Budget "Cuts"

This video puts it in pretty good perspective.

Big News!

Toronto may finally be getting a professional hockey team! Can they use improper pluralization rules, too?

We Beat the 6th Seed in the West. Time to Get Overconfident.

The Vancouver Province is really trying hard to jinx the Canucks. They're actually accepting submissions for a Stanley Cup parade route. You know, if they manage to win 12 more games against 3 of the best teams in hockey. Which would be awesome, but it's probably a bit premature.

Going to Rd. 2, Online Update-Style!

Goal: VAN BURROWS,A. 28' Snap (19:41 OT)

OK, This Rocks

I love parkour, and if I was 10 years younger maybe I'd try it out. And this video is parkour for bikes, therefore making it sweet like Easter candy. It's Danny MacAskill doing some mind-blowing tricks on a bicycle. This is probably the coolest thing I've seen in 2009.



Who needs some Mountain Dew?

Play Ball!

Baseball season is finally here. Now I can ignore politics for 6 months, thankfully.

Quote of the Day

"...And many of us are hoping that all those in power fail, because those in power have a grating habit of being annoyingly self-righteous, hopelessly corrupt, resolutely incompetent and completely apathetic about the freedoms that they have sworn to protect."

(link)

The Shock Doctrine, Revisited

What are the odds that Naomi Klein writes a book about how Obama and the current administration/Congress is capitalizing on the current crisis to implement a whole slate of reforms they have been wanting to implement for years? It is far from shocking to see politicians (and their apologists) claiming that the mess we're in clearly shows the desperate need to implement whatever policies they have been advocating regardless of the state of the economy. I'm pretty sure that famous saying about the Chinese words for "crisis" and "opportunity" being the same is a myth, but to politicians, it certainly isn't. And that goes for those from the left as well as the right. They're all the same snake-oil salesmen.

Man, oh man. March Madness and baseball season can't come soon enough.

What Year Is It?

Are we seriously still supposed to get excited about a 23-year old guy smoking pot? Considering this is an activity that has been undertaken by not only the greatest swimmer of all time, pretty much every NBA player, and the current President of the United States, perhaps we need to rethink whether this is the big horrible deal it is made out to be. I really wanted Michael Phelps to NOT issue a stupid apology for being a perfectly normal young man, but of course we're not quite that far advanced yet.

So it was with great pleasure that I read Radley Balko's "A Letter I'd Like to See (But Won't)". I know that this isn't the only important issue out there, and I personally don't even care if I ever smoke marijuana ever again. But for some reason I get really angry about a society declaring WAR on its own citizens for what they decide to put in their own bodies.

As an aside, best headline for this story: "Pot of Gold".

Beer Pong Is Dead, Long Live Beer Pong

When out-of-touch oldies like Rick Reilly are finally getting around to writing about beer pong in ESPN the Magazine, I think it's pretty safe to say that beer pong's days as a cultural force are numbered (if a bunch of frat boys playing with water (WATER!) in a tournament held in a casino in Vegas hadn't killed it already). An alternative death blow can come from appearing in the lifestyle section of the New York Times. (See also: Ugly Sweater Parties).

Pretty Nice Xmas Gift for Yankee Fans

So this is what happens when the Yankees miss the playoffs. They've now added first baseman Mark Teixeira to their lineup for 8/$180. Quite a pickup for the Yankees, and Cashman deserves some credit for what he's pulled off this off-season. Teixeira projects to have a batting line of about .295/.390/.550, and he's a switch hitter still in his prime who is pretty much a lock to hit 30 HR's. By all accounts, he's a plus defender, although that is somewhat expendable at first base. But this solves a lot of questions for the Yankees and most certainly makes them the favorites in the AL East next season (and on paper, probably the best team in all of baseball). This will (rightly) raise a bunch of questions about the competitive balance in baseball, but you can't really fault the Yankees for spending the cash they're bringing in with their new money-making machine stadium. You can fault them a bit more for the way their fleecing NYC taxpayers for that stadium, but they're no worse (except the numbers are a bit bigger) in that regard than pretty much every other professional sports team.

So yeah, this signing worries me in terms of what it means to the Yankees on the field this season - but it just makes everyone else (i.e. the Rays) that much more of an underdog, and therefore that much more fun to cheer for (and the Yankees that much more fun to cheer against). And can you imagine if the Yanks miss the playoffs again, given what they've done this off-season?

From the Desk of Douglas Adams

"On [that] world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."

"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy?"

"I did," said Ford, "It is."

"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"

"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."

"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"

"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."

"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"

"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in."

[via]

#16

The Canucks retired Trevor Linden's jersey last night (and beat the Oilers, too) in an emotional ceremony at GM Place. I remember him being drafted 20 years ago, and it's a little weird to have an NHL without him. Linden is regarded by pretty much everyone as a class act both on and off the ice: former head of the players association, lots of chairtable work, and he really cared about and loved the city Vancouver. The Canucks' all-time leader in games played, Linden was an integral part of the team for many, many years, taking them to within a whisper of the Stanley Cup in '94 against the hated Rangers (incidentally, he was also on the heartbreaking '98 Canadian Olympic team, one of the saddest sports memories I have... at least Linden was able to win a couple of Memorial Cups while in Junior hockey). Hats off to him for all he did for the organization and the city. I don't think he has a funny blog, though.

Bolt Considering Trying a Real Running Event

Having blown away the world in the 100m and 200m, Usain Bolt has expressed interest in moving up to the 400m. His body type is actually more typical of a 400m runner and he’s got the mechanics to probably do pretty well (he’s almost certainly a sub-45 second runner right now). But will a life-long short sprinter be able to do the training required to succeed (and for Bolt, success means setting a world record, or at least winning a world championship) in the grueling 400m? That, my friends, is question only a pole vaulter can answer.

Two Great Hockey Stories

Story #1: A Heartwarming Tale from a Frozen Land
The entire Blackhawks team forgoes a trip home around Thanksgiving while in the middle of a road trip, in order to go with their GM Dale Tallon to northern Ontario for the funeral of his father. Pretty nice show of solidarity by the only blue-collar professional athletes left, and they should be commended even more for their willingness to spend more time in Ontario (although at least they got out of Toronto).

Story #2: Living the “Rink of Dreams”
Due to an injury to Jose Theodore and transportation problems with a goalie being called up from the farm team, the Washington Capitals were left without a backup goalie at the start of their game against Ottawa. So they got web producer Brett Leonhardt to put on the pads, and he got to dress as the backup goalie for 1/3 of a game (the AHL goalie showed up halfway through the first period), taking warm-ups on the ice and everything. Is he the Moonlight Graham of hockey? “Now, if I’d only got to be a web producer for 10 minutes, that’d have been the real tragedy.”

Greatest Sports Blogger Ever? Greatest Sports Blogger Ever.

Imagine a guy who was probably the best basketball player on his high school team. Now, imagine he was recruited by Harvard, but that deal ends up falling through. So instead, he goes to a huge state school, starts off as the manager of the basketball team, and then ends up walking on to the team. So he’s on one of the best college basketball teams in the country (playing with 2 future first round NBA picks, who he also happened to play with on an AAU team), and spends the next 2+ years averaging about one minute per game. So, this guy might have a reason to fade into obscurity, maybe have a chip on his shoulder, or at the very least not be dealing well with going from being a top player to being a benchwarmer. And there are thousands of players just like him all over the country, every year. And a lot of them can’t stop telling you how great they were, or how they got screwed over, or complaining about their playing time.

But Mark Titus didn’t react like that at all. He and two of the other bench warmers start calling themselves “Club Trillion”, in reference to their boxscores for these games: 1 minute played, followed by a string of a bunch of zeros for points, rebounds, assists, turnovers, etc. [It reads like this: 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (depending on what stats are used).] Mark has a sports blog called Club Trillion, and he writes about what it’s like to be a minute-per-game guy on a top college basketball team. And he does it all with a self-deprecating sense of humor and great attitude. He’s my new favorite basketball player, and I wish Mark all the best in securing a trillion in lots of Ohio State games this year. I read the entire archive of the blog today, and it’s hilarious (he only started posting a couple of months ago, so there’s not much there). If he keeps it up, it might even fill (some of) the void left by Fire Joe Morgan’s departure.

A sampling:

We beat Butler yesterday in a squeaker that featured my former high school teammate Gordon Hayward putting points on our team's collective face. Brownsburg High School was easily the best represented high school in the game, as Gordon and I combined for 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. Because I didn't even get in the game, Gordon shouldered most of the productivity, but I looked really good with the towel around my neck on the bench. Seriously. I looked REALLY good. Despite Gordon's best effort, in the end my good looks obviously weighed much more heavily in the outcome of the game than his 25 points, because my team came out victorious.
…
Butler is a team that understands a fundamental truth about every Caucasian basketball player--we love short shorts. You could be saying to yourself, "But Mark, I'm white and I like baggier shorts" to which I respond with "You are not only a liar, but a disgrace to Kurt Rambis." The length of shorts is serious business to me, which is why I had to untangle my jaw from my shorts when I saw how perfect Butler's were (Note: I would have picked my jaw up off the floor, but on its way down my jaw got entangled in my absurdly baggy shorts). They weren't quite as crotch-suffocating as the shorts from the '60s, but these bad boys gave me my first look at a basketball player's knees since I was in high school.

I actually think Mark Titus is a role model; a smart kid, a good writer, an athlete, and with a great perspective on life to boot. I also happen to think he’s funny as shit.

Let. Them. Fail.

The American Political Royal Family

Is it just me, or is there something mildy disturbing that people in a country founded in a rebellion against a monachary seem more than willing to put people into political office for no other apparent reason than they have a famous last name?

Burnett to Bronx

It is being reported that the Yankees have signed former Blue Jay AJ Burnett to a 5 year, $82.5 million contract. Marcel projects Burnett to be about +3.5 wins next season, which is worth slightly more than the $16.5 million the Yankees are paying him. Factor in regression as he ages over the next 5 years and the contract looks to be priced about right, and gives the Yankees another boost to their rotation. That rotation now has 3 definite pieces in place (Sabathia, Wang, Burnett), Joba Chamberlain most likely being a part, albeit with some innings limitations (unless they decide to put him in the bullpen, which would be a mistake). For the 5th spot, in-house options are Phil Hughes (has not thus far reached his potential despite high hopes coming into last season) and Andy Pettitte (currently negotiating with the club and has apparently rejected their initial offer of $10 million for a one year deal). Going onto the market, Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets are the main options available. Rather than signing one of these guys to a multi-year deal, it makes a lot more sense to give Pettitte what he wants for one year, and see how Hughes develops this year. Pettitte is probably only slightly less valuable, performance-wise, than Lowe or Sheets (and I think the groundball-inducing Lowe's potential value goes down with the questionable Yankee infield behind him), and can be had for a one-year deal rather than the riskier option of locking up one of them for a few years. And that dreamy stare comes for free!

More Winter Meeting Goodness

A bunch more action out of baseball's winter meetings today. The Mets, Mariners, and Indians made a massive deal involving 12 players, the biggest of note was reliever JJ Putz heading to the Mets. What a difference for the Mets for next year in terms of the 8th and 9th innings. Instead of relying on some combination of Heilman, Smith, Schoenweis, and other guys, now you've got Putz and Rodriguez. That's quite an upgrade, and probably worth a few wins for the Mets for 2009. If I have time I'll look at the numbers and see how it actually projects.

In in the AL East, baseball's best division just got better. The Rays management has pulled off another excellent move, picking up outfielder Matt Joyce from the Tigers for starter Edwin Jackson. So the Rays picked up a left fielder with a decent bat and a great glove (giving them probably the best defensive outfield in the league, with Crawford/Upton/Joyce), filling a hole they desperately needed to fill and with a young, low-cost player with a high upside. Joyce is probably a +2 wins player, and they had to give up a fifth starter who is probably worth half a win or so. The Rays had a glut of starters and needed to move someone in order to make room for David Price, so this move solves their rotation questions for next season, too. (Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Price, Sonnanstine - not bad!). The Rays front office continues to show why they are one of the best in the game. This is how you build a winning team for under $50 million.