounds like there was an awesome tribute show at SXSW where people openly wept.
Of course, the fact my wife is very understanding and supportive are two of the many reasons I married her. She may say the fact that I go away for long periods of time is one of the few reasons she could think of why she married me...
* So yeah, sorry this is late. Been a crazy couple of days. And not in a good way. But oh well.
* But hey, it's Chapmania day. Buy your t-shirt now. Be the first one on the block to wear it.
It should be cool -- and on TV, so there's that. I won't have to break out the video camera. I've been doing less of that, because, well, it takes a while.
* As for tomorrow, it's our one day off. I'm taking it off. I'll have a fill-in for TOL, but hope you understand.
* One of my favorite writers who focuses on the Reds, Justin Inaz, looks at some big questions this season. I tend to agree with most he writes there, but do not agree about the Aroldis Chapman analysis and prediction.
* I think too many people are worried about the contract situation with Chapman, the people inside the organization I talk to -- and these are people with intimate knowledge of the contract -- say it's not even a concern. At most, it'll cost them a couple more million, but if he earns that, it's worth it. And remember, the big man isn't a very patient man.
* Social media can be a headache for basbeall's GMs. Funny, it doens't seem to be as big of a problem in baseball as in football. Maybe "problem" is the wrong word, but I haven't seen Twitter as being as big among the baseball players as the football (and NBA, but that may as well be a foreign country for us in Cincinnati). Anyway, I think Jon Adkins is the only Red I know of on Twitter (@JonAdkinsWV)
* Former Red Eddie Guardado, one of my favorites that I've covered, may be calling it quits. Another one of the good guys, Josh Fogg, was released by the Mets.
* Tony La Russa shared some Cardinals history with his players. Very cool.
* This review makes me want to read The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime
* I've spent my whole time in Goodyear avoiding using an Airplane! joke, so I'll avoid another here -- Bill Goldberg is being inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
* The Cincinnati Rollergirls start their season this weekend. I like their comercial:
I've been to a couple of bouts and always had fun. I'm looking forward to a couple of more this season.
* The return of NBA Jam is gaining more and more buzz -- ESPN's Marc Stein looks at who should be in the game.
* March Madness and Top Chef. Sure.
* Bacon-flavored toothpicks? Why not?
* Amazon is getting really worried about the iPad.
* Avatar will have at least three DVD release dates. And I won't be buying that piece of crap in any form. Good god, I hated that movie. It was pretty to look at, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn my brain off. Look! Shiny things!
* Corey Feldman on Corey Haim's death.
* An iPad for your CDs and DVDs.
* Awesome news I missed last week -- Sub Pop (and the Afghan Whigs) is now available on eMusic.
* Even more awesome news -- new Hold Steady.
* The Miami Herald talks to Jeff Tweedy about growing up.
* IFC talks to Carrie Brownstein, the former Sleater-Kinney guitarist and current NPR writer and actor (and includes a tease for a possible SK reunion).
* The top 13 hidden tracks. I saw a link to this and there was no way I was going to link to it if it didn't have the right No. 1. I linked it.
* I know this happened last week, but I wasn't around (in this medium) so yeah, a tribute to the late, great Alex Chilton with what may be his best-known song (and then the song about him).
Also, the aforementioned Brownstein writes about Chilton and pretty much nails it. One of my friends had been working on a Big Star book for years. I don't know if he ever got around to finishing it. I know he'd done much of the legwork....
Oh, and it sounds like there was an awesome tribute show at SXSW where people openly wept.
C Trent, had no idea the DLP turned into the wife; I must have missed it. Congrats!!
You know, the hard ball times information is good and well presented, but I just have a hard time looking at math and numbers alone from last year to say this is how it could be this year. Sure over time trends can be picked out from the data, but there are just too many variables.
The Bruce information for instance. At this point in his career he is most like Bonds and Willy Mo? Isn't it natural to think he could land somewhere between Bonds(one of baseballs greatest hitters) and Willy Mo, one of baseballs biggest busts? I know he accounts for that but my point is both of those players went on quite different paths after this point in their carreer and there's no reason to just brush of the one system's numbers that have Bruce way higher than the other two.
These guys could all end up putting up numbers better than last year, of for that matter worse. I just hate trying to predict what a guy is going to do by a computer spitting info out. I know a lot of people are into advanced stats, but with people in general, especially young players, it's hard to tell what someone is going to do this year because of what they did last year and because they are most similar to player X or Y at this point in their carreer.
Houses are not very cheap and not everyone is able to buy it. But, personal loans are created to support different people in such kind of situations.