Every once in a while my TiVo grabs something that I just can't resist watching. Yesterday, it recorded "Boston Legal", and I caved in and watched it through afterwards.
Mind you, I hate legal shows. Ever since "LA Law" was all the rage (and I will never forgive that show for giving Corbin Bernsen a career), I've been turned off by the genre. I've avoided "Ally McBeal", practiced other things during "The Practice", and whatever that Jerry Orbach show was - I never saw it. So I was sorely tempted to give "Boston Legal" a pass, too.
I'm glad I didn't, and that TiVo picked it for me. James Spader is terrificly smarmy, and Shatner(!) is simply wonderful - I love it when he gets roles he can fully ham it up in, and this is as good as it gets. The plot was kinda stupid last night, but it did get a nice guest appearance from Dana Delany, and the supporting cast was decent. It's Spader and Shatner(!) that make "Boston Legal" fun - I may have to start making it a regular job for TiVo.
I'd anthropomorphize my TiVo further, but it hates when I do that...
Monday, November 08, 2004
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Generalities in this NFL season
I've come up with a few rules regarding the NFL. Using them, so far I made it five weeks into my annual KOTH tournament, won a week in one pool, and came in second (with a small prize) in another pool. I also have at least one weekly win in every pool I ever play, and I'm usually near the top of the annual standings in them. I've also had some dismal weeks, though, and the pools I play are very low-stakes.
Rule number 1:
The AFC is currently a far stronger conference. Ergo:
- Given a roughly equal matchup across conferences on paper, the AFC team will win around 80% of the time.
- This can apply to the teams' records, statistics, or anything else you'd use as a criteria.
- So if a cruddy AFC team plays a cruddy NFC team, the AFC team wins.
- And a mediocre AFC team has a reasonable shot of beating a good NFC team...
- And a top-notch AFC team (see: Pittsburgh) will utterly humiliate a top-notch NFC team (see: Philly)
- The AFC will be favored in the Super Bowl.
Rule number 2:
More than in any other league, coaching makes a difference. So...
- Any Bill Belichick team will be a Super Bowl favorite. Until he proves otherwise.
- Mike Martz will never win a Super Bowl, because he is guaranteed to have a major Brain Fart at least once per game.
(see: today against the Pats - where he let his team to waste nearly a minute in a 2nd and goal with under 4:00 left)
- Given the parity in the NFL talent-wise, any good coach has a chance any given week.
- With the basic conservatism in the NFL, bad coaches get recycled for a long time before new blood gets into the system.
- Look at Rich Kotite as a good example of this.
Rule number 3:
Some owners are just guaranteed to suck. The best example of this is in the NBA, with Donald Sterling's Clippers. But it applies in the NFL, too. Usually when the owner decides he's a good football mind. Bob Kraft learned his lesson after trying to micromanage Bobby Grier and Pete Carroll. After handing it to Belichick and getting out of the way, he's picked up two Lombardi trophies. This is also why Dan Snyder will never win. And why Al Davis can no longer win.
Rule number 4:
Ego rarely wins. This has been proven conclusively by the Patriots - players sublimate their egos (and often get paid less) to get rings. Teams with big, standout superstars usually go home in January, even if the players themselves go to the Pro Bowl.
Corollary: superstars cost more money, and bust your salary cap wide open. Fewer superstars equal more quality mid-level players - and they make better interchangeable parts with good coaching (see rule #2).
Exception: some players are so good that you can't help but win with them. But even then, they need the right complementary parts. How many Super Bowls did John Elway win until he got a running attack to work with? And how many did Dan Marino ever win?
Rule number 5: Injuries matter. Scan the injury reports and see if a starter is out. And the position matters a lot. A good scheme can usually mask an O-line outage (again, the Pats are a great example, as are the Broncos). Defensive outages are tougher. Look at the way the Steelers torched the Patriots last week as soon as Ty Law went down with an injury. This week, with a week to prepare, the Pats were able to whup the Rams while resorting to Troy Brown at corner for much of the game.
Rule number 6: Quarterbacks have changed. When Drew Bledsoe came into the league, he was The Prototype. Big, strong, with a gunslinger mentality and a cannon for an arm. What Dan Marino was in his prime. But a few years ago, the game changed. Gunslingers were out - quarterbacks had to become accurate and mistake-free, with faster reads and checkoffs. Game management was key. Which is why Bledsoe struggles in Buffalo now, Kurt Warner is running for his life in New York, and Tom Brady is now the new Prototype. Steve McNair is the other master at this, but with the extra dimension of a running threat. There's a few more with potential (this new rookie, Rothlisrebergrremeisterskistein, could maybe get there, and Chad Pennington shows signs), but that's the New Breed of QB.
Rule number 7: Running is important. The Pats go one game without Corey Dillon available, and they get hammered without a legit running threat. Edgerrin James gets hurt in Indy, and down go the Colts. The only places where this doesn't seem to matter are in Denver, where I could probably plug my toddler into their scheme and he'd gain 1000 yards, and in Buffalo, where they had Willis McGahee ready to replace Travis Henry. This week saw Jerome Bettis gain nearly 100 yards with Duce Staley on the sideline, but right now Pittsburgh is riding one of those Magic Waves.
And finally:
Rule number 8: Sometimes, none of this matters. Look at the Giants-Bears game today. By all measurements, the Bears had no chance and shouldn't have even bothered flying into Newark to make the pilgrimage to Exit 16W. But the Giants didn't bother showing up instead, and the Bears win 28-21. Or the fact that the Dolphins have actually won a game this year.
Rule number 1:
The AFC is currently a far stronger conference. Ergo:
- Given a roughly equal matchup across conferences on paper, the AFC team will win around 80% of the time.
- This can apply to the teams' records, statistics, or anything else you'd use as a criteria.
- So if a cruddy AFC team plays a cruddy NFC team, the AFC team wins.
- And a mediocre AFC team has a reasonable shot of beating a good NFC team...
- And a top-notch AFC team (see: Pittsburgh) will utterly humiliate a top-notch NFC team (see: Philly)
- The AFC will be favored in the Super Bowl.
Rule number 2:
More than in any other league, coaching makes a difference. So...
- Any Bill Belichick team will be a Super Bowl favorite. Until he proves otherwise.
- Mike Martz will never win a Super Bowl, because he is guaranteed to have a major Brain Fart at least once per game.
(see: today against the Pats - where he let his team to waste nearly a minute in a 2nd and goal with under 4:00 left)
- Given the parity in the NFL talent-wise, any good coach has a chance any given week.
- With the basic conservatism in the NFL, bad coaches get recycled for a long time before new blood gets into the system.
- Look at Rich Kotite as a good example of this.
Rule number 3:
Some owners are just guaranteed to suck. The best example of this is in the NBA, with Donald Sterling's Clippers. But it applies in the NFL, too. Usually when the owner decides he's a good football mind. Bob Kraft learned his lesson after trying to micromanage Bobby Grier and Pete Carroll. After handing it to Belichick and getting out of the way, he's picked up two Lombardi trophies. This is also why Dan Snyder will never win. And why Al Davis can no longer win.
Rule number 4:
Ego rarely wins. This has been proven conclusively by the Patriots - players sublimate their egos (and often get paid less) to get rings. Teams with big, standout superstars usually go home in January, even if the players themselves go to the Pro Bowl.
Corollary: superstars cost more money, and bust your salary cap wide open. Fewer superstars equal more quality mid-level players - and they make better interchangeable parts with good coaching (see rule #2).
Exception: some players are so good that you can't help but win with them. But even then, they need the right complementary parts. How many Super Bowls did John Elway win until he got a running attack to work with? And how many did Dan Marino ever win?
Rule number 5: Injuries matter. Scan the injury reports and see if a starter is out. And the position matters a lot. A good scheme can usually mask an O-line outage (again, the Pats are a great example, as are the Broncos). Defensive outages are tougher. Look at the way the Steelers torched the Patriots last week as soon as Ty Law went down with an injury. This week, with a week to prepare, the Pats were able to whup the Rams while resorting to Troy Brown at corner for much of the game.
Rule number 6: Quarterbacks have changed. When Drew Bledsoe came into the league, he was The Prototype. Big, strong, with a gunslinger mentality and a cannon for an arm. What Dan Marino was in his prime. But a few years ago, the game changed. Gunslingers were out - quarterbacks had to become accurate and mistake-free, with faster reads and checkoffs. Game management was key. Which is why Bledsoe struggles in Buffalo now, Kurt Warner is running for his life in New York, and Tom Brady is now the new Prototype. Steve McNair is the other master at this, but with the extra dimension of a running threat. There's a few more with potential (this new rookie, Rothlisrebergrremeisterskistein, could maybe get there, and Chad Pennington shows signs), but that's the New Breed of QB.
Rule number 7: Running is important. The Pats go one game without Corey Dillon available, and they get hammered without a legit running threat. Edgerrin James gets hurt in Indy, and down go the Colts. The only places where this doesn't seem to matter are in Denver, where I could probably plug my toddler into their scheme and he'd gain 1000 yards, and in Buffalo, where they had Willis McGahee ready to replace Travis Henry. This week saw Jerome Bettis gain nearly 100 yards with Duce Staley on the sideline, but right now Pittsburgh is riding one of those Magic Waves.
And finally:
Rule number 8: Sometimes, none of this matters. Look at the Giants-Bears game today. By all measurements, the Bears had no chance and shouldn't have even bothered flying into Newark to make the pilgrimage to Exit 16W. But the Giants didn't bother showing up instead, and the Bears win 28-21. Or the fact that the Dolphins have actually won a game this year.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Making it an even ten...
Rico was released by WWE today. But there's still one day left in the week, who knows what else is coming? Even though they took Rico and mainly had him playing variations on gay characters (ironic, with Rico being an ex-Vegas cop, skilled martial artist, and American Gladiators winner in his past), he was still entertaining and a good worker in the ring.
And three more go down
It's a big purge week at WWE - now they've added Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, Rodney Mack, and Jazz to the release list. Stamboli was in the FBI faction with Palumbo, so now the only FBI member left is Nunzio. Mack and Jazz are a real-life husband and wife team, so that's probably why they were dropped together. Jazz was a good solid womens' heel, but Mack was pretty bland.
So far the count is six men dropped from the roster, and three women. All the women were dumped from Raw, and four of the men were dumped from Raw, two (Stamboli and Gunn) from Smackdown. Billy Gunn's biggest success was back about four or so years ago when he teamed with BG Armstrong (then known as Road Dogg) to form the New Age Outlaws tag team. Maybe we'll see a reunion in TNA soon, though I like Armstrong now in 3 Live Kru with Konnan and Ron Killings.
I wonder if the shoe will drop even further this week. There's a few people on the roster still that I would have expected to see cut first - but the only guy with an absolutely secure future is Triple H. Because he's married to the boss's daughter in real life.
So far the count is six men dropped from the roster, and three women. All the women were dumped from Raw, and four of the men were dumped from Raw, two (Stamboli and Gunn) from Smackdown. Billy Gunn's biggest success was back about four or so years ago when he teamed with BG Armstrong (then known as Road Dogg) to form the New Age Outlaws tag team. Maybe we'll see a reunion in TNA soon, though I like Armstrong now in 3 Live Kru with Konnan and Ron Killings.
I wonder if the shoe will drop even further this week. There's a few people on the roster still that I would have expected to see cut first - but the only guy with an absolutely secure future is Triple H. Because he's married to the boss's daughter in real life.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
News from elsewhere
The purges continue at WWE. Today, they dumped Chuck Palumbo, Gail Kim, and Nidia from the roster - all of whom were on Raw but pretty underutilized. Palumbo came from WCW, and made his biggest splash when he was teamed with Billy Gunn in the "gay couple gimmick" they had a couple of years ago as the bleached blonde "Billy and Chuck" tag team. He went on to have a nice Smackdown run as part of the FBI (Full-Blooded Italians) faction with Johnny "the Bull" Stamboli and Nunzio. He, along with A-Train, was "traded" to Raw back in the spring, and never really made an impact there at all. Gail Kim never made much of an impression - she was a fitness model from Toronto of Korean extraction who was gorgeous (I thought) but couldn't really work and generated no crowd heat at all.
Nidia was a bit of a surprise. She was the first female Tough Enough winner (Maven Huffman was the men's winner, and is just getting a face push right now), and only recently got to have a wrestling role on TV. After a post-Tough Enough stint at OVW, Nidia came to WWE as the "girlfriend" of redneck character Jamie Noble (who was dropped over the summer). She had a fun run there, and after they broke up the storyline she was sent to Raw (after an "injury" hiatus that she conveniently returned from with larger breasts afterwards) in the trade storyline along with Palumbo and A-Train. She wrestled as a pretty generic face during her Raw stint, but also never got any real push. But since WWE is re-doing Tough Enough after a year off (as a Smackdown segment), I would think they'd keep her around. Of the six winners so far (two each in the first three seasons), Maven's the only one with a regular wrestling-related role right now. Nidia was cut, neither of the two second season winners are in a wrestling role (Jackie Gayda is a valet for Rico and Charlie Haas on Smackdown, and Linda Miles is back in the minors after a stint as a valet for the Bashams), and the third-season winners are both in OVW - though Johnny Nitro got to be Eric Bischoff's assistant for a while on Raw.
And they're doing Tough Enough again? Why?
I still haven't watched Raw yet this week, but apparently Edge completes his heel turn. Hopefully it'll help - he was just stalling out big-time as a face on Raw. His high-water mark so far has been while working as a heel with Christian (his real-life best friend from childhood), and while working as a face on Smackdown in a program with Kurt Angle. But Kurt makes everybody look good - it's one of the reasons why he's arguably the best wrestler working today.
I'm not enamored with the changes they've been making lately at WWE in general. I still watch it, though. At the rate they're going, though, if I want to see half the wrestlers I'm familiar with I'm going to have to spend more time watching NWA-TNA Impact every Friday. They already have Sabu, Raven, and Jeff Hardy among many.
Tonight after I got home from bowling I taught David to say "Missisagua". Houses are cheap there.
Nidia was a bit of a surprise. She was the first female Tough Enough winner (Maven Huffman was the men's winner, and is just getting a face push right now), and only recently got to have a wrestling role on TV. After a post-Tough Enough stint at OVW, Nidia came to WWE as the "girlfriend" of redneck character Jamie Noble (who was dropped over the summer). She had a fun run there, and after they broke up the storyline she was sent to Raw (after an "injury" hiatus that she conveniently returned from with larger breasts afterwards) in the trade storyline along with Palumbo and A-Train. She wrestled as a pretty generic face during her Raw stint, but also never got any real push. But since WWE is re-doing Tough Enough after a year off (as a Smackdown segment), I would think they'd keep her around. Of the six winners so far (two each in the first three seasons), Maven's the only one with a regular wrestling-related role right now. Nidia was cut, neither of the two second season winners are in a wrestling role (Jackie Gayda is a valet for Rico and Charlie Haas on Smackdown, and Linda Miles is back in the minors after a stint as a valet for the Bashams), and the third-season winners are both in OVW - though Johnny Nitro got to be Eric Bischoff's assistant for a while on Raw.
And they're doing Tough Enough again? Why?
I still haven't watched Raw yet this week, but apparently Edge completes his heel turn. Hopefully it'll help - he was just stalling out big-time as a face on Raw. His high-water mark so far has been while working as a heel with Christian (his real-life best friend from childhood), and while working as a face on Smackdown in a program with Kurt Angle. But Kurt makes everybody look good - it's one of the reasons why he's arguably the best wrestler working today.
I'm not enamored with the changes they've been making lately at WWE in general. I still watch it, though. At the rate they're going, though, if I want to see half the wrestlers I'm familiar with I'm going to have to spend more time watching NWA-TNA Impact every Friday. They already have Sabu, Raven, and Jeff Hardy among many.
Tonight after I got home from bowling I taught David to say "Missisagua". Houses are cheap there.
What else went wrong?
Besides what I talked about previously, whoever set CBS up to take a fall on the Bush National Guard story was brilliant - a dirty trick worthy of Atwater himself. Once that scandal broke, it completely neutralized the story about Bush going AWOL, while the other dirty tricksters kept hammering Kerry over his Vietnam service. It's also interesting how both Florida and Ohio completely contradicted the exit polls by roughly the same margin. Everybody cheats where they can - it's an unpleasant fact. But I suspect that the Republicans did a far better job of it this year.
I hope something happens (hopefully not something that gets citizens hurt) that completely humiliates the miserable smirking SOB. Either that, or that the Northeastern US comes to it's senses and decides en masse to become a Canadian province. I love America, but this obviously isn't my America anymore.
I hope something happens (hopefully not something that gets citizens hurt) that completely humiliates the miserable smirking SOB. Either that, or that the Northeastern US comes to it's senses and decides en masse to become a Canadian province. I love America, but this obviously isn't my America anymore.
Well...
The sun is bright, but I see a lot of haze out there. The car horns are louder than the birds, who seem to have all flown away. I guess that means Shrub will probably win if Ohio's vote is finally counted. He's already doing the full-court media press to declare victory preemptively. At least this time Kerry isn't pulling a Gore and conceding prematurely.
If it turns out that way (leave it to Ohio to be Florida this time), there were a couple of factors. Turnout, while heavy, did not reach the levels that were projected yesterday morning. Advantage, Republicans. The current demographics in the South also favor them. It'll be real difficult for a Democrat to win nationally without at least picking off one southern state, especially since the Gore states from 2000 have 10 fewer electoral votes between them since reapportionment was done.
Should the Republicans hold on, it's time for the Democrats to take a page out of their playbook. One of the things that helped them make their initial takeover of Congress possible in 1994 was their unity. Especially in the Senate, where a small bloc that unites can make a real difference. So it's time for the Democrats tot get serious about acting as a party and not let anything pass. No laws of any significance. No judges, especially not for the Supreme Court. Nothing.
Bottle things up well enough, and the party in power gets blamed.
As for what this says about us as a people, I'm frankly disgusted by it. We ought to spin off all the contiguous red states as a separate country and let them have their no tax pro-war theocracy. Reboot the whole damned thing and start over. At my BNUG board meeting last night, we were all talking politics. There's a couple of conservatives in the group, a couple of liberals, and mainly centrists - most of the group supported Kerry and a couple Bush. We had some good debating among ourselves, but I pointed out that compared to the average person, we were way over at the right side of the intelligence bell curve. Most people are stupid, and that's part of why the Republican appeals work. Most Americans still think that Saddam had something to do with 9/11. A significant number believe in creationism. They're morons, and GWB is the perfect president for morons.
The only thing I'm glad of is that for the most part, my friends who supported Bush for one reason or another lived in states where they had no statistical effect on the outcome at all. So I can still speak to them and keep a relatively clear conscience.
If it turns out that way (leave it to Ohio to be Florida this time), there were a couple of factors. Turnout, while heavy, did not reach the levels that were projected yesterday morning. Advantage, Republicans. The current demographics in the South also favor them. It'll be real difficult for a Democrat to win nationally without at least picking off one southern state, especially since the Gore states from 2000 have 10 fewer electoral votes between them since reapportionment was done.
Should the Republicans hold on, it's time for the Democrats to take a page out of their playbook. One of the things that helped them make their initial takeover of Congress possible in 1994 was their unity. Especially in the Senate, where a small bloc that unites can make a real difference. So it's time for the Democrats tot get serious about acting as a party and not let anything pass. No laws of any significance. No judges, especially not for the Supreme Court. Nothing.
Bottle things up well enough, and the party in power gets blamed.
As for what this says about us as a people, I'm frankly disgusted by it. We ought to spin off all the contiguous red states as a separate country and let them have their no tax pro-war theocracy. Reboot the whole damned thing and start over. At my BNUG board meeting last night, we were all talking politics. There's a couple of conservatives in the group, a couple of liberals, and mainly centrists - most of the group supported Kerry and a couple Bush. We had some good debating among ourselves, but I pointed out that compared to the average person, we were way over at the right side of the intelligence bell curve. Most people are stupid, and that's part of why the Republican appeals work. Most Americans still think that Saddam had something to do with 9/11. A significant number believe in creationism. They're morons, and GWB is the perfect president for morons.
The only thing I'm glad of is that for the most part, my friends who supported Bush for one reason or another lived in states where they had no statistical effect on the outcome at all. So I can still speak to them and keep a relatively clear conscience.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
It's 11 PM
As I type this, the Smirking Moron has 197 electoral votes according to CNN, to Kerry's 188. Most western polls are now closed. It's still pretty much a dead heat. Based on what I've seen, we'll have a record turnout today, which may favor Kerry. I hope so.
On that note, we won't know who won definitively for hours, if we find out at all tonight. So I'm going to bed.
In the morning, if it turns out that Kerry has indeed pulled it out, I'll know because the sun will seem a little brighter, the sky a little bluer, and the birds will be chirping a little louder. The world will hopefully be on it's way to being a better place.
On the other hand, Florida and Ohio are both kind of problematic, and Kerry probably will need one of those two to win.
On that note, we won't know who won definitively for hours, if we find out at all tonight. So I'm going to bed.
In the morning, if it turns out that Kerry has indeed pulled it out, I'll know because the sun will seem a little brighter, the sky a little bluer, and the birds will be chirping a little louder. The world will hopefully be on it's way to being a better place.
On the other hand, Florida and Ohio are both kind of problematic, and Kerry probably will need one of those two to win.
In other news
The WWE released Billy Gunn, A-Train, and Test yesterday. Gunn was no surprise - it was generally known in the business that he was having "issues" (which usually means either drinking or drug problems) and he hadn't been on TV in months.
I was more surprised with the other two. Test had been a fairly reliable big man for them for a long time, was recovering from neck surgery, and was also known for being Stacy Kiebler's real-life SO. A-Train (Peabody's own Matt Bloom) was a pretty reliable big guy as well who was a solid heel character. But since getting moved over to Raw this spring he'd been all but invisible. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any room for heels that aren't part of Triple H's faction on Raw.
Why did I just write that? Because, frankly, I'm sick of writing about real sports and politics. Effective tomorrow, I'm going to try and shift my focus back to the mundane and the technical, saving my soapbox for the truly important stuff. It's more fun that way.
But I will rant about the election a little bit first. We voted early today, and turnout was very heavy. Hopefully that's a good sign.
I was more surprised with the other two. Test had been a fairly reliable big man for them for a long time, was recovering from neck surgery, and was also known for being Stacy Kiebler's real-life SO. A-Train (Peabody's own Matt Bloom) was a pretty reliable big guy as well who was a solid heel character. But since getting moved over to Raw this spring he'd been all but invisible. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any room for heels that aren't part of Triple H's faction on Raw.
Why did I just write that? Because, frankly, I'm sick of writing about real sports and politics. Effective tomorrow, I'm going to try and shift my focus back to the mundane and the technical, saving my soapbox for the truly important stuff. It's more fun that way.
But I will rant about the election a little bit first. We voted early today, and turnout was very heavy. Hopefully that's a good sign.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Life goes on
Meanwhile, with the loss to Pittsburgh yesterday, the Patriots have returned to reality. I don't think any team will equal their 21-game streak any time in the immediate future - in fact, given the parity in the NFL it could well never happen again. Right now, their concern though should be hoping Dillon, Law, and Samuel are healthy enough to go next weekend.
In other sports news, a tempest is brewing on talk radio over Kevin Millar's comments about downing a shot before the last few games. If I ever run into him in a bar, I'll take matters into my own hands...
And buy him a shot. Thanks for winning the title, guys - ignore the people who whine about "oh, it's such a terrible example for young ballplayers" and crap like that. You're adults. Booze is legal. Whoopdee-doo.
In other booze-related news, I was in Cambridge today to help a client with a MacOS X Server migration. The best part was (other than getting paid) was that on the way home I was able to stop at the Memorial Drive Trader Joe's and pick up a case of assorted Charles Shaw wines. Affectionately known among wine people as "Two-buck Chuck" (though here on the East Coast it actually costs $3), Shaw sells a full array of wines through Trader Joe's, and has a terrific reputation for a good product at a drop-dead price. A case should last us most of the year unless we have a big party.
Another Halloween has passed here - we went to the Welch's house for trick-or-treating like we did last year (see the old pics on David's site for the history). This year he went as the Cowardly Lion. Actually, he was supposed to just be a lion, but he turned into a big wuss when we got there and we had trouble getting his costume on him. After a while, he accepted it and we were able to head out, though getting him to keep the lion head part on was a struggle. He scored lots of candy. Again. But we kept the sugar overload as light as possible.
Despite that, he was still up about every two hours last night, so we both got very little sleep. Tonight'll be an early night for sure.
The other X-factor about how long the case will last: if the Smirking Moron gets re-appointed to the Presidency, I may chug about half the case tomorrow night.
In other sports news, a tempest is brewing on talk radio over Kevin Millar's comments about downing a shot before the last few games. If I ever run into him in a bar, I'll take matters into my own hands...
And buy him a shot. Thanks for winning the title, guys - ignore the people who whine about "oh, it's such a terrible example for young ballplayers" and crap like that. You're adults. Booze is legal. Whoopdee-doo.
In other booze-related news, I was in Cambridge today to help a client with a MacOS X Server migration. The best part was (other than getting paid) was that on the way home I was able to stop at the Memorial Drive Trader Joe's and pick up a case of assorted Charles Shaw wines. Affectionately known among wine people as "Two-buck Chuck" (though here on the East Coast it actually costs $3), Shaw sells a full array of wines through Trader Joe's, and has a terrific reputation for a good product at a drop-dead price. A case should last us most of the year unless we have a big party.
Another Halloween has passed here - we went to the Welch's house for trick-or-treating like we did last year (see the old pics on David's site for the history). This year he went as the Cowardly Lion. Actually, he was supposed to just be a lion, but he turned into a big wuss when we got there and we had trouble getting his costume on him. After a while, he accepted it and we were able to head out, though getting him to keep the lion head part on was a struggle. He scored lots of candy. Again. But we kept the sugar overload as light as possible.
Despite that, he was still up about every two hours last night, so we both got very little sleep. Tonight'll be an early night for sure.
The other X-factor about how long the case will last: if the Smirking Moron gets re-appointed to the Presidency, I may chug about half the case tomorrow night.
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