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About “My” 2014 Boston Red Sox

Posted on April 30, 2014 by museman

How come when a sports team you like is doing badly your friends and colleagues refer to them as “your” team, but when they’re doing well they become “our” team (or even “their” team)?

With my friends and colleagues asking me why “my” Red Sox stink I figured now might be a good time to see just how bad the stink really is: So, courtesy of those great statisticians at Baseball-Reference.com I decided to compare the cumulative winning percentage of the Red Sox championship seasons – 2004, ’07, and ’13 – to their 2014 Season so far.

Unfortunately, for die hard Sox fans it’s pretty much what you’ve feared:

(as usual, click to embiggen)

Three things struck me about these results. First, how the Red Sox took different paths on their way to winning their three recent Championships: 2004′s prolonged slump during midseason, 2007′s dominance before the All Star Break, and 2013′s steady, consistent play despite fielding nine (?) free agents.

Second, that each of those three winning seasons started strong (look closely to see the ’04 and ’07 seasons started exactly the same through 10 games) – it’s a strength sorely lacking from the 2014 team, who as I write this are at .500 ball for the first time this season. While there are some recent bright spots – Middlebrooks’ return and Capuano’s excellent relief being two – the Sox starting pitching is having their post-All Star Break meltdown early, and their timely hitting of the 2013 post season has been rarely seen.

It’s too early to count the Sox out just yet – after all, they’ve come back from 3-0 with one strike left (twice!) against the Yankees in 2004, 3-1 against Cleveland in 2007, and against lights-out pitching by Detroit and St. Louis in 2013.

Besides (and, thirdly), the trend line appears to be moving in the proper direction – maybe the Sox will surprise us with a fourth path to becoming World Champions.

Thanks for reading!

Posted in Games, Sports | Tagged Baseball, Fenway, Red Sox, Sports, Statistics, Tracking | Leave a comment

Things I didn’t know about Godzilla…

Posted on April 29, 2014 by museman

…but I suspect the screenwriters may have written into the script of his latest movie “Godzilla“, a Warner Brothers picture opening May 16, 2014:

He’s the ultimate Illegal Alien, here to fight for all Illegal Aliens!

He’s not a “monster“…he’s just “misunderstood”.

He was normal size until radiation from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant affected him…

…not to mention the genetically-modified fish he’s been forced to eat for years…

…and, of course, all that oil from the BP “Deepwater Horizon” accident.

He’s tired of America’s Military-Industrial Complex shooting first and asking questions later – just like they did with Gort, the Hulk, E.T., King Kong, and whatever-those-blue-people were on that lush tree planet.

He may be destructive, but “Global Warming” will be much worse!

He doesn’t feel sorry for all those people killed – they were probably just God-fearin’, gun-totin’, flag-wavin’, hard-workin’, beer-drinkin’ Tea Partiers too brainwashed by Conservative media’s exaggerations to believe the Government really knows what’s best for them 100% of the time… like, when to evacuate the city.

I’m a big fan of the science fiction genre, which has always been a great medium for inserting subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) criticism of the world’s perceived problems and/or dire predictions of things to come if the world doesn’t move quickly towards a global utopia – whether or not such criticism/predictions are justified or even accurate. However, at the risk of being considered “old fashioned”, I prefer the science fiction of old, when the stories were simpler, the message subtler, and without the unbelievable special effects, excessively loud volume, and overbearing preaching of recent movie remakes.

Let’s see what this latest reboot of the Godzilla franchise has to offer.

Thanks for reading!

Posted in Environment, History, Media | Tagged Godzilla, Humor, Movies, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, Values | Leave a comment

I’m a Random Ramblin’ Man!

Posted on April 26, 2014 by museman

When carpet bagger insider trader Secretary of State shoe dodger Hillary Clinton spoke of the “vast Right Wing conspiracy” was she referring to this 1995 document [pdf], recently made public by the Clinton Library describing the internet as a tool to be seized and used by the Right Wing as a “communication stream of conspiracy commerce“?

Security at Fenway Park was so tight for the Patriots Day game that they even searched the bags under my eyes. Now imagine how safe we’d be if we enforced immigration laws and border security just as tightly.

There’s a “riot” in “Patriot” and “terror” in “Terrorist”: How is it that the Obama Administration constantly gets this association backwards?

My local news reported that the State School Commission won’t be conducting performance assessments of teachers this year due to the transition to the Common Core curricula: I wonder if teachers will still get raises?

Speaking of teachers, I learned that “22.5% of a teacher’s evaluation” depended on how their students performed on one knowledge mastery test (the “Smarter Balanced” test). To graduate from college I had to successfully complete a technical project in my declared Major, pass a comprehensive exam in my declared Major, and write a research paper in my declared Minor (History): Each one of those were worth 100% of my evaluation to graduate. Oh yeah: And I also had to pay my tuition bill.

I feel bad for the 1st Place New York Yankees, who somehow feel they need to cheat not just once but twice in order to beat the struggling Red Sox. This only makes me feel even better for Boston: As soon as they get their pitching straightened out and their injured sluggers back the Yankees may have to replace their pine tar with gummy bears.

FYI: The Red Sox will be handing out a free Dustin Pedroia bobblehead doll – while supplies last – to each fan at the April 30th game against the Tamp Bay Rays. Rumor is it never stops moving and covers itself in dirt within an hour after the game starts

Thanks for reading!

Posted in Are You Kidding me?, I'm Laughing!, Politics, Ramblings, Sports, The Economy | Tagged Democrats, Fenway, Humor, Obama, Red Sox, Social Media, Taxes, Yankees | Leave a comment

You’re Entitled to be Taxed

Posted on April 26, 2014 by museman

If you’re one of the 56 percent who paid their Federal Income Taxes this year, I figure* you’re entitled to know exactly where your hard-earned dollars went:

(Source: The Heritage Foundation, at heritage.org)

…and, just like your taxes, the amount of entitlement spending went up compared to 2012, while all other forms of Federal spending either remained the same or decreased.

Forget “rubber checks” – what we need now is “rubber money”.

The Heritage Foundation has all the fiduciary details here.

Thanks for reading!

*Actually, thanks to Amy Payne and her colleagues at The Heritage Foundation for doing the actual figuring.

Posted in Are You Kidding me?, So Wrong!, The Economy | Tagged Bureacracy, Entitlements, Heritage Foundation, Regulations, Spending, Taxes | Leave a comment

I’m a Random Ramblin’ Man!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by museman

I had originally planned to post a thoughtful, well-considered post on how, despite inheriting two wars, a failing home mortgage market, rising energy prices, record deficits, increasing unemployment, GITMO, and an increasingly-polarized voting population from George W. Bush, President Obama has acquitted himself admirably with professionalism and manners in an open and transparent way by using his vast and well-honed skills as a Community Organizer, politician, and family man to bring diverse groups together and reduce unemployment, curb reckless spending, stop runaway deficits, lower energy prices, and decrease political & social instability in the world.

Unfortunately, I’m a bit strapped for time, what with work, signing up for ObamaCare, the tax deadline looming, and (most importantly) Red Sox Opening Day fast approaching. So, instead I’ll just randomly ramble:

If General Motors knew they had a problem with faulty ignition switches as far back as 2005, how come the public didn’t know about it until after the US Government’s control of the company ended, the Union sold their company stock for a $3.4 Billion profit, and GM appointed their first women CEO?

I don’t understand why King President Obama hasn’t personally met with Dictator President Vladimir Putin to confront him on his military takeover of the Crimea: It would give Obama an opportunity to play golf in Sochi only minutes from the beach, as well as to compare manly chests.

Speaking of golf courses, one might think Obama would have found Nicole Brown Simpson’s killer by now. (what, too soon?)

How could Taco Bell have introduced a new breakfast menu that included scrambled eggs but not any salt or pepper to put on them?!?

As of April 1st, 2014 deadline a little over 7 million people have signed up for ObamaCare: What’s going to happen to the other 40 million or so people in America who are still currently uninsured?

Why is it short-sighted, irresponsible, and greedy for a private corporation run their business based on their next quarterly report but it’s not for politicians focused on getting reelected in 2 to 4 years?

Hey Red Sox fans: Am I the only one who noticed that Red Sox owners John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Tom Werner were able to free up their social calendar to accept President Obama’s invitation to the White House, but didn’t meet with George W. Bush in 2004 or 2007? (Frankly, I’m surprised: Aren’t each of them members of the “1-Percenters” Obama constantly rails against? Or, the ones Obama likes?)

How come it’s evil for large paper companies to harvest tree stands responsibly by planting new saplings, but it’s “Green” to permanently cut down tree stands to install solar collectors?

I already see one benefit to “Global Warming“: An extended Red Sox Season!

I heard the official White House Pastry Chef quit after Michelle Obama told him he couldn’t use butter, shortening or sugar in his desserts. Anyone know where he went because I’m still looking for a good New York Style Cheesecake.