Again with the annoying

The Sportsline people are at it again about the Reds:

Yes, the results since the trade we slammed as a mistake have been good. But the real assessment comes after a month or two. To elaborate on our reason to hate the trade: It took a prospect to fill the all-important closer's role. It took two solid, young, everyday players to acquire a couple of middle relievers. Something doesn't add up there.

Look. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but this is absurd. What about the premium price for pitching in July 2006 do these guys not get? Good luck prying any decent pitching from ANY team for anything less than an everyday player. It's not like the Reds haven't proven that 1) they can still score runs, and 2) they can do it under pressure--as in three come from behind wins achieved in the eighth or ninth innings.

Sick of rush hour traffic? Try flying

At least Honda wants you to. The company's new HondaJet (between $1.5 million and $4 million) will allow you to zip around without lowering yourself to the shoulder-to-shoulder combat of the daily commute.


In other news, I'm putting together my books for a trip to Kentucky. Here's what I've got so far:

The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch
The Knight in History, Frances Gies
The Fantasy Writer's Assistant, Jeffrey Ford
Tamerlane, Justin Marozzi
Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life, Alison Weir

I'm also taking golf clubs, so we'll see how much reading acutally gets done.

Premier Delusion

I have accepted Trent's challenge to build my own fantasy Premier League team. 'Twas great fun, even for someone who knows zilch about the Premiership.

BEHOLD!

UPDATE: As Trent pointed out below, taking Chris Eagles is a bet on him acutally getting to play for Manchester United. He could be loaned out again and produce, but I can't begin to predict these things as I barely understand the loan system as it is. So I dipped into my narrow reserve of budget, which I was saving to help later on in the season, and upgraded to Steven Gerrard at Liverpool.

Goalkeeper--Shay Given, Newcastle

Defender--Daniel Gabbidon, West Ham

Defender--Andrew Davies, Middlesborough

Defender--Chris Morgan, Sheffield

Midfielder--Lloyd Doyley, Watford

Midfielder--Damien Duff, Newcastle

Midfielder--Leon Osman, Everton

Midfielder--Gavin McCann, Aston Villa

Midfielder--Steven Gerrard, Liverpool

Striker--Robbie Keane, Tottenham

Striker--Shola Ameobi, Newcastle


As Trent pointed out, ESPN is not yet wise to Duff's move north, but hopefully his obvious enthusiasm for Newcastle will make him worth the steep price I paid. I also took two others from Tyneside: Ameobi (with no one else up front Ameobi will get lots of chances if nothing else) and Given.

As for the rest, I really have no idea if I did well or not. Statistically, at least, these lads seem competent--although budget reasons saw me fill out this side with fellows who spent last year in League Championship or watching first teams play.

For those of you who miss the cold

Evidence that it's not always so freaking hot here.

Annoyed

I get tired of reading things like this on Sportsline.com:

There is no way two promising 26-year-old potential All-Stars are worth middle relief help. That should be acquired for far less. And Royce Clayton does help the pitching staff because of his defense, but you could have signed him to a minor league deal in the winter.

First of all, Lopez was an All-Star last year. That there is no way two 26-year-old All-Stars are worth middle relief help, though, is debatable. But "potential?" The Reds and their fans (read: me) have whiled away many a season waiting for our "potential" to get us into the playoffs--or even a winning record. "Potential" does not get you from your starting pitcher to your closer without giving up any runs.

"Should be acquired for far less?" When are baseball fans and writers going to realize that pitching of any quality is not a commodity. It is a premium-priced luxury that teams have to pay up to get. Witness the exorbitant--nay, stupid--sums paid to Jeff Weaver as an example.

As a dearly valued luxury, pitching also is far harder to replace than hitting, especially in GABP. And the Reds have hitting: Griffey, Dunn, Phillips, Hatteberg, Encarnacion, Aurilia, Freel and Denorfia all remain Reds. And with a stronger bullpen, the Reds need rely less on juicing their side of the run-differential equation in order to win.

"You could sign him to a minor league contract in the winter?" NOT IF YOU'RE TRYING TO GET TO THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR.

When half of the playoff-contending teams are scrambling for middle relief help on July 29, let's see how smart Krivsky looks then. (Oh, and in both of the Nationals games I've seen since the trade, Lopez has committed a boneheaded error on a routine play that cost the team at least one run.)

What I've Seen

Via The Slush God. TV shows of which I've seen at least three episodes in bold; shows of which I've seen ALL the episodes in bold italic.

24

7th Heaven

Adam-12

Aeon Flux

ALF

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Alias

American Idol/Pop Idol/Canadian Idol/Australian Idol/etc.

America's Next Top Model/Germany's Next Top Model

Angel

Arrested Development

Babylon 5

Babylon 5: Crusade

Battlestar Galactica (the old one)

Battlestar Galactica (the new one)

Baywatch

Beavis & Butthead

Beverly Hills 90210

Bewitched

Bonanza

Bones

Bosom Buddies

Boston Legal

Boy Meets World

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Bug Juice

Chappelle's Show

Charlie's Angels

Charmed

Cheers

Columbo

Commander in Chief

Coupling (the UK version, of course)

Cowboy Bebop

Crossing Jordan

CSI

CSI: Miami

CSI: NY

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Dancing with the Stars

Danny Phantom

Dark Angel

Dark Skies

Davinci's Inquest

Dawson's Creek

Dead Like Me

Deadliest Catch

Deadwood

Degrassi: The Next Generation

Designing Women

Desperate Housewives

Dharma & Greg

Different Strokes

Doctor Who (new Who)

Dragnet

Due South

Earth 2

Emergency!

Entourage

ER

Everwood

Everybody Loves Raymond

Facts of Life

Family Guy

Family Ties

Farscape

Fawlty Towers

Felicity

Firefly

Frasier

Friends

Futurama

Get Smart

Gilligan's Island

Gilmore Girls

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Green Wing

Grey's Anatomy

GrowingPains

Gunsmoke

Hannah

Montana

Happy Days

Hogan's Heroes

Home Improvement

Homicide: Life on the Street

House

I Dream of Jeannie

I Love Lucy

Invader Zim

Invasion

Hell's Kitchen

JAG

Jackass

Joey

John Doe

LA Law

Laverne and Shirley

Little House on the Prairie

Lizzie McGuire

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Lost

Lost in Space

Love, American Style

M*A*S*H

MacGyver

Malcolm in the Middle

Married... With Children

Melrose Place

Miami Vice

Mission: Impossible

Monk

Moonlighting

Mork & Mindy

Murphy Brown

My Life as a Dog

My Three Sons

My Two Dads

NCIS

Nip/Tuck

Northern Exposure

Numb3rs

One Tree Hill

Oz

Perry Mason

Picket Fences

Pokemon

Power Rangers

Prison Break

Profiler

Project Runway

Psyche

Quantum Leap

Queer As Folk (US)

Queer as Folk (British)

ReGenesis

Remington Steele

Rescue Me

Road Rules

ROME

Roseanne

Roswell

Saved by the Bell

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Scrubs

Seinfeld

Sex and the City

Six Feet Under

Slings and Arrows

Smallville

So Weird

South Park

Spaced

Spongebob Squarepants

Sports Night

Star Trek

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Enterprise

Stargate Atlantis

Stargate SG-1

Superman

Supernatural

Surface

Survivor

Taxi

Teen Titans

That 70's Show

That's So Raven

The 4400

The Addams Family

The Andy Griffith Show

The A-Team

The Avengers

The Beverly Hillbillies

The Brady Bunch

The Cosby Show

The Daily Show

The Dead Zone

The Dick Van Dyke Show

The Flintstones

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Golden Girls

The Honeymooners

The Jeffersons

The Jetsons

The L Word

The Love Boat

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The Mighty Boosh

The Monkees

The Munsters

The Mythbusters

The O.C.

The Office (UK)

The Office (US)

The Pretender

The Real World

The Shield

The Simpsons

The Six Million Dollar Man

The Sopranos

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

The Twilight Zone

The Waltons

The West Wing

The Wonder Years

The X-Files

Third Watch

Three's Company

Top Gear

Twin Peaks

Twitch City

Veronica Mars

Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)

Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)

Will and Grace


Okay. Lots of really mortifying stuff there. Have I really seen more than three episeds of Boy Meets World? Ouch. I could have been sleeping.

An interesting assortment of shows of which I have seen all the episodes: Charmed, MASH, Remington Steele, The Cosby Show, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Picket Fences and the BBC version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? I miss Clive Anderson.

Bowden vs. Krivksy, Part 1

UPDATE: The estimable J has a great analysis of the trade over on his blog.

Like most avid Reds fans, I've been waiting for an earth-shaking move to shore up the Reds' postseason chances. I was NOT expecting to see Kearns and Lopez go for what appears initially to be spare parts. That said, Majewski is a known quantity: a solid reliever, and exactly what the Reds need. If Bill Bray can rise to the level of his trade mate, the Reds have every reason to believe they can make it into the playoffs.

But, but, but...yeah, whine all you want about how much worse off the offense is now. I don't see it. Denorfia needs to be playing in Cincinnati or he needs to be traded; he has nothing else to prove at AAA. I would much rather have him stealing bases for us than someone else. We still have Adam Dunn and his three true outcomes getting to the plate four or five times a night. Phillips and Encarnacion are still bright potential anchors to the infield. And the mix-and-match set of first base/catcher has performed well despite its somewhat irregular makeup.

The Reds need no help scoring. They need help keeping the other team from scoring, hence Majewksi.

Which brings us to Royce Clayton. I would be all for this deal if only his name was not attached. As I wrote to J earlier, this guy couldn't hit a beach ball with an oar. If he is anything less than a Dyson vacuum with a Winchester rifle attachment for an arm, he will be the most hated man in Cincinnati.

Winner: only time will tell. Krivksy seems to have gotten us a bag of odds and ends, but it is entirely possible--and in character--for Bowden to overpay for players he likes.

Demon Duck of Doom

What does it say about me that seeing this article on CNN.com about fossils of prehistoric predators discovered in Australia just about made my day?

Now playing: Chausson, Symphony in B-flat; Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch
Now reading: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray

Thoughts on The Greatest Traitor

This year's reading has included three of my all-time favorite histories. The Princes in the Tower was lucid and reasoned in its indictment of Richard III, with the kindness to provide sufficient context in the reigns of both Richard's predecessor (Edward IV) and successor (Henry VII). The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry was an engaging recounting of the physical tapestry's own amazing story, and a critical exegesis of the tapestry's tale.

Better than both is Ian Mortimer's The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England: 1327--1330.

Like Bridgeford's illumination of Eustace II of Boulogne, Ian Mortimer* brings light to Roger Mortimer's upbringing and exploits, mitigating his rebellions against Edward II and his domination of Edward III while exposing Mortimer's descent into the same arrogant tyranny that brought down Edward II's favorites Gaveston and Despenser. He also brings compelling documentary evidence to substantiate what chroniclers of the time considered wild rumors. In short, nothing but a gripping tale wrapped in conscientious scholarship.

Highly recommended: GOOD ENOUGH TO BUY

*Ian Mortimer is no relation to Sir Roger Mortimer.

Just say no...

...to publicly financed stadiums.

I am tickled to death that there is baseball again in Washington, D.C. (I only wish the Nationals were better and not run by Jim Bowden.) There should be. There is no reason for Kansas City to have a baseball team and not Washington. But I find myself agreeing with the wingnuts on the D.C. City Council who opposed public financing for the new stadium.

Here's why: Arsenal.

Arsenal will borrow money against its ticket revenues to finance its new stadium. Better yet, because it is backing the bonds with its own assets, the company can buy insurance on its own debt, effectively making Arsenal Holdings as creditworthy as General Electric, UPS or Johnson & Johnson. (Manchester United and Chelsea have also borrowed to finance their own stadia, but at high interest rates and without much in the way of collateral.)

This makes the public financing deals and tight private ownership of U.S. sports teams seem all the more repugnant. Granted, there are few U.S. sports franchises that inspire the same fanatical devotion as virtually any in the Premier League, but there are several with revenues at least as steady and many quite larger. Is there no investor in the U.S. to whom Yankees bonds appeal? Mets bonds? Barry Bonds? (Sorry.)

Now playing: Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti.

Read it and cheer

Andy Duncan wrote a letter to the Cumberland Times-News, which received the headline "In U.S., Constitution overrides Leviticus."

When life is like The Simpsons

Did anyone else upon seeing that Portugal had made the semifinals of the World Cup think about that episode of The Simpsons that started with a soccer match? I don't remember anything else about the episode because, like many Simpsons episodes, the opening was only a place to start and not necessarily an integral part of the plot.

Anyway, the family is watching a commercial for an upcoming soccer match that will feature football stars from across the globe (most of whom were nicknamed--my favorites being "Arriaga" and "Arriaga 2.") But the match is truly important because it will "finally decide which country is the greatest on Earth: Mexico or Portugal!"

Let's hope the Portuguese have better wind than the Germans.

Now playing: J.S. Bach, Toccata, Adagio & Fugue, BWV 564, E. Power Biggs.
Now reading: The Greatest Traitor