Yes, I'm pissed off about NBC shipping this game to cable so they could show freakin' ice dancing on NBC.  I also can't watch their video online since, yeah, I don't have cable.

I did find a radio feed online, so there's that.

Anyway, enough of my bitching.  The US is up 2-1 at the end of the end of the first period (random question: are hockey and baseball the only sports to do things in threes?).  Discuss.

Okay, that does it.  I wasn't going to write about this now, but then someone had to go and make this comment at Fay's blog about a guy we all know well: Willy Taveras.

if he is closer to his career stats or near his best years, than it's better to have him as a fourth or fifth outfielder than to pay 4 mil for nothing --

simple economics

See, I could have ignored it...but then he had to go and call it "simple economics," and this just happens to be what I'm teaching this week.  So join me after the jump for my explanation of why this gets under my skin, and I promise I'll do my best not to put you to sleep...

Continue reading this post »

I don't care too much about this game, but it doesn't seem like a horrible thing to have on while working.  I assume that some of you losers are also watching.

Added bonus: a discussion question after the jump!

Continue reading this post »

There are some good games coming up this afternoon:

• Cincinnati and Pittsburgh just started--and Cincinnati's losing
  
• UNC and Kentucky at 12:30
• SEC title game: Florida and Alabama
• Big XII title game: Texas and Nebraska
• ACC title game: GaTech and Clemson

I figured we'd end up needing a thread to discuss these, so here you go.

Discuss.

Sure, it's been kind of quiet around here, but I'm sure some of you people have plenty to say.  Here's a thread for you!  For those of you who haven't noticed: Brendan posted some juicy information in a FanShot.  You do notice those, don't you?

And while we're at it, I'll ask a question: What do you want for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice/your next birthday?

So the Yankees are up 2-1, and I can't figure out how to get the pitcher stats widgets to display side by side.  Exciting, eh?

Okay, so everyone can agree that there have been some bad calls this postseason.  We can agree that this is not the only time that bad calls have impacted game outcomes.

But what many people in baseball can't agree on is what we should do about it.  So follow me beyond the jump for some people's opinions, then tell me what you think.

Continue reading this post »

There's no baseball for a while, so we need something to talk about.

And lo and behold, I was reading some random column on yahoo in which the author talks about how great it is that Vladimir Guerrero hit that game-winner off of Jonathan Papelbon.  And then he works this in:

Guerrero has always quietly been a fantastic player and one day he'll head to the Hall of Fame.

Which made me say, "Whoa there, Mr....wait, WTF is your name?  'Duk?  Seriously?"  Then I looked Guerrero up on BBRef.  And then I said, "Hrm."

So: I expect you to tell me why he should or should not end up in the Hall.  Please make your arguments concise and back them up with concrete examples.  Charlie Scrabbles and Man Mountain will be assisting in the grading (not that they know this yet).

This team just refuses to give up the possibility of a .500 season.

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

That would be Jay Bruce, who went 2 for 3 with two walks, a double and a HR.  Not a bad night for him.  Sure, Joey Votto continued to play quite well (three doubles and a walk!), so it's close.  Laynce Nic also had a walk and a sacrifice fly to go along with his HR, and even CORKY FREAKING MILLER had a double (and a single!).

To make a long story short, the Reds scored a lot of runs.  Lehr tried to give up a ton of HRs again, but only allowed two, plus two more runs in the fifth.  He was pulled after that, and then Owings, Herrera, Masset, and Burton combined to pitch four shutout innings.

But mainly, there's still college football going on.  Clearly, you'd rather discuss that.  But one more thing.  Check out this FanGraph:

via www.fangraphs.com

Okay, there are some things I don't understand about this game:

• Kip Wells pitched seven innings of five-hit ball, giving up only one run.
• CORKY FREAKING MILLER hit a three-run home run.

At least there are some things I understand, though, like Joey Votto hitting a two run HR.

That said, I'm going to have to say that Kip Wells was the Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game.  On top of that other stuff, he didn't walk anybody!

via www.fangraphs.com