Friday, September 25, 2009

Open Season On Excuses----It's Already Begun

  • Your numbers are nothing to my analysis:

A nod and tip of the cap for the above line goes to my newly crowned Tex-Mex Capo, Gabriel Gutierrez. I wish I'd come up with it. My power base is beginning to consolidate and my strong suggestion is to jump on the train...before you find yourself under it.



The season's not even over yet and the stat zombies are already laying the groundwork to formulate canned excuses why they were wrong about so many different things this season. And I don't want to hear it. Some examples of what you can expect to read and hear repeatedly follow:



"Predictions are based on historical performances and cannot be taken literally over a long season."



"Injuries and managerial ineptitude contribute diminished production."



"This is not an exact science; mid-season issues alter results."



In other words, "We would've been right if...."

That takes balls. I'm serious about that. It takes a sheer and unrivaled audacity to be so horribly wrong about so many things while still claiming some faulty appellation of expertise. It's great because it's only going to contribute to their rapid downfall.

We know the truth.

It takes no skill or analytical ability whatsoever to plug numbers into a calculator or computer based on some formula and spout predictions, then hem and haw as to why they were wrong; the
myths promulgated by the stat zombies and armchair experts will continue ad nauseam, but the number of people who are afraid to protest is declining exponentially.

The Fall of the House of
Moneyball has emboldened those that were reluctant to challenge the experts and the second look at baseball's numerical age will be its undoing. Watch.

It's a dirty job cleaning up the toxic wasteland created by the out-of-context numbers that have overrun the game, but
somebody's gotta do it. Might as well be me.

  • Why would someone want to go see this game?

There's
rampant disbelief that such a small crowd attended the clash of the titans between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The estimated number of fans in attendance is generally reported to be about 3000 people. The G-20 summit is being cited as a reason for this, but how many people would want to go see those two teams in the middle of a workday as the season winds down? The Pirates are atrocious and the Reds are riding a hot streak to a relatively respectable record considering where they were a couple of months ago.

What was there to watch? Why is this even an issue? They
could've given the tickets to this game away and the crowd wouldn't have been much larger. Who cares?

  • I admire Rich Harden in a weird way:

Unlike Milton Bradley, who was asked to leave the Cubs clubhouse for the greater good, Rich Harden has requested that he not pitch again for the rest of the season due to arm fatigue----ESPN Story.

It's strange how this works. Harden, a free agent at the end of the year with Cy Young Award talent when he's able to drag himself out the mound on a regular basis, is refusing to push himself to try and prove his health and maximize his dollars on the free agent market. While there are always pitchers who have their big years when free agent money beckons----A.J. Burnett and Ben Sheets to name two----and then revert to what it is they are when they're safe and secure, Harden is being honest about his situation and it's going to cost him a lot of money. At least he's being honest.

In regards to what to do with Harden, if there ever was a pitcher who has the talent to be a top starter but not the stamina or durability, it's him. He needs to move to the bullpen because he can't handle the workload of a starter. He's got the power fastball and wicked slider to blow people away for one inning at a time; someone has to convince him of that fact and he could be a star----a
healthy star.

  • You see more interesting things at night...in the dark:

One of the best things about waking up in the middle of the night is that you get to see the newest of the new Kevin Trudeau infomercials. The latest from the "leading consumer advocate, health counselor, drug company
whistle blower"/ex-con sociopath is a book called: "Free Money 'They' Don't Want You To Know About".

Awesome.

Much as I admire Rich
Harden's honesty, I admit a grudging admiration for Kevin Trudeau. He's such an unrepentant scumbag that you can't help but shake your head and acknowledge his nerve. The best line from the newest product is that he's not making one penny on the new book. He's doing it as a public service.

Yah right!!!!

Maybe he's onto something though. From now on my books and analysis will be presented as a favor to society as a whole. No need to thank me. My benevolence knows no bounds.

But then, I'm not a very good liar; so it wouldn't work. I'll have to push forward as is. For better or worse.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

I think Harden asked not to pitch again because he's embarrassed to be a part of that club. I would be.

As for Trudeau, remember when John Stossel got his ass?! That was brilliant. How he's still going I haven't the faintest clue. These are the same people who voted for Strom Thurmond over and over again (I presume).

She-Fan said...

What a great idea. Writing books as a public service instead of making money on them! There's just one hitch: paying our bills. Does he address how we're supposed to do that in his infomercial????