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  • eschapp 2:52 pm on July 30, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Ozzie Guillen, ,   

    Twins Win First Two Against the White Sox 

    Great come back win for the Twins last night.  I made sure to wear my Killebrew jersey again because I am somewhat superstitious when it comes to baseball. Possible because I wore the jersey, the Twins won again. Therefore, I’ll be wearing it again tonight. I plan on riding out this winning streak in eggshell blue.

    It’s too bad that the Twin’s middle infielder’s cannot stay healthy.  The rash of hand injuries on the Twins is also alarming, but calling for the Twins to stop sliding head-first is ill conceived and merely reactionary.  The Twins will miss Alexi Casilla while he is on the DL, but by no means does this mean the Twins are much worse off than they were before the injury.  They still have a good chance to make the playoffs if their pitching can sustain their current level of play.

    On note related to the Twins/White Sox series: I love Ozzie being the White Sox’s Manager.  Case in point: Ozzie ripped for Twins love from the Chicago Sun-Times

    Lets get to Gavin Floyd early and often tonight1.  Lets make this three in a row against the White Sox.  Twins 2 – White Sox 0.

    1. With Livian Hernandez pitching we’ll need all the runs we can get.
     
  • eschapp 9:01 am on July 30, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Brett Farve, , , NFL,   

    Print – Brokering a Peace Agreement . . . in the NFL 

    Here’s the story by Kevin Seifert1 over at his ESPN NFC North Blog: ESPN – Packers president gets involved – NFC North.

    The notion that NFL team presidents are flying around the United Statesbrokering peace deals with disgruntled players seems strange to me. If the NFL is the “world” and the Packers are a country in that world, lead by their “president,” what does that make Brett Farve: A city-state? A rebellious territory? Is Brett Farve trying to secede from the union? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell must enforce this peace deal: he is the United Nations of the NFL2. Granted the “Brett Farve coming back from retirement but the Packer’s brass does not want him” story plays out as a civil war for Packers fans everywhere.

    I never thought about personnel problems in political terms before, especially in the context of professional athletes. I wonder if this article is being influenced by the current political circumstances and situations in American culture. And if so, will we see more sports articles drawing on political metaphors in the coming months?

    1. Formerly of the Star Tribune’s sports section.
    2. Or is he Switzerland? I forget.
     
  • eschapp 8:03 pm on July 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ,   

    Terrible Idea Dept. – Courtesy of Texas: H.R. 6615 

    Not too much to say about this:

    H.R. 6615: To provide for the transport of the enemy combatants detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba… (GovTrack.us).

    Execpt that it is a terrible idea, and would make living in Washington, DC a burden.

     
  • eschapp 4:53 pm on July 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Baghdad, Iraq, , ,   

    Print – Leaving Baghdad: Comparing New York With Home from the Baghdad Bureau Blog 

    While surfing around the New York Time’s Website, I stumbled across their list of blogs.  One stuck out and called to me: Baghdad Bureau: Iraq From the Inside.  I casually clicked on the link, and I’ve been reading their posts religiously ever since.  Basically the posts center around Baghdad with varying topics designed to give outsiders a more personal view of what Baghdad is like.  I really like reading the Baghdad Bureau Blog’s dispatches, and thought I should let other people know that the blog exists.  The knowledge, experiences, and stories spread by the Baghdad Bureau are something that every American citizen should take to time to understand.

    Check out the Baghdad Bureau’s latest post:  Leaving Baghdad: Comparing New York With Home – Baghdad Bureau – Iraq From the Inside – New York Times Blog.

     
  • eschapp 2:57 pm on July 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Energy, , , , Republicans,   

    Print – Drive Small Cars and Wait for the Wind 

    I couldn’t resist commenting on this post from the Washington Post’s Capitol Briefing blog.

    Every week the blog invites top congressional staff to summerize the pending bills in congress. But this invitation opens the door for some comical partisan mudslinging. This week there was even a link to a photo. The photo was posted as the latest response in the argument: Whose energy policies make more sense? Republican’s or Democrat’s?1 I thought the photo was hilarious, but check it out for yourself.

    See the photo here: Small Wind Car.

    1. In reality neither party’s energy plan is adequate, but politicians sure love to argue about who is causing high gas prices.
     
  • eschapp 12:32 am on July 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Is it August Yet?

     
  • eschapp 12:06 am on July 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Denard Span, , , Mark Buehrle, , ,   

    K-Slow the Lumberjack 

    (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

    Update: I just realized I wore my new Harmon Clayton Killebrew throwback jersey for the first time during last nights game. I now will have to keep wearing it until the Twins stop winning. Or at least I will have to wear it for each of K-Slow’s starts. Great game last night. Oh and the Dodger can have Everett, the Twins just don’t currently have the roster space.

    I just finished watching Kevin Slowey (K-Slow) baffle the White Sox while breaking their bats.  That’s why he is the lumberjack.

    It was a great game for the Twins coming into their four game series with the AL Central Leading Chicago White Sox.  The Twins needed to send the message that this series in Minnesota will not be like the Twinkie slaughter that took place in Chicago last month1.  Slowey pitched the Sox inside the entire night, resulting in quite a few broken bats.  If the Twins are going to be successful against home run hitting teams, they are going to need to continue threatening batter with inside pitches.  Slowey knows it, Rick Anderson knows it, the White Sox know it, and hopefully the rest of the Twins’ pitching staff was paying attention.  In sum, this game was a gem for Kevin Slowey.  Congratulations on your second complete game shut-out K-Slow.

    Oh, yeah.  DSPAN and Morneau each hit two-run homers in the third inning ruining Mark Buehrle’s night.  It made for great television. Its late and I’m tired, so this is all I’ve got left: Twins 1 – White Sox 0.  Three games to go.

    1. I attended three of those games.  They might be the only Twins games I see in person this season. Damn.
     
  • eschapp 4:15 pm on July 26, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , International Baseball Federation, Olympics   

    Olympic Baseball Rules are Changed 

    Update: Here is the link to the International Baseball Federation’s website: IBAF Website.  Take a look if you are curious who changed the rules.

    Not sure how I feel about this: The Associated Press: IBAF changes rules for extra innings.  Basically, starting during the 11th inning each team will begin with runners on first and second with no outs.  Further, the will pick where in the order those runner will come, and the next person up in that order will be the first batter.  Seems like the innings could be the same for each beyond 101  I would think this possible repetition would actually make the game worse for spectators to watch.  Who wants to see the same batters every inning?  Baseball is an un-timed sport, and I’m not sure what the purpose of the rule change is, besides to ensure long games are decided more by luck than sport. Personally, I don’t think the change is necessary.

    This makes me wonder: Who should have the power to change sports rules for the Olympics?  Should the rules be changed during the Olympics solely to make them more spectator friendly?  Personally, I enjoy a baseball game that goes 11+ innings, because of the increased amount of strategy involved.  Finally, by changing the rules, aren’t the Olympics really changing the ’sport’ at its most basic (or abstract) level?

    What are people’s thoughts about this: Who should have the power to change the rules?  The administators, the inventors of the game, or the most prominent league (MLB, NFL, Champions League)?

    1. In the 11th the manager elects to put the 1 and 2 batters on base and the third batter is up.  If there is another inning, most manager will elect to put up their best players again, which will result in the same order as the 11th.
     
  • eschapp 5:18 pm on July 24, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Cohen Brothers, , , , , , ,   

    Flix – Fargo 

    It seems like its been a really long time since I have written about a movie. Its not that I haven’t seen many lately, but rather, I just haven’t found the time to post anything about any of the movies I’ve seen recently. But I can’t help but write about some of these flix, so I’ll try to get something up for each.

    Fargo

    I was predisposed to dislike the movie Fargo1, but I was eventually forced to view the film for the sake of convenience. Since moving to Washington D.C., I’ve been asked about Fargo frequently. In fact, when I meet someone new around the District, as soon as they find out I grew up in Fargo, they ask either: “Have you seen the movie?” or: “Did you like the movie?” I of course would answer that I hadn’t seen the movie, but the conversation would continue with the topic being the movie. It was always somewhat awkward when someone asked me if I had seen the movie, because once I had said no, they would give me the “how could you have not seen the movie about your home town”2 look. I eventually tired of these awkward situations and finally I Netflixed Fargo.3

    I’m glad I took the time and have now seen Fargo. The movie was really well done, and being from the area portrayed, I thought the accents were terrific4. What I thought made this movie special, and why I would argue it received as much attention as it did, was the way people felt about the movie. I guess that sounds vague, but consider that all of the main characters are cheats, murderers, and otherwise unwholesome characters5. But there is an eerie humor to the entire movie. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable when I wanted to laugh. For all of the horrific and sometimes graphic violence in the movie, at times I wanted to laugh (or at least I found parts funny).

    Consequently, that dark, brooding, and uncomfortable humor is what I find refreshing. I think the movie’s portrayal of human nature, when faced with the unconscionable acts of others, holds true. No matter what terrible things may happen, there is nothing an individual can do to avoid those events. While the degree of anguish might vary, and indeed it does to a great degree, there are times when a person is going to face the worst. And in the face of the worst, sometimes the best a person can do is look for the humor in life. Fargo was both violent and humorous at the same time; you couldn’t have either without experiencing it all. In this case, art certainly imitated life.

    1. I grew up in Fargo, and most people I knew resented the movie’s title because only one scene takes place “in” the city of Fargo
    2. Note: for those who haven’t seen the movie, it is not really about Fargo
    3. The fact that I had never seen Fargo, became a sort of achievement for me, something that I was proud of, but something that made little sense to other people. I’m still somewhat sad to see it go.
    4. But I don’t think I would have noticed the accent at home, if I hadn’t first moved away. Further while most people don’t have as thick of accents as portrayed in the movie, some do.
    5. I don’t consider the pregnant cop a main character
     
  • eschapp 10:37 pm on July 9, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    We’re almost at the All-Star Break. Summer’s Beginning to Wind Down. 

    We’re almost at the All-Star Break.  Which means that summer’s beginning to wind down.

     
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