Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

All day yesterday I was wondering where Rex Ryan was watching the playoffs. It certainly wasn't from the sidelines... Not to toot my own horn but I did predict Denver winning the game last Thursday... I hope next year the Patriots use the money they wasted on Albert Haynesworth and Ochocinco to get the fans something nice... I am waiting for Rick Santorum to confess that he enjoys accubation - the practice of eating or drinking while lying down. That would be cool... Ever see the World's Strongest Man competitions where they have those huge guys running a 100-yard dash carrying hundreds of pounds? Wouldn't one of those guys make a great short-yardage back in the NFL? Assuming of course they could pass the steroids tests... There is a species of fish that hides from prey by swimming into the anus of a sea cucumber. The fish is called a Pearlfish but I wonder if science would be willing to rename the species the JimmyCarterfish... Just when you think Stephen Hawking couldn't get any more awesome you learn that he likes to go to top shelf whiskey tasting events... Newt Gingrich is annoying in large part because he is a constant autohagiorapher - one who speaks or writes about themselves in a smug fashion... So what did Bill Maher Tweet about Tim Tebow today? Yeah - thought so... Man who creates amazing Rube-Goldberg machines in his apartment... Am I the only one who has trouble sleeping because I'm worried about the status of Tom Brady's playoff beard?... Just saying it for the record - Jorge Posada is not a Hall of Fame player... How big of a surprise would it be if Mitt Romney admitted he was a autotonsorilist - one who cuts his own hair. Just a Flowbee and some "product" he buys from WalMart... Just a reminder but Hall of Famer Barry Larkin was basically kicked to the curb in Cincinnati for one and a half seasons of Felipe Lopez.

Alan Trammell

The 2011 Baseball Hall of Fame vote was announced today and a couple of things struck me. First, I agree 100% with the selections of both Robbie Alomar and Bert Blyleven. I wasn't always a supporter of Blyleven but I'll get to that in a minute. Another thing which struck me was Barry Larkin getting 62.1% of the vote - which bodes well for him getting to the 75% needed for induction next year. Good for Barry! He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

All of the above is fine and good but wouldn't normally be enough for me to take the time to comment on. What struck we tonight was a couple of graphs and an old story which combined to urge me from my inaction.

First - the graphs.

These graphs compares Barry Larkin, Roberto Alomar, Alan Trammell and Derek Jeter. I added Derek Jeter into the mix because I think most people who follow baseball would agree that Derek Jeter will get elected into Cooperstown. So that makes the graphs a comparison between a Hall of Famer, a player who probably will get voted in next year, a guy who is almost a guaranteed lock and then also Alan Trammell - a guy who just got 24.3% of the vote on his 10th year on the ballot. Take a look at those graphs and tell me that Alan Trammell isn't almost exactly the same as the other players.

This brings me to the story.

Aristotle was perhaps the smartest man of his age. He is still studied today. Yet Aristotle wasn't always right. For instance he believed that since a man is bigger than a woman then logically a man must have more teeth than a woman. The problem is he never bothered to check. Any dentist can tell you that a man and a woman have exactly the same number of teeth. The brilliant Aristotle looks stupid for not checking.

I feel Aristotle's pain because I'm guilty of not checking as well. First it was not checking on Blyleven's case for the Hall of Fame. I changed my mind a while back on that but it wasn't until I saw the above graphs that it struck me how equal Alan Trammell was to the other players he was being compared to.

I don't have a Hall of Fame vote but if I did - I'd vote for Alan Trammell.

Brett Favre and Barry Larkin

There has been lots of whoo-hah about Brett Farvre possibly coming out of retirement. My first reaction about such talk is "Jeez - enough already!" However, then I think about Barry Larkin and I think "Maybe Green Bay should welcome Brett back as the starting QB."

Barry Larkin retired after the 2004 season. That year Larkin was more than adequate - in fact he was an All-Star that season. However, many think that Larkin was partially forced out by the Reds in order to make way for the shortstop of the future - Felipe Lopez.

It is true that Felipe Lopez was an All-Star in 2005 but by the end of 2006 - he had been shipped out of town. In the end the Reds got flotsam and jetsam for Felipe Lopez but they also took his side and possibly damaged their relationship with a potential Hall of Fame player and hometown hero.

Is the comparison valid? While Barry Larkin was an MVP who led his team to a World Championship - he's not at the level of a Brett Favre who is an all-time great in his sport. In my mind, however, that makes it even more important for the Green Bay Packers not to miss out on another season of Brett Favre in favor of the quarterback equivalent of Felipe Lopez - Aaron Rodgers.

If Brett Favre wants back - the Packers should welcome him back with open arms.