The all-star game was last night. We heard a lot from former players about how it’s a disgrace to not go to the game if you’re chosen. The game isn’t the same as it once was and people’s priorities aren’t the same either. If someone does’t want to go play a practice game then so be it. I don’t know why it matters.
Speaking of the all-star game, it’s that time of the year when we hear about everything that is wrong with it. Oddly enough these are from the people who still watch the damn thing so apparently there’s no so much wrong with it. The all-star game, as Dusty Baker might say, is what it is. It’s a silly game that decides home field advantage in the World Series. I get that. I don’t like it, but I also don’t care at this point. It doesn’t bother the players and they agreed to it so why should I care? Why should you care?
We see regular lists of who got snubbed, but once again, that’s something the players have agreed to. One player from each team must be represented and as long as the players agreed to that, I don’t care who gets snubbed. Their fault, their problem. Not mine, not your’s.
We also see lists of players who are the opposite of all-stars. Seems mean spirited to me and I’m a fucking asshole. Koyie Hill isn’t good at baseball. We know it and I’m sure he knows it, but I see no reason to single out the worst players in baseball just because it seems like a fun exercise.
Realignment or no realignment? Don’t really care about that either. If it happens, it happens. I assume the Cubs will still be on WGN and CSN so it doesn’t matter to me. I have my preferences, but again, the players agreed to the current system so it’s their fault if there’s something wrong with it.
Instant replay as it is or more? I’d like more, but once again, the players and owners have their say so if they don’t want more, I’m fine with it. It’s their game. Not mine. I’m just a spectator who enjoys the entertainment.
Went to a movie recently and there was some ad about telling us to follow @BurgerKing on twitter. Thought to myself that there had to be only 3 or 4 followers, but got home and looked and more than 15,000 follow the fast food burger joint with a creepy dude on commercials on twitter. I have no idea why.
College football season is around the corner. Wisconsin is going to win the Big Ten as they beat Nebraska in the first Big Ten Championship game.
Breaking Bad’s 4th season kicks off on Sunday. If you haven’t watched Breaking Bad yet, do it now. Right now. Quit your job, go get the DVDs and go home and watch it. It’s that good.
The Cubs get to play more bad baseball in the second half of the season starting tomorrow. They’d really have to try to catch the Astros for the top overall pick. Knowing the Cubs, they’ll win 17 of 20 at some point and end up with the 10th pick.
Does Facebook have a Dislike button? It should.
Committment to Excellence is a Registered Trademark of the Oakland Raiders. The Cubs should trademark Committment to Mediocrity.
To be precise, 15,619 people follow @BurgerKing. 152,000+ follow McDonalds. I’ll bet everything you own that all 15,619 followers of @BurgerKing also follow @McDonalds. @Hardees has only 8029 followers. They follow almost 8000 people. Why would Hardees follow 8000 people?
@CTrotters (Charlie Trotter’s) doesn’t even have 2500 followers. For every person who follows @CTrotters, 69 follow @McDonalds. Something obviously went wrong somewhere along the way.
Over 7 million like Taco Bell on Facebook. Only 2656 like Charlie Trotter’s.
What does this prove? Americans eat and enjoy really shitty food and mostly despise the good stuff.
I didn’t even know the Cubs had a facebook page, but a little more than 1.3 million like it. A little more than twice as many like the Red Sox facebook page. 4.2 million like the Yankees.
We were talking about how Starlin Castro doesn’t steal bases yesterday and then last night he stole two in a row. Asshole.
Facebook should also have a Meh button.
111 times this baseball season a batter has been a triple shy of the cycle. There have been 101 days of baseball and it’s happened more than once per day on average. It’s that common. Only 37 days have passed with a game this year in which a player wasn’t a triple shy of the cycle. 63.4% of all dates have at least one game where that happened. Stop telling us that’s a big deal.
Since 2000 it’s happened over 3000 times.
How come we never hear about a home run shy of the cycle? It’s happened 2400 fewer times since 2000 than the triple shy of the cycle has happened. This year it’s happened 22 times. The single shy of the cycle has happened only 7 times this year. Double shy has happened 10 times.
If an announcer is going to tell us a batter is shy of something, tell us when he’s a single shy of the cycle. That doesn’t happen very often. Neither does lacking the double. Lacking the triple happens all the time.
(dying laughing) this is the worst post to every happen to this blog
Don’t you like anything? (dying laughing)
[quote name=WaLi]Don’t you like anything? (dying laughing)[/quote]I like turtle dicks.
dislikes this.
Posted this yesterday but discussion has grown:
http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/fagged_out/
Question: Why is it that every time I go on the Internet, some statfag is talking about faget stats.
Man…FUNK DAT!
[quote name=Mish]Posted this yesterday but discussion has grown:
http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/fagged_out//quote
Did Bobby V faget the contemporary term for “tired”?
http://baseballmusings.com/?p=71615
^^^ I disagree with the common sense thing. The common sense thing is to get as much $$$ out of the Yankees and Jeter as possible. Which I would do
[quote name=Mish]http://baseballmusings.com/?p=71615[/quote]
he’ll still have to pay taxes on the gift from miller, no?
[quote name=GW]he’ll still have to pay taxes on the gift from miller, no?[/quote]
What do I look like, an accountant?
*looks over at his BS in Accountancy*
Shit.
[quote name=Mish]^^^ I disagree with the common sense thing. The common sense thing is to get as much $$$ out of the Yankees and Jeter as possible. Which I would do[/quote]
That would’ve been the smart thing to do. Would be kind of interesting to see how karma plays out for this guy going forward though.
[quote name=GW]he’ll still have to pay taxes on the gift from miller, no?[/quote]Is paying someone’s taxes a gift?
[quote name=GW]he’ll still have to pay taxes on the gift from miller, no?[/quote]I think gift taxes are the responsibility of the giver. It’s pretty cool what that guy did although I think I would’ve have gone the route Mish mentioned above if I got that ball.
Can’t you give someone up to $10,000 without it being taxable?
I’d extort as much money as I possibly could and I’m not thousands of dollars in debt like this guy.
[quote name=cwolf]I think gift taxes are the responsibility of the giver. It’s pretty cool what that guy did although I think I would’ve have gone the route Mish mentioned above if I got that ball.[/quote]You’re right. And I agree with both you and Mish. It’s pretty cool what he did and even classy, but those guys make a shitload of money. If I got that ball I’m selling it.
[quote name=mb21]Can’t you give someone up to $10,000 without it being taxable?[/quote]I believe there are restrictions on to whom and how much can be given as a gift, but I pretty much cheated my way through tax class. Audit’s my money melon.
I don’t want to overstate the value of the ball, but you could literally set yourself (and your family) up for life with an infusion of a couple hundred thousand dollars (IDK what the value will be). I won’t argue that it’s not honorable or what have you, but I value self preservation enough to realize that I should capitalize on the opportunity.
[quote name=mb21]Can’t you give someone up to $10,000 without it being taxable?[/quote]I think it’s like $15K or something now but I don’t know the other restrictions like if it has to be a family member or something.
OP —> Re-re-re-discredited blog
Yay Women’s Soccer!
[quote name=Mish]I don’t want to overstate the value of the ball, but you could literally set yourself (and your family) up for life with an infusion of a couple hundred thousand dollars (IDK what the value will be). I won’t argue that it’s not honorable or what have you, but I value self preservation enough to realize that I should capitalize on the opportunity.[/quote]I haven’t read much on what this guy’s situation is. Maybe he’s already pretty well off and doesn’t really care about maximizing his take?
[quote name=cwolf]I haven’t read much on what this guy’s situation is. Maybe he’s already pretty well off and doesn’t really care about maximizing his take?[/quote]
I believe he’s thousands of dollars in debt (student loans I believe) and his girlfriend is helping him make ends meet at the moment.
[quote name=Mish]I believe he’s thousands of dollars in debt (student loans I believe) and his girlfriend is helping him make ends meet at the moment.[/quote]Then he should have gone for the $$$.
I just remember reading about when oprah gave away all of those pontiacs to her audience, some expert remarked that even if she decided to pay the taxes on the cars, the audience would have to pay the taxes on that. could be wrong.
[quote name=cwolf]Then he should have gone for the $$$.[/quote]I’d go for what’s inside the box.
[quote name=Mish]I’d go for what’s inside the box.[/quote]
[quote name=mb21]Is paying someone’s taxes a gift?[/quote]
Do you trust your wife?
[quote name=Jame Gumb]Do you trust your wife?[/quote]Only works in 40s era prisons in Maine.
[quote name=josh]Only works in 40s era prisons in Maine.[/quote]
While tarring rooftops.
http://christwire.org/2011/07/what-is-a-30-seconds-to-mars-2/
(dying laughing)
[quote name=Rice Cube]While tarring rooftops.[/quote]
With a bottle of suds.
Zihuatanejo.
[quote name=Jame Gumb]dislikes this.[/quote]
meh
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
I think Upception was my favorite mashup, but I haven’t seen a ton.
2:46-3:20 is major (dying laughing)
[quote name=Jame Gumb]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHX61Cs_k-M
2:46-3:20 is major (dying laughing)[/quote]
Beware the :90 mark or so.
Will Carroll:
Wait…. what?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/will_carroll/07/13/baseball-gms/index.html
(dying laughing). Maybe there’s a lot more to Kaplan than his shitty website would have suggested.
More Breaking Bad analysis, yo.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6763000/bad-decisions
Wait… what?
*crosses fingers* please be for Mike Trout!
[quote name=Aisle424]
Wait… what?[/quote]
I certainly hope the other prospect is a top 15 guy, if true. Scholl is a minor league relief pitcher
i think this hints we may not be “going for it” in 2012 like we tried after the 06 season. There isn’t going to be a single 3B available as good as Aramis is.
Sounds like the twitterverse thinks it’s a fake account. I’m not convinced yet. It just looks like the guy rarely tweets.
Ah, there’s another account for the same guy. Def a fake one
[quote name=Berselius]Sounds like the twitterverse thinks it’s a fake account. I’m not convinced yet. It just looks like the guy rarely tweets.[/quote]
Knew it was too good to be true.
Now the fake account is claiming that it is the right guy, he’s just been locked out of his regular twitter account. It looks like this other one was his initial one, since it linked to a bunch of his articles when created in January
If it is a fake account, well done setting up the long con by posting links to this guy’s articles back in Jan.
hmm…there is a link about the trade on the ocregister’s angels blog, but it 404s
http://angels.ocregister.com/
I hope the Mark Saxon thing turns out to be real if only because I want the people confidently declaring it to be a fraud to have to eat crow afterwards.
I think it’s odd, though, that he would have 2 accounts and tweet from his other account when his main one isn’t working, and only explain it later. You’d think he’d explain first why he isn’t using his main account.
OK, looks like it was a fraud.
http://twitter.com/#!/markasaxon/status/91263879493074944
[quote name=ACT]I hope the Mark Saxon thing turns out to be real if only because I want the people confidently declaring it to be a fraud to have to eat crow afterwards.[/quote]
(dying laughing), me too. I think the story that he was locked out of his regular account and had a backup is about as likely as someone making a fake account seven months ago to break a single fake trade rumor.
I knew the other account was fake for sure when he spammed mlbtr with a link to his own tweet
Jaime Garcia ———-> 4 year deal with STL
damned if it didn’t sound plausible, though. a midget minor league second baseman and a aa reliever.
[quote name=GW]damned if it didn’t sound plausible, though. a midget minor league second baseman and a aa reliever.[/quote]
If he really wanted to make it plausible, he should have said that the Cubs were planning on converting the 2b to be a reliever and the P to be a catcher (dying laughing)
[quote name=ACT]OK, looks like it was a fraud.
http://twitter.com/#!/markasaxon/status/91263879493074944/quote
Sorry, I’ll wait a while. Until his psychiatrist confirms that he’s not schizophrenic, at least.
[quote name=Berselius](dying laughing), me too. I think the story that he was locked out of his regular account and had a backup is about as likely as someone making a fake account seven months ago to break a single fake trade rumor.[/quote]I dunno, I waited like three weeks for the perfect opportunity to use my Rainman BCB account and get banned. (dying laughing)
(dying laughing) Multiple Rainman accounts, actually.
[quote name=GBTS]I dunno, I waited like three weeks for the perfect opportunity to use my Rainman BCB account and get banned. (dying laughing)[/quote]
I guess this is the wrong place to apply this logic (dying laughing).
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, Raysfags…
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/13/report-cardinals-covet-rays-right-hander-jeremy-hellickson/
I think Ramirez gets traded back to the Pirates.
[quote name=mb21]I think Ramirez gets traded back to the Pirates.[/quote]
me too
Along with Carlos Pena
In this hypothetical awesome trade, what do the Pirates send back for Pena and Garza?
[quote name=Rice Cube]In this hypothetical awesome trade, what do the Pirates send back for Pena and Garza?[/quote]I doubt the Cubs trade Garza. I’m thinking they send Pena and Ramirez and the Pirates are interested in both according to their announcers. I don’t have any idea what the Cubs would get.
They wouldn’t get much. Both players have a little surplus value, but not that much.
[quote name=mb21]I doubt the Cubs trade Garza. I’m thinking they send Pena and Ramirez and the Pirates are interested in both according to their announcers. I don’t have any idea what the Cubs would get.[/quote]
Sorry…meant Ramirez. Had some Latino dyslexia going there. It’d be kind of awesome if they somehow got NYY or the BoSox to take Garza though.
i just checked out Peoria’s roster, they might as well just show an animated tumbleweed on their homepage
though they do have a few semi interesting pitchers. Frank de valle is one and he’s making his debut tonight
Ummm…anyone in Chicago, PBS/WTTW is showing a thing on the Cubs… just threw it on…
Actually back into the 1870s, tying in Chicago history in with it. Might be worth a look.
jeffery antigua was really good tonight
Tho back to back interviews with Selig and Ricketts is hard to bear…hearing Santo though, is refreshing.
[quote name=Mish]Ummm…anyone in Chicago, PBS/WTTW is showing a thing on the Cubs… just threw it on…[/quote]
(dying laughing) I turned it over after seeing a clip of Tom Ricketts and people opining about how being a Cubs fan was “special.” Let me know if you like it, I might watch some other time.
This is pretty cool. Showing 1899 footage shot by Thomas Edison of the Chicago White Stockings? Win.
The special appears to be alternating between historical documentary and exorbitant fellatio of Cubdom, so it’s good and flawed. The historical shit is pretty good tho.
Ok this documentary is pretty good. It also has Umphrey’s McGee in it, and probably my fave song of theirs to boot.
New: http://www.obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/articles/a-tale-of-two-sluggers.html