The Weekly Tendown February 13 --19 2011

Dear Internet:

Is it wrong that I was rooting for the computer?  Am I a race traitor?  In the ultimate battle of men vs. machines, I gotta be honest, I'm likely to switch sides.  Slip them some launch codes.  Maybe hit a military commander on the back with a steel chair.  "Go to hell, Jividen.  Go straight to hell."  Sometimes when you root, you make a choice - in my SB45 piece, I said something to the effect of - if you're trying to determine who you're for, you're for the Packers - they're a non-profit, so its less likely that you'll be reading Slate on your gizmo in July and find out that the owners of the team you rooted for in the Super Bowl turned around and took away your right to collectively bargain in your $35,000/yr job (if I inverted that phrase and instead wrote "reading Gizmo on your slate" it sounds a little more intuitive; pick whichever makes you most comfortable.  We're closer to that being education than you think - I'm teaching the New Deal next week and I'll teach it as a flood of government stimulus that, in conjunction with 94% top income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, stabilized the American economy until an even bigger torrent of government spending, a tsunami of government spending, WW2, pulled the US out of the Depression.  But someone will eventually tell me it was part of an Islamo-fascist-communist-homosexual-Bon Jovi plot to bring down the US - that actually the economy was just fine, thanks, until those deadbeats with the Tennessee Valley Authority sucked up all the Rockefellers hard earned money) but sometimes the heart wants what it wants, and I wanted Watson to whip some Mormon ass this week.  And that Brad dude too.  Whatever.

You ready to talk about Wisconsin?

Here's Tendown 65.

1. The Laboratory for Democracy
There used to be good Republicans.

   That's Fightin' Bob LaFollette.  A hundred five years ago, he was Governor of Wisconsin.  Without looking it up, I assume the building in Madison from which current Governor Scott Walker proposed to take away the collective bargaining rights of the public employees in his state has the name LaFollette on it a handful of different places.  When LaFollette, a Republican, was Governor of Wisconsin it became known as the laboratory of democracy, as so many of the protections that would later be won (and that's from where change comes - it's not ever given by a President, no matter how nifty is his campaign poster - it's won) for the rest of working Americans began  in Wisconsin.

-The first ever American government board that regulated workplace safety.
-The first sate ever with an income tax.
-The first state with a direct primary for all nominations
-Raised taxes on the railroads.
-Lowered the rates charged by the railroads.
-Controlled the level of lobbying in the state
-Significant regulatory reforms in controlling utilities, in public education, in providing workman's compensation.

There used to be good Republicans.

But they're all dead now.

2. Tax Millionaires.
That's my economic plan.  I've discussed it before.

If our problem is government is taking in less money than it spends - and taxes are how government takes in money - then lets raise taxes.

Not on you.  You don't have any money.

But some Americans have a ton of it.  Here's Bob Reich


Last year, America’s top thirteen hedge-fund managers earned an average of $1 billion each. One of them took home $5 billion. Much of their income is taxed as capital gains – at 15 percent – due to a tax loophole that Republican members of Congress have steadfastly guarded.
If the earnings of those thirteen hedge-fund managers were taxed as ordinary income, the revenues generated would pay the salaries and benefits of 300,000 teachers. Who is more valuable to our society – thirteen hedge-fund managers or 300,000 teachers? Let’s make the question even simpler. Who is more valuable: One hedge fund manager or one teacher?


LaFollette was a progressive; back a hundred years ago, reformers from both political parties recognized that our Gilded Age economy in which the wealthiest 1% of Americans were taking home 18% of the income wasn't an economy that could stand.  A hundred years ago, despite corporate objection, those entrusted with government power in our republic recognized their duty was to the mass of working Americans struggling daily to maintain a living.  When I was in school two decades ago, I learned about the Gilded Age the way most of us did - a time of unfair excess for some, massive wealth built upon the unprotected backs of the workers.  A time we learned from and grew out of.  It's how I learned it.  It's how I teach it.  Reforms worked.  By the beginning of the 1980s, the wealthiest 1% of Americans were earning 11% of the income.

Right now, in 2011, the wealthiest 1% of Americans take home 24% of the income.

Since 1980, over 80% of the increase in American income has gone to the top 1%

It's time for a dramatic tax increase on the wealthiest Americans.  I've previously argued for both an increase in the top marginal tax rate and an increase in the ceiling at which social security taxes are taken from paychecks.  But I'm not an economist, just a guy with a couple of graduate degrees who enjoys professional wrestling.

Reich, however, is:

The best way to revive the economy is not to cut the federal deficit right now. It’s to put more money into the pockets of average working families. Not until they start spending again big time will companies begin to hire again big time.

Don’t cut the government services they rely on – college loans, home heating oil, community services, and the rest. State and local budget cuts are already causing enough pain.

The most direct way to get more money into their pockets is to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (a wage subsidy) all the way up through people earning $50,000, and reduce their income taxes to zero. Taxes on incomes between $50,000 and $90,000 should be cut to 10 percent; between $90,000 and $150,000 to 20 percent; between $150,000 and $250,000 to 30 percent.

And exempt the first $20,000 of income from payroll taxes.

Make up the revenues by increasing taxes on incomes between $250,000 to $500,000 to 40 percent; between $500,000 and $5 million, to 50 percent; between $5 million and $15 million, to 60 percent; and anything over $15 million, to 70 percent.

And raise the ceiling on the portion of income subject to payroll taxes to $500,000.
That's Bob Reich.  Agreeing with me.  Hooray!

That's exactly what I want to hear from a candidate for whom I vote.

If you, right now, make less than a quarter million dollars a year, your taxes go down under this plan.  If you make between a quarter million and a half million, your tax rate only goes back up to 1990s levels.  Even you folks making 15 million are still paying significantly less than you were 60 years ago when the Greatest Generation built the country - built it with strong unions and high top marginal tax rates.

That's how you come out of a Depression.

1. Government stimulus.
2. High top marginal tax rates
3. Strong unions and government policy that favors the American worker and that favors American corporations which work to support the American worker.

But won't the wealthy just stop producing, you're taught to say by the last 30 years of Republican propaganda that's worked its way into your brain?  If we tax our wealthy plutocratic overlords at that rate, won't they stop creating all those imaginary jobs that haven't trickled down money into our mouths?

Call their bluff.

And wave the flag.  Love it or leave it assholes.  You don't want to pay your share; move to a developed country that will allow you to make a billion dollars and pay a smaller portion in taxes than this plan does.

Good luck with that.

Limbaugh said this week that Obama and the protesters in Wisconsin were "hateful of this society."

Because to the right wing - the story of the United States isn't about regular Americans struggling, fighting for their rights - struggling for the 8 hour day, for a minimum wage, for minimum safety standards - not about worker's rights, not about civil rights.  It's about millionaires.  The America he loves is one of tramps and millionaires, and he's on the winning side.

But there are more of us than there are of him.  And if we wanted a progressive tax policy, we could have one.

And then we'd see who the patriots are.

3. First Amendment Remedies

It's the Gilded Age.  We're in the Gilded Age.  A hundred years ago - the response of the Governor of Wisconsin to the first Gilded Age was to fight for reforms for Wisconsin workers.

In 2011 - the response is to go after the pensions of schoolteachers.  To strip the ability of public sector workers in Wisconsin to bargain collectively.

It is part of a long assault right wing assault on workers and on the ability of any organization to raise money to support Democrats. From the Nation:

In 1975 the overall unionization rate in the private sector was 25 percent. Thanks to the class war that has been waged since then—involving trade liberalization, radical reorganization of global finance rules, unionbusting, deindustrialization, rejiggered accounting rules and more—Norquist’s goal is now within reach for the right. According to union expert and author Bill Fletcher Jr., “There has been a three-decade campaign by the neoliberal Democrats and the right wing to destroy the base of the strength of the American middle class, which can be boiled down to unions and government regulation of corporate excess. As a result, unionization rates and corresponding pay and benefits now appear higher in the government sector, and the same forces are now attacking government workers’ unions.” 

Where the campaign to gut public sector unions succeeds, Republicans will be poised for almost certain electoral gains. In general, across the nation, the lower the rate of unionization, the redder the state. And in the bluest states, the public sector dominates the union scene: in New York, for example, the most unionized state, the rate among government workers is 70.5 percent, next to 13.7 percent in the private sector. In California the unionization rate among government workers is 56.6 percent, compared with 9.3 percent among the private sector workforce.

There is a strong correlation, moreover, between red states, right-to-work laws, an overall worse quality of life for the average worker or poor person, and a more hostile climate for progressives, from environmentalists to civil rights activists. The average worker in a right-to-work state earns $5,333 less than his or her counterpart in a pro-worker state. Twenty-one percent more people lack health insurance. Late last year, immigration advocates anticipated Arizona-like measures in twenty-two states, eleven of which are controlled by Republicans. Of those, seven are right-to-work states. Not surprisingly, three that are not—Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana—are where the attack on government workers’ unions is the strongest.


80,000 protested the plan to gut Wisconsin unions on Saturday.

5. Whose Side Are the Super Bowl Packers On?
The people's.  Of course.  Here's Charles Woodson.  Who totally deserved that Heisman trophy.

Last week I was proud when many of my current and former teammates announced their support for the working families fighting for their rights in Wisconsin. Today I am honored to join with them. Thousands of dedicated Wisconsin public workers provide vital services for Wisconsin citizens. They are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. These hard working people are under an unprecedented attack to take away their basic rights to have a voice and collectively bargain at work.

6. So Be It
The Speaker of the House had a let them eat cake moment this week.

"In the last two years, under President Obama, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs," Boehner said. "If some of those jobs are lost so be it.

Boehner completely made up the number, incidentally.  It's about 20,000.  But - good news for those holding those jobs.  If Republican policies of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Americans and spending cuts cost you your job - you know - so be it.


7. The Amazing Race Returns
Amazing Race 18 starts tonight; it's unlikely to provide as much pure fun as the opening tribal council for Survivor this week ("Francesqua"?  "Francesca."  "Fraceseska"?  Francesca.  Seriously - it's the first elimination; don't go after Boston Rob in Week One.  Even assuming the show is on the up and up, unlike the dunk contest last night, it's Survivor, if you keep your head down and don't blow a challenge, you can almost assure yourself of getting to the merge.  Hide in the early portion of the game.  Maneuver into the right spot in the middle.  Fight down the stretch.  Next week - I teach you how to win America's Best Dance Troupe) but this is an All-Star season, and clips of the previous appearances of each team are here.

The site offers odds to win - I won't do that, but I'll tell you who I will root for.

Mel and Mike

Mike White wrote School of Rock, The Good Girl, and Chuck and Buck - his dad's a gay minister; here's a 2005 interview with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

I'm convinced that if you walk through the Holocaust Museum here in D.C. and substitute the word "gay" for the word "Jew" during those early years of the Nazi regime, you will be convinced that what [Hitler's chief propagandist] Goebbels did is exactly what Jerry Falwell and [Focus on the Family's] James Dobson and Pat Robertson and Pope John Paul II are doing now.

They are demonizing us. They are creating a case for why we're the problem, and why the nation has gone foul. They are describing us as disease-carriers, child-snatchers, money-grubbers.

All that demonizing creates a deadly environment. The killing here has been isolated and scattered so far, but it certainly has begun.

And you hold religious leaders primarily responsible?

It is the Christian Right movement that has become the number one enemy of God's gay children. Their churches are the primary sources of misinformation about gay and lesbian people that leads to suffering and death.

No longer am I afraid of Skinheads and neo-Nazis and white supremacists, by comparison to a church that's committed to the destruction of the civil rights and human rights and families of my sisters and brothers.

Skinheads and Klansmen I can recognize for the enemies that they are. But anti-gay Christians come in the disguise of love, and that disguise is a powerful weapon in itself. They demonize, but they don't see themselves as responsible for the violence their demonizing causes.  

8. The Dunk Contest Was Fixed

So, I wrote this week - here's the next chapter in my countdown of the greatest baseball players ever; here's every NBA Champ ranked; here's my piece on every dunk contest of the 80s. So, having just watched the '88 dunk contest between Jordan and Nique, I know when a dunk contest is fixed.

I actually think Griffin was the best dunker last night ( here are all of them) and I think his 360 was the second best dunk of the night (lots of good dunks - I'll take DeRozan's one handed swoop) and I don't think the finals were fixed - or rather, there's no evidence to suggest that they were fixed.

But the preliminary rounds were absolutely fixed.  Blake Griffin's final round dunk featured an entire choir and a sponsored car - had he been eliminated prior - then none of that winds up as part of the contest, an outcome that seems unlikely.  I'm in - I love me a dunk contest; I'm all for a good crazy performance dunk, but had I invested on one of the other three competitors last night, I'd be a little irritated today.

In addition to the writing I finally - finally finished the December, 2010 wrestling.  Here are all the 4 star+ matches I watched this week from last December:

Sugiura v. Morishima (NOAH 5 stars)

Morishima/Taniguchi v. Sugiura/Sano (Dec Noah 4 1/2)

Kenta v. Marufuji (Noah 4 1/2)

Generico/London d. Kings of Wrestling (PWG 4 1/2)

Strong v. Richards (ROH 4 1/2)

Yoshino v. Doi (DG 4 1/2)

Pac v. Yamato  (DG 4)

Open the Triangle Gate (DG4)

Hulk v. Yamato (DG4)

Steen v. Generico (ROH 4 1/4)

Goto v. Tanahashi (NJ 4)

The 4 1/2+ matches will head up the 2011 professional wrestling match of the year race (I'll start that post as early as this week) as my calendar year is Dec-Nov (except for WWE and TNA for which I use the actual calendar given the time lag in watching everything else).

And - there was a 4 star TNA match this week; the first 4 star match from either WWE/TNA this year - it was Hardy/Anderson at Sunday's PPV.

Yes, that Sugiura/Morishima being 5 stars is sort of a thing; I only had one match at 5 stars in all of 2010, that will almost certainly hold up as a top 3 match of the year 10 months from now.

9. Nick Lachey is The Jannetty

Jessica Simpson's fashion empire is worth a billion dollars.

10. The World Champion San Francisco Giants

It takes 11 playoff wins to become World Champion.  Here was number 8 - Game 1 of the 2010 World Series.

The first National League All-Star Game win since the Coolidge Administration meant that Games 1 and 2 would be played in San Francisco.  We hadn't hit a baseball in either serenity or anger with any consistency since Bonds was exiled, but batted around in both games.

Texas scored first, off the 2 time defending Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum (8.7 combined WARP/WAR) a single by Elvis Andrus, a walk by Michael Young, a single by Vlad Guerrero and we were down 1-0.

That became 2-0 just an inning later; Bengie Molina, only the second player in WS history to play against a team from which he was traded at midseason singled, went to third on a Cliff Lee double, and scored on an Andrus sac fly.

That was the worst it would get.

We got them both back in the third - Edgar Renteria (2.2) benched for most of the season (and correctly so) reached on an error and took second when Andres Torres (with a combined WAR/WARP of 10 was the best SFG CF in 20 years) was hit by a pitch.  Cliff Lee, who entered Game 1 on a multi-year postseason roll, then gave up a double to Freddy Sanchez (4.1) and a base hit to the rookie catcher Buster Posey (at 7.4, the best SFG catching performance in two decades - and one that he seems likely to surpass multiple times over) tied the game.

We sent 10 the plate in the 5th.  10!  In a World Series.  I'm almost certain it actually happened and wasn't part of a fevered dream.  

A one out double by Torres.  Sanchez's third double of the game to score him. An inning extending two out walk by Pat Burrell (6) then singles by NLCS MVP Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff (12 - the best SFG performance by a position player since Bonds in '04)  and a 3 run home run by Juan Uribe (5.5) made it 8-2 and just like that, Game One was effectively over.  

The final was 11-7; Texas scored 2 in the 6th that chased Lincecum - we got our 3 additional in the 8th with a Renteria single, a Travis Ishikawa pinch double, the fourth hit of the game by Freddy Sanchez (a SFG WS record, for those of you in the future searching for that improbable trivia answer) and a Nate Schierholtz single.  The bullpen blew up a little in the 9th; Texas tacked on 3 runs in a way only meaningful to their loved ones.

8 down.  3 to go.

That's all for this time.  I'll be back next time.  If there is a next time...

Your pal,

Jim

I Watch Every NBA Slam Dunk Contest, 1976-89

NBA TV marathons are among my favorite sensual pleasures (this is where I smack my lips and talk about my pyloric valve).

They've cut up every Slam Dunk Championship into a half hour program; that's maybe the ideal length for a dunk contest; it's maybe the ideal length for a Super Bowl.  Let's see if we can get to work on transforming every event in the culture into 30 minute packages.  I'd watch if CSPAN ran a marathon of Presidential election nights in 30 minute episodes.  Or national calamities.  The full coverage of the Kennedy assassination in 30 minutes.  As long as Bob Neal anchors.

1976
They had a compulsory round in '76, like figure skating.  Artis Gilmore's double axel brought tears to my eyes.  Steve Albert (I think it was Steve) announces the players before the contest, including Larry Kenon, nicknamed "Mr. K", which would have been a good nickname for Dwight Gooden near the end of his career after his license to practice medicine was stripped away; and George Gervin, who Albert called a "guard".  I don't mean Albert just called him a guard - I mean Albert said he was a "quote, guard."  That's maybe how to refer to a guard who doesn't guard anyone.  "Here's your 2011 Golden St. Warriors starting backcourt, "from Davidson College, the Point Guard, Stephen Curry; from Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, the Quote Guard, Monta Ellis!..."

Erving wins, and rightly so, with the foul line dunk.

1984
I didn't catch who the analyst was.  Let's say it was Hot Rod Hundley, "You know what I smelled?  A lot of stickem around a circle of guys."


Yeah, that's not what I smelled, chief.

That's going to allow for one of my favorite games when watching old sportscasts, Homoerotic Double Entendre Theater.

From '85: You know he's got a deep bag!
From '86: I like Roy Hinson....He's got an unbelievable stretch."


When the dunks returned in '84, it was with new judging criteria - back in '76, dunks were rated based on (1) artistic ability, (2) imagination, (3) body flow (4) fan response - but now changed to a more corporatized (1) creativity (2) style (3) athleticism - somewhere around '87 they stopped referencing judging criteria altogether "just watch the dunks, okay - put numbers in the air and move on with our lives."

Body flow is awesome.  Someone in the ABA offices was listening to some Doobie Brothers when he came up with body flow as an official judging standard for the dunk contest.  It Keeps You Runnin.  Yeah, it keeps you runnin'.  Hey guys, you know what I love about David Thompson?  The way his body flows.  You know he has a deep bag.


Nance wins, and deserved to - like the early era dunkers, he was a version of Erving, much more finesse than power - they were stylish dunkers; his reverse righthand windmill was the best dunk of the night.

1985
Do you want to know the ideal height to win a dunk contest?  6 foot 7.  That's from, again, I'll say Rod Hundley.  Imagine all the stickem!

In '85 we get the debut of the forgotten dunker of the era, Terence Stansbury (replacing Barkley, who we are told was missing the dunk contest due to "personal reasons".  He never winds up competing in one, so whatever those reasons were apparently are ongoing.  Here's hoping he gets the help he needs soon.).  Stansbury hits a 360 degree Statue of Liberty dunk that becomes the best dunk to that date in a performance overlooked due to the arrival of the game changing Dominique Wilkins.  Whereas Dr. J and his progeny were finesse dunkers - 'Nique was all power, just rocketing his way through the mid '80s and really forcing Jordan, who also debuted in '85, to transform his dunk contest game from a more gentle showing in '85, to the heights he'd reach in '87/'88 where he brilliantly became a combination of both styles; Jordan essentially taking the best of what Wilkins could do, adding height and body flow, and building his dunk legacy.

Wilkins wins - taking 12 grand for his troubles, but Stansbury had the best dunk.

1986
Hey, we meet the judges.  Martina!  Staubach!  This was the Spud Webb year, and maybe the year that caused the dunk contest to penetrate the culture when one considers its historical arc.  'Nique had the dunk of the night, a double clutch behind the back thunderslam from the preliminary rounds; I'll call it the third best dunk to date, and it really was just one among another dozen similar powerdunks that marked Dominique the best contest dunker through '86.  But the thing is - Webb was better in the final round; his 1 handed dunk the 4th best to that date; it's tempting to say Wilkins got jobbed by the Spudtastic frenzy "aw, he thinks he's people", a 2011 analogue our national acceptance of special needs reality star Snooki.  Girl got hops.  Can't take that away from her.  But the truth is, Webb was better at the end even though Wilkins dominated the competition..

1987

Once the evening ended in 1987, this had become the best dunk ever.

And that was the second.

And that was the third.

Michael Jordan's 1987 dunk contest performance was the great leap forward for the art form; it was Gutenberg creating movable type.  Sports analysts have spent the last 20 years giving some variation of the "dunk contest is dead" post mortem after every All-Star weekend.  They're wrong - the dunks are more often fun than not, it's just that it can't always be the 1440's.

1988
1988 was Ali/Frazier - but the one we didn't see; it's Ali from '65, all athleticism and body flow - against the ferocity, the thump/thump/thump of the best of Frazier.  The best heavyweight title fight of the 1980s?  It was Jordan/'Nique in the '88 Dunk Contest.

Jordan in '88 was Jordan in '87, he returned with the same repertoire, the same level of excellence, he returned for his coronation; he knew Dominique, he had already absorbed his sexy.  But he didn't know this Wilkins - it wasn't that suddenly Dominique found his inner Erving - instead, in '88, 'Nique's mean got meaner.   He hit Jordan with a reverse two hander in round one (BAM!) then a one armed windmill in the semis (WHAM!) MJ hit his own two handed reverse to slide his way into the finals and then got punched dead in the mouth with Nique's best contest dunk yet, a two hand windmill that you can see, albeit in slow motion, at 2:30 in here.

By all rights, that should have been the knockout.

But it wasn't - Jordan rose, hit his foul line dunk, and took the judge's decision.  If Wilkins, Marvin Hagler-like, had chosen to quit hoops right then and move to Italy, we all would have understood.

1989
Kenny Walker hit a one hand 360 and obliterated the field.  Inspired, as Bob Neal and Rick Barry told us on multiple occasions, by his dead father.

You see that episode of the behind the scenes documentary about Oprah's show (it's terrific, honest) where she really wanted to put the IPad in her last "Oprah's favorite things" episode and said that it was too small a thing to pray for?

This was that - I don't know if you want to play the dead parent card on a dunk contest, especially post-Jordan.  If Kenny Walker was visited by a magical genie and given three wishes, my concern is he spent them all in 1989.

Top 5 Dunks of the 80s:
1. Jordan's one handed under the basket swooping dunk from round 1, 1987
2. Jordan's one handed dunk from the baseline, semifinals, 1987
3. Nique's two hand windmill, finals, 1988
4. Walker's one hand 360 cradle, 1989
5. Jordan's foul line dunk, 1987 (tie)
5. Stansbury's 360 statue of liberty, 1985


Maybe next year I'll come back and do the 90s.  Enjoy All-Star Saturday Night.

Every NBA Champion Ranked by Pythagorean Record+Strength of Schedule

Updated through 2019.

Thursday's pythagorean day, you can get to the previous lists here.

This is a ranking of every NBA Champ by regular season pythagorean wins (normalized for an 82 game season) if you click that above link you can work your way to the methodology.  Included with each team is a list of its players who had Win Shares of 10 or over (Win Shares is an aggregate performance metric).  I combined regular season and playoff performance for that number. I'm now adding strength of schedule as well, the combination of those two numbers is reflected in the simple rating system from pro-basketball-reference.

So - what's the best team in NBA history?

1. 1971 Bucks 11.91
Abdul-Jabbar 25.6, Robertson 14.7, Dandridge 11.3, McGlocklin 10.7, (d. Bullets .91 let’s see how far we go to find another team this bad)

2. 1996 Bulls 11.8
Jordan 25.1, Pippen 15.3, Kukoc 11.4 (d. Sonics 7.4)

3. 1972 Lakers 11.65
Chamberlain 18.8, West 14.3, Goodrich 14.3, Hairston 11, (d. Knicks 2.28, in the Western Finals they beat the defending champ Bucks, with a 10.7 SRS, before that they beat the 7.91 Bulls, this Laker team was tremendous)

4. 2017 Warriors 11.35 
 Curry 16, Durant 15.1, Green 10.6 (d. Cavs 2.87)

5. 1997 Bulls 10.7
Jordan 22.2, Pippen 15.4, (d. Jazz 7.97)

6. 1992 Bulls 10.07
Jordan 21.8, Grant 17.4, Pippen 15.8, (d. Blazers 6.94). 3 Bulls teams in the top 5.

7. 2015 Warriors 10.01
Curry 19.8, Green 11.1, Thompson 10.7 (d. Cavs 4.08) How about that?

8. 2008 Celtics 9.31
Garnett 17, Pierce 15.4, Allen 12.8, (d. Lakers 7.34). Would you have guessed this as the best regular season Celtics team of all time?

9. 1986 Celtics 9.06
Bird 20, McHale 14.2, Parish 10.2 (d. Rockets 2.1, they beat the 8.69 Bucks in the Eastern Finals)

10. 1991 Bulls 8.57
Jordan 25.1, Pippen 14.1, Grant 12.9, (d. Lakers 6.73, the Lakers knocked off the 8.47 Blazers in the Western Finals). 4th MJ team.

11. 1967 Sixers 8.5
Chamberlain 25.7, Walker 12.4, (d. Warriors 2.58)

12. 1970 Knicks 8.42
Frazier 17.8, Reed 17.4, (d. Lakers 1.76)

13. 2000 Lakers 8.41
O’Neal 23.3, Bryant 12.7, Rice 10.1, (d. Pacers 4.15).

14. 2007 Spurs 8.35
Duncan 16.3, Ginobli 13.2, Parker 11.2, (d. Cavs 3.33)

15. 1987 Lakers 8.32
Johnson 19.6, Worthy 12 (d. Celtics 6.57)

16. 1950 Lakers 8.25
Mikan (21.1) (d. Nationals 6.48)

17. 1962 Celtics 8.25
Russell 19.1, SJones 11.1, Heinsohn 10.3, (d. Lakers 1.8)

18. 2014 Spurs 8.0
Duncan 10.6 (d. Heat 4.15)

19. 2005 Spurs 7.83
Ginobli 15.2, Duncan 14.7, (d. Pistons 3.31).

20. 1960 Celtics 7.62
Russell 16.8, (d. Lakers 1.77)

21. 1983 Sixers 7.53
Malone 17.9, Erving 12.1, Cheeks 11, (d. Lakers 5.06)

22. 1965 Celtics 7.47
Russell 14.9, SJones 12.2, (d. Lakers 1.7)

23. 1998 Bulls 7.24
Jordan 20.6, (d. Jazz 5.73)

24. 2002 Lakers 7.14
O’Neal 17, Bryant 15.3, (d. Nets 3.67)

25. 1999 Spurs 7.12
Duncan 12.4, Robinson 11.4, (d. Knicks 1.45)

26. 2009 Lakers 7.11
Gasol 18.2, Bryant 17.6, (d. Magic 6.48, the 8.68 Cavs lost to Orlando in the Eastern Finals)

27. 2013 Heat 7.03
James 24.5, Wade 11.4, Bosh 11.2 (d.Spurs 6.67, the best team, to that date, in NBA history to not make even the conference finals were the Thunder 9.15)

28. 1964 Celtics 6.93
Russell 19.2, SJones 11 (d. Warriors 4.41)

29. 1949 Lakers 6.80
Mikan 25.1 (d.Capitols 2.11)

30. 1985 Lakers 6.48
Johnson 15.7, Abdul-Jabbar 13.7, Worthy 10.1, (d. Celtics 6.46)

31. 1984 Celtics 6.42
Bird 18.3, McHale 12.6, Parish 12.4, (d. Lakers 3.32)

32. 1963 Celtics 6.38
Russell 16, SJones 11.5, (d. Lakers 2.67)

33. 1989 Pistons 6.24
Laimbeer 10.6, (d. Lakers 6.38, that's the first upset, albeit as small as one could be, the 7.95 Cavs lost in the first round to Jordan)

34. 1993 Bulls 6.19
Jordan 21.6, Grant 11.5, Pippen 10.2, (d. Suns 6.27, upset, but barely so)

35. 1973 Knicks 6.07
Frazier 16, (d. Lakers 8.16, that's a healthy upset, this Laker team would be in the top 20 of championship teams; only team with an 8+ SRS to lose a title to an inferior team in the Finals, the Bucks were 7.84 and lost in the first round)

36. 1981 Celtics 6.05
Bird 13.9, Maxwell 13.5, Parish 12.3, (d. Rockets -.2 – the Celtics played some bad Rockets teams in the 80s, the Celtics beat the 7.76 Sixers in the Eastern Finals)

37. 1959 Celtics 5.84
Russell 14.8, (d. Lakers -1.42, okay, this will almost certainly be the worst team ever to make an NBA Final – and since I’ve already done the SB, I know it’s worse than any team ever to win the SB. I’ve done WS winners already, one team, out of 106 WS champs, was under .500 – the ’87 Twins – I haven’t done losers yet, but right now, this Lakers team is the worst team ever in a title game. Note, I didn’t do NFL Champs before SB era.)

38. 2018 Warriors 5.79
Durant 14.4, Curry 12.9 (d Cavs .59) The Warriors won 3 titles in 4 years, this was easily the weakest team of that stretch

39. 2012 Heat 5.72
James 20.3 (d. OKC 6.44, another upset)

40. 2003 Spurs 5.65
Duncan 22.4, (d. Nets 4.42, the Spurs also beat the 7.90 Mavs in round one)

41. 1953 Lakers 5.53
Mikan 16.6, Mikkelsen 13.2, (d. Knicks 4.39)

42. 2019 Raptors 5.49
Leonard 14.4, Siakam 11.7 (d. GSW 6.42)

43. 2016 Cavs 5.45
James 18.3, Thompson 10.7, Love 10.5 (d. Warriors 10.38, first 10 SRS team to lose the NBA Finals, another 10+ team, the Spurs lost earlier in playoffs)

44. 1990 Pistons 5.41
Laimbeer 13.7, Dumars 10.8, (d.Blazers 6.48)

45. 1980 Lakers 5.39
Abdul-Jabbar 18.1, Johnson 13.3, Wilkes 11.7, (d. Sixers 4.04)

46. 1969 Celtics 5.35
Howell 12.9, Russell 12.3, Havlicek 10.1 (d. Lakers 3.84)

47. 1977 Blazers 5.39
Walton 12.7, Lucas 11.3, (d. Sixers 3.78)

48. 1952 Lakers 5.28
Mikan 16.8, Mikkelsen 15.1, (d. Knicks .67)

49. 2004 Pistons 5.04
Billups 15, Wallace 13.8, Hamilton 11.6, Prince 10.3 (d. Lakers 4.35)

50. 1961 Celtics 4.93 
Russell 14.9, (d. Hawks 2.99)

51. 1988 Lakers 4.81
Johnson 14.9, Scott 13, Worthy 10.7, (d. Pistons 5.46)

52. 1957 Celtics 4.79
Sharman 11.7, (d. Hawks -.27)

53. 2010 Lakers 4.78
Gasol 15.3, Bryant 13, (d. Celtics 3.37)

54. 2011 Mavericks 4.41
Nowitzki 14.8 (d. Heat 6.76, that's a good upset a sub 5 SRS team beating a 6+ team)

55. 1982 Lakers 4.37
Johnson 15.6, Abdul-Jabbar 12.6, (d. Sixers 5.74)

56. 1966 Celtics 4.34
Russell 14.9, SJones 12.2, (d. Lakers 2.76)

57. 1994 Rockets 4.19
Olajuwon 18.6, Thorpe 12.2, (d. Knicks 6.48, see 2011, the 8.68 Sonics got bounced in the first round)

58. 1968 Celtics 3.87
Howell 12.3, (d. Lakers 4.99, the Celtics took out the 7.96 Sixers in the Eastern finals)

59. 1956 Warriors 3.82
Johnston 15.5, Arizin 14.4, (d. Pistons .45)

60. 2001 Lakers 3.74
O’Neal 18.6, Bryant 15.1, (d. Sixers 3.63, LA also beat the 7.92 Spurs in the Western Finals)

61. 1948 Bullets 3.69
Jeannette 10.3 (d.Warriors .69)

62. 2006 Heat 3.59
Wade 19.6 (d. Mavs 5.96)

63. 1974 Celtics 3.42
Havlicek 13.2, Cowens 11.4, (d. Bucks 7.61, now that's an upset)

64. 1947 Warriors 3.16
Fulks 18.6 (d. Stags 3.34, Washington was 8.99, an all time top non NBA Finalist)

65. 1975 GSW 2.86
Warriors! Sure, I was 4 and therefore have not a single memory of it. But it’s GSW! GSW! GSW!! Barry 15.8, (d. Bullets 6.53 – and a significant upset to boot)

66. 1954 Lakers 2.7
Mikan 16.2, (d. Nationals 4.27)

67. 1979 Sonics 2.69
Williams 11, Sikma 10.6, (d. Bullets 4.75)

68. 1951 Royals 2.54
Risen (9.3, this is the first team on the list without a 10 WS player) (d. Knicks .49– The Knicks have had some really bad finals teams)

69. 1995 Rockets 2.32
Olajuwon 14, (d. Magic 59 6.44, that's a nice upset, the 7.91 Sonics lost in the first round, the Rockets knocked off the 7.75 Jazz in the first round)

70. 1976 Celtics 2.24
Cowens 13.4, (d Suns .59, xtra bad matchup)

71. 1955 Nationals 1.23
Schayes 13.8, (d. Pistons 2.01)

72. 1958 Hawks .82
Pettit 12.2, Hagan 12.7 (d. Celtics 5.01, that's a bad Hawks title team)

73. 1978 Bullets .82
Hayes 11.4, (d. Sonics 1.48).  This is the first NBA Finals of my memory; I was 7 - it's a wonder I kept watching.

The 200 Greatest Major League Baseball Players Ever 2011 Ed. #80-71

The previous ten is here.

I'm keeping two running rosters, which you probably know if you're reading the post.  The first is just based on this Top 200 list; here's where we currently stand.

C Berra (Fisk)
1B Mize (Thome)
2B Alomar (Biggio)
SS Appling (Yount)
3B Rolen (Santo)
LF Ramirez (Clarke)
CF Edmonds (Hamilton)
RF Sheffield (Walker)
RHP Clarkson (Martinez, Drysdale, Rivera, Smoltz, Eckersley, Keefe,)
LHP Hubbell (Newhouser)


The second is more "who would you pick if you were picking sides" - trying to look more at peak value than a career total.  


C Berra (Piazza)
1B Mize (McGwire)
2B Robinson (Kent)
SS Banks (Jeter)
3B Rolen (Santo)
LF Jackson (Ramirez)
CF Hamilton (Snider)
RF Flick (Sheffield)
RHP Rivera (Martinez, Walsh, Feller, Clarkson, Marichal, Halladay, )
LHP Hubbell (Newhouser)


So - here we go.  

80. Lou Whitaker 2B WARP+WAR=145.6

Tigers

1977-95

OPS+ 116

Translated BA/OBP/SLG  .291/.378/.473

MVPQ none, Best season 1983 (13.6)

Trammell was in the previous ten; they should both be in the HOF and they should go in together.  Whitaker bumps Alomar to the backup spot on the career roster and takes Biggio off the list.  The peak list remains unchanged - Jackie's the best 2B, Kent's the backup.  

79. Gary Carter C 146

1974-92

Expos

OPS+ 115

.277/.347/.488

MVPQ 1982 17.1

Carter's now the starting catcher on the all-time career roster, moving Berra to backup.  Now, what to do about the Berra/Piazza tandem on the other roster.  Berra just edges Carter, his bat was a little better as reflected in translated slugging.  Piazza's bat was significantly better - and for the same reasons I've kept Piazza in this slot, he continues through Carter.  

78. Bobby Grich 2B 146.1

1970-86

Angels/Orioles

OPS+125

.283/.387/.495

MVPQ none Best season 1973 (15.2)

Above average glove and an OPS+ of 125, hopefully somewhere in the closing credits of Moneyball will be a  photographic montage of the forgotten greats in MLB history whose contributions weren't noticed by the prevailing wisdom of the time.  So - once again, we have the Jackie/Kent 2B combo putting their roster spots on the line.  Robinson keeps the spot - better at every phase than Grich.  Then we get to my guy Kent; essentially identical bats, Kent with a tick more power, Grich better at getting on base.  Their careers of comparable lengths - Grich takes the spot on the strength of the glove disparity.  Yeah - Grich was better, not by a lot - but better, absolutely. 

77. Tim Raines LF 146.3

1979-02

Expos

OPS+ 123

.315/.406/.488

MVPQ 1985 (17)

I love me some Tim Raines.  If there had been no Rickey Henderson, the Rock might be my favorite non-Giant ever.  There's something about that type of OBP weapon right there at the top of the order that makes me feel good as a fan.  Or would - 'cause SFG has been historically disinclined to care about leadoff hitters who get on base.  Now to the subjective lineup - the left fielders are Joe Jackson and Manny Ramirez.  He can't get by Jackson - that 170 OPS+ and translated .300/.400/.600 career line is impenetrable.  And, sadly, Manny gets him too - a 155 OPS+ and a 3/4/5 slashline beats out Raines.

76. Sam Crawford RF 146.3

1899-17

Tigers

OPS+ 144

.310/.369/.545

MVPQ none, Best season 11.9

Crawford loses out to Flick and Sheffield on the OBP disparity and can't quite crack the subjective roster.

75. Tony Gwynn RF 146.9

1982-01

Padres

OPS+ 132

.356/.408/.498

MVPQ 1987 (17.5)

And Gwynn can't crack that RF roster either, his OBP matches (but doesn't really exceed, despite the huge BA advantage) Flick/Sheff, but he isn't within 50 points of their SLG.  Gwynn had more career value than Gary Sheffield - but if I'm picking, I'm taking Sheff.  Hey, we've hit the 75 best baseball players of all time.

74. Paul Waner RF 147.8

1926-45

Pirates

OPS+ 134

.333/.404/.473

MVPQ (none), Best season 1936 (15.5)

Quite a run of right fielders.  Waner = Gwynn.  20 years with the same club, high BA that drove the OBP, good slugging, good enough in the field.  It's the kind of guy who should make up the bulk of a more selctive HOF - but neither was the player that Flick/Sheffield was.  

73. Ed Delahanty LF 147.9

1888-03

Phillies

OPS+ 152

.320/.393/.555

MVPQ 1893 (17.2), 1896 (16.5), 1899 (16.8)

Delahanty's sliding past Ramirez, similar numbers but more value in significantly fewer years given a solid defensive advantage (Delahanty played some second, not a position you would often find Ramirez) into the backup LF spot behind Jackson.

72. Mike Mussina RHP 148.6

1991-08

Orioles/Yankees

ERA+ 123

MVPQ none, Best season 1992 (14.7)

A long, consistent career.  Never brilliant, the Moose doesn't have a year better than '92 - but he didn't acquire this career number in 25 years either.  He doesn't crack the subjective 7 (I'm carrying 7 right handers on the peak/subjective lineup) but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be in the HOF.

71. Reggie Jackson RF 149.5

1967-87

Athletics

OPS+ 139

.279/.371/.569

MVPQ 1969 (18.5)

Here's Mr. October in October - .278/.358/.527.  Those are untranslated numbers - but the general point is the same, Reggie wasn't better in the postseason than the regular season.  He was who he was, like almost everyone if given a representative sample.  

Jackson doesn't catch Flick - it's a photo finish between he and Sheffield; Sheff's got a higher OBP driven by batting average; Reggie's career value is slightly higher in approximately the same timeframe.  It's close - but it's Sheffield.  I know how that sounds - but the 30 points of adjusted OBP is the only real gap between them. 

Career value:

C Carter (Berra)
1B Mize (Thome)
2B Grich (Whitaker)
SS Appling (Yount)
3B Rolen (Santo)
LF Delahanty (Raines)
CF Edmonds (Hamilton)
RF Jackson (Waner)
RHP Mussina (Clarkson, Martinez, Drysdale, Rivera, Smoltz, Eckersley, )
LHP Hubbell (Newhouser)

Subjective/Peak

C Berra (Piazza)
1B Mize (McGwire)
2B Robinson (Grich)
SS Banks (Jeter)
3B Rolen (Santo)
LF Jackson (Delahanty)
CF Hamilton (Snider)
RF Flick (Sheffield)
RHP Rivera (Martinez, Walsh, Feller, Clarkson, Marichal, Halladay, )
LHP Hubbell (Newhouser)

130 down.  70 to go.  See you in a week.

The Weekly Tendown February 6 --12 2011

Dear Internet:

Sometimes the news confuses me.  Near as I can figure, this week the people of Egypt, led by the Muslim Brotherhood and Utah Jazz All-Star point guard Deron Williams drove Hosni Mubarak out of power.

Hopefully President Tyrone Corbin can help facilitate peace in the Northwest Division.  Egypt's relationship with neighbor Oklahoma City has been tenuous since the Six Days War.

Here's Tendown 64.

1. Would You Like to Make Some Money?

So, I lost against the spread picking the Super Bowl last week.  This does not bother me, as I did not invest, rooting, in fact, for the Packers.

Five years ago, however, Seattle was getting points against the Steelers, and it could have been that I felt fairly confident in that investment, given my view that they were the stronger team.

As you know, that game was fixed.

I then made a mistake.  Commitment bias is this - the tendency to throw good money after bad; so, let's say you're dating someone who you should really not be with anymore, but you say "if I leave him now, it's like I've wasted the past X years of my life.  I have to keep going."

It's what causes the Niners to cut the clearly superior Shaun Hill and keep playing Alex Smith.  If we cut him now - it's like we wasted the top overall pick."

It's important, in business, in sports, in life, in gambling to recognize the value of sunk costs.  It's what keeps a loss from bankrupting you.

So, SB 40 went the wrong way, and understanding the human tendency to chase bad money, I decided to make it all back with a Grammy investment.

Don't do that.  It's error.

I've forgotten who was favored to win both Album and Song of the Year five years ago (guessing - it was Kanye) but it wasn't U2.

Here's why that matters - investing in awards shows is not a good proposition; either there's a solid favorite (Eminem for Best Album this year) meaning there's just no play given how bad are the odds, or it's a coin flip, and that's never something you should play (unless it's the Super Bowl and you play tails).

But sometimes, analysis of past votes (and that's how you play; it's not a qualitative "here's who's best" judgment, the way you play is "who is in the position of previous winners") leads to the view that the most likely winner is mistakenly a pretty good underdog according to the sportsbooks.

And 5 years ago - I thought U2 was going to win, but they weren't favored, and having just taken a bath in a clearly fixed Super Bowl, I went in heavy.

This is a mistake.

Except that time it worked out and I cleaned up.

Leading us to tonight.

Let me direct you to Lady Antebellum this evening.  Plus another 10 picks tonight.  They are dogs for both song/record and I don't believe that's the most likely result tonight.  The metric for this isn't as strong as for sports - but it's not a shot in the dark either.  If, for whatever reason, you decided to invest tonight, think Lady Antebellum for Song and Record.  I did give you Boardwalk Empire/Steve Buscemi a month ago.

(edit - You're welcome.)

Album - Eminem
Best New Artist - Justin Bieber
Song - Need You Now (Cee Lo is favored, so there's an opportunity here)
Record - Need You Now (Eminem/Rihanna is favored, and Lady Antebellum is also behind Jay Z/Alicia Keys so there's an opportunity here.)
Short Form Video - Bad Romance
Male Country Vocal - Keith Urban
Female Country Vocal - Miranda Lambert
Alternative Album - Arcade Fire
Urban Alternative - Cee Lo Green
Male R&B Vocal - Usher
Pop Vocal Album - Gaga
Female Pop Vocal - Gaga
Rap Solo - Eminem

We'll see how it goes.

2. Jefferson Davis = Adlai Stevenson


If Tendown has any value, I know I have readers who otherwise would be unaware of the lengths that the right wing goes to fabricate American history.  Previously, we've seen Limbaugh and right wing congressmen discuss how it was the Republicans who were the true civil rights crusaders.  And presumably, someone who doesn't know what happened to all those southern Democrats who opposed Brown or CRA '64 (spoiler alert - they became Republicans) might get tricked.

To that end - here's Ann Coulter from CPAC this week. saying that liberals fought to keep slavery during the Civil War.

And this week, here's Michele Bachmann saying that other than Native Americans, all Americans have the same story of coming to the US by choice for a better life.  An omission?  Nah - two weeks ago she said this:


"How unique in all of the world, that one nation that was the resting point from people groups all across the world," she said. "It didn't matter the color of their skin, it didn't matter their language, it didn't matter their economic status."


"Once you got here, we were all the same. Isn't that remarkable?" 


It is remarkable.  Which explains why the National Review, the longtime right wing journal of record, wrote this in 1957.



The central question that emerges--and it is not a parliamentary question or a question that is answered by merely consulting a catalog of the rights of American citizens, born Equal--is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically? The sobering answer is Yes--the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the median cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists. The question, as far as the White community is concerned, is whether the claims of civilization supersede those of universal suffrage. The British believe they do, and acted accordingly, in Kenya, where the choice was dramatically one between civilization and barbarism, and elsewhere; the South, where the conflict is by no means dramatic, as in Kenya, nevertheless perceives important qualitative differences between its culture and the Negroes', and intends to assert its own.



Note - that Kenya discussion is at the heart of today's right wing theory of Obama's hatred of the United States - he has an anti-colonial reservoir of resentment toward England for its treatment of Kenya that has manifested in his desire to destroy the United States.

No, seriously.  Here's Dinesh D'Souza in a piece that has been supported by Newt, Palin, and Simple Jack:

Incredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s. This philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying him the realization of his anticolonial ambitions, is now setting the nation's agenda through the reincarnation of his dreams in his son. The son makes it happen, but he candidly admits he is only living out his father's dream. The invisible father provides the inspiration, and the son dutifully gets the job done. America today is governed by a ghost.

In a right wing history class, the earth is 6,000 years old; the founding fathers created the United States as a Christian nation as they were ending slavery.  The Progressive Era was a totalitarian power grab by the federal government; the progressive income tax, the minimum wage, and minimum health and safety standards were part of an inexorable slide to socialism, that - when coupled with the failure of the New Deal under perhaps our worst President ever, FDR, created a United States which was only saved by the coming of Ronald Reagan, whose tax cutting both decreased the deficit and created jobs, policies that if we would just return to could unleash to power of small business and return America to its late 19th century glory.  Social Security is a failed ponzi scheme.  Unemployment benefits create hobos.  Iraq has been a successful war.  Biblical law should replace the criminal justice system.   Liberals and Muslims are part of a worldwide conspiracy to impose Sharia law/gay marriage on the United States.  Your guns and Bible are in jeopardy of being taken away.  The only guardians of the liberties enshrined in the Constitution are on the right wing.  

And I don't even go after the low hanging fruit.  Read about Bryan Fischer sometime and consider why it is mainstream Republicans can go on his radio show without being required to repudiate his constant vicious bigotry.  I talk about the big guys, elected officials, the big corporately supported heavy right wing hitters.  Take a step down and you get all manner of right wing madness that just goes undiscussed by mainstream media until you look up and Rand Paul, who believes the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is unconstitutional and that businesses should be allowed to discriminate on the basis of race if they choose to becomes elected to the US Senate.

Can you be elected in South Africa in 2011 if you say "now, personally, I didn't like apartheid, but I'm not sure we should have stopped it."

Because in the US - those guys are sitting at the head of the table.

3. And While We're At It
Here's what really happened in the 1980s.

4. Meanwhile, at the home front.


I live in south Florida.  Here was our week.

The new right wing governor wants to cut corporate taxes by 700 billion.  How to pay for it?  Take 4 billion out of Medicaid.

The proposed budget is here.


In his first budget proposal, Gov. Rick Scott wants to slash more than $4.6 billion from the state's current spending of $70.5 billion by cutting services to the developmentally disabled, whacking per-pupil spending and doing away with nearly 8,700 state worker jobs while giving businesses a $1.4 billion tax break.
Scott, who rolled out his $65.9 billion spending plan at a tea party event in rural Central Florida, called his austere proposal a gimmick-free approach to governing.


"There's no sweeteners for special interests or special people or special companies," Scott told reporters in the Capitol on Monday after first releasing details to tea party supporters in Eustis.
But Scott's budget plan would lower the corporate income tax from 5.5 percent to 3 percent, a $1.4 billion savings for big businesses in the state. And his proposal includes $800 million in economic development money that he alone could dole out to businesses coming to or expanding in Florida.


And for those who are unemployed - good news - Florida businesses may soon contribute less money to the unemployment insurance fund. Here's the chairman of the Florida House panel which passed those recommendations this week:

              “The one thing that we have to do is show that Florida is a business-friendly state,” 

Yup.  That's the one thing we have to do.  Weird that language isn't included in the Preamble to the Constitution.  

We the People, in order to form a more perfect Union, have to do one thing - show the US is a business friendly nation.

And Forbes says I live in the 8th worst city in the country.  

Presumably drug testing those receiving unemployment insurance is a good step to improving that ranking.  

Another proposal from the "shrink government to the size of a postage stamp" right wing.

5. In Case You Missed it.

Here's Vanity Fair's piece on crazypants Randy Quaid.

From Esquire - the first ever perfect guess on a Showcase Showdown.

And from Details - the history of a show you never watched, but I did - Party Down.

6. Who Was Dan Pawson?

That's not a question.  That's an answer.

The question is - the longest running Jeopardy champion in 2008?

How do I know?  'Cause of this archive.

7. Here's Ebert, Dying.

As are we all. 

8. Joe Francis, People Just Don't Know How Cute and Funny You Are.

The above is a direct, verbatim quote from Melissa Rivers on her new reality show with her mother.

Yeah, it's terrible.  I watch so you don't have to.

Hilariously, last week included a cameo by Joe Francis, presented totally uncritically as a just a good, regular, successful guy.

Undiscussed was his indictment and six figure tax lien.  His attack on multiple women. One of whom was pregnant.  His guilty plea to filing false tax records. 

But, he's cute and funny.  So there's that.

9. I Make Mistakes

I don't necessarily like referring to people or places by their actual names.  For example, there's a bar in town called the Brass Something Or Other, I'm Not Really Sure.  

I call it the Brass Monkey.  'Cause of the Beastie Boys.  We got the bottle.  You got the cup.

And this week, when some package of direct mail coupons arrived, and one of them was for a bar in a nearby town called the Brass Monkey, I wondered (out loud, unfortunately) if our local Brass Monkey would also be included in that discount.  'Cause they advertise having the "best hamburgers, coldest beer" - and if a bar in your town not only has the "best hamburgers" but also the "coldest beer" it just seems foolish not to try all of that.  It would be like living in Manhattan and never once going to the Empire State Building - sure, it might be for tourists - but you gotta go once, it's right there.  

It took me 2 days to realize that just because I call the Brass Something Or Other, I'm Not Really Sure the "Brass Monkey" does not mean that it would take a coupon for a place actually called Brass Monkey.

2 days.  2 days to figure that out.  I'm a professor of higher learning.  

10. The World Champion San Francisco Giants

It takes 11 playoff wins to be World Champions.  This was our seventh.  NLCS Game 6.  

Sanchez met Oswalt in Game 6 - and given Oswalt's dominance in Game 2 and the series shifting to Philadelphia, you could forgive the nervousness.  Or worse - the creeping panic after 3 hits and a wild pitch in the first inning gave them a two run lead just as we got off the plane.  

We got two singles in the second - but didn't score, and still down 2-0 the concern rose another notch.

Calm down, Jividen - we're about to get them back in the third.  Look!

Sanchez (the pitching version) and Torres led off the third with singles, were bunted over, then both scored on a single by Huff and a Polanco throwing error.  

2-2!  2-2!  Now let's keep the goddamn Phillies off the bases.

Sanchez put the first two on in the third and that was the end of his night.

Then the bullpen won the pennant.  Affledt threw two perfect innings; we went to the 5th still tied at 2.

Singles by Fontenot and Sanchez (the Freddy version) gave us 2 on with one out in the fifth - but we did not score.

Bumgarner came on for the bottom and loaded the bases.  But he got Victorino to ground out to end the inning.

2-2.  2-2.  2-2.

We got two more on, again with one out in the 6th.  A Renteria double play ended the inning.  

They had a runner at 3rd with one out in the 6th.  Bumgarner got Ben Francisco looking and then a Rollins fly ball to end the inning.

2-2.  2-2.  2-2.

Again - again 2 more on in our 7th.  Again, nothing.  

But in the 8th we got them.  Juan Uribe homered off Ryan Madson - putting us up 3-2 - and setting the stage for a 5 out Wilson save; a Carlos Ruiz double play ended the 8th - and after we loaded the bases but did not score in the 9th, Wilson walked two - but got groundballs from Gload and Polanco - and then struck Ryan Howard out looking to end the game and win the pennant.  I cried and cried and cried.  

For the fourth time in SFG history, the third time in my life, onto the WS we went.

That's all for this time.  I'll see you next time.  If there is a next time...

Your pal,

Jim