Where I'll be for the next 2 weeks:
27th-29th: Wisconsin with Lisa
29th-30th: Sleeping at Mark's in Minneapolis
30th: Flying to London
30th-10th: England
10th: Flying Home
10th-11th: Sleeping at Mark's
11th: Home
Unfortunately, I'll be pretty much uncontactable. I'll see you when I get back.
Jacque Jones: 1 year, $5 Million. I'm not too bummed about Jacque coming back. He's a solid defender who just doesn't have much of a bat at times. What I am bummed about is the amount they signed him for. I would have given him that much for 2 years, maybe. This money could have been better spent on acquiring an infielder better than Juan Castro. I think this doesn't happen if Kubel doesn't get hurt.
Luis Rivas: 1 year, $1.6 Million. I am not very happy about this signing. I know that Rivas has a lot of potential to be a great player, but sometimes prospects don't pan out. I think the time is approaching where he should be shipped away to someone who can wait for him to pan out. The Twins have spent too much time waiting for Luis to come around. They either need to cut him loose on the basepaths or take his weak bat out of the lineup. If they are going to keep him, there is no reason to keep him on a leash.
Matt LeCroy: 1 year, $750,000. His three homeruns in three pinch hitting appearances at the beginning of the year was pretty impressive. Other than that, LeCroy doesn't really bring much to the table. If he's going to catch, why sign Mike Redmond? If he's DH'ing, where is Lew going to play? Lew isn't going to be in the outfield with Jones coming back to the team. For a third catcher, I think Rob Bowen is a better option. He's in much better shape than LeCroy, and doesn't give up much, if anything, behind the plate or at it. I think Matty is the odd man out. Too bad, too. I enjoyed watching him try to leg out a double.
Michael Ryan: 1 year, ~$321,000. I think that the organization has long underutilized Ryan. I think that he could contribute much more to the team than he currently has an opportunity to. I was hoping that Jones wouldn't be coming back, and he'd then be the 4th outfielder. So much for that
Matt Guerrier: 1 year, ~$318,000. He pitched 19 innings, gave up 22 hits and 12 earned runs in 9 games last year. Of those 9 games, he started only 2, ending the season with a 0-1 record. All of this may sound bad, but don't fret. I saw him pitch on TV, and I think he's got potential. This isn't a lot of money to be spending on a pitching prospect who, I think, could be very useful out of the pen in the near future. I just hope they don't ride this train as long as they have the Rivas 3:20 to Chaska if he doesn't pan out.
I heard about Wilco from a friend of mine, so I went out and found a copy of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. What I found was a folksy, rockish band who made really good music. The music is a blend of simple, yet powerful, lyrics, easy going beats, and pretty good guitar. The songs go from upbeat to mellow to somewhat sad.
Jeff Tweedy - Lead Vocals, Guitar
John Stirratt - Bass
Leroy Bach - Guitar
Glen Kotche - Drums
My notes I jotted down in my Differential Equations notebook:
Tomorrow (technically later today since it's 3AM) I have my last final, differential equations. After that, end-of-the-semester party. I'm going home on Friday. I'll then be bored by Friday night. See all of those updates I've promised you guys on the left? Expect them to start appearing as I find a way to distract myself from the mindnumbing mundanity that is small town Iowa. Needless to say, finals is one of the busiest times of the year for the college student. This would be the reason for the lack of updates. It's the two week section of the year where I exert some effort towards being a good student. Just 11 more hours and I'm free.
I'm getting a haircut next week. I don't want to have to mess with this much hair while I'm in London. We are going to be bums for a week and a half, so my hair will get pretty nasty unless I get rid of some of it. I need suggestions on what to do with it. A link to a picture I can show my haircutter would be appreciated. Thanks
I know I'm a little late on this, but I'm lazy and busy. The combination does not make for good blogging.
The other day, the Twins signed Brad Radke, or Bradke if you are so inclined, to a 2 year, $18 Million deal. This is a great day. Radke was asking for 3 years at $11 Million per. Radke could have easily signed elsewhere for a whole lot more than $9 Million per year. The Angels and Red Sox were both reportedly talking to Radke. With Radke still in town, I dare anyone to name a better 1-2 punch than Radke/Santana. If Wood and Prior can both get healthy at the same time, I'd say that they may be better. That's about it. The Twins also offered arbitration to Corey Koskie, Henry Blanco, and Terry Mulholland.
Let's start with Blanco. Offering him arbitration did nothing as he signed the same day with the Cubs for 2 years, $2.7 Million and the Twins had already signed Mike Redmond. $1.35 Million per year for a backup catcher? As Adam Steven David says "Oh, the perks of being Maddux's favorite catcher." I hadn't thought of that until he mentioned it. Now I'm very sure that Maddux suggested, probably very politely, that the Cubs sign Blanco for him.
I'm not sure how I feel about Terry Mulholland. He is a veteran leader in the bullpen or a starting role, which is very helpful to the team. But also, when I say "veteran" I mean the Crimean War. I'm not sure how much longer Terry can go. I'd hate to see him try one more year and end up getting hurt. That would not be the way to go.
Corey Koskie. What about Corey Koskie? Many people say that Koskie needs to be resigned at almost any cost. In the 11 games where Terry Tiffee started at 3B, the Twins were, according to my calculations, 10-1. I know a mere 11 games doesn't indicate future performance very well. But I ask you, the Twins faithful, why are you attached to Koskie? I know, I like him too. But don't let your emotional attachment cloud your judgement. Is an aging third baseman who is chronically injured high on the list of people? If the Twins can resign him, I'm sure he'd do great, but if they don't, I don't think it'll be the loss people make it out to be.
I know for a fact that this position of mine will not sit well with some of you. I'm open to intelligent, level-headed discussion on the topic. Please, don't make an ass out of yourself.
Velvet Revolver:
Best Hard Rock Performance - "Slither"
Main Competition: Incubus - Megalomaniac
Best Rock Song - "Fall to Pieces"
Main Competition: U2 - "Vertigo", Green Day - "American Idiot"
Best Rock Album - Contraband
Main Competition: Green Day - American Idiot
Franz Ferdinand:
Best Alternative Music Album - Franz Ferdinand
Main Competition: Modest Mouse - Good News for People who Love Bad News, Wilco - A Ghost is Born
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal - "Take Me Out"
Main Competition:U2 - "Vertigo", Green Day - "American Idiot"
Best Short Form Music Video - "Take Me Out"
Main Competition:U2 - "Vertigo", Green Day - "American Idiot"
Wilco:
Best Alternative Music Album - A Ghost is Born
Main Competition: Modest Mouse - Good News for People who Love Bad News, Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Best Recording Package - A Ghost is Born
Main Competition: Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs
And, just for Sara!
Britney Spears:
Best Dance Recording - "Toxic"
I hope that Velvet Revolver beats out U2. I usually think U2 is pretty good, but this album was crap. "Vertigo" is an awful song. I can't stand it. Green Day, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about. I really hate the song "American Idiot". I don't care what you have to say about its sociopolitical commentary or anything like that, it's a bad song. But I do like "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", so the whole album might not be too bad. But, unfortunately, I see U2 and/or Green Day cleaning up this year.
As for Franz Ferdinand going up against Wilco, I can't call this one really. I haven't really heard this album by Wilco a lot. If it was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I definately wouldn't be able to pick. But because I haven't heard much of A Ghost is Born, I'm going to have to go with Franz Ferdinand on this one.
I'm sure you've all heard by now that some major league players have admitted to using steroids. A quick recap:
Barry Bonds - Admitted to using steriods. Claims he didn't know they were steroids
Jason Giambi - Admitted to knowingly using steroids.
Gary Sheffield - Admitted to using steriods. Claims he didn't know they were steroids.
There are some others, like Jeremy Giambi, who no one cares about because they sucked even on steriods.
This whole situation is angering as a baseball fan. My initial reaction was to ban them all for life. Then, once I started thinking rationally, I changed my mind. What if Bonds or Sheffield really didn't know what they were taking? I'd never take anything I didn't know what it was, but if their trainers, some one they trust, gave it to them, I can understand why they didn't question it. So, I propose a mitigated system of suspensions.
First time, 1 calendar year of suspension. No questions. If they catch you on June 6th, you can play again on June 6th next year. No playoffs, practice, spring training, nothing. You are forbidden from all formal team functions. Also, you recieve the league minimum salary while you are suspended. I don't expect a guy to try to feed his family and pay bills using only his savings.
Second time, forever. If having to sit out an entire year didn't teach you to check labels, that's too damn bad. Don't be such a dumbass. Your contract immediately becomes null and void and you are forbidden from ever signing another major league contract. You can also kiss the Hall of Fame goodbye.
I also fault Major League Baseball for being a bunch of pansies and not standing up to the Player's Union and demanding a tougher testing policy. They should have random tests, whenever, where ever. Offseason and during the season. Major League Baseball has not only the law on their side as steroids are illegal anyway, but more importantly the fans. If Selig doesn't use what is unquestionably the most support from the public as he's ever had to crack down on this, he will have failed, and failed miserably. Hank Aaron, in an interview this week, said it better than anyone else I've heard speak on the issue. He said, simply, "any way you look at it, it's wrong."
I know I haven't written anything in awhile. Finals are coming up so I've actually taken to doing school work. I promise that the updates in the box to the left will be up eventually. Speaking of the boxes to the left, I've added the Update List, Playlist, and TagBoard. Also, I've gotten the comments to work again. I'd accidentally deleted some fairly important HTML code somewhere along the way.
Ok, so yesterday I found a really cool script for my page. It's called Tag Board. Pretty much, it's a comment place, like a bulletin board for the internet where you can put up messages. I'm hoping this will help the communication because I know a lot of you don't have Blogger accounts. I'll also be putting what I'm working on on the Tag Board so you know what to look for.
