Playoffs x2

With the college football season nearing the end of October, talk of a playoff system is heating up again.  Having 7 teams undefeated and a handful of very strong one-loss teams makes the noise a bit louder than in typical years.  As well, it's almost a certainty that Boise State and either TCU or Utah, who play each other, will wind up undefeated.  And so there's a chance we'll have three or four undefeated teams prior to bowls.  And thus a "deserving" team would be left out of the Championship if that happens.

The problem with a playoff system, and why I don't like any of the ideas I've heard, is what we're seeing in baseball this year.  The playoffs have been competitive and entertaining for sure. And having the Rangers and the Giants in the World Series is a compelling story and a nice change from Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies.  However each league is represented by the weakest of its four playoff teams.  We played 162 games to determine that the Yankees, Rays, Phillies, and Braves were the best team and then played 10-12 games to decide to send someone else to the World Series. 

I'm not suggesting we go back to two divisions and only four team in the playoffs.  However I think college football "fans" are oblivious to what would happen in a playoff system.  I think there will be a lot of noise about TCU/Utah being left out of the National Championship, but would having Alabama play Missouri or Michigan State for the Championship make anyone feel better about the title?

Toronto and Buffalo

Before going back to work I got in one last vacation.  My friends Meier and Nanci were going to Buffalo for a week with a two-day side trip to Toronto in the middle.  Having never been to either or Niagara Falls, at least that I remember, I decided to join them for part of the trip.  When am I ever going to have a chance to see Buffalo or Toronto?

Flew into Toronto on Monday and they met me at the airport after I passed through customs.  We drove to downtown Toronto and wandered around.  Perhaps the most interesting things we saw was Paws Way, which is as cute as the pictures on their web site.  It's part dog history museum, part educational facility, part shop, and part training center.  They also have a little cafe in the front.  I had no idea such a thing existed anywhere.  Had dinner at Il Fornello.  Went back to our hotel, which was all the way back by the airport, but not before driving through the large Jewish neighborhood of Toronto.  Next day we got a late start, saw Casa Loma (house on the hill) which is a famous historic castle.  After being there and watching some house hunters, I decided our home should have a fancy name.  So now we live at "Casa Oso" or perhaps we should call it "Casa Oso de miel".

We had a late lunch then spent an hour at the Shoe museum which was surprisingly OK.  By pure coincidence the Mariners were in town, so we went to the Blue Jays game that night.  We had checked ahead and thought it would be fun to see a game in Toronto.  Of course, the Mariners lost and looked terrible, but made it interesting in the 9th.  Ichiro had 4 hits. And the stadium was empty.  We complain about the Mariners drawing 10-15K, but there must have been only about 4000 people at the game though the Jays reported 12K paid.  Before going to the game Nanci and I went up the CN Tower and had great views of the city and a cool view looking straight down on Rogers Centre (nee the Skydome).

 

 

Went back to the airport hotel, got some sleep then got up the next "morning" and headed to Niagara Falls on the way to Buffalo. 

Niagara Falls was awesome.  A picture is worth 1000 words.

We had hoped to play poker at Casino Niagara but they had a couple of dealers call in sick and had 15 names on the wait list.  I found this stunning as I'm sure they could have found back up dealers.  In this economy every dealer is looking to pick up extra shifts. Then back to the US of A. Buffalo isn't very touristy.  After Meier and Nanci dropped me at my hotel I walked around downtown for a little bit and saw some of the historic buildings.  Meier picked me up later and we went to Duff's for buffalo wings with Nanci's family -- how can you go to Buffalo and not have wings?!  Wings were good but we all ate too much.  Meier and I headed back to the Falls to play some poker, actually wound up playing on the New York side and had an interesting border crossing at 2:30 AM when we wanted to go back to pick up poker chips.  Ended OK but got home very, very late.

Thursday I got up and wandered around town by myself.  Walked down to Coca-Cola Field, then walked along the waterfront and looked across to Canada.  Meier met me and we discovered that City Hall has a free viewpoint on the 28th floor so we got a good look at the city.  Then it was back to eating -- some famous hot dog place that didn't impress me at all and Anderson's for custard (soft serve ice cream) which was pretty good.  Then airport and home.

Lots packed in in just four days.

Trip to Chicago (Vacation)

We spent most of this past week in Chicago.  We went for Monica's niece's first birthday party.  Her actual birthday was two weeks before, but they scheduled the party around when we could be in town.  How nice.

Usually when we go to Chicago for a family event, our trip is all spending time with family and not really a vacation.  The most touristy thing we do is "go to the mall".  But we actually managed to combine a bit of vacation with this trip.  With three young kids in the house, Monica and I wisely chose to stay in a hotel, which gave us some space but also meant we weren't tied to the family schedule.  In part because of that, we actually got to play tourist.

Sunday was about Lily's birthday party, a nice brunch buffet at a local hall, which coincidentally was a 5-minute walk from our hotel.  Then we headed to Monica's sister's house to watch the Storm-Mercury game (well, I watched) and hang out.  Monday we went to the Cubs game which was a unique experience.  Monica got tickets at Costco to sit on a rooftop across the street from the ballpark.  The provide an all-you-can eat and drink menu along with first-come, first served seating.  We were on the lower roof deck, protected from the weather and with a surprisingly good view of the field from beyond right field.  They also have TVs set up so you don't miss anything and bathrooms and what not.  Between the four of us, we had one beer, but a lot of people must have run a beer per inning.  It's come a long way from when people used to sit on the roofs with lawn chairs and a charcoal grill.  I'd certainly recommend trying it once and it's probably a great way to see the game when the Cubs make the playoffs again.  But I think I prefer to be in the ballpark, closer to the action.

We drove back after the game and since it was Labor Day, there was surprisingly little traffic.  Was actually a pleasant drive rather than a long aggravation.  Went out to dinner at Claim Jumper (Monica's favorite) and had salads, since none of us were very hungry after lunch.

Tuesday we went to Long Grove and walked around the shop with Sandra and Ariana.  Had a nice lunch and bought lots of stuff (see clothes, Monica) but it was sad to see the place basically deserted.  Spent Tuesday evening cooking brisket for Rosh Hashanah and cooking dinner (pasta, rice) for the sick bay.  Wednesday Monica and I went downtown to the Planetarium and then browsing along the Miracle Mile.  We saw social networking at its best.  After I posted on Facebook that I was in downtown Chicago, one of my poker buddies saw it and text messaged me about meeting for lunch.  We were able to meet him without any advance planning -- the way Facebook places should work.  Raced home later than we planned and got to Sandra's for a nice holiday dinner.

Thursday AM we were up before the crack of dawn to catch our plane home.

Seems like we did a lot in what was really four days in Chicago.

July Update

It's pretty clear that my blog has been neglected the past month.  Even without a 9-5 job July is pretty crazy busy.  I looked at the start of the month and there were about 5 days where Monica and I were actually free in the evenings and two of them were last night and tonight.  A couple others opened up, but it's busy, busy, busy.

Softball really becomes a dominant factor in July.  We have weeknight games which are always challenging to field a team. The playoffs start and takes a lot of time to get my team RSVPs and get ready for games.  As league commissioner there are a lot of little things to deal with -- questions, complaints, issues, players going postal on umpires, etc.  Oh and then I actually have to play softball.  We won our first two games, including knocking off the #1 seed which was a great start.  But then a bit injured and a bit shorthanded dropped our next two to finish in 3rd place.  3rd out of 11 teams isn't bad but when you think you have a championship caliber team and there are only 4 real contenders, 3rd of 4 isn't that exciting.  Still we had a pretty good year, had a lot of fun, and were well behaved.  My team actually likes each other which is a good thing.

Mariners.  Yuck.  Still going to a lot of games and watching/listening to my team.  Cubs, ditto though obviously I'm not going to games.  Can baseball season be over yet?  I can't recall a year where my teams had so much "potential" and were so terrible.  Can't believe the excitement is the Cubs reaching for .500 and the Mariners trying to avoid 100 losses.

Busy around the house.  Deck is done.  Hardwood floors are done.  I put in grout between the hardwood floor and the tile edges.  Learned a lot and will be easier next time.  Of course, "next time" will probably be 20 years down the road and I won't remember anything.  Don't you hate when that happens.  Have been watering plants and the lawn now that summer has arrived and it doesn't rain anymore.  Sadly everything is too wet in May and June and then dies in July and August.  Re-arranged the art with help from my parents.

My mom and dad visited for 5 days last weekend and I spent a lot of time running around town with them.  We mainly spent time at the Belleve Arts Fairs.  Monica and I bought a few things for our house and my parents found an anniversary gift for us -- though we have to pick what we want and order it -- but I'm not sure they actually bought anything despite hours of looking at arts and crafts.  They also helped with hanging art as noted.  They are helpful, but it's really more their presence inspires me to hang things up.  And dad likes putting up pictures.

Tommy has been getting acupuncture twice a week and will start the underwater treadmill next week.  We're trying to strengthen his back and legs or at least make sure they don't get any worse.  Cocoa has horrible yeast infections in his ears that won't quite clear up.  They're better especially in one ear, but we're still working on it.  Hunny Bear is good.  He's suddenly the easy one.

With all that, I really haven't played much poker.  I active in online forums thinking about my game, but really need to find time to play.  Hard to believe, but someone it never quite happens.

Piniella

Just had to vent as there are those who think Lou is a great manager.

Much as it pains me to admit, Derrek Lee is done.  This is hard to believe for a guy who was a superstar last year but 35-year-old first baseman often fall off a cliff.  Lee's OPS by month are 679, 733, 706, and 638 so far in July.  Anyone can have a bad month simply by not being "on" and getting unlucky.  Lee has had one bad month and two terrible months.  Digging deeper, Lee can't hit a fastball anymore.  It's possible he's hurt and not admitting it but either way he's totally unproductive.  Yet Piniella has run Lee out there every day hitting 3rd or 4th in the lineup.  And here's the thing, if I can figure out Lee is done, why can't Piniella.  Meanwhile he can't figure out how to get playing time for his four outfielders. 

Here's an idea -- have one of them take fielding practice at first base.  I suspect none of them have played first on a regular basis since high school if ever, but for a player with center fielder skills, first base should be easy to learn.  Might not make Fukudome the every day 1B, but with a fly ball pitcher on the mound and facing a right-hander that's the type of thing winning teams do.  And if you're going to play Lee, hit hit 6th or 7th.

Thankfully it sounds more and more like Lou is done after this year.

Cubs Update

"Big Z is on a short leash"
From short leash to dog house in less than 24 hours.  At least it gets Gorzelanny back in the rotation.

I loved Piniella's comment, basically how do you blame the defense when the guy hits the ball in the seats.

The Idiocy of the Cubs

The Cubs are in town which happens about once every 6 years, so I spent much of the past three days at the Mariners games.  Looking at the talent on the team, I've been puzzled at why the Cubs have struggled this year.  The starting pitching is so good, Zambrano has spent much of the year in the pen.  Marshall and Marmol are great to close out games. And there's a collection of pretty good hitters.

Having looked closer, it's pretty apparent that there are two things going on.  First, despite the names and reputations on the infielders they've been terrible this year.  In fact Lee, Theriot, Castro, and Ramirez have all played below replacement level.  That pretty much kills the offense.  Lee's OPS is down 250 points from last year and he's played below his 10th percentile PECOTA projection.  Theriot and Ramirez are below their 10% as well.  In fact Ramirez put up 200 of the worst at bats ever before going on the DL.  These three guys are 6 wins worse than projected already. To some degree, you can't do anything about good players sucking.

But then there's an insane about of stupid decision making going on.  Lou Piniella is beloved in Seattle as the manager who got the Mariners to the playoffs, but I've never been impressed.  The Cubs best hitters this year are Colvin, Soriano, Byrd, and Soto. It took until June before Colvin became a regular, Soriano is only playing 2/3 of the time, Soto spent most of the year hitting 7th or 8th and recently lost his starting job to Koyie Hill (who can't hit worth a lick).  The Cubs worst hitters are Ramirez, Theriot, Baker, and Lee.  Lee has hit 3rd or 4th all season, Theriot has hit leadoff until recently and Baker has been given the 3rd base job with Ramirez hurt.  Now batting order doesn't matter much, but you have to think that getting the best hitters in the lineup every day at the top of the order and putting the weaker hitters at the bottom couldn't hurt.

Wait, but then there's the pitching.   Tom Gorzelanny isn't the name that some of the others are but he was the Cubs best starter last year, though he had a terrible ERA because of a 62% strand rate -- a level so low it has to be bad luck.  And this year he's been striking on > 1 batter per inning something matched by only 4 NL starters.  He's probably the Cubs best starter again yet he's relegated to the bullpen, where he's been ineffective.  That said, it's a pretty tough call who to put in the pen.  Zambrano and Lilly are the 5th and 6th best starters but the Cubs have invested a lot in them and really need the big three to succeed.  But Gorz has been too good to NOT to go every 5 days. Much like Colvin, it doesn't matter which OF you sit because he's better than all of them.  Personally I'd put Lilly in the pen to see if he can get his act together but Big Z is on a short leash.  Or I'd think about something radical like a six-man rotation letting them pitch a bit deeper into games.

That said, with the complete disaster by the infield, this team is dead in the water.  But they're also making dumb decisions on a daily basis that cost the team runs and wins.

If there's a silver lining, it's doubtful Piniella will be back.  I expect him to "retire" and become a broadcaster.

Week 2

After another typical weekend -- Mariners lose, softball team wins -- it's back to work.

This week I've been keeping an eye on our dogs while parts of the remodel are in progress.  I was going to put them in daycare, but they're actually been pretty good about staying out of the way and not barking at the workers or all the noise.  Nailing in a hardwood floor is noisy, but Tommy sleeps right through it.

Monday the hardwood guy got to work installing boards and my painters arrived.  Fortunately the were working around each other.  When we moved in we removed a divider from the bottom of the stairs and patched the walls and ceiling but never painted.  I picked up some paint six months ago to see if I could get a match, but it was never on the top of the to do list.  Sort of out-of-sight, out-of-mind but more after staring at the ugliness every day, we just learned to live with it.  But with hardwoods going in, we wanted to paint first rather than risk getting paint on the new wood floors.  In the end, we cut out a chunk of the wall and did a color match.  They were able to feather in the paint to avoid painting the 15" wall above the stairwell and perhaps other walls to match which was a great saving of time and money. Hard to explain really; you have to see it.

Tuesday the hardwood installer got most of the floor done and Wednesday he finished up with the hallway and the edges.  Looks great and it hasn't been sanded or finished yet.

Meanwhile I've been working on planning my trip to Las Vegas and it looks like it's a go.  I'll be there May 24th through June 4th.  Have airfare, hotels, and a rental car booked.  I'm staying off the strip at Alexis Park the first week to keep my costs down.  Even Imperial Palace wants $200 for Saturday over Memorial Day weekend, then moving to IP the second week where I have 4 nights for $85!  My plan is rather than to play poker non-stop to actually have a vacation.  See some shows, walk down the strip, maybe sit by the pool.  Get away from the strip to see some other parts of Vegas.  And really before 11 AM the poker action isn't that good. 

Also working around the house.  It seems the laundry never stops, even for just the two of us. I've been catching up on entering our financial records into MS Money in preparation for doing our taxes.  Yes, I haven't even started taxes yet.  Finished reseeding the back yard.  Dogs and dog "output" do a number on a lawn.  I can't believe how bad it looks just a year after we put down sod.  Seeding is more work than it sounds like.  Had to loosen up the soil in lots of places and work the seed into the dirt.  Otherwise it just washes away.  The lawn eeds a lot of TLC (and a lot of water) this year.  Hope to see some grass and hope in a couple of weeks. 

I installed a keyless entry for the garage.  That was actually a fun project where I felt like I accomplished something rather than started something that will eventually finish.  Our garage is attached to our house but is external so the door is locked and it's a pain to unlock it, every time to go into the garage.  I looked at doing this when we first moved in, but didn't see one that would work.  Maybe it's a new model, but this was pretty easy to install and only took an hour and works great.already.

Also made a trip to the vet.  Hunny Bear and Cocoa are fine -- still needs another round of meds for his yeast infection -- but Tommy has problems with ears and eyes.  And it's almost impossible for us to medicate him.  He sees the dropper bottle coming for his ears or eyes and he runs.  When you catch him he shakes and jerks his head.  Try putting eye drops in while shaking -- impossible. That's my challenge foe the week.

MLB Playoffs

It's been proven time and again that the baseball playoffs are a crap shoot. As much as people like to see the Yankees as great and a "sure" thing to make the World Series, history shows they're just better than 50-50 to win each series. It's of course a bit better with a 1-0 lead already.

My take, I have no clue who will win but bet the underdogs -- Rockies, Twins, Cardinals. Not really sure who's the dog in the Boston-LA series.

World Series

Well, I came pretty close in the LCS. The AL indeed went 7 games, though the Rays won and the Phillies took care of the Dodgers in 5 not 6. Off by two total.

I see the Rays in 6 games. Quite frankly they're just a lot better than the Phillies.

This will probably be the least watched World Series in years with Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York all watching from home.

Playoff FIrst Round

Yuck, yuck, and more yuck.

I'm not sure whether I'm more sad, frustrated, or embarrassed by the Cubs performance. Monica's sister and brother-in-law attended game 1 in Chicago, Monica went to game 2, and I went to LA for the weekend for game 3 (and what I expected would be game 4). What a waste of a season. And a double-whammy for me on top of the Storm's post season.

On the other hand, I had the other three series pegged right. I actually had Phillies in 4 originally, but didn't like picking them all to be four game series.

Red Sox in 7 and Phillies in 6 in the LCS.

Baseball Playoffs

After my previous post, the Brewers won 5 of 6 and passed the "great collapse" tag over to the Mets who went 3-4.

Monica is headed to Chicago Tuesday night for the Cubs games Wednesday and Thursday, and I've just booked tickets to head to LA for the Saturday and Sunday games against the Dodgers. Yeh, we're excited about the Cubs in the playoffs and being the favorite to win the NL.

Predictions:
Cubs over the Dodgers in 4. This is a bad mismatch but it's hard to sweep.
Phillies over Brewers in 3. Likewise I don't think this is close, especially with Sheets hurt. The Brewers play poor defense, have a bad bullpen, and were lucky to get in the playoffs with a hot final weak AND the Mets collapse. I don't believe Sabathia can continue to pitch like he has on short rest and facing a quality offense.

Red Sox over Angels in 4. I really should get money down on this. The wisdom is the Angels are the best team in baseball, but I'd argue that they are at best the 3rd best team in the American League. They have the most wins, but beat up on a terrible division. In run differential, they're 6th in the AL. Home field advantage doesn't make up for team quality disadvantage. Angels don't even have the better closer here.
Rays over Twins in 5, White Sox in 4. Another good team vs. not-so-good team series.

Skunky beer

In honor of the Brewers, I made French toast for breakfast. Ask David for an explanation.

Because their collapse happened in the first part of September rather than the end of the season, I expect this will be forgotten and left off the list of great collapses. But the Brewers' fade is truly amazing. By Baseball Prospectus's post season odds, Milwaukee had an 85% chance at winning the wild card on 8/31 and 2/3 of the time they "missed" the wild card it was because they actually won the division. They were a virtual lock (95%) for the post season.

Over the next three weeks, they went 5-15, including 1-8 in their last nine games, fired their manager (too little, too late) an now have only a 16% chance at the wild card. That's an 80% drop in three weeks, and a 55% drop in 8 days.

It's not over yet, but the team hurt most by this could be the Cubs who might get a hot Phillies team in the NLDS rather than a 500 Dodgers team who got in the playoffs by default.

Cubs

Blech! Wait 'til next year, I guess.

People will point to Piniella's decision to pull Zambrano or other moves, but simply the Cubs didn't hit or didn't hit in the right spots. In a best of five anything can happen, though a sweep is unlikely. And we almost had a four-way sweep in the first round. Barring a big Yankees comeback tonight, in four series you'd have to describe as near even, the losing team is going to win a total of ONE game.

Cubs

<sigh>

Baseball Prospectus runs a daily Post Season Odds report. The math and process isn't that important but the end result gives you a good idea of a team's chances of making the playoffs. Since shortly after the all-star break, the Cubs have had a better than 50% chance of making the playoffs even breaking 60% a few times as recently as August 31st. With yesterday's loss and the Brewers win, not only did the Cubs drop out of first place but their post season chances feel to 36%, the lowest it's been since July 1.

Of more concern the Cubs have been playing some pretty bad baseball for a while now. Since peaking on July 30th, they're 17-22 and have been outscored 156-188. The starting pitching has been lousy, especially Zambrano and Hill who are supposed to be the aces of the staff. But they haven't helped themselves by replacing Sean Marshall with Steve Tracshel -- on what universe is that an upgrade -- or penciling in Jason Kendall's no hit, no field name into the top of the lineup. Kendall may be the worst player in major league baseball. Geovany Soto hit .353 with 31 2B and 26 HR in only 385 AB in AAA this year. Even the non-baseball fans reading this blog know that's pretty good. He's not the catcher of the future, he's by far the best catcher the Cubs have now. Play him!

Edited to add: Who says "they" can't hear you through the TV set? I made the post above and turned on the Cub game just as Derrek Lee hit a home run. The Cubs added four more runs and now lead 6-1.

Cubs win, one month to go

The Cubs just finished the last difficult part of their schedule, playing the leading contenders in the NL Central at home and on the road against NL West leading Arizona and San Francisco. During that stretch they managed to go 7-5 and GAIN ground on the rest of the division.

The schedule the rest of the way is the easiest in baseball except that they're in a stretch where they play 24 games in 23 days thanks to a couple of makeup games against the Cardinals. On the other hand, the Cardinals don't have an off day the rest of the season. The Cubs have four games left against a team with a winning record. 15 of their remaining games are against Houston, Pittsburgh, and Florida, three of the four worst teams in the National League.

While the lead is only 2.5 games, it will take an incredible choke to not win the division.

You Don't See This Everyday

First off, haven't blogged much over the past couple of months. I've been busy looking for a job (more on that later), playing and reading about poker, taking care of dogs and our house and watching a lot of baseball.

They say if you live long enough, you'll see everything. While I've watched hundreds of baseball games in person and thousands on TV, I just saw something I'd never seen before -- a 2-1 (catcher to pitcher) double play. The Tigers are playing the Yankees and had runners on first and third with one out. With a 3-2 count the runner on first broke for second, the batter struck out and the catcher threw to second base, which is all pretty normal. But the pitcher Roger Clemens cut off the throw and had Brandon Inge trapped between third and home. He ran him down and tagged him out without a throw. Pretty good for a 40+ something guy.

Cubs and Steins

On June 2nd, the Cubs lost their sixth game in a row to fall to a season worst 22-31 putting them in 5th place.

On June 3rd, Monica and I flew to Chicago. The Cubs not only snapped their losing streak that day but crushed the Braves 10-1.

Since Monica and I arrived, the Cubs are 27-13 and have moved into second place and are in the hunt for the NL Central title and the wild card.

You can call this a coincidence if you want, but I think it’s causation we just don’t understand yet. "Coincidentally" the Mariners have been hot since June 2nd as well.

Hargrove Resigns

In my years as a sports fan, I've seen a lot of strange things. But this has to be one of the weirdest. The Mariners manager resigned Sunday in the middle of an eight-game winning streak. I've seen plenty of managers/coaches quit when things were going poorly and they figured they were likely to be fired anyway.

Hargrove really didn't give a good answer why -- he said it was harder to give 100% than it had been in the past. There's lots of speculation but it boils down to two ideas -- one is Hargrove is battling with depression, two is with the last kid graduating high school his wife wanted/needed him home more and/or he felt the need to be home more.

On a personal level, this is sad for Hargrove. On a baseball level, this is good for the Mariners. Managers simply don't matter much in major league baseball (unlike football or basketball coaches, they aren't making plays and minute-by-minute substitutions), though Hargrove was a lousy manager who should have been fired at the end of last season if not before. I don't know much about John McLaren, but if he doesn't cost us games that's an improvement.

Catching Up

Haven't written anything in a couple of weeks.

One reflection on the trip not related to the scenery. I'm amazed at the Internet connectivity we had on the road. When we travelled across country three years ago, it was mainly hit-or-miss. A few places had Internet hubs in the room and you could check-out a cable to connect and having free WiFi was a big deal. This trip I everywhere we stayed had WiFi, even if they didn't advertise it on their web site. I did in part look for WiFi access, but our priorities were location and hotels that allowed dogs and had free breakfast. WiFi in a hotel has become as common as cable television. That said, we mainly stayed in small towns in 2-star and 3-star hotels. I'm curious what the fancier properties are doing. I always found it ironic than in the "cheap" hotel you get lots for free (breakfast, Internet access, computer room) but the more expensive places want to charge you for everything. Shouldn't it be the other way around.

Veronica Mars is back. I really liked the stand-alone episode format a lot. The season-long or 1/3-season long mysteries were cool with their complexity but it made for a long, drawn out plot. Check it out if you haven't already before they cancel it for good.

I'm sure you've heard about Josh Hancock, the Cardinals pitcher who died in an auto accident Sunday morning. It's always sad when some dies and often called tragic when someone dies young. What happened at Virginia Tech a couple weeks ago was a horrible tragedy. As the details emerge, I'm not sure "tragedy" is really the right word for what happened to Hancock. According to the latest reports, Hancock was plastered (BA of twice the legal limit), speeding, talking on his cell phone, and not wearing a seat belt. He may also have been smoking marijuana. That sounds like a time bomb waiting to go off. I think Darwinism is the word that applies here. I feel for his friends and family for their loss, but really I blame his teammates and the Cardinals organization more than having sympathy for them.

Monica and I went to two local Humane Society auctions the weekend of April 20/21st. Humane Society of King County (which we often call "the Humane Society" had it's annual Tuxes and Tails event on Saturday which was amazing and fancy as always. Sunday we went to the Humane Society aka Happy Paws farm which wasn't so nice. I joked with Monica that we should leave before dinner and I think she was actually ready to go. The more I attend auctions, the more I think about starting an auction consulting business. It's actually sad how poorly thought out some events are.