EVIL~! alkeiper

"My militia has a plan to beat up all sorts of government officials. That'll teach 'em to drag their feet on high-definition tv!"

Barajas' numbers indicate a severe decline in ability. When a player's walk-rate spikes like that, it's usually because his bat speed can't carry him anymore.

Why not? $3 million a season would be really good for a guy winning 12 games a year.

Until Kane enters, which will make it 12 for him.

Yeah, I screwed up Lawler/Christopher and a couple of years. I'll make the corrections.

If only there was a way to elect not to watch the channel. Say, a button that might magically turn off your television. Or better yet, a button that would give you access to hundreds of other channels! That would be nice.

Since they did that Rumble package on ECW, came up with some other Rumble figures. Oldest Rumble competitor: Ric Flair, 2007 (58 years old) Youngest Rumble competitor: Rene Dupree, 2004 (20 years, 1 month old) Heaviest Rumble competitor: Probably Yokozuna in 1996. Lightest Rumble competitor: Likely Rey Misterio in 2003. Three father/son combinations have competed in the Rumble: Carlos Colon (1993) and Carlito (2006-07). Dusty Rhodes (1990) and Goldust (six Rumbles). Jerry Lawler (1993, '96, '97) and Brian Christopher (2000-01). Has anyone competed in more Rumbles than Glen Jacobs with eleven?

I didn't read the chat. To be honest I find the whole concept really boring. Gallardo or Lincecum? Who cares, they're both great young talents.

When Ryan Howard was Fielder's age, he hit 23 home runs in the Florida State League. Fielder was better last year as well; Howard's totals are fueled by his 2006 campaign, which he may not touch again. I would take Fielder over Howard.

Kingston looked ok, but that jobber they dug up was shit.

Using Baseball Reference's Play Index, I came up with a list of the best player seasons by players in their final year. This list comprises players in their last season, playing 100+ games, sorted by OPS+. 1. Ted Williams Playing in 113 games, Williams hit .316 with 29 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 75 walks (adding up to a .451 OBP). Announcing his retirement before the end of the season, Williams hit a home run in his final career at bat. 2. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson This is actually 1920, as it took a season for the Black Sox scandal to break. Offenses around the league exploded, Jackson himself hit .382 with power and plate discipline. Jackson hit 42 doubles, 20 triples, 12 home runs, 121 RBIs, and only 14 strikeouts. With three games remaining in the season, Jackson and company were suspended by MLB in the wake of the Black Sox indictments. He was later banned for life the following season. 3. Nick Johnson Johnson suffered a horrific leg injury in September of 2006 and missed the entire 2007 campaign. Will he ever play again? If not, note his .428 OBP for the Nationals in 2006, playing in a tough hitters' park. 4. Will Clark After quietly producing quality seasons in Texas, Clark moved to Baltimore and missed half of the 1999 season. Clark played well in 2000 with the Orioles, staying healthy and again producing quality. Meanwhile in St. Louis, Mark McGwire suffered nagging injuries. The Cards looked to Clark as a stopgap, and Clark exploded, hitting .345 down the stretch and leading St. Louis to a Central division championship. The Cardinals tried to re-sign Clark for a LF job, but Clark elected retirement instead. Let me note here that Clark's season in 1989 was every bit as good as Jim Rice's 1978, in context. Clark was a flat out better player with a better career, but of course got no Hall of Fame support. 5. Happy Felsch See Joe Jackson. Felsch hit .338, collected 69 extra base hits, drove in 115 runners and played center field. Hall of Fame material? Probably not. He had a similar OPS+ careerwise as players such as Cesar Cedeno, Ray Lankford, Cy Williams and Rick Monday. 6. Mickey Mantle When Mickey Mantle hit .237 with 18 home runs and 54 RBIs, he looked done. The composite batting line for the American League in 1968 was .233/.302/.346. Mantle's .782 OPS that season actually ranked 9th in the American League. 7. Dave Nilsson Nilsson had something of a fluke season, hitting .309 in 115 games as a catcher. Nilsson departed after the season to play for Australia in the 2000 olympics, and has generally been an Australian baseball mainstay since. 8. Steve Evans The only player on the list I never heard of. Evans jumped to the Federal League and had two very good seasons there in 1914-15. When the league folded, Evans disappeared from the majors. 9. Brian Downing .407 OBP for the Texas Rangers in 1992 as a DH in 107 games. Downing had not played a game in the field since 1987, so only his bat carried him. 10. Buzz Arlett Arlett hit .318/.387/.538 in his only MLB season with the Phillies. Arlett was a star in the Pacific Coast League, back when that meant something. Arlett could have easily had a productive career in the Majors, but like many players of his day preferred to stay closer to home in California.

I don't think you'd attach a hard number. You would want probably a percentage, say, 50% of the median team salary. In 2006 that would place you at $36 million, which would force the Washington Nationals to spend an extra million and the Marlins to spend an additional $22 million.

I caught a bit of the two NFL playoff games on Sunday. (Yeah, I can dabble in the NFL if need be.) Had a few thoughts to share. -Playing professional sport games in sub-zero conditions is fairly stupid in its own right. Players in short-sleeves and fans in body paint is downright ridiculous. I live in the Poconos, a climate that can get fairly chilly in the winter. At a certain temperature, you can deal with the chill but you don't mess around with it. It's dangerous. I can't help but think it would make much more sense to make use of Miller Park, and I can hear the howls of protest already. -On that note, building flashy new MLB stadiums was wasteful enough but NFL as well? The multi-use stadiums in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were one thing. But before that, NFL teams frequently played in places like Shibe Park, Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field. -The New York Giants based on the statistics are probably the worst team to play in a Super Bowl. The other teams with 6+ losses to reach the Super Bowl are the '79 Rams and the '88 49ers. How do they stack up long term? Let's see their three and five-year records. Three year record Giants: 29-19 Rams: 31-15 49ers: 33-13-1 Five year record Giants: 39-41 Rams: 53-20-1 49ers: 58-20-1 I think that's pretty convincing. The reason I go with multi-year records is that a 14-16 game sample is simply not large enough to draw any firm conclusions. A good team wins year after year. -Are the Giants a better team than the Packers because they won? Not necessarily. If the game were 30 minutes instead of 60, the Packers would be in the Super Bowl. One game decided by a margin of a single score hardly proves a damn thing. Any player or team can have a bad day. Again, I preach long term samples. The more data you have, the better conclusions you draw. -Looking for weaker championship teams, I came across the 1932 Bears. No, they were not a weak team. They won seven games and lost one. They tied the other six. In their first three games, NEITHER team scored! They lost their fourth game by two points, 2-0. Interestingly their championship game was not played in Wrigley Field due to adverse weather. It was moved indoors to Chicago Stadium, a smaller sporting arena. On an 80-yard field, the NFL more or less invented arena football on the fly. -With a team seeking a perfect season, this year's Super Bowl will no doubt draw high ratings. I do not know yet if I will watch. As you all know, I am not an especially big NFL fan. The bigger problem is that the commercials have become too big for their own good. The more I think about it, I am going to take a four hour chunk so that I can watch scads of advertisements? Not happening. I'm visiting my lady friend that weekend, I find her company more enjoyable. Besides, assuming a local sports outlet airs the Caribbean World Series again, my sports needs are satiated.

I will say that once a movie airs on broadcast tv, it is absolutely fair game. Something like the Godfather shouldn't merit spoiler tags.

Do you want some HD Cheese to go with that HD coughxcough syrup? Here's an idea, instead of watching the Pats win yet another Super Bowl, go get your ass LAID. That's my plan, actually.

I find these two statements together amusing (both characters were played by Glen Jacobs).

It looks exactly the same on my SDTV tv. Might not be as nice as the HD version, but hey look, I have money I didn't waste!

I can't see combining low/no-carbs with a gym workout. Like mentioned before, you need energy. Being diabetic (type 1), I've had to adopt this type of eating regiment. Basically, you want to watch out for high starch foods, potatoes are death. Avoid french fries entirely, and watch how much pasta you eat. Most of the sugar stuff is common sense and stuff you want to avoid eating anyway.

Voter turnout is actually highest this round, it's just that the poll eliminated the necessity of posting.

Yes. There is always room for niche professional leagues. A lot of them, like Arena II professional football, float completely under the national radar. A league does not have to be on the level of the big 3-4 to exist. The problem is that the WNBA is nationally promoted and compared to the NBA and played in those size arenas, and it is never going to reach that level. Here is one in the wake of the NE Patriots' win. What factors do you consider when rating a franchise all-time? Strictly win/loss record? Or point differential, records along 3-5 consecutive seasons, etc.?

23-20 Giants. Well done sir.

I can't help but think with the Patriots undefeated angle, this game is going to pull in higher ratings than any game in recent memory. Could be wrong.

The problem is that people are going to seek out opinions of a movie from other viewers before watching it themselves, so the spoiler tags have their purpose.

I'd go with game seven of the 1972 World Series. In Cincinnati, Fingers enters the game with runners on second and third, none out, 8th inning. A's lead 3-1 so the runner on second is the tying run. Fingers escapes hanging on to a 3-2 lead (one run scored on a sac fly), and then retires the Reds in the ninth for the win. A two-inning save to give the A's their first World championship in 42 years. Isn't playing professional sports in sub-zero weather kind of stupid?

Eh, I never trust rumors of any uber-deals like that.