B-dub

It can be done; but honestly for many people it's just a license to take a day off without using up their vacation and personal days. I have three direct reports and (knowing them like I do) discourage them from working from home because I know for a fact that they are not actually going to be working much except for a token e-mail or two that I get CCed on to "prove" that they did something that day. Once every few weeks I work from home myself and I tend to get just as much done if not more. Of course I don't tell my staff I'm working from home until the morning of, because I know that they'll show up later than usual if they know I won't be in the office that day.

Honestly I haven't much followed the Mets' off-season moves or spring training much this off-season, and this is about the least "into it" I've been for a new baseball season in quite a number of years. I'm still pissed off at the club for the past two seasons: not so much the players and the manager (they come and go), more so the ownership. The Mets are the third-richest club in Major League Baseball yet they operate like a mid-market team. A few years ago the owner Fred Wilpon slipped up and famously said in the media that the club's goal was to play "meaningful games" in September; which basically means he doesn't care if the team makes the playoffs let alone winning the World Series. After the predictable outrage from the fans (and the 2007 collapse) his son Jeff Wilipon (now the club's Chief Operating Officer) revised that remark and stated the team's goal now is to have meaningful games into "late October", which would imply at least winning the pennant (but still not winning the World Series). OK, so now they've got slightly higher ambitions. So, what do they do last season after Omar Minaya fails to sign any relievers before the trading deadline, goes into the stretch run with a AAA-quality bullpen, and presides over another failed playff run ... they give him a contract extension! (and also retain the manager Jerry Manuel, who I don't blame for the last season's finish, but still.) So that proves once and for all that the team's ownership could absolutely care less about winning a championship. They'll never admit this, but the Wilpons' whole business model sates that if the Mets are just good enough to remain in playoff contention and keep the fans interested, they'll sell enough tickets, sell enough shirts and caps, and get good enough TV ratings to turn a profit. Anything beyond that (like say, actually making the playoffs and winning a playoff series or two) is just a bonus. This would be fine for a smaller-market team with fewer fans and a smaller revenue stream (Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Seattle, etc.), but for a team in the nation's largest media market with a huge fan base and loads of money, it's a disgrace. Last year the Mets failed to make the playoffs on the final day of the season for the second year in a row, crushing the spirits of thousands of fans. The Wilpons did not give a shit. Why? There were over 50,000 people in the stands that final Sunday and they had a profitable year. So what if the team lost. The fact that they seriously jacked up ticket prices for the 2008 season, as a preamble to an even bigger price increase for 2009 in the new ballpark, and you see why a life-long fan loses interest. I'll always be a Mets fan and will always root for them (it's too much a part of me not to), but in a way I am really hoping that (win or lose) this new billion-dollar stadium remains half-empty this season, the TV ratings plummet, and the Wilpons go on to lose millions of dollars and be publicly embarrassed. It's the least they deserve.

The main advantage to playing it in November in my view is that, as it is now, the clubs are worried that players will be injured and unavailable for opening day (April 6 this year). But if a player gets injured in November, he still has all winter to recover in time for the season. So there's less risk, and the manager has less pressure from the clubs. Furthermore, I think the players (especially the pitchers) are much closer to mid-season form in November (a month after the MLB season ends, or less for the players whose teams made the playoffs) then they are in March, only a few weeks into Spring training and after sitting around all winter not seeing live pitching. A starting pitcher, for example, who is only expected to go 4 innings and throw 70 pitches in March would be more capable of going 7 or 8 innings and throwing 100+ pitches in November. Wouldn't it be great if you had a classic pitching duel in the latter stages of the WBC, for example Roy Halladay of the US versus Johan Santana of Venezuela? Or Dice-K vs. Brandon Webb? That just couldn't happen in the WBC in its current format, but you would see that in a World Series.

Congratulations to Japan. I think the WBC will continue to grow in stature and worldwide interest (keep in mind that the first couple of FIFA World Cups in the 1930s were not thought to be that big of a deal, and many nations did not even participate, and look where it is now). It would've been nice if the USA took it as seriously as Japan and Korea do; where the manager can treat it like the World Series and not have to worry about getting guys (especially pitchers) injured and angering the clubs. I don't mean to diminish Japan's achievement--they may very well would have won even if all the best American players participated and the manager had the freedom to use pitchers however he pleases. It's the same as if England got to the World Cup final, and Fabio Cappelo took off Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney at halftime for fear of angering SAF or Benitez. Then again if the World Cup was like the WBC, Rooney or Gerrard might not even want to play at all. For a variety of reasons, I think it would be better if the tournament was played in November.

I wasn't there of course, but has anyone considered that maybe they were chanting "Careeeeeew" in appreciation of Big John? Seems a pretty common thing for fans to do for players with an "ooooo" sound to their name. To repeat what I said in an earlier thread, I simply don't understand all the outrage over fans booing players, including your own. Not saying it's right or wrong, better or worse, but these things are just par for the course in New York sports (baseball, basketball, US football, whatever). Guess it's just a cultural thing.

I gotta say tonight's game between the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic has somewhat changed my opinion (see earlier post) on the WBC. Gutsy win by the Dutch and very entertaining to watch (saw it from the 8th inning onward). To put it in perspective, the Netherlands beating the Dominican Republic is as big an upset as it would be if the Dominican Republic beat the Netherlands in soccer. Amazing. As a Mets fan, I'm glad the tournament is now over for Jose Reyes and that he didn't get hurt. Then again, him and the rest of the team might get shot if they go back to DR any time soon.

Prior to the first WBC a few years ago, I don't believe there was ever a US national baseball team consisting of professionals. (If I'm wrong on that I'm sure Levi will correct me ) Yes, it's been an Olympic sport, but any US baseball team sent to the Olympics consisted of college players and/or minor leaguers. (The same was true of basketball prior to 1992.) The point is that international team sports are just not as big a deal here. No kid playing baseball in the US grows up dreaming of playing for the USA and beating Panama in the WBC; nor do young basketball players really care that much about playing for the USA as opposed to the NBA. Comparing international baseball or basketball to international football, the World Cup, etc., is like comparing the Johnstone's Paint Trophy to the Champions League Final.

And as for the whole baseball vs. cricket debate, I ... could really care less what the rest of the world thinks about baseball. I can totally understand why people from the UK and elsewhere find baseball boring; I would, too, if I hadn't grown up following it. And if I grew up in the UK, I'd prefer cricket over baseball. Simple as that. If it makes people from the UK feel better about themselves to think that cricketers are better athletes, more skilled, or "manlier", fine. I won't try to change their minds.

The WBC is really a contrived and pointless event, IMO, and a lame attempt to manufacture the kind of passion and interest that the World Cup does. Most hard-core baseball fans (in the US at least) could really care less about it and would rather their team's players focus on the real business of preparing for the season and not getting injured. International baseball is not and will never be a big deal, mainly because the game is not really played in very many countries.

That's not much of an exaggeration. I heard of a US college student who, using a stop-watch, calculated that during a typical US football game (which runs between 3 and 3 1/2 hours) there is only about 8 minutes of actual play, as in from whistle to whistle, when the players are actually in motion.

If you forget about who they are (or were) and the Hiddink factor, and you've watched the two teams play over the past month or two, a Villa win is the obvious prediction.

No I don't ... god dammit!

Just watched "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke earlier tonight. Excellent, although the ending was slightly disappointing.

I think it's too late in the season for him to adjust and make enough of an impact on his own to close the gap over the last 13 games. Also, just wondering what that "By Sting" byline means in the original post. I assume that's not in reference to the former front man of The Police.

Personally I support insert name of team, any sport for my own personal reasons and enjoyment, not to try and prove anything to anybody else. I know a lot of people who devote so much thought and effort trying to look like and convince people that they are legit fans and not glory-seekers. If someone thinks I'm a glory hunter now that Villa are top 4, let them. I don't do this for their approval. (Of course to the average person from my parts, you'd have to first spend several minutes attempting to explain the sport itself, then describe what the English Premier League and its significance, then go over what the Champions League is and how teams qualify for it, before even beginning to explain who Aston Villa is and where they sit in the whole hierarchy.)

Don't really care too much since the Giants lost; but it is nice that we'll have at least one more year of the Eagles having never won a Super Bowl.

No, I don't read actually. I only manage to use this site by sense of smell.

I might get myself in trouble for saying this but I can't imagine spending five nights in Birmingham (unless of course Villa were playing on each of those five nights). You might want to check the hotel cancellation policy in the event that UEFA Cup match doesn't happen.

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oops

The Cure: One of the most under-rated bands of all time IMHO; although to me they were a singles band in the classic sense: so many great songs, but few if any really great albums. 'The Head on the Door' and 'Disintegration' are the ones that came the closest for me. One of the 5 best bands of the '80s, and maybe Top 10 of all time, but I wouldn't rate them as highly as the Smiths. I know this is going to upset a few folks, but I believe that if Ian Curtis doesn't hang himself, Joy Division would not be as revered as they are today (I'll say the same for Nirvana). Don't get me wrong, I like them, but just never heard any overwhelming greatness there. For what it's worth, when I heard the first Strokes album circa 2001-02, some of the tracks immediately reminded me of Joy Division. I wouldn't necesarily say that these bands were great, but the first Sundays album and the first couple of Primitives albums (and I'm sure many other lesser lights of the late '80s and early '90s) clearly borrowed from the Johnny Marr multi-layered guitar sound. I also hear a lot of the Smiths in Belle & Sebastian (not so much for the guitars, but more so the lyrcis, melodies and song structures). Getting back to the Cure, I concede that I'm hard-pressed to name any bands that were influenced by or sound like them (maybe The Shins? at least parts of their first 2 albums), but I don't consider that a pre-requisite to calling a band great. Sure, the Sex Pistols influenced loads of band, and I respect and acknowledge what they did and represented. But would I kick back at home with a beer and put on, "Never Mind the Bollocks"? Uhh, no.

Absolutely better; mainly because I hadn't yet met my wife 5 years ago. Also was making considerably less money at the time (although I was perfectly comfortable), and my job at the time was (mostly) boring and unchallenging. Also I was still drinking waaay too heavily and smoking half a pack a day. Now I drink less than half as much and have quit smoking (OK, I still sneak one every once in a while but still).

A couple people questioned whether they had any hit singles or albums ... well, they definitely didn't have any here in the US I can assure you. I didn't catch on until around 1989 (when I was 15) but I was a huge fan. However, it's hard to listen to them objectively these days having played all the songs a million times back in the day. Still, "Hand that Rocks the Cradle" and "Rusholme Ruffians" are two tracks that immediately come to mind (although like most of you, I could name dozens). Great thing about the Smiths was that even their little known B-sides like "Accept Yourself" and "Jeanne" were great songs. Also loved the 'Hatful of Hollow' version of "Reel Around the Fountain." Saw Moz at Madison Square Garden on his first solo tour back in '91 and it was a huge thrill at the time. Saw him a couple more times on the 'Your Arsenal' tour in '92. Realy liked most of his solo stuff but haven't bought a Moz album since about 1997.

Obviously it's Villa winning the Premier League for me as I'm not English. Ya know, I'm a patriot and a supporter of my own country's national team, but the idea of the USA winning the World Cup is so ridiculous that I can't even entertain such a hypothetical question. Come to think of it, if the USA did win the World Cup some how, I'd almost be embarrased by it, and would have to wonder whether the whole thing was rigged. Seriously.

I'm already going over at Christmas time, so it's going to be tough for me to get back again so soon after. So I suppose Memorial Day would be the most likely, but it's far from certain.