Flotam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I blame myself for yesterday's Patriots loss to the Jets. Everything was going great for New England until just before halftime I Tweeted, "8 days from now Rex Ryan's record as head coach will be 11-11. Just a .500 coach - that's all he'll ever be". Bam! The jinx was on. I apologize... 24 Cool College Landmarks... Scary thing about Michigan's close call vs UMass is not only is UMass 1-AA but they were also picked to finish just 5th in their conference... I am not on Facebook and probably never will be. Here's an article that helps explain why... Jose Bautista's explosion of power this year is prompting Joe Posnanski (along with Bill James) to examine the greatest jumps in HR numbers by a player in baseball history. In my mind that has to be Wade Boggs who in 1987 hit 24 HR. Boggs had never hit more than 8 in a season. The next year he hits just 5 in 52 MORE plate appearances. Boggs never approached 24 again... I still think Rex Ryan is nothing but a .500 coach. I don't apologize for that... I'll be watching Boardwalk Empire religiously. A good book if you want to know more about this period of time and the rise of gangsters due to prohibition is The Big Bankroll: The Life And Times Of Arnold Rothstein... Jose Bautista had hit 16 HR in a season so his output this season is just over 3 times his past performance. The reason Boggs should be the number 1 in HR frauds is Boggs tried not to hit HR. He said he hit the 24 just to prove he could do it. Can you think of any player in baseball history who tried not to hit home runs?... Interesting - why the head of a beer, no matter the kind, is always white...