The Man in Blak

Like I said, it's a decent, if unspectacular, bridge between KC's glory days and their abysmal late period output. I actually don't mind the "early 90's rock" production, but it's definitely a bit of a departure from the extremes in their previous albums, so I can understand where it might not appeal to some folks. The live albums for the tour to support THRAK are interesting, though - Vrooom Vrooom and B'BOOM are fun trips through their whole catalogue, with improvisations and a fairly decent mix of material from all of the incarnations of the band.

What is a "Clique A"? From what I hear, snuffbox has a better set of tits anyway. Really idiotic seeding here, putting the moderator that drives virtually all of the basketball discussion around here in the last seed. If we vote Admin off of the island, we won't get updates to the TSM Arcade whenever the board goes down.

THRAK has nothing on either of The Construcktion of Light and The Power To Believe, both of which are unbelievably bad, but it might not be as strong as either of their well known "album trilogies" either. "Dinosaur" isn't too bad, and there's a sequel/ripoff of "Red" in there as well.

Can't say, as I haven't heard it. I'll see if I can snatch that tonight, for a proper comparison.

That's why I love the USA live album - it basically works as a best-of for that period and throws in "21st Century Schizoid Man" in there, just to top it all off.

Ah, okay, so just like last year's league. When's the draft?

What are the specs for the league? I can't view the page at work due to blocking software, but I might be interested in jumping in, time permitting.

I've been able to tweak around some settings in the Zune software to make it run a bit more clearly - there's an option to turn off "automatic synching", which not only cuts down on much of the latency involved with connecting the thing to your computer, but also allows you to select certain albums/songs to synch up, rather than having to audit the contents of the entire library every time you make an update. The software's reported video format conversion is a complete joke, though - I've yet to see the Zune software actually convert any of the video files that I've placed in the library, and the alternate solution (Windows Media Encoder) is cumbersome. Anybody had better luck with that?

That's par for the course for Fire Joe Morgan, but I wouldn't necessarily expect that from other sabermetric sites, like the Hardball Times, for example. BPro is decent, if unspectacular, in this regard (Silver's response to Chass was commendable), but they've had some very visible slipups in the past, including Joe Sheehan calling everybody in sports journalism "economically-illterate dumbasses" or something to that effect.

I agree with you that the concepts behind the statistics are important, but I think that the contention here is that those concepts (at least the specific ones you've cited here) may not require heavy statistical analysis as explanation and these statistics (VORP) may actually distort one's view of the game, rather than enhance it. Having a baseline for performance isn't necessarily something that VORP created - "old codgers" such as Chass likely do have a general idea about what you should normally expect from any typical MLB player, even if that expectation is grounded in more "traditional" stats like batting average and so forth. VORP can certainly come into the picture to quantify that expectation, but it's certainly not the only road that leads to this understanding and (more importantly) it can't hold any value unless it comes with a deeper understanding of what the stat actually tracks (and how the underlying factors behind the stat actually influence the outcome of a baseball game). Where Chass should be reprimanded is in the fact that he freely admits that, as a sports journalist, he doesn't care to find that understanding and is much more content to remain loyal to his ways and beliefs, even though they could be inaccurate. He doesn't care to do the legwork and propose a reasonable argument against the philosophy that drives these statistics. It's not a "dark day for baseball", but it is irresponsible journalism to be so carelessly dismissive of new ideas that surround the game. As for Jaffe, I don't care if it's a posted chat or not, you don't have somebody on your staff calling somebody who criticizes your work a "bitch" in print, no matter how baseless the criticism may be.

I'm personally ambivalent towards the value of VORP (it's not predictive, it's weighed from an arbitrary baseline), but to openly dismiss and all "new-age statistics" as though they can't possibly bring a better understanding of the game is kind of childish. That being said, Jaffe's response is equally as childish and, frankly, more worthy of scorn than Chass's willful ignorance because it furthers the negative perception around the sabermetric movement. I wouldn't have appreciated reading that on his Futility Infielder blog, let alone a site like Baseball Prospectus that has ambitions of journalistic credibility.

I definitely won't argue that there was definitely an emotional punch at the beginning - when "Nutshell" opened the concert and each band member, one by one, took their places and joined in, you almost had to wonder if Layne was going to be there...and then there he was, disturbingly thin, wearing sunglasses, and looking like he might not even make it to the microphone. And to his credit, Layne gave about all that he could for "Nutshell" and even "Brother" (which was better than the Sap version, frankly). But after those two tracks, the emotion starts to sour and it really begins to feel less like a triumph and more like an act of desperation as the performance wears on. Staley almost literally croaks his way through "Would?" and generally floats all over the place on pitch through the rest of the set, all while the rest of the band soldiers on, looking genuinely concerned for Layne throughout. When Layne says that it's "their best show in three years", it's a sad confession, rather than a poignant observation; the band didn't tour to support the previous album and they hadn't performed together live at all in that span of time, primarily because of Staley's health and erratic behavior.

The overmedicated zombie that resembled Layne Staley on MTV Unplugged was a pale imitation of the guy that ripped through songs just a few years prior. His voice was cracked, his delivery was haggard, and he couldn't hold onto lyrics. (If I remember correctly, many of the songs required multiple takes - I believe they had to take four swings at "Sludge Factory" before they finally got it right). He was just physically shot all to hell by that point; I don't know that the performance would have been much better without him, but the fans and the band deserved better than what they got out of him that night, in my opinion.

AIC is a bit overrated nowadays, Layne Staley in particular. There's no denying that the guy had pipes, but his lyrics were really bad in general and the band actually seemed to thrive when he was less involved near the end of their run. Given his state of health and overall "contribution" to their performance, the rest of the group might have preferred that Layne not even showed up for the MTV Unplugged concert at all. What's weird is that their EPs are more interesting than their full-length albums. Sap had "Got Me Wrong" (which might actually be their most enduring track) and Jar of Flies was a decent departure from their usual stuff but, outside of those two, the self-titled LP is probably the only album I occasionally skip through nowadays, mainly due to the dissonant vocal harmonies they started adding on their later work, like "Sludge Factory" or "Frogs".

Flipmode Squad.

It's three months after the launch and there is still absolutely no way to find the Wii hardware anywhere around here. One of the local retailers around here said that they've managed to get the product on the shelves just once or maybe twice since the console launched, due to people bombarding them with requests for the consoles whenever the trucks roll in.

It figures that Ray King would cough up my Game 7.

I'm not sure that IsoP is really the best stat to invoke in this argument - I agree that a marked decline in isolated power could preclude a severe drop in performance, but Loretta's career IsoP is .103. Even in his career year in 2004, he only chipped in an IsoP of .160. Though .080 isn't a great stat, it's not all that far removed from what Loretta has done throughout his MLB tenure. Loretta is a slap hitter, like he's always been, and he's almost got a .300 career batting average to show for it. I don't think I'd want him out there near the top of the lineup every day, but I think he's a fair improvement over Eric Bruntlett as a utility player off of the bench (which is where I imagine he'll be).

There's no way that I can see Esteban German getting a start at 3B over Gordon or Teahen, especially given Bell's reluctance to give him any sort of regular playing time last year. That being said, he really should be in the lineup and I'd be tempted to gamble with him at shortstop over Berroa, who is just a cataclysmic team-sinking vortex of suck at this point. The Royals are going to be a real intriguing team next year, when some of those veteran contracts roll off the books: Sweeney, Elarton, Sanders, and Grudzielanek (if he declines his '08 player option) will be making room for fresh blood from the minors like Butler, Bianchi, and maybe even somebody like Tyler Lumsden or Chris Lubanski. The 2007 season, though, doesn't look as promising, despite appearing to be an improvement over the debacle that was last year's team. As for Loretta, the guy isn't really an All-Star, but he gets on base at an average clip, offers passable (though not necessarily good) defense at multiple infield positions, and puts the ball in play. He would be decent as a pinch-hitter/super-sub to spell Biggio and the rest of the infield until Hunter Pence gets called up to the big league club; once he arrives, Pence could take center field and allow Chris Burke (a superior hitter and glove man, from what I've seen) to sub into the infield slots, relegating Loretta further down the bench.

That's a bit of a misconception, really. Yeah, there's Pujols, Carpenter, Edmonds, and Rolen, but those 2004 and 2005 squads had Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders, two great years out of Tony Womack and Mark Grudzielanek, respectively, and a great deal more pitching depth as well. Given all of the injuries that they had, as well as the dropoff in talent, they were actually fortunate to finish above .500 and get to the playoffs at all. (BPro's third-order adjusted standings had them at ten games below .500, as the second best team in the division behind the Astros.) Also, don't forget how weak the rest of their competition in the NL (the Central division especially) was last year. Those 83 wins aren't necessarily as valuable as they would seem, once you consider that the rest of the division ranged from barely mediocre to truly awful. As bad as the Cardinals staff was at times throughout 2006, they weren't as bad as you'd initially think - their team ERA of 4.54 was actually in the middle of the NL pack (9th) and they actually yielded an above average amount of total runs per game (4.73). If the Cardinals can score another starter like Lieber, that will certainly go a long way towards helping out their chances. That being said, I sincerely doubt that they'll make a move this late in the offseason, especially since they really don't have a "B" reliever that they could afford to trade away. I'm actually a little more optimistic on the Cubs, if only because they decisively addressed their immediate weaknesses from last year. A lot of folks around here slept on the New York Mets coming into 2006 as well, failing to take into consideration that they plugged both of their biggest holes with offseason acquisitions (Delgado, Wagner). The Cubs have fired Dusty Baker, replaced Juan Pierre with Alfonso Soriano, they've added on Cliff Floyd and Mark DeRosa for depth, they've got Ted Lilly to stabilize the rotation, and they'll have (in all likelihood) a full year of Derrek Lee and Rich Hill. All of those empty plate appearances that were given to Freddie Bynum or Angel Pagan will be eaten up by solid reserves like Murton, Theriot and/or DeRosa. In short, they've plugged a lot of holes...and I think they've got a chance to really surprise some folks, especially considering that the NL may stand to get even worse this season, as a whole.

The optimism around the Cardinals is confusing. I know that they are the defending World Champions and everything, but they were lucky to finish above .500 last year and they've drastically downgraded their rotation going into this season. Chris Carpenter is about as good an ace as you'll find and Anthony Reyes might have some flashes as a solid No. 2, but the rest of their staff is a complete question mark; you can't take for granted that Kip Wells is going to be Woody Williams part deux, you can't assume that Adam Wainwright will transform from a decent reliever into a decent starter, and you can't even pick the No. 5 starter out of a police lineup because there's no clue who will take the job. Just to put things into perspective, Braden Looper (0 career MLB starts in 9 years) is currently the front-runner for the fifth starter's role. Even if you take for granted that Carpenter will turn in another Cy Young-caliber year, you still have a lot of uncertainty throughout a team that really wasn't that great last year until the playoffs. This is a rebuilding year for the Cards - if they finish over .500, I will be pleasantly surprised.

It's just my opinion, but I think it's difficult, if not outright impossible, for most people to discuss Nirvana rationally. Indie elitists trash Cobain for swiping from the Pixies, emo haters blame Cobain for popularizing angst-ridden lyrics, and a whole bunch of folks that don't fall into either of those groups piss all over Nirvana because Cobain "glorified" suicide, Courtney Love's a crazy bitch, and because MTV drove the Unplugged performance into the ground, all while forgetting what the musical landscape looked like before Nevermind came around. Frankly, the fact that "You Know You're Right", a mediocre-at-best leftover from '93, landed as a #1 hit on the Modern Rock charts nine years later says everything that you need to know about Nirvana and the state of rock music after Cobain killed himself. They weren't innovators and they weren't remarkably proficient musicians, but they managed to incorporate all of their influences into a mix that was both accessible and challenging to listeners. They deserve a lot better than they get around here, in my opinion...but that's just me and I'm the guy who still spins through In Utero once or twice a month.

1. "Life On Mars?" 2. "Subterraneans" 3. "Breaking Glass" 4. "Heroes" 5. "Joe The Lion" The first four are easy, but the cuts from #5 were pretty difficult. No "Station to Station", "Cracked Actor", "Sunday", "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" or "Rock 'n Roll Suicide"? Eeesh. I may have remorse about that pick before the night is through.

VIDEO GAMES, SELECTED AT RANDOM Jak II (PS2 - 2003) Sometimes, video game critics get too wrapped up in what a game is supposed to be and forget exactly what it is. You know the games, the ones that are endorsed by a seemingly endless line of critics - the games that you pick and play a couple of times and wonder "am I playing the same games as these guys?" Black & White is my personal favorite of this type of game; critics just couldn't shut up about it, despite the fact that there were plenty of people who couldn't even get past the interface of moving around in the game. What was the point? Why? To a certain extent, Jak II falls under this category. On the surface, it seems like the series takes a substantial leap, taking the plotline into a darker direction, and incorporating all sorts of new gameplay elements, including guns, vehicles, and a gigantic cityscape with citizens and police officers that adapt to your every move. With such ambition on display here, perhaps a lot of critics are willing to excuse substandard execution, but I'm not so forgiving. The game design here is a ten car pileup on the interstate, a handful of muddled ideas that manage to screw up each other. The wonderful platform gameplay of the first game is virtually muted, as the level design tries and miserably fails to accommodate all of these new tricks and treats under one circus tent. And the tricks themselves are lacking too; the gunplay would be considered a joke at best, especially if you played the game that challenged Naughty Dog to up the gameplay ante (Ratchet & Clank). The vehicle control for the hovercars - hovercars that are virtually the only way to navigate around the spacious Haven City, I might add - is embarrassingly bad, ricocheting you between buildings and other hovercars as though you were strapped to an Acme rocket by a rubber band. The Crimzon Guard, which plays the role of the police in Haven City, patrols the streets looking for Jak with MGS-style vision cones that you can see on your radar, but they're apparently just for show, as I steered our faithful hero in front of more than one Crimzon Guardsman. The inclusion of the police is, in itself, quite puzzling; can you ever imagine Rockstar attempting to place 3D platformer elements into Grand Theft Auto? Some may applaud the darker direction that the storyline has taken, but the contrast between the whimsical comedy of the first game is just too much to swallow. Part of that may be due to the ineptitude of the writers, who warp Jak & Daxter from high-fiving and break dancing heroes into battle-hardened warriors that toss out flaccid one-liners like "Kill Metal Heads? Get Toys? Sounds good to me" without much of a build-up. Sure, the original game isn't exactly Hamlet and there are some traces of the previous game's humor sprinkled throughout, but the plotline induces groans at every turn and reaches far too desperately in its attempt to paint an epic revolution against tyranny. There are a few positives - the graphics throughout the game are still impressive, even if the darker tone puts a damper on a lot of the aesthetic surroundings. The environments have flourishes of personality in them, with walls that crumble as Jak nears them and videoscreen advertisements that wouldn't seem out of place in Blade Runner. Character design is a plus, as Jak gets updated with a cool goatee and turns into a visually impressive "alter-ego" during the use of Dark Eco powers. Overall, it just seems like Naughty Dog lost their way with this one. The transplant of Jak and Daxter's cartoony platform action just doesn't mix well with the darker direction the series has taken, and the entire game suffers for it. Other reviewers may disagree, but it is my opinion that Jak II is an unbelievable disappointment; it's not without redeeming elements, but it's certainly a title that demands a rental, especially if you're not real keen on integrating action gameplay into your platformer. **1/2

EXCUSES ARE NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PERFORMANCE, MR. THE MAN IN BLAK Okay, so I didn't update the blog yesterday for Valentine's Day. (My opportunity for a dreadful My Bloody Valentine's Day pun, squandered.) The fact that I had actual work to do at my job, as well as spending the evening with my wife and family, probably had a lot to do with that, so apologies and whatnot. That being said, this disturbing trend of actual work appears to be continuing through this week...perhaps even next week, so I'm in a bit of a tight spot. Well, at tight of a spot as you can be in, as it pertains to responsible and timely bloggery. So, for the time being, I think I'll repost some more video game reviews on the blog, some of which may have already reared their head at New Millennium Blues during my time there. According to Gamefly, Final Fantasy VI Advance is supposedly on the way through the mail, so I may be able to sneak in a review some time next week. At any rate, if you see a reposted video game review here in the next couple of weeks, you can make a mental note that The Man in Blak just couldn't find it in himself to update Bow Down To Frogblog with original material. (What a lazy asshole.)