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October 31 Permalink

Watched the CSI: Miami episode "Murder in a Flash". A flash mob appears at a golf course, says something, throws golf balls, then runs away. A body of a teenage boy in the sand trap. At the earliest, it's mid-morning. Why some of the dawn golfers hadn't already spotted the body, I don't know.

The participants in the flash mob were all at an exclusive prep school where most of the students were cheating and/or screwing their teachers. The daughter of the headmaster knew the victim was stealing tests and screwing his teacher, so she got him drunk and put too much date rape drug in his scotch. A friend of hers called the flash mob when he heard there was a dead body on the 18th hole.

In the B-plot, one of the students who refused to submit their palm pilot or cellphone had meth with blood on it from a recently missing medical student. The med student was a meth addict who had envelope she was supposed to sell, but her brother flushed it down the toilet. When she told her dealer, he killed her.

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Watched the modern Frankenstein. In New Orleans, there is a serial killer taking specific body parts. Frankenstein's original monster is around going by the name Deucalion. The doctor now calls himself Victor Helios and is a successful biotech magnate.

Parker Posey plays the unglamorous cop Carson O'Connor who finds the serial killer to be Harker, who is also a detective and a creation of the doctor. Helios has created many beings, including his own wife and a prominent parish priest. The wife was Riley Finn's wife on Buffy.

Helios wants to rule the world by replacing humans with his own creations. I've got a problem with this in that I still haven't seen a way to mass-produce humans other than his own handmade style. Whitlock's got a problem with how O'Connor and her pertner Sloane go into dangerous situations with no backup. She does think Deucalion and Helios are hot.

October 30 Permalink

Watched the CSI: NY episode "American Dreamers". A dressed skeleton appears on a city tourbus, put there by a guy working at the bus station. The rest of the skeleton is found in a place nearby where runaways might well stay.

Examination of the body reveals he died of blunt-force trauma sometime between 1984-1994. A couple from Minnesota arrive, believing the dead body may be their son, Aaron Moreland. Many of the effects found with the body belonged to Aaron, but the reconstruction of the face is not him. I don't know why they didn't conduct a DNA test between the parents and the skeleton.

The investigation appears to have reached a dead end when they track down a pawn shop slip. When the cops get to the shop, they find the watch was returned just the day before. The security camera tape reveals nothing about the guy who came in, but he left DNA ona guitar. It leads to Aaron Moreland himself, who has straightened himself out from addiction and is now working in a house serving runaways. He killed the victim during one of his heroin jags, but doesn't remember his name.

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Went on the Cold Case episode "Factory Girls". It's 1943 and a girl is learning to be Rosie the Riveter and she later turns up dead. Rush gets the case after being pointed to it by the great-niece of the victim who still keeps in touch with her great-aunt's friends.

There are several suspects. The owner of the factory was war profiteering and the victim knew. The owner's son had a crush on her. The secretary to the owner had a crush on the victim's husband. Then there's the husband himself. However, since the husband is played by Joseph Campanella, that's a dead giveaway he's probably responsible and he is.

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Maryland beating Florida State was a shock. The Terps have to beat two of Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake to be bowl eligible. I can see Wake, but beating even just one of the Virginias looks unlikely.

DC United beating the Metrostars was less of a surprise. To get a home game next week, New England will have to tie or beat Columbus.

From Brian Gunn, a marvelous observation:

I do not think the Cards lost because they didn't want it badly enough. I might buy the idea the team choked -- that they were too tense or panicky to play well. But if anything I think that's because they were pressing too hard. I'll never forget Albert Pujols at the end of the series, in the final inning. He singled leading off, then Rolen flew to right. After Kapler caught the ball, Pujols started to tear down the line, like he was might tag up. He was conceding nothing.

And then as the last out was made, Pujols was charging into third, ready to score if the throw got away from Mientkiewicz. As the Sox players poured onto the field two seconds later, Pujols made a wide left turn and walked very slowly through the celebration. I swear he was either (a) burning the scene in his memory, building motivation for those grueling off-season workouts; or (b) hoping, daring some Red Sox player to touch him so he could start the first post-Series brawl in history. When he came into the dugout, not more than fifteen feet from me, he took off his batting helmet and threw it as hard as he could against the wall. That guy wanted this Series. As bad as anybody. And the fact that he didn't says nothing about his character.

Watched the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Storm Front, Part 1". Archer is being transported by the Germans when he gets captured by the resistance fighters. On board the ship, the crew figures out their in an alternate universe World War II where th Nazis have reached North America and established a front along the Appalachians.

Archer finds himself in Brooklyn living with a beautiful African-American woman named Alicia. The alien Nazis promise to hand over super-weapons to the human Nazis if only those Germans would provide the supplies. Daniels turns up in Sick Bay and says that those aliens have come back in time and want to return forward to their own time using World War II technology.

Archer and the resistance kill one of the alien Nazis and use his communicator to get Archer and Alicia up to Enterprise. Silik the Suliban steals a shuttlecraft and when Tucker and Mayweather follow, they get captured, but not before they blow up the shuttlecraft. To be continued...did I ever tell you I hate the way this show uses time travel.

October 28 Permalink

I took my car in for regular maintenance. Since I've been fighting a fever for a week, I took the rest of the day off. I still had to help Whitlock bring Halloween supplies to school and pick up Miranda at the end of her day.

In some sense, we've lost some cultural reference points. The University of Maryland Academic Quiz Team has earned the moniker "Boston Red Sox of College Quizbowl" for several years of second place finishes in national championships. My distant victory in 1981 hangs over the team like 1918. As a matter of fact, three members of that 1981 team got back together in 2000 to play The Philadelphia Experiment as the 1918 Boston Red Sox. So unless Dan, Noah, Casey, et. al. surprise in the spring, we're caught without a shorthand term.

The only thing I can equate to Red Sox anguish is waiting for Washington to get a baseball team again. Granted that's 33 years, not 86 and as I've said, I won't believe it until the replica jerseys start selling. But that's been 33 years of waiting for the Great Pumpkin and letting Lucy pull the football away. It's not just 33 years of branding your team a loser or choker it's 33 years of myths directed not at the team, but at the city and the fans themselves. I count the new team as a continuation of the old, so here are the current World Series Championship and League Pennant droughts:

Team	Last World Series Win
Chicago Cubs	1908
Chicago White Sox	1917
Washington	1924
Cleveland Indians	1948
San Francisco Giants	1957 1
Houston Astros	1961 2
San Diego Padres	1968 2
Milwaukee Brewers	1969 3
Texas Rangers	1971 3
Seattle Mariners	1976 2
Pittsburgh Pirates	1979
Philadelphia Phillies	1980
St. Louis Cardinals	1982
Baltimore Orioles	1983
Detroit Tigers	1984
Kansas City Royals	1985
New York Mets	1986
Los Angeles Dodgers	1988
Oakland Athletics	1989
Cincinnati Reds	1990
Minnesota Twins	1991
Colorado Rockies	1992 2
Toronto Blue Jays	1993
Atlanta Braves	1996
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	1997 2
New York Yankees	2000
Arizona Diamondbacks	2001
Anaheim Angels	2002
Florida Marlins	2003
Boston Red Sox	2004

1-Last year before they moved. Haven't won the World Series in their new location.
2-Last year before their birth. Haven't won the World Series at all.
3-Last year before they moved. Haven't won the World Series at all.

Team	Last Pennant
Washington	1933
Chicago Cubs	1945
Chicago White Sox	1959
Houston Astros	1961 1
Texas Rangers	1971 2
Seattle Mariners	1976 1
Pittsburgh Pirates	1979
Milwaukee Brewers	1982
Baltimore Orioles	1983
Detroit Tigers	1984
Kansas City Royals	1985
Los Angeles Dodgers	1988
Oakland Athletics	1990
Cincinnati Reds	1990
Minnesota Twins	1991
Colorado Rockies	1992 1
Philadelphia Phillies	1993
Toronto Blue Jays	1993
Cleveland Indians	1997
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	1997 1
San Diego Padres	1998
Atlanta Braves	1999
New York Mets	2000
New York Yankees	2000
Arizona Diamondbacks	2001
San Francisco Giants	2002
Anaheim Angels	2002
Florida Marlins	2003
St. Louis Cardinals	2004
Boston Red Sox	2004

1-Last year before their birth. Haven't been to the World Series at all.
2-Last year before they moved. Haven't been to the World Series at all.

October 27 Permalink

The Red Sox either win tonight or have a horrible collapse in seven games. There is no middle ground that the Sawx win in 5, 6, or 7 games. I'm going with the victory since there's also the lunar eclipse.

October 26 Permalink

Ken Jennings stuff going around the net from Radosh:

Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings is robbed of $200 when Alex Trebek rejects his response to the clue, "This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker."

Jennings had said, "What is a ho?" The "right" answer: "What is a rake?"

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Started a brief course concerning Ebay. Looked a lot at Andy Looney's Ebay progress as a reference point during the class. It's at Montgomery College's Gaithersburg Business Center, the same building where we refinanced. The college has the entire fourth floor. Half the classrooms are enabled to teach computer classes, the other half are more conventional. The walls have wonderful old pictures and maps of Montgomery County. One of the photos is of an outing taken probably right at the location of the building.

October 25 Permalink

Sad story about Cecil Fielder. Didn't he learn anything from Pete Rose? Yeah, just don't bet on baseball.

The Washington Post has an article on Joe Grzenda. He was on the mound when the fans ran on the field before the last out at RFK on September 30, 1971. Joe's son Joe, Jr. has suggested that his Dad should throw out the first pitch next year. I think if MLB can manipulate a Presidential Opener out of it, that will likely happen. I would prefer Grzenda to be at an exhibition game at RFK before the season starts, a dry run to make sure all the logistics work. He should pitch to Horace Clarke for the last out and finish that game.

October 24 Permalink

Watched the CSI episode "Down the Drain". It starts with a body found in the sewers, heavily damaged by the force of a flood. It's a red herring because he's found to have been inner tubing down there. The case ends with Willows and Brown uncomfortably in each other's arms.

We move on to human bone parts found in the sewers. When large enough bones are found they find a teen-aged male victim. Grissom uses an fetal pig and Sanders' effluvia to determine that bodies decompose faster down there. What they thought was a two-year-old missing persons may involve someone gone as little as five weeks. The prime suspect is in a home where the father made explosives and the son was the neighborhood bully. The bones provide no DNA, but the likely victim's grandmother provides a tooth which links the victim to bloodstains in the house. The police charge the boy with murder, the mother as an accessory and the father on explosive charges.

October 23 Permalink

In today's sports day, Maryland lost a game that would have won the week's award for offensive ineptitude if not for Penn State and Iowa. The Red Sox won despite four errors. And finally, a team playing well, DC United won their first play-off game since winning the 1999 MLS Cup.

Risa and Sandy Stewart came over to see Ishtar, eat Chinese food and talk science fiction.

October 22 Permalink

Bill Conlin suggests that the slow hitters in the middle of the Phillies lineup may be responsible for some of their woes. Using the basic runs created formula, the Phillies created 854.5 runs and only scored 840 runs. This difference is worth about 1.5 games. So if the team had average speed, they would have finished 8.5 games behind the Braves instead of 10 games.

I don't see why Angelos would object to a home-and-home with Washington. It would give the Orioles six games with a lousy team instead of six games with Atlanta and Philadelphia.

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Went to the sock hop. Since it was so close to Halloween, several of the kids wore costumes. There was a brief presentation where the teachers and administrators demonstrated dance styles from the 1920s to today. Miranda had a sleepover with Yelena.

October 21 Permalink

Read this: Cognitive Terrorism: A LaRussa Tactic You Might Use. It has nothing to do with terrorism. Read it even if you are not a baseball fan. Jeff Angus is a great writer regardless of the subject matter.

October 20 Permalink

Steve Martin, ABC enroll teens for 'Scholar'. High school kids compete using their brains for college scholarships. What an original idea.

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Last night ESPN presented the greatest play-off extra-inning walk-off moments. No mention was made of the 1924 World Series because there's no video of it. From the Washington Post.

Walter Johnson was the talent of Roger Clemens, the All-American image of Cal Ripken, toiling for twenty years for the Montreal Expos. On one day's rest he enters the 9th inning with the game tied. The Big Train pitches 4 innings of shutout ball, allowing three hits, three walks (two of them intentional) and striking out five. In the bottom of the 12th, opposing catcher Hank Gowdy misses a foul pop by tripping over his mask, giving batter Muddy Ruel a reprieve to double to left. Johnson himself reaches on an error. Earl McNeely then hits the bouncer over third baseman Fred Lindstrom's head to drive Ruel home with the winning run.

Lots of drama, but no SportsCenter to immortalize it.

October 19 Permalink

I'm one of the last people to accuse Bud Selig of cleverness, but I wonder if the establishment of a regional cable network for Washington and Baltimore is a back-door way of consolidating local television revenue. After a few years of the Washington-Baltimore partnership, Bud encourages Milwaukee-Minnesota, or Cleveland-Cincinnati to form a partnership. Maybe a small market team's broadcast may not be worth much, but partnered with a slightly-better team and perhaps other sports, the package becomes more enticing. Once the country is covered with MLB-sponsored regional networks, they care consildated into a national network. Voila! You have the NFL's system where revenue can be shared equally.

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Finally watched the tape of Hustle. It was a lot more sympathetic to Rose, portraying him as a slick, lovable conman. Media people and ordinary fans have described him more as a bully. Tom Sizemore's accent is more New York than Pete's Cincinnati. Dash Mihok is a dead ringer for David Boreanaz as he plays Paul Janszen, the sidekick who brought Pete down. Mihok was terrific and stole the show in terms of acting. The Marge Schott actress was way too pretty and Peter Ueberroth looked more like Mickey Mantle.

October 18 Permalink

More DC baseball minutiae. Instead of Take Me Out to the Ballgame or Thank God I'm a Country Boy during the 7th Inning Stretch, how about Heart from Damn Yankees? There was a Lights, Camera, Baseball commercial with Dave Campbell and Brian McRae recreating the movie. It was a song written for a group of guys in Washington Senators uniforms. Instead of live guest singers like the Cubs, have touring Broadway companies or bands on tour sing for video in a studio that looks like a locker room. The performers have to wear baseball uniforms while singing it.

October 17 Permalink

On the way home from the convention we showed Miranda the "toilet bowl building" on the corner of Route 123 and Old Courthouse Road in Vienna.

The football team looked passable. If the offense doesn't turn the ball over, if the special teams don't allow return touchdowns, the team could still be 7-9 by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, in the other football, D.C. United extended its home unbeaten streak to 10 games. This is the most confident I've been about the black and red in five years. I'd like them to win a fourth MLS Cup, but it's more likely they'll lose to Columbus in the Division Championship. I'll just be happy to see San Jose lose so that DC will remain the most decorated team in the league.

October 16 Permalink

In the afternoon, we went to the Rainforest Cafe. In the evening, Miranda and Whitlock went to the pool. I went to a panel for Fast Forward. I asked some questions relevant to people who've spent some time working in public access.

October 15 Permalink

This is a good sign - there's actually a DC office for the baseball team. For Expos, Next Year Starts Now.

Mark Gauvreau Judge has an opinion. Baseball's Back. Now Let's Make It Better. If you recall, I gave a lukewarm review to Damn Senators, his book about his grandfather Joe Judge and the 1924 Senators.

When the Expos come to the District, we should play real baseball again by making it much more difficult to hit a home run. Instead of 350 feet for a homer, make it 500 feet. That would bring back the game of stand-up doubles, triples and inside-the-park homers. And fans might stay awake...

My grandfather was not a fan of the long ball. In 1959 he published a piece in Sports Illustrated headlined "Verdict Against the Hall of Fame." In it, he argued that the Hall of Fame was letting in players who didn't deserve to be there -- particularly sluggers...

So bring on the Expos, but first, push back those fences. Then, sit back and watch the stands fill up.

An expansive ballpark would be interesting just for the fact that all current stadia have some short porches somewhere. That sluggers are not real Hall of Famers is just remnant of the deadball era. The game hasn't been like that in over 80 years. Watching the stands fill up in a huge ballpark - I don't think so. All other things being equal, fans prefer the long ball. Why was Babe Ruth so popular after all?

On the other hand, there are peripheral benefits to a pitcher's park. Because the hitters can't do it alone, they have to drive each other in, the batters become a friendlier, more cohesive unit, rather than a collection of selfish individuals. Assuming you have the speedsters that can patrol a vast outfield, the pitchers' ERA looks better. The hurlers will pitch more innings at home and the staff can stabilize. It's easier to identify hitters and you use them to fill in the gaps. Of course, management has to understand with the park illusion that the batter are better than they look and the pitchers are worse than they look.

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Tonight we got to Capclave really late. The Tyson's Corner Marriott has a really nice laundry set-up where you only have to pay for the soap, 50 cents a pop. I played Civilization III Conquests. There is one scenario where you are a Pre-Columbian culture and feed artifacts to a trio of volcanoes. Also, one of the Incan units has a chance of enslaving enemy units. Those units can be brought back to the home cities and sacrificed for culture points. This isn't Mortal Combat, but it felt a little disturbing to know that these people were being ritually killed as I watched my cultural influence map grow.

October 14 Permalink

This a really bad sign: FEC May Regulate Web Political Activity. Where do they think we are? China?

And in honor of the 938th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, go to the Historic Tale Contruction Kit.

October 13 Permalink

Stupid idea to have both League Championship Series games this evening. One of them, I would guess the Astros-Cardinals, should have been played at 4:00 Eastern.

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Watched the Cold Case episode "The Badlands". Just one year ago, three people are found dead in the bathroom of a diner. They are husband and wife who owned the place and one of their workers. The wife, especially, was a bulwark of the community against the local hoods.

One immediately suspects Stick Simms, the gang-banger the wife dress-downed that fatal night. Another suspect is Joel, the unemployed buddy of the young victim who is now the local thug leader. Indigo, who played Rona in Buffy, has an abusive boyfriend who also looks suspicious. The culprit turns out to be the addicted brother of the young victim. The killer has since turned his life around and joined the National Guard.

Unlike shows like CSI: Miami where I find annoying logical flaws, this episode had a story flaw. The killer did not come organically from the clues dropped. There also lacked the Aristotelian catharsis. We don't feel satisfied by this solution, especially since someone who apparently has found the right path must go to prison.

Vera's reputation takes a beating from arresting the wrong guy for this murder. He also seems to be out picking up nurses. Meanwhile, we get a vague hint why Lilly went from active to cold cases. This was her last homicide.

October 12 Permalink

Maximum irony at the Ricky Williams Foundation. Emphasis mine.

The Ricky Williams Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All funding is provided through direct contributions from Ricky Williams, individual and corporate contributions, and special fund-raising events. The Ricky Williams Foundation is committed to the overall development of children with an emphasis on improving the quality of life for youth who are less fortunate or at-risk of dropping out of school. The Foundation encourages and rewards academic performance and overall wellness. It seeks to improve the self-esteem, character, and work ethic through various academic and athletic programs.

The new bedroom furniture for Miranda came in. The new full-size mattress won't come in until tomorrow so she's sleeping in the guest room tonight.

October 11 Permalink

Went to the Open House at Sally Ride. Bought Miranda a new full-sized mattress for her new furniture. Spent my giftcard at Borders.

Saw the first half of The Question of God. Simon Jones portrays C.S. Lewis. I associate him too much with his role as Arthur Dent.

October 10 Permalink

Helped out at Maryland High School Invitational Tournament. Seems like Blake won the tournament. Questions were at the right level. There were maybe five hose questions. One ridiculously hard question asked who was the bass player for Cream.

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Watched the CSI: NY episode "Creatures of the Night". A young woman arrives at a big museum benefit, battered and raped. She has no memory, but plants on her clothes leads to a crime scene. A nose ring found there leads to a suspect who only tried to rob her while she was apparently unconscious.

The rapist was either sterile or had a vasectomy so therefore left no DNA in his semen. Material used to clean statues leads to a cleaning crew, but they are all fertile. Stella looks again and tracks down a gardener who followed the statue cleaners. They finally nail him with tree sap that was on his clothes and on her panties.

In the B-plot, a drug dealer is found dead in an alley. The bullet that killed him is missing, taken away by a rat. He was killed by a buyer played by David Marciano, the original Ray Vecchio.

October 9 Permalink

Watched the CSI: Miami episode "Under the Influence". A very attractive but distressed woman is hit by a bus. Evidence says she was pushed. Suspicion lands on her boyfriend. Other people seem to be dying around him including a competitor for a promotion and the guy who used to own his condo. Said boyfriend has an ex under a restraining order, but he's really got her under control. The crazy girlfriend has been doing all his killing for him.

In the B-plot, Calleigh's father thinks he's run over somebody. Turns out the guy was already dead. No murder, but he ought to have his license taken away.

October 8 Permalink

A few playoff observations.

I would have taken Nathan out after the first walk. He was out of gas.

Joe Morgan referred to Yankee pitcher "Leiberman" and Yankee pitching coach "Todd" Stottlemyre. He later corrected himself on Mel, but not on Leiber. I guess that pitcher just had the Joe-mentum going for him.

I don't think the old Pedro Martinez is back. Are you impressed with 3 earned runs in 7 innings? He's just not a disaster, which may be enough to get the Red Sox by.

And here's a Ken Jennings clip.

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Watched the CSI: NY episode "Blink". A couple of women are found strangled, but redressed with no sign of sexual assault. A roll of film near one of the victims leads to where a third victim is held. A picture of a Russian girl blowing a kiss is triangulated with the Chrysler and Citicorp buildings. Her height is also used, but no mention is made that she was bending slightly.

The police break down the door of an apartment where a woman is kept in a coma while opera plays. Opera or Iron Butterfly - listening to either of these guarantees there's a serial killer around. The Jane Doe apparently can communicate with her eyes. When Gary Sinise as Mac Taylor shows her a picture of the landlord of the building where she was held, she has a seizure and becomes brain dead.

There is no DNA evidence at the scene. Strangely, even with the reaction to the landlord, that suspect is never followed up. The killer is a Russian immigrant. We find Mac's obsession with the case is traced back to his wife's death on 9/11. He can't get rid of a beach ball blown up with his breath. I had the same sort of feeling reading about a widower who fed his infant his dead wife's breast milk.

There's a semi-regular consultant named Dr. Leonard Giles. Does he have an English cousin named Rupert?

October 7 Permalink

Watched the CSI: Miami episode "Pro Per". A speedboat drive-by shoots a bayside party. The only death was the single mother of young boy.

We learn that the target was Dennis DeLebeque who believes the shooter was Byron Middlebrook, a former partner and now a rival in the business of running lavish parties. The writers give these characters the street facade so that you believe they're really drug dealers, but let's think about this. These guys host parties for cryin' out loud. You might as well have a street war between the Fab Five on Queer Eye. Most businessman fight their wars with accountants and lawyers. At the very extreme, they might use poison. Assault weapons are not in their arsenal.

Middlebrook is arrested and is released on bail. He knows how to game system. DeLebeque mouths off to Middlebrook in court and, Where the hell are the bailiffs? assaults him, landing Delebeque in jail on contempt. While there, Middlebrook has him killed. Through his court-appointed legal assistant, Middlebrook targets another witness, the son of the first victim, who is staying with Yelina. Here, Horatio forgot to put round-the-clock guards on the kid.

The boy survives and is supressed as a witness. Middlebrook is eventually arrested for killing his boat driver who he accidentally shot in the melee.

October 6 Permalink

Congratulations to Cecilia Tan, editor of fantastic erotic fiction and now winner of a baseball research award.

An interesting whatever happened to from Bijan Bayne.

From Matt Bruce:

Shame on anyone who supports this new team - even being local is no excuse (you already had the Orioles) for wasting your taxpayer dollars (and by extension, all of our taxpayer dollars, to the extent that the District gets federal assistance).

It's very easy to cast self-righteous cries of indignation when you live in a place with two contending baseball teams every year. The Orioles play in a stadium with an even larger public contribution percentage and an owner who has managed to destroy his franchise without any help from a team 40 miles down the road. I don't like the large amount of public money involved, but I've been waiting 33 years. I just want to see a game.

October 5 Permalink

The inferiority complex is all on the northern end of I-95, but when your proud, former rust belt juggernaut, is now advertising itself as Washington's latest and greatest suburb, the battle's already been lost.

Donald Schaefer has some weird idea that the Orioles and the city of Baltimore are one and the same. Sliding into Second. Nobody elected Angelos to anything. The lack of support for him reflects his destruction of the Orioles. Some more from the former governor of Baltimore:

With the move of the Expos to D.C., Baltimore will become like the oldest child in the family when a new baby arrives - ignored and discounted for a while....

During the long process of securing baseball in Washington, Baltimore's businesses and government leaders remained silent, or simply said Baltimore could handle it. They backed off from a fight - something I never agree with and don't practice. Most officials rolled over and accepted what they considered inevitable. Few stood up for Baltimore, its team and its residents.

So I take it Donald Schaefer believes it is the duty of every first-born to child to kill their siblings, or at the very least, advocate giving them up for adoption.

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Quizbowl has gone mainstream. A: Quiz Bowl. Q: What Do Top Game Show Players Prize? Thanks to James Dinan for the link.

October 4 Permalink

Now for my annual rational play-off schedule. Since there was no possibility for any AL playoffs games, they start on Monday. There is only one 10:00 game and no off day in going from New York to Minnesota.

             1:00       4:00      7:00      10:00    
Mon, Oct 4              Min @ NYY Bos @ Ana
Tue, Oct 5   LA  @ StL  Hou @ Atl Bos @ Ana
Wed, Oct 6   LA  @ StL  Hou @ Atl Min @ NYY         
Thu, Oct 7              Ana @ Bos NYY @ Min    
Fri, Oct 8   Ana @ Bos  Atl @ Hou NYY @ Min StL @ LA   
Sat, Oct 9              StL @ LA  Atl @ Hou 
Sun, Oct 10             Bos @ Ana Min @ NYY
Mon, Oct 11             LA  @ StL Hou @ Atl 
Tue, Oct 12                       ALCS
Wed, Oct 13             NLCS      ALCS
Thu, Oct 14                       NLCS
Fri, Oct 15                       ALCS
Sat, Oct 16             NLCS      ALCS
Sun, Oct 17             NLCS      ALCS
Mon, Oct 18                       NLCS
Tue, Oct 19                       ALCS
Wed, Oct 20             NLCS      ALCS
Thu, Oct 21                       NLCS

Miranda created a scavenger hunt for my presents. I sucked up some more leaves from the back yard. Indigenous Persons defense was good, but not much else. The Bengals whites look really bad. I think it's because of the colored sleeves.

October 2 Permalink

An immediate effect of the announced move of the Expos to Washington was that Comcast SportsNet showed highlights of the game against the Mets and SportsTalk980 led off the baseball scores with the Mets. And it was my birthday.

October 1 Permalink

A report on Channel 7 in Washington says that a stadium on the Anacostia Waterfront would displace the center of the gay adult entertainment community.

From Peter Gammons

Anyone who doesn't think the Orioles franchise won't be impacted by the Washington Lobbyists -- or whatever they'll be called -- doesn't understand that Edward Bennett Williams changed the market when he Washingtonized them.

Sure, Peter Angelos has devalued the Orioles by his unique form of muckraking. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's nowhere else to put the Expos. But Mike Flanagan's assertion that 30 percent of their revenues come from the D.C. area is right, which may or may not force them to hold off trying to sign a top starting pitcher or third baseman (to allow Melvin Mora to return to the outfield). Any loss of revenues is a serious issue when you're in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox. It's hard for anyone to play in their leagues; the Angels are expected to cut back $20 million from their $112 million payroll, and the Dodgers are expected to have some rollback, as well.

Current attendance is 33,975. Will attendance drop below 23,783 (a 30% drop)? That would put the Orioles in the bottom third of attendance and will confirm that Baltimore is a lousy baseball town and has been propped by Washingtonians all these years. As I have already noted, I think the attendance fall has already happened.

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My parents took us out to Agrodolce for dinner.