Those who know what you’re watching seem to be off watching.
For token actual content (just in case your team lost) I offer Leigh Cowan’s evisceration of Malcolm Gladwell, “The Killing Point“:
… Gladwell cherry-picks his way through the complicated fields of physiology, genetics, and sport to frame an argument that is not only ill-informed, it’s downright dangerous.
His argument? Performance-enhancing drugs make sports fairer. Based on the premise that genetic differences make athletic competitions inherently unfair, he argues that athletes should be allowed to use substances to compensate for these differences. Not only that, he even suggests that it is perhaps more commendable to use pharmaceuticals than it is to be born “lucky.”…
The use of performance-enhancing drugs presents the chance to explore an interesting ethical dilemma. The problem, however, is in Gladwell’s omissions. His piece paints a rosy portrait of pharmaceutical enhancements. He likens them to the adoption of iodized salt. It has all the context of a sales pitch.
What Gladwell fails to mention – at all – are the risks involved in using performance-enhancing drugs. There is nothing about the risks of blood doping or of pharmaceutical enhancement. He even skips the risks inherent in the very genetic condition he holds up as “lucky.” There is no mention of contact sports, where the decision to illegally enhance could be the difference between life and death for your competitor. There is no recognition that healthcare access for athletes is a continuum with the Lance Armstrongs at the upper end, with their elite teams of morally questionable medical practitioners,and with some kid at the bottom end, desperate for a place on the team, taking injectables that he gets from a friend of a friend…
That Gladwell can proclaim the moral superiority of performance enhancement with no mention of the enormous physical toll that these drugs exact is fucking outrageous. Athletes are already testing the fringes of bodily limitations. Our blood, our hormones, our entire physical systems exist within certain parameters because those are limits that allow everything to work properly. Those limits keep us alive. So yes, of course it’s fucking dangerous to screw around with that shit. Of course there are consequences. People die….
(NSFWCorp subscriptions available here.)
So… which teams are we cheering for, this evening?
Suffern ACE
No amount of performance enhancing drugs would give Dallas that last minute back.
Why not just give all of us performance enhancing drugs and plastic surgery rather than just limit it to athletes, models, movie stars and wealthy wives? That would be the fairest of all.
JPL
@Suffern ACE: Socialist…
SFAW
I’m cheering for Lance Armstrong, juiced out of his mind, running over Malcolm “Ain’t Been a Complex Subject Yet That I Can’t Trivialize” Gladwell, repeatedly, then beating Gladwell to a pulp with a custom-made, steel-reinforced SRAM crankset.
Oh, not what you meant?
OzarkHillbilly
Lou Reed is dead. Everything I know about drugs I learned first from him.
The end of an era.
Mr Stagger Lee
I going on the bandwagon for the Seattle Seahawks because the Browns are in a state of suck again, I feel dirty. Do I look fat with a Brooklyn Nets cap? Maybe it should be the Indiana Pacers.
KG
@Suffern ACE: wasn’t that an episode of the a Twilight Zone? At 17, you had to pick a model, everybody looked the same so they had to wear name badges
It takes more than being genetically lucky to be good at sports. You still have to put in a lot of time, energy, effort. Hell, anyone who played sports even at the high school level know guys who had all the talent in the world, but not the drive and never met their potential. Then you have guys like David Ekstien, who had no business being a Major League Baseball player winning the World Series
Lee
I’m cheering for the US Women’s National Soccer team vs New Zealand (starts 3:30pm Pacific).
Streaming only :(
shelly
I see Newsmax finally took down that false story about Obama wanting to replace the Marine hat with a more girl-i-fied design. Great reporting , guys.
OzarkHillbilly
Over at LG&M they mourn: SEK.
“But there are things that we can’t know,
Maybe there’s something over there,
Some other world that we don’t know about,
I know you hate that mystic shit.”
Paul Campos
I just heard this, I am severely depressed. Maybe you just had to be there.
Yatsuno
@JPL: I think that was a Vonnegut story as well.
raven
@shelly: cover goddamn it, cover
The Dangerman
2 of 3 World Series games have included some bizarre events; before the series is done, we may witness something involving Morganna the Kissing Bandit that ends a game in some bizarre way.
Amir Khalid
We were hoping Manchester City would beat Chelsea so that Liverpool could stay second in the English Premier League. But then Nando Torres went and scored at the death, and Chelsea won. So now Chelsea are second, instead of my team. Pfui.
Randinho, O Randinho! Whither have you gone?
Omnes Omnibus
@OzarkHillbilly: There is an RIP Thread.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Suffern ACE:
As a neutral observer: That was a really fun game.
Schlemizel
The #1 Gopher Womans hockey team won their 56th & 57th game in a row this weekend. The #1 Gopher Men’s team beat #5 Boston Collage 6-1 this afternoon so it was a good weekend. Surprisingly the football was able to beat #24 Nebraska after previously only being able to eek out wins against Little Sisters of the Poor and the St. Vitus Dance.
I have heard that there is some game tonight with some team claiming to be from Minnesota but nobody here would claim them
Yatsuno
Someone better check on SG. The Donkeys are getting spanked.
opiejeanne
@KG: twice. On WS winning teams twice. .
I hope you’re not dissing Eckstein.
MikeJ
@OzarkHillbilly:
While listening to Magic & Loss to day it dawned on me: if Lou Reed was wrong about bacon and ice cream, might he have been wrong about mayonnaise soda?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jTkTukfjZM
Omnes Omnibus
@Yatsuno: It was bound to happen at some point. I am glad GB played the Racist Names while RG3 was still tentative on his knee.
Schlemizel
@The Dangerman:
After the screw job Boston got last night I know exactly what Morgana can kiss too.
I hate the Red Sox And that play will forever be a whine from their over inflated fan base, the shame is they have a bitch coming about it.
Suffern ACE
Jets within striking distance. Nine more field goals and they’ve got ’em
Origuy
Garfunkel and Oates cheer on sports.
Violet
From the blockquote in the post:
This is so true. The son of some family friends played baseball. Was really good and got a scholarship to college. Had thoughts of playing professionally but everyone was doping. He didn’t want to so he just decided to quit the game. Was a real disappointment for him and his family, but they didn’t want him to hurt himself and were glad he made the smart choice for his health.
I don’t think far-removed people like Gladwell understand how is outside of their little bubble. This kid could have juiced and probably gone on to the big leagues, or at least played minor league ball. Fortunately he had a solid family who he ended up living with for awhile to get on his feet. Not all kids are that lucky and some are desperate enough to get out of their situation that they’ll do anything they think might help.
Yatsuno
@Omnes Omnibus: Actually RGIII isn’t having the best game but it looks like the defence is really getting it done. Have to see what happens of course.
sparrow
Not sports related, but I feel like whinging: I am incredibly hungover. And I know it’s all my fault and their is no cure but time and water, but that won’t stop me from relentlessly searching the interwebs for something I haven’t tried yet…
meanwhile those applications I’m supposed to be working on look like piles of word salad. Bleh.
Botsplainer
I said this years ago as a joke. It would figure that a hack like Gladwell would appropriate it.
Jerzy Russian
@Yatsuno:
They are within 7. Still, when you have a 50 yard drive and have to punt, something is not right.
The Dangerman
@Schlemizel:
The call was technically correct (though, perhaps the Umpire should have swallowed his whistle, if he was wearing a whistle, I mean).
I heard this morning it was the anniversary of the Ed Armbrister play last night; 28 years later, obstruction plays a huge part in the game again.
jenn
Fantastic article, AL – thanks for linking it!
Botsplainer
BTW + 5 on double shot mojitos (fresh lime and fresh mint, of course). The old lady is making them, and tomorrow is going to hurt.
JPL
@Yatsuno: How is Peyton doing? NBC sports says he has two sprained ankles. Limping is difficult enough when you only have one bad ankle.
Jerzy Russian
Also, having 12 men on the field during a field goal attempt when only 11 are allowed resulting in a first down for your opponent seemed kind of dumb.
JPL
I hate the Cardinals.
Jerzy Russian
@JPL:
Although I did not read the blurb very closely, my understanding is that he had one ankle sprained in two different spots.
eemom
“Everybody’s tweeting about football, and I’m in a frikkin brassiere shop.”
— Mother-Son Sunday Mall Excursion, Act V.
Gator90
The Gators suck, the Dolphins suck, and Lou Reed is dead. Fuck!
JPL
@Jerzy Russian: Much better…
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL: NFL, MLB or avian?
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: Why in the name of all that is good and right in the world are you bra shopping with your son?
JPL
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ll give the actual birds a pass but this time only.
Yatsuno
@Omnes Omnibus: How could anyone hate the avian variety? They’re fun little birds.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yatsuno: Ask the hater.
Alison
@Lee: So ticked it’s not on TV :(
Applejinx
Huh. Gladwell is more of a loony, or more of a troll, than I ever suspected. I’m honestly surprised.
Jerzy Russian
@Omnes Omnibus:
I have always called them the “foreskins”. That way, nobody is offended.
A touchdown to tie the game, a quick 3-and-out, and a 15 yard punt by the foreskins. This game is looking better and better all the time.
phantomist
Why would PED’s even the playing field? Wouldn’t the better players get even better, ie Bonds, Clemons, McGuire.
Redshift
God, I hate Gladwell and the whole “you may think you’re on the side of good, but HAH!, you’re wrong!” Freakonomics crew. If the contrarian BS sounds convincing, they run with it. Whenever I hear or read something from them, I assume they haven’t done their homework and they’re just wrong.
Violet
@sparrow: When I was in college, a guy I dated told me he always took two aspirin and a Vitamin C tablet before going to bed if he’d been out drinking. I don’t take the Vitamin C, but swear by the aspirin. I’ve yet to be hungover if I remember to take them before bed. Not going to help you now, but something to think about for next time.
I can recommend water and caffeine. Also light exercise–walk around the block kind of thing–just to get everything moving. Those have always helped me.
fuckwit
I fucking can’t stand that glibertarian asshole, never have been able to.
http://shameproject.com/report/malcolm-gladwell-unmasked-life-work-of-americas-most-successful-propagandist/
He can go sit at the Applebee’s salad bar along with Broder and Friedman.
Redshift
@Redshift: Whoops, I forgot Gladwell isn’t the freakonomics guy.
Baud
@Violet:
I hear aspirin’s also good for avoiding pregnancies.
Botsplainer
@sparrow:
Pickle juice before bed, lortab if you got ’em. If you’re out, two Tylenol, two Advil.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Yatsuno:
Well sort of in reverse. Rather than everyone being given enhancements, everyone was given handicaps, personally calibrated to slow them down just the right amount to make everyone equal.
It would be like if Charles Pierce and Matt Taibbi were given lobotomies just to make things more fair for Sarah Palin and Joe Scarborough.
M. Bouffant
Rootin’ for the Oaktown Raiders. Sorry Cole.
ruviana
@Botsplainer: If you’ve been drinking avoid the Tylenol. It can mess with your liver.
eemom
@Omnes Omnibus:
Guess I should have clarified — 9/10 of the shopping was for him. After two hours, three stores and the acquisition of everything on his little list, plus a smorgasbord of take-out Cajun, I feebly begged for one five-minute stop on the way out of Macy’s, with the above-referenced result.
pseudonymous in nc
The best answer to the “let them juice” argument is to read about all the shit that pro cyclists had shoved into their bodies by teams that were basically using them as guinea pigs. The idea that juicing with medical supervision would end the witch-doctoring to keep a step ahead is just absurd.
Mandalay
@Anne_Laurie:
Evisceration? More like a fabrication of strawman arguments by a delusional and mediocre hack against a mediocre pop science author.
I’m wondering whether you actually read Gladwell’s article before posting that “eviscerating” criticism of him by Leigh Cowan? Come to think of it, I’m wondering whether Cowan herself properly read Gladwell’s article.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m sure eeson has a perfectly good reason for needing that bra.
As for Gladwell, his argument for PEDs seems to boil down to this para:
Unequal physical abilities make for unequal athletic competition, MG says, so let’s enhance everyone’s physical abilities to the same point. But sports is a contest of physical ability; take that out, and it would become a contest of — what? Coaching? Equipment? Sheer dumb luck? Would that be any fairer?
Bill E Pilgrim
@sparrow: Go out and run. Miles, if you can.
I learned this from cowboy carpenters I worked alongside, who’d routinely get drunk, wake up hungover, and go straight to work. Even with a bad hangover, after a couple of hours of sweating and possibly throwing up, you not only feel non-hungover but incredibly so, and by lunch time, hungry as hell. Weird, but it works.
Violet
@Bill E Pilgrim: Didn’t work for me. Another guy I dated in college told me about that hangover “cure” and got me out to run around the track one hungover Sunday morning. Okay, mid-day. I could barely make it around once, I had such a bad headache and felt so ill. That was the longest and worst hangover I’ve ever had. Never again.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Violet: I think you need the tool belt. I could be wrong of course.
Yatsuno
@Bill E Pilgrim: @Violet: The real point is to speed up the metabolism of the toxins (fun fact: alcohol is a poison in any form) in order to get them out of the bloodstream. I won the genetic lottery when it comes to hangovers, but my surefire way of not getting too verschnickered is one 8 oz glass of water for every drink. It takes planning, but it gives your boy a head start in flushing the toxins out.
Mandalay
@Amir Khalid:
But it already is a contest where coaching and equipment play a huge part. Kenyan and Somali long distance runners who live at altitude have a built in advantage over those who live at sea level. Countries with the resources ($$$) but not the altitude can overcome that disadvantage, and “doping” your blood by training at altitude is completely legal.
One point Gladwell was making in his article was about the lines of distinction that get drawn between what is and is not permissible in competitive sport. The author’s claim that Gladwell’s article was proclaiming “the moral superiority of performance enhancement” was just nonsense.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Yatsuno: That is what it feels like. Intuitively it always felt like my body just needed to “recuperate”, i.e. rest, but I learned in those days that it really is that the stuff is still just in there, and needs to be out. Of course, this worked best in my early 20s, on the rare occasion now that a Saturday party goes late or something it’s been know to just erase a Sunday off the map of time.
Mike E
Looks like a game against the R-words was exzackely what Peyton needed to cure his broke ankles. WTF happened to the mighty NFC East?
Violet
@Bill E Pilgrim: Yeah, I’m sure that’s what I was missing.
@Yatsuno:
I do the same thing. I drink a ton of water when I drink alcohol. Seems to help. I’ve read somewhere that Vitamin C really does help with the detoxing. Like I said, I never remember that one, but the aspirin works for sure.
Grisha
An oldie but goodie! I think Cole signed me up for the GOP mailing list the last time I posted this, but it’s well worth it:
https://balloon-juice.com/?p=30283
The Sailor
Broncos are eviscerating the Foreskins.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Sailor: InterceptionFest 2013.
Anne Laurie
@Yatsuno:
Cardinals, around here, bully the smaller birds away from the feeders. So do the blue jays, but the jays leave when they’re full — the cardinals seem to claim feeders as ‘territory’ and drive finches & nuthatches away even after they’ve stuffed their gullets.
Schlemizel
@The Dangerman:
The rule states “MAY” be called, not “MUST”. The third baseman was making a play for the ball, his intent was not to obstruct the runner. It was the wrong call.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@The Dangerman:
End of story. The example given in the rulebook to describe baserunner interference is actually very close to what happened. Once the ball is passed, if Middlebrooks takes any action that impedes the runner, that’s interference. It doesn’t matter if it’s intentional or not. The runner has the right to that space.
And the idea that the ump should swallow his whistle is idiotic. It flows in the stream of the concept that “the players should decide the game”. This thinking completely misses the point of what goes on. In this instance, Jim Joyce has to make a call. He either rules that it is interference or he rules that it was not. The latter is every bit as much making a call as the former.
Every play in every game in every sport that I follow involves the players doing something and the officials interpreting it and declaring what the results are. That’s true even if they signal that declaration by doing nothing. Do not confuse that with not making a call at all.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman:
I blame Roger Williams.
smintheus
@efgoldman: Not all woodpeckers hammer loudly. And a lot of loud hammering is signaling rather than eating.
I don’t think we ever saw cardinals when we lived in RI.
Amir Khalid
@Mandalay:
Gladwell is saying that levelling the playing field in terms of physical ability with PEDs can help ensure fairness in sports. A questionable thesis, in many aspects. Cowan says this attitude would legitimise a practice that is known to endanger athletes’ safety in competition and their long-term health — and is foolish for that reason alone. Plus, if you remove physical ability as a variable in sports, then how are contests to be decided? By things which may be even more unfairly distributed, like access to coaches and gear and training resources? Or worst of all, to random small differences in performance, which would rob athletic competitions of their meaning?
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Schlemizel:
No, he was not. The first contact, as Middlebrooks was trying to play the ball was not interference. The interference occurred after the ball was past . Middlebrooks raises his lower legs and trips Craig. That’s the interference and the ball was down the left field line at that point.
I wouldn’t be too sure of that but it’s completely irrelevant. Intent is not necessary to create interference. The only thing that matters is the action, in which Middlebrooks tripped Craig.
This is not really true. Here is the text of the rule in question:
So the discretion involved is entirely about whether the fielder is in the act of fielding the ball. However, it goes on to address the EXACT situation we saw last night: Middlebrooks attempted to field the ball and missed, so he CAN no longer be considered in the “act of fielding” the ball. Middlebrooks then continued to lie on the ground after the ball had passed him and he delayed the progress of Craig.
Jim Joyce got this dead right and Red Sox fans have no business whining about it.
Tom Q
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Completely agree. Because it was the last play of the game, because it DECIDED the game, and because it came at the expense of the team that spent almost a century cultivating the role of Baseball’s Tragic Hero, there are too many people looking to make this more complicated than it is. The rule is clear, and the action on the field isn’t terribly ambiguous (unless you look at it freeze-frame-by-frame, distorting reality) — it’s clearly (however unintentional) obstruction, it clearly prevented a runner from what would otherwise have been an easy score at home, and the umpires were completely correct in ruling that way.
Actually, TV has been pretty good about this– even Curt Schilling thought it was clearly the proper call. But on the Internet I’m afraid it’s going to hit Benghazi/Vince Foster level of alternate theory.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Red Sox fans need to be blaming Jarrod Saltalamacchia for making that throw in the first place. He had no chance to get Craig and then airmailed it halfway to Dorchester.
smintheus
Apart from the silliness of treating sports as consequential rather than just a way to enjoy yourself; and complaining about the unfairness of worse athletes losing to better athletes; there’s the crazy assumption that physical ability per se determines winners and losers.
Anybody who plays sports knows that intelligence (and plain common sense) often distinguishes the more successful from the less successful. I’ve know plenty of physically gifted athletes who stank up the field, the court, or the rink because they were dumb.
I’m wondering whether Gladwell himself isn’t all that bright either.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Tom Q:
I had one Sox fan on Facebook who ranted about how Demuth called Carig safe, realized that it was an absurd call and switched to interference to justify it. I had to point out to him that Demuth isn’t the one who made the call and that you can see Joyce signal it immediately. Fortunately I was dealing with one of the saner ones who took the opportunity to watch the replay again and retract.
smintheus
@efgoldman: We lived in the northwest of the state, in the sticks.
Amir Khalid
@smintheus:
Certain sports, particularly track and field events, are pure contests of physical ability with little or no element of strategic/tactical thinking. Even sports that do rely on the athlete using his noggin also rely greatly on his physical ability.
different-church-lady
It is driving me bonkers that people are calling that a “controversial” call. There was nothing controversial about it, it was obstruction. And I say that as a Sox fan.
ETA: and I knew it was obstruction in real time. I got confused by the fact that the play continued, but when they finally called it, it was a no-brainer.
MikeJ
@efgoldman:
They’re in St Louis. Halfway to U City?
SiubhanDuinne
As for tonit’s game, that rendition of the National Anthem practically had me weeping, throwing up, and tossing projectiles at the teevee.
And I like the concept of playoff beards, but honestly? A lot of the Boston guys look like the Pontipee clan in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” before Milly took charge.
Try rally hats, Boston. They’re just as effective, and far more becoming.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
tonit’s = tonight’s
FYetc.
smintheus
@Amir Khalid: Sure. Which is why I found track to be boring. I won every race because I was naturally faster than the guys I was competing against. It seemed a pointless exercise, we all could have phoned the results in and skipped the track meets. It’s a lesser sport precisely because there’s little possibility or need to think on your feet.
BruceFromOhio
The two longest returns for an American-style handegg touchdown have both occurred in the Minneapolis Metrodome: Antonio Cromartie in 2007, and Cordarrelle Patterson in 2013.
different-church-lady
@SiubhanDuinne: See, that’s why hockey players wait until the playoffs begin before they start their beards.
Then again, the NHL playoff season is so long it hardly makes any difference.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@MikeJ:
That’s an understatement as to how off target that throw was.
Culture of Truth
I’ve been suspicious of Gladwell for a while, I don’t the bestseller-glibness of it all
smintheus
@SiubhanDuinne: The Sox are just trying to pretend they’re as cool as the Bruins.
Culture of Truth
Also, good health care post below by John Cole
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@SiubhanDuinne:
Or the Soggy Bottom Boys from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@different-church-lady: From last year’s run to the national title.
Culture of Truth
As far as I’m concerned calls like the one the other night remain the only reason to watch baseball, or even sports because it cultivated the whole athleticism-plus-rules-plus analysis legalistic – bar fights arugments aspect of it all
different-church-lady
@Anne Laurie: Skip different species of birds, I save my hatred for squirrels. I can’t even have feeders because of ’em. And the used to eat ALL my strawberries before I got a cat.
different-church-lady
So any rate, busy day: Afternoon performance of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, then home to speed through the Pats/Dolphins game on TiVo just in time to get back to live TV for the first pitch.
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Boston Philharmonic, our AAA orchestra.
They were in fine form. 5th was just the headliner, we got Prokofiev’s 2nd piano concerto too, with a little Glinka to boot.
trollhattan
Gladwell can kiss my tuchus re. throwing open the doors to PEDs. At what age will we start handing them out? I believe folks from the DDR can chime in on how well that works out.
Speaking of kid sports, my kid’s soccer team ran the table in their weekend tourney, not surrendering a single goal. Played teams from No-Cal, Oregon and Nevada. Now get your homework done!
different-church-lady
@efgoldman:
Isn’t that the one Zander got fired from before he formed the Philharmonic?
I love the Phil to death, even though they can be uneven on certain nights. They didn’t do a good job at all with Beethoven’s 9th earlier in the month.
Applejinx
It might be a Swiftian ‘Modest Proposal’, or some kind of outrageous satirical hypothesis.
How relevant are the damaging qualities of performance enhancing drugs in pro football when THE GAME itself does more damage than the drugs would?
Mike E
@different-church-lady: Awesome…my local symphony rocked out the 5th and I had upstairs duty in box 1 at the top of the vault where the hall cradles the orchestra, loudest spot in the joint.
One word: tambourine.
Omnes Omnibus
@Applejinx:
Cite?
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Ah, then we’re talking Mahler’s 7th.
different-church-lady
Memo to Crimson Hosiery: if you don’t push a couple of runs across here, you don’t deserve to win this series.
different-church-lady
Watching David Ortiz run is like seeing a backhoe roll down the breakdown lane of a highway.
Gin & Tonic
@different-church-lady: He got the run, though. They don’t score for style.
Cassidy
@Omnes Omnibus: Six of one, half
Dozen of the other. Long term affects of steroid abuse is well documented. Long term use under medical a supervision not so much. Today’s PED’s are pretty clean, especially
The high end ones. It’s conceivable that long term negative affects would be minimal under medical supervision.
We do know the affect on the brain and body due to sports with frequent impacts to the head.
Redshirt
@efgoldman: How about more bats? JEEPERS!!!
Yes, there’s been some good pitching. But has every other Red Sock other than Ortiz decided the playoffs are time to slump? Collectively?
Curse my earlier hubris – I’ve doomed us all!
Omnes Omnibus
@Cassidy: Applejinx may well be right, but it seems to me that the data isn’t there.
Gin & Tonic
@Cassidy: Huh, did I get moderated there? I suggested to ask Marco Pantani about the long-term effects of PED’s.
different-church-lady
@Redshirt: Did you see the averages of the Cards lineup tonight? They’re not hitting well either.
Still, I’m absolutely at a loss as to how the Sox got 4 runs last night.
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Passionate audience member, Mahler freak, and occasional music recording engineer.
Esoteric Mahlerian instrumentation for $600, Alex.
Cassidy
@Gin & Tonic: We could also ask Chris Benoit or Michael Hegstrand. You’ll find cases all over. Again, though, regulated use under medical supervision would likely negate the negative affects of long term abuse. Now, this is just speculation on my part based on anecdotal knowledge of anabolics and how they’re used vs. how they should be used, so I could easily be wrong. Problem is that people see the gains of one or two cycles and think they should keep going. For instance, you can do two cycles of Winstrol before it starts fucking with your hormones, but people don’t stop there.
@Omnes Omnibus: I keep suggesting to military docs that they should try and do a study on it.
Mike E
@efgoldman: We just did a John Williams night, and it was all I could do to keep myself from make X-wing and Chewbacca noises!
Omnes Omnibus
Eddie Lacy and Jordy Nelson are looking really good tonight. Of course Rodgers is too.
different-church-lady
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMES!!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!!
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
I love an 8:10 drive to open a 14-point lead to begin the second half. Rests our D, makes the Vikes feel a bit of a need to press.
Omnes Omnibus
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): The more the Vikes need to rely on Ponder as opposed to AP, the better for the Pack.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Uh-huh.
And they had to punt after two minutes. Time to put this one away.
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: I also find I’m listening less as I get older. I find less and less “surprising” in a way that intrigues me. Maybe it’s just a function of having heard a lot of music in one’s life.
Still, the Prokofiev piano concerto kinda blew my mind today. Really looking forward to finding a copy and giving it my repeated attention.
I envy your career.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@efgoldman:
Joe Philbin will get the Fins going one of these days. They (as well as the Bills) have shown some nice flashes this season, but lack consistency.
ETA: Who’s worse, the Bucs or the Jags?
Omnes Omnibus
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): That was one dominant 3d quarter.
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Any chance I would have heard you back then?
I still miss James Issacs.
Omnes Omnibus
That run might have been the dagger.
Gin & Tonic
@different-church-lady: I miss Robert J. Lurtsema.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
That’s what I just said elsewhere. There is no way the Vikes come back here. They’ve been beaten down.
And there’s a sack.
Redshirt
@different-church-lady: I no longer trust our bullpen. Am I wrong? Tell me I’m wrong. Prove me wrong, Sox!
Redshirt
@efgoldman: FIDO4LYFE
Gin & Tonic
ETA, and I *really, really* miss Ron della Chiesa’s afternoon “Music America” show. Haven’t given them a penny since they cancelled it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Lattimore and Hawk have played well.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Hawk’s been playing better this season than he ever has. He’s 20 pounds lighter than he’s ever played in the NFL. This is the guy I wanted the Packers to draft where they did.
Redshirt
Not Breslow!!!
Omnes Omnibus
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): It’s funny how those 20 lbs seem to have made a difference.
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Absolutely! I used to do overnight shifts at media companies — when their workloads got too high I’d come in at the end of the normal working day and take over the gear.
Then it was WBUR (back when they were worth a damn) or boping around to early XTC tapes, and maybe whatever classical ‘GBH might have had on in the wee hours, and then driving home with the dawn breaking.
different-church-lady
@Redshirt: We can trust everyone but Breslow.
But don’t quote me on that.
different-church-lady
@Gin & Tonic: I’m calling what happened to ‘GBH radio “Jane Christo Disease”
I was rip roaring angry for a solid month when they took Eric Jackson off weeknights. I’d turn on the radio knowing full well he wouldn’t be there, hear the god-damned yap yap yaping, and still blow my stack anyway.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: Funny how that works sometimes, between the outside and inside images.
For quite a few years during his time on the air I had an early-morning drive to do (and I’m not a morning person.) My timing of the task was measured by when the birds came on, and the sound of his voice was reassuring. Maybe he was an asshole, but I thought he had a good radio voice.
Now don’t go telling me Ron dell Chiesa was an asshole too, or I’ll be crushed.
The Sailor
@different-church-lady:
Viola da gamba?
different-church-lady
A chopper to second was exactly what I was envisioning there.
different-church-lady
@The Sailor: Not a lot of opportunity for crossover there — Mahler was transitional from the romantic to the modern period, and ye olde ‘gama was more baroque.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
How many people can tell this story? It will of course have different companies, different people, and different lines of work, but the underlying concept of the story is the same. Worthless fuck has job and for some reason can not seem to get fired and is a prima dona. The only part that changes is that sometimes this person has enough people fooled that (s)he is well liked. Peter was right, people can fail upwards.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: Right. We seem to have hit “submit” at the same instant. I’m glad he was as friendly as he sounded. That was the thing about that afternoon show – he genuinely loved the music and you could hear it. When he was doing the Tanglewood broadcasts I just didn’t sense that joy in his voice. I have many CD’s I bought because of him.
smintheus
@efgoldman: Yes, even when I was a little kid it seemed obvious he was a complete fraud and a total jerk…and my dad loathed him, christening our downstairs toilet “The Robert J. Lurtsema Room”. I had to laugh at his absurdly pretentious and awkward pronunciation of foreign languages. I don’t think I ever heard him utter a single real insight about music.
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Considering Bucholz’s circumstances, this game went about as well as anyone could ask — Bucholz didn’t melt down, didn’t exit too early, and the ‘relief starter’ was a lock.
hilts
@Redshirt:
Let Us Now Pray
Redshirt
Insurance is always good – an insurance run would be great!
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Yeah.
Isn’t he our game six starter or something?
Redshirt
@different-church-lady: Radio says he’s just doing his normal warm ups between starts.
Redshirt
@efgoldman: Whaaa?! The radio was way behind.
I trust Lackey more than Tazawa.
Omnes Omnibus
Well, I am just going to be over here being happy.
Redshirt
@efgoldman: Too hipster.
Bogarts!!!
different-church-lady
Well… that was fun.
different-church-lady
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Drew hit a homer here?
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Well, there was that 8-1 thingy last week…
Redshirt
Is Lackey staying in for the 9th?
different-church-lady
@Redshirt: Godzilla coming in.
Redshirt
@different-church-lady: I worry about Koji now. Like the magic spell has expired….
different-church-lady
@Redshirt: Bambino dead, bub.
Redshirt
@different-church-lady: Gulp.
EDIT: YAY!
different-church-lady
Hooo baby! Shades of 2007!
Redshirt
LOL WTF? WOW!
different-church-lady
There goes Tokyo… oh no, GODZILLA!!!!
Redshirt
@different-church-lady: Awesome ending. What a series! A huge swing in emotions from game one to now.
hilts
Thank You Uehara!!
Howlin Wolfe
@Tom Q:
.
Fixtipated.
Howlin Wolfe
@Applejinx: The PEDs enhance the injuries.
Howard Beale IV
Gladwell was eviscerated as part of Project S.H.A.M.E