"You can Ram it all day and Ram it all night"

Despite the filthy innuendo in almost every line, this video featuring the 1986 Rams is safe for work. This was probably the beginning of the end of the Rams' days in L.A. Although they actually did a decent job with some of the choreography.

Tonight in Philly, The Liberty Bell Rings Loud and Proud

Congrats to the Phillies for winning the World Series. They pretty much completely outplayed the Rays this series, and are deserving winners. And after the debacle on Monday night, it would have always felt like there was an asterix on the achievement had Tampa Bay actually come back to win it (not that I wouldn't have taken it). I hope the Rays can come back to the playoffs next season, as you know there are going to be a bunch of people out there calling this year a fluke. You know, the 97-win regular season, winning two playoff series' kind of "fluke". They've still got an incredibly talented young core and I expect them to be competitive for years to come. More on the off-season as things happening with free agents and signings.

But this is Philadelphia's night. Burn on, cars parked on Broad Street.

The Literary Adventures of Slugger McBatt

A cool article on MLB.com about Tampa Bay's Fernando Perez, who went to high school where I currently teach. A couple of our faculty were interviewed for the story, which presents Perez as not far off from some of the fictional baseball players in W.P. Kinsella's short stories, who spent time reading in the dugout between innings. It's nice to see an athlete portrayed as an intellectual, and by all accounts Perez was and is an outstanding and well-rounded human being. (Now if he can only help the Rays win three straight games in the World Series!).

The Ides of Marsh

I took my AP Environmental Science class to the Hamilton-Trenton Marsh today to look at the biodiversity of macroinvertebrates in the 100+ year-old man-made lake and the 15 year-old beaver ponds. The kids had a great time and got really into finding the bugs. My initial observation of their results are that we found a greater number of individual organisms in the lake, but a greater species richness in the beaver ponds. Science nerds are free to speculate on the reasons for this difference. It was definitely a worthwhile trip and a well-organized program put on by Dr. Dennis Gemmell at Rider University. We got lucky with a really beautiful day, too.

The Blue Wave Will Hit You Like a Tsunami

The 1985 Seattle Seahawks put forth a great effort in the sports videos hall of fame. This video's biggest strength is obviously the locker room shower sax solo.

Free Stuff!

Thanks to Jason Bartlett's stolen base in Game 1, we all get a free taco at Taco Bell (from 2pm-6pm on Tuesday, Oct. 28). And now, it appears that Axl Rose will actually release the new Guns n' Roses album, the decades-in-the-making Chinese Democracy. Therefore, we are all entitled to free Dr. Pepper (download the coupon on Nov. 23, which is the scheduled release date). This is how you ride out an economic downturn!

Pointing Sticky Fingers

I'll fess up: I don't know what caused the current financial crisis. I do suspect, though, that the proximate and ultimate causes are much more varied than many people who are pointing fingers now would like to believe. Megan McArdle sums it up:

This brings me to a pet peeve that has been increasingly irritating me as the crisis wears on: people with little or no understanding of markets confidently opining on the causes of the crisis. Funnily enough, the cause of the crisis is always exactly what they happened to be against before the crisis happened, and the solution is for the people they disagree with to be banned from polite society and exiled from the political process. (Emphasis added)

She is of course then pilloried by her readers for not having all the answers. And for suggesting that people who didn't know what a credit default swap was 3 months ago probably shouldn't be deciding what caused the semi-collapse of a extremely complicated financial system (that professionals within the industry admit they don't completely understand). The progressives are blaming the free market, "American-style capitalism" (whatever that means), and Wall Street's horrendous misunderstanding of risk. The conservatives are blaming the government-sponsored enterprises of Fannie and Freddie and the various government policies enacted to promote home ownership. And some people (myself included) are saying that a bunch of people shouldn't have taken out mortgages for 4,000 square foot homes they couldn't really afford or leveraged these homes to make investments under the ussumption that they "hey, real estate will always go up in value!" All of these played a role in the current situation, and to pin it on one because it supports your ideology isn't going to help us figure this out or avoid it in the future.

I'll tell you one thing we don't need more people putting the blame on, though: greed. This is the equivalent of saying that a bridge collapse was caused by gravity. I know "greed" is going to play a role in the situation, because it plays a role in every economic action taken by human beings. Bringing up a constant is unhelpful in explaining how a situation arose. Putting the blame on "greed" does us no benefit moving forward, because I'm pretty sure the next set of bankers, home buyers, and government officials will be just as greedy these ones were. And they were in the late, great 1950's, too, when everything was wonderful, houses where white, lawns were green, and teenagers respected their parents. The mortage lenders get criticised for being "greedy" in taking loans from lower-income people who were poor credit risks. And if they had rejected these loans, citing the risk of default?... They'd be accussed of being greedy. So they can't win. Either way, they are trying to maximize profits, which is their job. I'm not interested in the greed part of it, because it does not help us understand this situation or avoid similar catastrophes in the future. What we need are institutions and models that understand that people are greedy and take it into account when predicting how people will behave and what the effects of economic decisions will be. Greed is a useful scapegoat for presidential candidates, but it pretty useless in making any real progress.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today: 1988 Dodgers Do the Baseball Boogie

A World Series Opening Game special. How much would you pay to see Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin reenact this video for the 2008 Dodgers?

Why All Good-Hearted Dreamers Cheer For the Rays

A great deal of my love of baseball comes from analyzing, discussing, and projecting the countless statistics the game creates. It is sometimes incredibly frustrating to me the degree to which most members of the sports media insist on throwing out claims about the game that really don't mean anything and have no statistical backing whatsoever. For the most part, I want logical, scientific analysis of the game. Does playoff experience matter? I have no idea (I suspect it matters much less than it is portrayed) but if you're going to claim it does, show me some statistics that prove it. However, most people aren't like this. Human beings love a good story, and one of the most timeless narratives we have is that of the plucky underdog overcoming all the odds to succeed. And even I'll admit that I'm a complete and total sucker for that one, at least when it happens in the real world. The Tampa Bay Rays had never had a winning record. They had never won more than 70 games in a season. They had no fans. They were laughing stocks. And yet, slowly, quietly, and with a good deal of intelligence and baseball acumen (and a bunch of high draft picks) they were assembling a pretty fine baseball team. And they started winning. And people who don't know a thing about baseball started to call them out, without even looking at the talent on their roster, and telling that they needed to wake up and remember that they were The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and start losing again, just like they always do. (That post probably increased my fandom for the Rays 6-fold. I would love to get him to revisit that post today). And yet here they are, playing in the World Series.

If you have ever played for a team that people didn't believe in, come from a part of the world that people use as the butt of jokes, or just love an underdog-does-good story, you owe it to yourself to at least give a little bit of love for the Rays, and teams like them. I played for an underdog high school in an underdog province from an underdog country (well, at least compared the only one we ever compare it to), and I'll always cheer for the little, underfunded team to upset the powerful juggernaut with a huge payroll. This is especially true in sports like college football where the difference between teams is so pronounced, but even in professional sports we have the Rays and their (2nd lowest in baseball) $43 million payroll managing to topple the behemoths of the Red Sox and Yankees in their own division, with about $350 million spent on players between them. Unless you're the CEO of Wall Street investment bank (well...)cheering for the little guy just does something for the soul and inspires all of us that maybe we can surprise a few people, and maybe ourselves, too.

There Will Be a Show Tonight, In Tampa Bay

The World Series begins tonight with the Phillies of Philadelphia visting the Rays of Tampa Bay (although they play in St. Petersburg. Apparently some people are really sensitive about this point).

Vegas has established the Rays as favorites, mainly due to coming from the stronger league. BP gives the Phillies the slight edge, primarily due to the Rays' struggles with left-handed pitchers (of which they will see two starters, Hamels and old-man Moyer). Incidentally, apparently Vegas is trying to get people to put money on the Phillies, because they stand to lose a ton of cash to people who took the 150-1 longshot on the Rays at the start of the season. When I look at the rotation match-ups, I really only give the edge to the Phillies in Games 1 and 5, when Hamels takes the mound against Kazmir. I'll take Shields, Garza and Sonnanstine over Myers, Moyer, and Blanton. If it comes down to a Game 7 of Garza vs. Moyer, you'd have to give a big edge to the Rays.

Both bullpens are strong, probably a slight edge to the Phillies with their outstanding closer Brad Lidge. But the Rays bullpen features three good lefties in Howell, Miller and ALCS Game 7 hero/rookie David Price. This could prove to be important in high-leverage situations in the later innings, as Phillies manager Charlie Manuel refuses to separate his two big lefty bats at the top of the lineup (Utley and Howard). Expect some long innings with lots of pitching changes in the later stages of close games in order to take advantage of the splits.

As has been discussed before, the top of both lineups is very strong, with little to choose between the two, maybe a slight edge to the Phillies. In terms of depth and bench, the Rays have the clear edge with a lots of options for manager Joe Maddon. A prime example is using Peddie graduate Fernando Perez as a pinch runner/defensive replacement, who played a key role in the Rays extra-innings win over the Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALCS and probably should have played a role in the Game 5 comeback.

One interesting piece of trivia: the Phillies have been to 5 World Series, winning it just once (1980). The other teams they've lost to? The Red Sox (1915), the Yankees (1950), the Orioles (1983), and the Blue Jays (1993). The other 4 teams in the AL East, besides the Rays. Can the Rays finish off the sweep of the Phillies in the World Series by baseball's best division?

All in all, it looks to be a good series. Obviously, I'm rooting for the Rays to finish off their rags-to-riches-Cinderella-underdog-fairy tale story. But I wouldn't be too upset to see the trophy head to Philly and their suffering sports fans. I think it will be a long, closely-contested series, going 6 or 7 games. If the Rays can beat Hamels once, I think the series is theirs - so Game 1 tonight takes on some extra significance. If Hamels is on and their big bats can get the long balls going on somewhat gopher-prone Kazmir and Shields, the Phillies have put themselves in a great spot to win it all.

Enjoy the games.

Your 2008 AL Champs!

About the production values you would expect from a North American soccer team

#2 in the continuting series features the imaginatively-named San Diego Sockers.

Saturday Night Pick-Me-Up

If you're feeling a little down about the game, you can read the guys at FJM doing the FJM thing to the article about Jerry Manuel that I did my very own not-particularly-funny FJMing of yesterday. They're professionals at this.

And I think it's time for another sports promotional video, which is the ultimate way to turn around a downer night. Coming right up....

Bloc Parties Just Aren't That Much Fun

A fine article by Jeffrey Simpson on the role of the Bloc Quebecois in the national political scene. Some choice passages:

They apparently welcome a party that wants no part of governing Canada while continuing to demand more and more from it. More and more in the sense of more money for Quebec, more jurisdictional power, a larger international presence and other way stations to the Bloc's eventual goal of an independent Quebec.
...
Since 1993, the largest number of francophone Quebeckers apparently has wanted no part of federal parties, and therefore of the government or governance of Canada. Canada is no longer a country they wish to participate in governing, but one from which they wish to withdraw cash, like an automated teller machine.
...
The Bloc is quite brilliant at depicting anything Ottawa does that is remotely favourable to Quebec as a consequence of Bloc pressure, whereas anything that does not correspond to Quebec's "interests" is the fault of these insensitive, threatening parties that represent the "other," and of the imprisoning federal structure.
...
In this culture, nothing is ever enough. Mr. Harper got Parliament to declare the Québécois as a "nation." Put it in the Constitution, demanded the Bloc. Mr. Harper declared the "fiscal imbalance" resolved. No, it's not at all, demanded Mr. Charest. Give Quebec another $880-million, demanded the Bloc. Mr. Harper said he would change the way the television and telecommunications regulatory agency operates to ensure greater francophone presence. Give us the entire power of culture and communications, demanded Mr. Charest.

Is it wrong to wish that a few thousand more Quebeckers had voted "Yes" in 1995? As they say, read the whole thing.

"Big Game" James Shields?

He's my favorite pitcher and all, but why have I never heard him called this until the TBS announcers started referring to him as it during this series? And how exactly does one get a "Big Game" moniker when your team has never played in a big game until this season? At any rate, here's to hoping I can remove the question mark from the title of the post in about 18 hours.

2009 Mets Setting Themselves Up For a 3rd Place Finish

Relishing his new permanent role as the Mets manager, Jerry Manuel explained his philosophy of constructing the team. Sorry Mets fans, this isn't exactly what you want to hear from the supposed leader of your ball club:

"You get so many statistical people together, they put so many stats on paper, and they say, well, if you do this and you score this many runs, you do that many times, you'll be in the playoffs," he said. "That's not really how it works, and that's what we have to get away from. And that's going to have to be a different mind-set of the team in going forward. We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people. We have to win because we have baseball players that know and can understand the game."

Yes. They clearly need to get away from the things that the statistical people are saying wins games. Things like...scoring runs. And preventing runs. Those are a couple of important stats. Manuel would rather have guys who "know how to win" and "understand the game". I'll take the "good hitters" and "good pitchers".

For Manuel, the key is teaching his players to execute in the key situations. "We have to put a value on say, moving a runner over. We have to put a value on getting a bases on balls. We have to put a value on infield back, [getting a] ground ball that's sufficient to score a run," he said. "Those types of things have to be accented in order for us, in my opinion, to kind of get to the next level."

(Emphasis added). So he's saying that they should be putting a value on aspects of the game.... which is the total opposite of what the stats guys are trying to do with things like "VORP". Who knows what that stands for. Something something replacement player. I can't remember what the "V" stands for.

"You don't see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series," Manuel said. "What you see is usually the little second baseman or somebody like that carries off the MVP trophy that nobody expected him to do. That's because he's comfortable in playing that form of baseball, so therefore when the stage comes, it's not a struggle for him."

Yes. Given a short series, almost anyone can be a star. However, in order to get to those games in October, you have to have good players over a 162 game season. The Mets might still be fine, with talented players like David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Johan Santana. But this isn't the way you want your manager thinking going into a season where your biggest competitor in your division just advanced to the World Series.

Wildlife Alert: Perth Wildcats are on the prowl

The first in a series of fantastic sports videos. I'm not exactly sure what was behind the explosion of these promotional songs, or why so many teams thought they were a good idea, but if this doesn't make you nostalgic for the carefree innocence of the late 1980's, nothing will.

"Model" Fenway

This view of Fenway Park is actually a real photograph, but is doctored to look like a model by using the method of fake tilt-shift photography.

The Psychology of Phandom

Last night's devastating loss and subsequent inability for me to fall asleep brought to mind some thoughts about the nature of being a sports fan. Now, I will be the first to admit that I have not been a life-long Rays fan, only having really been following them closely for the past 2 years or so, mainly because they were horrible but had some talented young players whom I found interesting and I'm a sucker for an underdog with a glimmer of hope. But for 15 minutes after that loss last night, it felt like the worst thing in the world, just a complete and utter disappointment, and I had a boiling rage of hate for the Red Sox players, fans, ownership, anyone living within the Greater Boston Area, and had vowed to never drink a Sam Adams ever again. Which is obviously a pretty stupid reaction to the result of a game featuring a bunch of grown men chasing a ball around a field wearing ridiculous pants.

So why do we grow so attached to the results of certain sports teams? (Besides the ones we bet on, of course. The profit motive is very powerful. I totally understand why we can get passionate about that situation... like, um, the 2008 Final Four. /shameless self-promotion) The irrational hatred of the Yankees by the Red Sox and vice versa by those who are passionate about those teams is one of the reasons I find it difficult to support those teams (well, that and the sense of entitlement). Clearly some (arguably negative) aspects of human nature (such as grouping and the "us-vs-them" mentality) are tapped into very well by sports teams and the response is not unlike the irrational way people look at countries, primarily their own. Nationalism is a pretty big beef with me, and there are some obvious parallels - to the point that I feel guilty for loving the Olympics as much as I do. For the most part, objectivity is thrown out the window for the fan, just like the lover of country. It is an emotional activity that centers on our feeling of belonging to a group and the thrill of competition against The Others. There is likely a pretty powerful evolutionary root for this part of human nature, but it's probably best for us to step back every once in a while and realize what we're getting all excited about.

So I'm gonna shut off my heart and go look at some VORP projections for next year. After all, I've got a fantasy league to win!

A Big Comeback in Graph Form

Obviously I wasn't pleased with the outcome, but that was a pretty amazing comeback. You don't get many chances like that to close out a series: 7 run lead heading into the bottom of the 7th. And the Rays couldn't do it. And now I need to get my work done for tomorrow morning.