The Wisdom of the Earl of Baltimore

broderic on July 10, 2009

I finished Moneyball this past weekend (review coming soon), and in it, was a reference to great Oriole coach, Earl Weaver. His coaching philosophy was the progenitor to the whole Moneyball/OBP theory of baseball: the 27 outs allotted to your team are precious, preserve them as best you can.

The Earl was famously quoted, “Pitching, defense, and the three run homerun,” as keys to winning. Damn straight! He won a lot of games while he was the manager. The Orioles haven’t since.

Here’s a great SI article, A MIND FOR THE GAME Before laptops, spreadsheets and – 07.13.09 – SI Vault with an interview of the Earl.

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Yeah, this will is getting boring quick

broderic on July 9, 2009

Dear Kami-sama,

Get us out of this infinite loop! Help!

BrowserMetrics

PS. We’re into the fourth week of this story arc. I loved it the first to times. The third time last week. Not so much. It’s gonna repeat again? Yikes! Haruhi-sama, please stop! Kyon-kun’s gonna agree to go out on a date with you. I’ll do the same, if you’ll just make it stop!

The god of thunder takes the win

broderic on July 9, 2009

Thor Hushovd of Cervelo Test Team wins a rain soaked sixth stage. Is this a tour or what? And is the the Tour de France or Espagne? Or Cataluna? They went from Girona to Barcelona neither of which is in France.

David Millar of Garmin-Slipstream tried to repeat the breakaway success like yesterday, but gets swept up in the last kilometer. It’s cruel, but that’s the chance you take. Millar is someone to root for as he was once suspended for doping infractions, but has been riding clean with the Slipstream team. He almost had it today, but the sprinters’ teams are not going let another stage slip away.

Back to Thor. He’s a monster of a rider, bigger and bulkier than any in the peloton. He is a former winner of the Green Jersey (sprinter’s jersey). So he’s got speed. And yet, he can’t win against Columbia-HTC’s Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish. But today was the day. This stage finished up a hill, which, because of his power meant that it was a good finish for Thor. And it was!

I’m liking that this blog is turning out to be a sports blog! One day O’s another day Le Tour. The O’s suck, and Le Tour is only in July, so bear with me for the next couple of weeks.

I’ve been tivoing Le Tour to watch the live stuff rather than watching it at night. I like the Brits rather than the Americans doing the play-by-play although Phil Liggett is starting to get senile. Yesterday, my tivo didn’t record the post stage awards. I missed the podium girls! I like the podium girls! Bring me the podium girls! I especially like the navy-white for the stage winner. Mmm. The polka-dots are cool too. Yellow, not so much.

The Legend of Tommy Voeckler

broderic on July 9, 2009

The most lucky of French cyclists (or unlucky if you see him go on a breakaway), Thomas Voeckler wins his first stage of Le Tour. Not of this years version, but of the several he’s participated in. Of course, he’s a former yellow jersey winner holding off Lance Armstrong for 10 days in 2004.

Way to go Tommy! Chapeau!

As you can see, he won the heart of all of France in 2004 in fighting to keep the yellow on the climb up the Plat de baile. He’s also one of my favorites, because of this charge and you can always count on him to go out a try and win a stage. Finally, he’s won one.

Rooting against Armstrong

broderic on July 7, 2009

Today’s the Team Time Trial in Le Tour 2009. You and your mates against the clock. Which team’s the fastest around town? Astana with their multi-headed captains seems to be the favorite. They’ve got Armstrong, Contador, and Leipheimer. They are the NY Yankees of the sport.

I’m hoping they lose today. Not gonna happen.

Weird to be rooting against Armstrong, but it happens. Allez other teams! Allez!

The Proposal

broderic on July 7, 2009

The Proposal stars Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock in a romantic comedy neither romantic or comedic. He’s assistant to her hard charging NYC book editor. She’s a ballbuster. He’s doing it for the chance to break into the literary world. She’s doing it because she has no family. They need to marry, so that she isn’t deported. Ha. Ha. Ha.

That’s a tired cliche of a gag if I ever saw one.

And the movie is tired. I didn’t really laugh. The romance was a given and hard to believe. Ryan Reynolds is not given enough to do as a “Ryan Reynolds” roll. No smart mouthing or glib commenting. Just stand there and let Sandra Bullock be the movie’s driving force. She couldn’t be, or at least I couldn’t accept her as it. Come on, it’s Ryan Reynolds you want to see not Sandra Bullock. And I’m a guy. I wonder what the girls who’ve seen it think.

I’m all for tsundere goodness, but Sandra Bullock could not capture it. She’s mean, but you couldn’t have told me she had a caring side. Only the writers could do that, and they shoe horned it in to fit the happy ending.

Blech.

2 of 5 stars.

Yakyuu on the mind

broderic on July 6, 2009

It’s a Sunday. It’s a day game. It’s the finale of a series. It’s a loss. With the home team, Orioles, continuing their less than mediocre ways, it’s time to look in to the game around as its played in Japan.

Here’s the NY Times writing about the
atmosphere in the stadiums of Japan. Very much different than the quiet of Camden Yards. If we could only get as rowdy, we wouldn’t have to worry too much about the awful Red Sox fans who visit our lovely park.

Then there is the adopted team of BrowserMetrics, the Hiroshima Toyou Carp. They’re playing better than the O’s but not much better. They too are below .500 in winning, but the distance to respectability is shorter for them than for the hapless O’s. Plus they’ve got a new stadium, Mazda Zoom-Zoom Park.

Finally, about some manga and anime. Mitsura Adachi’s Cross Game is an amazing manga. The anime only slightly less. We’re going to the Koshien! Taishou Yakyuu Musume is just starting up. I’m not sure I like it, but it’s got baseball, anime girls, sailor uniforms, and kimonos. It’s got the game.

Le Tour begins 2009

broderic on July 4, 2009

I’m sitting on my couch catching the prologue stage to this year’s Tour de France nursing my sore body. I lamed out because of all this soreness.

Currently, it’s a time trial stage with Team Astana ruling the standings Levi Leipheimer in the lead with the old man, seven time winner, Lance Armstrong sitting in third. I can’t believe that Astana is running with three leaders, Armstrong, Leipheimer, and Contador. A fourth, Andreas Klöden, is dangerous himself. That team is stacked. They are dangerous, but with too many cooks, will they spoil the broth and not get the win.

Everyone’s darling team from last year, Garmin-Chipotle, seems to have disappeared from the radar. Hopefully, they can come back and remind the world that the sport doesn’t need the drugs. Dave Zabriskie is their most renowned rider along with Christian Van de velde. Maybe they can do something special this tour. Perhaps fight off the Astana juggernaut.

Then there is the story of the two japanese riders. They hope to be the first finishers from the land of the rising sun. Banzaii! to these guys as three weeks is a long time on the bike. (I can’t even do two straight days.)

Here’s to a good tour.

Best thing since Brooks Robinson?

broderic on July 2, 2009

My dad used to have season tickets pretty close to section 34, perhaps section 35? And when we’d go we’d cheer along. “O! R! I! O! L! E! S! ORIOLES!” Just dig it. Baseball, beer and cheering ain’t that the fun. Funny thing, they lost to the Red Sux that day as well.