stringer bell

Looks like Santiago had a nice outing against major league hitters. I like lefties and hope he is effective this year. There is no reason why he shouldn't be, especially if he is a flyball pitcher with an outfield of Kepler, Buxton, and Rosario.

I think it's worth noting that the Gophers played a tougher schedule than any of the other contenders. They played Michigan State, Maryland twice and will also do so for Bucky. No one else played more than two of the double bye contenders.

Alyea started one season off very well and seemed to have most of his success when Jim Perry was pitching IIRC. I would say that year was '70 or '71. I checked (BB Ref has upgraded!). His good start/year was 1970.

Williams is a fun venue. My first visit was circa 1970 for the Boys Basketball Tournament. Packed house for even the consolation games. I remember walking around Dinkytown in my brand new Letterman's jacket looking at the sights, especially college women. My most memorable trip was in 1972 for the game after the Ohio State brawl. The place was packed and the expectation of something was palpable. There were protesters outside the door (in the cold) some wanting us to sign a petition to reinstate the suspended players. The game was against Iowa which featured four white starters, while the Gophers Iron Five had four black starters IIRC. The game was close and low scoring and every hard foul was followed by glares and anticipation that something was going to happen. Late in the game, one of the Gophers knocked down the Iowa center (I think his name was Kevin Kunnert) and Kunnert had to be held back from charging the Gopher player (Brewer Winfield?). Order was restored and there was no violence, but the hair on the back of my head was standing straight up (I had hair then). Musselman's Gophers were on their way to the Big Ten championship, even if tainted by the brawl.

Way too early to make decisions. Remember Luke Hughes?

I witnessed yesterday's game in person. Especially in the first half the refs "let 'em play". While a foul can often be called on a block near the basket, Lynch kept his arms straight up and maintained verticality for the most part. It is the cheap and silly fouls he has to avoid as Chief pointed out. I do think if Reggie can play 30 aggressive minutes, the Gophers are a threat against anyone.

No Dozier? Doesn't Molitor want to win?

Huge win on their quest for a double bye. They still don't control their own destiny because of those two losses to Sparty. I saw them projected as a #5 seed in the Big Dance yesterday. It would be interesting if they ended up a 5 seed in the tournament after being a five in the Big Ten.

Short of winning the Big Ten tournament, I can't see them going higher than #6 seed. As far as getting the double bye, they are a game behind NW which plays Illinois and Indiana this week (I believe) and they are tied with Michigan State. Does anyone know the criteria for tiebreaking? The Gophers have beaten every team they play once (so far) but have lost twice to MSU and probably will lose twice to Maryland and Wisconsin. They have the best non-conference record of anyone who would tie them in conference.

Not FDR's finest hour.

The Yahoo News headline today is that a couple of Trump's aides, his personal attorney and an obscure Ukrainian legislator put together a "peace plan" for the Ukraine to be pitched to Flynn. Certainly not diplomacy or politics as usual.

This is going to be a long entry. I wasn't totally surprised that Trump won the presidency, but I had thought that somehow, some way the more qualified candidate would eventually win out (Clinton, without question then and now). When the Donald won, I hoped that some facets of his candidacy would come out and even strengthen--populism for forgotten Americans, relaxation of some of the more complicated regulations, perhaps a return to the libertarian Donald that advocated choice in reproductive issues and tolerance for gays. Also I hoped that perhaps when he got in office he would be humbled a bit by the history and duty that being president brings with it. Some men who didn't have great histories going in became functional or better presidents (most recently Harry Truman, but also Chester Alan Arthur, James K Polk and Calvin Coolidge to name a few). That hasn't happened. I had hoped that Trump was trying to build a base with his "build a wall", anti-immigrant and thinly-veiled racist rhetoric. Either he or Bannon really believes this and Bannon apparently has the ear of Trump. There is a segment of our population (I think about 25%) that fears outsiders, particularly Muslims and particularly if they're not white. His nativist BS is playing well with them, for everyone else, it's an abomination. Again on social issues, such of abortion, God, guns and gays, Trump is going with the extreme intolerance that is Steve Bannon. The third component of the Trump administration is not "drain the swamp", but hire the most right-wing and richest people to be in your cabinet. This mess is capped off by a man who is narcissistic to the max, unwilling to believe that he actually trailed in the popular vote by almost 3 million and constantly crowing about his "huge" electoral margin. He's made the press his whipping boy and uttered so many obviously untrue statements about unimportant stuff, it is not possible to believe what he says about substantial topics. I understand a bit of chest-thumping when winning when almost no one said you would, but the election happened over three months ago. There are serious questions about the legitimacy of his win and throwing gasoline on the fire by claiming voter fraud and "the biggest margin since Reagan" doesn't help at all. How big a part did Russia play and how close to the campaign were they? I can't take anything that Trump or his minions say at face value. I don't believe his victory is legitimate and my knee jerk will be to oppose anything he is for. I do believe in this situation it is right and proper to resist at every turn. Now about that election. Here's my shorthand to determine how close an election really was: How many flipped votes would win the election for the loser? In GW Bush's case it was 500 and some in Florida. In 1960, Nixon would have needed 11,270 to flip three states including Illinois to send the election to the House of Representatives. In '68, Nixon prevailed because he won California or three small states with a total margin of about 90,000 would have brought the election to the House. In '76, Gerald Ford would have needed to flip two states which he lost by about 18,000 votes. In 2016, Trump won three states by 77,774 so that is what Clinton needed to win the Electoral College. So Trump's election wasn't the tightest on record ('60 and '00 have the modern honor), but it was close and don't forget that Clinton received over 2.8 million more votes.

Unless you're the VP, who thinks that we can have camps to "get the gay out". Probably not fair, but I'm not part of the MSM.

I remember a long time ago when I was a freshman in college in my first class, the professor said that politics is defined as "the authoritative allocation of values in a society". I believe that definition still fits and means that those in political power allocate their values on us. We can argue about what is right and wrong and how the process is carried out, but this is the essence of politics.

I'll dispute Curry. Not great on offense, but he hit the boards and made a couple key defensive plays. Productivity and consistent play from the #2 guard has been a problem, although Springs has made a lot of threes (not last night). Probably the best thing about this Gopher squad is shot blocking and post defense.

I remember BYTO fondly. My favorite filter word filter was for Luis Castillo. Some of the debates were classic and memes like "season over" after one out in the opener were always worth a laugh.

OK, beyond provoking a nuclear showdown/staredown with someone, my next biggest fear is that Trump declares martial law or something. If he and his lieutenants continue to (with a straight face) throw out whopper after whopper and now blame "the opposition" when not everyone falls in line, what is next? Maybe it's only speaking to Fox and Christian networks, maybe it is passing laws or issuing executive orders to stop or cripple protests, maybe it is something else. Good lord, could we become a banana republic in less than four years?

What the heck, I don't have any points....I'm sure there are many while female Christians on Pence's team. Missionary position only.

On the franchise list, I thought Gaetti was better than Yost (I may be shorting Yost, I remember him from the end of his career). I definitely think Pascual was better than Radke (Viola too). Twins only: Perry was a true swing man and I wonder if Al Worthington might be due some love, even though relief pitchers were used much differently then. These are my takes devoid of statistics, just from memory.

He and Bannon appear to have Trump's ear (and trust). Have you built on to your house in Canada? Do you have room for boarders?

And Bannon is Rasputin.

Three weeks + into a Trump Administration and I'm worried for my country. Donald Trump scares me and I'm a white old guy. The character flaws should have disqualified him and they grow more evident with each passing day. When confronted with facts he doesn't like--the size of the crowd at his inauguration or the popular vote--he will not accept those facts. He is ignorant of so much law and history and there seems to be no one there to filter him. Along with all that, there seems to be no hint of class or decency. Comparing how Obama and other previous presidents have dealt with adversaries compared to how Trump has approached them is telling It appears that Bannon is his most trusted advisor and Bannon's world view is not even close to the mainstream and probably not close to reality. Bannon and Trump's preoccupation with "radical Islamic terrorism" will probably poison the Islamic world against the United States for decades. The nationalistic blather on top of the wall and immigrant ban is all about fear and resentment. What a stew these guys are brewing up! I've seen a ton of postings on social media saying that we should accept Trump as president. I guess we have to do that, but I also believe that we, the public, need to continue to resist and protest. This president was elected with a -2.84M plurality and with pretty substantial evidence that a foreign power was doing all they could to get him elected. I accept that he is president, but question his legitimacy.

After 12 games the Gophers are back to .500 in the conference. 9-9 would be good enough to get to the NCAAs, for sure. Boy, the conference is a muddle. Wisconsin, Maryland, and Purdue are probably the top three seeds in the Conference Tournament, but from there it is who knows? The Gophers should be favored in their remaining four home games and I think 10-8 could get them a #4 seed. I think the eight middle teams in the Big Ten are all about the same. Each probably believes if they played consistently they would be in the top half of the conference. There isn't much consistency on the Gophers, either. Every starter has had his moments, but also each one has had a forgettable game or two in conference play. Defensively, there is some good stuff--Murphy and especially Lynch are good rim protectors and rebounders--while Mason and Coffey are pretty good perimeter defenders. I think the club makes the NCAAs and might get a win or two. Quite a turnaround for Pitino.

As for the "nuclear option", it would have to be something big to abandon the rule. Like a Supreme Court nominee. Once the option is engaged, there is no going back. It would make the Senate more like the House, but we've seen the tyranny of the minority quite a bit in the last six years.

When Scalia died, the Republicans had a 54-46 advantage in the Senate. They controlled the agenda and didn't even give Garland a hearing. With Republicans in control, they will give Gorsuch a hearing and I believe he'll be confirmed unless someone finds something yuuuge in his history.