SBNation.com User Blog: TheJeezus

4/5/13 OT Welcome Back, Josh.

TheJeezus — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:29:45 -0000

Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from March 26, 1989 to May 5, 1993, for a total of five seasons. The series was created by Donald Bellisario, and starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a quantum physicist from the near future who becomes lost in time following a time travel experiment, temporarily taking the places of other people to "put right what once went wrong". Dean Stockwell co-starred as Al Calavicci, Sam's womanizing, cigar-smoking sidekick and best friend, who appeared as a hologram that only Sam, animals, young children, and the mentally ill could see and hear.[3] The series featured a mix of comedy, drama and melodrama, social commentary, nostalgia, and science fiction, which won it a broad range of fans. One of its trademarks is that at the end of each episode, Sam "leaps" into the setting for the next episode, usually uttering a dismayed "Oh, boy!"

Despite struggling on Friday nights in its brief first season, the show was renewed by NBC because of its impressive 18-49 demographics. The series was moved to Wednesdays where it performed well in comparison to other fan-favorite series Wiseguy and China Beach. It was moved twice away from Wednesdays to Fridays in late 1990 and to Tuesdays in late 1992 where it also performed well. The series finale aired in its successful Wednesday slot in May 1993.

In 2004 and 2007, Quantum Leap was ranked #15 and #19 on TV Guide's "Top Cult Shows Ever".[4][5]

Premise

The premise for Quantum Leap was inspired by movies like Heaven Can Wait (1978), a remake of the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Donald Bellisario, the show's frontrunner, felt that the concept of a person living in the body of another person to make change for the better, would work well in a science fiction setting, creating the tone for the series.[6]

In the pilot episode, the viewer is introduced to Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), a gifted physicist working on "Project Quantum Leap" in a concealed government laboratory in the southwestern desert of the United States near the end of the 20th century. Beckett, with his team, had theorized that time travel was possible if the traveler only stayed within the timeframe of their own lifetime. With no successful results so far, Rear Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell), Sam's long-time friend and senior officer on the program, is told by the government that they are looking to shut down the funding. Sam refuses to allow this, and before he can be stopped, he enters the Quantum Leap accelerator, disappearing into time.

When Sam recovers, he finds his memories to be incomplete, particularly with knowledge about himself or the project; Al would refer to this as his "swiss-cheesed memory" throughout the series. Sam finds himself in the past as a supersonic jet test pilot, appearing to others and himself in the mirror as another person, but initially attributes this to his amnesia. Al eventually makes contact with Sam, appearing as a hologram that is tuned to Sam's brainwaves so only Sam can see or hear him. Al explains the situation to Sam, revealing that the only way for Sam to return is to correct something that went wrong in the past, according to the project's artificial intelligence "parallel hybrid computer", Ziggy (voiced by co-executive producer Deborah Pratt). Guided by knowledge of what originally transpired stored in Ziggy's databases, as well as Al's own experiences, Sam is able to escape from a crash that originally took the life of the pilot, and changing history; as he does so, he finds himself "leaping", ending up assuming the identity of a different person at a different point in history. Al later states that while they had tried to bring Sam back during this "leap", they were unable to do so, leaving Sam forced to continue leaping until the team can figure out how to bring him back permanently.

Sam is capable of using his own abilities, even if this is something his host normally cannot do.[7] Quantum Leap

via upload.wikimedia.org

In 2004 and 2007, Quantum Leap was ranked #15 and #19 on TV Guide's "Top Cult Shows Ever".[4][5]

Premise

Sam is capable of using his own abilities, even if this is something his host normally cannot do.[7]

1-10-13 OT Waldo Geraldo Faldo

TheJeezus — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:02:21 -0000

via coldslitherpodcast.files.wordpress.com

Most underrated sitcom character of all of the times.

Shawn Harrison (born December 28, 1973) is an American actor best known for having played Waldo Faldo on the sitcom Family Matters.[1] He appeared on the ABC series from 1990-1996 as the dim-witted but lovable best friend to characters Eddie Winslow and Steve Urkel and he was also a chef in training on the show as well.

Harrison has also made occasional appearances as the effeminate stylist "Peaches" on the UPN sitcom Girlfriends which ran between 2002 and 2007,[2] and made several guest appearances on other series prior to that, including Moesha.

He provided the voice of Timber Wolf on the animated series Legion of Super Heroes which premiered in the Fall of 2006.[3]

Waldo's Wisdom

via coldslitherpodcast.files.wordpress.com

Most underrated sitcom character of all of the times.

He provided the voice of Timber Wolf on the animated series Legion of Super Heroes which premiered in the Fall of 2006.[3]

Waldo's Wisdom

12/10/12 OT

TheJeezus — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:10:59 -0000

Janus Words (Auto-Antonyms)

Origins

The terms "autantonym" and "contronym" were originally coined by Joseph T. Shipley in 1960 and Jack Herring in 1962, respectively. Some pairs of contronyms are true homographs, i.e., distinct words with different etymology which happen to have the same form. For instance cleave "separate" is from Old English clēofan, while cleave "adhere" is from Old English clifian, which was pronounced differently. This is related to false friends, but false friends do not necessarily contradict.

Other contronyms result from polysemy, where a single word acquires different, and ultimately opposite, senses. For instance quite, which meant "clear" or "free" in Middle English, can mean "slightly" (quite nice) or "completely" (quite beautiful). Other examples include sanction — "permit" or "penalize"; bolt (originally from crossbows) — "leave quickly" or "fixed"; fast — "moving rapidly" or "unmoving". Many English examples result from nouns being verbed into distinct senses "add to" and "remove from"; e.g. dust, seed, stone (or pit).

Some contronyms result from differences in national varieties of English. For example, to table a bill means "to put it up for debate" in British English, while it means "to remove it from debate" in American English.

Often, one sense is more obscure or archaic, increasing the danger of misinterpretation when it does occur; for instance, the King James Bible often uses "let" in the sense of "forbid", a meaning which is now obsolete, except in the legal phrase "without let or hindrance" and in tennis, squash and table tennis.

An apocryphal story relates how Charles II (or sometimes Queen Anne) described St Paul's Cathedral as "awful, pompous, and artificial", meaning in modern English "awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed."

Auto-antonyms also exist in other languages. For example, in Latin sacer has the double meaning "sacred, holy" and "accursed, infamous", French hôte may mean either "host" or "guest"; the same is true for the Italian cognate ospite (both deriving from the Latin hospes). Hindi: कल and Urdu: کل‎ (kal [kəl]) may mean either "yesterday" or "tomorrow" (disambiguated by the verb in the sentence). Italian ciao, Greek γειά, Swahili verb 'kutoa', meaning both "to remove" and "to add", and Hawaiian aloha, meaning both “hello” and “goodbye”

Sometimes an apparent opposition of senses comes from presuming the point of view of a different language. Latin altus can be translated "high" or "deep" in English, but in Latin had the single meaning "large in the vertical dimension". The difference in English between "high" and "deep" is determined by the speaker's awareness of their relationship to some perceived norm. A mountain is "high" because it is well above sea level, and the ocean is "deep" because it plunges well below it. Both, however, were altus in Latin. This concept is superficially similar to a few examples in Italian, such as snow, which is described as being "high", [alta], rather than "deep", but this is because it is considered to be heaped above the reference level of the ground, rather than a throwback to Latin. The adjective "profondo" is used instead to describe the idea of depth below a given reference level, so the sea is "profondo", along with the vast majority of examples in which "deep" would be used in English. In Italian, "alto mare" means not "deep sea" but "high sea", with the same meaning as English of "open water beyond territorial limits". The tide, {marea], also follows the same pattern as English, being either "high" or "low", depending on whether it is above or below the mean. However, Italian, French and Spanish all use their own equivalents of "high" to describe cooking pots, frying pans and saucepans which in English would be called "deep". In English, "tall", as a synonym of "high", would only be used to describe a pot when its height is considerably greater than its diameter, and drinking glasses with such proportions are also referred to as "tall" rather than "deep".

In addition various neologisms or other such words contain simultaneous opposing meanings when in the same context rather than alternate meanings depending on context, such as coopetition.

Examples

"Apparent" can mean "obvious" or "seeming, but in fact not".
"Back" can mean "regressive" as in "to go back in time", or it can mean "progressive" as in "to push back a deadline".
"To cleave" can mean "to cling" or "to split".
"Fast" can mean "moving quickly" as in "running fast," or it can mean "not moving" as in "stuck fast."
"To overlook" can mean "to inspect" or "to fail to notice".
"Oversight" (uncountable) means "supervision", "an oversight" (countable) means "not noticing something".
"Off" can mean "deactivated" as in "to turn off", or it can mean "activated" as in "the alarm went off".
"Refrain" means both non-action and the repetition of an action, e.g. in musical notation.
"To sanction" means "to permit", and also "to punish".
"Shelled" can mean "having a shell" or "has had the shell removed" (as in shelling).
"To skin" means "to cover with skin" (as in to skin a drum) as well as "to strip or peel off" (as in to skin an animal).
"To stint" means "to stop", but the noun "stint" refers to the interval of work between stops.
"Strike", in baseball terms, can mean "to hit the ball" or "to miss the ball".
"To weather" can mean "to endure" (as in a storm) or "to erode" (as in a rock).
"Weedy" can mean "overgrown" ("The garden is weedy") or stunted ("The boy looks weedy").
"To dust" can mean to remove dust (cleaning a house) or to add dust (dust a cake with powered sugar).
"Yield" can mean "to produce" (as in a chemical equation) or "to concede" (as in driving).
"Resign" can mean "give up or quit" or "continue".

Janus Words (Auto-Antonyms)

Origins

In addition various neologisms or other such words contain simultaneous opposing meanings when in the same context rather than alternate meanings depending on context, such as coopetition.

Examples

"Apparent" can mean "obvious" or "seeming, but in fact not".
"Back" can mean "regressive" as in "to go back in time", or it can mean "progressive" as in "to push back a deadline".
"To cleave" can mean "to cling" or "to split".
"Fast" can mean "moving quickly" as in "running fast," or it can mean "not moving" as in "stuck fast."
"To overlook" can mean "to inspect" or "to fail to notice".
"Oversight" (uncountable) means "supervision", "an oversight" (countable) means "not noticing something".
"Off" can mean "deactivated" as in "to turn off", or it can mean "activated" as in "the alarm went off".
"Refrain" means both non-action and the repetition of an action, e.g. in musical notation.
"To sanction" means "to permit", and also "to punish".
"Shelled" can mean "having a shell" or "has had the shell removed" (as in shelling).
"To skin" means "to cover with skin" (as in to skin a drum) as well as "to strip or peel off" (as in to skin an animal).
"To stint" means "to stop", but the noun "stint" refers to the interval of work between stops.
"Strike", in baseball terms, can mean "to hit the ball" or "to miss the ball".
"To weather" can mean "to endure" (as in a storm) or "to erode" (as in a rock).
"Weedy" can mean "overgrown" ("The garden is weedy") or stunted ("The boy looks weedy").
"To dust" can mean to remove dust (cleaning a house) or to add dust (dust a cake with powered sugar).
"Yield" can mean "to produce" (as in a chemical equation) or "to concede" (as in driving).
"Resign" can mean "give up or quit" or "continue".

10/12/12 OT

TheJeezus — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:42:38 -0000

he USS Cole bombing was a suicide attack against the United States Navy destroyer USS Cole on October 12, 2000, while it was harbored and refueled in the Yemen port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and 39 were injured.[1] This event was the deadliest attack against a United States Naval vessel since 1987.

The terrorist organization al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. A U.S. judge has held Sudan liable for the attack, while another has released over $13 million in Sudanese frozen assets to the relatives of those killed. The American Navy has reconsidered their rules of engagement in response to this attack.

On the morning of Thursday, October 12, 2000, USS Cole, under the command of Commander Kirk Lippold, docked in Aden harbor for a routine fuel stop. Cole completed mooring at 09:30. Refueling started at 10:30. Around 11:18 local time (08:18 UTC), a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer, and an explosion occurred, creating a 40-by-40-foot gash in the ship's port side, according to the memorial plate to those who lost their lives. According to former CIA intelligence officer Robert Finke, the blast appeared to be caused by explosives molded into a shaped charge against the hull of the boat.[2] Around 400 to 700 pounds (200–300 kg) of explosive were used.[3] The blast hit the ship's galley, where crew were lining up for lunch.[4] The crew fought flooding in the engineering spaces and had the damage under control after 3 days. Divers inspected the hull and determined that the keel was not damaged.

17 sailors were killed and 39 were injured in the blast. The injured sailors were taken to the United States Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center near Ramstein, Germany, and later, back to the United States. The attack was the deadliest against a U.S. Naval vessel since the Iraqi attack on the USS Stark on May 17, 1987.

The asymmetric warfare attack was organized and directed by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.[5][6][7][8] In June 2001, an al-Qaeda recruitment video featuring Osama bin Laden boasted about the attack and encouraged similar attacks.[9][10]

Al-Qaeda had previously attempted a similar but less publicized attack on the U.S. Navy destroyer USS The Sullivans while in port at Aden, Yemen, on January 3, 2000, as a part of the 2000 millennium attack plots. The plan was to load a boat full of explosives and explode near The Sullivans. However the boat was so overladen that it sank, forcing the attack to be abandoned.[11][12]

Planning for the attack was discussed at the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit shortly after the attempt, which was held from January 5 to January 8, 2000. Along with other plotters, it was attended by future September 11 hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar, who then traveled to San Diego where he established a close relationship with "9/11 imam" Anwar al-Awlaki, who was later linked to numerous plots and attacks, including the Fort Hood shootings and the "underwear bomber" of 2009 and put on a targeted killing list by President Obama as a terrorist threat. On June 10, 2000, Mihdhar left San Diego to visit his wife in Yemen at a house also used as a communications hub for al-Qaeda.[13][14][15] After the bombing, Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani reported that Mihdhar had been one of the key planners of the attack and had been in the country at the time of the attacks.[16] He would later return to the US to participate in 9/11 on American Airlines Flight 77, which flew into the Pentagon, killing 184 victims.[citation needed]

11/8 OT, Jr.

TheJeezus — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:49:39 -0000

Serious question time: What one story from your life do you want told at your funeral?

Malcolm Gladwell on Steve Jobs: (via kottke.org)

Jobs's sensibility was editorial, not inventive. His gift lay in taking what was in front of him-the tablet with stylus-and ruthlessly refining it. After looking at the first commercials for the iPad, he tracked down the copywriter, James Vincent, and told him, "Your commercials suck."

"Well, what do you want?" Vincent shot back. "You've not been able to tell me what you want."

"I don't know," Jobs said. "You have to bring me something new. Nothing you've shown me is even close."

Vincent argued back and suddenly Jobs went ballistic. "He just started screaming at me," Vincent recalled. Vincent could be volatile himself, and the volleys escalated.

When Vincent shouted, "You've got to tell me what you want," Jobs shot back, "You've got to show me some stuff, and I'll know it when I see it."

Also, who's watching Hell on Wheels? Any good? Deadwood ripoff?

Serious question time: What one story from your life do you want told at your funeral?

Malcolm Gladwell on Steve Jobs: (via kottke.org)

Jobs's sensibility was editorial, not inventive. His gift lay in taking what was in front of him-the tablet with stylus-and ruthlessly refining it. After looking at the first commercials for the iPad, he tracked down the copywriter, James Vincent, and told him, "Your commercials suck."

"Well, what do you want?" Vincent shot back. "You've not been able to tell me what you want."

"I don't know," Jobs said. "You have to bring me something new. Nothing you've shown me is even close."

Vincent argued back and suddenly Jobs went ballistic. "He just started screaming at me," Vincent recalled. Vincent could be volatile himself, and the volleys escalated.

When Vincent shouted, "You've got to tell me what you want," Jobs shot back, "You've got to show me some stuff, and I'll know it when I see it."

Also, who's watching Hell on Wheels? Any good? Deadwood ripoff?

7/6 PM Dawn OT Thread

TheJeezus — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:44:41 -0000

Who gives a fuck?

via kottke.org

"What the hell? Is the sky still blue?

As a general rule, do not use the serial/Oxford comma: so write 'a, b and c' not 'a, b, and c'. But when a comma would assist in the meaning of the sentence or helps to resolve ambiguity, it can be used -- especially where one of the items in the list is already joined by 'and'.

The kottke.org style guide still advocates the use of the Oxford comma, but take that with a grain of salt; I also misuse semicolons, use too many (often unnecessary) parentheses -- not to mention m-dashes that are actually rendered as two n-dashes in old-school ASCII fashion -- use too many commas, and place punctuation outside quotation marks, which many people find, in the words of Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan, "bogus". Oh, and in another nod to the old-school, I also use "dumb quotes" instead of the fancier and, I guess, technically more correct "smart quotes". (via, who else?, @tcarmody (or should that be "whom else?"))

Update: The document I linked to above is from a branding style guide for Oxford University. It recommends against using the Oxford comma in most cases. The Oxford Style Manual, meant for the general public and last published in 2003 by Oxford University Press, "a department of the University of Oxford", recommends using the Oxford comma in all cases. So basically, Oxford is telling us to use the Oxford comma but isn't going to use it internally. Oxford gone schizo, y'all! (thx, @rchrd_h)

Update: Further clarification comes in the form of this official statement from Oxford University Press...they are definitely in favor of the Oxford comma."

Who gives a fuck?

via kottke.org

"What the hell? Is the sky still blue?

As a general rule, do not use the serial/Oxford comma: so write 'a, b and c' not 'a, b, and c'. But when a comma would assist in the meaning of the sentence or helps to resolve ambiguity, it can be used -- especially where one of the items in the list is already joined by 'and'.

Update: Further clarification comes in the form of this official statement from Oxford University Press...they are definitely in favor of the Oxford comma."

Calhoun Taking Medical Leave of Absence from UConn

TheJeezus — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:55:44 -0000

Calhoun Taking Medical Leave of Absence from UConn

Bumped. The UCONN Blog has reaction to the news and thoughts on what it means for the program heading forward. Texas plays Connecticut on Saturday at 3:00 CST. --PB

Hate to see this, but the doctor's seem to indicate that it's not a relapse of cancer.

Hello Wisconsin!

TheJeezus — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:12:46 -0000

So, I'm making my first ever trip to Green Bay this weekend. I thought I'd see if anyone here had been, and , if so, had any suggestions or warnings.

The Dad, the brother and I are flying into Chicago tomorrow for a Blackhawks/Leafs game and then driving up to GB on Sat.. We're staying in Manitowoc, which is where the team stays, or so I hear.

From what I've heard the Packer fans are pretty hospitable. A friend of mine compared it to our trip to Lincoln for a Nebraska game: the nicest people you'll ever meet.

So, how bout it? Places to eat, drink tailgate? Must see/do?

So, I'm making my first ever trip to Green Bay this weekend. I thought I'd see if anyone here had been, and , if so, had any suggestions or warnings.

The Dad, the brother and I are flying into Chicago tomorrow for a Blackhawks/Leafs game and then driving up to GB on Sat.. We're staying in Manitowoc, which is where the team stays, or so I hear.

From what I've heard the Packer fans are pretty hospitable. A friend of mine compared it to our trip to Lincoln for a Nebraska game: the nicest people you'll ever meet.

So, how bout it? Places to eat, drink tailgate? Must see/do?

Nellie v. Cuban

TheJeezus — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:05:03 -0000

Well, this is certainly interesting. I think a lot of it is stuff that we've heard rumors about before, but this is the first I've heard this snippet:

From that point on, Nelson testified, he was phased out of personnel decisions. At the 2004 draft, he thought he was in charge of the Mavericks’ selections until he spoke with his son, Donnie, the team’s president of basketball operations, during a men’s room conversation that night.

Cuban, in his testimony, denied keeping Nelson out of the loop, saying personnel matters were group decisions.

The hearing testimony also brought out how Cuban and Nelson remained at odds even after Nelson turned over the coaching job to Avery Johnson late in the 2004-2005 season.

Of course, that was the Devin Harris draft, about which I have my own feelings, but I think the more important point is that we're continuing to see a pattern of dysfunction when comes to Cuban's personal relationships within the organization and the league. I'm so tired of hearing how great it is that we have a passionate owner who cares about winning and cares about the players and fans. Those things, if true, are all worth a bucket of piss if his "passion" leads to his unintentional sabotaging of this team and its future because of his ego.

That said, barring unforeseen events (SEC investigation?) I think we're stuck with Cuban for a long time. So my question is this: Could Cuban ever drive you away from the Mavericks? There are a lot of Clippers and Bruins fans who have vowed to put their fandom on hold until Donald Sterling or Jeremy Jacobs are gone. Could Cuban push you to that point?

Well, this is certainly interesting. I think a lot of it is stuff that we've heard rumors about before, but this is the first I've heard this snippet:

From that point on, Nelson testified, he was phased out of personnel decisions. At the 2004 draft, he thought he was in charge of the Mavericks’ selections until he spoke with his son, Donnie, the team’s president of basketball operations, during a men’s room conversation that night.

Cuban, in his testimony, denied keeping Nelson out of the loop, saying personnel matters were group decisions.

The hearing testimony also brought out how Cuban and Nelson remained at odds even after Nelson turned over the coaching job to Avery Johnson late in the 2004-2005 season.

Football Outsiders Alamanac - 2009

TheJeezus — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:53:08 -0000

Just got finished reading the Cowboy-related content in this year's installment of Football Outsiders Almanac.

For those of you who aren't familiar with FO, they're a football analytics site that uses unconventional and advanced statistics. I highly recommend visiting their site and buying the Almanac ($12.00, PDF download). Even if they are occasionally off-base in their analysis, their publications are gold mines of well-organized statistics.

Just got finished reading the Cowboy-related content in this year's installment of Football Outsiders Almanac.

Here are some of the high points:

The mean wins projection for the Cowboys this year: 8.0
Last year's failures can be attributed to injuries and the lack of depth to mitigate them.
Phillips' assumption of the defensive play-calling duties was at least partially responsible for the defensive improvement after the STL game.
Brad Johnson was the third worst performing backup QB since 1994.
Miles Austin is their top "prospect" going into the season (O. Scandrick is #7; T. Choice is #9)

Unfortunately, they also go into a meandering discussion of the threat of Jerry's control over draft choices and other personnel decisions. It's pretty out-of-touch with reality and serves little purpose.

There's also a blurb that reiterates what I've been saying all along about everyone's favorite rapper/comedian, MartyB:

Bennett’s great DVOA is a function of slipping open on plays where the defense simply ran out of guys to cover Cowboys, but hey, he still caught the ball.

But the most interesting thing I read was their projections for Roy Williams:

67 rec, 982 yds, 9 TD

Sounds an awful lot like the numbers that someone else put up last season. I would be thrilledwith those stats from RW. Thrilled. (FWIW, their projections for Owens in BUF: 66/935/7)

There's a lot more information in there. Anyone else here get a chance to read it? Thoughts?

Salary vs. Performance

TheJeezus — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:36:58 -0000

Salary vs. Performance

Ben Fry's "Salary vs. Performance" graph. I don't know that it means much in reality, but it's a little interesting...and it has pretty colors.

A-Rod Reportedly Out for 10 weeks

TheJeezus — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:24:59 -0000

A-Rod Reportedly Out for 10 weeks

Might miss 1-2 series against the Rangers

John Odom Dead

TheJeezus — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:01:44 -0000

John Odom Dead

What a terrible story. I've been accused of not having a heart, but this really bums me out.

Maddux on with the Musers

TheJeezus — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:58:12 -0000

Mike Maddux was on the Ticket this morning. It wasn't too terribly interesting, but I'll give a quick rundown as best as I can remember for those who care.

- He talked about pitcher durability and pitch counts. It was basically the same things we've already heard about pitch counts not being the best gauge and "the hitters will let you know when you're done"

- Spoke very generally about the conditioning program. Light on details, heavy on cliche. Said that depth will be important , and that's a good thing because we have...wait for it....."the best minor league system in baseball".

- Talked about growing up with Greg and their development as pitchers and their childhood. Pretty interesting story. Growing up, they traveled around with their father, who was in the Air Force and then met up with a guy that Maddux called "an old baseball soul" who I assume is Ralph Medar.

Overall, nothing ground breaking. Blah.

Mike Maddux was on the Ticket this morning. It wasn't too terribly interesting, but I'll give a quick rundown as best as I can remember for those who care.

Overall, nothing ground breaking. Blah.

TR "Injury history complicates Sheets deal"

TheJeezus — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:14:22 -0000

TR "Injury history complicates Sheets deal"

Also, water is wet.

Not much new here.

Uni Watch Calls it the "Worst Helmet Ever"

TheJeezus — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:25:49 -0000

Uni Watch Calls it the "Worst Helmet Ever"

A little harsh, no?

The Ticket Announces 5-year Flagship Deal With Stars

TheJeezus — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:43:58 -0000

So, despite specualtion of mergers and show shuffling, 1310 the Ticket's big announcement this morning is that they'll be the Dallas Stars flagship for the next 5-years. Bob Sturm 's little hockey pants are going crazy right now.

I like this for the Stars. For all their failings, I feel like KTCK has always done a fairly good job with hockey. I'm also assuming we'll get more Razor, which is great. Not so sure this is a great move for the Ticket, but that's a discussion for another time.

SI reporting that Yankees Close to Signing Teixeira

TheJeezus — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:27:31 -0000

SI reporting that Yankees Close to Signing Teixeira

8 yrs, $180M

Like a Rolling Stone

TheJeezus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:40:13 -0000

I'm fairly sure that Bob Dylan isn't a Cowboys fan, but never have the troubadour's words seemed more prophetic in my tiny little sports universe than they do right now.

People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you

I remember reading Pro Football Prospectus where Football Outsiders pointed out that the Cowboys had been very fortunate in not suffering the types of injuries that were plaguing other teams. They warned that Dallas' luck was not likely to continue given the law of averages. Of course I dismissed their points by telling myself that we suffered fewer injuries because we had better conditioning, better trainers and a better offensive line than most teams. Now, every time the injury report comes over the wire or I see a Jason Witten headed into the locker room for X-rays, I hear the faint and creepy voice of Aaron Schatz in my ear: "I told you so...I toooooold you sooooo."

And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it

So...here we are. Possibly missing Romo, Witten, Felix, Kosier, Pacman, Newman, Williams, Henry, Watkins, Spencer and McBriar. I'm covering a small 2A high school team in central Texas right now who would have to forfeit if they had that many injuries. We're a traveling MASH unit, and now we've got to fight through it. But how? Well, the best way to fight through injuries (suspensions in Adam's case) is to have depth, but there's little we can do about that now. So how do you compete in an NFL where every team is relishing the chance to kick you when you're down? The answer is to go conservative, a game plan that was perfected last week. Shorten the game. Limit mistakes. Capitalize on every opportunity. But most of all...get healthy. Injuries don't go away just because Brett Favre calls you or because everyone thinks you're the toughest SOB in the league and so you should be able to play through broken ribs. Have a seat, get some rest, and come back when you're healthy...soon, but when you're healthy.

Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose

Early voting polls show Johnson with a slim lead over Bollinger, although Bollinger's numbers with the undecideds have seen a slight up-tick this week. It's the topic du jour. Seemingly everyone has an opinion as to who the Cowboys starting quarterback should be against the Giants. I heard Norm asking a caller this morning which QB gave the Cowboys the best chance to win the game. I wanted to call and ask Norm whether he would rather get punched in neck or kicked in the nuts or ask him whether I should pick 42 or 47 for my Mega Ball Number in the week's lotto. My preference? Johnson, he's already shown he can drive this bus. The bigger point is that it doesn't really matter, for two reasons:

1) If you're calling on either of those guys to make big plays that will win you this game, then, in my opinion, you've already lost; and

2) We have already lost. At least in most minds. Due to our recent struggles and comments about getting to the bye week, expectations for Dallas in this game are almost none. Would I love to get a win? More than anything. I despise NY with all of my being. But I'm also enjoying the feeling of heading into a game that won't crush me if we lose.

This is part of a running series I'll be doing with Dylan and the Cowboys. In the coming weeks we'll tackle the following topics:

"Which Sucks More: Empire Burlesque or Cory Proctor?"

"Just Like a Woman: An Analysis of Barbie Carpenter."

"A Mumbling Retrospective: Joe Avezzano Sings Blood on the Tracks"

(For the record, the answers are: punched in the neck and 47)

"Hey, Sam...dude....smell my fingers"

TheJeezus — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:43:21 -0000

"Hey, Sam...dude....smell my fingers"

Frank Cornish Dead at 40

TheJeezus — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:04:34 -0000

Frank Cornish Dead at 40

I just saw this. It's a couple of days old. So sad.

Matt Jones Arrested - Charged With Poss. of Cocaine

TheJeezus — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:17:08 -0000

Well...I always wondered why Jones didn't reach his potential last season, and now I think I have a pretty good idea. I know he was supposedly injured last year, but, as I recall, those were sometimes referred to as "unspecified injurries". Makes me think maybe he had a strained nostril...

It's really a shame. As much as I despise Arkansas, I had loads of respect for the kid after he torched us (Texas) in back to back years. I remember hoping that we would make a move in the '05 draft to slide up to grab him.

Jacksonville reached on the pick, but I really thought that eventually the kid would start to produce. His second season was solid (41-643) considering the offensive mess the Jags were in.

Another Player of the Month?

TheJeezus — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:35:31 -0000

Ian Kinsler's numbers in June obviously put him in the running for AL player of the month, but Gordon Edes at the Globe thinks that JD Drew is a lock:

J.D. Drew is a cinch to be named the American League's Player of the Month for June after hitting .337 with a major league-leading 12 home runs and 27 RBIs, tied for most in the bigs. Drew also led the majors in slugging at .848, was third in on-base percentage (.462), and tied for first in extra-base hits with 21.

What he fails to mention is that Drew finished the month in a Shelton-esque 4 for 30 slump (and that's not counting his 0-fer last night against TB). I understand he's crushing the ball right now and getting on base, and I think he'll end up getting it, but can we change his title to "AL Player of the First Half of The Month"?

Ian Kinsler's numbers in June obviously put him in the running for AL player of the month, but Gordon Edes at the Globe thinks that JD Drew is a lock:

J.D. Drew is a cinch to be named the American League's Player of the Month for June after hitting .337 with a major league-leading 12 home runs and 27 RBIs, tied for most in the bigs. Drew also led the majors in slugging at .848, was third in on-base percentage (.462), and tied for first in extra-base hits with 21.

FOTF on the Ticket

TheJeezus — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:12:12 -0000

FOTF on the Ticket

BAD Radio is having MY on in the 2:00 hour

Tailgating question

TheJeezus — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:42:40 -0000

So, I've been away from Austin for a few years, but I'm back now and I heard that the pre-game tailgating/parking situation changed recently. I've searched the posts, but couldn't find much. I'm used to setting up camp around SanJac and 18th, but not sure if that's still an open lot.

Can somone update me on the scene? Is it still on a first-come basis? Does BON have a spot?

I'm jacking this from DRay Bay. Great shot of Shields' whiff on Crisp.

TheJeezus — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:38:18 -0000

I'm jacking this from DRay Bay. Great shot of Shields' whiff on Crisp.

Two bodies have been found in the Plano home of convicted steroids dealer David Jacobs, who recen...

TheJeezus — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:19:26 -0000

Two bodies have been found in the Plano home of convicted steroids dealer David Jacobs, who recently agreed to tell the NFL which football players received banned substances he manufactured in recent years. The identities of the victims were not released pending notification of relatives. Details to follow.

http://www.dallasnews.com/

Pacman's In

TheJeezus — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:30:34 -0000

The Ticket is reporting that the NFL has reinstated PacMan Jones effective immediately for OTA's, training camp and pre-season games. The determination on the rest of the season will be made at a later date.

Hopefully I'm not being duplicative in my post here.

"This limited reinstatement is a step in the process," Jerry Jones said in a statement. "Adam is aware of the things that need to be done in order to take the next step."

So, it's not the whole enchilada, but I think it's definitely reason for optimism. Please, for the love of Landry let him stay out of trouble.

Here's the DMN blog link

Here's the DC.com story

Hopefully I'm not being duplicative in my post here.

"This limited reinstatement is a step in the process," Jerry Jones said in a statement. "Adam is aware of the things that need to be done in order to take the next step."

So, it's not the whole enchilada, but I think it's definitely reason for optimism. Please, for the love of Landry let him stay out of trouble.

Here's the DMN blog link

Here's the DC.com story

OT: Wrigley Experience

TheJeezus — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:51:35 -0000

So...I'm headed to Chicago in late July-Early August for a quick vacation. The sad-sack Pirates will be in town, and I was hoping to get a little advice from any Wrigley veterans.

1) Any rec's on seat location? Obviously the bleachers are where the party is, but is it worth it to miss the game in a drunken stupor?

2) Should I go ahead and grab tickets now or wait until closer to gameday and try to snag 'em from someone trying to dump his seats to the Paul Maholm-Jason Marquis showdown?

Obviously, I'll be spending a few hours at Murphy's. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

So...I'm headed to Chicago in late July-Early August for a quick vacation. The sad-sack Pirates will be in town, and I was hoping to get a little advice from any Wrigley veterans.

1) Any rec's on seat location? Obviously the bleachers are where the party is, but is it worth it to miss the game in a drunken stupor?

2) Should I go ahead and grab tickets now or wait until closer to gameday and try to snag 'em from someone trying to dump his seats to the Paul Maholm-Jason Marquis showdown?

Obviously, I'll be spending a few hours at Murphy's. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hamilton to grace the cover of SI

TheJeezus — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:51:21 -0000

Just got word on the little Ticket that Hambone is going to be the cover story for the upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated. I can't find anything else to confirm it, so this all rests on the suspect word of one Cobra Davidson. I assume it 's going to be the feature that Albert Chen did. Decent read.

Hopefully this will help up the kid's terrible all-star voting numbers. I've already voted for him four times...and Richie Sexson 12.