Baseball 2005 Predictions
AL East
Yankees
Red Sox
Blue Jays
Orioles
Devil Rays
The AL East returns to normal. I have strong doubts about Pavano and Wright in NY, but Johnson/Mussina should rip it up. And that team can rake. I'm also really skeptical about the Red Sox. Nothing to prove anymore, and I think that team is ripe for a letdown - especially the pitching (which will be frought with injuries - Wells, Schilling, Wakefield?) I actually think the Red Sox will be in the fight of their life just to win the Wild Card. Yankees should win the division by 10 games, and the Red Sox will be hardpressed to hold off....
AL Central
Indians
Twins
Tigers
White Sox
Royals
...the Twins, who always seem to play well, regardless of who's out there. This is my surprise pick, I have a feeling the Indians are going to put together a very nice year. Millwood will have a lot to prove, and I think their young guns are ready for a big year. The Tigers will also contend. This should be one of the more interesting division races - because it should be at least 3-team, if not 4. Closest division talent-wise in the league. I'd almost prefer to see the league divided up by "good team/mediocre team/weak team. And the Royals will be the worst team in baseball.
AL WestAngels
Rangers
Mariners
Athletics
A division that went from being one of the best in baseball (if not the best) to being quite possibly the worst. With the exception of the Angels, I don't think there is a team in this division that will scare anyone. The Rangers have no pitching, the Mariners have no pitching, and the A's have no pitching or hitting anymore. I'm boggled at why the A's traded away all their pitching - I suppose this will be the true test of Moneyball. We'll see.
WC: Red Sox - barely, over the Twins
NL EastMarlins
Braves
Mets
Phillies
Nationals
This, on paper, should be a very, very competitive division. I like the Marlins, because they have 2 speedsters at the top of the lineup, followed by 4 heavy mashers, and 2 guys at the end that can still whack the ball. And their pitching staff is solid. Miguel Cabrera should have a monstrous year with Delgado behind him. The Braves definetely improved with Hudson/Kolb, but a Mondesi/Jordan outfield corners won't scare anyone. Beltran and Martinez are overpaid (everyone seems to forget that Beltran is only a .270 hitter), and the Mets will struggle to please everyone. The Phillies should be a good team, but not great, and the Nationals will be good, but not good enough to move up yet in this tough division.
NL CentralCardinals
Cubs
Astros
Reds
Pirates
Brewers
As much as I'm not sold on Beltran, I was looking forward to this being another great division race all year. But then all the hitting in this division left (other than STL) - Sosa, Alou, Beltran, Kent (Berkman is also out for a few months), and the Cardinals must be giddy. All they really lost from last year? Kline, Renteria, Womack. They replaced them with Eckstein, Grudzielinack and Mulder. That's an upgrade. This team could win 120 games, when they play in a division with the Reds, Pirates and Brewers. The Cubs, if their pitching was healthy, and they hadn't traded Sosa and lost Alou could have challenged, but now will be lucky to make it to .500. Awful division except for the Cards, which very well could be the only team above .500 in this division.
NL WestGiants
Padres
Dodgers
Diamondbacks
Rockies
This is, of course, under the assumption that Barry is back in 2 weeks. If not, the door is open for the Padres or Dodgers. Tough division to call, as the Padres are on their way up, the Dodgers are on their way down, the Giants are who knows what, the D-Backs are making all kinds of weird moves for a bankrupt team, and the Rockies will be challenging the Royals for the worst record in the bigs.
WC: Braves, in a dogfight with the Padres, Mets and Phillies all year long
Playoffs:
Yankees over Indians
Angels over Red Sox
Yankees over Angels
Marlins over Giants
Cardinals over Braves
Cardinals over Marlins (I'm going to love watching this series)
Cardinals over Yankees (Yanks go up 3-0, then Cards storm back, and win 4 straight games in extra innings - the final in a game 7 thriller when Pujols hits a grandslam off Rivera in the top of the 10th to go up 4-0, then the Yankees rally to 4-3, but, with Jeter on 3rd, and 2 outs, A-Rod hits a popup to Rolen. Jeter, on 3rd, punches Rolen, and the ball drops - allowing Jeter to score, but the umps rule interference and the Cards win 4-3).
I'd like to see these divisions in the AL - it woudl make for some more interesting division races:
Yankees
Red Sox
Twins
Indians
Angels
Orioles
Rangers
Blue Jays
Tigers
White Sox
Devil Rays
Athletics
Mariners
Royals
Any thoughts? Similar division alignment in the NL:
Cardinals
Marlins
Braves
Giants
Padres
Cubs
Phillies
Mets
Astros
Dodgers
Reds
Pirates
Brewers
Rockies
Diamondbacks
Nationals
Something like the NCAA different "tiers" for schools would be a great idea.
Terri's Gone
God Bless You, Terri Schiavo.
CNN storyThis comment from this story was especially disturbing:
"Thursday morning, O' Donnell said that Schiavo was in her final hours of life, and police have prohibited her blood relatives from spending time with her.
O'Donnell, one of the family's spiritual advisers, said that her parents and siblings were "begging to be at her bedside...but are being denied."
Michael Schiavo was Terri's guardian and controlled who may visit her and when."
Why does he feel the need to be so heartless?
A New Golfing Technique
I've decided to change my strategy.
Hole-In-OneIf he can do it while blind, I should probably just close my eyes and swing. Who knows, I might do better - less distractions, less thinking about it. I remember from the "Last Samurai" - the key to swordfighting is less "mind".
Maybe the same is true with golf. Couldn't hurt to try.
Tuesday
Seems like we generally like the Liberal party of Canada (Canadians in general, myself excepted), even though we openly admit that they
waste our money. A bit of a strange paradox. We're so gullible that we believe the lies that the Liberals tell us about everyone else (most notably the Conservative party), and keep putting them back in over and over and over again.
London Knights are up 3-0 in their quarterfinal series with the Guelph Storm. A really disgusting incident happened in last night's game where the Guelph coach told one of his players to
"go out and break someone's wrist". Appalling. The guy (a former London Knight, ironically) went out and tried with a vicious 2-handed slash, but fortunately Perry saw him coming and avoided major injury. This guy should be suspended for the season (and the coach too).
Save Toby?
Stumbled across this website last night.
Save Toby20,000 dollars. To save a stupid bunny. Rabbit. People - surely, people outraged at the thought that this cute little bunny will be eaten, have pledged 20,000 of the 50,000 USD that this guy demands in order to keep Toby alive.
In-cred-i-ble.
20,000 pledged to save a bunny from being eaten. Why isn't this money going to Africa, to save starving children from death?
Why is that in our posh little North American culture, we care more about keeping rabbits (rabbits, that we also gladly eat, if we don't see them first) alive, than we do about all the other people in the world?
This is, obviously, just a cheap ploy to make some money. The guy even has t-shirts. I dare him to eat the bunny on national TV, and tell everyone how he donated the money to a good cause. If so, I think it's the best website initiative I've seen in a good long time.
Of Food
Ever felt like you want something really bad, and you “need” to have it now? Better question might be “when was the last time you felt like that, and what was it” – because we all go through it. Right now, for me, it’s food.
Long day in the library, skipping supper, never a good idea. The 2 just don’t go together very well. Food is necessary to keep us going on a daily basis – keep us sane. It’s something we partake of daily, and only really notice it once it isn’t there.
There are many different types of food, all good in their own unique ways. It is one of several things that all humans need – and it is something humans genuinely need. We say so much in Western culture about how we “need” that new TV, or “need” that new car, but we rarely do. But we do need food.
It gives us warm fuzzy feelings inside when we are really hungry and there is food close by. This is, of course, often followed by the feeling of contentment after eating that food. A hungry man once fed will often feel as if the world is perfect, at least for the next little while.
I go through stages. There are times where I can not eat much for a number of weeks, and it won’t really bother me. I can go for days at a time without food, or much of it – the body adapts.
But then, often, I will go through another stage where I want food accessible at all times. Always around – always there. This is often, naturally, followed by the putting on of weight. But perhaps the contentment that comes from it is worth it.
And we do sincerely need it to survive.
Update
The irony continues to astound me. And drive me to bitterness.
Starving children in Africa have no water or food. We concentrate relief efforts to help them. They dominate our TV screens - please give, etc. This is good, I commend their efforts and encourage people to help.
Yesterday and today people were arrested for attempting to give Terri Schiavo water.
Justice is dead.
Unsettling News Morning
I was supposed to be studying for my real estate midterm, but I was first doing my daily perusal of the morning news. Maybe I should turn this blog into a "World According to Joel" - like they've got on FM96 in the mornings.
Anyways.
2 rather unsettling news stories - one recent, one that has been developing for a number of days now.
To begin with, props to to
this Islamic school for rightly suspending 2 teachers over a hate-filled student story. The story glorified anti-Semitism and taking revenge on the Jewish people. And the teachers apparently liked the story and told him "good job" etc. And the principal acted 'swiftly', suspending the teachers (but protecting the student of course).
Sounds good.
But then, I read this line --> "She expressed surprise about the drawing and the story, even though it had reportedly been displayed in a glass case at the school."
2 questions. How were the teachers ever allowed to teach at that school? And how can the principal express surprise about the story and picture - when it is in a glass case and the picture (which you can see on the website) was on the cover of the story?
As one of my close friends mentioned to me: "Could you imagine if some Christian school did that with a story about killing an abortion doctor or something?" Yeah, exactly. It would be figuratively burned down, then literally closed.
Secondly, I suppose it's high time for me to comment on the Terri Schiavo case - I'm sure all my faithful readers are wondering when I would chime in. I read
this article, published in the Wall Street Journal today, and decided that it was time.
First, I suggest you read that article. Very pointed. A few comments.
1) If anyone has any idea why we are so eager to starve Terri to death, please let me know. I really don't understand why the haste to kill Terri.
2) Why is it that the pro-death forces have marshalled in full force and are so vengeful and desparate to kill Terri? They're proud about "kicking the shit out of the fascists" - apparently, wanting all people to be able to live and experience life is evidence of being "fascist". Hmmm. And leaders trying to save lives are "slithering snakes". Huh?
3) "She must hate being brain-damaged". Of course she does. Wouldn't you? Can someone tell me what this proves? Somehow, this helps to "prove" that she would prefer to starve to death, rather than live.
Where does this end? People have scoffed at the "slippery slope" argument the pro-life side has raised in the abortion debate for years. Hmmm. Abortion. Terri Schiavo. Euthanasia. "Mercy-killing". Looks like a greased slope to me. And, as Noonan says - that slope ends at Auschwitz.
I pray we never get there again.
For more information on
Terri's fight, check that site out.
Movie Review - The Chamber
I can't sleep, so I'm blogging.
Just watched "The Chamber" - 1996 John Grisham book adaptation. Stars Chris O'Donnell and Gene Hackman.
Not a bad movie, but nowhere's near as good as the book. The book, one of Grisham's better, takes many pages to develop the characters at length. It simply was not possible in a 2 hour movie. This left it feeling a little flat. And it was impossible to really connect with the characters.
That said, the actors themselves did a good job - admirable, really, considering what they had to work with.
Holy Thongs
This is incredible.
Chastity UnderwearI echo the sentiments of the question in the article. If you can read this, aren't you not waiting anyways?
And someone who needs to remind themselves not to have sex every time they put on underwear in the morning probably needs something more than just a sign on their underwear. And I thought that some of the underwear itself drew more attention to the person than if there had been no sign anyways.
Library Boredom/Aggravation
Studying for my real estate mid-term is something like banging your head against the wall repeatedly.
And I'm really tired of trying to interact with people who refuse to be "real". Why is it that we feel the need to put up all these layers, and play all these games to simply communicate. People just need to relax, chill out, and be real and honest. Life would be so much simpler that way.
Let's just forget the rules for once. Focus on people, not on actions.
Friday Night
I completely had forgotten what I had done on Friday night when I blogged last night, so I thought I'd update again today.
Friday I went to Call the Office for a Chasing Arcadia/Turn Off The Stars concert.
Chasing Arcadia is excellent, but I'm not much of a fan of Turn Off The Stars. Formerly Christopher Band, Chasing Arcadia is a mix of Coldplay/U2/Irish rock. Pretty darn good.
Update
Another good weekend.
Saturday I attended the Queen's Cup - where the Mustangs hammered the UQTR Patriotes 4-0. Started off like a Knights game - the Mustangs scored in the first 14 seconds, and just took over from there. Fun game, and nice to see a London hockey team win (hopefully one of several championships for London teams this spring). Also good just to see a hockey game in general - it's been a long time, and I've missed it.
Sunday - I attended the "Law Miserables" - a Western Law musical - the first one ever. Very impressive. Obviously a tonne of work, very funny, smart, and particularly apt for Western Law students. If you missed it, you missed a great time.
St. Pat's Day
I couldn't resist this post.
So I'm sitting here in the law library on St. Patrick's Day, around 8 pm. I'm working my way through evidence readings/prep for my real estate exam. The library has taken on an entire new definition of the word "quiet" and "dead". As far as I can tell, there are about 3 other people in here - the guy at the desk, and the 2 mature students working on real estate at another table. Other than that, seems pretty much empty.
And with good reason, I suppose. St. Patty's is one of the biggest drinking/partying/drinking days of the year. Everyone is "out". And here I sit.
So I'm chuckling to myself about this, and I think up my current MSN tagline.
"Slamming back tall ones? Or slamming through evidence readings? Give me evidence!!"
Perhaps only funny to me. But I'm guessing most people would look at that, laugh, and chuckle at the sarcasm. Of course, it is sarcasm. But of course, the ironic thing is...
...it's just not sarcasm for me!
I'm sure that a lot of people out there would gladly take a tall pint over evidence readings, any day of the week. I'm just not one of them. Fine for them - and you enjoy your night out. Just don't kill yourself.
Chronicles of Narnia
Chronicles of Narnia
As many of you may know, there is a new movie of the Chronicles of Narnia in the works. The same special effects/costume design team that did Lord of the Rings, and the director from Shrek 1 and 2 have gotten together to bring one of the best fantasy book series of all time to the big screen. It is unclear as yet whether or not this is a one time movie, or if they will be doing the series. Either way, I'm going to be looking forward to it.
I rarely pick up the Western daily student newspaper - The Gazette, but today I decided to. In it, the news editor was talking about how Disney has gotten ahold of Narnia, and apparently plans to radically alter the story in order to focus on the Christian allegorical nature. He seemed to be quite perturbed about this, and stated that the "pressure to have Christian values in society is so great" that they are planning on manipulating the story so that it has a decidedly Christian message. He then stated that Disney should stay away from Narnia, and leave the books be.
My question is why? I think the movies are going to be awesome, Christian subplot or not. Secondly, how does he know this? Has he been invited to an advance screening? Considering they haven't even released a trailer yet, I doubt this. Seems to be acting upon sources that he hasn't named. Strange. Furthermore, even if they do manipulate the storyline a little to enhance the Christian underpinnings, why is this a problem? The truth is, the stories do have a decidedly Christian undertone. "The Magician's Nephew" walks through the book of Genesis - at least the part of the story of creation. "The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe" beautifully explains the gospels and the story of the crucifixtion and resurrection. I'm not sure how you a) could, or b) would manipulate the stories at all in order to make them "more" Christian.
Female Vs. Male
Yes, I found this. Unfortunately not original.
Female vs. Male:
NAMES
If Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara go out for lunch, they will call each other Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara.
If Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Scrappy.
EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.
BATHROOMS
A man has five items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Marriott.
The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.
ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
CATS
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.
FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does.
DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.
A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.
NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Any married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing.
"Hearsay: Something You Heard Someone Say"
It's been a while, and since I've actually had people asking for posts, I'm going to try again. Intended to this weekend, and just didn't get around to it. To all my faithful readers, I apologize.
Last Tuesday seems like a long time ago. Since then, I had my Evidence mid-term, which went okay, I think. Now all we need is to know what the new readings are - if anyone knows how to speed up that process, you can talk to the prof.
Busy weekend though. Our speaker on Friday was excellent, and the turnout was fantastic. If you came, thank you muchly, I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't come, you missed a great talk. Excellent dissection of the main issues surrounding freedom of religion/expression as well as a great discussion of the real principle of the separation of church and state. It's actually very different from the commonly assumed doctrine.
Following the talk, and the excellent reception afterwards, we headed off to Kelsey's for dinner with David Brown, which was also lots of fun. Following that, we went off to Palasad for bowling with a bunch of LS people. The Palasad North, while a nice facility, was a bit cramped, and having 10 people on 1 lane didn't help much either. Took a bit too long, but people were fun, and an overall good time. Next time, have to go to Palasad South - much better (better music too). I bowled 148 both games, ended both games with 2 strikes in the 10th frame (then missed my shot at 3).
Saturday: Ended up going bowling again! I'm really getting into this. Went to Huron Bowl - a little bit less fancy than Palasad, but more room, cheaper, , plus better lanes, meant for a better bowling experience. The music was also much better - a good mix (save for a few songs). Still can't get over the insanity of Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U". Why she came up with that, I have no idea. How she gets away with that, well, that's another blog post. Anyways, bowling was good, 120 the first game, then I started off all pathetic in the 2nd game (46 pts after 5 frames) before I got hot - 6 straight strikes - 6th through 9th frames, then 2 more in the 10th, before narrowly missing my 3rd shot of the 10th frame to finish with 8 - leaving me with a total of 194 pts. Far and away my best game ever.
Sunday: Watched the Brier final. Alberta just really is the best, all around. Best province in the country, best at curling - what else could you want from a Canadian province?
Quote of the Day: "If you can't convince them, confuse them." - Harry S. Truman, President of the USA.
Downtown Montreal. There were constant carriages taking people for tours of the city.
CLF Speaker
We're having a speaker at the Law School on Friday, March 11, 3 pm. His name is David Brown - a partner at Stikeman Elliott and a lawyer who spoke in the SCC on the same-sex marriage reference case. Room 36 of the Law Building, 3-4 pm, with refreshments in the Closed Student Lounge at 4.
I also have an evidence mid-term on Thursday - multiple choice, and apparently its exactly the same exam every single year. I guess I better keep a soft copy of my summary - apparently he doesn't allow people to take anything out of the exam (presumably so he can KEEP using the same exam every single year).
Montreal
Mondays
Mondays - off from classes this term. It's nice, but all it means is a day of pure, uninterrupted studying. And today was a tax study day. Definite thumbs down. Tax has got to be the most boring class I have ever had at any academic institution.
Me, pointing. As requested.
Fridays in Tax Class, Again
I participated in my first ever fantasy baseball draft. Pretty darn cool. Especially for a baseball nut like myself.
Here's my team:
C - Paul Lo Duca
1B - Jim Thome
2B - Bret Boone
SS - Miguel Tejada
3B - Troy Glaus
OF - Jim Edmonds, Steve Finlay, Preston Wilson
Utility Players - Larry Walker, Luis Gonzalez
Bench Players - Jeromy Burnitz, Erubriel Durazo, Placido Polanco, Shannon Stewart
SP - Roy Oswalt, Tim Hudson
RP - Jason Isringhausen, Guillermo Mota
Extra Pitchers - Troy Percival, Bartolo Colon, LaTroy Hawkins
Bench Pitchers - Felix Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte
Basically, the way it works is that I'm up against a different team each week, and we collect points, etc. I can rotate my bench players in and out of my lineup whenever I want (while on the bench they do not create points for me). I can also pick up anyone who has not been drafted whenever I want (in other words, if a player starts to really heat up, I can pick him up and drop someone else).
If you're wondering why I'm posting this, it's because I'm REALLY bored in tax class. And now, mid class - the internet stopped working, so I don't know when I'm exactly going to be able to post this. But that's okay. I've typed it all out now, so it's going to be posted, boring or not.
I've learned just a couple things so far in 2 hours of tax class. The main thing - that keeps repeating through my mind - is that I could never, ever be a tax lawyer. And why we are learning this is beyond me - this is for accountants, not lawyers.
Me.
Update
Bugatti Veyron. The new Supercar from VW. Someday, someday, someday...
Yeah, that's one of my dream cars. A more realistic one might be an Audi - specifically the TT. Someday, maybe.
Anyways, the surgery on my toe is finished. It was pretty weird - he stuck me with freezing needles about 8 times (I only felt the first few painfully). Then, he just cut right down my toenail, and then took a pair of pliers and pulled out the half. And yes, I watched it all. He was surprised, but I feel more comfortable watching, rather than just sitting back and trying to read. I wouldn't have been able to read anyways - like you could read when the doc is pulling a toenail out of your foot.
I've been re-reading "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow" for fun light reading recently. Wow. Such great books. I also recently completed "Lost Boys" (all 3 are by Orson Scott Card). "Lost Boys" was really good. A great look into the Mormon culture (one I had very little experience with). The plot dragged at moments, but overall it was an excellent book. Great character development.
Also saw "The Abyss". Wow. Awful movie. Nice special effects (especially for a 1989 movie), but soooooo slow and the plot dragged. Not to mention the horrific plot holes - somehow, people swimming around underwater in the ocean at 2000 feet would probably kill them - no protective gear. First, from the cold, and secondly, from the pressure. That's 2 cheesy slow movies in a row (the other being "Flight of the Phoenix", which I'm not taking the time to write up about. Suffice to say it was really weak, and cheesy.
Classes have been going well - school is going by really quickly. I can't beleive it is already March 3. Something is seriously messed up about that. I have 3 midterms coming up in the next few weeks (although 1 is optional, and I probably won't write it).
CLF is going really well - 11 people out to Bible Study on Wednesday.
Quote of the Day: "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand." - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the USA.
I'd add "and waste all your time on this earth" to the end of that quote. Wilson - largely responsible with the creation of the League of Nations (after he pulled the US into the 1st World War) - obviously had something going for him, and a lot of lawyers should take those words seriously.
