Saving Private Ryan from profanities
Did you enjoy the airing of Saving Private Ryan on WTAE last night?
That's right, you didn't because WTAE was one of the ABC affiliates refusing to air it. The decision is rather peculiar since they aired it uncut, in 2001 and 2002. Of course, I'm glad they chose to protect me from this type of smut. After all, a small child could have wandered into the room at the very moment that an f-bomb was flying and my remote batteries failed.
Anyway, I think this is a big ado about nothing. After all, no self-respecting youth would want to watch a movie like this when they had their pick of 2 channels showing professional wrestling.
Mesa - $2.5 million. Really. No joke.
Question: You are the general manager of a team with gaping holes at 1b and cf. Additionally, your #2 pitcher is coming off an injury riddled season and You have about $5 mill available to spend on free agents in the winter. What is the first move you make?
The Pirate answer: "Spend half your money ($2.5 mill) on a 1 year deal for a 40+ year old relief pitcher who struggled down the stretch, has little market value, and is 1 season removed from a 6.52 era"
Pirate fans have lost all grounds for bitching about big market teams next season. Not only is Mesa HIGHLY unlikely to repeat his performance from last season, in order for him to justify this salary, he would have to reach a level that he hasn't pitched at for 5 years.
An 8 year old can look at the back of Mesa's baseball card and tell you this is a bad idea. I better stop before I ruin my chance at a future front office position!
(Hard to believe I was afraid the Pirates were going to spend less than half this much money on Mesa!!)
Bucco bullpen
The Pirates have made 3 decisions that will shape their bullpen for next season.
The most obvious and best decision they made was declining an option on Brian Boehringer, essentially letting him go. Duh.
The second decision was to sign Jose Mesa to a one year deal with a club option for a second year. I'm not opposed to this on the surface. I was very afraid they'd sign him for 2 years at a million per. Committing for only 1 year is intelligent. If this contract is $800,000 or less, then I can live with this decision. Either way, I think it's even money that Mesa is considered an albatross by the all-star break.
The third decision was to sign Salomon Torres to a 2 year deal. Torres was solid for them this season, but signing him to a 2 year deal is a bit risky. You'd think the Pirates would have learned their lesson (Boehringer) with regard to signing middle relievers to multi-year contracts. Anyway, the dollar figure was not disclosed so it might not be that bad of a deal. I'd be wary of Torres next season though. He's slight of build and pitched a ton of games and relief innings last season.
America has chosen
Proving that two right turns mean that you are heading backwards,
this article says it all about the direction America has chosen.
Pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions? Allow me to be the first to suggest that this is a government conspiracy to ensure that we have enough of a population base to satisfy future troop requirements.
PS. Does anyone remember when personal freedom was an American virtue?
PPS. Anybody find it ironic that someone who is against abortion would be in favor of unwanted pregnancies?
Free market alert
I hope everyone convinced of the perfection of free markets has taken notice of what the U.S. dollar has done since the election.
End times for Ashcroft
Works of art depicting the human body can breathe a little easier today.
In the first bit of good political news to come out in a week, it was announced that John Ashcroft is resigning his post as Attorney General. I suppose Ashcroft felt his time and talents would be better spent helping his family prepare for the impending rapture.
This backward man fittingly submitted his resignation via handwritten note. It's unknown if he also used a quill pen or delivered the letter via pony.
The resignation letter contained the following delicious morsels:
"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."
"I have handwritten this letter so its confidentiality can be maintained until the appropriate arrangements mentioned above can be made."
So let me get this straight. Ashcroft was able to secure the safety of America from crime and terror (somebody alert Dick "we will be attacked if you vote for Kerry" Cheney), but he isn't able to secure the safety of his own personal computer?
Actually, I doubt Ashcroft owns a computer. We all know what kind of smut is out there on the internet!
Feeling blue and seeing red?
Next time the news stations post one of those red and blue maps showing which states voted for Bush and which went for Kerry, don't feel so alarmed that almost all of the map is red.
This great site (courtesy U of Mich) shows pictorially, what the country really looks like politically. Of course, if you voted for Bush you won't appreciate this site, since the world is aligned in black and white, red and blue, good and evil.
But for those able to hold more than 2 thoughts in your head at the same time and appreciate a little nuance, this site might be a decent diversion.
As for Fox News, I suspect you'll continue to see the familiar and simple old red/blue map with the bold letters "You Have Chosen" every 30 seconds or so.
Blogging buzz
The end of the election season seems to have taken the wind out of the sails for a lot of blogs. Of course, there were plenty of blogs whose only focus was the election, so it's expected that they would die out.
However, even blogs covering a broader range of topics seem to have closed shop or dried up. Ah well.
Maybe most folks are like myself. That is, they can't bring themselves to talk about the election yet. Or they can't face the reality that reality doesn't mean diddly any more.
Jason Bay - ROY
As expected, Jason Bay was named the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year. He picked up 25 out of 32 first place votes. He was listed 2nd on the other 7 ballots. Khalil Greene finished a distant 2nd.
As has been widely reported, Bay is the first Pirate and first Canadian born player to win a ROY. At the age of 26, he is a bit older than most other recipients which you might expect would preclude much additional growth as a player. However, take into consideration that he missed the first month of the season and played all year with a bad shoulder. Taking that into consideration, I think we can expect some improvement in his numbers next season.
In other awards news, Bobby Crosby was rightfully named AL ROY. Roger Clemens was named the NL Cy Young award winner, though truthfully, Randy Johnson was the best pitcher in the NL this season. Of course, if a tree falls in the woods or a player has a great season on a losing team, does anyone hear it?
Peter King on the Steelers
Peter King's Monday Morning QB article has tons of Steelers praise.
One thing of note...he called the Steelers' radio team the best in the business. Can't disagree, but of course, I haven't heard most of them.
Check out his article
here. But please don't start booking flights to Jacksonville yet. Some of the conclusions he is drawing seem awfully premature to me.
Republican oath
Now that America has chosen it's Republican future, we should all take a moment to get ourselves acquainted with the principles for which the GOP stands. Quoted below is the official Republican Party Oath.
I've highlighted the parts that I feel are of particular importance. While it's rather laughable to see some of these principles in the Republican Oath, they ARE indeed there. So let's hold our president and all his shiny new congressional minions to the standards by which they presumably pledge themselves:
"I believe that the proper function of government is to do for the people those things that have to be done but cannot be done, or cannot be done as well by individuals, and that the most effective government is government closest to the people.
I believe that good government is based on the individual and that each person’s ability, dignity, freedom and responsibility must be honoured and recognised.
I believe that free enterprise and encouragement of individual initiative and incentive have given this nation an economic system second to none.
I believe that sound money policy should be our goal.
I believe in equal rights and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, age, sex or national origin. I believe that persons with disabilities should be afforded equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunities as well.
I believe we must retain those principles worth retaining, yet always be receptive to new ideas with an outlook broad enough to accommodate thoughtful change and varying points of view.
I believe that Americans value and should preserve their feeling of national strength and pride, and at the same time share with people everywhere a desire for peace and freedom and the extension of human rights throughout the world.
Finally, I believe that the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government."
The 'mandate'
All this talk about the president's "mandate" strikes me as a bit overblown, considering his is the narrowest incumbent victory in almost 100 years.
Still, it's not surprising that the GOP would consider this a landslide victory when, after all, they lost the 2000 election and still got their man in the White House.
(Rumor has it that if Kerry won the election, the GOP was going to pass out flyers in rural America saying that Kerry's "man-date" was a bubble bath with his life partner Victor.)
Back to the blog
I'm finally back. Mom and baby comes home from the hospital today and I'm back at work this week, so I'll get back into the posting business. Just when Batting Third starts to get some good pub, and the site counter starts to turn, I have to take a hiatus! Though you won't here me complain about the reason why!
I really can barely stand to think about last week's election yet, as it hasn't really hit me since I've been so preoccupied. All I do know is that 59 million Americans owe my son an apology.
Anyway, I doubt that I will be commenting on politics as much as I did during the run up to the election. After all, this is a baseball-first site anyway!
