I can already tell that the 60 Minutes piece on 401K’S is going to infuriate me.
Don’t forget- #1 Ladies on HBO.
*** Update ***
I tried PJ Madison’s Kashmir Cinnamon ice cream tonight, and it was delicious.
Life is too short to not eat ice cream every day.
Laura W
Yeah, just posted as much in this morning’s open thread.
60 Minutes is doing a rocking job this year.
Robertdsc-iphone
Whether the President is playing 11-dimensional chess or not, he’s obliterated any positive historical judgment that could be made about his predecessor.
Somehow, that’s a small comfort in these dark days.
nikita
John Cole and I are of the same mind.
AhabTRuler
@Laura W: Since I wouldn’t want to deprive you or the other fans of the Princessa: She deigned to tour the grounds today.
South of I-10
I am sorry I missed that segment. I made the mistake of opening my 401k statement yesterday. I’ve lost almost 50%.
travels w/ charley
Does everyone read the statements of David Axelrod & Rahm Emmanuel to mean that Pres Obama won’t push the investigations and prosecutions of torture?
Or is he playing 11 dimensional chess and I’m only functioning in 5 dimensions :)
AhabTRuler
The only comfort of being a poor-ass slacker who worked joe-jobs for so long is that I have lost nothing in market value, home value, nada. You can’t lose what you never had.
Of course, the sick joke is that I finally got my head out of it and finished college. I graduate next month! Wheeee! Wheeee! Ah fuck!
[/collapses and twitches]
Laura W
@AhabTRuler:
I wish you could’ve heard me cackle really loudly:
We are billion year old carbon
She looks comfy on the harness? Do you think she’ll enjoy more outdoor forays now? That is a really gorgeous photo.
“You can’t lose what you never had.”
Iost what I had back in 2002 so I’m coming out of all that now, in terms of credit score and life looking up.
douglasfactors
If you’re not about to retire, then you’re buying low.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself.
AhabTRuler
She is totally comfortable with the harness, and becoming more accustomed to the leash. This was the first time she showed any interest in anything while outside. We shall see if she continues to enjoy it.
There is a man in the neighborhood who walks around with his cat, although he goes leashless and simply follows the cat around. The cat never goes more than four or five steps ahead of the guy, and they make quite a pair.
nikita
I know it’s shallow of me but I don’t care. Those Spanish bullfighting brothers are hot.
Polish the Guillotines
@travels w/ charley:
I think they’re being extremely careful and legalistic in their language. Are they pushing? No. I think they’re slowly and deliberately leading our collective horse to water and waiting to see if we drink.
Put it in a broader context: The GOP pushed — pushed , mind you — the impeachment of Clinton. The public saw it for the mindless partisan charade it was. Frankly, what the GOP did to Clinton is one of the primary reasons Bush was never impeached, though in retrospect (and even at the time) it was pretty clear he was worthy of removal. Why? Because the Dems were convinced it would be seen as a blatant act of retribution, hence Pelosi’s deal with the devil to take impeachment off the table in order to pick up seats in ’06 and ’08.
So, here we are, still knee-deep in partisan sludge, still stuck with a press corps that’s been cowed by the right, and saddled with the worst economy in decades.
Obama could go full-on Jacobin and slice off his predecessors’ heads, but that’s got fail written all over it.
It’s truly up to us now. Obama’s leading us to the river, and if enough of us are willing to test the waters, the politicians won’t have any choice but to follow.
AhabTRuler
If I can find a goddamned job that pays remotely close to what my education and experience are worth, I will be secure for the first time since I left home. So far that has been a big if.
Persistence will have its rewards, and I try to continually refine my strategies blah blah blah, but the whole situation a real kick in the bollucks in a karmic sense . As a plus, it further demonstrates my lousy sense of timing and forethought!
geg6
That poor woman in the 60 Minutes piece. She’s only four years older than me and has lost everything she worked for her whole career. And her job. And, like me, never had kids. For me, I saw it as a responsible choice as I, too, wanted to be a “career girl.”. She and I are truly on our own. She made me well up. I am more fortunate than her but…there for the grace of the FSM…
joe from Lowell
Rahm’s statement about prosecuting the people who ordered torture includes the “at this time,” “this is a time…” language, just like Obama’s statement when he released the last three memos.
I don’t think this is a coincidence.
travels w/ charley
@ Polish the Guillotines:
thanks; that gives me hope that justice may still be possible. So what do WE need to do to help him do this??
I sent a comment to whitehouse.gov…and i am normally NOT an activist type!
The Moar You Know
I don’t want to sound like a dick re: 401k, but seriously, didn’t anyone see this coming?
I’m not what anyone would call either smart or savvy, and I moved all my 401k into cash in November of 2007.
valdivia
@joe from Lowell:
I agree. Obama crafted that message very carefully for a reason.
Laura W
@Polish the Guillotines: I thought you put that perfectly.
Here’s one for you.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
It’s going to take more than this, I feel.
(I’d like to see some poll numbers on what I’m about to write, to see if my viewpoint has any factual support, but I’ll charge ahead all the same.)
Most Americans are somewhat squishy on the subject of torture. Along the lines of, “Torture is bad and we shouldn’t do it – but those were scary times and we just didn’t know.” Going after Bush, Cheney and others wouldn’t be a sure-fire political winner, and a noisy segment of the population is going to fight against any prosecution tooth and nail.
That said, it needs to go on the growing pile of “Malfeasance, General” committed by the Bush administration. When the time comes, you can bury people with a mountain of evidence AND THEN you can move in for the kill. (FOOTNOTE)
But when will the time come, Gold Star?
What’s going to be the real eye-opener for most Americans is when they are exposed to how the previous administration sold out their alleged principles for quick bucks – or worse.
I use the hypothetical of DoD appointees getting kickbacks for allowing shoddy body armor to go to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The guilty party made $100K or so, but at the expense of dozens of KIAs. That will make people FURIOUS. Or, it’ll be found out the domestic wiretapping was abused to fuck over wives in divorce cases, fuck over business partners, stalk women. Just like that, Americans will look at the national security defense of the GOP (“Everything we did, we did to keep people safe”) and realize it for the lie it is.
The Obama administration needs to keep doing what it’s doing: Methodically expose the crimes and keep the heat on. One day, we’ll reach a tipping point.
But that day didn’t arrive with the memos last week.
FOOTNOTE – As a precedent, I use the 2006 mid-term election. Yes, the shit pulled by the GOP-controlled Congress was stinking to high heaven the years before – but what killed the Repubs was Mark Foley’s scandal. It was easy to understand (“Congressman liked boys and the leadership covered up for him because it didn’t want to lose the House.”) and struck an emotional chord. From then on, the GOP was on the run and it never recovered
joe from Lowell
The Moar You Know,
I called the retirement guy from the my bank and told him I wanted to move out of aggressive growth in the summer of 2007.
Then I let him talk me out of it. Something about needing to be in the market for the seven best days of the decade, or some such thing.
I don’t know why I ever listen to other people.
srv
@The Moar You Know: My blue-chip employer took away the money-market fund investment option last year in the 401K. In early 2008, via Fidelity.
I believe my employer is not the only one, and that the 401k manager did this as part of any overall plan to force people back into equities. But I don’t have other data points for my conspiracy theory. If you know how to find out how many 401k investors lost a cash fund last year, let me know.
I’ve only loss 10%, but even bond funds have taken a hit.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@AhabTRuler: Of course, the sick joke is that I finally got my head out of it and finished college. I graduate next month!
Congratulations! Sick joke or not, that is an achievement you should be proud of.
In one way my little family is in a similar spot – I had saved up a fair lump of money and then we spent it to buy my wife a college degree – so now I don’t have a whole helluva lot but there was that much less to get trashed by the crash, which I guess is sort of comforting.
Polish the Guillotines
@travels w/ charley:
I think you’re going in the right direction, but the real action is with your congressional rep and senators.
More context: Obama’s campaign was built on Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy precisely for this purpose. He knew damn well he’d get serious push back from, well, every entrenched interest in Washington on every salient issue we face.
The implicit (and often explicit) compact in “Yes we can” is that WE need to get behind the agenda. That means writing and calling our congressional reps and politely letting them know our votes are not freebies.
The entire Republican side of the aisle voted against the TARP bailout (rightly or wrongly), only because their constituents were burning up the phone lines.
That’s the kind of action that we need on the torture issue.
Polish the Guillotines
@Laura W: Thanks, and thanks. I was never a huge America fan, but that song ear-wormed me as a kid, and I still like it.
@Gold Star for Robot Boy: Yeah. I buy that. I also think the administration is biding time until the economy begins to recover. I don’t think most people even have the mental space to think about these things given their financial and employment troubles.
When people are doing better — and especially if they’re inclined to attribute at least some of that to Obama — the more willing they’ll be to tackle this pile of crap.
Still, keeping as much pressure on as possible won’t hurt.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@AhabTRuler: Congrats! No, don’t think about your loans, DON’T THINK ABOUT … Oh boy.
Eh, someone call the medics if he doesn’t snap out of that catatonic state in a few days. I’ll take care of the cat until he comes round.
Laura W
@Polish the Guillotines:
I put this sticker from moveon onto my car in mid-Jan. Only yesterday did I notice the “People Powered” part. “We, United, People Powered”. Obama’s known what lies ahead of him for a long time. Probably most of his life. And I continue to believe he knows exactly what’s needed, and where most of the traps lie.
I still can’t believe he’s President, if I think about it too much. How the fuck did WE manage to pull this off?
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@Polish the Guillotines: Oh, absolutely Obama should keep the pressure on. That’s how you find the incident creating the tipping point.
Excellent point about the economy. For good reason, it’s sucking all the oxygen out of the room.
Comrade Darkness
@AhabTRuler, cheer up, you’ll need that degree to compete for a job as a greeter.
GSD
Perhaps we should have a war crimes prosection tea-bagging?
Perhaps we can say we are answering the clarion call of a rusty trombone and demand that the torture regimists face the music?
-GSD
28 Percent
I wrote up this whole thing about how the 401Ks are down because of the Obama Recession and because Pelosi stopped W from privatizing Social Security which would have pushed the market higher and then I threw in something about how it’s great that we all have the individual choice to lose all our savings instead of being forced to accept a guaranteed social security retirement (I was particularly proud of: “you can take our retirement accounts but you will never take our FREEDOM!”) but then I watched the 60 minutes segment and now I just want to throw up.
WereBear
Time was, I kicked myself for not having a “career.” Took a loooong time to finish college, with a lot of gaps where I did cool things that made no money.
While it’s no comfort for people in the rotten situation referenced on 60 Minutes, I could have done all the right things… and still wound up shafted.
Though I would be a lot madder about it if that’s the way it turned out.
And if this suffering is to have any meaning, it’s to turn away from rotten lies and cheap propaganda that get people to vote against their best interests; no matter who is saying it.
I see far too much calculation in Obama’s moves about the torture prosecution issue. Yes, I’d love to see things happen now. But I’d rather things happened, right.
Punchy
2 outstanding hockey games on Versus and you’re watching 60 Minz?
Watch for Cheechoo and Thorton to have monster games tontite.
JK
So many douchebag pundits to choose from for dumbest quotes about release of the torture memos, but I think Peggy Noonan and Brit Hume really bring home the stupid
Peggy Noonan on release of torture memos
“Some things in life need to be mysterious,” said Noonan, adding, “Sometimes you need to just keep walking.”
Noonan added: “It’s hard for me to look at a great nation issuing these documents and sending them out to the world and thinking, oh, much good will come of that.”
Brit Hume on release of torture memos
Brit Hume took it a step further by emphasizing that Obama “needs to aware of what he may have unleashed here,” warning of the possibility of “Congressional show trials” and emphasizing:
“What we really need is to have all these techniques at our disposal… they talk about the banging of the guy’s head against the wall. It turns out to be very controlled and it’s a soft wall that gives way… I’m not at all sure that’s torture.”
Source: Pundits Whitewash Torture http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/19/pundits-whitewash-torture_n_188756.html
The Moar You Know
@joe from Lowell: See, I doubt HIS fucking money was in the market by then. I think it’s going to be shown that there have been a lot of “shenanigans” on the part of the people who were supposed to be administering these funds on behalf of the investors, instead of burning the money in them for fun.
@srv: Really? I wasn’t aware that was possible.
I’m kind of at a loss for words regarding that. I wish I could believe there is a hell. People who do this sort of thing surely deserve one.
Comrade Kevin
@Punchy: It would be nice to see Cheechoo have a good game, but I’m not holding my breath.
The Moar You Know
@JK: I would like to bang Hume’s head against the wall a few dozen times and see how he likes it.
Actually, that’s not true. I’d like to sodomize him with a chainsaw drenched in tabasco sauce for saying such a thing. These people somehow feel entitled to lecture ME on MY morals?
kay
I read the Bybee memo.
I’m still trying to reconcile the fact that this country once threw a three week hissy fit because a nominee for attorney general hired the wrong nanny, with the fact that we have a sitting federal judge with a lifetime appointment who signed off on that memo.
Judicial confirmation hearings will never be the same for me. Whatever they read out of any conceivable judicial nominee’s record, it will pale beside Bybee’s bland recitation of how to avoid prosecution for torture.
I don’t know that the bar goes any lower, for judges. It just hit the floor.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Laura W: Hey, I don’t want to hijack the thread, but I’d like to know how your Kangoo jumping is going? Between weather and my busy schedule, I’ve had to resort to jumping rather than riding and finding it better and better each time. How ’bout you?
(Though I rode today, beautiful day, saw 2 clutches of geese and the pelicans have landed, a sure sign of spring in CO).
Elie
Ahab:
“There is a man in the neighborhood who walks around with his cat, although he goes leashless and simply follows the cat around. The cat never goes more than four or five steps ahead of the guy, and they make quite a pair.”
Yeah, I used to be able to do that with my Bill. We lived on a busy street and one year he just had to have this one squirrel….Lucky — he managed to bolt after it in between cars. After that, he was ALWAYS on a leash.
WereBear
Brit Hume has always been a waste of plasma, but that was really sick.
And I know they have money and influence and such, but people like that also have no sense of beauty, withered consciences, and the lack of empathy makes me think they couldn’t have close relationships, either.
A sort of hell on earth.
Svensker
@JK:
Techniques?
Fuck them all. Always blabbing on about civility and honor and then they have no problem abusing people in our custody.
They are not only sick fucks, but they are pompous sick fucks who are bullies, dicks, shitheads, cowardly assholes and I wish them all that they have visited on others.
Elie
Pollish the Guillotines
“Obama could go full-on Jacobin and slice off his predecessors’ heads, but that’s got fail written all over it.
It’s truly up to us now. Obama’s leading us to the river, and if enough of us are willing to test the waters, the politicians won’t have any choice but to follow.”
It IS up to us — always was….only the delusional and lazy think different.
I think that we are up to it.
HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker
You know, I am a mild mannered and reasonable person in real life. Believe it or not, the persona is just theater.
I seldom find myself possessed of homicidal urges. But right now, listening to this evil lying c0kksukker on 60 Mins saying that the 401k is a great vehicle, and that people who lost money in them only have themselves to blame, I find that I want to kill him with my bare hands.
The 401k scheme may be the biggest theft of cash from the American middle class in history, it may set records that will never be broken.
Mike in NC
Next thing you know George Will will be wanting Gitmo detainees forced to wear blue jeans.
ihop
britt hume says “it’s a soft wall that gives way….”
so it seems we should all view the techniques used to keep us safe; much like pro wrestling fans view the techniques used to kick some ass in the ring.
you see, it’s not a real elbow to the head, not a real chair to the noggin, not a real choke hold to the point of passing out…it’s all an act, and the terrists are all in on it too, done merely to entertain, or at least calm us down.
Karen
I like the idea of ice cream every day, but I like the idea of my jeans fitting even better.
While trying to hold a business afloat (without gov intervention, mind you) I don’t have to worry about losing money in any market. There’s none there.
geg6
I have many times over the years wanted to kick myself for not being more aggressive with my 401K. I passed up the real estate fund they started offering about a decade ago. As I got older, I moved more and more out of stocks and global funds and socially conscious funds and into the money market. And missed cashing in on every bubble. But I am now thrilled. I have, purely through accident and outsized caution, managed to hang on to most of what was there. It isn’t growing but it isn’t losing either. Iam am truly a fortunate woman. And fuck those bastards who have screwed over those who did what everybody said to do and what I was too fearful to do. Fuck them with the stems of a dozen roses.
Ash Can
@The Moar You Know:
He probably wouldn’t even feel it.
SixStringFanatic
@Punchy: After all this time, you’re still expecting a good playoff game from “No Show” Joe?? I guess hope really does spring eternal.
That said, I would prefer my Red Wings not have to face the Ducks.
JK
Every time I see Brit Hume he looks and sounds like he has severe indigestion problems.
Aside from her run of the mill stupidity, Peggy Noonan drives me crazy with her pregnant pauses and dramatic delivery. She acts as if her words are going to be carved in marble.
Polish the Guillotines
@Elie:
I do too. And so does Obama.
John Cole
One of the funniest poorman posts of all time involved him apologizing for a string of things, one of which was cracking jokes about the size of Brit Hume’s head. I wish I could find it.
Comrade Kevin
@SixStringFanatic: In the previous three seasons, Joe Thornton has played in 35 playoff games for the Sharks, and has 30 points in them. That’s a strange definition of “No Show”.
That said, the guy who is the real leader of the team is actually Patrick Marleau.
Laura W
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I’ve been wanting to compare notes with you too, but In Treatment is just ending and it was the best episode yet. Yeow.
I’ve been jumping every other day consistently since they arrived, for 20 min, give or take. The knee pain has subsided, and they seriously work areas that my walking does not even begin to touch (ie, butt and thighs). But I don’t do much but jog in place, really. I don’t feel stable on them at all, in terms of moving across distances or doing fancy steps. My big issue is that they still feel too stiff. And it is NOT for lack of weight on them, trust me. So I read you can cut one of the bands, but I’m really confused if cutting one will make me rebound less or more. I’m trying to jump higher and softer. I feel like I hardly get any height. I don’t know if more height would make me even more spazzy…probably…but they just feel so hard and tight to me.
I know I can buy softer coils on some site they refer to, but now I’m all confused if I need harder or softer coils to jump higher. I’ve overwhelmed myself with the complexity of it all, predictably.
HALP ME!!
South of I-10
@HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker: I haven’t watched it yet but I just read the transcript. I would like to see the David Wray guy tell a room full of 65 year old people that it is their fault. What he said was basically the complete opposite of any 401k meeting I have ever attended. What a dumb ass.
srv
OK, with the latest t-shirt banner ads, me thinks it’s time to ask Pandagon or Jane Hamsher to go “jingly” ape on John again.
SixStringFanatic
@Comrade Kevin: 2005-06 99 points (regular season), second round exit
2006-07 107 points, second round exit
2007-08 108 points, second round exit
Sometimes, when you score your goals counts more than how many you score.
Punchy
@SixStringFanatic: I cant figgy out Vegas on these games. Sharks played like shit for the last week of the season, including an embarrasing 0-0 shoot-out win against the horrible Avs, and the Ducks came into the ‘offs red-hot. Yet Sharks -250 tonite. Insane. If I didn’t have scratch on Nabokov and Co. to win the Big Silver, I’d be taking Ducks in every game.
That said, I just cannot forsee another horrible game at the Tank by these guys. Keep Getzlaf in check (Salanne just a pretty boy) and they should win this 4-1.
Meanwhile, St. Lou’ass really sucks. TWO 5on3s and they cant score? AYFKM?
Comrade Kevin
@SixStringFanatic: and that is all Joe Thornton’s fault? I’m pretty sure there’s a bunch more people on the roster than him. Are you some sort of bitter Bruins fan or something? You certainly don’t sound like someone who has watched much of the Sharks.
John Cole
@srv: What ads are you seeing? I see an ad for a comic book, and ad for Laura, an ad for journals, and google has an ad for how to make your own electricity.
Seriously, can we stop getting all offended over ads?
cgp
I never gained as much weight as when I was alternating between malt vanilla/chocolate versions of milkshakes with peanut bitter and from time to time oreos and well, more chocolate.
My god it was good.
(these were not small either, probably 32 ounces of pure frozen goodness)
It was every other day so it was ok.
Litlebritdifrnt
Banoffi Pie! I love it that I have now found a really easy way to make it (previous incarnations were slightly dangerous). Warning, it is VERY VERY rich, and whereas my DH would normally have a quarter of a pie with this he cannot manage more than a 6th, or even an 8th. Enjoy:
http://www.iandowding.co.uk/recipes/downloads/files/BANOFFIE%20PIE.pdf
Laura W
@John Cole: I am still intrigued by a ginger ice cream I think you mentioned a while back? I love ginger anything.
But speaking of cinnamon, surely you’ve tried B&J’s Cinnamon Buns by now? Awesome.
JK
@Comrade Kevin: I’m just a casual hockey fan, but the San Jose Sharks have, hands down, the coolest logo of any professional sports franchise I’ve ever seen. Nothing beats a shark biting a hockey stick in half.
eastriver
“Life is too short to not eat ice cream every day.”
Those might be the truest 11 words you have ever typed, JC.
Damn you know how to pump the comments, son.
SixStringFanatic
@Comrade Kevin: Thornton is one of the guys that team counts on for success, more so than just about anybody else. When the chips are really down, he doesn’t show; thus the name.
@Punchy: I am a more than a bit surprised at St. Louis’ complete lack of “punch”, especially considering how well they played in the second half of the regular season. Don’t know what’s going on there; glad they’re not my team. I did always like John Davidson, their team president, when he was a broadcaster, so I did hope for some success for the Blues; I liked the St. Louis-Detroit rivalry and wish they could bring some heat back to it.
John might agree with this; as a long time Steelers fan I hate the Browns as much as anyone, but I still wish they were a better team. The Steelers-Browns games just aren’t as much fun when the Browns are so bad. Eh, that team in Cleveland is an impostor; the real Browns are in Baltimore and Steelers-Ravens games are still awesome, as last year proved.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Laura W: Mine were really stiff the first couple of times, too. One night I held onto a support post (basement, holds the floor up) and got some real height in. The support gave me the confidence to really jump on them – like you I’m not quite sure of myself on them yet. Between that and the guys at work jumping in them – they seem much softer now. More cushion as I jump, so to speak.
I think softer coils would have more “give’ with each step and more rebound. Think how a trampoline works, there’s a lot of give and you really get height with it. And the softer the coil, the less stress on your joints. (I keep picturing a Newton’s Cradle, but couldn’t explain why I think that applies here).
Because I’ve been stuck indoors, I’ve been mostly jogging in place, as well. Out of boredom I did a side to side move that really worked the inner thighs. I’m impressed at how much these work the butt/thighs/abs – wouldn’t think it would so completely different from walking/running.
I’m still sucking air, though.
Gus
That’s how I feel about beer.
srv
@John Cole: I see the outline of well-busted woman bent over in the receiving position with “I Make His Dog Tags Jingle!”
customizedgirl.com
You and Pandagon haven’t had a tirade in ages. It would be good for both of you. In a non-sexual sort of way.
Punchy
@SixStringFanatic: Their lack of punch is directly related to just an horrendous PP. They must have gone 0 fer 7 or 8 on the PP, and while neither team is “my” team (Blackhawx, baby!), I really wanted to see the damn Cannys get some comeuppance.
10 minz before puck-off. Come on Sharks, find the fucking twine.
Violet
I tried PJ Madison’s Butter Pecan once and was underwhelmed. The cinnamon one sounds good though.
Currently I’m into some locally made dulce de leche gelato. Yum.
Laura W
@Gus:
And me about wine.
Laura W
Better not. Don’t think enough people would get the reference.
Bad Horse's Filly
My all time favorite ice cream was B&J’s Wavy Gravy – hazelnut ice cream, chocolate, hazelnuts – I think I cried when they discontinued it. I love ice cream, but not as much as when that was available. Anyone know of a good hazelnut/chocolate ice cream?
J. Michael Neal
I’m more interested in avoiding Vancouver right now. With Luongo, if that team figures out how to score, they’re dangerous. I like our chances against anyone, but I’d really like someone else to have a chance to knock them off first.
SixStringFanatic
@J. Michael Neal: You do have a point, sir.
J. Michael Neal
As for prosecutions, I expressed my thoughts in the last thread. The upshot is that there’s no point in prosecuting until there’s a better chance of getting a jury that will convict.
J. Michael Neal
@SixStringFanatic: I’m really pissed at the NHL at the moment. I bought a package streaming NHL and MLB games to my computer. It turns out that the NHL blacks out any game that’s on a national network, American or Canadian. So, I’m getting at most one game a night. No Wings games, of course.
Ninerdave
Man it’s been gorgeous up here in NorCal. It’s grilling/BBQ season!!
Tonite is jerk pork loin with grilled pineapple and mango salad. Friday was grilled buffalo burgers, last weekend, was an 8 hour smoke of a pork shoulder and beef ribs. Mmmmm….
Can’t wait for corn to be in season.
SixStringFanatic
@J. Michael Neal: Oh, yeah, professional sports and their blackout rules. A guaranteed blood-pressure-raiser. Would have been nice for them to explain those sorts of things BEFORE they sold you the package, right??
I was kind of cranky that Versus/NBC only had plans to show one game from the Boston-Montreal series. I’m not a particular fan of either team but if you’re a hockey fan, you’ve got to love how hard those teams go at each other. At the moment, though, it doesn’t look like that series is going to be as competitive as previous years. They still like beating on each other and I do love that part of hockey. Put me firmly in the pro-fighting camp.
I love this time of year. Go Red Wings!!
Polish the Guillotines
@Ninerdave:
You said it. Tonight was chicken, last night was the best hamburgers I’ve had in a long time.
Cain
@nikita:
I thought the same thing. Those guys must get laid a lot Not happy about killing the bull though. :(
cain
Common Sense
Hey Paul: Why is Britain giving blind people cancer?
Jim
1. Fuck Wall Street, just fuck Wall Street.
2. Back in the day, I remember summers in Buffalo and rejoicing when they started selling cinnamon ice cream.
3. Fuck all the torture deniers, torture cheerleaders, and Dick Cheney, just fuck them all.
4. How can anyone complain about the ads. If people didn’t mention then I wouldn’t even notice them.
Common Sense
Hey J. Michael, I have a question for ya, knowing you are a baseball guy and all (forgive me but I have absolutely no interest in hockey).
What if teams (specifically NL teams) went with a 6 man pitching rotation? Allow me to explain:
Order your pitchers 1-6, and have 2 pitch each game. Your #1 and #6 starters would pair for the first game, the 2 and 5 guys would start the second game, and #’s 3 and 4 would close the series. One would pitch the first 3 or 4 innings, and the second would carry the game to the bullpen.
Advantages:
Every pitcher pitches every series. This to me is a major advantage from both a ticket sales standpoint and a competitive one. When a pitcher owns a team, he will always pitch against them.
The manager can pinch hit for the “starting” pitcher twice, giving a team an extra batter when it is most beneficial. He would have the flexibility to do so when this substitution would be most advantageous. If a guy is on a roll, then let him keep pitching. If the team is rallying and they have a scoring opportunity in the third or fourth inning with the 9 spot at bat, they can actually have a batter at the plate, and can do the same thing in the 7th or 8th.
The pitchers throw fewer innings over the course of a season, meaning they would theoretically hold up over the course of the year and be stronger towards the end. You would also constantly have a fresh pitcher in the game.
The opposing team never has a chance to get comfortable. The batter would face a different pitcher each AB, meaning they couldn’t rely on their timing from the first inning in the fifth.
I would probably alternate the starting pitchers each series (ie your#1 starts the first series with #6 coming in after a rally inning, but your 6 would start the next series with your #1 taking over midway through). This way if a guy has a phenomenal start he can go a few more innings, and the alternate starter can carry the load for a few innings longer three days later.
As a defense against the “pitchers will break down more often” argument, I offer this study from BP:
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So to understand the methods we use to analyze pitcher usage, it’s important to appreciate that while every team in baseball today employs essentially the same usage pattern–starting pitchers work in a five-man rotation, with four or five days of rest between starts, and never relieving in between–that usage pattern is far from the norm historically.
As recently as 30 years ago, starters were expected to start every fourth day, with only three days of rest between starts. This does not appear to have had a detrimental effect on the pitchers of that era; in fact, over half of the 300-game winners of the live-ball era were in the prime of their careers in the early 1970s.
There is no definitive proof that pitching in any kind of rotation is a necessary ingredient for successful pitching staffs. Through the 1950s, starting pitchers would routinely get six or seven days off to pitch against a team they matched up favorably against, then return to the mound on just two days’ rest for their next start.
There is no evidence that starting pitchers who relieve on their days off between starts suffer adversely for doing so. Starting pitchers routinely made 10 or 15 relief appearances a season for the better part of half a century.
So if starting pitchers have been used in many different ways over the years, and there’s no hard evidence that any one usage pattern was more likely to keep pitchers healthy, how do we determine whether a pitcher is being used in a manner that’s likely to get him hurt?
One thing we have learned is that for starting pitchers, how many days off they get between starts does not seem to correlate with injury risk.This series of articles carefully looks at the track record of pitchers working in a four-man rotation vs. pitchers in a five-man rotation, and finds that pitchers who worked in a four-man rotation stayed just as healthy as pitchers working every fifth day. It also showed that a pitcher working on three days of rest is no less effective than when he works on four days of rest, and in fact that he might have better command on less rest.
While pitching is an inherently unnatural motion, throwing a pitch does not necessarily do permanent damage to a pitcher’s arm. It’s only when fatigue sets in (and a pitcher’s mechanics start to waver) that continued pitching can result in irreversible injury.
There is a certain number of pitches that a pitcher can throw before that fatigue sets in.
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So is this idea absolutely retarded, or just kind of stupid? And is a midmarket team better off trying something this outlandish, hoping that the extra couple of runs produced by pinch hitters results in that 5-6 wins at the end of the year that separates the playoff teams from the disasters? Or should they spend all their cash on one/two elite starters and try to emulate the D-Backs success a few years back? I can certainly see where a small elite staff helps in the playoffs, but over the course of a long season I almost think this could work.
Common Sense
@Jim:
People mention them and I still don’t. Course I have NoScript.
DougJ
Looking forward to trying that PJ Madison stuff.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
I let FireFox show me everything, and I can now see the jingly dog tags/t-shirt ad. It’s from Google, not Project Wonderful. Tacky, but meh — not enough to send me to the fainting couch.
J. Michael Neal
@Common Sense: I’m not crazy about it. The main reason is that it means giving too many innings to inferior pitchers. The number of guys who you want pitching multiple innings every three days is a lot less than six for most teams. If you expect everyone to go three innings on those days they pitch, you’re asking for six different guys to throw at least 162 innings a season. Right now, the Rays are about the only team that could do that. Boston might when a couple of guys get healthy.
I actually lean towards going in the other direction. Not a four man rotation, because, contrary to myth, such a thing wasn’t ever the norm; people like to remember the outliers where teams did use one, rather than the reality that most teams didn’t. What I’d advocate is either a 4 1/2 man rotation, with the fifth guy slotting in only on occasions he’s needed, or a 3 man + rotation.
I’m very fond of the latter idea. Most teams really only go three deep on guys you really want starting games regularly. Put those guys in a rotation, and have them pitch every fifth day. On the other days, play match-up. Of the rest of the guys on your staff, figure out which one matches up the best against your opponent each day that one of the best three doesn’t go. Other guys throw out of the bullpen. Mix and match. If you happen to have four guys you really like, slot all of them into the rotation, and just match up when you need a fifth. If you only have two guys that good, you can probably try that.
I big problem isn’t the size of the rotations. It’s that roles for pitchers have become too rigid. I understand that people like to have a set role, and get comfortable in them. I just think that the role they should fit into is “Pitcher When I’m the Best Option.” There are too many managers who allow their team to lose a game with their best reliever sitting in the bullpen because their closer can only pitch if they have a lead and it’s the ninth inning. For evidence of that today, see Hillman, Trey.
In particular, the rise of the one out specialist has gotten out of control. There are some guys who should be used that way, but Tony LaRussa seems to have convinced everyone that you must have one, if not two or three. Just get good pitchers, and put them in situations that take advantage of what they do. If you start an inning with a one-run lead and the starter is out, bring in a ground ball pitcher who doesn’t give up home runs. If the game is tied in the 7th inning, and the other team has guys on second and third with none out, you need to have your best pitcher in the game, because that’s the key moment; the ninth inning can’t be more crucial than that.
Starting pitchers should be the same way. After your best three guys, if you are playing a team with a bunch of left handed power hitters, use the left handed ground ball pitcher from among your crummy spot starters. Managers should be thinking of ways to take advantage of the players they have, not making decisions by rote.
J. Michael Neal
@Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse: I’m jealous. All I get is Microsoft Office.
SixStringFanatic
Well, at the moment, it looks like San Jose has figured out how to avoid their annual second-round-flame-out….lose in the first round instead!
….And just as I type that, the Sharks score to cut the lead to 3-2.
Have I mentioned that I love this time of year?
Cain
@Laura W:
I should give you the recipe of traditional indian masala tea.
cain
Dean
I am intrigued about the cinnamon ice cream. When I was a teenager, my church youth group would go to the Tally Ho Cafe on West Broadway in Minneapolis and my favorite was hot apple pie with cinnamon ice cream. I have never found cinnamon ice cream since then, but when my wife would bake apple pie (Thanksgiving and Christmas) I would make my own cinnamon ice cream adding cinnamon to vanilla. The kids loved it (as did anyone else who was at the dinner). I will look for this, and then try to get my wife to bake the pie.
LiberalTarian
Oh sure, mock me for not being able to eat ice cream. ;)
Comrade Kevin
Well, that hockey game sucked. The Sharks were terrible, from top to bottom. The only person I’d give a pass to is Nabokov. Will they choke in 4 games or 5, is my only question now.
D-Chance.
Did Cole kick the bucket?
bago
Yum. I love Arabic tea.