On Clutchiness

Every couple months, Sean (oldest friend, die-hard Yanks fan) and I argue about Derek Jeter.  I am informed by baseballprospectus.com and other baseball analysts. He watches more games than I do and has played team sports his whole life. Needless to say, we have different views on topics like clubhouse chemistry and clutch hitting. Along those lines, Alex Belth recently wrote:

A-Rod during regular season: .305/.390/.576
A-Rod during playoffs: .302/.409/.568

Same thing. Same player. Same guy.

(quoted from this Posnanski post)

I’d add:

Jeter during regular season: .317      .388      .459
Jeter during playoffs: .313      .383      .479

Frank Sinatra – Theme From New York, New York

“Start spreadin the news…”

Honestly, I was relieved as I was excited last night–apparently the scars from 2001 ran deep. (I don’t even count 2003–I was so ecstatic after Aaron Fucking Boone! that the Marlins couldn’t bring me down for long.)

Go Yanks! This is a team with the potential to compete for many years to come, though they have lots of tough decisions coming with what to do with the old men playing keys positions. Which reminds me, I should apologize to Derek Jeter: I love Jeter but I’m been a frequent critic of his defense–kudos to him for getting into great shape this season and posting another fine defensive season.

Coming soon to a theatre near you: the 2010’s

So we all thought that describing the current decade (after the ease of The Eighties and The Nineties) was tricky. Apparently we halfhearted settled on The Aughts. But what the hell are we going to do with the next decade? Wikipedia suggests “The Tens.” Maybe The Teens is an option?

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – Dreadful wind and rain

Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – Dreadful wind and rain

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Sage observation, on a day when I’m sad and angry all over again

Things happen and then they don’t happen.

New York a Fortress City? Future Seen on 9/12 Didn’t Happen – NYTimes.com

[HD] We Built This City – Starship [ 720p Up Scaling + HQ Audio ]

Finally listening to Amberland 2009. First set alternates Pgroove tunes and eighties covers, to hilarious effect. Mr. Transistor had multiple teases/verses of this one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this video before. It. is. FANTASTIC.

[HD] We Built This City – Starship [ 720p Up Scaling + HQ Audio ]

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Faith No More – Epic Music Video

Off the charts Unintentional Comedy. I remember some of this video but I had totally forgotten the CONSTANT lightning bolts.

Faith No More – Epic Music Video

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Op-Ed Columnist – Missing Richard Nixon – NYTimes.com

K-man, here are some reasons why I’m not as angry at Obama as you seem to think I should be. Krugman:

There was a lot of talk last year about how Barack Obama would be a “transformational” president — but true transformation, it turns out, requires a lot more than electing one telegenic leader. Actually turning this country around is going to take years of siege warfare against deeply entrenched interests, defending a deeply dysfunctional political system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/opinion/31krugman.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The Political Compass

I did the Progressive Quiz a while back, but here’s my result from a more inclusive test:

Economic Left/Right: -5.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.51

That’s how I would describe myself, mostly liberal with a chance of libertarianism. Good to know my picture of myself matches up with reality.

The South SHALL rise (cause it can’t fall much lower)

Every time I complain about living down here, H assures me that there are the same sort of people who drive me crazy everywhere. I offer proof that, yes there are assholes and morons everywhere, but there are undeniably more of them near us:

Hat tip to Krugman