Decisions, decisions…

I can’t decide.  Maybe bacon-wrapped fried tofu?

It’s not just baseball, Bill

“Baseball lives literally in the dark ages; baseball men have not yet reached the revelation of Sir Francis Bacon, which was in essence that since all men live in darkness, who believes something is not a test of whether it is true or false.  I have spent years trying to get people to ask simple questions: What is the evidence, and what does it mean?  This is a condition of the world and no one but a fool gets angry with the world because it is what it is, but there are profound frustrations in living in a world that awaits the Enlightenment.”

-Bill James, in This Time Let’s Not Eat the Bones

Keeping things in perspective

Danny Ainge has been a successful basketball player in college and the pros, pro coach, broadcaster, and as Celtics GM, he was the engineer of the biggest turnaround in NBA history (with an assist from old teammate Kevin McHale).  Just in case he’s forgotten that everything he touches doesn’t turn to gold:

Career  G   AB  R  H   2B 3B
3 Years 211 665 57 146 19 4

HR GS RBI BB IBB SO  SH
2  0  37  37 2   128 12

SF HBP GIDP AVG  OBP  SLG
3  4   16   .220 .264 .269

The Big Three take the T

I was on my way to visit the PO at the same time people were streaming in for the Celtics victory parade.  KG and Pierce were together, but for this picture, I had to get Ray Allen from the other end of the car.

In the crowd, the big three dominated.  Every once in awhile I’d see a Rondo or more infrequently one of the others.  I never did find a Perk, let alone a PJ Brown or Big Baby, to make a full team.

That trick never works!

Ruth found this one:

The torch is passed

Check this out (at about the 2:37 mark):

“Amid the celebration, Garnett dropped to the parquet and kissed the leprechaun at center court. He then found Russell and gave him a long embrace.

”I got my own! I got my own!” Garnett told Russell, who had offered to share one of his 11 rings with Garnett if he didn’t win one of his own. ”I hope we made you proud.”

”You sure did,” Russell said.”

It was a special moment, even if you aren’t a Celtics fan.  It comes after this earlier meeting between Russell and Garnett (ring discussion starts at about :42):

REM – Comcast Center, 6/13/2008

REM has come quite a long way from the small club days where Michael Stipe would sing while huddled over the microphone with his back to the audience:

The pictures don’t do justice to the experience. There was live video mixed with canned images, fractured and moving about the digital scrim. It was fascinating!

The dream lives

Adding insult to injury

“The official diagnosis is ‘Elton John surgery. It’s all good, man. Just got to ice it. There’s no surgery needed for Elton John. It’s just kind of nagging, kind of like Elton John songs.”
-Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox closer, 6/3/2008

It’s a sign!