| Al's Ramblings | |||
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Tuesday, February 09, 2010 (2/09/2010 07:00:00 PM) - Al Quite a game tonight, Illni versus the Badgers at the Kohl Center. If you're not watching The Big Ten network, you should be. 2/09/2010 07:00:00 PM (2/09/2010 05:54:00 PM) - Al The funny thing everyone seems to be missing here is, even Bobby Gibbs admits "hope and change" was nothing but a slogan, and a failed, now ripe for parody slogan, at that. Palin got a huge laugh and cheer at the tea party convention when she asked "How's that hopey changey working out for ya?" Unless you are a loyal, well left of center voter who is still happy to drink the kool-aid of the Carter years, you're not real happy. 2/09/2010 05:54:00 PM (2/09/2010 05:10:00 PM) - Al The Crew signs Scott Schoeneweis to a minor league deal, to back up Stetter in Nashville. Scott has dominated LH hitters in his career, but is 36 and has been, ahem, pretty plain the last few years, albeit, no one would expect him to perform well after the death of his wife last year. Even giving him that as a mulligan, his career ERA is about 5, and in several recent campaigns, hasn't hit that. Of course, as a AAA loogy, he's probably as good a move as one could make. If he can match his career norms versus LH hitters, it will go down as one of Doug's greatest moves ever, should he get the chance. Macha will know not to let him face a RH hitter in anything resembling a game, while Mitch does not have nearly the split difficulty, so he has earned the right to be more than a loogy. Doug also signed Chase Wright to a minor league deal. Wright pitched in Nashville last year, and has a career 4 ERA in AAA, and throws LH, so as the braintrust has done this offseason, they have stockpiled decent and above AAA arms, adding depth at the upper levels of the organization, as they have the vast majority of their "prospects" at AA and below. Casual fans scoff at these signings, as the vast majority will never see MIL, but if one of these guys pitches one important inning, or even gets a big out in a big game, all this planning is well worth it. Heck, many fans, including myself, still have a soft spot for Seth McClung because of his staff saving outing in the Cubs' opener in the final series of '08. As a guy who throws with his left hand who doesn't completely suck, he may not have a high ceiling, but he'll get every opportunity. At this point, he has actually pitched worse in the minors against lefties, so a future loogy role is unlikely, but you never know. 2/09/2010 05:10:00 PM Monday, February 08, 2010 (2/08/2010 09:47:00 PM) - Al Irony is so delicious. 2/08/2010 09:47:00 PM (2/08/2010 09:13:00 PM) - Al I can't believe even the folks at NPR are wondering what the intent of this billboard is...seems rather blatantly anti-Obama to me. 2/08/2010 09:13:00 PM (2/08/2010 06:56:00 PM) - Al Adam lists the players he thinks are out of options...keep in mind at least one or two are likely incorrect, as option rules are strange and hard to keep up with. 2/08/2010 06:56:00 PM (2/08/2010 01:18:00 PM) - Al Freakonomics looks at how quickly food spoils if it's not packaged correctly. That always reminds me of the guy at the farmer's market selling wormy apples, and no one has bought a single one. He takes out a marker, and the person next to him asks, "Are you changing the sign to rotten apples for sale?" Instead, the gent adds the word "organic" to the sign, and suddenly, his apples begin to disappear. Personally, I'd much prefer the ones that are worm free. 2/08/2010 01:18:00 PM Sunday, February 07, 2010 (2/07/2010 10:16:00 PM) - Al A couple notes after the weekend... 1. I found myself nine pounds lighter after week one. I've managed to ride my exercise bike every day for at least 45 minutes as well, and while I "took it easy" Saturday (Jason taught me it was ok to "cheat" a bit one day a week to keep yourself sane), it was a good week. I keep saying I'm on a 90 day quest, and there's no real reason why, that's just what I decided upon. Having an "end date" may be more of a mental thing than anything else, but it's all a mental thing. 2. On Friday, the Rambling dog celebrated ten years in the Ramblings' household. Ronnie was a stray, estimated to be 4 years old when we brought him home from the Washington County shelter (in Woodbury, MN) on 2-5-00. I remember a couple things from that day, and they include... ...Ronnie was the only dog in the entire shelter, out of a couple dopzen, that fit the criteria of the Rambling wife, who would only bring a dog home "if they weren't big enough to knock me down". ...He sat near the rear of his little gated area, shaking. ...The one page description said he was male, 4, and his favorite toy was "ball". When we took him into the little room with a couple chairs to get to interact with him, he dutifully chased the tennis ball around, not really caring to give it back, because that meant chasing it again, which was tiring. ...The shelter staff was very nice, informing us he had been taken home a few times, but he always was brought back, for whatever reason. I still recall one volunteer, a boy who was probably 14 or 15, proudly said he had taken Ron for a walk before we came back to pick him up, and when we took him home, many people, including the boy, said the same thing as they petted him and hugged him goodbye..."Don't come back." ...He sat on the Rambling wife's lap the entire 10 minute drive home, shaking. ...We always thought his owner had been a female, as he followed my wife around like he was attached to her for about the first week. After a while, he realized I was the one who walked him and fed him, and I became "the man", as I remain to this day. While he loves the others in the house, there's never been any doubt who he'd choose to go with if we all went separate ways. ...So, Saturday, I came upstairs and made the Rambling son his supper. I dropped something on the floor, but managed to pick it up before Ronnie...and then I asked the little guy if he had seen Ron. He shrugged and said "No." The wife was at church, but I was concerned that somehow Ron might have sneaked out when she left. I had finished biking, shut off the TV and lights in my "office", and came upstairs. Thinking I knew Ron had been on the sofa when I was down there, I wandered down...there he was, in the dark, sound asleep. For years, Ron would always notice when you left the room, and of late, it's a 50/50 shot. He just sleeps so hard now, he doesn't notice. ...We always treat his anniversary as his b-day, so we'll start saying he's 14 now. We realize that he's getting up there and as quickly as he's gone down hill in the past 6-8 months, he's probably getting near the end. It's no fun, but as we often say, it's a part of life, for all dogs, and for all people. ...Also, I made homemade chicken soup. It turned out very nicely, though I was surprised how expensive it was buying fresh vegetables...I usually don't buy carrots, cabbage, and celery, as I hate 'em all, but they do add good flavor to the broth (and as a bonus, they taste like nothing after simmering for 10 hours. I've often said this, and while others may have as well, as far as I know, it's an Al original...it's easy eating cheaply, and it's easy eating healthy...but eating cheaply and healthy is tough. 2/07/2010 10:16:00 PM (2/07/2010 08:34:00 PM) - Al Reagan wins, DC shut down on his birthday. Somehow, the world kept spinning. 2/07/2010 08:34:00 PM (2/07/2010 01:43:00 PM) - Al I know he was a quarterback in his younger days, but at 6-6 and 240 pounds, he would be a pretty good left tackle.--Buster Olney, on which MLB players could play in the NFL Um, yeah...if he puts on about a hundred pounds. Stick to your day job Buster. 2/07/2010 01:43:00 PM (2/07/2010 01:38:00 PM) - Al The entire Kennedy clan is as clueless and publicity hungry as they come. Why must the old media keep covering these buffoons? 2/07/2010 01:38:00 PM (2/07/2010 12:49:00 PM) - Al Palin is officially the "every woman" of the decade. As the linked piece mentions, so far, she's the only one who has used the tea party movement as an extension of her own voice. Crazy...like a fox. 2/07/2010 12:49:00 PM (2/07/2010 12:42:00 PM) - Al Lesson to be learned...never send a girl back to your room when you're "expecting company" later. 2/07/2010 12:42:00 PM Saturday, February 06, 2010 (2/06/2010 11:54:00 PM) - Al Ann wonders how Palin has managed to come out of this looking like a genius. 2/06/2010 11:54:00 PM (2/06/2010 08:46:00 PM) - Al Global warming, as we knew it a couple months ago, is dead. This will be a good way to separate those who are worth listening to, as the only remaining folks concerned about it have to ignore so much fraud to do so, I don't have the time for them. As the article says, man may still be contributing to climate change...but pretending it's a disaster, or a fact, is just plain fear mongering. 2/06/2010 08:46:00 PM (2/06/2010 02:14:00 PM) - Al Here are pictures of one of the main organizers of the national tea party convention this weekend. The old media will ignore pics like this as much as they did the blonde bimbo Edwards had an affair with...does not fit the narrative. 2/06/2010 02:14:00 PM (2/06/2010 01:41:00 PM) - Al You realize if the snow was here in the Great Lakes region, it'd get a passing mention, with a "why does anyone live there?" eye-roll from the newsreader. 2/06/2010 01:41:00 PM (2/06/2010 11:28:00 AM) - Al Petit will be a nice pickup, as he has a very nice 4.50ish ERA in the majors, unless he's pitching in the hitter's paradise of Arizona, and is only 25. 2/06/2010 11:28:00 AM (2/06/2010 09:22:00 AM) - Al Michigan is even or a one point favorite over the Badgers today. MICH has been playing very well of late, and of course are at home, a huge benefit in the college game. The irony here is, if the Wolverines do win today, it will be reported as a huge upset...because the old media doesn't even bother checking the numbers. 2/06/2010 09:22:00 AM |
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