Hustling Metropolis

Cooperstown

2006-09-06T11:58:00.000-05:00

I received an email from a friend asking about my trip to Cooperstown, as he is planning to go next year for Ripken's induction. After I had written him a novel in response, I figured this type of thing would be entirely appropriate for a blog entry. I've been on vacation, and now I'm back in school. Hopefully the The Hustle will be up and running more consistently from this point on.

Here is the email I received:

Hey Barry,

How's everything going .... busy with law school and married life I'm sure?

Looking for some help, or advice, about planning a trip to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame inductions next summer. I know you told me you to Puckett and Winfield's induction. We are going this summer for Ripken and Gwynn's induction, we've been planning this since the day Cal retired so we're excited. So I'm looking for some info to help with planning this trip ....... how did you get tickets to the ceremony, did you do a ticket package deal for everything (flight, hotel, etc.), did you become HOF members (like we saw that if you pay the annual membership fee it gets you tickets to the ceremony as well as other perks), did you fly /drive there, where did you stay, do we need a rental car to see different things and places, are there any special attractions you'd suggest we definitely see, how are the general admission seats on the grass or is is worth trying to get the vip chair seating that they offer for a higher price, how early do you have to get in line for general admission seats and is it possible that the general admission seating ever fills up to where they have to turn people away, do you suggest taking a shuttle / cab or is there decent parking for cars, is there enough to do and see to make it a 5 day vacation instead of a quick weekend vacation, do you and your wife want to babysit our girls to see if you're ready for your own kids .... just kidding, hmmmmm anything else you can think of that would be helpful at all please let us know.

I know you're busy so thanks a ton for any info you can help us with. Hope all is going well. Later.

Here is my response:

Everything is going well. Back at school for one more year. I’m ready to be done.

I’m delighted to help you in any way possible. Here are answers to some of your questions.

We drove out to Cooperstown. It was about 20-24 hours (from Northwestern), but we went through the U.P. and down through Michigan on the way there. We actually came back the same way, but we went through Canada and saw Niagra Falls (a convenient landmark worth stopping for if you decide to drive).

We got tickets from an old guy sitting on his porch. We happened to park next to his house. I’m assuming he was a HOF member. It was pure luck, otherwise we would have been in the general admission (which is free). The tickets get you quite a bit closer, and they also get you chairs, which was nice. General admission is huge. It’s all in a big field, and there is a hill towards the back, so you can see. There are also large TV monitors. I think the state of Minnesota was there when I was there, so I really doubt anyone would have to be turned away. It’s a big field.

We stayed at Glimmerglass State Park, just north of Cooperstown on Lake Ostego. (Cooperstown is on the south part of the lake—the “Finger Lakes” as they are called in Upstate NY are beautiful). It was an excellent campground, and it was cheap. Again, it was just dumb luck that we even got a site; it was the last one they had, otherwise we were sleeping in cars. I really think that camping was part of the great experience. The lake is beautiful and has a nice beach. My two buddies and I actually organized a huge waffle ball game with pretty much every kid at the campground.

We were there for several days. Each day, we just drove from the campground (8 miles) into Cooperstown. I’m not sure where we parked each day, but I’m guessing we just parked on one of the side streets. We did have to walk a long ways on the day of the ceremony, as parking close to the ceremony is not easy. As you walk, though, you’ll see numerous signs demanding that Don Mattingly be inducted (I tend to agree—he was a better baseball player than Derek Jeter, and Jeter is in for sure). As far as I remember, we went to the HOF one day. I’m pretty sure it is a full day activity. The rest of the time, we just walked around the city and checked out all the stores and museums (we told girls we were in a band called Burnt Quiche, but none of them would come back to the tent L). Catch a game at Doubleday Field. That is pretty cool. Also, there is a dinner the night before the Ceremony. ALL the HOFamers ride a trolly to the museum, and I think they get announced (not sure). We were able to watch that, so we got to see pretty much all the living HOFamers up close. I think we ate strombolis at Sal’s Pizzeria pretty much every meal. I wouldn’t recommend that, but I would recommend that you eat there once. It was good then, but I was 19. There is SOOO much baseball. The whole town is baseball. I don’t think you’ll get bored.

I think my two buddies and I were IN Cooperstown for 3 days (2 days of driving—we didn’t stop), for a total of a 5 day trip. I know we wished we could have stayed there longer. Cooperstown has tons of stuff to do, but the surrounding area is so beautiful and scenic that you may want to spend some time exploring, if you are into stuff like that. If you are dropping off the girls with us, then you and your wife should definitely spend at least 3-4 full days there. When I take Mrs. Metro there, we’ll probably go for 7 days, including driving time.

I’ll have to dig up some pictures from our trip. Below are some links you may find useful. I wish I could tell you more about travel and accommodations, but you two seem like the type who wouldn’t mind camping. I would recommend it, and I probably would think about reserving something fairly soon.

http://www.cooperstownchamber.org/
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=22

Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions. As you can see, I’m more than happy to talk about it. There is no question it was one of the best times of my life. I hope what is here is useful.

Take care. Hope to see you soon.

B. Metro

Wasting Time on the Internet II

2006-08-23T10:51:00.000-05:00

I decided to build on old entry, making Wasting Time on the Internet an occasional addition to Hustling Metropolis. Here’s the deal: I’ll peruse the net, then when I find something interesting, I’ll give it to you.

AL Contenders

This first is a piece written by Bill Simmons for espn.com. Bill Simmons is pretty funny, so I thought this article about AL contenders was well done. I’m not sure why it warrants being the lead link on my new segment, but here it is.

Bill Plaschke is still an idiot

This article from FJM is pure hilarity. A few weeks ago, I wrote in this space that Bill Plaschke was an idiot. Sure enough, he writes a beautiful piece of prose that http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/2006/08/best-ever.html) while listening to Lavelle E. Neal III on KFAN a few weeks ago. First, LEN3 may be the best baseball writer that I read. He’s a beat writer, so he is actually into analysis and not formulating astute, one-sentence paragraphs like Plaschke. Cool Standings shows you up to date percentages of teams chances of making the playoffs. Those percentages are “smart,” meaning they are adjusted for certain factors to increase accuracy. They don’t really mean anything, but it is neat to know that Twins currently have a 48.8% chance of making the playoffs—better than the White Sox (40%).

Cool Standings

I heard about this website (www.coolstandings.com) while listening to Lavelle E. Neal III on KFAN a few weeks ago. First, LEN3 may be the best baseball writer that I read. He’s a beat writer, so he is actually into analysis and not formulating astute, one-sentence paragraphs like Plaschke. Cool Standings shows you up to date percentages of teams chances of making the playoffs. Those percentages are “smart,” meaning they are adjusted for certain factors to increase accuracy. They don’t really mean anything, but it is neat to know that Twins currently have a 48.8% chance of making the playoffs—better than the White Sox (40%).

It's Boof's World...

This blog entry by Boof is a few weeks old, but it is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read on the internet. Be cautious: if this was HBO, it would be labeled as having AC (Adult Content). Of course, it is the adult content which makes it so funny.

Matt Garza: Start 2

2006-08-17T15:03:00.000-05:00

I’m going to throw together some notes that I think of as the game goes along, while also attempting to get some work done. Think I can do it? Eh.

First inning was rough, but Matty escaped any real damage. Struck out Sizemore to start the inning. He’s still having trouble getting his offspeed over, though he did throw a few nice changeups in fastball counts.

Second inning was more of the same. He left a curve way up, and it got hit hard up the middle.

Torii Hunter is obviously in pain; either that, or he has regressed as a defensive player incredibly quickly. Hector Luna’s ball to the gap fell at his feet in a Shannon Stewart-like play. Then, he failed to cut it off, leading to Garko scoring from first and Luna getting a triple. With Hunter, that used to be an out. Now, he turns it from a single to a triple. That was disappointing, and Garza really could have used it. If Hunter is hurt, then he shouldn’t play. Right now, he’s not an asset at the plate, and (dare I say it?) he may be a liability in the field. I never thought I’d say that.

How does someone like Paul Byrd get anyone out? More importantly, how does he only allow one hit in three innings? I hate when the Twins make thumbers like Byrd look like Walter Johnson.

Garza appears to have settled down in the 4th inning. He threw more offspeed pitches, including a nice slider to get Luna. He got ahead. He’s got 4 Ks in 4 innings, which is nice to see. He’s not a smoke-and-mirrors type pitcher; he can miss bats.

I write this knowing that Travis Hafner is coming up, but Garza did a great job against the first two hitters of this inning. He made Gutierrez looks stupid on two consecutive pitches, including a nasty slider down and in to him out. He walked Hafner, then he got ahead of Martinez with a perfect fastball on the black and a very nice curve. I’m assuming he is done now after 5 innings. His line will look like this: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K. He got 9 of the last 10 batters he faced. 5 Ks in 5 innings is very good. He now has 7 Ks in 7.2 innings, which means he has still been able to strike people out, despite the jump from AAA to the Majors.

The best part about Garza’s start is the way he settled down. I think the first few innings were just an extension of his first start; he was still nervous and hesitant to go away from his fastball. I can see how that would happen, as he never really got a chance to settle in on Friday. That he was still out of his element is no surprise.

Another positive note from Garza’s start is that he only gave up one extra base hit out of the 5 hits. And that triple should have been a single, or even an out, had Torii Hunter either (a) not been hurt, (b) cut the ball off, or (c) just caught the damn ball.

So far, Garza’s early appearances have been similar to Liriano’s starts last year. He, too, threw too many pitches and got beat by the long ball on occasion. However, Liriano came up later and was not pitching during a playoff push. I would imagine that Garza feels significantly more pressure than Liriano did last September.

I was pretty sure that Willie Eyre wouldn’t be on the team by this point in the season. He just hasn’t been very good. Now he’s pitching in what I would call a winnable and important situation for the Twins. The pen got used a little last night, but I’m still surprised that Eyre is pitching when the Twins still have a chance to win.

Eyre just struck out Andy Marte to pitch around JB’s error. Atta boy, Willie.

Can Paul Byrd break a pane of glass with that fastball? Seriously. This is embarrassing. Mauer has looked especially awful. He’s been sawed off by an ugly cutter twice. I could puke.

Once again the bullpen has been dominant. They’ve given us a chance to win, now we just need to find a way to get a few runs of Paul Effing Byrd.

Well, the Twins lost. I went to the bank because I couldn’t take it anymore.

Huge series against the Whities coming up, starting tomorrow. Go Twins.

The Vikings should probably give up already

2006-08-16T13:18:00.000-05:00

The last two days have been awful for our Minnesota Vikings. First, Chad Greenway was lost for the year with a torn ACL. In preseason. Covering a kickoff. Linebacker has not been—and currently is NOT—one of the Vikes stronger positions. That’s why they took Greenway. To know he won’t even play a down this year is more than disappointing. I guess we’ll have to rely on the usual suspects (Napoleon Harris, E.J. Henderson, Dontarrious Thomas… gross) to shore up the linebacking core. Greenway probably wasn’t going to be a hero in Year 1, but he sure would have been a welcome addition, and it would have been nice to see him develop and improve over the course of the season.

Then this morning, I open up http://www.startribune.com/, as I usually do, and see “Vikings Koren Robinson in Nicollet County jail.” Barry says, “You’ve gotta be effing kidding me.” Now, I really don’t know where Nicollet County is, but I know being in jail there can’t be good. It appears Robinson decided to get hammered and run from the cops in an attempt to beat his dorm curfew in Mankato. (Blame the curfew issue on Chilly?) That was a bad choice. Battling alcohol problems, Robinson’s choice to unscrew the cap or crack the can was a bad choice.

Obviously, Robinson’s circumstance is different from Greenway’s. One’s injury was part of the nature of the game. The other has continually harmed himself. The internal debate I feel is this: should we feel bad for Koren Robinson. Now, I’m a big “accountability” guy. When someone messes up, it is their fault, and they must pay the consequences. Robinson messed up. He should pay the consequences. Nonetheless, I feel bad for him. He’s done everything you’d expect from a guy with an alcohol problem. He went to rehab. He supposedly checked himself in again to make himself “bulletproof” earlier this summer. He admitted his problem, and he admitted to trying to deal with it. Despite any precautions he apparently took, he failed. He messed up again, big-time. Did he want to do it? Or was the urge too much? To me, the latter seems correct. He knew what was at stake and what he had to lose. He seemed to want to get back to being a great receiver in the NFL. He couldn’t stop himself from drinking. And that’s sad.

Sadly, these are things I’ve come to expect from the Purple and Gold. My dad always says before each season that this will be the season. This will be the season that he will stop caring. He will enjoy his Sunday afternoons, rather than spending it on the couch watching a team that has let him down every year since… since, well, he started watching the Vikings, I’m assuming as a kid some time in the Sixties. He won’t have his Sunday ruined when the Vikings lose. He will stop caring (I know how he feels; I have the same problem with the Gophers, Twins, and, to a very slightly lesser extent, the Vikings). However, there is one problem. He can’t. I can’t. We can’t stop caring. Despite recent events, like fools we hold out hope the Chilly will turn it around. I have more faith in him than if these same events occurred under Ticey. Time will tell, I guess. Such is life as a Vikings fan.

Weekend Update: Paavo Nurmi

2006-08-15T09:19:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Metro and I spent the weekend in lovely Hurley, Wisconsin. We teamed up to run the Paavo Nurmi Marathon, relay edition. The beautiful Mrs. Metropolis ran the first half-marathon. I gimped along for the remaining 13.1 miles.

Actually, Hurley is not all that lovely. Nothing against anyone who lives in Hurley--I know a guy from there--but Hurley must be what southern Mississippi looks like. The drive there kindof prepares you for what to expect, however. You start in Superior. Now, Superior is no gem per se. I (affectionately) refer to Superior as the "armpit of Wisconsin," based on its geographic location. However, Superior is Edina compared to Hurley.

As you travel along U.S. Highway 2, things begin to look a little poorer. The yards become a little more unkempt. The number of burned-out vehicles increases. Blink and you'll miss Poplar. Same with Maple and Brule. Iron River looks a little more Hurley-esque. Then you go through Ashland (mini-Superior) and the Indian reservation. Once you get to the Hurley, you've traveled through enough poverty and rural sprawl that you'd think you'd be mentally prepared. You'd think... Hurley has alot of strip bars. Alot. It even has a bar that offers "cage dancers." Really. It has alot of cheap motels. They don't offer an hourly rate, but I'm sure you could get one. Not a single business manages to maintain an inviting exterior. Hurley is truly a unique experience. It has to be a direct result of its extreme closeness to Ironwood, Michigan and the Upper Penninsula. Man, I hate Yoopers.

Despite the strange, "Twilight Zone" feeling you get from Hurley, the Paavo Nurmi Marathon is really a great race. It is small, unlike other well-known marathons like Twin Citites or Grandma's. It usually only attracts the most dedicated runners, as it is in August (no, it does not snow in Northern Wisconsin in August) and is a difficult course. I had ran the whole thing a few years back. I was very happy to only be on the hook for only half.

Mrs. Metro ran a nice race. I didn't do too bad either. We both knew we weren't in outstanding shape. I was tired after about 4 miles and wanted to quit. In fact, I can't remember the last road race I've ran where I didn't considering just giving up.

Some notes from the trip/marathon:

McDonalds is incredibly good to eat after you've exerted alot of energy.

I saw a guy running in a speedo, with a cigarette in his mouth, and a beer in his hand. It is not something to which one man should subject another man. Or woman. Not so much the beer. He looked tired. I think he was part of the 5 mile relay. One could only imagine the chaffing that could result from that attired if he was running the whole marathon. At least he didn't have to worry about bloody nipples.

Paavo Nurmi is nice because there are fewer people to tell you "you're almost there!" when you have 3 miles left to run. For those of you who have run marathons, three miles to go is not "almost there."

I wanted to watch Friday's Twins game, so I went down to the Hotel Bar to see if they got FSN North there. The following conversation took place:

Barry: Do you get Fox Sports Net here?

Madame Bartender: Huh... what?

Barry: Fox Sports Net?

Bartender: What do you want to watch?

Barry: Do you get the Twins games here?

Bartender: The who? What channel?

Barry: Fox Sports Net?

Bartender: You mean Fox?

Barry: No, it's actually Fox Sports Net.

Bartender: Fox?

Local Townie (5:00 Friday paycheck spender): Yeah, I think we get that channel. It's an actual diff'ernt channel than just Fox. I think it's in the sixties. Look for, uh, FSC, er something.

I'm not sure if they even knew what baseball was in Hurley. They certainly had never watched Fox Sports Net. I get the feeling that people from Hurley don't get out too much.

Oh, by the way, they had FSN, but not Twins FSN--rather Detroit FSN. I missed Garza's crappy start. No big loss there.

30... Finally!

2006-08-09T21:52:00.000-05:00

I was watching the game tonight. My wife was doing her homework (summer class). It was the top of the 8th. Mauer drew a walk. Cuddy struck out. Then Morneau hit a 101 MPH fastball out of the park. I screamed like a little girl. I scared the holy crap out of my wife. Justin Morneau had done a lot of important things with one tremendous swing. He gave the Twins the lead in a huge rubber matchup with the Tigers. He got Johan off the hook for the loss (after he had pitched a tremendous game marred by one bad pitch to Brandon Inge... ugh). He drove in his 100th and 101st runs of the season. And he hit his 30th homer.

I will be very happy if I never have to hear about the Twins amazing ineptitude ever again. To make matters worse, Dick Bremer mentioned that some "very good hitters" had played for the Twins and failed to reach 30 homers. He mentioned Kirby Puckett... sure, great hitter, but not a power hitter. Then it got worse. Chilli Davis. He played one season with the Twins. He was a decent power hitter, but nothing special. Then it got bad. Marty Cordova? Seriously Dick? That is as much as you can come up with? Marty Cordova? This is pathetic. I guess it's not really Bremer's fault for the Twins abject failure to develop a power hitter, but to cite Cordova as even a very good hitter is frigging embarrassing.

So it was a great night. We took 2 of 3 from the Tigers on the road. I made it home from work despite every piece of heavy machinery being trailored down I-35. Matt Garza is starting Friday. I'm pumped.

Twins Thoughts

2006-08-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

Tonights victory was great. I didn't watch it (baseball practice), but it was nice to see Radke come through with a huge start like he does so often. I'll never forget him shutting down the Sox in September 2003 when it looked like the Twins were on the verge of collapse.

Nick Punto is playing awesome. He had two more doubles. The question has came up regarding his future at third base. Optimally, you'd like to get significantly more power out of that position. However, if he can continue to get on base at a clip near .400, I think he's valuable. That way, he'll put up an OPS of around .800, which is acceptable, especially in combination with his great defense. I don't think Lil Poon has a long future here. Depending on the health of Luis Castillo and the development of Alexi Casilla, he could be a great fit at 2B for a couple of years. Of course, that depends on whether the Twins can acquire/develop a third baseman. I don't have alot of confidence in Matt Moses at the moment. In addition, as a small/mid-market team, you don't pay money to guys like Poony when they are easily replaceable by younger, cheaper talent.

In April in this space, I complained about the quality of at bat the Twins were taking. It was dreadful. In April, the team OBP was .311, bad enough for 13th in the AL. That is a terrible number. In May, it was .342, a marked improvement. In June, .360, good enough for 3rd in the AL (behind only Boston and Toronto--two teams with a Sabermetric bent). Since the All-Star Break, the Minnesota Twins LEAD THE LEAGUE in OBP, at .387. That is an astounding number. Joe Vavra has to be given some credit for this incredible improvement. The quality of at bat has improved, from batters one through nine. Taking two out-making machines like Juan Castro and Tony Batista out of the lineup (and exchanging them for Bartlett and Punto, who both get on more than 40% of the time) is automatically going to help, but the impact Vavra has had on Morneau, Cuddyer, and Punto seems obvious. There is only one remaining "hacker" in the lineup: Torii Hunter, who upon learning of Vavra's hiring in the offseason said there was nothing Vavra could teach him. Hmm. The consistent improvement in offense leads me to believe that whatever Vavra is doing is working as people understand it and grasp it. And the Twins really need to get on base at a high clip because they have a distinct lack of power. By the way, Joe Vavra was the coach at UW-Stout when I was playing for UW-River Falls back in 2002.

Tomorrow's rubber match is huge. Here's to hoping that Johan finds himself because without Liriano, we need him more than ever.

Oh, and Matt Garza is coming up!! I can't believe I'm going to miss his first start.

Baseball Practice, Tuesday Nights at Ted Whereatt

2006-08-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

I just got married a few months ago, but my job requires that I work roughly 150 miles from my June bride. It's not easy, but my brother lets me live with him a few nights a week. It works out well because we can do brotherly things like eat steak and watch the Twins. My wife likes the Twins but not steak. She also makes me use eating utinsels. My brother doesn't mind if we each gnaw on one end of a t-bone.

The best thing we do is have baseball practice. I picked up the game again after four years off, so I need as much work as possible. Every Tuesday night around 6:00 we head for Ted Whereatt Field, the University of Wisconsin-Superior's (crappy) baseball field. Now, you may be asking, "Two dudes for baseball practice? How can you practice with two people?" Answer: you can. And it's fun.

Our practice routine is very typical. I throw in a pinch of Skoal because I wanna be a baseball player (sorry Mom). Then we throw for 20 minutes. My arm is usually too sore from pitching on Sundays to really stretch it out and get a good long toss.

Then we take grounders. I was a catcher/pitcher in high school and a catcher in college. I'm tired of catching, so I've really been trying to make myself into a decent infielder. I've taken a ton of grounders this summer, and I'm getting a little better. We could really use a third person so we could make throws across the diamond.

Then we take some BP. I bought a maple bat on Ebay about two months ago. It still hasn't arrived, and I'm pretty pissed about that. The season is obviously almost over. So we end up using a very old, cracked Easton Reflex C-Core. Not only is it cracked, but it is certainly not up to BESR Certification, with its 2 3/4" barrel and -5 oz. drop. It's also a 32", which is a bit short for my tastes. We could also use a few more balls for BP. My brother is known for his erratic arm, so of our eight balls, I usually only get four pitches to hit.

So baseball can be played with two people, and you can have a legitimate practice. It all supports my theory that baseball is really fun.

Doom and Gloom

2006-08-08T00:11:00.000-05:00

The Twins lost to the Tigers tonight. They lost badly. Unfortunately, that's not the worst part. It's not even close to the worst part.

Liriano was getting knocked around from the start, and that really pissed me off. Teams shouldn't get hits off of Liriano, much less four runs in four innings. Again, this poor pitching performance is not the bad part. It gets much, much worse.

Fran's elbow hurt. His effing left elbow--the one that is (was?) going to dominate the league for years to come--hurts. He knows something is messed up, evidenced by his post-game interview. This is really bad news. Let's just hope it is something minor. And if it is not minor, lets hope he isn't the next Mark Prior.

If these Twins make the playoffs with all these odds stacked against them, it will be truly remarkable. Go Twins, anyways, I guess.

Why do sportswriters hate Moneyball?

2006-08-03T21:36:00.000-05:00

I was reading today (note: this is very old news) that Bill Plaschke, sportswriter for the LA Times, was attempting from Day 1 to run Dodgers GM Paul Depodesta, Moneyball guru and Billy Beane's right hand man, out of LA. Depodesta was fired after one year as GM. It was a bad year, but COME ON?! One year?

Plaschke is an idiot. He regularly makes a fool of himself on ESPN's Around the Horn (BTW, has ESPN set out to assemble the largest collection of loudmouth, clueless analysists and sportswriters in the history of the world? Even if they haven't set out to do so, they've undoubtedly succeeded). Over at Fire Joe Morgan, Plaschke was ripped for giving man-love to Ned Colletti, the Dodgers current GM. The things Plaschke said about Depodesta when he was hired were not only immature and unfunny, they were also incorrect. I urge you to read this article from Aaron Gleeman that really sums up Plaschke's ignorance and arrogance.

Okay, now I can get to my point. Why do people hate Moneyball? Granted, Sabermetrics and Moneyball have many, many supporters, including a growing number of franchises. For example, the A's (Beane), Blue Jays (J.P. Ricciardi), Red Sox (Epstein and Bill James as special assistant), and the Padres (Depodesta as a special player exec) all immediately come to mind. Nevertheless, lots of people hate the idea that baseball could be thought of in a different way. They hate the fact that there might be some better way to do something.

I can understand why some executives hate it. They have a way of doing things that could be in jeopardy if Moneyball "works." I can understand why scouts hate it. It makes their jobs that much less important. But why sportswriters? Ironically, their first criticism of someone like Epstein or Depodesta is that they are "computer geeks," Harvard educated with no knowledge of the game. What these sportswriters fail to note when they claim a superior understanding of the game is that most of them probably couldn't make a D-league softball team.

I guess my rant is over. My only advice is to be careful of what any mainstream columnists has to tell you. They--more often than not actually--are clueless. The same can actually be said for many of the mainstream baseball analysts (cough, Tim McCarver). Now, if they refuse to read the book Moneyball, then they are in a league all by themselves. Read that article. It pretty much sums this rant up.

Game notes:
Jason Tyner still hasn't hit a home run. That would be 912 career at bats. But if he hits a home run in his next at bat, he will be averaging 1 home run every 913 at bats. Steve Phillips, former Mets GM and resident idiot on ESPN, selected Tyner in the 1st round of the draft several years ago. Picks like that make one a former GM.

Jason Bartlett is better than Juan Castro. Alot better. Sometime I will show you just how much better. For now, just take my word.

I call Nick Punto "Poony" or "Lil' Poon." It sounds cute. And Poony is just a little guy. I also owe Lil Poon an apology for calling him Nick "Effing" Punto for the past year. I'm sorry Nick. I don't hate your guts anymore.

I can't believe the Twins won without Ron Gardenhire on the bench. (sarcasm) Get well soon, Ron! The Twins pulled off an 8-2 victory over a pathetic, bumbling Royals team. Back to a two-game deficit in the Wild Card race.

I just wondered what Ron Coomer did in the minors. Thanks to The Baseball Cube, might thirst for baseball knowledge has been quenched. (See yesterday's entry)

Wasting Time on the Internet

2006-08-02T10:29:00.000-05:00

I spend alot of time in front of the computer. Too much time, I guess, because I have found there are several times a day that I just stare off into cyberspace. In order to feed my addiction, I peruse several websites at various points during my day.

For example:
While shuffling through papers and staring blankly at hundreds of KeyCites on Westlaw, I wonder to myself, "I wonder what Don Mattingly hit in AA?" Thanks to www.thebaseballcube.com, I can immediately find out that Donny Baseball hit .316/.391/.433 at AA Nashville in 1981. Relieved that I now have this knowledge, I can get back to work--at least until I want to know if Scott Baker's peripheral statistics indicate that he will one day be a successful major league pitcher; that day was not yesterday.

At some point every day, I have to check www.firejoemorgan.blogspot.com to see what kind of rediculous crap various baseball analysts have spouted off recently. Whether it is the utterly stupid fatness of John Kruk or the mind-numbing moron Steve Phillips--or even an ESPN chat session with the Moneyball-hating guru of baseball ignorance Joe Morgan--I find this site to be the funniest thing on the internet. Of course, you have to kind of be a huge nerd and know--at a minimum-- what OPS and WHIP are to find it funny. I do know what those mean; accordingly, I laugh my ass off. In today's entry, some Chicago writer obsessed with Caesar Izturis raved about trading Maddux to the Dodgers for Izturis. What is funny about this article--as pointed out by Junior--is that Izturis sucks. Ha ha. Ha. Okay, I'm sure I am of the select few who find this really funny. I'll move on.

I go to www.espn.com. If I had the Insider package, I may not ever finish any work. Heck, I may not ever start anything. Of course, that is only because EVERYTHING on espn.com is an "Insider" article now. It's absolutely rediculous.

The key to internet usage is to keep only 5 windows in Microsoft open at one time. If I get more than 5, then Windows XP combines all similar windows (Explorer or MS Word) into one column. I hate that. Since I always have MS Outlook running, that leaves me 4 windows. Sometimes I have a MS Word document going, which leaves me only 3 windows available for browsing. If I have to open an Outlook Task or an Adobe Reader document, I'm screwed. I'm sure lots of people deal with such problems.... er... wait...

Man, I'm a loser.

Terry Ryan in Mondale Hall

2006-04-18T15:45:00.000-05:00

Terry Ryan is pretty much my baseball hero. What he does on a very limited budget is nothing short of amazing. I was very surprised when I (VP Metropolis) was told by our president that TR was coming in. “How the heck did you get a hold of him?” I asked. “Yo check it, I called him up in Florida, dude. Got his cell phone number,” Prez replied. Prez wouldn’t divulge much more into his contacts. He locked up some fairly important and busy people from the legal and sports communities this semester, and he has yet to tell me how he did it. Either way, I was grateful.

TR arrived early. We were in the lobby waiting for him, when Prez noticed him sitting on a bench reading the Minnesota Daily. He was at least 15 minutes early, which doesn’t surprise me. He seems like that type of guy—if you’re not early, then you’re late.

We walked him down to the room where he would present, so we got to talk a little on the way. He asked where we were from and if we played sports. When I told him I played baseball at UW-River Falls, he asked who my coach was. He seemed to know them both. I am sure he is familiar with WIAC baseball, first because he’s from Wisconsin (Janesville) and second because hitting coach Joe Vavra coached at UW-Stout.

We got to talking about the baseball draft, and he mentioned how hard (and expensive) it is to take someone in the draft and develop him into a major league player. I said that he must be happy even when a first-rounder only becomes a contributor to the Big Club. He responded, “No way. I would consider that a failure. If you don’t develop a first rounder into an impact player, you’ve failed. I took David McCarty with the third pick. Would you consider that a failure?” I agreed. It’s good to see that he has higher expectations than I do when dealing with high school players. Is there still hope for Cuddyer? I didn’t want to ask.

I introduced him to our group of about 65 law students, sharing some of his many career accolades. The first thing he did after the applause was say—like he often says in the media—that his success is only the result of all the great people that work for him. He really understands how an organization should work and how important your minor league managers and scouts are.

After briefly introducing himself, he talked about the offseason additions, including the need to improve both the offense and defense. “Tell me Rondell White’s a stiff,” he said, and the group laughed. Like everyone, he hopes he will hit, but to this point, his at bats have been “terrible,” according to TR. Will he move down in the order? Ryan said he doesn’t make any lineup decisions; those are all up to the manager. Gardy, he said, knows his guys, and is “the right guy at the right time” (something I’ve questioned on this blog and in other places before).

He discussed the beginning of the season, along with the strength of the AL Central. He thought they were prepared when they broke Spring Training. They weren’t. He knows the AL Central is much improved, with the exception of the Royals, who are “spending good money after bad” (Mientkiewicz, Mays, etc.). Unlike past years, the division is “not a pushover.” I think that is understating it a little, which might be the only time in his hour-long presentation that he understated anything. The guy is nothing if he’s not brutally honest. I heard it from more than one student afterwards.

Mr. Ryan got into his past a little bit. He was clearly disappointed with his baseball playing career. He admitted he wasted too much time “drinking, chasing, and carousing” and did not spend enough time focusing on the game. When he was forced out of the game, he was “devastated.” He went to Madison to get a college degree, where he again admitted to wasting time. After seven years, he received his undergraduate in physical education. By then, he had matured, and unlike his baseball career, he tried very hard and put lots of effort into being a teacher. However, it just “didn’t work out.”

Unbeknownst to me, TR got back into baseball as a scout for the Mets. It was there where he learned how young players should NOT develop. He saw what can happen to young, talented players without guidance. He mentioned names like Strawberry, Gooden, Dykstra, and Kevin Mitchell, three of whom have been to jail or are in jail, and one who is a known steroid abuser. It clearly disturbed him.

“Liriano cannot be another Gooden,” TR said, obviously concerned. He saw what can happen with young kids, and he made it clear that he was not taking Francisco Liriano’s DUI arrest lightly. Liriano told TR that he doesn’t have a drinking problem; TR said he didn’t believe him and is taking precautions. Another incident and Liriano will be suspended without pay. “I will lower the boom,” said TR. He won’t let it go; he knows from personal experience what can happen. He also said that the drunk driving incident has had an effect on Liriano’s entrance into the rotation. He refuses to let Liriano turn into Gooden.

TR also told me privately that Liriano isn’t ready to start. “There is a big difference between one inning and nine innings,” he said, saying that guys won’t bite on pitches out of the zone after the first time through the order.

Mr. Ryan then moved on to talk about arbitration and negotiation. He’s sick of getting beat by Kyle Lohse in arbitration. “It pisses me off,” he said. He thinks players should be held accountable for poor seasons through their salary (see Lohse) and that the arbitration process doesn’t always facilitate that.

In negotiating contracts, they use a grading scale, numbered two through eight. Threes are utility players, fives are everyday players, and eights are superstars. An “eight” is a 10 million dollar player, as a starting point. Johan Santana is an eight. Rondell White is a five—and that is what they paid for him. White wasn’t a big name, but according to TR, “Big names sell tickets, but they don’t necessarily win games.” So far, even he would admit that Rondell White has done neither.

He didn’t say where he ranks Torii Hunter on his grading scale, but later on, he insinuated that Torii may not be back next year, citing a statistic that no team has won a World Series where one player made more than 16% of the total payroll. Torii’s $12 million would be almost 20 percent of the payroll. Lucky for us, this year, Torii is only making 15.8% of the payroll. Phew.

He touched on several other baseball/legal issues. Rincon’s suspension was very disappointing. Dealing with 185 minor leaguers between the ages of 18 and 25 brings its own legal problems. Also, the minor league umps are on strike, and he finds something very flawed with our system when minor league umps make $1,200 a month and Jeff Bagwell makes $80,000 a day to pinch hit.

Mr. Ryan then opened it up for questions:

Why Sierra?: “We need a pinch hitter, someone who’s gonna put a fear into the opposing manager. Who’s gonna put a fear in the opposing manager? Nick Punto!?” TR exclaimed. The group laughed. I laughed extra hard, as my hatred for Nick Effing Punto is pretty well known.
On drafting: the organization hopes to sign 25-30 guys. They look at character issues and teammate issues. Scouts visit kids in their homes. They also consider signability and the players agent (i.e. not Scott Boras).

Mauer vs. Prior vs. Texiera: “Who’s still saying we should’ve taken Prior now?” he said. He admitted he labored over the decision. He also admits that as of today, the best pick would have been Texiera in terms of pure production, but he has to think about things economically. Tex is making $7 million this year, while the King of Chops is making only $400,000. Some players (or their agents) tell them flat out that they won’t play for the Twins because of money issues.

Old Twins vs. New Twins: Mauer, Morneau, and Kubel are more prepared then Hunter, Jones, Mientkiewicz, etc. were when they came up. That is why he is less concerned with our new young players developing in the limelight and pressure of pennant races.

Moneyball: Billy Beane is a great GM. “He’s smarter than some people give him credit for,” indicating that there is more to Billy Beane than just statistics. “Everyone uses statistics,” TR said, but the key is using your scouts plus your stats.

Terry Ryan was engaging, honest, and funny. I was very glad and very appreciative to meet him. I’ve always trusted his judgment, even when I rip some of the moves he makes. I’ll be the first to admit that he has forgotten twice as much about baseball as I know. He knows what he’s doing, and I think eventually he’ll take the Twins to the top. Now Mr. Ryan, about that Assistant GM job that just opened up…

Gopher Scrimmage

2006-04-15T18:57:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of air horns. For me, that can only mean one thing: the Gophs are practicing. I headed over to check it out, as I knew they were having one of their "Gopher Scrimmages" this morning. They have a few Gopher Scrimmages over the course of Spring Ball prior to the Spring Game next weekend.

Alot of guys were missing. Of course Maroney is gone, as is Russell. Also, Amir Pinnix, next year's projected starter, in injured and was out of action, as was Jay Thomas, who is recovering from a torn ACL. Brylee Callendar, junior college transfer and formerly the state's number one high school recruit out of Lakeville, was taking reps with the first team, and I really had no clue who was repping with the twos. All I know is that he was white, and he looked like he weighed about 147 pounds. I was concerned for his health (and maybe his life) every time they handed him the ball.

The highlight of the morning was probably seeing Grandpa Sports himself, Sid Hartman. First, he was carrying around some recording device that he's probably had since WWII. It is pretty hilarious, considering it was clearly not easy to lug the huge thing around. Also, the current technology probably makes something that not only records much more easily and clearly, but also is the size of my pinky nail. Way to go, Sid. I bet he got it from his close personal friend Alexander Graham Bell.

Oh, and later that day I saw Laurence Moroney by the barber shop near the corner of Washington and Oak while I was running. He looked ghetto fabulous, having acquired a new set of gold front teeth. Stay classy, LoMo.

Twins Note
I really hope Juan Castro and Tony Batista prove me wrong.

Weathering the early season storm

2006-04-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

Generally I get waaay too wrapped up in every Twins game. Actually, I think it started last year when the Twins had alot of expectations placed on them by several baseball pundits who picked them to win the World Series. I bought the hype, and as a result I spent most of last year getting pissed off after every loss.

This year I'm trying a different approach. This season I'm attempt a more rational approach. After all, there are 162 regular season games, so I probably shouldn't let the Twins success dictate my mood. This year I'm trying a more analytical approach. I will try to draw the positives out of the game rather than focusing on the wins or losses. The beginning of the season really tested my ability to stick to my new approach. The Cleveland series was terrible, but I was very happy to see Morneau hit two home runs in the second game. Even better, the home runs were on decent off-speed pitches. The Oakland series was great, but I managed to temper my optimism after the three game sweep.

I am watching the Twins-Yankees Friday night game as I type this. So far Baker has looked good. He must have good stuff. Two factors give me that indication. First, he has been up in the zone for most of the game and has gotten behind, yet he really hasn't been hit that hard. Second, he's facing the effing Yankees, whose lineup is ridiculous. I am very optimistic about his future. He doesn't have as high a ceiling as Liriano (aside from Felix Hernandez--who is absolutely filthy--I don't think anyone does), but he looks like he could be a very good number two starter. Eventually, I think he'll be better than Brad Radke or Carlos Silva. Maybe someone like Freddy Garcia is a good comparison, as Garcia is a very good pitcher but not quite dominant, in my not-so-humble opinion.
Tony Batista has had some big hits so far this year, namely the three-run homer agains the A's. I hope he continues to hit at this pace. If he does, he would actually be an asset to the squad. Unfortunately, I can't see anything better than a .300 OBP from ol' T-Bat. That might be okay if he hits 35 home runs, but that ain't happenin' either. Combine his problems at the plate with his TERRIBLE range, and you can consider me a skeptic.
Juan Castro has also been very surprising thus far. He's hitting well over .300 at this point. He's been solid in the field of course, though I will say he hasn't been quite as good as the Twins broadcast team and some fans may indicate. While Batista may have a decent offensive season, I would be willing to bet pretty much anything that Castro will NOT have a good offensive season.

So Far, No Good

2006-04-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

The Twins put the finishing touches on a sweep. However, they were on the wrong end, as Cleveland completely dominated them in all aspects of the game. To lose three games to Cleveland and four in a row is disappointing. To lose like they did leaves fans like me with a knot in their stomach, all too much reminded of the abomination that was 2005.

Pretty much everything as gone horribly. Some of it is slightly unexpected. Rondell White has been horrible. Joe Mauer is searching for big hits. Johan Santana labored and failed to get through the sixth inning. Some problems are very unsurprising. Torii Hunter is rolling grounders to the shortstop. Tony Batista is terrible. Gardy is putting Nick Effing Punto and Juan Castro in the same lineup. Gardy is leaving Lohse in the game too long and taking Johan out too early. All of it has added up to a 1-5 start, the Twins worst since 1994.

I'm not panicking yet. Worried? Yes. Very concerned even. However, the slow start isn't what concerns me the most. I fear that the Twins organization may be what is failing us. I'm not sure that the development (or lack thereof) of major league hitters may not entirely be the fault of the players. Quick, name the last really good hitter the Twins developed? Give up? You could say David Ortiz, but you'd be wrong. They even managed to fail to develop one of baseball's most dangerous talents. Morneau tore through the minors, yet he has failed to really become a force in the majors. Kubel also completely shredded pitching at every level, but he has struggled thus far. Even Cuddyer was a can't miss hitting prospect. Mauer is great, but I fear his potential could face a glass ceiling imposed by our own Twins.

How do I know something is amiss? I watched the Indians. Their young hitters were fantastic in the series. I was most impressed (aside from Travis Hafner's complete domination) by the quality of at bat the young Tribe takes. Every hitter in their lineup--one through nine--works the count. They take pitches. They are selective. They foul pitches off. Even when pitchers get outs, they are forced to work to get them. The Twins rotation--certainly not a bad rotation--learned the hard way. None of their starters worked into seventh inning. Despite not scoring, the Indians made Johan throw 36 pitches to get through the first inning. Because they work the count so well, they are guaranteed to put a good swing on a pitch they want to hit. The result was lots of baserunners and high pitch counts. And of course, a sweep. I knew the Indians had a solid core of young hitters, but they've moved beyond being a talented group of young hitters to a mature lineup.

I had a coach in college who preached the importance of never giving away an at bat. In our conference, one bad weekend (doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday) could cripple your batting average for the season. Each at bat had to be afforded complete focus and a real plan for the at bat to assure the hitter that he got the pitch he wanted to hit. At bats are too precious. With the exception of Joe Mauer, the Twins appear to be in a hurry to get out of the batter's box, ending the at bat as quickly as possible. As a result, they hit pitches that the pitchers want them to hit. Until hitting coach Joe Vavra (a former head coach in my college conference) imparts that on his hitters, I fear the frustration will only get worse. Hopefully the Twins paid attention because Cleveland put on a clinic.

Getting the First One Out of the Way

2006-04-05T19:43:00.000-05:00

Twins 13, Toronto 4

My brother is here in Minneapolis this week, as he's in an opera at the U of M. We got together and watched the first few innings of the game tonight. He was apparently bad luck because against all odds, Brad Radke gave up three runs in the first inning, two of which came off home runs. You shoulda seen the look on my face. Absolute shock.

Everything looked like a carbon copy of 2005 for the first three innings: Radke getting shelled early and pathetic offense. However, they really turned it around in the fourth, and after that the rout was on.

It also became pretty clear how they will pitch Bastita—sliders away. He opens up his hips so early that he can’t have any power on an off-speed pitch, or anything on the outer half for that matter. His only hope is to get a fastball, middle-in. Watching Batista play baseball is not pretty. I’m glad he seems like a decent guy, so I don’t have to absolutely hate him.

I don't know how many times the Twins scored double digit runs last year. I know it wasn't very often. Luis Castillo was a huge part of it, with 2 hits and a walk. He started a rally all three times. From the left side, he looks like Guzman. Of course, he gets very different results from Guzy. It is so much better to have a competent two-hole hitter, rather than some no-talent like Nick Punto. Oh, and Torii Hunter had 6 rbi.

So tonight's game sure feels alot better. Hopefully Silva has a nice outing tomorrow, the bats stay hot, and we leave Canada (thank God, eh?) with a series win.

Opening Day Notes

2006-04-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

Toronto 6, Twins 3

I've gotta tell you, the result of tonights came did not surprise me. I predicted earlier in the day on Rubchat that the Twins would lose 6-1 and Johan would give up 4 earned in 5 innings. The Twins did not have much working in their favor. Johan typically struggles early in the year, and Roy Halladay, while owning almost everyone, really owns the Twins. The result was a lackluster performance. However, it is only one out of 162, so I'm not going to get too bent out of shape about it.

I was pretty excited all day, but I missed the first five innings due to an accounting final. There was no way I was going to double check my answers knowing that Johan was on the hill and the 2006 season was under way. Hell, I was disappointed that I wasn't the first one out of the room to begin with. I wanted to hug the bus driver when he ran a red light on 15th and 5th (one of the longest, most useless lights known to man) to get me home about 3.5 minutes sooner. Unfortunately, I rushed through the test for nothing because when I got home, the score was 3-1.

Johan was apparently all over the place and gave up a bomb to Bengie Molina, which is, again, nothing new, as Molina pretty much owns Santana. Johan wasn't good. He struggled mightily in the one inning I was able to see. Hopefully, he doesn't take until June to get it going again.

Some bright spots: Stewart was 3 for 4 with a homer. He'll need to rebound if the Twins offense is going to improve. Batista hit a homer, however that in no way changes my opinion of the negative impact he will have on the offense.

The good news is we're only a half game back and right there in the race! The competition should be a little less difficult tomorrow, as they fact Josh Towers. With a good outing from Radke, the Twins should get their first win of the year.

2006 Twins Preview

2006-04-03T20:01:00.000-05:00

Well, it came incredibly slowly, but it is finally here. The Major League Baseball opened its season last night with the White Sox beating the Indians. I've been ready to go for way too long, and I can hardly wait until Shannon Stewart steps into the box tomorrow evening. Here is my take on the Twins offseason and the upcoming season. Go Twins!

Offense
The Twins offense should be better; you'd think it couldn't get worse. Some of the offseason moves have made them better. Luis Castillo was a great move. He had nearly a .400 OBP last year, which will be invaluable at the top of the order. I expect him to be leading off shortly into the season. Rondell White should also be a great acquisition. He can drive in runs, hit for some power, and hit for average. Also, by all accounts, he is a great teammate. The questions regarding both players is their ability to stay healthy. Castillo's legs have given him trouble in recent years, and White has been referred to as "RondDL" White. Hopefully becoming a full-time DH will improve his chances of staying healthy.

Mauer and Morneau are two more reasons the offense should be better. While Mauer was solid last year, he did leave some room for improvement (as you would hope from a 22 year-old). I expect his power numbers to improve as he becomes more comfortable hitting early in the count. Morneau had a terrible year last year, and I really expect him to improve drastically on his 2005 numbers (.239/.437/.340, 22 hrs, 79 rbi). I also believe he is the key to the offense. If he plays this year like he did in 2004 (or better), the offense will be much better. I can see him hitting 30-35 hrs with a .270 avg and driving in 100+ runs. If Stewart and Hunter rebound, the offense could be alot better. If Jason Kubel performs at the same level he played at prior to his knee injury, the offense could not only be alot better, it could be very good.

All those positives could be undone by two unfortunate personnel decisions: Tony Batista and Juan Castro. I already talked about just how bad a hitter Juan Castro is. I might actually suggest DHing for Castro and hitting with the pitcher. Batista is also an out machine. He may hit some homers, but the overall production will not improve the offense; I think it will make it worse. It's too bad the organization has completely given up on Cuddyer at the hot corner. Hopefully, the Twins will dump Batista before it's too late and get a legitimate 3B option. Also, I am hoping Bartlett will play his way back to the big club by May or June. I am seriously pissed about his inexplicable demotion to AAA. I guess .380 BA, .500 OBP wasn't cutting it this spring.

Pitching
The pitching staff should also improve. They improved the back end of their rotation by adding Scott Baker and, eventually, Francisco Liriano. They'd better improve because in the end, it will be the pitching staff that carries the Twins to a Central Division title. Nathan will be solid in the closer role, as should Rincon and Crain. If everyone stays healthy (i.e. Santana and Nathan), then I expect the pitching staff to be as good as last year.

Prediction

When it's all said and done, if everything goes right (Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, good health, no Castro) the Twins will win the Central. However, I think it's too much to go right. As a result, I predict the Twins will finish 2nd in the AL Central (89-73) behind the White Sox. The Indians pitching won't hold up, despite their great offense. I hope I'm wrong, because I think this team has as much potential as any Twins team in the last 5 years.

Anything but Castro!!

2006-03-31T14:12:00.000-06:00

Okay, the season is almost upon us, so I suspect I will begin posting with more regularity. I will need to vent my frustrations (and joys) with each game, I'm sure (I urge WI Pride to do the same with the Crew). So let's start here. The Twins again demoted Jason Bartlett to AAA. I can't even begin to explain how stupid this is. It gets worse when you find out that Juan Castro and his .270 career OBP will replace him. I can't imagine anything worse for the Twins offense. Here is rundown of the Indians and Twins lineups. It appears my beloved Twins are in trouble.

Stewart .364 (probably declining)
Castillo .370 (solid)
Mauer .371 (could improve)
White .343
Hunter .321
Morneau .313 (should improve)
Ford .363 or Cuddy .330 or Kubel .388 (minor league total)
Batista .298 (vomit)
Castro .271 (puke) or Punto .302 (dry heave)

Please consider my optimism gone, and I would say I'm pretty much a homer when it comes to the Twins. Adding Castillo is completely washed out by playing Castro or Punto every day, combined with Batista. I'm not sure if the Twins will generate any more runs than last year. Going with Castro and Batista is an incredible mistake and shows how little TR and Gardy know about building offense.

The amount of outs that Batista and Castro will make will net out any improvement in other areas (when 2/9th of your lineup is that bad, you are in trouble). It will be the worst left side in baseball, bar none. Congratulations ChiSox and Indians, we've made it a two team race for you.

Let's compare that to the Indians lineup:
V-Mart .365
Broussard .327
Belliard .341
Boone .327
Peralta .342
Sizemore .345
Blake .324
Michaels .380
Hafner .388

Where are the black holes in that lineup? Blake is their worst, and he is .026 better than our 2nd worst! Their left side of the infield gets on base at a clip of 50 points higher than ours (.284 vs. .334) I know our pitching is better, but it won't be enough to overcome the fact that we are practically hitting with two pitchers in our lineup. There is no excuse for not giving Bartlett a chance.

I am so pissed off right now.

Pictures from the memorial at Metrodome

2006-03-06T22:53:00.000-06:00

I went down to the Dome tonight to pay tribute to Puck. I thought I would post some pictures I took. Its gonna hurt for awhile.

Kirby Puckett 1960-2006: An open letter

2006-03-06T19:55:00.000-06:00

Puck,

I wanted to meet you. I hoped someday I would. We were so close when I was a kid. I mean, you didn't know me, but I knew everything about you. I learned everything I could from various books and 64 baseball cards. I remember alot about you now, numbers and games that will be discussed over the next few days. .318 career average. 2304 hits. 2 World Series. The greatest single-game performance in World Series history. A Hall of Fame career. A million watt smile. Yeah, I knew you.

Puck, you gave me alot of memories. I remember screaming like a madman late on an October night when you took Charlie Liebrandt deep. I've watched the 1991 World Series Highlight Video over and over and over. I tear up every time the tape gets to Game Six. It might be impossible to watch "Kirby: Living the Dream" now that you're gone. I remember sitting in the half-empty Metrodome in the early 90s. You were pretty much the only reason to show up.

You were stocky. I was stocky (chubby). I tried the leg kick, but I think I realized at an early age that it just wasn't going to work for me--or for anyone but you, for that matter. My dad got me an autographed softball from you when I was really little. Because I was an idiot (and seven), I played with it. It faded, and at some point I tried to re-trace your signature. I think if you had a ball signed, you probably would have played with it too. What good is a ball if you can't play baseball with it? We had alot in common. At least that's what I thought when I was seven.

I was still pretty young when you had to retire. So were you. It seems like you keep getting taken away before you are ready--I guess before I am ready too. I cried. You had a lot of good years left in you. You'd have been a great DH on that 2002 team. I think you could have single-handedly beaten the Angels. I really would've liked to have seen that. Retiring really took a toll on you. Being stripped of baseball before you were ready changed you. I wish you could have handled it better, but I don't know how you deal with something like that.

I wore your number. I wore it for every football game I played in high school. I wore it for every baseball game in high school and college. It became my number, but only because it was yours first. I also wore a t-shirt with you on it through all those baseball games. It had the picture of you rounding the bases in Game Six on it. I wore it until it literally fell apart. Then I patched it together and pinned it on my wall. Like a poster. With all your other posters.

I'll never forget your "salute" to the fans. I was there, right field bleachers. I'll also never forget your jersey retirement. I was there, too. Upper deck, behind home plate. I hope you're with my grandma now, who always made sure to get the tickets so I could be there on those days. She knew how much you meant to me. I traveled half-way across the country with a few buddies to see you go into the Hall of Fame. It was probably the best weekend of my life. It was pretty emotional. To hear Bob Casey introduce you with his signature "Kirrbbyyyyyyyyyyy Puckett!!" was way too much to handle. I teared up then too. Why do I get so emotional? You were just a baseball player.

Sure Puck, you gave me memories. But I realized--maybe only today--that you gave me a lot more. I'd never really thought about it before, but I'm sure that part of the reason I have such a passion for the game now is from watching you back then. From wanting to be like you. From wanting to be you.

So Puck, I'll keep the memories. I have plenty to remember you by. I have jerseys and shirts and cards and posters and books. There will always be a place in my home reserved for your memory. Hopefully, I can pass those memories on to future generations.

And most of all I'll keep the passion for the game.

Thanks Puck. For everything. I'll miss you. We'll all miss you.

Kirby

2006-03-06T10:21:00.000-06:00

I'm praying for you, man.

Wednesday Night Football

2006-02-17T06:40:00.000-06:00

Let it be known that I have some serious touch football game. You wouldn't think a slow, short white guy could be such a game-changer, but with Mens Rec Football Wednesday nights at Bierman, that's what you get. I find the holes in the zone. I catch the football. I'm not a vertical threat, but if you aren't paying attention, I may slip downfield for a long one. I also juked out a black guy the other night. Seriously. However, my interception thrown on a double pass was very forgettable.

In part, my new found game has alot to do with the new workouts I am on, courtesy of a strength coach for the Minnesota Gophers. Getting under that rack to do 10 reps of squats at 225 lbs isn't easy, but it all pays off when I explode off the ground to make an amazing catch. This week, I swear I was at least 4 inches off the artificial surface, double where I was last year at this time. After two games, I am averaging a TD and a pick on defense per game, and my sure hands have made me the number one target for our QB. If Coach Mason is ever working late, he may see something he likes. As far as I know, I have 2 semesters left of eligibility.

I thought I would post a pic of what my domination might look like if it was in a live, tackle-type situation.

What Am I Listening to Right Now?

2006-02-14T06:56:00.000-06:00

I know a lot of you out there must be thinking, "Wow, Barry, I know you like some great music" or maybe "Barry, your musical tastes are usually a step ahead of the average person." I'm not going to disagree with either of those statements. I really like the music I listen to.

So what am I currently listening to? At this moment, I am listening to Matisyahu's "King Without a Crown." It's a helluva song. And in all honesty, I think he will blow up. He may be a one hit wonder, but I think this song will be a hit. I like it for its spirituality. Matisyahu is not afraid to mix lyrics of praise and hope with a raggae beat. Though I'm not Jewish, I figure Matisyahu and I pray to the same God. I 'm considering going to his concert at First Ave coming up soon, if it's not already sold out.

I've also enjoyed hearing The Fray's "Over My Head" when I hear it on the radio. It reminds me a little of one of my all-time favorite bands, Counting Crows. Of course, the lyrics are not on par with Adam Duritz', but the melody and chorus are very solid. It's a catchy song, and its grown on me. I'm considering buying the whole album.

Lastly, I've been cranking quite a bit of Trampled by Turtles. This Duluth-based quartet is amazing. They are a bluegrass band that knows how to rock, especially in their live sets. I saw them at The Cabooze a few months ago, and the house was packed. They play with phenominal amounts of energy. I'm seeing them this Friday at First Ave, and I can't wait.

Well, I think this ecclectic mix of music pretty much sums up what I've been listening to lately. I have no idea what theses three artist have in common that makes me enjoy each one so much. It reminds me of when I left Best Buy with three CDs: Van Morrison's "Moondance," Alison Krause and Union Station, and Rage Against the Machine's "Battle for Los Angeles." I guess if you are critical of my tastes, you can't accuse me of being boring.

Give me some suggestions. I'm always up for good, new music to broaden my horizons.

My Least Favorite Game of the Year

2006-02-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

I don't like the Super Bowl. I hate it for multiple reasons, and I can't remember really watching a Super Bowl since the 1999 Super Bowl. I watched every painful minute of that Super Bowl wondering what could have been as Denver destroyed the overmatched Atlanta Falcons. Again, I digress.

The Super Bowl has ridiculous entertainment. I only caught a little of it, but the Motown thing was dumb. Why do we want to listen to 1 minute of a song? Why not the whole song? Plus, those fans near the stage looked really into the whole thing (note sarcasm). I didn't see the halftime show, but I'm pretty sure it was stupid. The Rolling Stones are great, but seeing them in a halftime show makes me feel kindof sad for them, like you would feel sad for William Shakespeare employed to write commericials for McDonald's (rumor has it that the "I'm Lovin' It" slogan is loosely based on Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be").

The Super Bowl has a ridiculous tempo. The commericals are long (and I'm not a fan of even Super Bowl commercials, as you can almost taste how hard some advertisers are trying to make you laugh). The commericals are often, even more often than during the regular season, and I can't stand them then.

The Super Bowl has ridiculous hype. It's not that great of a game. Unless you have a vested interest, it's probably going to be even less exciting than watching my team play anyone during the regular season. Why? Because I really don't care who wins. Maybe I'll start betting on the game so I can watch it and care (however, remind me not to get any tips from Winkzilla). The hype is so built up before the game that it is impossible for the game to live up to the hype. ESPN tries its damndest to make me care, but Stuart Scott's lazy eye and Chris Berman's fat ass can't make the game exciting regardless of the storylines behind it.

In order for the Super Bowl to be exciting, THE GAME must be the focus. Not Stevie Wonder. Not the commercials. Not the national anthem. Not Jerome Bettis (did you know he's from Detroit?) Until I feel like actually watching the game might be enjoyable, I will continue to have only a passing interest. I'm sure they'll realy miss my viewership.

The Office

2006-02-05T10:39:00.000-06:00

The Office is the funniest show on television right now, and it's not even close. I suggest that everyone watch it (or tape it or TIVO it) on NBC at 8:30, Thursday nights. My other favorite blogger, Dwight K. Shrute, has a nice blog about what it is to be man. Check it out.

Yesterday's post has somehow been deleted and sent tumbling into cyberspace. It was about how Gary Russell All Big Ten Running back from Minnesota has left school because he is academically ineligible. He will attend junior college in attempt to regain his eligibility. While he remains optimistic, the chances aren't likely that he can clear all the hurdles. The Gophs backfield seems decimated. However, Amir Pinnix is a nice player--BT player of the week for his 200 yard performance against MSU--and should do fine in a starting role. Jay Thomas (redshirt freshman coming off and ACL tear) and Brylee Callendar (JUCO, former number one recruit out of Minnesota) should compete for time as well. Callendar is caucasion, but I hear he has mad game.

I hope Russ gets back because he is a solid back. If not, hopefully somebody steps up.

Gopher-Badger-Hawkeye Recruiting Classes

2006-02-03T08:38:00.000-06:00

GOPHERS:

As of now, I am not too high on what the Gophs brought in. ESPN has their class ranked ninth in the Big Ten. Now, ranking recruiting classes is not a science. Recruits are unproven. Surely, no one was thinking the Gophers were going to get two All-Americans in Mark Setterstrom and Greg Eslinger. However, this class lacks a big name. A few years ago, we stole Maroney from Illinois (which I think was more fortunate for him than for the Gophs) and picked Brandon Owens out of Florida. Those were big names. This year, we have Adam Weber, who should be a solid, if not great, quarterback in a year or two (leaving next year to Cupito, the year after to Mortenson, and 2008 to be a battle between Mortenson and Weber). Terrance Sherrer, running back out of Ohio, sounds like he will be solid, and the Gophers seem to know running backs. Brylee Callendar, a JUCO from Lakeville, is also an interesting prospect. I look forward to seeing him in the Spring Game. I think he has a good shot at seeing the field next year. Losing Aundre Henderson (DT) was huge; so was losing Walker Lee Ashley. They need defense, and I'm not sure if they got it. Time will tell, I guess.

Bucky:

ESPN has them in the middle of the pack. The biggest name on Bucky's board appears to be Lance Smith, RB from Ohio. Does he have a shot at playing next year? The position must be wide open. Lance Kendricks also has alot of raw talent at WR. They got Kim Royston out of MN's Cretin Derham Hall. He's a legit four-star corner. Overall, it looks like they got not only better overall talent than Minnesota, but also more depth. Bielema seems to have picked up where Alvarez left off.

Hawkeyes:

The only team that has done a better job than Wisconsin of recruiting in a state with limited D1 talent is Iowa. None of Iowa's current signee is from Iowa. Ferentz consistently brings in guys no one has ever heard of and turning them into great players. Dallas Clark and Chad Greenway both come to mind. I think Iowa got more talent than Wisconsin (and of course MN), but not quite as much depth. I don't know where they were at in terms of scholarships available, though. Iowa's top three recruits: defense. Maybe that explain why they have beaten the Gophs five effin straight times in an effin row!! Man, I hate the Suckeyes. Which reminds me why I am souring on Glen Mason: he can't beat the two teams I really want him to beat. But I digress. Iowa's class isn't great, but you can virtually guarantee that Ferentz will make it alot better.

Notes:
On a related note, B.O. underwent something like 8 hours of surgery in Rochester last week to try to fix his shoulder. I've talked to a few folks with the team, and when I bring up Owens being back, they just kindof somberly shake their heads. It's really a shame for both parties because B.O. was a great football player, certainly the best the Gophers have had on defense in some time. It's also sad for Brandon because he had NFL potential. For those of you who saw what Michael Robinson did to him, you knew he was going to be in trouble. That was a wicked hit.

Another note, Gary Russell has yet to register at the University of Minnesota this semester (just search his name at www.umn.edu and you will find that he last registered Fall 2005). Apparently, Russ has had some trouble in the classroom (my insiders have also told me he and Ernie Wheelright aren't big on going to class). I've also recently heard he is getting it together and will be back this summer. I'm glad Amir Pinnix is still around. Guys on the staff have told me he is a great kid and good in the classroom. I hope he has a nice year next season.

Maybe the saddest note of all is that I heard the U of M lost 9 of last year's 23 scholarship atheletes. That's the type of attrition that can cripple a program. They'll need to recover from that quickly, maybe bringing in a few late qualifiers between now and fall camp.

Twins Top 40

2006-02-02T10:53:00.000-06:00

Over at www.aarongleeman.com , my favorite blogger and Twins aficionado is doing an extensive project, counting down the top 40 players in Twins history. This is no simple task, and I suggest you head over and check it out. It's surprising how few truly good players have played for the Twins. Rumor has it that Luis Rivas was on the bubble for the top 100.I don't have the time to make such an extensive list with the analysis, and I am more than happy to rely on Aaron's great analysis. But I can try to give you a top 10 list of the all-time greatest Twins, with a short rationale for each one. Remember, I'm not old enough to have seen several of the greatest Twins play, so I fear I may undervalue them.

Click the name for a link to their statistics.

10. Johan Santana

Johan barely makes the list, based on time served, but he's been so good, it's hard to ignore him. I'm actually sure he doesn't deserve to make this list, given that Frank Viola has done everything Santana has, plus he's won a World Series. On the other hand, Santana has dominated the league in the modern era like almost no one else (see Pedro Martinez, '99-'00). He's been with the Twins for the past six seasons, but over the last three, he has been purely dominant. He's 48-16, a .750 winning percentage. He posted a high era of 3.07 in 2003. Based on those three seasons, he is in the top ten. If he continues his career with the Twins--that is, if they will pay him the 20 million dollar salary he will command upon free agency--he will most likely go down as the greatest pitcher in Twins history.

9. Frank Viola

Sweet Music, the World Series MVP in 1987, had a great career with the Twins before being traded in the middle of the 1989 season. He came up in 1982 along with guys like Hrbek, Bruno, and Gaetti. He won 101 games in a Twins uniform, not including his performance in the '87 playoffs. He threw over 250 innings--unheard of in today's game--four times.

8. Bob Allison

I don't know much about Bob, but he was really good at baseball. Part of the 1965 team that went to the World Series, losing in seven games to the Dodgers and Sandy Koufax, who threw a shutout in game 7 on three days rest. That Twins team also led the league in home runs, as well. Bob hit 256 homers in the Twins organization (including three seasons in Washington).

7. Bert Blyleven

Circle Me Bert had a great career "at the major league level," and much of his potential Hall of Fame career took place with the Twins. Plus, coming back to be a broadcaster (regardless of how you feel about his broadcasting skills) helps his cause. Put Bert in the hall; he deserves it.

6. Jim Kaat

Jim Kaat is often better known by younger fans as the Yankees color guy for YES network, I believe. However, he had a great major league career for the Twins. He also won Gold Gloves from 1962 to 1977, which is astounding.

5. Kent Hrbek

Hrbek was one of my childhood heroes. One of two great players who played every game of their career for the Twins, the other being number one on my list. 293 HRs, .282 career average. He would've won some Gold Gloves if Donny Baseball hadn't been minding 1B for the Yanks at the same time. Grand Slam in Game 1 of the '87 Series. Tussling with Ron Gant in the '91 Series. Plus, he's a local boy, having grown up in Bloomington.

4. Tony Oliva

Tony-O's numbers are outrageous given that he played in a pitching-dominated era. Some even say he was the BEST hitter of that era, and had his knees not failed him, he was a shoo-in for 3,000 hits.

3. Rod Carew

Speaking of 3,000 hits, Rod Carew got 3,053 of 'em. Most of them were in a Twins uniform. His best season was 1977, when he picked up 239 hits and made a run at .400 (finishing at .388). He won the MVP that year. His career BA of .328 is 37th all time. All that get you not only in the Hall of Fame, but also in an Adam Sandler song. Unfortunately for Brewer fans, Rod couldn't teach hitting like he could hit.

2. Harmon Killebrew

573 career home runs. The Killer was a true slugger in an era where they were not as easy to come by. Take away steroids, and Killebrew is the 5th greatest home run hitter. Ever. He was recently passed by Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire. I'll let you figure out what those three have in common.

1. Kirby Puckett

Puck is the only one who could beat out Killer, in my quite biased view. Kirby was and is my favorite baseball player of all time. .318 career average. 1085 RBI. 2304 career hits. And those are off the top of my head. He is one of the greatest right handed hitters ever, and when he retired, he had the second highest career batting average for a right handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer based mostly on what he would have done had his career not beed shortened by glaucoma. I cried when he retired. He also produced one of the greatest performances in World Series history.

There you have it. Let me know if I got it right.

Man, I Hate Moot Court

2006-02-01T09:44:00.000-06:00

Pretending to pass my National Moot Court class off as a 1 credit per semester course is a joke. By my calculations, a two credit course should require around 80 hours total. I think I've spent that much already, and I have plenty left to do this week. My first draft was terrible; I attempted to do it in two days after my last final, and it didn't work out very well for me. Now, as the new semester starts, I am attempting to re-write it--essentially from scratch--while balancing work and all my new classes that I am attempting to keep up with. We've had two weeks to do the re-write. I figure I need to spend around 30 hours on it. Tacking 15 hours a week on my already busy schedule is not exactly easy; there aren't alot of places to plug it in. As a result, I hate it. It's stupid, and I don't care about it. But given that my last grade was so tremendously terrible, I have to make it at least respectable. Oh well. I should've gone to Bitchell, where moot courts aren't mandatory. But I digress for now. Hopefully, it will all be over soon.

I Love Gopher Hockey

2006-01-28T12:19:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, I was only able to catch the first period of last night's big win over Bucky. http://www.gophersports.com/sportsNews/press_release.asp?news_id=11822&sport_id=mhock . Ms. Metropolis and I were invited to dinner with her parents, which was lovely.

Beating the Badgers in anything, including chess or rowing or any other concocted competition, never gets old. It is especially gratifying given that UW came in and swept us at home last time they matched up. I was at the Friday affair--two really poor periods followed by one good one, still coming up short. Oh, and I think the Badgers may have stolen a game at Metrodome earlier this year, too; I fear I'll never block that game from my memory.

I'm at school attempting to fix my incredibly terrible National Moot Court brief, but my mind keeps wandering to tonight's matchup, when the Gophs will be going for the sweep. I don't care if "What Not to Wear" is on, Ms. Metro is not going to stop me from watching the game tonight. I know she won't mind too much, despite the fact that I have been recently referred to as a remote hog. I guess that comes as result of growing up in a family where the only "girl" never touched the remote unless it was to turn the TV off. Girls don't really care to watch TV, do they? I always assumed they had better, more productive things to do with their time than us men--like balance the checkbook or maybe cook a delicious supper. I digress.

I've only recently become a big hockey fan, so don't show up here expecting a great analysis of any game. A great hockey mind, I am not. I know the basic rules and a little strategy, and that's about it. The thing I love about hockey, however, is the sudden and often unexpected excitement that occurs when a goal is scored. It happens so fast. In football, even the most exciting plays develop gradually; an 80 yard TD run takes a minimum of 10 seconds. A home run takes a few seconds to elminate any doubt and clear the fence. In hockey, goals often come when you least expect them, like Ryan Potulny's goal off the faceoff last night. I wasn't expecting that goal at that moment, and neither were the radio fellas, who were barely able to get off the call.

So go Gophers! As the sayings go, F--- Bucky, and Better Dead Than Red.

Law School Has Made Me One-Dimensional

2006-01-26T18:27:00.000-06:00

I used to play guitar. I actually used to play alot. I wrote music and even went as far as getting a four track and recording some songs. Now? Not so much. The culprit? Law school.

In the weeks before entering law school, I thought, "Boy, this is gonna be tough. I'm gonna have to be at school, doing work, from eight in the morning until maybe five at night!" To me, that sounded like alot of school work. Up to that point, I had not spent more than a few hours, a couple days a week doing homework. Now I was looking at five hours a day, five days a week! Boy, was I wrong. It turned out to be more like 8-8, with at least a little bit on the weekends.

I'm not trying to complain about the work. I understand it's all just part of the game. I can do work; I get tired of it, but I get it done. My real issue with law school is what happens to the rest of your life as a result of that work. Law school does not produce well-rounded individuals, unless of course you are referring to weight gain. I've seen plenty of law students put on more than a little weight. For some reason, 12 hours per day of sedentary labor will do that to a person. But I digress. Law school is focused on teaching you how to do alot of work and deal with stress. I'm not sure if it creates great people in its attempt to create great lawyers.

That goal is not conducive with creating a well-rounded person. I try to maintain some health and fitness activities. I squeeze in a 25 minute phone conversation with Ms. Metropolis. My guitar, however, remains in its case, buried somewhere in between the radiator and my dresser. The four track is underneath the VCR, buried deeper even deeper in dust. I think my mic stand is here somewhere, but I haven't seen that in a while. I haven't played in quite some time. I really don't like that. I really don't like that I am in not as well-rounded as a used to be. Now I find myself doing less productive things with my free time, simply because I have no ambition.

At law school orientation, every speaker told us to maintain the lives we brought to law school. If they really meant it, maybe they should consider changing the educational experience to make that feasible.

Mason Jennings at UMD

2006-01-26T13:33:00.000-06:00

UMD provided its students with excellent entertainment this Wednesday night. Rumor has it they paid the hefty sum of $10,000 to recruit Mr. Jennings to venture up I-35 to Duluth. Since they paid the fee, the students did not; admission was free for UMD students. Regardless of who bore the cost of the performance, Mason Jennings gave everyone their money's worth.

The fact that I am not a UMD student was only a minor roadblock. The U of M and UMD have exactly the same student IDs. I guess since they get the benefit of seeing "University of Minnesota" on their diplomas (there is no visible difference between their diplomas and ours), the least we U of M students could get in return is free admission to some of their events. I brought my student ID, and I knew I would be getting in. Ms. Metropolis was a different story. She is not a student at the U of M, so she did not have an ID. We made the two hour trip knowing that we may have been turning immediately around and heading back to Minneapolis, but for Mason Jennings, it is worth the risk. Ms. Metropolis and I have ventured all the way to Iowa City to see Mason before, which is no small task, given how much I hate the Hawkeyes.

Fortunately for us, both our siblings go to UMD. The doors opened at 8:45, and my brother had been holding us a spot since 5:30; apparently, he was third in line. Ms. Metropolis' sister acquired a UMD ID for my fiance that represented her pretty well. Ms. Metropolis was undoubtedly scared that she would be found out, but as the doors opened, her fake ID only afforded a passing glance, followed by a hand stamp. We were in, and we were in the front row. Kirby Ballroom, an interesting venue if not captivating, filled up quickly. The folding chairs filled up quickly, as did the standing room in the back. I'm sure they had to close doors eventually and turn some students away, which I do not feel bad about; they should've showed up earlier. Mason Jennings always sells out in Duluth.

The opening act was a solo accousitc artist named Jeff Johnson. His guitar style was much different than Mason. His is more similar to Dave Matthews or John Mayer, who use the repitition of a riff rather than a series of chords. Johnson had some catching riffs, especially the second song he played. Johnson also utilized a pedal that allowed him to record a riff and play it back on repeat. Once it was repeating, he could play over it, allowing him to solo and giving him a more full sound. I could see he was nervous, but he found his groove in the second tune. Jeff would've done himself a favor by not being so talkative. He lost the crowd he was on the verge of capturing when he went on several storytelling escapades. Overall, he plays guitar very well and is very creative on the accoustic. However, he lacked a little lyrically, and his melodies were only sporadically effective. Either way, it was a great effort considering I don't think he had played out in a while.

After much delay, Mason finally took the stage. It was a solo accoustic show, the energy was going to be different than what I am used to. I have seen Mason at least 10 times before, and each time it has been with a full band. The energy he provides in those shows through his accoustic guitar is phenominal. This show, however, was going to be more quiet and intimate. With a few exceptions, the crowd was great; no chit chat during songs or clapping at inappropriate times. During "Adrian," I was astounded at how quiet the crowd was. Mason said several times how much he appreciated the attentiveness of the audience, and he was genuine.

The set included a little bit from every album. Songs I recall from his eponymous first album included "Nothing," "California (Part I)," and California (Part II)." From "Birds Flying Away," I think he only played "Duluth" (which was inevitable). From "Simple Life," "Simple Life," "Summer Dress," and "Amphetamine Girl." From "Century Spring," "Sorry Signs on Cash Machines" and "Forgiveness" on piano, and "Bullet" and "Adrian" on acoustic. Finally, from "Use Your Voice," "Crown" and "Ballad for Paul and Shiela" (the Wellstones).

I really didn't think any of these performances stood out. It was his new material that blew me away. He has a new album coming out with his new label this spring, and he showcased a little of it Wednesday night. First, he played a song he wrote about New Orleans. He said he wrote it pre-Katrina, but he obviously loves the City, having apparently lived there for a time. Much of his new songs have a storytelling aspect to them, more so than his older songs. I also noticed a a very Dylanesque-rhyme scheme and rhythm, reminding me a little of "Tangled up in Blue." Obviously, he's been compared to Dylan in the past, but I've not seen it until I heard some of this new stuff. A second new tune, called something like "Without Love" had a very catching chorus and some moving lyrics about the birth of a child, presumably his own.

In his encore, he first covered Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska." It's the second time I've heard him cover a Springsteen tune from the album "Nebraska." I heard him do "Atlantic City" (amazing) a few years back at the Norshor Theater in Duluth. The crowd, however, was a little confused, as the song is about a killing spree. I don't think they knew what to think. The last song was new, and was--without a doubt--one of the most moving songs I've ever heard. It basically dealt with his inner struggles around God and religion and faith. It was genuine and heartfelt, and I need to hear it again pretty soon.

Overall, Mason was great. Not the best Mason Jennings concert I've seen, but certainly unique. I also enjoyed the close-knit feel. Check him out at www.masonjennings.com. He is as good as they get. I can't wait for the new album with his new label. Special thanks to my bro and future sister in law for allowing us to get into the show. Really appreciate it.

If you like Mason, or you were there, let me know what you think.

Gophers vs. Michigan

2006-01-22T12:49:00.000-06:00

I attended the Minnesota-Michigan game last night. The U of M is now 0-5 in conference play, an obviously disappointing record, especially considering the Gopher's impressive season last year. Last year's team was filled with overacheivers. This year, there appears to be more talent on the floor. Pesky Aaron Robinson was replaced by former UNC recruit Adam Boone. Moe Hargrow is back. And you can't tell me that Jeff Hagen is that hard to replace. Minnesota has no one who can shoot the ball consistently. Adam Boone cannot shoot, and Hargrow is inconsistent. Grier is a slasher, but last night the lane was so clogged that he only managed 8 shots and 4 points. Obviously, Grier has gone from an exciting overachiever to disappointing underachiever.

Two bright notes: J'Son Stamper played a nice game, hitting several 15 footers and grabbing alot of boards. I also thought that Spencer Tollackson had a nice game on the inside, showing some nice post moves. The only way the Gophers can even salvage a respectible season is to get a dramatic improvement from their backcourt. Boone, Hargrow, and Grier are the keys to the rest of the season. As they go, so will the Gophers. Three Big Ten wins (or less?) seems like a real possibility. Dissapointing.

Getting Started

2006-01-22T12:17:00.000-06:00

My life is pretty simple; it revolves around three things: my sports, my education, and my fiance. However, by claiming my life is really that simple, I am exaggerating. Those broad brush strokes are complimented by plenty of intricacies that make my life more interesting.

I'll talk alot about sports, especially anything Minnesota Twins or Gophers-related. I'm guessing the Vikings will probably sneak into the conversation from time to time. I'll talk alot about law school, but it's more likely that I will bitch about law school. How much I will divulge about my fiance and our relationship is still to be determined.