Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Religion & the individual mandate | The Incidental Economist

As the court cases and appeals of the Affordable Care Act move on through the system, I have a feeling this particular charge is going to gain traction on the Right.

Why is the McRib Sandwich only a temporary item at McDonald's? | The Incidental Economist

I never noticed this. I don't get why someone else would either.

WHAT?!?!?! | Teens Using Vodka Soaked Tampons To Get Drunk

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!?! This is an actual news story and, scarier still, it's not just girls doing this.

"If we’re not going to finish first, it doesn’t matter if we’re last."

In a column in today's New York Times, Tyler Kepner states the obvious:

"In a loaded division, one team must absorb a lot of losses. In the A.L. East, that team has long been the Baltimore Orioles. And in the N.L. East, that team could well be the Mets. That may be true no matter where Jose Reyes ends up, but it is especially likely if a division rival snags him."

He also brings up an interesting thought, one which I've agreed with:

"General Manager Sandy Alderson is viewed as a realistic decision maker. He could let things become worse for a while if it means a sound future for the organization. The healthiest thing Alderson did last season was trade Carlos Beltran for the minor league pitcher Zack Wheeler, who is now considered the Mets’ best prospect.

“Sandy’s not afraid to say, ‘If we’re not going to finish first, it doesn’t matter if we’re last,’ ” said an official of a rival team, who was granted anonymity so he could talk candidly about another team’s plans. “He’ll break it down if he has to. The question is, can it get by ownership?”
"

Welcome to the 1982 New York Mets.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Always More To The Story

I'm glad someone finally wrote what I've thought for years.

The importance of developing starting pitching

This post reminds me a lot of what the Mets did in the early 1980's when they brought up Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling and made the trade for Bob Ojeda.

The Flagrant Fan: Unique Talent of Jose Reyes

The Flagrant Fan: Unique Talent of Jose Reyes: Jose Reyes has already compiled the third highest fWAR of all shortstops since he began his career in 2003. Only Derek Jeter (41) and Ji...

Monday, November 7, 2011

Trading a 29-year old superstar...

Picture for a moment a team with a 29-year old superstar that is considered the face of the franchise. He plays for the team he cheered for as a boy and is loyal to them beyond dollars and cents. His team is a few years removed from contention but is not considered to be in contention in the near future regardless of what the ownership or diehard fans believe. Thus the team considers moving him to another team, for whom he could be "final piece to the puzzle", in exchange for bodies to fill the roster.

No, I'm not talking about a potential David Wright deal. I'm talking about Mike Piazza. The only difference is that, in 1998, the Mets were the team on the cusp of contention that needed Piazza. And no one is going to argue that Piazza meant less to the Dodgers in 1998 than Wright means to the Mets today.

Much has been written about whether or not the Mets should trade David Wright, including by me. Joel Sherman wrote an excellent column outlining what the Mets could get back in exchange for Wright. The blog Metzilla shared its thoughts on moving Wright, as did the SNY Why Guys.

If Sherman's reporting is accurate, I wonder what kind of bidding war could take place between the Angels and Rockies (the two teams rumored to be interested in Wright) if the Angels were to include Peter Bourjos and the Rockies were to include Dexter Fowler in a potential deal. I admit, these aren't marquee names. However, they could be pieces to build upon until the potentially marquee names of Wheeler, Harvey, Familia, Flores, Nimmo, et al arrive in Flushing.

Met fans were deeply depressed when Lee Mazzilli, the homegrown Brooklyn native and lone All-Star of the 1979 Mets team, was traded for two minor league pitchers. However, one of those guys netted in that deal was Ron Darling and the other, Walt Terrell, was flipped later for Howard Johnson. Of course, it only helped the psyche of anyone still hurting from that 1982 deal that Maz was a free agent in the middle of the 1986 season and was re-signed for the stretch run for the eventual 1986 World Champions.

Met fans got over Mazzilli, Dodger fans got over Piazza, and Red Sox fans certainly got over Garciaparra. This will be a sad off-season if Reyes signs elsewhere (which he probably will) and Wright gets traded (which he likely could.) However, life will go on for Met fans and eventually the core will be re-built to establish a consistent year-in, year-out, level of superiority and respectability.

My only request: keep Wright and Reyes out of the NL East and, preferably, both of them end up in the American League on different teams. Beyond that, I can only say as a fan, best of luck and thanks for the memories. Too bad there wasn't more to the minor league talent pool beyond those two guys to create something sustainable beyond 2006.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Rex to Play Pats Fan in Sandler Movie - TheJetsBlog.com

This is a funny idea.

A Statistical Analysis of Michael Bay Movies

The fact that someone did this is crazy. The fact that there is such a high correlation between explosions and profit is funny.

What is a New York payroll? | Metsblog.com

I never thought about it this way but Matt Cerrone of Metsblog.com makes a fantastic point about the difference between a New York baseball team and the other 28 baseball teams:

"The difference between New York sports and other cities is that our teams have to compete with eight other franchises, not to mention Broadway, world-class restaurants, historic museums, and a variety of other ways to spend an entertainment dollar."

Half Man, Half Amazing - TheJetsBlog.com

Yet another tale of the incredible Darrelle Revis. Best of all, it's starting to rub off on Revis-Lite.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Loyal to a Fault?

In his article on the Mets' chances of trading David Wright, Andy Martino shares a great tidbit about David Wright:

"It is also worth remembering Wright's loyalty close friends say, affectionately, that he is loyal to a fault and his genuine desire is to lead the Mets out of this latest wilderness. In an age of cold capitalism in sports, those qualities are rare."

Yes, those qualities are rare. And very heartwarming too.

Holly Petraeus Talks the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Senate | The White House

Holly Petraeus Talks the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Senate | The White House

"I'll tell you who is an attractive man: George Will."

There's a great exchange between Elaine, Kramer, and Jerry in the Seinfeld episode "The Jimmy":

Jerry: "Elaine and I we're just discussing whether I could admit a man is attractive."
Kramer: "Hmm! Oh! Yeah. I'll tell you who is an attractive man: George Will."
Jerry: "Really!"
Kramer: "Yeah! He has clean looks, scrubbed and shampooed and...."
Elaine: "He's smart...."
Kramer: "No, no I don't find him all that bright."


It turns out Kramer was right as George Will makes the ridiculous leap from an on-campus religious organization at Vanderbilt University expelling a member after finding out he was gay to claiming progressives would want pharmacists to lose their licences if they refuse to dispense the morning-after pill:

"Here, however, is how progressivism limits freedom by abolishing the public-private distinction: First, a human right — to, say, engage in homosexual practices — is deemed so personal that government should have no jurisdiction over it. Next, this right breeds another right, to the support or approval of others. Finally, those who disapprove of it must be coerced.

Sound familiar? It should. First, abortion should be an individual’s choice. Then, abortion should be subsidized by government. Next, pro-life pharmacists who object to prescribing abortifacients should lose their licenses. Thus do rights shrink to privileges reserved for those with government-approved opinions.

The question, at Vanderbilt and elsewhere, should not be whether a particular viewpoint is right but whether an expressive association has a right to espouse it. Unfortunately, in the name of tolerance, what is tolerable is being defined ever more narrowly.
"

This is what I don't get about conservatives like George Will. There is no nuance to their positions. What does one issue have to do with the other? Nothing. Then why would the same principles apply? To Will and other neocons, every idea must apply equally to everything completely unrelated to it. Either you are with them or you're against them. The whole world is one big gray area yet they are so blind to it that everything can only be black or white.

Another great part of that Seinfeld episode was the character of 'Jimmy', who used to refer to himself in the third person and got George Costanza to do the same.

In that case, Amod agrees with Kramer. Amod doesn't find George Will all that bright either.

R.A. Dickey Partnering With Bombay Teen Challenge

Let's Go Mets! New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will be partnering with Bombay Teen Challenge this January to end human trafficking in Mumbai. Check out the video:

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and that's pretty much it.

If you read Afghanistan's history, the only men to conquer this essentially landless region were Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Everyone else pretty much failed miserably. Tom Friedman references that with yet another excellent column in today's New York Times:

"Last week, I toured the great Mogul compound of Fatehpur Sikri, near the Taj Mahal. My Indian guide mentioned in passing that in the late 1500s, when Afghanistan was part of India and the Mogul Empire, the Iranian Persians invaded Afghanistan in an effort to “seize the towns of Herat and Kandahar” and a great battle ensued. I had to laugh to myself: “Well, add them to that long list of suckers — countries certain that controlling Afghanistan’s destiny was vital to their national security.”"

The rest of Friedman's column is worth reading as well.

Excellent op-ed by Bill Gates in today's Washington Post

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates wrote an excellent op-ed piece in today's Washington Post, ahead of his presentation to the heads of the G-20 nations on Thursday. One key blurb from his piece:

"Aid is targeted to fill specific gaps in development. The most important of these gaps is innovation. When the private sector doesn’t have incentive, and poor governments don’t have the money, smart aid pays for breakthrough solutions. The green revolution that fed a billion people in the 1950s and ’60s never would have happened without advanced agricultural science funded by U.S. aid."

Tuesday, November 1, 2011