82" 2160p HDTV

Instapundit linked to this 82" 2160p HDTV display from Samsung. I agree that I'd want one of those too. There's a problem however - even though the display may be 2160p there are no broadcasters sending out a signal in that format. For that matter there aren't even any major broadcasters sending out a signal in 1080p. Right now the HD channels you see are all in 1080i. Even if you bought that 82" 2160 HDTV the reception when watching "TV" would be no better than a 100" 1080i display at a much lower price.

So it would be great to own one of those monster screens but I'm guessing that by the time the broadcasters have caught up to the technology - the screen you purchase today will be sadly out of date.

The New SI Cover



This is pretty cool. I'm a fan of comic books but I have to wonder if the Red Sox keep screwing up people's story lines. How can it really be bizarro baseball with the Red Sox still in first place?

HT Baseball Musings

Jon Lester

Last night Jon Lester was just awesome in every meaning of the word. I've been skeptical of his talent ceiling in the past but I'm not afraid to say when I have been wrong. Jon Lester is a stud. Consider the following:

Lester 3-2 / 3.41 ERA / 66 IP / 42 SO
Santana 5-2 / 3.30 ERA / 60 IP / 57 SO

Can there be any argument that the Red Sox did the right thing in not trading Jon Lester in a package for Johan Santana? Also consider that Lester is just 24 and will make just $421,500 this year while Santana is 29 and will cost the Mets $19 million this season.

Awesome. Just awesome.

Am I Asking Too Much?

When I read sports articles - I like to read about sports. It bugs me to no end when sportswriters insert their political views into articles that have absolutely nothing to do with politics. Take the recent offering from Jon Heyman - emphasis added:

The idea he [Bobby Valentine] can't get along with bosses, though, is debunked by the reality that his GM in Texas, Tom Grieve, loves Valentine. And apparently so do the ownership groups from Texas (Valentine was still friendly with George W. Bush even after Bush fired him) and obviously Chiba Lotte. It's less clear how the Mets' bosses feel, though at least one member of the Wilpon family that owns the team regularly attends Bobby Valentine's Sports Academy in Stamford, Conn. Valentine even supported his old boss Bush for president, which only goes to show that nobody's perfect.

OK - we get it. Heyman's not a fan of the President but who cares what his politics are? Is it ego that makes writers slide these things into their pieces? And speaking of nobody being perfect - Heyman was the guy who wrote that A-Rod was going to sign with the Giants.Only goes to show that nobody's perfect.

Barack Obama - Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Barack Obama's comments about why he'll lose Kentucky made me smile:

"What it says is that I'm not very well known in that part of the country," Obama said. "Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it's not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle."

Imagine the ridicule that would have resulted if say Mitt Romney had said something similar to explain his poor showing in Connecticut? Obama is not exactly making people confident in his geography skills. Kentucky borders Illinois.

And the US only has 50 states.

Indiana Jones and the Stone Cold Fail

Some people are expecting the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to break all sorts of records. Some even suggest it may become the highest grossing movie of all time. I completely disagree. I see the new Indiana Jones movie being possibly only the 5th highest grossing movie - this year!

Consider the history of the franchise. The first movie Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in 1981 and was a huge success (by far the highest grossing movie that year). The second installment - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was a box office success but the critics were no fans of the movie. This movie made much less than the original ($230 million vs $175 million) and was only the 3rd highest grossing movie for 1984. The third installment introduced Sean Connery as Indy's dad in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This movie was better received than Temple of Doom - both critically and at the box office (it was the second highest grossing movie of 1989 behind Batman). Of the three movies only the original was able to claim the top spot for the year.

The "hooks" for this new movie are; A - it's been 19-years since the last installment and the studio is counting on pent up demand to see an Indiana Jones movie and B - Shia LaBeouf as his sidekick. The problem is A- that the folks who grew up on Raiders of the Lost Ark are old now and they don't go to movies anymore. They wait for things to come out on DVD or on-demand. And B - Shia LeBeouf is no Sean Connery - people aren't going to buy a ticket to the movie just because he's in it. Of all the teenagers I've spoken to - none are excited to see this movie. They are excited about Prince Caspian and The Dark Knight.

I can easily see the top 5 grossing movies for 2008 being the following:

1. The Dark Knight
2. Prince Caspian
3. Iron Man
4. TBD
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

In 4th place I can easily see a sleeper movie like You Don't Mess with the Zohan or something else capturing this spot. I really do see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull falling way below both the commercial and critical expectations that have been set for it.

Dennis Hopper

Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains. - Quote wrongly attributed to Winston Churchill

Today is Dennis Hopper's 74th birthday (born May 17, 1936). I thought about the above quote when thinking of Hopper. When Hopper was young he was known as an ultra-liberal but today he's a regular contributor to the Republican Party. People used to think of Hopper's friendship with John Wayne as rather odd. Now in retrospect - not so much.

Happy birthday to an American icon - Dennis Hopper.

The NBA - Is the Fix In?

At the beginning of the season the NBA was under a cloud of suspicion of "fixed" games and it looks like the NBA is determined to end the season the same way.

At the beginning of the season NBA referee Tim Donaghy was found to have been in league with gamblers. In 100 NBA games Donaghy told the bookies who he thought was going to win or games he thought he could influence the outcome. He was given $5,000 for each correct pick. He was also investigated and arrested by the FBI for breaking various laws.

In 23 second round NBA playoff games - the home teams are 21-2. Think of that for a moment. That's better than a 91% winning percentage. That's a statistical anomaly. If something akin to this happened inside a casino - the management would be reviewing the tapes looking for signs of cheating.

If this was a crime then the police would fist ask "quo bono" - who benefits? In this case the answer is clear - David Stern and the NBA along with the broadcasters carrying the playoff games. The broadcasters, however, are not in a position to influence the outcome of games. David Stern is.

David Stern was so concerned with appearances early in the year when the Donaghy story broke. Now though - when a statistical anomaly like a 91% winning percentage for home teams in the rounds of the playoffs when viewership really starts to jump and ad revenues can be huge for series extended to the limit - Stern seems rather silent.

Of course this all could be a statistical anomaly and no wrongdoing or influencing of outcomes could be present. I'm a cynic however and if this was a blackjack dealer winning 91% of hands-played when his real house advantage should be in the single digits - then I think I would be justifiably worried about a fixed game.

Tim Donaghy is accused of many crimes but the one most fitting is one he hasn't been charged with - insider trading. David Stern and the NBA profits by referees giving the home team "breaks" in the playoffs whereas Tim Donaghy is going to jail because he was trying to influence the outcomes of games on his own. Donaghy would have been better off just telling his bookie friends to wait for the playoffs to bet the home team money line.

Maybe the new catchphrase for David Stern should be "The NBA - its Fixed-tastic!" That's the way it seems.

Awesome Animation

This is really cool!

HT Nitwit.org

Moving the Final Table of the WSOP to November

Oliver Chubb makes some good points. Mainly about an unexpected decrease in the real first place payout due to losing 4 months worth on interest on millions of dollars:

So the eventual winner effectively has to share four months of interest with the rest of the final table. The sum paid to the winner in November will be roughly $100,000 less than what the prize would have been worth if paid out to him/her in July and invested.

If the eventual winner is a non-US amateur - he may get a double whammy:

Non-US amateur players have previously been allowed to claim 100% of their prize and handle their own tax authorities as they saw fit. Come November, when their face has been on ESPN for four months and in the poker literature, their claim that they are not entering the country to seek financial gain may be a little harder to substantiate. Although Caesars’ lawyers have promised to assist in the arrangement of entertainment visas, if even one of the players is refused entry to the US, or the IRS decides to withhold part of even one player’s payout, the new format will have been a disaster.

Michael Craig also makes some good points here:

Withholding the outcome as Caesars is doing accomplishes two things: (1) It builds the suspense, drawing people who watch individual episodes to return because that’s (just about) the only way to find out how it ends; and (2) Helps in story telling. Everybody - Caesars, ESPN, the rest of the media, the public - will get to know the final nine much better. It’s a lot easier to tell their stories over the period of four months than in a continuous-running event. The goal (and it may take a few years before this works out, and works out regularly) is for a lot of people to be intensely interested in the players, to be familiar with them, to have favorites, and to look forward to watching the finale to find out how it ends.

Craig makes some more points here.

Fantastico!



What an awesome video! Rub some dirt in it!

HT Paul DePodesta