Ralph's Place

White Running Backs

2009-12-03T09:28:00.003-05:00

Here's an interesting article (written by an African-American, ok, black, journalist) speculating that prejudice is a factor in the lack of opportunities being given white running backs in big time college football and the pros. He makes some really good points. The impetus for the article is the great season that Stanford's Toby Gerhart is having. I'm not sure who else is in the running for the Heisman, but this guy has more than 1,700 yards and 26 TDs and has helped lead the surprising Cardinal to wins over USC, Oregon, and Notre Dame (a game in which he even threw a big TD pass). I had heard talk that he was going to pursue a professional baseball career, but more recently I've heard people talking about his prospects for the NFL Draft.

Although there have been white fullbacks, Tom Rathman comes to mind, that have had some success catching passes out of the backfield, the last white back who enjoyed any sustained success carrying the ball, I believe was Craig James. James, who split time in college at SMU with the great Eric Dickerson, rushed for more than 1,200 yards for the 1985 Pats. I don't know if he got injured the year after or what, but he never came close to duplicating that success and was out of the league a couple years later. He did go on to a very successful career as a sportscaster.

Anyhow, James' 1,000 yard season was almost 25 years ago. Should we start calling Gerhart the Great White Hope? After all, my 10-year-old son keeps asking me if there is any chance he can make it to the NFL. He was the build and skill set of a back, but I told him that based on history he better hope he grows to at least 6'-3" and hope his arm continues to develop if he wants to have even a very slight chance. If Gerhart succeeds in the NFL, well, maybe he can expand that scope of hope a little bit...

Cheers.

Ralph

Bus makes the right call

2009-12-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

If anyone his interested, Jerome Bettis continues to do great work for sportsillustrated.com. Here's a quote from his latest column, which was presumably posted yesterday:

"I like the Saints Monday night in a runaway win. It may not happen right off the bat, but Drew Brees will eventually eat this New England secondary up. The Patriots can't hold these guys off for four quarters." - Called it pretty much perfectly.

But also had some interesting comments on Dennis Dixon to start the column. He was obviously much more impressed than I was, and I have always been a Dixon fan. Maybe I was expecting too much. But, if the Bus calls it a good performance that establishes Dixon as a solid back-up, I'm buying in.

Final note on the Bus - he went to Notre Dame, which just fired its coach. That's the third time in 10 years that a coach there has been canned. Every coach since Lou Holtz. No doubt it's a tough job. From what I've read, the school boasts graduation rates for football players of higher than 90%. So, not only do they want you to win football games, they expect you to graduate players. Hats off to the Irish for being demanding on both fronts. Bettis' fine writing (and I'm not a Notre Dame alumnus or fan, just a fan of good sportswriting) is a product of that system. Let's hope they can find a coach who maintains the educational standards, while also fielding a more competitive team. After all, Fighting Irish football has a great tradition of winning as well. I've heard Jim Harbaugh's name mentioned...

Premonitions of Death

2009-11-20T08:30:00.002-05:00

This is kind of a spooky (not to mention sad) story I just heard on NPR.... I guess kids do say the darnest things...

Achilles: A Great Middle Linebacker

2009-11-20T05:46:00.003-05:00

From the 19th book of Iliad:

"You talk of food?
I have no taste for food-what I really crave
is slaughter and blood and the choking groans of men!"

Would make Ray Lewis proud...

Great Baseball Story...

2009-11-18T23:52:00.001-05:00

Well, it's certainly about more than baseball, but this is the kind of sportswriting even a non-fan can enjoy. Check it out if you have 15 minutes (at least) and make sure you watch the video. Award-winning stuff.

Bills Can Coach

2009-11-17T18:50:00.002-05:00

Not that it will matter We stink and it's not necessarily the coach's fault. I'm not sure how involved he is in the personnel decisions, but our organization has assembled a pretty crummy team. Of course, this includes the assistant coaches, which I'm assuming Jauron had some input into. Then again, he may have been limited by budget constraints. Funny thing is, our assistant coaches are so bad, I can't imagine who they could possibly promote to replace Jauron that could do any better. I will say that special teams coach Bobby April has done a pretty good job and a few weeks ago, people said he would be the likely replacement...but he's 55 years old and has never been anything but a special teams coach. I would have to say his ship has sailed in regards to being an effective NFL head coach. We really need to blow the whole thing up and start over again... starting with the owner if he won't pony up for a decent GM!

Belichick's Decision

2009-11-17T09:32:00.002-05:00

Here's a great Joe Posnanski post that explains why Belichick went for it on fourth down with 2 minutes left Sunday night. By Joe's math, which is backed up by the math of some Air Force pilot, the odds were clearly in the Patriots favor...

What did we ever do to Bud Adams?

2009-11-16T20:41:00.003-05:00

Well, there was the comeback game, but come on, we stink... why waste the energy Bud? Why do you hate us so? Really, if you haven't seen this, it's worth 14 seconds of your time.... (It's the Titans' 86-year-old owner flipping off the Bills bench yesterday. Honest.)

Erie Leaf Bag Issues

2009-11-16T09:36:00.003-05:00

I haven't seen anything about this in Erie's "mainstream" media, but, word-of-mouth around my neighborhood is that area outlets have run out of the green leaf bags you're supposed to put your leaves in if you live in the City of Erie. I also found one local blogger who posted on this problem. It seems we had the exact same problem almost three years ago to the day, and I blogged about it then.

I'll start out by asking, does anyone know where I can get some more bags, as I'm down to like two and my oak leaves are just starting to fall? I think we avoided the shortage that last few years because of shorter raking seasons due to inclement weather. I remember years when the snow fell before my maples were even all down, not to mention the oaks. Well, this year the weather has been wonderful for raking and people have been taking advantage of it. I guess one option is raking the leaves into the street, which is actually illegal. The city seems to discourage this practice up front at least, but I have never heard of anyone being fined for it. Then, there is the burning route and my neighbor has a burn barrel....

But, I'd really just like to bag them. It's supposed to be another nice week. The problem, of course, is that I need to get more bags. Now, as I said in my previous post, I appreciate what the city is trying to do with the biodegradable bags and all, but they need to come up with a contingency plan for when the bags run out. Part of the problem is the very nature of the bags, which start to disintegrate within a year, so it is impossible to stock up on them. And they are fairly expensive, so you hate to buy too many and then find them biodegrading in your garage the next year. Because of the weather, predicting leaf volume is a very inexact science.

I jokingly (I think I was joking, sorry Joe) suggested we all take our leaves up to the mayor's front lawn. Maybe we could we could dress up like Indians or something.... but my wife insists it's not his fault. I am going to put a call (or e-mail) down to City Hall, however, and at least suggest they make some sort of public pronouncement and give people an idea of what they'd like them to do with their leaves; or at least give us some assurance that more bags will be in before next weekend. As I said before, I assume they have some sort of contract or contact with what is apparently the only company that manufactures the bags we're supposed to use.

Anyhow, in the greater scheme of things, this is probably a very small problem, but one that should be addressed at least, as, according to Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, addressing small problems is a great way to start solving your larger problems. Gladwell specifically detailed how New York City started its turnaround by addressing graffiti in the subways. Letting people know you care about the little things seems to go a long way towards getting them to cooperate and help you fix the big things.

That's all.

Ralph

More on political winds of change

2009-11-12T09:22:00.004-05:00

In a piece that appeared in today's Erie Times News, one of my favorite conservative columnists, Jonah Goldberg, echoed some of the sentiments I expressed regarding the change in the political landscape that has taken place over the past year. He agrees that despite the optimistic face national Democrats put on last week regarding the results, the Blues have reasons to be worried. I said I felt Grossman's narrow win in Erie County was evidence of this.

Just to address Mayor's Sinnott's easy win over Republican Jack Anderson: In my memory, a Republican has never seriously challenged for the Erie mayor's office and Anderson had already lost like 4 times before, so he has proven pretty well that he doesn't have much support. Plus, Sinnott is a fairly conservative Democrat, especially when it comes to spending, and I think people in Erie like that. Congrats Joe!

A second look at Grossman's win and what it says

2009-11-11T09:28:00.009-05:00

I don't know how many of you followed the local County Executive race. Last week, Democrat Barry Grossman defeated Republican Mike Kerner. Grossman's winning was no surprise to most people-as he had much better name recognition going in and raised something like $100,000 in campaign funding compared to $3,000 for Kerner. The big surprise was the winning margin, which was less than 400 votes out of more than 50,000 cast.

To his credit, Grossman seemed less surprised than anybody over this narrow margin. He pretty much attributed it to people voting across party lines. And, from a quick Google, it appears that the 2005 County Executive race was decided by even a smaller margin.

However, you would think outspending your opponent 33-to-one (and I don't know if Barry used all his campaign money) would buy you some breathing room, but I think the whole Obama backlash thing really came back to hurt Grossman. Kerner cited voters' lack of support for County funding of a proposed community college (something which Barry is in favor of and Kerner is against) as a big factor in helping him get votes. He was probably right on this.

Also, I think people in general are sick of government spending following last year's multi-trillion dollar stimulus packages, that really don't seem to have helped the Erie County economy at all. I thought Kerner actually came off as a bit of teabagger/kook during the debate I watched, but apparently, more people are embracing that type of old-thyme Republican thinking. Heck, one guy got elected to County Council who reportedly owes $2 million in back taxes because he refuses to pay the government. He also wants to sell of the County library system.

Yeah, the political landscape is changing again. The Democrats were given their chance to turn things around with liberal policies and apparently the public has decided they've failed. Now, I think we really better start paying attention to the Libertarian crowd, because they seem to be gaining some steam.

I'm not saying this is good or bad, and I do support some of the fresh ideas and enthusiasm that Libertarians bring to the table. I'm really just saying that we can all learn a lesson from Barry and be careful not to dismiss these teabaggers as kooks. Their views seem to hold some sway with the populace, especially in small town America.

From a personal standpoint, I promise not to make the same mistakes I made with G.W. Bush and Phil English, as dismiss them as unelectable.

Vick to Bills?

2009-11-10T10:48:00.002-05:00

I, for one, am in favor. I mean we stink so bad now, he couldn't possibly make us worse, could he? It kind of reminds me of when we signed Flutie... sorry, Doug, if I'm insulting you by comparing you to a dog fighting ringleader. But, at that time we were coming off a 6-10 season and I thought the O-line was one of our biggest weaknesses. Well, after this year when Vick becomes a free agent again, we will be lucky to have finished 6-10 and our offensive line has been described as "historically bad" by some experts.

Yes, I realize Flutie was a CFL all-star when we signed him and Vick is still recovering from his stint in the joint and hasn't been an all-star in any league for a few years, but still both guys have/had legs that can help make up for some deficiencies in the O-line. Because of that I think we should roll the dice with Vick. I mean, really, what have we got to lose? If you put anyone else back there, they are going to get killed.

Hangover: Best Picture?

2009-11-09T11:44:00.004-05:00

Saw The Hangover on Saturday night. It was as funny as everyone said it was. It was playing at the dollar theater and we went to the 10 p.m. showing, which was packed. Pretty impressive for like its 10th week in circulation. Or, maybe it just says something about people's tastes in Erie.

Really though, I haven't talked to anyone who didn't like the movie and some people like it a whole lot. One of our friends thought it was the funniest movie ever made: funnier than Animal House and Caddyshack. Both my wife and I liked it, which means it scores with diverse audiences, as our movie tastes are fairly different. I guess the point I'm getting at, is can a low-brow comedy like this be nominated for best picture?

I think the Academy has been catching some heat in recent years, for ignoring "popular" pictures like this and wouldn't be surprised if they threw a curve ball this year just to change their image. I mean those Hollywood types are awfully image conscious you know. I don't know what the qualifications are for Best Picture, but I know I saw Slumdog Millionaire last year, and while it was good, in my opinion, The Hangover was better- whatever that means.

But, let's take Caddyshack, for example. I my opinion (once again), that was maybe the funniest movie ever. Granted, I caddied for a few years at Kahkwa, so my perspective is skewed, but everyone else seems to like it as well- and it has to be one of the all-time most quoted movies.

According to a Google search, Caddyshack came out in 1980. In 1980, here were the five pictures nominated for Best Picture: ORDINARY PEOPLE (which won I guess), Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, and Tess. Okay, Raging Bull may be a better movie than Caddyshack, but those other four... I'm sure they have their charms, but 30 years later, nobody is suggesting I watch them. Caddyshack, meanwhile, holds up.

I guess my point is that great comedies really don't get enough credit. It's always been my contention that a comedy is the toughest movie to make well. I base this on the fact that I've seen so many bad ones. Of course, it's certainly easier to make a niche comedy, like a formulaic romantic chick flick, because there are certain demographics that find comfort in that sort of thing. I remember this kid in college who I thought was perfectly normal and fairly intelligent until he told me he thought the "Earnest" series of movies was the greatest. I immediately thought less of him, but as I continued to hang out with him and get to know him, I realized this did not necessarily make him a dumb person, just someone with a different sort of comedic taste than I have.

The thing that makes Hangover great is that it seems to satisfy every comedic taste (well, maybe not the Christian right wingers, who I haven't heard weight in on it yet). I don't know how it will hold up in years to come, but it's fairly hot right now. And I certainly think it deserves consideration for best picture of 2010.

Any thoughts?

Ralph

Rick Riley on Parades

2009-11-06T20:28:00.002-05:00

I've been trying to come up with ways to defend the Yankees: things like, when Jeter starts to go downhill, let's see if they can win another championship. After all, it was more than 15 years between championships before he showed up, and I'm pretty sure they had the highest payroll in baseball through the '80s and early '90s as well...

But Rick Riley's blog entry today really put things into perspective. Here are the last two paragraphs:

"Oh -- and the next Yankees fan who looks to the heavens and sighs happily, 'It's been nine long years!' gets tied to the front of the 4 train and run into a wall. Nine years? Nine years is a cigarette break to most teams in MLB. Chicago Cubs fans are at 101 years and counting. Cleveland Indians' fans: 62. New York/San Francisco Giants: 55. Pittsburgh Pirates: 30. Gee, nine whole years? The Boston Red Sox waited 86 years for theirs. The Chicago White Sox -- 88! There are people in swine flu lines longer than nine years.

Hope your parade takes a wrong turn off a pier."

Yanks do it!

2009-11-05T09:54:00.003-05:00

Despite the naysayers' contention that the Yanks bought a championship, I still think this was a very special team. It includes three sure-fire Hall-of-Famers: Jeter, A-Rod, and Rivera, as well as at least two solid borderline cases: Pettite and Posada, and another guy who should get some votes: Damon, not to mention Matsui, who if Japanese games are considered, should get consideration. We also had guys like Sabathia and Teixiera - who appear like they could be on their way to Hall of Fame careers. No matter how it's assembled, that's a lot of talent on the field at one time, so I guess, back to the anonymous commenter's post: maybe we did just bludgeon everyone with talent. Then again, part of the HoF arguments in favor of guys like Damon, Matsui, Pettite, and Posada, will be the number of championships they won, so it's kind of a chicken and egg thing.

It was kind of fun watching Jeter, Posada, and Petite celebrate, because these are guys who had so much success winning the World Series early in their careers, they might not have appreciated fully how hard that is to do, until they went eight years without one. I'm thinking this one has to be extra special for that reason. As for Rivera, he's just a cold-blooded assassin, and I'm not sure how much winning the World Series means to him. I mean he always pitches well enough to win the thing - it's his teammates who let him down. Also, it was good to see veterans like A-Rod and Matsui finally get their first titles - especially because they both contributed so much in the playoffs. Matsui was a monster (his nickname is Godzilla) last night, and it sure is going to be tough for the Yankees to let him walk now.

As I've said, the core of the team is past its prime and logic would tell you that we have to become younger, but Posada and Jeter aren't going anywhere, and with left fielders Bay and Holiday coming on the market this winter, it would make sense to get rid of Damon and/or Matsui. Ahh, the dilemmas of managing a $200 million payroll and 25 roster spots.

Oh well, at least for now, let them all celebrate a really special season!

ralph

True to Form Sunday

2009-11-02T09:01:00.006-05:00

Both the Bills and Yankees played true to form yesterday. As usual, the Bills were outgained like three-to-one, but this time they lost - no more breaks falling their way after the first half yesterday, when they parlayed three turnovers into a narrow lead. Of course, it didn't last, as Houston benched their fumbling RB and pretty much kept the ball on the ground to avoid interceptions - then ran right over the Bills. This should be the blueprint for beating my beloved Blue-and-Red the rest of the season. Our offense sucks, so you don't have to worry about us coming back after you take the lead...

As for the Yankees, they had yet another, well, it wasn't a comeback win, but it was pretty close. After having young reliever Joba Chamberlain give up the game-tying home run with two outs and two strikes on the Phillies' seventh-place hitter, the Yanks had every reason to pack it in, as the Philadelphia crowd was roaring and all the 'mo seemed against the New Yorkers (the Eagles had even beat the Giants across the street earlier in the day). Of course, the Phillies then brought in closer Brad Lidge to throw the top of the ninth, a match-up I have been waiting for. You see, Lidge had a terrible regular season, with an E.R.A. of over seven and blowing more than 10 saves. Last year, he was unhittable through the Series, so I guess the Phils felt they owed him some loyalty, and he'd been pretty good with postseason so far this year, going three-for-three in saves, but from what I recall, at least two of these saves were shaky, meaning he got men on base before escaping. This is usually a bad sign for a struggling closer.

Well, Lidge came out last night and dominated pinch-hitter Matsui and then Jeter. Then Damon battled him and finally broke him for a single to left. Lidge got two strikes on Damon early and then the catcher looked like he dropped a potential foul-tip third strike. That was all the Yankees needed. Lidge beaned Teixiera, A-Rod followed with a tie-breaking double and Posada cleared the bases. Game over. (Rivera pitched a perfect ninth-also true to form.)

So, I guess my point is that everyone played true to form yesterday and with the brisk weather and the colorful falling leaves, it was a stereotypically great autumn day. And stereotypes, because of their familiarity, can sometimes be comforting.

Cheers.

Ralph

AJ. Burnett vs. Squidward

2009-10-30T10:26:00.003-04:00

I don't know about anybody else, but Yankees' pitcher A.J. Burnett constantly reminds me of SpongeBob character Squidward. Regardless, Burnett pitched a great game yesterday.

Cheers.

Ralph

Yankees -A Team for the Aged

2009-10-28T12:15:00.003-04:00

I know there is a lot of talk that if the Yankees spend $200 million salaries they ought to win the World Series. I'm not so sure this is the case. I mean we spent $200 million last year and didn't even make the playoffs. In fact, I'm fairly certain we've led the league in salary quite a few years since we last won the World Series in 2000. And despite our high salaries and line-up of big names, it's worth noting that quite a few of the guys we rely on should theoretically be past their prime. Here's an article by Joe Posanski, with input from stats guru Bill James, that details how great ballplayers typically start to decline at age 33.

Five of the Yankees starting nine have crossed that threshold, as well as two of our main pitchers. Jeter is 35, Posada is 37, Matsui is 35, Damon is 35, and A-Rod is 33. In addition, Pettitte is 37 and Rivera is 39 (ages according to baseball-reference.com). And not only are all these guys playing for the Yanks, they all had great years, many of them coming back from down seasons in 2008. I can't explain it (especially now that they are testing for steroids), but this has truly been almost a magical year for the Yankees.

Yes, we signed three of the top free agents on the market in Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixiera to complement these guys, but the fact that this over-the-hill gang all had these great comeback seasons at the same time is kind of amazing. I mean the Red Sox' Jason Veritek, who is the same age as Posada (and in many ways his rival), hit .200, can't throw anyone out and is considered washed up. Posada hit .285 with 22 homers and 25 doubles and played a respectable, if not great, catcher. Jeter hit .335 with decent power as an everyday shortstop, while his main rivals of days-gone-by, A-Rod and Nomar, are both incapable of even playing SS, even though A-Rod can still hit. And Rivera, well, I was watching him in the playoffs and become convinced he's not even human. How many closers have come and gone during his more than a decade of dominance? Closers aren't supposed to remain dominant for 10-plus years and his level of dominance, especially in the playoffs, is almost ridiculous.

I guess my point is that this is a special year for the Yankees, no matter how much money they make, because this team could easily have blown up and faltered because of its age, and age has to catch up with these guys sometime, maybe next year, doesn't it? So, as a Yankees fan, I'm enjoying it while I can, because when/if we have $100 million worth of salaries on the DL next year and are struggling to play .500 ball, these memories are going to be sweet.

The Great Defender,

Ralph

Egg McMuffins

2009-10-27T10:06:00.002-04:00

They're 2 for $3 at Micky D's right now and they still don't taste too bad after all these years...

Clippers' jinx continues

2009-10-27T09:23:00.003-04:00

Can there be any question that the L.A. Clippers are cursed? I've been a fan since I saw Bob McAdoo lead the NBA in scoring for the Buffalo Braves back in 1974 (I was seven.). The team has since relocated to San Diego, then L.A. - and after making a number of dumb trades while in Buffalo - sending away the likes McAdoo, Moses Malone, and Adrian Dantley, it has been beset by injuries since moving out to the west coast. Signing the already injured Bill Walton in the late '70s started this trend. The most memorable injuries for me were Ron Harper's blowing-out his knee after we stole him from the Cavs for Danny Ferry, and Danny Manning's blown out knee shortly after he proved he was the best college player in the nation by single-handedly leading Kansas to the national championship and we made him the number one pick in the draft. Now, we receive news that this year's top pick, All-American power forward Blake Griffin broke his kneecap in our last preseason game.... When will it end?

Winning Ugly

2009-10-26T10:53:00.003-04:00

There's something to be said for it, I guess. The Bills pulled off their second ugly win in a row, after a few ugly losses to move to 3-4. They were outgained like 3-to-1, but managed a couple big plays and three interceptions. The Bills, under Jauron, have a history of pulling out ugly wins, so maybe that's just his coaching style. Eventually, bad football usually catches up to us, but maybe - and I always say this before getting disappointed - we can keep this up.... Bills' game, of course, was quite a contrast to the great Steelers-Vikes game that preceded it here on local TV.

As for the Yankees, last night's game was a real stress-test and the Yankees, as has been their wont over history, outlasted the Angels. There has been a lot of talk about how good the young Yankees bullpen was during the regular season, but I really didn't expect it to hold up in postseason- and for the most part it hasn't. It was interesting that Girardi went with the more-tested Joba Chamberlain to get some key seventh inning outs last night and then bypassed Phil Hughes entirely. When it came down to it, it was Pettite and Rivera who did the pitching last night and Damon and A-Rod who were the big hitters. Jeter had a really bad game, but not quite as bad as the Angels, who completely fell apart in the eighth inning trying to make plays on bunts.

Phils-Yanks should be fun.

Ralph

More Bills Fan Hijinks

2009-10-13T17:53:00.002-04:00

So, I was listening to the pre-game for Bills-Browns 6-3 thriller on Sunday, and I heard an spot encouraging people to stop by the radio station's tailgate party to check out this wood-carved statue of Thurman Thomas. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. Well, check out what happened to said statue, during or after the game.... only in Buffalo. We can't win football games, but one of our fans apparently figured out how to steal a 1,000-pound wood carving. Go figure.

Ralph

Weekend Sports-Yanks and Bills

2009-10-12T09:40:00.003-04:00

If everyone hasn't noticed, A-Rod had a huge clutch series in leading the Yankees over the Twins in a three-game sweep. Yanks now advance to the A.L. Championship series vs. the Angels. In the past, A-Rod has been a notorious choke in the playoffs for the Yanks, but against the Twins he was fantastic, twice tying games in the late innings with home runs. Was it the steroid admission, the hip injury, or Kate Hudson (over Madonna) that turned him around? Either way, it's always interesting to see how somebody responds to adversity.

As for the Bills, 2-14 looks like a pipe dream right now. Do you realize the Browns quarterback went 2-for-17, and his team still won? You know people complain that the lack of a salary cap makes MLB unfair, well, the NFL salary cap certainly hasn't helped the Bills, who are rapidly turning into the Pirates of the NFL....

Ralph

Cole Hammels

2009-10-09T15:38:00.003-04:00

One more politically incorrect post, as long as I've gone there.... and I heard some radio talk show guys address this earlier, so I feel my path has been cleared as well....

Cole Hammels pitched poorly for the Phils yesterday and then left to see his wife have their baby, as she was apparently in labor. Was he distracted by this? Perhaps, but the fact that the game announcers made such a big deal about excusing him if he was seemed a bit outrageous. Chris Berman and Rick Sutcliffe actually said there was no comparison between your wife's having a baby and pitching in a major league playoff game...Really? My wife and I have had three babies and while they were all amazing experiences, I don't know that I wouldn't have been willing to miss one of the births in order to pitch in a major league playoff game. I think that might be quite an amazing experience as well. (Sutcliffe has actually pitched in the playoffs and I'd like to question him further onthis over a beer.) And, it's not like you're not going to see the kid a million, kajillion times for the rest of his or her life. Yeah, the birth is great, but so are first steps, first words, every birthday party, every kiss, every dance recital, every little league game, even helping them with their homework.

The radio talk show guys suggested that Hammels should have maybe just done the '50s thing - sucked it up and handed out cigars after the game. I don't know, I thought that was an interesting perspective....

Libertarians Comment on Obama's Nobel Prize

2009-10-09T15:29:00.003-04:00

I've been getting these press releases for awhile for some reason - I honestly don't know where they came up with my name. But this one is a classic (see my commentary at end, if you wish):

Libertarians suggest Nobel announcements should be moved to April Fool's Day

WASHINGTON - The Libertarian Party today suggested that, in the future, the announcement date every year for Nobel Prizes be moved to April 1.

"Unlike the gullible people who listened to The War of the Worlds radio broadcast in 1938 and thought Martians really were attacking the United States, when I heard this morning that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, I changed the channel in disbelief. But, the same thing was being said in multiple places," Libertarian National Committee Chairman William Redpath said.

"The gravity of the Nobel awards has not been augmented by some of their recent selections, including today's announcement, last year's award of the Economics prize to Paul Krugman, or the 2007 Peace Prize to Al Gore, whose global warming theories he will not defend in open debate. Maybe an early Springtime announcement date would be more appropriate."

Redpath continued, "I didn't know that it was the role of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to be handicapping the future performance of individuals and organizations. Nonetheless, we congratulate President Obama on his award and hope that three-and-a-quarter or seven-and-a-quarter years from now the Nobel Peace Prize Committee will be seen as prescient.

"President Obama will best fulfill the promise of peace that the Nobel Committee apparently sees in him by not trying to cure all the ills of the world, but by working to make the United States an example for the other nations of the world through implementation of a Libertarian foreign policy--military non-interventionism combined with free trade policies in fact, and not just in rhetoric. With those guiding principles, the world will be a freer, safer and more prosperous planet at the conclusion of the Obama Administration."

End Press Release

So, I was kind of glad to hear someone blast this selection, because now I don't feel so bad about knocking it. Perhaps I'm just another rapidly-becoming-disillusioned Obama-ite, but what exactly has the guy done to promote peace? I mean, we're still fighting in Iraq, aren't we? And all I hear about Afghanistan is that it's his war and that we're considering a troop increase. I don't understand. Does the fact that he hasn't started any new wars qualify Obama for this?

Anyhow, I know he has a lot of work to do, and he can't solve everything overnight, and I don't expect him to. However, someone apparently deemed it appropriate to give Obama this award. For what? Maybe I should read the selection details but on the surface, I just don't get it.

Best

Ralph