Happy Birthday Bro 64!

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Bro 64 will be pleased if we today feature his daughter, aka Midwestern Niece.


<== Here she is, front left, with her 1st Grade soccer team.














Here she is, maybe in 2nd Grade, dangling during a school circus ==>

















<== Here she is doing the breast stroke. She has won 3 ribbons in swimming events during this summer before she enters 3rd Grade.









During this missive: Bro 64's Classic Family Thanksgiving , Bro 64 relates Midwestern Niece's exasperation that boys would make a big deal out of receiving mere pokes from her fists of medium fury. Boys are wimps, for sure.






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Desire and Logic; Buda, TX

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Did you know Buddha is a separate entity from Budha? Until today, I did not know it. Buddha is the major figure which I formerly thought of as either Buddha or Budha. In actuality, Budha is a minor figure.



Must mention, again, my fervent wish that the next high school in Buda, TX will choose "Belly" as their mascot. Buda Bellies. All their teams would wear cut off shirts which show their bellies. Cheerleaders would show their bellies. Fans would wear cut off shirts in solidarity. Buddha statue in the park for children to climb on. Bellyfest: a town festival celebrating 6 pack abs, Buddha style bellies, abdominal crunches, and the crowning of "Miss Buda Belly". If there is a mascot god in heaven, this will happen.

h/t Maggies Farm

Issues are of no consequence to organizers: it's all about building a socialist movement

Occam's Beard comments at neoneocon:

Environmentalism isn’t about the environment.

Feminism isn’t about women.

Peace groups aren’t about peace.

Free speech groups aren’t about free speech.

Civil rights groups aren’t about civil rights.

Homosexual marriage isn’t about homosexuals.

Human rights groups aren’t about human rights.

Organized labor isn’t about the working man.

These are all merely wedge issues to mobilize the useful idiots to “build a mass movement.” The issues themselves are of no consequence to the organizers. Angela Davis once chided me in my pre-Damascene conversion era for not realizing this.

Consider the competing hypotheses:

1. The organizers and decision makers of each group above actually care first and foremost about issue.

In this case we should be able to predict their response based on what has happened.

2. The organizers and decision makers of each group above actually care first and foremost about building a socialist movement – and merely employ the issue as a vehicle to do that.

In this case we should be able to predict their response based not on what has happened, but rather on its effect on advancing socialism.

Hypothesis #1 would predict that environmentalists would be howling about the oil spill and Chinese pollution, and would have howled about the Aral Sea and Chernobyl, that feminists would have howled about the treatment offered Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Condoleeza Rice, and Monica Lewinsky (not to mention women in Islamic countries), that civil rights groups would have howled about the treatment offered Clarence Thomas and Condoleeza Rice, that peace activists would have howled about Soviet SS-20s back when, and would be howling now about Obama’s continuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that human rights groups would be howling about, well, most of the world outside the US and Europe.

Hypothesis #2 would predict that the response of each of the groups above would depend on the political affiliation of the dramatis personae, rather than just the facts of the case. Environmental catastrophe? Is America in any way involved, or be made to look responsible? If yes, is there any way to lay this at door of patriotic Americans, Republicans, or corporations? If yes, break out the papier mache heads. If no, forget it. Aral Sea, Chernobyl, Chinese pollution…yawn.

In each case, hypothesis #2 stomps hypothesis #1 and leaves it for dead. Hypothesis #1 simply does not comport well with the data, and therefore must be rejected in favor of hypothesis #2, which uniformly predicts the experimentally observed outcome.

In the same comments section, Steve G.:

Environmentalists are now known as watermelons. Green on the outside; red on the in.

McDonald vs Chicago

McDonald wins!




Researcher John Lott says the murder rate has gone up in every city which has banned handguns. Put another way: there exists not a single city which has banned handguns and which has subsequently had their murder rate either decrease or even stay the same. In every instance, the murder rate has increased. What more evidence do you need?

Classics: Walter Johnson and Cleveland Indians 1933 Uniform

Modeled by 1933 Indians Manager, and Hall of Fame pitcher, Walter "Big Train" Johnson.

via UniWatch

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Totally Awesome Video of Various Reactions to Landon Donovan's Goal

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Go USA. Beat Ghana!


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Dallas Cowboys Uniform Change Crisis!!!

The Chinese word for "crisis" equates to "danger + opportunity".





B/c of HDTV, the Dallas Cowboys are looking into tweaking the shade of their metallic green pants:

"When fans go to our home games in person the No. 1 grief we hear about is the green pants," says Cowboys vice president of merchandising Bill Priakos. "Now we're hearing it from fans watching on TV because of HD. It's too realistic."

On old-school TV, Cowboys' green came across silver. On HD TV, Cowboys' green comes across, well, green.

The solution might be a rare, subtle uniform tweak.

"Nothing's set in stone," Priakos says. "But we want the pants to look silver, to be consistent to every fan no matter if they're at the game or watching on TV, whether we're home or on the road. Of course, we'll never change the home white jerseys or the helmets, but we're experimenting with some different shades in the pants."

It is dangerous to tweak classic uniforms -- it would be iffy even if genius Hall of Fame GM Tex Schramm were doing the tweaking.

An aside:

<== Note the blue jersey, courtesy of the great Texas E. Schramm:

it is the greatest shade of blue ever worn by the Cowboys. It is dark, dark, dark, and yet, seemingly impossibly: also bright!

Note the super shiny silver pants, also courtesy of Tex Schramm.

This combo was uniform greatness. I mourn it's passing.

Southern Brother is a uniform professional. Read his insider details about how Tex Schramm assembled this uniform.

Having Jerry Jones do the uniforms tweak scares me to death. When Jerry Jones first bought the team, he wanted to change the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders costumes. A man like that lacks fashion sensibility. He builds a great stadium, but he needs to step away from the fabric.

Dallas Cowboys white uniforms are plain, with quirkiness. Much of the quirkiness has to do with mishmashed colors which are especially designed for television effect: the navy on the helmets does not match the true blue of the jersey numerals does not match the more royalish blue of the stockings; the metallic silver of the helmet does not match the metallic green of the pants.


The white uniforms are classics because we've more or less been looking at the same uniforms for 50 years. Both the plainness and the quirks have become part of American folklore. Are the Yankees uniforms fancy? No, they are plain, and they've become folklore. Dodgers uniforms? Plain, and they've become folklore. Green Bay Packers uniforms? Plain, and they've become folklore.

If you change the Dallas Cowboys uniforms more than the tiniest and most innocuous tweak: you risk losing folklore status and being left with plain uniforms which are nothing special and which do not set anyone's heart racing when they gaze upon them.

What of the quirks in the Dallas Cowboys uniform? Nowadays, b/c we are familiar with the quirks, the quirks enjoy "so ugly they are pretty" status. However, damage the folklore status and the quirks become merely "ugly." Yuck.


I will not stand against the idea of tweaking the color. The pants color has actually been tweaked several times over the decades. I do say this: the tweak must be handled with great sensitivity, taste, discretion, vision for the future. Less is more; exactly or closely matching uniform colors are overrated. You want a look to which the eye is attracted, i.e. an aesthetically pleasing look, and do not need exact matching colors to achieve this objective. Blending and contrasting several colors - pulling the colors together in a way which is pleasing to the eye, can easily be a superior option. The Cowboys whites would lose something if the blended colors were too closely or too exactly matched. The Cowboys whites would become undistinctive; bland. They would become - shudder! - common.

A crisis moment. Danger + Opportunity. I'm completely nervous.

Related End Zone:

ESPN's Paul Lukas Studies Dallas Cowboys Uniforms

More Cowboys Uniform Dish

Friday Hot: The Recently Deflowered Girl

by Mel Juffe and Edward Gorey

Thanks to Darleen Click

Friday Hot Classic: Sweet Patti Ann Browne

Kindra Arnesen communicates inside information about BP response in Louisiana

I've been to South Louisiana numerous times. Ms. Arnesen is typical of the kind of person you will find who lives inside the fishing culture of that region. These are smart, hard-working, resourceful people, and these are patriotic Americans. They are being devastated, right now, in slow motion, before our very eyes.

Disclose.tv - louisiana resident speaks about BP Video



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June 23, 2010: one of the great sports days ever

in the order of my excitement:

R.A. Dickey!!! threw 8 scoreless against Tigers; now has 6-0 record and 2.20 ERA as New York Met!!! I've always said: R.A. Dickey's true destiny is to be a dynamic and charismatic star who electrifies New York City. Anyone coulda seen it coming.

Update: Harold Reynolds analyzes R.A. Dickey's success, concludes: "This is a great story".

TCUnbelievable, facing elimination from the College World Series, scores 8 in the 8th to overcome a 7-3 deficit for an 11-7 victory. TCU has been adopted by Omaha CWS fans as this year's Cinderella who is fun to root for.


Texas Rangers win their 10th in a row. Ogando! Ogando threw 1 inning in his 1st appearance, 2 scoreless in his 2nd appearance, 3 scoreless (on 25 pitches!) in his 3rd appearance. Clearly, he needs to start!

Landon Donovan. Fun moment for U.S. soccer fans, and instantly the most famous goal in U.S. Soccer history. Donovan slips into frame like a thief: as if he is moving in to grab a woman's handbag and then run away with it towards the corner flag.

U.S. fans in Lincoln, Nebraska react to the final 90 seconds of the match:

The tension in a World Cup game is notable. The veteran Donovan cried and cried during postgame interviews. He's spent a career working to get the United States to this point.



Wimbledon: American John Isner and Frenchman Nicholas Mahut are playing the longest match in Wimbledon history: 9 1/2 hours, and still it goes on. Hilarity in the London Guardian live blog of the day - just scroll down: http://is.gd/d0Wu8

Friday Hot: Summer Rules

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from summerrules.tumblr.com/




Bonus! Via Copenhagen Cycle Chic: ocean and bicycle, summer and love

Ocean On Bicycles from runrobot on Vimeo.

What is the foundation of President Obama's foreign policy?

Paul at Powerline is not the first to note President Obama's seeming contempt for nations which have recently displayed loyal friendship towards the United States:

As far as I can see, there is only one thing that unites Britain, Israel, India*, and Colombia (along with certain former Soviet bloc counties like Poland towards which Obama has also demonstrated ambivalence) - their friendship with the United States. Thus, I think we should presume that Obama's contemptuous approach to these countries is a reflection of his profound misgivings about his own country. To him, it may well seem that any nation seeking close ties with an entity as deeply flawed as the United States is not worthy of respect.

Is Paul's conclusion a bit far out and wacky? Can you think of a better explanation for President Obama's foreign policy actions?


The infant/child/teen Barry Obama was inculcated with a belief that success and power only occur via unfair exploitation. President Barack Obama retains this foundational view of humanity and of life - including holding the belief that national success and power only occur due to unfair exploitation of less powerful peoples and nations. President Obama believes this: over the last century or so, if all nations had acted fairly towards each other, then all nations would today be enjoying equal wealth and equal power on the world stage. Therefore, I suspect President Obama has profound misgivings about:

-- the United States
-- any nation which becomes wealthy and powerful
-- any nation which is a loyal friend to any nation which becomes wealthy and powerful.

President Obama believes such nations, entities, societies, and peoples are greedy schemers who unfairly exploit the less powerful. President Obama surrounds himself with like minded persons, and the meme about unfair exploitation informs United States foreign policy.

God help us, and I am not speaking rhetorically.

Separately, Pres. Obama’s belief about power only occurring via unfair exploitation thus explains Pres. Obama’s own easy willingness to play by Chicago Rules. Pres. Obama knows this as certainly as he knows the sun rises in the east: even he cannot rise without unfairly exploiting people and situations along the way. Therefore, Pres. Obama eagerly bends rules and exploits people. He’s doing it for our own good! He is virtuous that way.

*related: source of Pres. Obama's beef with India?



Case study: Honduras

President Obama's inculcated belief about unfair exploitation allows him to believe:

1. rich Hondurans are unfairly exploiting poor Hondurans on a massive scale, and
2. the solution to this unfair exploitation is ....... wait for it ......... waaiit ........... socialist dictatorship!

President Obama's inculcated beliefs (along with his Chicago Way political habits) mean President Obama cannot see the bright light of Honduran democracy shining amidst Latin American jungle; mean he cannot see brave and heroic Honduran statesmen who believe democracy is the best solution to human deprivation and suffering. President Obama is blind to these wonders. President Obama can only see exploitation and corruption; can only see a red diaper dictatorship solution (which - the "dictatorship" part of that solution amounts to self flattery by Obama).

If you are a hammer hammer and sickle, then all the world are nails capitalist exploiters.

More End Zone:

Why is the United States punishing Honduras?

Senator DeMint, God bless him, goes to Honduras

What the United States is doing to the Honduran people is a damnable and barely believable miscarriage of justice

This month, Josh Hamilton is the best baseball player in the world

and 2nd place is not even close. During June, Hamilton has been Barry-Bonds-on-steroids good. 2 weeks ago, Hamilton was co-player of the week. Last week, Hamilton hit for a .583 batting average - with power, and finished second in player of the week voting to Carl Crawford's .381 batting average?! What?! Hamilton is so scorching hot the Player of the Week people have to ignore him just to give someone else a chance. Hamilton's June numbers: 19 games, .476 batting average, 8 HRs, 26 RBIs.

Also, Hamilton's production has been in key situations, i.e. he hasn't feasted on a weak pitcher and collected 6 RBI in a game or anything. Time and again, Hamilton has delivered key hits. The Rangers have won 9 in a row (8 on the road). Hamilton has carried the offense like Juan Gonzalez in his heyday. Or, actually, better than Juan in his heyday - which is no knock on Juan, who was, for a few seasons, an awesome offensive force.

Josh Hamilton goes 5 for 6 in Sunday's 10 inning 5-4 comeback victory in Houston. Hamilton got an RBI in the 9th to tie the game 4-4; then got the winning RBI in the 10th inning of the 5-4 victory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, the complicated bankruptcy and potential sale of the Rangers' franchise took one tiny yet definite step forward.

If the Rangers sale to the Nolan Ryan group is not completed before the late July MLB trade deadline, it increases the chances the Rangers will hold on to their high ceiling prospects this season, as opposed to tossing those high ceiling prospects into trades for rent-a-players.

Veteran DFW sports media - Randy Galloway being the worst offender - are loudly campaigning for the Rangers to ditch their prospects and go for the World Series this year. This is exactly the level of thinking which brought Lee Mazzilli to Arlington in exchange for Ron Darling and Walt Terrell; exactly the level of thinking which brought Harold Baines to Arlington in exchange for Sammy Sosa and Wilson Alvarez; exactly the level of thinking which tried to give away Kinsler for 2 months of a fat and ancient Larry Walker; exactly the level of thinking which gave away Chris Young and Adrian Gonzales for nothing; exactly the level of thinking which gave away Danks for Brandon McCarthy; exactly the level of thinking - by the Atlanta Braves - which allowed the Rangers to bring in Andrus and Feliz and Harrison and Saltalamacchia in exchange for Teixeira and Ron Mahay. Veteran DFW sports media have been in Arlington for all those trades, yet apparently have learned nothing. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me in 6 separate seasons, and I must be veteran DFW sports media.

If the Rangers find the right deal(s) this season, then it's okay to go for the World Series this season. A good trade is always a good trade. However, it's also okay for the Rangers to make progress step by step and year by year, i.e. it's okay for the Rangers to make the playoffs this season and yet fail to win the World Series.

Galloway acts as if year by year progress would be a huge disgrace. Galloway wants to immediately jump from perennial also ran to world champion, and anything less is travesty. Galloway shouts: "Prospects are currency!!", w/o having any apparent appreciation for the onfield value which prospects Holland, Scheppers, Strop, Beltre, Beavan, Martin Perez, Saltalamacchia, Chris Davis, and Mitch Moreland will soon provide; w/o having apparent appreciation for the role which former prospects Borbon, Cruz, Andrus, Kinsler, Smoak, Feldman, Hunter, Feliz, Ogando, O'Day, and Harrison are playing in getting the Rangers to their current level of excellence as a baseball team; w/o having apparent appreciation for the 8 year or so run of baseball excellence upon which the Rangers franchise is about to embark (if the franchise does not toss away it's high ceiling prospects). Galloway and friends cannot conceive of a multi year run of Texas Rangers baseball dominance. Galloway quotes Earl Weaver: "do what you must to win this year; worry about next year next year." Galloway is a brittle extremist. Even Earl Weaver would not throw away the Rangers future for a crap-shoot run at a title this season. Earl Weaver, irascible and impatient as he was, was nevertheless a baseball man: Earl Weaver would not have lightly tossed away the future of the franchise. Randy Galloway and his controversy-seeking friends are simultaneously small minded, foolish, and full of Shiite.

#1 on Google search of "rock chunking"!

Today is the 1 year anniversary of this post:

Baseball Ensures American Rock Chunking Supremacy Over Non-Baseball Nations

I have, in the 1 year, frequently recommended the post, b/c the post makes me smile and laugh. I just like it.


Aaaannnndddd, now: a Google search of rock chunking is topped by that very post! That's right, baby: #1 of over 4 million choices!


I am embarrassingly happy about the novelty entertainment value of this. Stupid smile happy.

Rangers Latin Pitchers: Big Success

Photo from Spring Training 2010.




Poveda was injured and is out for the year.


Every other pitcher is delivering their hoped for best case scenario at this point:

Feliz is having an excellent season as the Rangers closer.

Ogando and Strop and Beltre (far right) have been excellent in AAA. Video of Ogando's first two major league appearances: first appearance, on 6/15/10; second appearance, on 6/17/10.

Look at these guys and dream of Octobers - and music.

Jenny the Bloggess visits the shrink

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<== In repose, wondering what the tricky shrink thinks of her

Then I filled out the rest of the paperwork but I got depressed about writing about how depressed I was and so I drew pictures of smiley kittens in the margin so that the shrink wouldn’t think I was suicidal because suicidal people never draw smiley kitten on anything, probably. The receptionist gave me a weird look when I handed it back to her and I was all “I take it you’re a dog person?”

More here


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Friday Hot: Sara Carbonero distracting Spain Goalie

That's what Spanish futbol sites alleged after Espana's shocking 1-0 loss to Switzerland.





Sara, who was voted world's sexiest journalist 2009, has been dating Spain's goaltender for a year. The Spanish team is supposed to be in South Africa sans wives and girlfriends. Sara is performing her job, and her job puts her in proximity to the team.




























Who could fail to be distracted? I'm with those Spanish futbol sites: Sara Carbonero lost the game for Spain. Sad, but obviously true.


It's not just the goalie: Sara Carbonero is distracting the entire team. LOOK at her! The coaches sequester an entire team as if they are monks, then the team is put into proximity with Sara Carbonero?! It is not her fault. Rather, it is coaching malpractice: the Spanish coach is sabotaging the team.


Spanish futbol players are likely the most oversexed human beings in Spain. The coach took the most oversexed beings in Spain and cut them off? Cold turkey?! And then was surprised when their performance suffered?! The Spanish coach is a fool. And, though I wrote this for laughs, I now realize I am not even kidding. This is foolish coaching; an unforced error. If even a couple of players are distracted by monkhood, Spain has hurt her chances to win.



Sara interviews her boyfriend after Espana's derrota tragica:





The distractions in Spain stand mainly behind the goal...

Friday Hot Classic:
Scott Brown's smokin wife, Gail Huff, in 1984 music video

Photos from luscious Seville

I love everything* about this photo



I imagine stories for all the women in the photo. I imagine this tiny boy grows into a man filled to the brim with self confidence; into a man who has absolute knowledge that the women in his life adore him. Self confidence beats tentativeness every time. The little boy's shoes are the kind of shoes which, were I a better cousin, I would buy for Cousin Tate.


I wore either Buster Browns or cowboy boots through early childhood. There was some type of problem with Southern Brother and I rolling our feet outwards (to best of my understanding), and Mom attempted to fix it with "good shoes". She seemingly succeeded. I will attest that Buster Browns were good and durable shoes: we beat them to death, yet they persevered. I was in first grade before I scored a pair of tennis shoes like the other kids.


Searching Buster Brown online, I discover the venerable company no longer makes the model of shoes which Southern Brother and I wore, and which looked a lot like the shoes the Spanish boy is wearing.

Modern day Buster Brown preschool selections for boys

The "Bryce" comes closest to replicating the shoe we wore. Except, memory of the shoe is burned in my mind for life, and the Bryce's non leather sole is an aesthetic fail. If shoes make the outfit, soles make the shoes. The Bryce does not measure up to our 1960s classics.




Photo at top is from a blogpost of travel photos from Seville, linked by lovely Tatyana.




*Would I recommend those purple ankle collar shoes? I would not, yet a man does appreciate the charm of a thing which may be unbuckled.

Men, sensitivity, brain structure, testosterone, evolution

Amy Alkon:

The idea that men aren't "sensitive" is bullshit. They just don't express it like women, nor should they be expected to. It's related to brain structure, it seems, and hormones. Testosterone isn't exactly "the chat hormone."

In addition to the above, I suspect it is also related to evolutionary development. "Take it like a man" is not an accidental formulation, but rather an ingrained evolutionary one. When sunset is close; when you don't want to be trapped overnight away from the village and exposed to predators; when you are tired, beat up, wet, cold, and maybe injured: now is not the time to emote and to discuss your feelings. Now is the time to "take it like a man", and to get yourself and your compatriots back to the village. The emoters and discussers died off ages ago. Our fathers took it like men.

Friday Hot: Jessica Alba is as girl next door as it gets in Hollywood

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She's only an actress, and thus automatically suspect of being a neurotic narcissist airhead. But, as Hollywood actresses go, Jessica Alba is about as decent of a human being as you could find.

Ago, I saw a reality show about a Hollywood contractor. One episode included visits to remodel a house which Alba was purchasing for her parents. The contractor couldn't believe how easy Jessica Alba was to work with. When it came time to make various decisions, Alba solicited input and then made up her mind. She did not agonize; she did not later waffle. Her parents showed up, and they were wonderful, and you could see why Jessica is not a prima donna.

Now, I don't think Jessica is a well rounded actress. However, for instance, neither was Lauren Bacall - at least in the beginning - yet she made some classic movies with Bogart. Alba could do the same. She needs to be used correctly, i.e. directors need to play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses. Alba needs to play herself, sort of as John Wayne and Lauren Bacall (at least in the early days) often played themselves in their roles. Audiences will respond to Alba's inner decency.

Finally, and really the reason I initiated this: in the Kimmel appearance, what's up with that blouse?! I always say the following type things with humility - for, truly, I've huge chasms of ignorance re fashion - but: is Alba committing an obvious faux pas? Isn't that blouse obviously designed to be worn with a jacket which is buttoned very low, thus allowing Alba to show some of her abdomen inside the open "V" of the jacket's lapels?

Probably Jessica knows this, and is merely being daring and fashion forward. She is wearing cutting edge shoes which are right off of a Milan runway (and which she will look back on in 20 years and say: "What was I thinking with those shoes!"). The shoes argue for both daring fashionista and daredevil, as the spike heels look dangerous.

But, also, could be a faux pas! Lord knows I've committed a thousand faux pas - just never one which involved a blouse. Or, wait ... just never one which involved ME wearing a blouse!

The lovely (and fashion forward?) podiatric daredevil, Ms. Jessica Alba:







The End Zone likes Jessica Alba:

Beauty, Ethnic Identity Bunkum
Friday Hot: Curvaceous Scarlett Johansson

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Awesomeness: Rick Barber, Rep Candidate for AL 2nd District

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To ask ... was deemed churlish. UnAmerican. Bigoted.

Richard Fernandez:

[T]he President was presumed a capable executive because he ran a campaign. The proof was entirely circular, but through some peculiar myopia no real questions were asked. To demand the sealed transcripts, to ask about the absence of articles for the Harvard Law review, to raise the non-existent legislative record was deemed churlish. UnAmerican. Bigoted. The fact that he had come so far was proof that he was qualified to come so far. And there the matter rested.

[...]

Barack Obama’s incompetence, if indeed he is incompetent, results directly from a flawed political and media process that allowed such a candidate to go forward. It’s a failure of quality control. It’s an indictment of the gatekeepers and of the media in particular.

"We Con the World", hosted at Eyeblast

b/c YouTube took the video down, and b/c the video is exactly what is needed: hilarious spoofing. Laugh at the enemy. Humorously ridicule, w/o mercy. THAT, they cannot survive.

I don't respect YouTube: regardless of the validity of a complaint, YouTube takes videos down. Instapundit

Who takes aggressive advantage of YouTube's weakness? Answer: the left and the jihadists, i.e. groups which - in quest of power - are frequently willing to take unethical and immoral actions.

http://twitter.com/gcotharn:
Wretchard: The left seeks power. The right seeks to mind it's own business. The right does not see the true left.


Stacy McCain notes PayPal is refusing to allow Pamela Gellar to use their service. They say she has a "hate site". Upon whose opinion is PayPal depending in order to make their determination about Gellar? CAIR, of course. You can't make this stuff up. Wretchard




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Steyn: the left's strange hostility to Hirsi Ali

Mark Steyn:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s great cause is women’s liberation. Unfortunately for her, the women she wants to liberate are Muslim, so she gets minimal support and indeed a ton of hostility from Western feminists who have reconciled themselves, consciously or otherwise, to the two-tier sisterhood: when it comes to clitoridectomies, forced marriages, honour killings, etc., multiculturalism trumps feminism.

[...]

In Terror and Liberalism, Paul Berman wrote that suicide bombings “produced a philosophical crisis, among everyone around the world who wanted to believe that a rational logic governs the world.” In other words, it has to be about “poverty” or “social justice” because the alternative—that they want to kill us merely because we are the other—undermines the hyper-rationalist’s entire world view. Thus, every pro-gay, pro-feminist, pro-black Western liberal’s determination to blame Ayaan Hirsi Ali for the fact that a large number of benighted thuggish halfwits want to kill her.

At Big Hollywood, Mr. Wrestling IV reports:

On May 24th, at Track 16 Gallery in fashionable Bergamont Station in Santa Monica, CA, dozens of marginal works of art were nearly destroyed by the exploding heads of some of SoCal’s finest and most dogmatic liberals, as a roomful of them were injected with some cognitive dissonance when author Ayaan Hirsi Ali spoke.

[...]

If this man had asked Ms. Ali his ridiculous question, she could have answered it handily. So why didn’t he? Why was he huddled in the farthest corner of the room spewing his nonsense to his nodding compatriots? What about Ayaan Hirsi Ali had flummoxed him and his fellow travellers into circles of insular outrage?


Well, she was black, so they could not dismiss her as a racist; she had lived in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands and the United States, so they could not call her an ignorant provincial hick; she was an avowed atheist, so they could not call her a Christian bigot on a crusade against peaceful Islam; and she was multi-lingual, articulate, and brilliant, so they couldn’t just call her stupid. All the pejoratives they usually apply to people who disagree with them wouldn’t work, and so they were left to confront her ideas, and those ideas stripped them naked, rent their garments of superiority and condescension into tatters at their feet, and left them angry and confused, whining to each other in the corners of the room, unable to say anything to her face. Their favorite weapons, ad hominem name-calling and sneering condescension, were disarmed.

From 2007:


Wretchard:

Maybe the reason why the Left hates Sarkozy and that renegade "woman of color" Hirsi Ali so much is ... because both remind [the Left] of the principles they have betrayed.


This secret guilt may stand at the center of the inexplicable hysteria with which the Left regard the neocons and President Bush in particular. [...] the extreme demonization of George W. Bush and the neocons is psychologically necessary in order to restore a feeling of moral superiority to the Leftist universe. They would be guilt stricken without it.


The more intelligent Leftists must be subconsciously aware of how monstrous the enemy is and secretly cognizant of how great is the betrayal of their own ideals. They can't confront this fact; cannot accept that they are delivering children, as Caroline Glick's example above shows, to cruel murderers. And in order to obtain some kind of solace ... it is necessary for them to invent something worse; to make a caricature devil of GWB [...] George Bush must be made nothing less than the moral equivalent of Hitler or else their ethical universe would collapse.


But George Bush is not Hitler. And one day the better men among the Left will face up to the fact that they have failed a huge moral and historical test. And from that memory, there will be no redemption.

Dr. Sanity:

Wretchard rightly perceives that the degree of the left's moral and intellectual bankruptcy is so great; the betrayal so profound, that it is simply impossible they are not aware on some level of the nihilistic traitors they have become to all that is good and worth fighting for in the world.


Like a deer caught in the headlights of reality, they are paralyzed because there is no way to escape their fate; instead they try to make their paralysis a moral virtue; their betrayal an heroic stance. And the rage they feel toward all who remind them of what they have betrayed distracts them from the rush of reality that will overwhelm and destroy them eventually.


The final psychological touch to all this is the projection--where they take the rage they feel and imagine that the object of their rage actually feels it toward them--is that it breeds the paranoia and the utterly nonsensical and histrionic conspiracy theories.


But no matter how carefully they construct their fantasies; no matter how much information they choose to ignore; how tightly they close their eyes; the headlights of the reality train--and not the peace train, I fear--as it rockets toward them only highlights the bankruptcy of the ideology they now profess.

The End Zone:
Ayaan Hirsi Ali at University of Wisconsin, Madison
Ayaan Hirsi Ali interviewed by a cartoonishly anti-American Canadian


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Friday Hot: Sarah Palin's breasts, plus a clitoral study

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My favorite combination of Elvis, Harry Truman, and Holly Golightly has blogs eyeing her breasts:







To me: looks like she's always had em.

Reading tea leaves: not running for POTUS. The white top is Sarah at the Belmont Stakes horse race. Do horse owners at major races dress so casually? Would a horse owner who is interested in running for POTUS dress so casually?




Clitoral study

Ace speculates about Obama having cynical motivation for oil spill inaction

Ace's headline ...

Dutch Government: Hey, Let Us Bring Over Equipment and Expertise To Help Contain That Spill
Obama: Nah, No Thanks Son, I'm Good; I'm Just Going To Sit Back and Keep On Bein' Awesome:

Obama had already been informed the leak would take weeks and weeks to fix, and it was better, I guess, to let it leak and destroy the coastlines if doing so would keep the story underreported and thus merely environmentally disastrous, but not politically disastrous.

Better to pretend there's not a problem, and let the problem destroy the Gulf, than to admit the problem and take action about it, which draws attention to it.

Ace links to The Houston Chronicle:

Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.

It was willing to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms, and it proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands.

The response from the Obama administration and BP, which are coordinating the cleanup: “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,'” said Geert Visser, consul general for the Netherlands in Houston.

Now, almost seven weeks later, as the oil spewing from the battered well spreads across the Gulf and soils pristine beaches and coastline, BP and our government have reconsidered.

Also, seven weeks after ignoring Kevin Costner's brothers vacuum machines, suddenly BP wants the machines from Costner. Kevin Costner comments on the tardiness:

“We’re coming to this fight very late,” said Costner. “I think everybody would recognize that....”

“If we want to discuss the ‘what ifs’ looking back, I think you could fill in the blanks of understanding if these machines were already deployed, what we would be looking at,” said Costner. “I could scale this out for you and we would be chasing this oil out at the derrick itself. We couldn’t do anything about the size of the leak but we would be chasing that and we would be keeping that offshore.”

The End Zone: Obama oil spill incompetence

Texas Rangers Potential 2012 Pitching Staff

If the Rangers let all free agents walk, and make zero trades, this could be their pitching staff in 2012:

Holland
Feliz
Hunter
Scheppers
Martin Perez

Alexi Ogando
Pedro Strop
Darren O'Day
Omar Beltre
Blake Beavan
Matt Harrison
Kirkman/Phillips/Beau Jones

That awesome, yet dirt cheap, pitching staff would have 3 arbitration players: Hunter, O'Day, Harrison; and 9 pre arb players.

In addition, coming into 2012, the Rangers could control the following talented pitchers who already have major league experience: Feldman, Nippert, Mathis, Hurley. Depth.

Further, in 2012, the Rangers could control additional prospects who might easily be ready if needed: Michael Ballard, Danny Gutierrez, Evan Reed, Ben Snyder, Ryan "I'm 6'4" and I throw 94" Tatusko, Kasey Kiker, Tim Murphy, plus Main, Font, Brigham, Pimentel, Boscan, Wieland, and more. Fabulosity. Consider: if the Astros, for instance, traded their entire current major league roster for the entire roster of the Rangers High A Affiliate - the Bakersfield Blaze - might the Astros come out ahead in the deal?



The Rangers are probably going to make trades - especially in the off season after 2011 - so as to recoup value from players who would otherwise be left off the 40 man roster and be lost without compensatory return. However, the Rangers do not need to trade for major league talent in order to have strong pitching staffs in 2012 and beyond. All the following have big arms which are perfect for playoff success as starters: Holland, Feliz, Scheppers, Martin Perez. Ogando has a big arm which is perfect for playoff success as a closer. Strop throws 94-95 with deceptive fast arm action which makes his fastball difficult to catch up with. Strop, therefore, also has closer stuff.

I retain patience with the Rangers. I'm not desperate to win in 2010 and 2011. I don't want the big arm prospects broken up and scattered across major league baseball. I want the potential dynasty to remain intact. If it means Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler - both scheduled free agents before the 2013 season - fail to win world championships in Arlington: I don't care. Both those players are underperforming, anyway. If they perform consistently and excellently, they might win here. Cruz and Michael Young (dammit) will be here through 2013; Elvis through 2014; Borbon through 2015; Smoak and Max Ramirez through 2016. The team on the field will not be lacking in talent. Engel "Willie Mays Hays" Beltre, anyone?




Which reminds:

Engel Beltre ==>

Engel Beltre went full Willie Mays Hayes ("Hit like Mays, run like Hayes") on a game winning HR: throwing his bat 30 feet into the air, and thus nearly starting a riot - which riot was averted, in part, due to swift action by Bakersfield Manager Bill Hasselman (who, I hope, will be managing the Rangers in 2012).












Compare: when Vlad Guerrerro reeeaaaallly gets into a HR, he stands at the plate and admires it like Reggie Jackson, then he goes around the bases at no faster than a mosey. It never starts a riot. People don't even get angry. He's Vlad! The league loves him.





Only the home fans love Willie Mays Hayes (er, if he were, you know, an actual, real player).

Oil Spill Obama Incompetence

The U.S. Government needed, and still needs, to aggressively step in and clean up the Gulf; to aggressively step in and protect the Gulf Coast, i.e. to step in and aggressively protect the sovereign territory of the United States, i.e. to step in and aggressively protect American citizens whose livelihoods are threatened, and who are facing potential pain and suffering which the United States Government could either lessen or eliminate. Government inaction and incompetence is assuring that this oil spill becomes the greatest ecological disaster to ever befall the United States of America.


Rather than bringing all the resources of the United States Government to bear upon the problems of clean up and protection of the Gulf Coast, President Obama has allowed BP to take the lead in cleaning up the spilled oil.


Why?


First, could it be that President Obama is reticent to spend money to protect both U.S. citizens and sovereign U.S. territory? Is Pres. Obama only interested in spending money on bribes to unions (taxpayer money which is laundered through unions and then spent to elect Democrats?)? in spending patronage money via the Trillion $ Spendulus?


Is President Obama reticent to spend money to protect Red States? Is Pres. Obama only interested in spending money on blue states, purple states, and illegal immigrants who will be future voters? I don't know this answer. I've wanted to discount this possibility. However, the more I look at it: it can't be fully discounted. It's possible. Barack Obama is a cynical, cynical man who is steeped in Chicago power politics. That's where Pres. Obama's statement to a Repub Congressman: "We won", came from. "We won", and now we get to rob the taxpayers and patronize our people. That's what Barack Obama thinks governing is about. I want to say Chicago power politics thinking is not in play in this oil spill, but cannot. It's possible.


Second, could it be that President Obama is massively incompetent? a deer frozen in the headlights? a ditherer? a slave to rules and regulation who has neither the know how nor the cojones to cut through bureaucratic red tape? an actor who is mainly interested in how to best divert blame, in how best to use self righteous anger and posturing in order to best position his re-election chances?


You would think most anyone would intuit the problems with allowing BP to run the clean up and protection of the coast:

-- corporate CEO's tend to be nearsighted, i.e. more interested in short term public relations than in working problems with an eye towards long term solutions. A company with this interest will be powerfully tempted to lie all along the way (and, in fact, BP has lied all along the way - and the WH has consistently lied, also*).

-- in the matter of clean up and protection of the coast, BP doesn't have the resources of the United States Government.

You would think most anyone would intuit these factors in the equation, yet Pres. Obama apparently did not. If President Obama wants to kick someone's ass, he can start with his own.


What's happening is horrifying, and oil on beaches is not even near the worst of it - not even close to the worst of it.


The worst of it is the damage to the ecosystem of the Gulf itself, including the related problem of killing off the Gulf fishing industry.


The second worst of it is the 6 month moratorium on drilling which Pres. Obama wants to implement. Do you think oil companies can twiddle their thumbs for 6 months? NO! Oil companies will pull their people and their money and their expertise and begin drilling in other parts of the world. And they will not, can not come back to the Gulf easily and quickly. Drilling in the Gulf will be negatively affected for a decade - even longer if Pres. Obama is re-elected. It will be economic devastation for residents of the Gulf States who are in the oil industry - and that amounts, at minimum, to multiple tens of thousands of people, and hundreds of thousands of family members. This amounts to an unforced error by Pres. Obama. His action is clueless and reprehensible.


The third worst of it is the destruction of the wetlands of Louisiana. I've been in South Louisiana many times, and have met and seen many Louisianans who make their living as private fishermen who operate mainly in those wetlands. These are not formally educated people. They don't work for companies, and would rather die than work for companies. Think of them as frontiersmen, as hunters and trappers, and what they hunt and trap is game and fish which is deep inside those wetlands. I mourn for these people. There are a lot of them. You don't need a job in South Louisiana. Everything your family needs is in the wetlands and deep in the bayous: food, plus extra fish which may be sold in order to purchase staples and such. If you're willing and able to manage the bugs and the snakes, you can provide for your family. Barack Obama's inaction is threatening these families' livelihoods.


However, also, and worse on a larger scale: damage to the Louisiana wetlands affects all of us - especially those of us in the southern United States. Those wetlands nurture wildlife and aquatic life and plant life which we all depend on. Barack Obama's inaction thus threatens citizens of the entire southern United States - which citizens, btw, live in deeply Red States. Again, is Pres. Obama's inaction a coincidence? But this is digression, and I don't actually purport to know the answer to the question. It does worry.

Media is infatuated with oil on the beaches. Such is an easy story. However, the significance of oil on the beaches falls somewhere after all of what is listed above.



What should be done?


The United States Government must take over the clean up and protection operation, effective immediately, must bring our massive resources to bear upon the problem. Send the bill to BP, get reimbursed for some of the bill from BP, and taxpayers bear the rest of the burden. This is exactly the type situation for which government exists. It is beyond irony that Barack Obama, i.e. the biggest big government advocate ever, is punting this clear government responsibility to BP.


Specifically, attack the clean up and coastal protection on multiple fronts.


Use government resources and personnel to canvass ideas from other nations; from all oil companies (including ideas re stopping the leak).


Bring in supertankers, as was done in the Persian Gulf in 2004, to skim scores of millions of gallons of oil/water out of Gulf and then dump it at Baton Rouge and Houston refineries. These will separate much of the oil from the water, then send newly empty supertankers out to collect more oil/water. Call in favors. Twist arms. Do what you have to do to collect supertankers from around the world. Cut through the red tape. This is the most important step, and would largely transform a crisis into a mere huge mess. This might still save us, if we begin immediately.


Do everything else. Do everything. The United States has the resources.


Build the sand berms between Louisiana's barrier islands. Despite the current supposed promise to build the berms, the berms remain a hazy dream. Red tape obstacles remain. Insufficient resources have been allocated.


Boom and burn. Also: buy this guy's oil boom!!!!!!! This type entrepreneurship is what made America great. Is the Obama Administration busily killing off greatness wherever it exists?


It's hay season. Send the hay into the gulf to absorb oil, then collect the hay.


Purchase all 50ish of Kevin Costner's brother's machines which can be deployed in the Gulf and which separate and collect oil from water on the spot. Get them out there in the gulf and let them work. Do it. We have a crisis. Why would you not do it?


Do everything. Take the lead. Get BP off the lead. They cannot be trusted. No oil company could be trusted with this problem. Further, BP does not have the resources of the U.S. Government.




Finally, I've left stopping the leak for the end:

BP, properly so, ought be in charge of stopping the leak. However, the White House ought ride herd on BP like a good Hollywood Producer rides herd on a movie director, like Warren Buffet rides herd on a company he owns, like a parent rides herd on their child who is swimming in a pool. Hire or borrow the most skilled oil industry people and get them into every single BP meeting during every hour of every day. BP is in charge, but BP must be in constant, incessant communication with a task force of our best oil industry thinkers (who are also constantly communicating with the best oil industry thinkers from around the world, and about every step BP is taking). Keep the White House intimately briefed and closely involved. The President will need to weigh in and twist arms and prod BP at various points along the way. Many such moments have already been missed by Pres. Obama. Get going.


Also, do whatever is necessary to induce BP to begin drilling a third relief well, and possibly a fourth. Relief wells are tricky, and can miss the mark and fail to stop the problem. The 1979 spill off of Yucatan required 4 relief wells and almost 12 months in order to solve the problem. Technology now is far too similar to technology then. BP's thinking is short sighted: is the thinking of accountants and of a weak CEO. It's in BP's interest to begin drilling a third (and even fourth) relief well. If BP won't be persuaded, threaten them, punish them, twist arms, call in political favors from England, bring in another oil company, do whatever is needed to ensure this problem is stopped in August or September, as opposed to Christmas.


This crisis, this situation, is the reason government exists. The irony of the U.S. Government punting to BP ... its difficult to process the hugeness of the irony, its difficult to process the hugeness of the incompetence, it's difficult to process the hugeness of the tragedy which government inaction is allowing to metastasize.


Consider, for instance: could the cutting of the riser during the Top Hat #2 effort have resulted in SIGNIFICANTLY worse leakage than before? Despite the alleged success of the top hat #2 effort, did the effort actually expand the disaster? Consider this: http://is.gd/cHyEL and this http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2010/06/the-bp-oil-cap-is-actually-working-imagine-their-surprise.html

*Remember when BP initially estimated the leak at 1000 barrels a day? This is knee jerk reaction of public relations novices who are practicing short sighted corporate management, plus bad citizenship. Bafflingly, the Obama White House knee jerk reaction was also to lie: remember "5000 barrels a day"? Remember the White House initial refusal to characterize the oil spill as an “Oil Spill of National Significance”? That declaration was necessary to draw full resources to the problem, and Napolitano didn't make it until almost a week after the incident. Thus, lying was also the knee jerk reaction of a novice and incompetent White House. Hot Air quotes Rolling Stone:

...the administration knew the spill could be far worse than its “best estimate” acknowledged. That same day, the president’s Flow Rate Technical Group – a team of scientists charged with establishing the gusher’s output – announced a new estimate of 12,000 to 25,000 barrels, based on calculations from video of the plume. In fact, according to interviews with team members and scientists familiar with its work, that figure represents the plume group’s minimum estimate. The upper range was not included in their report because scientists analyzing the flow were unable to reach a consensus on how bad it could be. “The upper bound from the plume group, if it had come out, is very high,” says Timothy Crone, a marine geophysicist at Columbia University who has consulted with the government’s team. “That’s why they had resistance internally. We’re talking 100,000 barrels a day."

Trend of modern thinking, such as PC and scapegoating, is in backward direction towards pagan superstition

David Warren:

I like to dwell on the wisdom of our ancestors. It took us millennia to emerge from the primitive notion that a malignant agency must lie behind every unfortunate experience. Indeed, the Catholic Church spent centuries fighting folk pagan beliefs in things like evil fairies, and the whole notion the Devil can compel any person to act against his will -- only to watch an explosion of witch-hunting and related popular hysterias at the time of the Reformation.

In so many ways, the trend of post-Christian society today is back to pagan superstitions: to the belief that malice lies behind every misfortune, and to the related idea that various, essentially pagan charms can be used to ward off that to which all flesh is heir. The belief that, for instance, laws can be passed, that change the entire order of nature, is among the most irrational of these.

Sheer human stupidity is the cause of any number of human catastrophes -- including the stupidity of superstition itself. We need to re-embrace this concept; to hug the native incompetence within ourselves, and begin forgiving it in others.

h/t

Baseball celebrations after scoring a run

<== German Duran went to Paschal High in dear old Fort Worth, then matriculated down the street at TCU.


William Wilkerson:

[Texas Ranger David Murphy's] all-time favorite was a fixture in the dugout two years ago involving German Duran.

"This was a funny one because he was Mexican, 5-foot-8 or so and had a stocky type of body," Murphy said. "So he was like a piñata. He would do a few little claps with Michael Young and then he would jump and hang on the top of the dugout.

"Mike or somebody would hit him like he was a piñata, and it was predetermined that someone would get a handful of gum and throw it on the ground when he'd get hit. Then the whole team would pick up the gum. That was taking it to the extreme."

It has begun: Texas Rangers budding dynasty announcing itself with authoritay

From last summer, this blogpost: http://theendzone.blogspot.com/2009/07/texas-rangers-do-not-trade-justin-smoak.html is looking good, as both Smoak and Max Ramirez are playing well; as the Rangers are embarked upon a month of June in which they will win and win and win.


As if the baseball gods suddenly snapped their fingers: things are going right for the Rangers.


A few weeks ago, Francisco and Chris Ray began to pitch well; Scott Feldman began to show signs of life, i.e. signs of the return of his massively sinking fastball; Michael Young and Josh Hamilton began to hit; Max Ramirez began contributing quietly effective performances.


A week or more ago, other things began to click into place:
Justin Smoak began to hit SCREAMING line drives from the left side. SCREAMING.
Max Ramirez began to hit with more consistency.
Matt Treanor broke out of his slump.
The batting ghost of Julio Borbon began to display some life.


At this moment, the only struggling offensive player is Ian Kinsler ... yet his slump is not disastrous: he draws some walks; he still accomplishes some positive things at the plate; he is not a black hole in the lineup.


In April and May, poor offense was holding the Rangers back from being excellent. Yet, the Gods have snapped their fingers: snap snap: summer is here, offensive players have awakened, the offense is suddenly good.


Then, yesterday: Tommy Hunter sublimely combined a Mariano Rivera type cut fastball with a Burt Blyleven type curve. Hunter's pitches do not equal either Rivera's 96mph or Blyleven's around the world action. However, Rivera doesn't throw a curve, and Blyleven did not cut a fastball. Tommy Hunter can do both. Hunter's cut fastball has very similar action to Rivera's. Hunter also displayed a big, tailing change-up which he could not control, yet with which you know he will get better and better as the year goes on. If a control pitcher like Hunter can make the change-up tail - and he can, then he will eventually harness it. Hunter is a player to watch.


Rangers fans are not recognizing it, yet - b/c they are shellshocked from almost 40 years of futility (which were only broken up by the Will Clark Rangers of the 1990s) - but, beginning 6 days ago, the Texas Rangers are displaying the excellence of the budding dynasty which they are. In another 2 weeks, serious Rangers fans will pretend they knew, even this weekend, that the Rangers were suddenly, instantly good. The casual Rangers fan is so shellshocked that they will not believe it for a couple more months; or maybe not even until January - when, on a cold and gray day, it will suddenly dawn on their shellshocked psyche: "Holy smokes! The Rangers are actually good!"


The Rangers have a 4-1 record in June, plus an easy schedule through the end of the month. I expect the team to go 22-5 for the month. On July 1, I expect the Rangers to have an 8 game lead in the division. In 2020, we will look back to June 2010 as the month when a budding dynasty announced itself with authoritay. It's only been 40 years in the making.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Notes:


What if Rich Harden remains ineffective and has to go?

What if Derek Holland's mystifying arm numbness is actually a career threatening rotator cuff injury which shelves him for 2 seasons?


Here's what:

Move Neftali Feliz into the rotation (preferably in mid July, so as to not overtax his young arm with innings this season ~~ Feliz could be prepped via 4-5 outings of long relief).

Make Francisco the closer and Chris Ray the set up man. These are young veterans who are up to the tasks.

Either
1) make Rich Harden a relief pitcher (he might be a natural relief pitcher, as he is a strike out pitcher who is difficult to hit, and as he would not then have to worry about his number of pitches per inning), or
2) choose a relief pitcher from amongst white hot minor league prospects Pedro Strop, Alex Ogando, Tanner Scheppers, or Omar Beltre. Any of the four might be superior to the current relief pitchers in Arlington.


Francisco and Ray are plenty of relief for the regular season. If you want more dynamic relief for the playoffs: slide Feliz back into the bullpen during the playoffs. Teams only use 4 starters for the playoffs (or, sometimes, only 3 veteran starters - if the team is willing to pitch a starter on 3 days of rest).

Friday Hot: Angelo State University Golf

Rambelles! Here's hoping that prospective 2011 Angelo State CF Korey Wacker owns a battered set of LH clubs...




`

Why are the scores so high in the JUCO World Series?

Swinging away in Grand Junction, CO:

Temple College's Korey Wacker -
Centerfielder, Pitcher, Lead Off Hitter, pride of Harker Heights, TX, and pride of the grandmother who raised him - and who traveled to his games to watch and to feel her chest swell with joy. Korey is now headed to Angelo State Univ. in San Angelo, TX.

Photo credit Chris Tomlinson/Special to the Temple Daily Telegram

Temple College Eliminated
Temple College played bravely. They lost their 1st game, then fought to consecutive valiant and close victories in their 2nd and 3rd games. Their 4th game was tied 2-2 in the 8th before Temple lost 4-2. All in all, a solid performance, of which they may be justifiably proud. Bravo.

Video highlights of Temple College's 2nd game. Facing elimination, and down 8-1 in the 6th inning, Temple rallied for an 11-8 victory. Southern Brother can be seen coaching 1B during Korey Wacker's single to RF.



In other news from the World Series: scores have been high from day 1, as typified by a thrilling 19-18 victory in which Crowder College (in southwestern Missouri) eliminated Faulkner State (southern Alabama). So, people went to a baseball world series and a slow pitch softball tournament broke out. Why?

A confluence of reasons:

1. Pitching is at a premium. Fewer players are born with the ability to develop a 90 mph fastball than with the ability to develop into a good hitter. This, combined with the high incidence of injury amongst pitchers, means professional baseball clubs put heavy emphasis on drafting a high volume of pitching prospects. Thus, colleges have a greater volume of good hitting prospects from which to choose, and have a reduced volume of good pitching prospects. Evidence of the disparity may be seen on scoreboards across America.

2. Aluminum bats are amazing weapons. They scare me. College baseball is the sound of pinging and the sight of crooked numbers.

3. Time of year: by the time a world series arrives, batters have had 60+ games to get into a groove, and they are READY. Any batters who are not in a groove have already been eliminated from competition. A world series amounts to a convention of red hot batters who are salivating for another chance at the plate.


Re Grand Junction, CO:

The elevation is 4593 feet. Therefore, baseballs fly a bit further, and - in the thin air - breaking pitches and tailing pitches do not bite as decisively: curves are less sharp and more softly rounded; sliders are more flat; tailing pitches are more straight.

The climate is hot and arid - both conditions are conducive to baseballs flying further. Arid conditions also lessen the sharpness of breaking pitches.

A comparison may be made between batting in Grand Junction and batting in professional spring training in Arizona. The hitters have advantage in both places, and for the same reasons.