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Saturday, July 13, 2002
Science Fiction Ahead of the Curve
Everyone by now knows about Ted Williams being a genetic popsicle at the moment. Well this is something. It seems ESPN.com has found a recent SF book that addresses an attempt to clone Ted Williams.
Traficant
Should be a good time at the House this week. The House Ethics Committee will hear Traficant's case this week to decide whether to recommend expulsion (which requires a 2/3 majority in the House of Reps.). Once again, Jimbo will represent himself in his defense. Unlike his trial in federal district court, though, there are not the Rules of Civil Procedure, so this should be a freewheeling, conspiracy-claiming, let it all fly, good time show.
Meanwhile, Traficant is appealing his conviction and at the same time trying to fight for a low sentence. His lawyer puts out the spin:
Traficant's lawyer, Richard Hackerd, argued that his client's sentence should be substantially reduced because of his long track record of "exceptional public service." He cited Traficant's refusal, as Mahoning County sheriff in the 1980s, to foreclose on the homes of laid-off steelworkers. "This demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice his personal liberty for the community," Hackerd said.
This is hysterical. His "sacrifice" was the key to his getting elected to the House in the first place. Before that, he was just another corrupt, unknown, hack Youngstown politician. Then he pulled a grandstand stunt that got him tons of local ink and made him a household name.
Friday, July 12, 2002
Manuel Shift
So the Indians fired manager Charlie Manuel yesterday. The city's collective response was a shrug and comment of, "it's about time." Most fans wanted Manuel gone after losing to Seattle in the playoffs last year (Manuel made several boneheaded decisions that probably cost the Indians the series). The rest felt he never should have been given the job in the first place.
Manuel, in the final year of his contract, could have finished the season before he got fired, but decided to force the issue with GM, Mark Shapiro. A few days ago he announced to the press that he would be sitting down with the GM to discuss the team's future and his own -- specifically an extension. Let's see, a first year GM with a manager hired by his predecessor; the team is in rebuilding mode; the manager isn't that good; he is a horrible speaker (if this seems unfair, wait, I'll address that in a moment); he only knows long ball philosophy; the team hasn't played fundamentally sound baseball -- and the manager demands to know his future with the team.
Shapiro wanted to discuss the second half. There was much to talk about because the trade of Colon, their top starting pitcher, to Montreal on June 27 signaled the end of the team's seven-year run as a postseason contender.
"The meeting didn't last long," Manuel said. "Mark started to talk about our young players. I asked him how I fit in their plans. He said this was not the time to talk about it. He seemed surprised that I wanted to talk about it."
Shapiro said he was "forced" to fire Manuel.
...
"I told Charlie I wanted him to manage the team in the second half and that I would consider him to be our long-term manager at the end of the season," Shapiro said. "He told me now is the time, that he wasn't going to wait. I asked him to go home and think about it overnight."
When Manuel arrived at his Westlake home that night, he said, "I was either going to get a contract or get fired."
...
Their opinions had not changed. The Indians offered Manuel a four-year guaranteed contract for a job as a roving instructor in case he wasn't rehired as manager.
...
"I didn't even listen to that," he said. "When they offered me that, it convinced me even more than I wasn't their guy."
The meeting continued to go nowhere.
"I told Charlie I genuinely wanted him to finish the year as manager," Shapiro said. ". . . I didn't feel it was the right time to rehire a manager, and that pressure was not going to change my mind. Charlie was adamant and insistent."
...
"I put them in a situation where they had to make a decision," Manuel said.
Was Manuel going to get a new contract at the end of the season? Hell, no. Should he have? Hell, no. Manuel is a very good batting coach, but had no clue as a manager.
As for Manuel's speaking. He's in his 60s, and has a thick West Virginian accent. He's a "baseball lifer" and was the worst interview you could hear. Lots of "ums," "yups" and "wells." Ask about a pitching performance that was good -- "Well, uhm, he had good stuff. Yup, he was hittin' his spots." What if the pitcher got rocked? "Um, well, he had, uh, good stuff, yup. He just, uh, wasn', um, hittin his spots."
Look, the manager is the public face of the team. These days, a manager has to have a modicum of speaking ability. Manuel had none. That may not seem fair, but it is vital when you have to sell the team to fans. This was no longer a team that could sell itself.
Understand, Manuel, by all accounts was well liked by the players, management and the media. He just wasn't any good as a manager. No one feels this was the wrong thing to do.
If the Indians and Charlie Manuel concocted a separation purposely to serve each other's interests, they could not have done better than where true disagreement led them.
Manuel leaves with his salary and his pride intact after forcing an inevitable decision. The Indians get to audition a permanent managerial candidate, Joel Skinner. Both avoid three months of professional inertia.
...
It was a matter of overplayed principle, but principle nonetheless.
Negotiating from a position of true weakness, Manuel felt he deserved a commitment. He was hoping for a diamond and got a QVC jewel instead - Shapiro offering him a four-year job as a roving instructor in case he wasn't rehired as manager.
It's easy to find self-interest in Shapiro wanting Manuel to stay. Shapiro knew the clubhouse was thick with veteran loyalty for his manager and also knew he would be stuck with many of these veterans through the rest of this hybrid lab experiment the Indians are conducting. But you can't meet Manuel and not like him. Clearly, Shapiro did and the wear and tear of the past 48 hours showed in his face.
The Future
Lileks has almost a two year head start on me as the stay at home father of a daughter (actually I don't really start the stay at home part for a few more weeks after the wife's maternity leave expires), but he keeps offering me these previews, especially at the toy store.
Washed up '80s pop star and toilet troll, George Michael, fears returning to the US after the release of a video that he considers to be a political satire of US-UK relations. Has anyone actually seen this video? It seems he fears reprisals, based on criticisms in the press along with the expected cheap shots about his trolling around public toilets looking for BJs or more from guys (while he was still pretending to be straight).
"For some reason I don't have a right to talk about anything because I got caught four years ago ... in a Los Angeles toilet," he said. "Somehow that eradicates all possibility that what I'm saying might be for the best, or is worthy of being discussed. I can't fight that kind of homophobia."
Michael was charged with lewd conduct in a Los Angeles public toilet in 1998. Soon after, he said publicly for the first time that he's gay.
It isn't homophobia, it is using a very embarrassing incident to dismiss your relevance or importance. It's something of a cheap shot (just ask George Bush), but it isn't unexpected. Here's a hint to George about dealing with the fact that anytime he criticized/mocked in the media, his embarrassing arrest will be mentioned. Take a page from what Hugh Grant and Eddie Murphy do -- ignore it.
What is it with those on the far left when they get criticized in the US? They fear violent reprisals (name one person subject to anything worse than an ill-mannered e-mail or letter); censorship (then how do their views and subsequent fears keep getting expressed?); and "McCarthyism" (I doubt they even know what it means, they just use it as a catch-all phrase these days). I think they just can't stand being considered so irrelevant.
Thursday, July 11, 2002
The latest Steyn column laughs at the British and rest of Europe's "Bush problem"; and how they still don't get it with regards to Palestine, the dead and buried peace process in the Middle East, and why getting rid of Arafat is a good thing.
For Bush, it’s a win–win situation. If the Palestinians elect the Hamas crowd, he can say, ‘Fine, I respect your choice. Call me back when you decide to put self-government before self-detonation.’ If they opt for plausible state and municipal legislators, Bush will have re-established an important principle: that when the Americans sign on to nation-building they do so only to bring into being functioning democratic, civilised states — as they did with postwar Germany and Japan. Who’s to say it couldn’t work in Palestine? Not being a colonial power, the Americans don’t have that win-a-few-lose-a-few attitude — here a Canada, there a Zimbabwe — that the British have. So the Bush plan is perfect: heads we win, tails you lose. That’s also how some of these other international questions are being framed: heads, the International Criminal Court will be modified to our satisfaction; tails, we won’t have to do any more lousy UN peacekeeping.
But then you are supporting Starbucks over the 'Little Guy'
Reflexive stupidity alert; or should that be an unintended consequences alert? (link via Andrew Sullivan) Berkeley has a proposition to consider banning all coffee sold by restaurants and coffee shops to be certified "fair trade," "meaning that it has been brewed from beans grown in accordance with strict guidelines protecting workers and the environment, usually in the Third World." Owners caught selling the wrong coffee could face the possibility of a $100 fine and six months in jail. The City Council decided to pass the buck and allow the voters themselves to decide.
Let's see, on its face, the law probably violates the Commerce Clause, because wholesale coffee sales definitely should be considered interstate commerce. Then there is the fact that the law would favor Starbucks, which already offers "fair trade" coffee over most of the independent coffee shops, that probably can't afford the higher cost of "fair trade" coffee without raising their prices significantly. This means favoring the big brutish corporate chain over the small sole proprietor. Of course the law does not include grocery stores, so it encourages consumers to purchase big corporate non-fair trade coffee.
My god, what think about the problems for the poor liberal anti-globals! How do they vote? Who do they care about more?
All-Star Weekend Summary
One more write-up on the All-Star game. Yes, at the end of the article there is the debacle matter, but Bill Simmons gives the lowdown on the whole weekend -- especially the Futures Game and the Celebrity Softball Game.
Is playing in a Celebrity Softball game a step up or a step down from appearing on a game show? Has that ever been definitively answered?
...
My buddy Chipper and I were playing the "Add embarrassing info to someone's introduction" game and having an immense amount of fun. For instance, when Dave Winfield gets announced as, "He's a 16-time All-Star, as well as a member of the 3,000-hit and 500 homer clubs," you simply throw in, "He was also sued by Robin Givens' mother after allegedly giving her VD ... ladies and gentleman, Dave Winfield!"
Speaking of intros, Tony Todd's introduction centered around this piece: "He's appeared in 'The Scout' and 'Little Big League.'" Hands down, that's the worst introduction in the history of celebrity sporting events. That will never be topped. I mean, ever. If that wasn't enough, Coolio was announced as "Grammy Award-winning artist Coolio," prompting a stunned Chipper to sum up everyone's feelings: "Wait a second, Coolio won a Grammy?" We were absolutely floored by that one. Since that improbable Grammy win, it hasn't been a fantastic voyage for Coolio ... he's a mortal lock for any Celebrity All-Star game. You could stage one in your garage and he'd probably show up.
I needed that. A little levity after all the s**t MLB pulled on Tuesday.
Another Debacle Siting
Yet another column regarding the All-Star game. This one from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Once again, my choice word is featured:
Lending symbolism to last night's game, though, is glossing over what it really was. A debacle. Complete.
I don't know if by trotting out all those great players from yesteryear that baseball meant to say the game was better back then, but that was the message by the end of the night.
The All-Star Game was, too.
I hadn't really considered that, but it's a good point. Seeing all those past baseball icons out there in stark contrast to what happened at the end of the All-Star Game does suggest that maybe the game was better in the past.
I'm a moderate purist with baseball. I hate turf, interleague, the wildcard and the DH. I would like to see some of the World Series and Playoff games played during the day (at least on the weekend). I don't, however, think the players were better in the past than todays players. Today's players are exceptional athletes and ballplayers who are every bit as good as players from the 70s, 60s, 50s and so on.
While the players are just as good, if not better, than the past players; the game of baseball itself, may not be. Not because of free agency, not because of arbitration, not because of stadium extortion, not because of the DH, not because of the 5 man rotation, not because of relief specialists, not because the games last almost 3 hours on average, not TV -- all those things I may not be wild about to varying degrees. The game may not be as good because it is that much harder to treat it like a game (I know, baseball was always a business or entertainment). The business and entertainment aspects are so exposed and permeate the "product" that it's hard to just treat it as a game.
Getting What You Pay For
Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I have a hard time getting too worked up over this story on how sites hosted for free (like on GeoCities, Angelfire and Tripod) can be shuttered by the host at any time for just about any reason under the Terms of Service. It is FREE. These people agreed to the TOS. They did not pay for the service, so their expectations should be low. I don't feel bad if they lost material. If you use a free hosting service, and you don't back-up your files, then you are taking a foolish risk under any circumstances.
This site is hosted by blogspot. I paid a pittance to have the banner removed, and then a little extra to publish with Blogger Pro. Every week, I back up on my own computer, the archives. If Blogspot went belly-up tomorrow, I'd be pissed and I'd probably resort to some other free host and blogging software, but I'd be hard pressed to claim I was "ripped off."
Wednesday, July 10, 2002
Example of Distasteful Christian Conservatism
The other Best of the Web feature concerned The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod suspending the Rev. David Benke, chairman of Concordia College in Bronxville, for praying alongside non-Christians at Yankee Stadium after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. BotW focused on that aspect, but what caught my eye was at the end of the article
The Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, national president of the Missouri Synod, will address regional church members tomorrow at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, where Benke is pastor. Kieschnick, who gave Benke permission to appear at the Yankee Stadium prayer service, released a letter yesterday in which he called for a review of Benke's suspension, arguing that it violates the denomination's constitution.
The Missouri Synod is far more conservative and isolationist than the 5.1 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is generally supportive of ecumenical and interfaith work.
As the Benke controversy unfolded in the fall, Kieschnick said that the real tragedy of the Sept. 11 attacks "is that in all likelihood, many of those people who died in that atrocity are not in heaven today — they're in hell — because they did not know or accept Jesus Christ as Savior." [emphasis added]
I've written before about the difficulty most "Secular-American Jews" have with Christian Conservatives. This is one of those examples. I read a statement like that and cringe. It is so narrow-minded and stupid that finds people ending up in heaven or hell based only on their religious beliefs, not their actions in life. It is also a fringe belief, yes many probably hold it in secret, but most CCs are not that dogmatic, though they still would like to "save" people.
Political Suicide
Best of the Web today has a couple stunners. The first is the bizarre, moronic, anti-semitic comments made by Michigan Democrat State Rep. William Callahan about U.S. Rep. Sander Levin. Callahan is challenging Levin in a August 6 primary.
"I mean, the man has never owned a Christmas tree. He's not a Christian. And I'm thinking, 'Jeez, how can he represent me then?' " Callahan was quoted as saying to the AP.
The state representative, who is from St. Clair Shores, later told the Free Press that he did make those comments, but that they were "grossly out of context." He apologized for the Christmas tree reference and said he never meant to cause offense.
At the same time, he maintained that he is better suited to representing the more conservative working people of Macomb than Levin, a Royal Oak lawmaker first elected to Congress in 1982. Levin has represented the current 12th District since 1994, but the district was redrawn this year to represent more of Macomb than Oakland.
"I am a Catholic who is pro-life and of Irish, Polish and German descent," Callahan said. "He is very much pro-choice and Hebrew. Enough said."
'He is...Hebrew. Enough said.' Wow. Guess he didn't vote Gore/Lieberman either. I'm guessing he next gets a guest commentary in Arab News.
Summarizing
Okay, I warned everyone earlier, I would keep on this MLB All-Star debacle. Now here's Jayson Stark (who also chose to use the descriptive term, debacle -- maybe it's time to switch to fiasco):
It's extremely important, don't you think, at times like this, that we blame somebody, anybody? Pick your villain. Call the cops. Because what happened Tuesday night at Miller Park was, very simply, a debacle for a sport that seems to be cornering the market on debacle production these days.
No matter how logical the explanations were -- from the commish, from the managers, from the emergency pitchers and their teammates -- pulling the plug on this All-Star Game ruined what could have been, what SHOULD have been, a beautiful and unforgettable showcase for everything that was great about baseball.
It's simple, really. You can't charge people 150 bucks a ticket and not play until somebody wins. You can't tell the nation that this is the only All-Star Game left that's still a real game and then tell them four hours later that it doesn't matter if anybody wins.
You can't spend an hour before the game trotting out the men responsible for some of baseball's most memorable moments -- many of them game-ending hits and homers, by the way -- and then spend 11 terrific innings setting the stage for another one of those memorable moments, and then decide, "Aw, never mind."
You can't have this happen. Can't. Period. No matter how well-meaning this decision was.
Well said.
But what we need here, apparently, is a redefinition of what this game is. It never USED to be the object of the All-Star Game to play everybody. It USED to be the object to play the game until its proper conclusion.
It must have been, since five previous All-Star games went more innings than this one, and every one of them ended with a winner. The last one of those was just in 1987, too. And we don't recall any fan balloting since then on whether to change that object.
Think about that. Five prior All-Star Games went to extra innings, and were played to a conclusion. And in all those cases, they too had a 30 man roster.
And worst of all, this tie game managed the theoretically impossible task of turning a thrilling, chilling, pregame ceremony from a lump-in-the-throat classic into a minor subplot.
"We had one of the best beginnings to an All-Star Game I've ever seen," said Smoltz. "And I guess some will say we had one of the worst endings to an All-Star Game we've ever seen."
Precisely. No one all night said it better -- except possibly for Bob Brenly, who wanted really badly to convince the baseball fans of America it wasn't as bad as it looked.
"They got everything you could ask for in an All-Star Game," Brenly said, "except a winner."
Tell you what Brenly, which do you think D-Back fans wanted more? A World Series Championship or just memories of one of the most exciting World Series in its history. Yes, they got both, but given a choice which would they or you take.
In sports (especially pro sports) it comes down to the scoreboard. Who wins, who loses. Ties suck.
Let me throw in Jim Caple's column. A pungent mix of resignation, "I told you so," and disgust.
Sadly, this was the perfect, fitting ending to the All-Star Game played in a season that might end with a work stoppage.
Sorry, folks. Glad you enjoyed the first part, but we're calling it a night. Nobody wins. Thanks for your interest. Thanks for your money. Now go home while Bud holds a press conference.
I wrote Monday that the biggest problem with the All-Star Game is that nobody cares who actually wins the game anymore, and Tuesday proved it. Rather than play the game to its logical conclusion -- a victory by either the National or American League -- baseball told the fans to go to hell and called the game after 11 innings with the score tied 7-7.
What a disgrace. The night they name the MVP award after Ted Williams, they didn't have one. What a shame. The night they name the award after a legend who played the entire 1946 All-Star Game and won it with a ninth-inning home run, they stopped playing after 11 innings. What an embarrassment. The night they honor a baseball giant who played the entire All-Star Game several times, they ran out of players.
Ted would be spinning in his grave had his son not frozen him and placed him upside down in a refrigerator.
Of course, fans felt similarly abused after paying $175 a ticket (and remember, baseball now requires that if you want to go to the game, you must buy tickets to the Futures Game, the Home Run Derby and the FanFest as well), only to see the game end in a tie.
Fans in Milwaukee threw garbage on the field and chanted "Let them play," as if it were "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training" instead of the All-Star Game. That was fitting, too. After all, the managers treated the game as if it were a Little League game, making sure everyone got into the game so as not to hurt anyone's feelings.
And it was also fitting that no one listened or cared what the fans think. Hey, we have planes to catch, people.
...
Selig said he thought as hard as he could for a solution -- insert punchline here -- but couldn't come up with one. He talked about how it was a unique and unfortunate situation that had never happened before.
Well, there's a reason it never happened before, Bud. They did things differently in the old days. They let pitchers pitch more than one inning. They let players bat more than once. They didn't care whether everyone played. They tried to win.
You know why the 1941 game Ted Williams won with his homer is so treasured? Because winning was paramount. Not only did Ted play the entire game, so did Joe DiMaggio. Each team used just four pitchers each. You know why we cared so much about the 1970 game that ended in 12 innings? Because Pete Rose cared so much. Because after replacing Hank Aaron midway through the game, he stayed around long enough to crash into Ray Fosse instead of showering and leaving after one at-bat.
It doesn't work that way anymore. That's why interest in the game keeps declining. That's why Tuesday's catastrophe took place. The disaster hit Tuesday, but this has been building for a long time. People will say this was the last thing baseball needed, but this ending was what the All-Star Game needed most.
The All-Star Game once was one of baseball's crown jewels, the true Midsummer Classic. But it has been rotting steadily in recent years while everyone focused on all the glitzy events surrounding the game. Tuesday's travesty will force baseball to address the problems and fix them.
Sadly, I think Caple is wrong on the last part. They won't fix the problems of the rot. They will only find a way to avoid the debacle. Fixing the problem means making the game meaningful. The players and MLB have no interest in that. Once the game served as the showcase, it was the event. Now it is the excuse for the moneymaking operations surrounding it-- Homerun Derby, fan fests, paid autograph sessions, memorabilia sales.
All-Star Diary
Rob Neyer, did a running diary of his observations from the All-Star game, with time stamps (west coast). He also shares my disdain for the whole debacle. I would love to print some alternative view, but I don't think there is one. The outcome sucked.
9:01: And so we got to the 10th inning. It struck me, just now for the first time in my life, that when the managers are holding back a starting pitcher for this exact situation, they should hold back a pitcher who does not toil for a team mixed up in a pennant race.
Joe Torre may be forced to summon Freddy Garcia from the bullpen, and you know that if Lou Piniella is watching, he doesn't want to see his best pitcher going three or four innings. But what if Torre had held back, say, Mark Buehrle? Would anybody really mind if Buehrle tossed three or four frames?
But now it's going to be Garcia. And the minute he begins to feel at all taxed, he should throw batting-practice fastballs until the National League pushes across the winning run. Because as much as everybody should try to win, the pennant races must remain everybody's No. 1 priority.
9:22: Garcia just batted in the top of the 11th, which helped the NL snuff out a budding rally. Another brainstorm. The fans should select the eight starters for each team, then the managers should select 22 reserves, and then the fans should select two more reserves -- one hitter, one pitcher -- per team, via the Internet. But there's an extra stipulation: those two extra players may not enter the game unless it reaches extra innings. So you expand the rosters and increase the number of players who get honored, but you give the managers some flexibility at the end.
In tonight's game, Torre could have pinch-hit for Garcia in the 11th, then brought in a fresh pitcher in the bottom of the inning.
9:27: Boy, these guys are a bunch of geniuses. The umpires and the managers are all clustered around Bud Selig, trying to figure out what to do if the National Leaguers don't score in the bottom of the 11th.
Gee, didn't anybody think about this before the game? Didn't anybody remember that baseball is the one game without a clock? Apparently not, because the delay just goes on and on while Selig "thinks" about what happens next.
There's now a great chance that the 2002 All-Star Game will end up in a tie. Which, come to think of it, is the perfect conclusion for an exhibition game.
9:36: Even more perfect than we could have imagined. It's Bud's Big Night, and the festivities conclude with many thousands of fans booing Selig's decision (justifiable though it was). I don't have a problem with him stopping the game, but he really screwed up when he (presumably) instructed the P.A. announcer to tell everybody that the game would end after the 11th if the Seniors didn't score against Garcia. If nothing else, Commissioner Bud certainly is a master of public relations.
More All-Star Debacle Stuff
Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated writer, echoes my earlier comments (except he thinks they had to call the game at that point since they ran out of pitchers) and amplifies it.
Baseball got the travesty it deserved in Milwaukee on Tuesday night, the worst All-Star Game ever staged. You keep treating the contest like a glorified spring training exhibition and that's exactly what you wind up with, the major difference being that fans were gouged to the tune of $175 a pop for a competition not played to completion in a city that lacks the ambiance and the hotel rooms of Cactus League towns.
...
The real problem, however, lies with baseball allowing itself to be painted into such an awkward corner.
"They tried to get everybody into the game," Selig said of the two managers. "That's the objective of the game."
Bratwurst, Bud. Wrong, wrong, wrong. If baseball cared less about turning the All-Star Game into some democratic softball funfest at the annual company picnic and cared more about playing the best players -- the players the fans really want to see -- in a competitive environment that actually resembles a real game (basically, where we were only 15 years ago) then baseball would not have found itself in the Milwaukee Embarrassment.
See, baseball has been devaluing the All-Star Game for years, so much so that FOX would trade it to ESPN for the Home Run Derby in a heartbeat. Interleague play has helped kill the game because we've seen many of the batter-pitcher matchups before. The players don't care. Many of them skip the event entirely or keep the engines running on their timeshare jets while gracing the fans with an actual at-bat or two. Check out the All-Star dugouts after the fifth inning. Empty. The biggest stars --- the ones the fans vote to see -- scram after three or four innings. If the stars don't stick around, why should we?
...
Nearly all the talk after the Milwaukee Embarrassment from Selig and the managers was about protecting the players. Nobody wanted to talk about protecting the interests of the fans. Let's face it, the game has become a meaningless blur of substitutions because nobody cares who wins or loses any more, the name of the game is pampering the players. At least three elite All-Stars, for instance, threatened to pull out of all events if baseball didn't meet their ridiculous whims, such as, in the case of two elite players, granting field access to members of their entourage.
Managers are most guilty of stripping the competition from the game. Apparently breaking a sweat is no longer permitted in All-Star games. The players' association is likely to file a grievance if anybody dares to use a pitcher for three innings, for instance. Got to get Johnny Anonymous from the Devil Rays an inning of work, people.
"If players start to think they're not going to get into the game, then why come at all?" asked Yankees third baseman Robin Ventura.
Hey, Mike Williams should be fetching coffee for John Smoltz at the All-Star Game, not enjoying some sense of entitlement to playing time.
...
And so it came down to this: The commissioner of baseball, tighter than a brat casing, sitting there in his orange polka dot tie like some Dr. Seuss character waiting for a Cat in the Hat to save the day, a leaky, taxpayer-funded roof over his head, a near riot going on in the stands, and most of the best players in the game long gone from the premises. David Stern, Paul Tagliabue and Gary Bettman must have fallen off their couches with laughter, if they stayed up that late. (OK, OK, and Donald Fehr, too.)
Once upon a time the baseball All-Star Game was the best of its kind in sports. It was the only place, other than a World Series, to see if Johnny Bench could hit Catfish Hunter, or Reggie Jackson could hit Tom Seaver. It was the place to see if the National League really was better than the American League. Pete Rose cared enough to run into Ray Fosse. Ted Williams played the whole game.
Now the NBA All-Star Game is a better showcase. So they don't play much defense. At least Kobe Bryant is going to be on the floor in the fourth quarter trying to win.
Winning doesn't matter any more in the baseball All-Star Game. What matters is getting everyone playing time. What matters is getting the marquee players out of the game as quickly as possible. What matters is getting them on their jets before the fans realize they've been had. The Milwaukee Embarrassment should not have been a surprise. Baseball has been asking for it.
What a disaster of a season it has already been.
Nothingl like a new Mark Steyn column to pierce the BS over whether an Egyptian Muslim killing people at the El Al ticket counter on the 4th of July constitutes a terrorist action or not.
But, fortunately for the final death toll, El Al has its own security and so the suspect, after firing 10 rounds, was himself killed. And whaddaya know? He wasn't an elderly nun but a 41-year-old Egyptian male! His name wasn't Kellie-Sue, it was Hesham Mohamed Hadayet!
This stunning development seems to have completely disoriented the FBI. I quote from The New York Times headline: "Officials Puzzled About Motive Of Airport Gunman."
Hmm. Egyptian Muslim kills Jews on American national holiday. Best not to jump to conclusions. Denial really is a river in Egypt. "It appears he went there with the intention of killing people," said Richard Garcia, the Bureau's agent in charge. "Why he did that we are still trying to determine."
CNN and The Associated Press all but stampeded to report a "witness" who described the shooter as a fat white guy in a ponytail who kept yelling "Artie took my job." But, alas, this promising account proved to be a prank. Saudi Arabia's popular Arab News suggested that Mr. Hadayet had made the mistake of doing business with El Al and that "the Israeli airline had been late in paying for two limousine rentals from the Egyptian immigrant's company." If a couple of late cheques were a motive for murder, Izzy's and Conrad's heads would now be stuffed and mounted in my trophy room. But, sadly, this cautionary tale about the Jew bloodsucker's commercial wiles proved also to be false.
That left the police with no leads. Nothing to go on. The trail's stone cold. All the FBI has is an Egyptian male, who'd complained to his apartment managers after his neighbours post-9/11 began displaying the American flag; who'd posted a banner saying "READ KORAN" on his own front door; who told his employees that he hated Israel, that the two biggest drug dealers in New York were Israelis, and that Israel was trying to wipe out the Egyptian population by flooding the country with AIDS-infected Jewess prostitutes.
Could even the most expert psychological profiler make sense of such confusing and contradictory signs? Beats me, Sherlock. But, as Agent Garcia says, there's no indication of "anti-Israel views or any other type of racial views."
...
Meanwhile, a London newspaper says that Mr. Hadayet may have met with Osama bin Laden's deputy on at least two occasions in Cairo.
Yeah, I have faith in FBI reforms.
Market Research
Miller Lite is trying to redesign their bottle/can. I got to evaluate the four possible designs in an online survey (sorry, the site didn't allow me to copy the images). A couple went overboard using "electric blue" that looked hideous (looked like they were designed for the NASCAR) crowd. The other redesigns, weren't outrageous. Given "light" beers are marketed to the younger demographic, it makes sense to get away from their older, rather staid design. A younger, mass market, party crowd won't care about trying to sell the quality -- they know it is cheap and acceptable.
No Ties In Baseball
Way to go baseball. It's not like the MLB All-Star game wasn't heading to becoming as meaningless at the NFL pro-bowl, but it was still the only major sports all-star game that holds fans interest. Yes, I know most fans seem to care more about the Home Run Derby than the game; and the game has become less important with the advent of Interleague play (yet another reason to curse it); and the players no longer treat it with the same intensity that it used to receive (cue clip of Pete Rose barreling into the catcher) -- but to call the game a tie in the 11th because they ran out of pitchers?
I had to turn off the game in the 7th to get some sleep in between feedings and changings for the little one, so I can be relieved I didn't see this happen.
"They treated it like it was a meaningless game," said David Cuscuna of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "They're telling the fans this game doesn't matter. Not to mention the $175 face value for tickets. It sends a lot of bad messages."
The players of course don't see it as a big deal.
"They made the right decision. It's only a friendly game," Milwaukee shortstop Jose Hernandez said. "The fans weren't expecting that ending, but they've got to understand. I know they want to see a great game, but there's no more guys in the bullpen."
You moron. Baseball doesn't have ties except in Spring Training. Ending it in a frigging tie is just an affront to the nature of the game, even in a "friendly game."
The sick timing of it is, the tie also meant no All-Star MVP, which was just renamed for the now deceased frozen genetic popsicle, Ted Williams.
Part of it is the managers' goal to get all players into the game. Each has a ridiculous 30 man roster (NL had 10 pitchers, AL 9 on the roster), and they still blew through everyone, leading to El Presidente, excuse me, Commissioner Selig to muse on upping the roster count.
I'll probably be ranting on this for a couple days.
Addendum: Just a thought that entered my head. Why do players always talk of what a great honor it is just to be selected, then defend the notion that everyone play. If it is such an honor just to be selected, why would you be so upset if you don't get into the game?
Tuesday, July 09, 2002
Whit-less Returns
There is nothing like idiocy from the Guardian to help get back in the blogging swing. I haven't read anything from Brian "Witless" Whitaker in a while, but he's back with more stupidity. This time he mentions that Professor of Classics at California State University, Victor Davis Hanson. Whit-less is aghast that Hanson suggests complete regime changes in the Arab world -- destabilizing the Middle East -- as the best way to eliminate the Islamofacists.
Of course Whit-less has his own views on the reason for the problems in the Middle East. Gee, I wonder who he blames?
The third but perhaps the most important factor is that deliberately creating turmoil throughout the Middle East diverts attention from the underlying problem - the Israeli occupation that has blighted the region for more than half a century and has played a large part in the rise of Islamic militancy.
I suppose you could make that argument from the standpoint that every despotic, repressive Arab regime points to and blames Israel for its own woes; and uses Israel and Jews as the scapegoat to distract their own people from the corruption and pathetic economies within their own countries. Yes, then it could be (weakly) argued that Israel's existence has played apart in Islamofacism.
Of course, then it must be asked what role Israel played when the Islamofacists in Iran overthrew the Shah; how does Israel create these terrorists from middle class and upper middle class kids in Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and how did Israel create the Taliban in Afghanistan? Whit-less still doesn't have an answer for that.
The Details That Were Missing
I have mocked, Fisked, and torn into the Guardian on many occasions, but their article about the racist British professor who fired two academics from her obscure journals simply because they were Israelis gives a lot of details I had missed up until now. The article is still Guardianesque since it does not include the rather virulently hateful feelings expressed by Professor Baker about Israel ("I deplore the Israeli state...It is Israeli institutions as part of the Israeli state which I absolutely deplore...Many people in Europe have signed a boycott against Israel. Israel has gone beyond just war crimes. It is horrific what is going on there. Many of us would like to talk about it as some kind of Holocaust which the world will eventually wake up to, much too late, of course, as they did with the last one." ), and instead made her out to be a conscientious, noble woman for the most part.
In an email to Prof Toury on June 8, Prof Baker said: "Dear Gideon, I have been agonising for weeks over an important decision: to ask you and Miriam, respectively, to resign from the boards of the Translator and Translation Studies Abstracts. I have already asked Miriam and she refused. I have 'unappointed' her as she puts it, and if you decide to do the same I will have to officially unappoint you too.
"I do not expect you to feel happy about this, and I very much regret hurting your feelings and Miriam's," she said. "My decision is political, not personal.
"As far as I am concerned, I will always regard and treat you both as friends, on a personal level, but I do not wish to continue an official association with any Israeli under the present circumstances."
Prof Toury replied: "I would appreciate it if the announcement made it clear that 'he' (that is, I) was appointed as a scholar and unappointed as an Israeli."
Though buried deep in the story and only mentioned in passing (as if it is really quite irrelevant to Baker's politics and actions in a racially motivated action) is her own ethnicity, "Prof Baker, an Egyptian, said she was bemused by the row over two "tiny" journals."
The article points out the stupidity of Baker's action though, these were not right-wing Israeli scholars. Dr. Miriam Shlesinger is a past chairperson of Amnesty International in Israel, and has been active during the 2nd Intifada in defying the IDF and helping to get aid and supplies to Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
Of course the British universities remained silent, but even the leftist anti-Israel student groups don't like this overt racism.
Bush Image
I'm just starting to catch up on work, the blogosphere, and the world beyond my daughter's needs; so I just now read Matt Welch's article on Bush's falling image. He sums up the image revert nicely:
The initial defection of public support from Bush, not surprisingly, has come from moderate non-Republicans, whose image of the President is noticeably reverting to the pre-9/11 cartoon of the bumbling, over-privileged frat boy in hock to the corrupting influences of Big Business, Big Oil and Poppy's bloodthirsty Cold War pals.
That pretty much matches what I've been hearing from my friends who essentially fit that description. I'm not there yet, but Bush seems to be doing his damndest to render me uninspired with regards to domestic activities and civil liberties.
Sunday, July 07, 2002
My Daughter's Name
Her name.
Angela Ruth Madigan Rich. Angela R.M. Rich. Angela Rich. ARMR – a strangely appropriate set of initials in these days.
Madigan is my wife’s last name. The wife did not take my name when we married. It’s no big deal. Neither of us wanted to hyphenate a last name, so we went with the double middle name. It ticks off her good liberal soul when I explain it to others as being, “like George Herbert Walker Bush.”
She is named Angela. Angela was my wife’s oldest, dearest, and closest friend. She died February 2001, under circumstances that seem like they were scripted by proponents of a national health care plan. She died from a brain aneurism after a hospital decided not to run the tests ordered by her doctor because she did not have health insurance. She had recently been laid off, and did not yet have a new job. Her doctor thought there was a problem, but the emergency room sent her home, saying to just take it easy for a couple of days. Her boyfriend found her dead on the floor of her apartment a night or two later.
Angela was a visual artist. She could draw and paint. She could build her own custom computer, and self-taught herself web graphic design. She was an incredibly creative woman. Her parents gave us several pieces of her sketches (some are in the nursery), some graphics programs, some beautifully painted metal miniatures, and the computer she had built for my wife.
She lived in Cincinnati, and while I had spoken to her many times I only met her once. We did not hit it off that time – my fault. I was unemployed and with a bit of an attitude and self-pity at the time. Not my best moment.
When the wife got pregnant, there was never any debate about what her name would be if it was a girl. The boy’s name was still unresolved since I favored Zaphod, and she preferred just about anything else.
Her middle name is Ruth. Ruth was my great-grandmother. She died when I was 12. Most of my memories are from when she was in a nursing home. Time and her life took its toll. She smoked and drank well into her 70s. I only learned stories about her life in recent years. She was a very independent, willful woman; a bit before her time.
She was born in 1900 in NYC. She was arrested at age 17 at Coney Island for wearing too skimpy a bathing suit (it apparently showed some shoulder). When she was pregnant with my grandmother, some relatives from the South were visiting her. They were discussing name options, because she hadn’t found a name she liked yet. One of the women told her that she couldn’t name the child Phyllis, because that was really a black name. Ruth, stopped and said, “that’s it.” That was how my grandmother was named.
When my dad was in high school (early 1960s), she bought their beer for him and his friends, and would occasionally suck a couple back with them. It’s an amusing story, now. If it happened today, she’d be in prison. When my aunt got married in 1972, she sat with my new uncle smoking and drinking whisky with him during the reception. She believed in enjoying life, and living it fully. I wish I could have known that woman, since it so reflects my own feelings.
My daughter will find her own voice -- her own style and direction someday. I can only hope that the names she carries serve as some sort of basis and guide.
The events
Wednesday, June 19, the wife calls me at work in the early evening. She asked if I was going to go to the gym. I said yes, then she told me that she thought I should come home instead. “Why?” “Because I’ve been having contractions.” Needless to say, I came home.
We were still two weeks away from the due date. The little things suddenly loomed. We had just finished the nursery, but had not yet packed the bag. She had not even had more than one contraction in a three hour period to that point. Our doctor appointment the day before indicated that she would not be showing up too soon. The wife was not even two centimeters dilated. Well we hurriedly prepared the bag, and then the contractions slowed then stopped as the evening lengthened.
Thursday, she did not have any problems, and went to work. The UPS guy stopped at our house with the new digital camera at 2:30, but no one was home to sign for it. It was supposed to go to the office. I had to get that camera.
Friday, June 21, we swapped cars so the mechanic near the office could do a transmission flush on the Saturn. Friday is my easy day. Usually done before noon. Got home to find that the UPS guy came at 11. Damn. Called UPS – got shifted to a couple different people as I begged, argued and pleaded – and got them to agree to re-deliver. Just after I finished with UPS, the wife called to say the contractions were coming closer (7-9 minutes apart) and lasting longer (almost a minute). She was leaving work early and coming home. Which would arrive first: the wife or the UPS guy? The UPS guy by fifteen minutes. The wife was dropped off, the other car left in the guarded lot at work. She re-started timing the contractions for an hour; now 5-6 minutes apart and well over a minute. I was trying to learn the camera and install the new software. Now 4:15 she called her doctor – the office closed at 4 on Friday. The call was referred to the on-call maternity ward physician at our hospital, who eventually called us and told us to come over to be checked out. Now after 5 pm.
Loaded the gear into the car. Called my parents to let them know what might be happening. Went to the hospital, left the gear in the car in case it was a false alarm (the bag is kind of heavy), they slapped a fetal monitor on her to measure the baby’s heartbeat and the mother’s contractions.
The doctor came in after some time – dilated almost 3 cm, definitely in labor, let’s break the water, send the husband downstairs to get the bags and call family. My parents weren’t answering, got voice mail. Leave message confirming this is not a drill. Call her family members. Keep getting answering machines. It’s around 7 pm. Husband returns with the gear, to find one of the nurses feeling the wife’s belly and saying, “uh-oh.” Seems when the husband was out, they broke the water and a lot of meconium came out with the fluid. They wheel in the sonogram machine. Focus on the baby. Baby is in total breech position.
Now things fly, the anaesthesiologist has not left yet. Catch her, she comes in and explains what she will be giving the mother to be. Nothing for me. I have to wait in the room while they drug and get her cut. They will let me in just before they extract. It is about 8 pm when they wheel the wife out, leaving the husband in his scrubs to await the go ahead to join in the fun. Only distraction, Indians-Expos interleague thriller on the tv. Phone rings in the room, my parents. They are leaving shortly to be there. Never mind that it is a 375 miles, 6 hour drive over the PA and OH turnpikes, this is their first grandchild!
Lot’s of pacing.
About 25 after eight, they come for me. I’m given instructions like Clarice just before meeting Dr. Hannibal Lector – do not approach the cell, do not make eye contact... The wife is strapped down and localized. She cannot see that she is cut open and they are just about ready. I can sit by her, but still watch the doctors and nurses work. There are 3 other people just standing and watching.
It begins. Ass first they pull. Another heave, the legs get free. Still pulling, the arms come loose. The head seems stuck. Three or four yanks and the head is still lodged in there. Finally one big hard tug, the head pops loose, followed by the placenta. The doctor, holding the baby, then slips and falls onto the wife’s legs. The baby is still held aloft by the stumbling doctor. The baby cries immediately. The wife felt slight tugs, but no pain and no idea just how hard, violently they were pulling the baby loose. I, on the other hand, kept mouthing, “holy shit,” over and over.
The 3 watchers spring into action. They take the baby to the other side of the operating room, place her under the heater, and being cleaning, scoping and unblocking the baby. They are huddled on all sides around her. We can hear her screaming and crying. The doctor tells me I can go watch. The wife nods for me to go.
I walk over, looking at my daughter for the first time. She is beat red, splotchy, screaming, crying, her poor legs in the breech position are flailing in the air, bent at the knees. They are wiping off the bodily fluids that nurtured and grew her in the womb. If she wasn’t my baby, she’d be the ugliest little thing. Instead, she is beautiful. It’s a moment where the tears fill my eyes, then subside. A moment I don’t ever want to forget.
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