Guy Laliberté - Space Tourist

I'm a fan of Guy Laliberté. He's the billionaire founder of Cirque du Soleil who became a hero of mine after I watched him play poker on High Stakes Poker. He just seemed like such a likable and genuine guy.

Now Laliberté can add to his list of accomplishments the title of astronaut (or probably more accurately - cosmonaut).

$35 million to a guy like Guy for the chance to go into space? That's a bargain.

Morning Fun Stuff

Some morning links that hopefully will make you smile or think to get you day going.

- Carl Sagan and the Glorious Dawn (with backing vocals by Stephen Hawking).

- The awesomeness that is Mike Blowers. With a gift like this he should quit baseball and just pick Mega Millions numbers.

- Mel Gibson as Walter in Jodie Foster's The Beaver. This is so strange that it actually could be cool to see. (BTW - My mind first read the headline as "Mel Gibson in Jodie Foster's Beaver" and I thought it was about something else altogether.)

- Hey There Cthulhu

Do Catchers Wear Down in September?

Interesting little study on the offensive performance of catchers in September.

You would think catching - being the most taxing position physically - would show the most drop in production but the conclusion was surprising.

Fixing Healthcare

Some very interesting ideas about how to lower the costs of healthcare - specifically the costs of doctor's visits. It seems like a very logical and well thought out plan.

One suggestion that I'd make. I would allow individuals and families to take unused monies put into PSA's and allow them to transfer those funds into 401K's or IRA with no tax penalties. I'd allow this transfer any time between January 1st and April 15th. Currently most PSA plans are calendar year "use it or lose it" and many people use this unused money on items that they don't really need just to avoid losing it. This wrinkle would allow better efficiencies and encourage retirement savings at the same time.

JP Riccardi

I'm starting to feel like the last guy on the JP Riccardi bandwagon. Reports are starting to more than trickle out that his job is in jeopardy. I don't think that's fair.

Riccardi was put in a damned if you do - damned if you don't situation. When he took the job in Toronto the Canadian dollar was strong and he was expected to spend some money by the fans of the team. Specifically he was expected to spend that money on fan favorite Vernon Wells. Now it is that contract, along with the deals given to Alex Rios and BJ Ryan that are coming back to haunt him. It was these three deals and how he handled the potential trade of Roy Halladay that have put him in this situation.

As I said - he HAD to sign Vernon Wells. Letting fan favorite Wells walk would have cost Riccardi his job. He gave the fans what they wanted and now the fans are mad at him for it. That's not fair.

At the time of the BJ Ryan signing - Riccardi was pretty much hailed for making a very savvy signing. Because of the strength of the Canadian dollar at the time - the money spent on Ryan wasn't as much as it seemed. Ryan was a guy who was used to the AL East and not just unafraid of the Yankees and Red Sox but successful pitching against them. The Yankees had Mo Rivera and the Red Sox had Jonathan Papelbon. BJ Ryan was supposed to be the Blue Jays answer to the other teams' closers. Remember - it was a very popular move at the time that propelled many people to make the Blue Jays the trendy pick to win the AL East that year.

Alex Rios? That was a bad signing plain and simple. However, like Vernon Wells - Alex Rios was a fan favorite. Riccardi signed him but I think it is only fair to give him credit for dumping him before the big money kicked in.

Riccardi doesn't get the credit he deserves for building a foundation that can be built upon and which can bring success in the near term. Aaron Hill and Adam Lind give the Blue Jays a 3-4 punch as good as any in baseball. The pitching when healthy is also among the best and deepest in baseball. JP Riccardi is under contract for 2010 and I think he deserves to come back.

I know that this isn't a popular opinion but I think I'm right about this.

More Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Tomorrow is National Coffee Day. I know it's a made up holiday made to get you drinking more coffee but I plan to be fully caffeinated anyway... President Obama is going to Denmark to lobby the IOC in support of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. I wonder if President Obama would be spending the time and the resources if this was for another American city other than Chicago? Just another job that Mitt Romney would have been better qualified for. Dick Pound indeed!... Heh heh - from @Adam_Schefter Best headline about the Lions victory over the Redskins: "Washington Bails out Detroit Again."... When Sean Connery met Michael Caine... The Patriots won yesterday so I am loathe to link to something negative but I do have to say that this column on Randy Moss points out things that people I was watching the game with noticed as well...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm so sick of Michael Vick. Enough already. The guy will never be a factor in the NFL ever again. Stop with the stories and updates. I don't think I'm alone in saying I just don't care anymore... On this day back in 1941 Ted Williams finished the season with a .406 batting average becoming perhaps the last major league batter to ever reach .400 for a season. Amazingly Williams did not win the MVP that season despite hitting with 37 HR, 120 RBI and 135 runs scored. The voters just like Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak better.... Now we'll never have to hear about how Ben Roethlisberger has never lost a game in the state of Ohio ever again... Today is Ryan Zimmerman's 25th birthday. I like to think of Zimmerman as Kevin Youkilis if Youkilis was stuck on an awful team... There is a good chance that the Cleveland Browns could lose every game this year matching the Lions mark of futility from last season. Is it me or does Eric Mangini seem like Rick Kotite without the charisma?...

2007 NFL Draft - the QB's

In the 2007 NFL Draft there were 225 players taken of which 11 were quarterbacks.

JaMarcus Russell - Oakland - 1st
Brady Quinn - Cleveland - 22nd
Kevin Kolb - Philadelphia - 36th (2nd round)
John Beck - Miami - 40th (2nd round)
Drew Stanton - Detroit - 43rd (2nd round)
Trent Edwards - Buffalo - 92nd (3rd round)
Isaiah Stanback - Dallas 103rd (4th round)
Jeff Rowe - Cincinnati - 151st (5th round)
Troy Smith - Baltimore - 174th (5th round)
Jordan Palmer - Washington - 205th (6th round)
Tyler Thigpen - Minnesota - 217th (7th round)

Yesterday 4 of those QB's saw action in NFL games. Here's how they did in order of effectiveness.

Kevin Kolb 24/34 327 yds 2 TD
Trent Edwards 20/35 156 yds
JaMarcus Russell 12/21 61 yds
Brady Quinn 6/8 34 yds 1 INT

It almost seems that the earlier a QB was taken in the draft - the worse the performance. One other thing I found interesting about this class of QB's - compare the career numbers for these 2 players:

Player A - 2,649 yds / 18 TD / 13 INT / 74.8 Passer Rating
Player B - 3,174 yds / 16 TD / 16 INT / 68.8 Passer Rating

Player A is Tyler Thigpen, the last QB taken in the 2007 draft and Player A is JaMarcus Russell, the first player taken overall in the 2007 draft. I think you could easily make the argument that Thigpen has been the more effective QB.

The Bizarro College Football Mirror of Erised

People see what they want to see when it comes to Notre Dame. They are a real-life college football version of the Mirror of Erised from Harry Potter (a magical mirror which would show a person what they desired to see most).

Preseason the Irish were ranked 23rd based on what? What people wanted to see in the team and certainly not on what the team has accomplished in recent history.

Notre Dame beat Nevada 35-0 to start the season. Fans of the team see the offensive production and start thinking maybe Lou Holtz is right and this team could compete for a national title. People who hate Notre Dame (and it seem people really do fall into either camp - nobody who follows college football seems neutral on the subject) say - it was just Nevada. Well Nevada is now 0-3 - so in hindsight what did this game really prove?

Next was Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines up in Ann Arbor. ND lost the game when Michigan QB Tate Forcier threw a TD with just 11 seconds left in the game. The final was 38-34. The fans of the Irish said that their team was jobbed by the referees (and if you watched the game - this is a pretty valid point). Fans of Michigan said that beating ND showed that Michigan was back in the big-time (and this win did propel Michigan into the top 25). Fans of Michigan gave ND more credit than was maybe due because it served their desire to see their team back in the highlife. Yesterday Michigan just got past Indiana 36-33 on a very suspect interception (another gift from the referees in a home game in Ann Arbor?). I wish that Michigan was to play Ohio State next week instead of the last game of the season because Michigan's bubble will be burst by reality sometime soon and I'd like a good shot at making some money off an overinflated betting line before that happens (and yes - I had bought into the Michigan hype myself but now my eyes can see).

The third game of the season was a tilt against nemesis Michigan State - a team that seems to have Notre Dame's number the same way Iowa has Penn State's. The Irish were given a gift win when a last minute interception allowed them a 33-30 victory. Never mind the fact that Michigan State had lost to Central Michigan and is now just 1-3 on the season. The Irish fans rejoiced in vanquishing the traditional foe!

Last night was the cherry on the top. A last minute 24-21 victory over a questionable Purdue team was a complete gift. Charlie Weis went into a four-corners offense in the 3rd quarter when up by just 10 points against a team that wasn't stopping their run. The ND defense allows 2 late TD's and it was only the awful coaching job by Purdue's Danny Hope that allowed the last minute game-winning TD (calling a time out with 26 seconds when the clock was running and the Irish were out of time-outs - gack!). Purdue fans will look at this game and comfort themselves with the thought that even though they lost a squeaker and are now just 1-3 - they are in the same class as Notre Dame (conveniently forgetting they were completely outclassed by Northern Illinois). OK that last bit of snark may be harsh seeing how Purdue was able to hang with Oregon out in Oregon.

ND fans will point to their 3-1 record and in their heads they'll think "Hey that's the same record as Ohio State and USC!" Realists will look at the remaining schedule and think that a 1-7 record the rest of the way is not out of the question. People will continue to look at Notre Dame and see what they desire to see.

The 100 Worst Movies of the Last 10 Years

Interesting list of the 100 worst movies of the past 10 years.

I'm pretty happy with the fact that I have not seen a single movie on the list.

Age Catching Up with Chipper?

I was surprised to notice that Chipper Jones' batting average was just .269 for the season. It seems like just yesterday that his batting average was well over .300. It turns out that wasn't yesterday. That was back in June.

Since the All-Star break Chipper has hit just .242 with a .763 OPS. In September those numbers are just .207 and .634. That's almost Varitek-esque. Chipper signed a 3-year extension for $13 million per year early this spring. You have to wonder if Chipper will start to face some boos if he starts off next year like he's been finishing this season.

I think Chipper is a Hall of Fame player but if he puts his current .308 career batting average at risk with 3-years of sub-par performance then he could also be putting his Hall of Fame election at risk as well. Jim Rice allowing his career batting average to dip below .300 (he finished at .298) was a major factor in the delay in his election.

College Football Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous college football thoughts and observations for Saturday's early games.

You really do have to hand it to Fresno State coach Pat Hill and his "Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime" philosophy. Today the Bulldogs have another tough non-conference game. This time against #14 Cincinnati. It should be noted that a focused Cincinnati team really could run the table. The talent is there and the Bearcats don't face a ranked team the rest of the way. If they slowly climbed the rankings from their current #14 - a potential Florida / Cincinnati championship game is not out of the realm of possibility. Remember where you read that possibility first... I think Indiana will take a page out of Tennessee's playbook against Florida and try to run and stall to keep the game against Michigan (at Michigan) close. The Wolverines are favored by 20 and as much as Urban Myer wanted to run it up against Tennessee - I see Michigan being more successful in covering the 20 points against Indiana... I'm amused by the name Southern Miss Golden Eagles. To me it sounds like a beauty queen winner. Is there a Northern Miss Golden Eagles? It could be a code - "hey look at the golden eagles on that one!" And yes sometimes I've got the sensibility of a 13-year old boy... Interesting - Southern Miss running back Damion Fletcher could become just the 8th player in FBS / Division 1 history to run for 1,000 years in each of his 4 seasons. He has 344 rushing yards already this season...

Picks:
Buffalo (+3.5) at Temple
Fresno State (+17) at Cincinnati
Minnesota at Northwestern (over 49.5 points)
Indiana at Michigan (-20)
Southern Miss at Kansas (-13.5)
North Carolina at Georgia Tech (under 46 points)
LSU at Mississippi State (+12)

Edit Note: I'm posting this on the fly as I do my Saturday morning studying - so be sure to check back as I'll be adding stuff right up to 12:00 kickoff.

Bill Simmons on the Patriots

All good things do come to an end. Are the Patriots at the end of their run? Bill Simmons makes some excellent points in today's column on the Patriots.

I too find myself in the two camps that Simmons describes. I see the flaws but I don't want to see them. If that makes sense. The final analysis is that it is still way too early to write off the Patriots. Sunday against the Falcons will be an interesting test but it is not the end-all be-all that some people are making it out to be.

The Poker Hall of Fame

Pauly has a vote on this year's Poker Hall of Fame ballot. Check it out and offer him your opinion.

I would vote for Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein with the third vote going to Dan Harrington, Mike Sexton or Eric Seidel. Daniel Negreanu will be a Hall of Famer but he's not as good a player as Ivey and he hasn't had the length of contribution to the game as the others listed above.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

The Cleveland Indians are 1.5 games ahead (behind?) the Orioles for the worst record in the American League. Who saw that coming? I know I saw some people picking the Indians to go to the World Series in their pre-season picks. I can't recall anyone picking them to contend to be the worst team in the league... For all the complaining that their are no races this year in baseball - only less than half of the teams in the league (14) are numerically eliminated... Of all the teams that will make the playoffs - the Detroit Tigers have by far the worst road record (33-44). They also have the worst overall record of any team who will probably make the post-season. Which means they probably win their first round match-up with the Yankees... Alex Rodriguez needs one more RBI for 1696 and to pass Cal Ripken for 23rd place on the All-Time RBI list. He also needs just 1 more run for 1677 and to pass Mickey Mantle to move into a tie with Bid McFee for 26th place on the all-time runs list. I'm guessing that privately both these milestones mean a lot to A-Rod... Speaking of milestones - did you know that Todd Helton was tied with Babe Ruth for 44th place on the all-time doubles list with 506? Helton needs 4 more doubles to catch Rickey Henderson. As impressive as Helton's record of hitting doubles has been - he's only 5th among active players for two-baggers - behind Garrett Anderson (515), Ken Griffey (522), Manny Ramirez (530) and Ivan Rodriguez (547)... Quietly Florida's Chris Coghlan has made a pretty good case for NL ROY. Coghlan is hitting .314 with a respectable .836 OPS. I think JA Happ of the Phillies has the nod for the NL ROY though with a 10-4 record and a 2.77 ERA. In the AL - I think Rick Porcello of the Tigers deserves the award with a 14-9 record with a 4.14 ERA... Today is Rafael Palmeiro's 45th birthday. Has anyone ever fallen off the grid as quickly as finger-wagging Palmeiro?

Jason Varitek - worst regular in MLB?

Lyford takes a look at an interesting question - "Jason Varitek - worst regular in MLB?" My first thought was to shout Yuniesky Betancourt! However, Lyford makes an excellent case.

In fairness I do want to point out a couple of things - first off what was the alternative to Jason Varitek? George Kottaras - the greatest Canadian-born catcher in Red Sox history and his .690 OPS?

Secondly - as bad as Varitek has been this season - I think it more fair to look at Varitek's contribution over the whole season since we don't know if any injuries are involved (anyone who watches post game interviews has become accustomed to seeing Varitek completely covered in bandages and ice). As bad as Varitel has been - the catchers position (if you take away statistical anomaly Joe Mauer) - isn't really that potent to begin with. Was Varitek really as bad as big names Russell Martin (.689 OPS), Ivan Rodriguez (.681 OPS) or rookie stud Matt Wieters (.722 OPS)? What about non-stars Rod Barajas (.689 OPS), Jason Kendall (.613 OPS) or Dioner Navarro (.588 OPS). All those catchers have played about just as much or more than Varitek for their teams this season.

This past off-season many wanted the Red Sox to trade with Texas for stud Jarrod Saltalamaccia but would Salty's .661 OPS in 283 AB have been better for the Red Sox than Varitek's .717 OPS? This off-season it will be interesting to see what they do. As bad as Varitek has been I'm guessing he's back for one more year as Victor Martinez's backup.

College Football Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous college football thoughts and observations.

Week three in college football always seems to bring some big surprises and this year was no exception. The biggest surprise was of course USC getting beat by Washington. This was the 4th year in a row that USC was beaten by an unranked team. Two things about this game - first I hope that blame is not put solely on the shoulders of QB Aaron Corp. If freshman QB Matt Barkley comes back and leads USC to wins the rest of the way then Corp will be a target but it will be unfair. The whole team lost yesterday - not just the QB. Secondly, you have to wonder how this will effect Ohio State. It will be tough for voters to rank Ohio State ahead of USC for the rest of the way enabling maybe some lesser talented one-loss teams to leapfrog the Buckeyes in the rankings... Maybe the biggest winner of the weekend was Miami. First they dismantle 14th ranked Georgia Tech and then a team they beat - Florida State - dismantled number 7 BYU. Number 20 Miami will be sure to jump a number of spots in the rankings after the results of the past few days but the question is how many? The BYU loss causes a rankings conundrum. Oklahoma lost to BYU and is ranked 12th. Logic would seem to dictate that Miami be ranked higher with the thinking of Miami beat FSU, FSU beat BYU and BYU beat Oklahoma. But since when did logic and the NCAA ever really go together?... Notre Dame won yesterday but they did not cover the spread. Even with the win - many fans jumped off the Fighting Irish bandwagon. I know that Charlie Weis doesn't set the spread but his job nonetheless is to cover it (no I'm not bitter - much)... At gametime - Army was an 8.5 favorite over a fellow 1-A competitor Ball State. When was the last time Army was favored by that many points? With Army and Air Force victories yesterday - the service academies are now a combined 5-4 on the season. Good for them...

College Football Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous college football thoughts and observations.

Just saying but Penn State faces Iowa - the team that ruined their national championship hopes NEXT WEEK. Can you say looking ahead? Today they are favored by 29.5 points over in state "rival" Temple. There actually isn't a real reason (other than practice) for Penn State to throw a single pass. Could the Nittany Lions be overlooking today's game?... Rice and Houston are just 6 miles apart but Michigan (-23.5) and Eastern Michigan are almost as close at just 7 miles apart. Rich Rodriguez may upset some boosters who went to Michigan but married a spouse from Eastern Michigan if he tries to run up the score against the Eagles. Besides Eastern Michigan has one of the best punters in the country in Zach Johnson and that's always helpful in slowing down a route... Not that he needs extra incentive but North Carolina's Butch Davis has never beat East Carolina as a head coach (0-2 at Miami and 0-1 at NC). The Tar Heels are favored by 7.5 points... In order for Minnesota to beat Cal - they will have to force turnovers but Cal (-13.5) hasn't turned the ball over yet in their first two games...

Lieutenant Michael Behenna

Please read this story of Lieutenant Michael Behenna.

If you can - please donate to his defense. If you can't - please sign the petition.

If you have a blog - please spread the word.

Thank you.

Friday Fun Stuff

Some fun links for a Friday night.

- William Shatner loves him some mountain

- Steve Nash with the greatest athlete / celebrity endorsement ever!

- These are awesome (and sad, and scary, and disturbing but I like to think mostly funny) - warning probably NSFW

- Heartwarming high school football story