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Thursday, October 03, 2002
Damn the Torpedos
Filming for Tomb Raider II is underway, looking forward to seeing the pair of gravity defying special effects.
America's Pastime in Afghanistan
Here's a great story on baseball catching on in Afghanistan (link via WSJ.com's " The Fix").
Because of the efforts of a US Army Special Forces Civil Affairs team, this small southeastern Afghan town is now home to the country's first baseball league.
Judging from the cheering section for the games - which grew from eight onlookers to 100 in eight weeks since the season started - baseball has captured the imagination of residents who were starved for entertainment and deprived of simple pleasures such as kite-flying and music under the Taliban.
For the US soldiers who spend hours each week as coaches and umpires, America's pastime is helping to build bridges between two vastly different cultures.
Money and Space Lacking
If we had the spare cash and room in the house, I would be ordering a few of these for the wife's birthday. I wonder if they sell components. The wife attended the last game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium and like many fans walked away with almost all of her seat. The problem is, one side is missing, so it can't stand on its own.
Yankees-Angels, Game 2
Angels fans can take pride in this useless factoid. This was the first post-season game ever that the Yankees lost after leading past the 7th inning.
Pettite was not sharp. He left too much up and over the plate. Scioscia learned from yesterday's mistake and brought Percival in with 2 outs in the 8th. Percival was a little off, but he had enough to notch the save.
The big deal about this game -- it was lllllllloooooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggg. Four hours, eleven minutes long. That shouldn't be too surprising with numerous pitching changes (10), 29 hits, 2 errors and 4 walks. Still, it was a long friggin' game.
Wednesday, October 02, 2002
Many Mauled Managers
2002 MLB season
11 teams
14 managers fired
6 more potential managerial changes remain.
Boston fires Kerrigan in spring training.
During the season the following firings occurred:
Detroit fires Garner (Pujols becomes interim mgr);
Milwaukee fires Lopes (Royster becomes interim mgr);
Colorado fires Bell;
Toronto fires Martinez;
Chicago Cubs fire Baylor (Kimm becomes interim mgr);
Kansas City fires Muser (Tony Pena becomes mgr); and
Cleveland fires Manual (Skinner becomes interim mgr).
At the end of the season Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago Cubs all fire (or is it simply declining to retain the services beyond the season?) the interim mangers. Toronto had a winning record with Macha as manager so he appears to be staying. I think KC and Colorado are happy with the new managers. Cleveland has not decided whether Skinner will keep the job or not (I bet yes).
In addition other managers are fired:
Tampa Bay fires (bumps upstairs) McRae;
New York Mets fire Valentine; and
Rangers fire Narron.
Pittsburgh is still deciding Lloyd McClendon's fate (shaking the Magic 8-Ball yielded "All signs point to no.")
Other teams facing potential changes:
San Francisco actually has to re-sign Baker, who's contract ends this year, so he could be on the move;
Montreal (Washington?, Portland?, who knows) doesn't seem clear as to whether Frank Robinson will stay or not; and
Seattle where Pinella will be entering his final year, but there is pressure in Tampa Bay and on the NY Mets to see what it would take to hire Lou from them.
It is possible that half the teams in MLB could have new managers in 2003.
And Again There Was One
Heard it on the radio heading to work, and just found the confirmation. Cleveland area is down to one alternative weekly magazine, and for those in LA, they now have one less.
Village Voice Media, LLC and NT Media, LLC, the largest alternative newspaper publishers in the country, today announced a transaction that will allow Village Voice Media and NT Media to strengthen their competitive positions in two markets. Under the arrangement, VVM has acquired certain assets of New Times Los Angeles and NT Media has acquired certain assets of Cleveland Free Times.
Cleveland Free Times, a Village Voice Media newspaper, will discontinue publication immediately. New Times Los Angeles, a New Times publication, will also discontinue publication immediately. LA Weekly and Cleveland Scene will remain as the leading alternative newspapers in their markets, delivering premier arts, entertainment, and political coverage.
David Schneiderman, Chief Executive Office for Village Voice Media, and Jim Larkin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for NT Media, in a joint statement said, “Though we regret closing newspapers, through this transaction we have been able to strengthen our respective competitive position in two important markets. As a result, both LA Weekly and Cleveland Scene will better serve the needs of the readers and advertisers in their communities. We are proud of the accomplishments of the staffs at Cleveland Free Times and New Times Los Angeles and hope that many of them will find employment in our respective companies.”
I can't say I'm totally shocked. There have been rumors for a couple months that the Free Times was going under. Still, competition is a good thing and without two alt weeklys, the chances increase that the quality can drop. I hope not. Scene has actually been the better of the alts in the last couple years. The Free Times became somewhat obsessed with ripping on the Plain Dealer (like that's so hard) and (now former) Mayor Mike White, the last couple years. The overall quality had dropped.
Yankees-Angels, Game 1
[For those who don't know, I am a Yankees fan. I say this to put my natural bias out front. I love baseball, but I make no claim of non-partisanship when the Yanks are involved.]
The Angels made the Yankees sweat, but their relief pitching fell short in the bottom of the 8th against NY. The Yankees, down 5-4, scored 4 runs after having no one on base and 2 outs. Soriano down in the count 1-2 worked a walk off Weber. Jeter then worked a walk. Suddenly it's 2 outs, 2 on, and Jason Giambi coming to the plate.
Buck and McCarver started arguing over whether Angel's manager Mike Scioscia would bring in closer Troy Percival now to get Giambi, or wait until the 9th inning. Buck said he should, and McCarver said no. My natural reaction is to always go against McCarver (more in a bit), and here I was definitely in favor of bringing in Percival. What is the point in having a dominant closer if he can only pitch 1 inning, and only if he starts the inning? A fellow baseball nut and friend Jon, a long suffering (is there any other kind?) Cubs fan, hates closers. He really hates the whole concept of specialized relievers in general. Left-handed specialists make him break out in a rant, and he is one of the mellowist guys I know. A shame he lives in California these days. I wish we were able to sit down and watch these games together (granted the wife would probably take the kid and be staying at a hotel for the month of October, but that's only one month), it would be a blast.
So, Scioscia brings in left-hander Scott Schoeneweis to face Giambi. Giambi proceeds to smack a one-hopping bullet off the glove of diving first baseman, Spezio, deflecting the ball away from the speedy second baseman, Kennedy. This allows Soriano to score from second and tie the game, and Jeter to go to third. Now it's tied, men at the corners, still 2 outs and my favorite Yankee, the switch hitting, Bernie Williams comes to the plate.
Buck and McCarver are still arguing over whether Percival should now come into a tie game. Come on! If he wasn't brought in to preserve a lead with 2 outs, it's a little too late to bother bringing him in to a tie. It helps, of course, that McCarver is now starting to say maybe Percival should come in.
Scioscia brings in the righty, Brendan Donnelly, who gets ahead 1-2 before Bernie blasts a bomb to right-center for a 3-run homer.
Flipping to Baseball Tonight on ESPN, I catch a discussion of whether Percival should have been brought in either when the Angels had the lead with 2 outs and 2 on or after the game was tied. Peter Gammons explains that Percival has had 2 shoulder operations and has a hard time staying lose between innings; and that during the season he was brought into such situations 4 times. He blew the save in the 9th, twice. Of course, to me this means that he's not much of a closer you can rely upon if you can't use him for more than an inning, especially in the playoffs.
On the subject of McCarver and Buck. I made it to the 3rd inning before shouting, "Shut the f--k up McCarver!" I hate Tim McCarver. He is the worst, most overrated, non-stop talking, color analyst in baseball. Buck is fine. McCarver won't shut up, though. He keeps yammering, if he thinks he has a good point, he won't stop harping on for at least the entire inning (full inning, not just the 1/2 inning when the point is first made). He just pisses me off. Naturally, he and Buck are Fox's #1 baseball team so he will be covering every Yankee game. Ugh.
UPDATE: Rob Neyer's column is on the 8th inning. He disagrees with me on whether to bring in Percival after the game was tied.
Cleaning Up the Flats
A pathetic attempt to "clean up" the Flats (image) costs Cleveland a $345,000 verdict, not to mention all the court expenses. The city's Flats Safety Task Force staged a raid at a club, Heaven and Earth, expecting to shut the place down for underage drinking, drug use, etc. Instead, when they found nothing of the sort, they shut the place down for a week for minor building code violations. This came as the owners were on the verge of selling the club. Well the price plummeted and they only sold for a fraction, and the city lost the case to make up the difference. Interesting thing, this Flats Safety Task Force:
The owners say they were unfairly targeted by an overzealous task force - a group created by former Mayor Michael White in response to a series of drownings in the river the summer before. The task force included representatives of influential Flats developers Bart Wolstein, whose company owns property that housed restaurants Fado and Joe's Crab Shack, and Jeff Jacobs, son of Dick Jacobs, who built the Powerhouse at Nautica.
While Heaven and Earth and eight other establishments in the Flats and the Warehouse District were scrutinized by police and inspectors, none of the businesses connected to members of the task force was inspected, said Steven Ott, a lawyer for the club owners.
Ott said the inspections - conducted at the bars' busiest hours - were more a publicity stunt than a genuine attempt to improve safety conditions. He told jurors the city planned to shut down Heaven and Earth no matter what the inspectors found. Just as the inspection began, a truck rolled up carrying plywood to board up the doors and windows.
"There wasn't any reason to target" the bar, Ott said. "They shut them down, and they made that decision before they got there."
The city, of course, has decided it will appeal.
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Planning My Daughter's Future
My wife is 5'4, and I'm a little over 5'6. Our daughter is not going to be tall. We assumed any scholarships she eventually achieves for college will be based on her brains, not her athleticism. Thankfully, today's WSJ (subscription req'd) tells of an athletic scholarship she will have a crack at.
With 42 campuses now offering women's varsity bowling, a game that has long sought more respect is making a breakthrough in college sports. The reason: Title IX of the education law, mandating that colleges attempt to offer varsity athletic slots and scholarships in numbers proportionate to their male and female enrollments, or face penalties.
...
The National Collegiate Athletic Association last month granted bowling Division 1 "championship status," meaning it will fund a tournament each year to decide the country's best college keglers. Equivalent designations are expected in January for the smaller schools in Division 2 and 3, says Judith Sweet, the NCAA's vice president for championships.
The upgrades also mean that Division 1 and 2 schools will have the option of offering up to five bowling scholarships per 10-woman team, and that varsity bowlers will begin enjoying some of the perks now granted to other collegiate athletes, including better access to training facilities and coaching. The University of Nebraska's "performance nutritionist" is designing a special bowlers' diet -- low on carbohydrates -- to keep female Huskers in top shape on the lanes.
The inaugural NCAA championships are slated for next year, with gold watches for individual winners.
...
Still, coaches say it's tough finding enough skilled competitors. Although bowling is growing at the high-school level, just 1,061 of the country's 20,000 high schools sponsored a varsity team last year. Mr. LoPresti had hoped to round up 10 bowlers for Fairleigh Dickinson's start-up team. But with the season already under way, he is still five women short, with $30,000 in unawarded scholarship money.
...
To make things a little easier for them at Fairleigh Dickinson, bowlers have personal trainers, priority registration for classes, athletes' dorm space and tutors to accompany the team on extended trips. In Kansas, at Wichita State University, Coach Gordon Vadakin plans to bring in Dean Hinitz, a sports psychologist from Nevada, to spend a weekend dispensing advice to women bowlers from his new book, "Focused for Bowling," whose chapters include: "Waking the Warrior."
I'm stopping at the nearby bowling pro shop to see what the smallest balls and shoes available are tonight.
CD Settlement Question
Maybe I'm missing something with the news of the settlement by the music industry concerning overpriced CDs, but even with the abandonment of MAP (minimum advertised pricing), what will keep the music/recording industry from selling their wares to Tower Records, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. at a huge mark-up? Which, in turn, the retailers would mark-up (even just a small amount) for their own profit and leave the whole thing back where it started. The whole thing screams of another suit in the near future over collusion by the recording companies to keep the prices inflated.
Monday, September 30, 2002
Browns-Steelers, Game 100
Well, the Browns blew it again. Honestly, I don't think you'll find much disagreement in Pittsburgh.
The wife (a Browns fan) and I (I root for the Steelers as much to piss off the locals, but in my heart, I'm an Eagles fan) were driving back from Pittsburgh (with a stop at Ikea for a chair) and heard almost the entire game on the radio -- half with Steeler broadcasters, half with Cleveland, plus some of the post game.
Pitt played (and won) on Saturday against the Toledo Rockets. During the game, this exchange between a friend and I occurred:
Me: Hey, don't the Steelers have a game here tomorrow?
Friend: Yeah.
Me: I don't recall any back-to-back games last year.
Friend: I don't think there were any.
Me: Think they'll be able to get the field in shape in time?
Friend: Don't know. Hey, check out the dance team girl, second from the left.
Me: The blond?
Friend: No, the brunette. The one with...
Well you get the idea.
Still there was some whining about the field.
More than a few place-kickers have gritted their teeth when asked to discuss Heinz Field’s playing surface. But no one tore into it quite like the Browns’ Phil Dawson did. “Horrible,” he said. “Worst field I’ve ever played on. ... And I’ve played in Cincinnati.” Dawson was 2 of 3 on field-goal attempts, but his miss was costly, a 45-yard try in overtime that deflected off Steelers NT Kimo von Oelhoffen’s helmet, then clanged off the cross bar. “I heard a double-thud,” he said. “I’ve never heard a double-thud and had it go in.” Neither, he said, had he played in worse conditions. “We heard stories and rumors about it,” he said, referring to Saturday night. “But it wasn’t until we got out here in the morning that we saw how bad it was. It was terrible. It’s sandy, and there were holes everywhere. Not divots. Holes. Sometimes when we were punting, we were setting up at 13 yards instead of 15 just to stay out of one of the holes.” He pointed out that the Pitt-Toledo game Saturday must have been primarily responsible, as the weather was clear and warm all weekend. “If it’s late December you expect this, but not this early in the year.” Heinz Field staff frequently ran onto the grass to patch up holes during the game.
I heard some of the post-game hosts complaining about the field also. Everyone blamed Pitt.
Whither Feminism
Catherine Seipp delivers an excellent breakdown on the breakdown/irrelevance of feminist groups today.
There are so many different pieces worth excerpting, but I'll pick this one from near the beginning:
What if they tried to revive feminism’s official media mouthpiece and nobody cared? That’s what’s been happening with Ms. magazine, which says something about the general state of organized feminism today. Last fall Ms. was sold to the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), which announced plans to hire a new editor and move the faded publication from New York to the group’s Los Angeles home base. But even as the 30th-anniversary spring issue, featuring founder Gloria Steinem on the cover, was hitting the stands in March, the group was still advertising for an editor-in-chief.
...
At its peak, in 1976, Ms. had a circulation of 500,000; it now limps along at an unaudited figure of around 110,000. But the magazine’s decline can be measured by more than its diminished circulation. You might have expected that landmark 30th-anniversary issue with the Steinem cover to get some major play. But media coverage last spring was practically nil, aside from a few brief reports and a Nation feature that noted the aging crowd at the magazine’s birthday celebration in New York: "The contents of the giveaway goody bags were largely restricted to estrogen replacement." When The Nation starts making jokes about menopause, you’ve slipped a long way, baby.
It's longish, but worth the read.
Ewwww, Creepy
Man, Jesse Walker at Reason isn't kidding. This is one of the most paranoia inducing logos I've seen for a government agency.
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