Cheech Tremendous

How serious? I still don't think anyone is even in the discussion with Albert Pujols.

I've had barleywine and have never particularly cared for it. Bigfoot, mentioned earlier in the last post, is decent, but on the whole I haven't really felt in necessary to sample many others. I did go to a barleywine beerfest at the Lucky Labrador last year. Even with my tremendous beer snobbery I don't remember having anything that impressive.

Mik, you're my buddy now, since we're both on staff, but this post was kinda homosexual. Czech, weren't you just recently deriding some posters for using "elitist" as the ultimate negative for a poster? Now you're calling a guy homosexual for wanting to look nice? I feel we are inching closer to a TSM Fashion Thread. I envision three or four of us discussing how great we dress, and the rest of the board making fun of us.

The pythagorean record is an estimate of how many games a team should have won based on their runs scored and runs allowed. It is named as such because it closely resembles the pythagorean formula (runs^2/(runs^2 + runs allowed^2)). This formula is far from perfect, as the exponent should be closer to 1.8, and has been adapted as such by stat teams like Baseball Prospectus. In simple terms, a team outperforming their P-W/L would regress in the future, either in a first half/second half split or the following season. Conversely, an underperforming team would be likely to play better in the future. Essentially, the quality of the team is a function of their ability to score runs and prevent runs, and that is not always reflected in the team's actual winning percentage. Although it is important to understand this formula, there are significant flaws. Since it regresses so heavily to the mean, good teams on the whole outperform their W/L and bad teams underperform. Also teams that deviate from the normal run-scoring environment often can change their expected outcomes (like the Angels, who play in an inordinate amount of close games that they win because of mediocre offense and a good bullpen).

I can't think of a single wrestler that would have been more out of place during the Monday Night Wars than Ricky Steamboat. You hate to see a guy retire early, but in the case of Steamboat, it was probably the best thing for him in the long run. Not sure where he would have fit into Hogan's WCW. Probably would have finished the feud with Austin in the fall and then moved on from the company some time in 1995. I could see Vince giving him one more shot working the upper card with Bret, Shawn and company. With his family values I don't think he would have touched ECW with a ten foot pole. He probably would have retired by '95 or '96.

Ok, I'm glad that I've had the 120 Minute IPA. Now I will never drink one again. I think I found the reason why more beers don't aren't 20% alcohol.

I took VX's advice and went to Belmont Station. Tonight I finally sample the 120 Minute IPA.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Baseball/article/507488 I figured they would try and do something like this. It's probably below market value, and I'm worried that we'll end up with the 2006-07 version of Burnett, though. Can't see him going for that unless he really loves Toronto and wants to stay there. I think it will take five years and something between $75 and $90 million to sign him as a free agent. That's a lot of money to leave on the table.

I am a former moderator of a message board specializing in lowbrow wrestling discussion and scatological pictures. Right now I am aspiring to be a moderator for the same message board.

In other news, the sky is blue.

You're 21? That makes you an adult. Start acting like one.

Technically it is the bullpen, but there are other factors at play. Last year they couldn't get their starting pitchers to go more than 5 innings, leaving them with too many innings from the back end relievers. It also managed to burn out their good relievers down the stretch. Any bullpen will look bad in this scenario. This year the bullpen failed again, but it was because Wagner got hurt, Heilman lost his edge and the situational guys were shoved into roles they weren't equipped for. You cannot plan for that in the offseason. I know every Mets fan wants Minaya's head, and I probably would too if I were a fan, but this isn't really his fault. Bullpens are the weakness of every team because relievers are just failed, shitty starting pitchers. They're erratic and unreliable. If you think some team's bullpen is good, it's only because they've managed to hide their flaws better than others. Trying to spend money to build a bullpen is a fool's errand.

Coincidentally, I went and saw the Who in concert. Rolling Stones, too. Is the live experience a fraction of what these bands once were? Sure, but this is the only chance I'm going to get. I was born thirty years too late to see these bands in their prime. I'll choose 75% Zeppelin over 0% Zeppelin any day.

That's exactly what I intend to do.

"Computer Blue" is the one that comes to mind for me, but I've only listened to Purple Rain a few times. Hmmm, maybe I should pop that on for next week's Classic Vinyl thread.

Kid's already here. Did you miss this piece of EHME parenting?

I work in commercial real estate doing valuation and consulting assignments (which includes everything from market value appraisals to litigation to feasibility studies). I am employed by a mid-size firm and do work in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

The original plan was to do Sting/Hogan in the spring (Slamboree maybe?). Once they realized that Sting was getting more over by not doing anything but sit in the rafters, they decided to push the match back to Starrcade.

Hey VX, you gotta make sure you head over to the Horse Brass Pub (if you haven't been). I think there are over 100 beers on tap there, mostly local favorites. They are constantly changing what they have available (and beers come in Imperial Pints). In my worldly travels, I have never encountered a better city for beer drinking than Portland. It truly is remarkable.

Doesn't matter what the cost is, I will be there.

That's a nice summary of what led to the current problem, but you haven't explained what this all means to our future economy. So... 5) The financial institutions are all heavily invested in mortgage-backed securities that are failing left and right. Without a place to dump their bad loans and not knowing how much worse things can get, lenders have become increasingly tight with their money. Since banks can no longer borrow easily from each other, the availability of credit has dried up. What this means is that the banks don't have any money to loan to anyone. This affects every every credit purchase, from the new couple looking to buy a home, a child seeking a loan for college or a construction company building a new office complex. Without these funds, our economy stalls out, people start hoarding money and we fall into a downward spiral. Essentially we are left with a non-functioning economy; some economists call this a "depression." Here's a decent article that sort of recaps what I just said: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business...amp;_r=1&em

Hey X, where did you find the 120 Minute? I didn't see it at Whole Foods last time I was there. I saw the 120 minute at Whole Foods, funny enough. I had to look for it for a bit then I was like OH SHIT SCORE. If worse comes to worse though, I have Belmont Station here (ironically not located on Belmont anymore) which is the greatest beer store known to man. I always do my beer shopping at the Whole Foods out by Bridgeport Village. I've never seen the 120 Min there, so the selection must vary by store.. Where's Belmont Station? I'm going to be in P-town on Sunday and figured I could pick up a few things.

Hey X, where did you find the 120 Minute? I didn't see it at Whole Foods last time I was there.

According to an interview I heard with Brian Johnson and Angus Young, it is nearly impossible to make any money off of CD sales unless you release them as an exclusive deal with one of the major chain stores. I don't really care if it comes out now. I have the nine tracks that were illegally released on CD. The songs are great. I probably listen to it at least once a week.

It'd be nice to keep this stuff separate from the lumbering monster that is the Campaign 2008 thread. Use this thread to discuss the on-going failures of our economy and any potential solutions. Washington Mutual was seized by the government today. It is the largest banking failure in US history. Article attached below is from nytimes.com.