You're Waiting For a Train...

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Eye Of the Beholder

There lies beauty...

...which one do you prefer?

What's With the Scarves?

Hipster Bullies - watch more funny videos

So if I give up sports and only drink PBR, I don't have to get a job? I think I was a hipster before hipsters were hipsters.

Pretty Girl(s) 09.27.11 - Bia & Branca Feres

Even better than golf is synchronized swimming. Whatever, dude, you can't argue with twins.

Monday, September 26, 2011

PSA time, cats. If you have not yet, stop buying CDs. Stop paying iTunes. All music is now officially (and legally) free. There are two options, one replacing the radio and the other, owned media.

Unless you're listening to the radio for the witty banter, log on to Slacker.com. There are a plethora of stations to suit every taste. Unlike Pandora, the service provides more than an odd dalliance of songs "related" to something you pick (their AI sucks). If you like someone else to choose your music (my preference) or would just like to explore something new, check it out.

Option #2 (and, frankly, the one that blows my mind) is Spotify. Sign up through their website (perma-link at the bottom of the sidebar) and gain access to the sharing of nearly every song ever recorded. You can't (legally) download them, but who cares. Via their stand alone platform, you can create and share playlists, rate music and check out the music of Facebook friends. There is plenty of additional functionality that I have not even explored yet. To be clear, they do not have literally every song ever made, but the only holes that I have found thus far have been local bands and the Beatles (ugh, Yoko give it up).

Between the two, all of your music needs are satisfied and both offer mobile services (for those of you with the smarty phones).

Check 'em out and save your coin for the things that will never go virtual. You know what I mean. ;-j

Cheers

Pretty Girl 09.26.11 - Anna Rawson

Wait... another golfer? Maybe I should give this "sport" a chance.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

A Quest Called Tribe

On August 15th, the Twins placed Delmon Young on waivers. He was quickly claimed by the Tigers and we have all heard the anecdotes about Delmon taking the Twins bus to Comerica Park and his new Detroit teammates struggling to comprehend his presence in their locker room. From seemingly every babbling voice in the peanut gallery, I heard such cries as "Why didn't the Indians claim him?" or "Couldn't the Indians have at least blocked Detroit?" At the time, I noted Young to be a "non-factor" as he had posted a .662 OPS and just 32 RBI for Minnesota. I further explained that the Tribe would get a similar boost when Shelley Duncan came back from an overnight in AAA forced by a numbers crunch.

Well, I suppose that I mildly underestimated Young, who has put up 26 RBI in 37 games for the Tigers. Recognize, though, that his OPS since the trade is still a lowly .693. For means of comparison, think Matt LaPorta (.710). Duncan has matched Delmon every step of the way. Young's numbers (.258/.280/.413, 6 HR) are actually worse than Shelley's (.298/.374/.606, 7 HR, 23 RBI) and the fact that the latter has 50 fewer PA's allows for the staggering difference in OPS. Oh, did I forget to mention? Duncan's OPS (do the math) is .980. So, for all of y'all that are whining about how the Tigers' addition of Delmon Young caused the Tribe's downfall, perhaps it's time to stop playing WoW and regain some understanding of reality.

Speaking of reality, here's some harsh for ya. The Indians have exactly 2 players (Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana) with more than 114 games played and just five in triple digits period. If you were to organize the team's season line-up by most games at each position, the second base (Orlando Cabrera) would digging his own grave on the left coast and the center fielder (Grady Sizemore) would have appeared in fewer than half (71) of the games played. Additionally, only one starter (Justin Masterson) has pitched every fifth day for the length of the season. If you're wondering what derailed the dream... yeah, one word: injuries.

Hey, I'm not so pissed at Tony Sipp (though his propensity to serve up the gopher ball is troubling). Instead, I plan to pour my bubbling cauldron of rage all over Fausto Carmona. You see, the game should have never gone to extras and it would not have, had Carmona had the ability to shut down a bunch of scrubs. Seriously, despite fielding their most respectable line-up of the entire series, the Twins featured just three honest-to-goodness major leaguers. Could Fausto, he of the 15 losses and 5.25 ERA, limit Minnesota to three runs or fewer? Hell, no! $7mil for 2012. Should the Tribe pick up the option? HELL! FREAKIN! NO!

The boys need to take one of three from Detroit to finish .500 and two of three for the tantalizing 82-win plateau.

Then there's this...

Here's to making the Tigers squeal like pigs.

Cheers.