707

 

Barack Obama, the next President of the USA

 

Congratulations to the Rays

Well, on the plus side, I did correctly predict a Rays-Phils World Series, now didn’t I?

I give the Rays credit, they got the timely pitching (from Matt Garza) and timely hitting (from Willie Aybar) they needed to win the game and the series. The holes in the Red Sox lineup were huge tonight, with not much to fear from hitters 7-9. This will be an interesting challenge for the Sox to deal with in the offeason. What do you do about Drew? Or Lugo? Or Varitek? Or Lowrie? Or Ellsbury? (if either of them can’t figure out how to hit the fastball.) Or Crisp? The Sox need a another bat, but where will they find the space with Lowell and Youk at the corners? Ah, the questions.

Anyway, congratulations to the Rays for the 2008 AL Pennant. The franchise deserves the success after the mess they were from 1998-2006, especially with all the homegrown players that lead them to this championship.

That being said, I still say the Phillies will be the World Series Champions in 7 games. It will be exciting, I’m sure about that.

 

Republican Voter Fraud

Let us see … are Republican immune from voter fraud?

Um, no.

How many Republicans have been arrested for voter fraud? At least this guy, who runs a service that dupes voters and registers people multiple times.

If you want to give the Republicans credit for something, it is the ability to completely ignore facts for their own benefit.

 

Fantasy Debate League Standings

Fantasy Debate League 2008

Standing after Debate 2, 10.8.08 — With REVISED SCORES

NOTE: I fixed the point totals after detecting a few errors in the scores. Sorry about the confusion. 10.9.08.

1. The Guns of Bristol – 197 points
2. Team WWRS – 149 points
3. VPILF Hunter – 127 points
4. NoBamas – 113 points
5. Barack Obama and the Chamber of Secrets – 105 points
6. Don’t Blame Me, I voted for Kodos – 94 points
7. Damn, It Feels Good to be a Maverick – 88 points
8. Team Hussein - 60 points
9. Bail, Baby, Bail! Bushwick Inferno! – 35 points
10. I Admire Your Wife – 33 points

Comments: Bristol charges out to a early lead, scoring big with “tax” and “billion”, along with nailing “United States Senate”. Team WWRS and VPILF Hunter are neck and neck for 2nd and 3rd, while both NoBamas and Kodos broke the century mark with their scores. Barack/Secrets scored well with “economy” but garnered no points with his phrases. Maverick did well with “bush tax cut” and “Reagan”, but lagged with words like “retirement” that got only one use. Team Hussein scored big with “Russia” (which I hear can be seen from Alaska) but his words failed him. Both Bushwick and Your Wife fared poorly in Debate 2, for Bushwick it was a lack of “accountability” in the debate and for Your Wife, McCain’s refusal to acknowledge a “middle class” sagged their score.

The next (and last) debate is 10.15.08. We will have some exciting changes between now and then that will help keep things lively. Good luck!

 

Fantasy Debate League Draft

This will make sense to the rest of you later on …

FINAL FANTASY DEBATE LEAGUE DRAFT RESULTS

Updated 10.15.08 15:55 Pacific

Damn, it feels good to be a Maverick (TM)

• Words: Issues, Taxpayer, Credit, Retirement, Correct
• Phrases: More of the same, Health care for all Americans, Bush tax cut
• Location: Wall Street
• Person: Ronald Reagan

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Kodos

• Words: Change, Job, Liberal, Home, Vote
• Phrases: Working American, Tax-and-spend, Policies of the Bush Administration
• Location: Middle East
• Person: Willie Ayers

Team Hussien

• Words: Judgment, Earmark, Deregulation, Bailout
• Phrases: Failed Leadership, Foreign Oil, Across the Aisle
• Location: Russia
• Person: Reverend Wright, Secretary Paulson

The Guns of Bristol

• Words: Tax, Billion, Troops, Strategy
• Phrases: United States Senate, Health Care Plan, Offshore Drilling
• Location: Pakistan
• Person: Osama Bin Laden

Barack Obama and the Chamber of Secrets

• Words: Economy, Reform, Bipartisan, Plan
• Phrases: Manmade Global Warming, Complete the Mission, Taxes for the Middle Class, Small business
• Location: Israel
• Person: Ahmadinejad

Bail, Baby Bail! Bushwick Inferno! 

• Words: Accountability, Abroad, Greed, Global, Market
• Phrases: Next president of the United States, Main Street, Tax cuts
• Location: China
• Person: Obama’s Mother

NoBamas

• Words: Spending, Al-qaeda, Oil, War, Cut
• Phrases: Eight years, That is not true, Financial Crisis
• Location: Iran
• Person: Kim Jong Il

Team wwrs

• Words: Policy, Record, Fundamental, Lobbyist
• Phrases: My friends, Four more years, Rescue package, I don’t believe
• Location: Iraq
• Person: General Petraeus

I Admire Your Wife 

• Words: Lower, education, Crisis, Erratic, Raise
• Phrases: Middle class, With all due respect, Doesn’t seem to understand
• Location: Arizona
• Person: Charles Keating

VPILF Hunter

• Words: Nuclear, energy, government, administration, dollar
• Phrases: Subprime mortgage, alternative energy, Dependence on foreign oil
• Location: Afghanistan
• Person: Al-Maliki

 

AL and NL MVP

Just to finish off the awards, here are the AL and NL MVPs. I’ll have my playoff and World Series picks tomorrow (if all the series are decided by then!)

American League Most Valuable Player

Contenders (in alphabetical order; RC = runs created)

• Josh Hamilton - OF/TEX – 122.8 RC, 32 HR, 130 RBI, 9 SB, 98 R, .371 OBP in 624 AB – A great story on a lousy team. You could tell he wore down at the end of the season, but should be a force in 2009.
• Joe Mauer – C/MIN – 99.9 RC, 9 HR, 85 RBI, 1 SB, 98 R, .415 OBP in 533 AB – As much as I love the idea of Mauer as MVP, his stats are nice, but not eye-popping. OK, yes, he is a catcher, so that helps a lot.
• Justin Morneau – 1B/MIN – 112.8 RC, 23 HR, 129 RBI, 0 SB, 97 R, .375 OBP  in 620 AB – Another solid year from Morneau. 
• Dustin Pedroia – 2B/BOS – 120.2 RC, 17 HR, 83 RBI, 20 SB, 118 R, .376 OBP in 653 AB – Alright, so the same argument can be made for Pedroia as Mauer, albeit for a different position, but Pedroia was eyepopping (and I’m biased, sorry).
• Carlos Quentin – OF/CHW – 103.5 RC, 36 HR, 100 RBI, 7 SB, 96 R, .394 OBP in 480 AB – The award was his until he broke his hand and the White Sox began to spiral downwards.
• Grady Sizemore – OF/CLE – 128 RC, 38 HR, 90 RBI, 38 SB, 101 R, .374 OBP in 634 AB – Again, great season, lousy team (and lousy September). However, he did lead the AL in runs created.
• Kevin Youkilis – 1B-3B/BOS – 114.2 RC, 29 HR, 115 RBI, 3 SB, 91 R, .390 OBP in 538 AB – Overshadowed by the outgoing Pedroia, Youkilis has outperformed the expectations laid for him in Moneyball.

How I’d vote:

1. Pedroia
2. Morneau
3. Quentin

National League Most Valuable Player

Contenders (in alphabetical order)

• Lance Berkman – 1B/HOU – 130.3 RC, 29 HR, 106 RBI, 18 SB, 114 R, .410 OBP in 554 AB – Started out fast but fell off his monster pace. And who knew that Berkman could steal bags?
• Ryan Braun - OF/MIL – 109.7 RC, 37 HR, 106 RBI, 14 SB, 92 R, .335 OBP in 611 AB – Poor 3/4 of September hurts him, but he saved the Brewers (well, other than C.C.) in the last week of the season.
• Ryan Howard - 1B/PHI – 111 RC, 48 HR, 146 RBI, 1 SB, 105 R, .339 OBP in 610 AB – Howard’s batting average hurts him a lot, but when he was needed in September, Howard carried the Phils to the top.
• Albert Pujols – 1B/STL – 147 RC, 37 HR, 116 RBI, 7 SB, 100 R, .462 OBP in 524 AB – It is hard to argue against Albert Pujols for this, even if the Cardinals didn’t make the playoffs. His RC and OBP were nuts.
• Hanley Ramirez – SS/FLA – 129.9 RC, 33 HR, 67 RBI, 35 SB, 125 R, .400 in 589 AB – He will be a perennial candidate, even with his so-so defense.
• Chase Utley – 2B/PHI – 125.3 RC, 33 HR, 104 RBI, 14 SB, 113 R, .380 OBP in 607 AB – Solid year from Utley, but overshadowed by Pujols and Howard.
• Dave Wright – 3B/NYM – 129.5 RC, 33 HR, 124 RBI, 15 SB, 115 R, .390 OBP in 626 AB – Wright is getting the reputation of a wilter after two seasons of September Mets collapses.

How I’d vote:

1. Pujols
2. Howard
3. Braun

 

New look TIG

I was surprised today by the new-look Three Imaginary Girls website. Check it out … I like it a lot!