Tiger Woods goes for major #14 today. I read an article by Rick Reilly last week about how we should all pull for Phil Mickelson over Tiger. Whatever. The dude just doesn't get it. That's like rooting against Michelangelo. Reilly's a doofus, kind of like Reusse rooting against KG.
This entry was posted by SBG on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 6:46 am and is filed under Cup of Coffee. It is one of 2407 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post. Why?
Sorry, The WGOM is no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this article.
When the (Williams) Wall Comes Crumblin' Down...
Respond: 8 LTEs
Loading ... Loading ...There have been
visitors to the WGOM since August 23, 2004
This is the kind of playoff where you don't root for anyone, you just enjoy the action and the outcome. There's a great story for whoever wins.
I'm back from Atlanta. Not a whole lot to report from down there other than it's hot as balls. It's good to be home.
How's the water situation in DM today?
It appears as though the worst is over. Now it's time to wait for the water to go down enough to where the repairs can begin.
And this is what sucks: even though the rivers here are rising, I have to water the lawn this morning. The StL Weather Defense Shield is operational again, it appears, and storms are going around us.
While driving up to Litchfield, IL area for a funeral on Saturday, there were some mighty poor looking corn crops
I 'm a sucker for a good underdog story, but I find Phil Mikelson almost totally unlikable. Even though I do root for Tiger, I would also like someone, anyone, to push him to the limit just to see how unbelievably good he can be. I think the storyline would be more interesting if he had a consistent foil, but at this point I'd take anyone willing to go toe-to-to, instead of a solitary rival. The celebration when Woods made the final put yesterday was about the coolest thing I'd seen in a while. It was so so raw, so uninhibited and so powerful.
I don't particularly like Tiger, but I also don't particularly like Phil or most of the top-tier golfers. But I like watching Tiger in tournaments like this. No matter how often he makes an unbelievable shot, and no matter how often he wins, he still enjoys it just as much as the first one. And he does so without being inappropriate or showing up his opponent. It's fun watching someone play a game for a living and still act like they're playing a game.
Hey Banjo- I completed my first week of single speed commuting- thanks for the tips- the project wasn't without difficulty but was a good time all in all- One question left- do I have to re-dish my rear wheel if I installed a single speed conversion kit? I can't seem to find a primer that will explain when re-dishing is needed, although I suspect that you would need to re-dish only if you didn't have the spacers for the single rear gear... is that right?
To quote the internets:
You have two main issues - chain line, and the way the wheel is built to accommodate the rear cassette. There is a "strength" issue relative to how the spokes are set up, so "improper dish" can actually put a lot of pressure on your rear wheel:
From Sheldon Brown:
A bicycle wheel should have the rim centered directly in line with the frame. The fork ends are symmetrical with respect to the frame, and the hub axle locknuts (or equivalent surfaces) press against the insides of the dropouts.
Wheels should be built so that the rim is centered exactly between the axle ends on the hub. In the case of rear wheels, the spokes attach to flanges which are not symmetrical...the right flange is usually closer to the centerline than the left flange, to make room for the sprocket(s).
When rear wheels are built properly, the spokes on the right side are made tighter than those on the left side. This pulls the rim to the right, so that it is centered with respect to the axle (and to the frame.) Viewed edgewise, a rear wheel built this way resembles a dish, or bowl, since the left spokes form a broad cone, while the right spokes are nearly flat.
By extension, the term "dish" is used as a general synonym for accurate centering, even in the case of symmetrical wheels.
So:
Redishing would only be required if you change the spacers on the wheel to adjust the chain line. This would then cause the wheel to sit closer to one side of the frame. To redish the wheel you would have to loosen the spokes on the side that is closest to the frame and tighten them on the other side to make it correct. This would all be done methodically like 1/2 turn loose one one side and 1/2 turn tight on the other and recheck for proper alignment. Continue this till it is good but maybe drop to 1/4 turn each side.
Twins through 70 games:
Not looking good for year one of the Billy Smith era. 6 of the bottom10 in VORP are his acquistions and a 7th was a guy we thought we had dumped on the Rays only to get him back. (sidenote, its sad to see 2 acquisitions from the AJ fleecing in the bottom4). Of the 22 Twins who've seen the most playing time this year (11 pitchers, 11 hitters), 10 have an ERA+/OPS+ over 100. All 10 of those are TR acquisitions. Billy Smith's guys are 0/8 at being league average.
Bottom10 VORP
10. Monroe -1.1
9. Everett -3.1
8. Cuddyer -3.2
7. Bass -3.3
6. Rincon -4.1
5. Harris -4.8
4. Liriano -6.6
3. Livan -7.7
2. Lamb -11.5
1. Boof -15.9
Rocco is falling apart in the last 3 holes
now Tiger is giving strokes away
this has not been good golf
Tiger lipped one at 14
all tied up heading to 15
Holy shot making on the 15th
Tiger knocks one stiff from a bunker. Really a tremendous shot.
Rocco fairway, puts in 20 feet away, then drains a snaking putt for birdie
And Tiger misses his birdie
Rocco up by 1 with 3 holes to go
This match went from sloppy to outstanding in the turn of 2 holes
That was an amazing bunker shot from Tiger. I couldn't believe it when he missed the putt. I'm not going to get any work done for the next 1/2 hour.
pars apiece on 16
Tiger almost birdies from about 40 feet out. 3 inches short
Rocco still up by one
both players parred on 17
to the 18th. a par 5 hole.
excitment!
Rocco in the bunker, Tiger right smack in the middle of the fairway. I think we are heading to sudden death
If you aren't watching this, I suggest you find someway to do so. This is riveting.
right on!
Man, Tigers shot on the gren was awesome. Carried over the water and rolled onto the green
Roccos 3rd shot was a fantastic shot. Unfortunatly he could not covert his birdie
extra innings!
We had 10 guys gathered around a computer watching the action on the 18th green.
Seeing as they've spent through regulation time and estra time, I think they should go to a skill competition.
Shoot-out? Have their caddies try to knock-down the drives?
Longest Drive?
HORSE on the 18th green?
My productivity at work has taken a huge nose dive.
Rocco falling apart on this hole
It's incredible how well he's played so far. You can only hold Tiger off for so long.
OOOOOH ROCCO
Tiger wins!
"Ain't gonna be no rematch!"
"Don't want one"
Noticed meat's comment above; just bought myself a single speed bike the other day: Redline 925. Didn't think I would go that way when starting my search for a replacement, but I liked the ride. Love it so far!
GM- I find that simple is better, If you don't mind me asking what did the new ride set you back?
meat, aren't there any hills in ABQ? how is single-speed better for your purposes? (not an argument, just a question)
greenmachine, where are you? same question as for meat.
I paid $530 plus sales tax at the Hub on Lake/Minnehaha in Minneapolis. I love that place - friendly and helpful staff in a relaxed atmosphere with lots of choices. And a worker-owned co-op to boot.
I live in the Merriam Park neighborhood of St. Paul. There are some hills, like the hill up Marshall from the river. But nothing really intimidating - either it's just a moderate climb or it isn't very long. So far I haven't had any trouble with pace with the Marshall hill or the Selby bridge over Ayd Mill. Those are good examples of what I am likely to hit while running around town (another one would be coming up to the Cathedral area from downtown St. Paul, haven't done that yet with the new bike).
Bike fixing is not in my forte, so I'm attracted to the prospect of less maintenance and stuff to go wrong, especially with biking in 3.5 seasons.
All this talk of cycling caused me to check out Le Tour - a counter clockwise jaunt starting in Bretagne.
No Astana/Contador tho.
NBBW and I went to Toulouse last year for two stages, a time-trial in Albi, and a mountain stage through Carcassone. My guy, Alex Vinokourov, cut capers for the first half of the tour, then got cut due to blood transfusions.
I made the silly choice to participate in the comment section for Howard's blog today. But it got me to look up the Twins' franchise leaderboard:
Baby Jeebus is now the all-time leader in career OBP for the franchise (Twins + Senators, minimum 2000 PA, of which he now has 2018). He ranks 7th in career BA, 6th in OPS (although he's not in the top 10 in adjusted OPS+)
this just in. Joe Mauer is good.
Mauers nickname should be tweaked to read 'Sweet Baby Jesus', a nod to James Taylor, and becuase Mauers swing is so sweet
Heh, I see you got both the "VORP? Did you make that up in your mom's basement??" and the "Twins Kool-Aid drinker!" treatment.
I'm particularly proud of that twofer.
Man, that FIRE V & G Guy!!!! totally laid waste to you, bS. You'd be wise to ne'er challenge his towering baseball intellect again. (He combines the verve of a young Peter Gammons with a dash of Oscar Wilde's impish wit.)
It's too bad his keyboard doesn't have a period key, though. It undermines his stellar prose. (He does have the exclamation point, however. It appears to be stuck...)
The Mauer bashers who refuse to join the 21st century of statistics are very amusing. bytheway, for the clown on Howard's page who for some reason doesn't see Joe as an all time Twin great (and obviously he won't be around here to read this)
All Time Twins leaders
Batting Avg: 3rd (behind Carew and Puck)
OBP: 1st
SLG: Tied for 12th (not too bad for a supposed punchnjudy hitter)
OPS: 3rd (behind Killebrew and Mack)
OPS+: 8th (behind Harmon, Carew, Oliva, Mack, Hrbek, Allison, Hisle)
and I'll even throw out a counting stat since the first 5 stats he wasn't elligible for 19 plate apperances ago:
VORP: 22nd in Twins history, 12th amongst hitters, 1st amongst catchers
If he never played another game for the Twins he still has a resume which would put him about in the top 30 to 35 players of 48 years of Twins history. In 2 1/2 more years when his current contract is up (and I'm guessing he'll be extended before that) its not unreasonable to see him with a resume putting him in the top10 of Twins history (not including Senators)
Mauer: WS wins = 0
Laudner: WS wins = 1
Laudner>Mauer
Makes perfect sense to me. In fact, why stop there.
Mark Davidson>Joe Mauer
I am glad the Twins do not play the Phillies until the World Series.
They can put up a billion runs in an instant.
Made the trek to Milwaukee this weekend. Flooding 1, Wisconsin 0.
Flooding beat Iowa by the 10-run rule.
Floodling vs. Iowa was cancelled due to rain.
I noticed that Thursdays Twins-Was game is an afternoon game, so that mean no TV.
If the purpose of having Interleague games is for fans to see the teams from the other leagues, the Interleague games shoudl be manditory on tv
that requires somebody to want to watch, of course. Old Senators vs. New Senators == not much of a TV draw.
I want to watch! I get to watch 1 game every week, due to work. thats the Sunday games
I'll be heading to the game tomorrow night. Looks like Hernandez got moved up to give Blackburn some rest, so I'm a little apprehensive about the likely outcome. Then again, Hernandez can be very entertaining when he's squeaking by, and Washington isn't very good.
have fun man!
Green, the wife and I will be at the game, too. Free tickets! Section 136, Row 36, Seats 17-18, if you want to stop by and say howdy.
Hijinks at the alma mater:
BWHAHAHAHA thats great
In case it's not obvious, there is a tunnel connecting the main building to the Annex across the street....
I am trying to figure out why there is a cow and a gal dressed in a yellow bird suit. They crossed the road 2 or 3 times.
I always avoided that part of town
I am trying to figure out why there is a cow and a gal dressed in a yellow bird suit.
The two-man horse suit was already rented out.
This just in: Randolph out as Mets manager, and some coaches out too.