Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
A skyscraper boom in India?
Yes, a skyscraper boom in India. However, Bloomberg is cautioning that it could be a sign of a bubble.
Monday, January 9, 2012
The Met Who Blames Everything on the Wilpons | New York Magazine
Everyone is speculating on the source for the post at New York Magazine about the current state of the Mets:
"You know what I think when I read about the Mets nowadays? We’ve become the Oakland A’s. We’re the Pittsburgh Pirates. Our fans deserve better than that. You can’t possibly build a dynasty when you’re cutting costs left and right. The only way to turn it around is to sell the team.
It hurts me to say this, because I’ve always liked Fred Wilpon. I know in his heart how much he wants the Mets to succeed. He’s always lived and died with the team. But there comes a time when it’s no longer possible to be in charge. Fred doesn’t have enough money to make it work."
If this hastens the Wilpons' departure, I hope this post gets a lot of traction.
"You know what I think when I read about the Mets nowadays? We’ve become the Oakland A’s. We’re the Pittsburgh Pirates. Our fans deserve better than that. You can’t possibly build a dynasty when you’re cutting costs left and right. The only way to turn it around is to sell the team.
It hurts me to say this, because I’ve always liked Fred Wilpon. I know in his heart how much he wants the Mets to succeed. He’s always lived and died with the team. But there comes a time when it’s no longer possible to be in charge. Fred doesn’t have enough money to make it work."
If this hastens the Wilpons' departure, I hope this post gets a lot of traction.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Coutinho: Never Count Out Mets’ Johan Santana « CBS New York
The very first domino in the 2012 New York Mets season will be what the Mets get from Johan Santana. As the often optimistic Rich Coutinho points out, you never know in the game of baseball:
"Nobody expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to rebound from a 90 loss season to win the NL West. Nobody expected the last two World Champions to be squads with under a $100 million payroll. No one expected an AL East team not to be in the World Series the last two years. It is the reason we play the games and it is the reason sports is such great theater."
A lot has been said about how long it took for Chien-Ming Wang to return and that Mark Prior never returned from the same surgery. However, Prior was a hard thrower and Wang, although not a strikeout guy, made a living on a hard sinker. Santana's bread-and-butter has been the change-up, a pitch that doesn't require aggressive arm and shoulder movement. I would expect the recovery to be less involved, not to mention that additional knowledge gained from the Prior and Wang experiences for trainers to adjust accordingly.
"Nobody expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to rebound from a 90 loss season to win the NL West. Nobody expected the last two World Champions to be squads with under a $100 million payroll. No one expected an AL East team not to be in the World Series the last two years. It is the reason we play the games and it is the reason sports is such great theater."
A lot has been said about how long it took for Chien-Ming Wang to return and that Mark Prior never returned from the same surgery. However, Prior was a hard thrower and Wang, although not a strikeout guy, made a living on a hard sinker. Santana's bread-and-butter has been the change-up, a pitch that doesn't require aggressive arm and shoulder movement. I would expect the recovery to be less involved, not to mention that additional knowledge gained from the Prior and Wang experiences for trainers to adjust accordingly.
India's Infrastructure Woes
A very interesting analysis in The Economist about the current infrastructure issues facing India today:
"For the past half decade India’s infrastructure industry has enjoyed a Sea Link moment; a blast of growth when one could imagine that the private sector could deliver all the new roads, bridges, power stations and airports that the country needs so badly. The government says the boom will continue. Over the next five years it predicts that infrastructure investment will reach a new high relative to GDP, with some $1 trillion spent, half of it by the private sector. The trouble with this rosy prediction is that the balance-sheets of many Indian infrastructure firms are as potholed as the roads they resurface."
That Sea Link bridge in Mumbai is pretty sweet though:
"For the past half decade India’s infrastructure industry has enjoyed a Sea Link moment; a blast of growth when one could imagine that the private sector could deliver all the new roads, bridges, power stations and airports that the country needs so badly. The government says the boom will continue. Over the next five years it predicts that infrastructure investment will reach a new high relative to GDP, with some $1 trillion spent, half of it by the private sector. The trouble with this rosy prediction is that the balance-sheets of many Indian infrastructure firms are as potholed as the roads they resurface."
That Sea Link bridge in Mumbai is pretty sweet though:
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Most influential Canadian in baseball is ... | Baseball | Sports | Toronto Sun
I think the most insulting part of this list is Jason Bay is nowhere to be found on it. I guess nice guys don't even finish last anymore!
Monday, January 2, 2012
My BCS Playoff Proposal Re-re-revisited
I first proposed a BCS playoff system after the 2008 season, which I then revisited in 2009 and 2010 to show what the matchups would look like. So without further adieu, here is what this season's conference championships and BCS standings would give us.
Conference Champions (with the final BCS ranking in parentheses)
ACC - Clemson (15)
Big East - West Virginia (23)
Big Ten - Wisconsin (10)
Big 12 - Oklahoma State (3)
PAC 12 - Oregon (5)
SEC - LSU (1)
At-large teams
Alabama (2)
Boise State (7) - based on being a mid-major team within the top ten.
Since Boise State would qualify as a mid-major team in the top ten, this would mean Stanford is out of Luck (pun intended).
#1 LSU vs. #8 West Virginia (Sugar Bowl)
#2 Alabama vs. #7 Clemson (Orange Bowl)
#3 Oklahoma State vs. #6 Wisconsin (Fiesta Bowl)
#4 Oregon vs. #5 Boise State (Rose Bowl)
We could still potentially see an Alabama vs. LSU national championship game but how much more legitimate would it be if those two teams had to play through Oklahoma State and Oregon to get there?
Conference Champions (with the final BCS ranking in parentheses)
ACC - Clemson (15)
Big East - West Virginia (23)
Big Ten - Wisconsin (10)
Big 12 - Oklahoma State (3)
PAC 12 - Oregon (5)
SEC - LSU (1)
At-large teams
Alabama (2)
Boise State (7) - based on being a mid-major team within the top ten.
Since Boise State would qualify as a mid-major team in the top ten, this would mean Stanford is out of Luck (pun intended).
#1 LSU vs. #8 West Virginia (Sugar Bowl)
#2 Alabama vs. #7 Clemson (Orange Bowl)
#3 Oklahoma State vs. #6 Wisconsin (Fiesta Bowl)
#4 Oregon vs. #5 Boise State (Rose Bowl)
We could still potentially see an Alabama vs. LSU national championship game but how much more legitimate would it be if those two teams had to play through Oklahoma State and Oregon to get there?
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