Tearful Memories and 9/11

Posted on September 11, 2011 by DSD

I’m a reasonably emotional man, but I’m generally not prone to breaking up into tears. However, this morning I found myself bawling on the couch while clutching my three year old daughter. As is our usual morning routine, she asked me to put in one of her DVD’s. Noticing the time, I first flipped the channel to one of the local networks covering the 9/11 memorial ceremonies in New York. I had never talked about 9/11 with my daughter before, but at that moment I sat on the couch, put her on my lap, and tried to relate to her why this was a special day. She does not yet understand things like death, so I basically kept it simple… today was the birthday of something very sad. And then I cried. More to the point, I shook uncontrollably, clutched my daughter, and could barely tell her over and over that I loved her very much. For her part, she asked me why I was crying and then proceeded to demand that I put in her Tinker Bell movie. Continue reading →

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Contract the Dodgers!

Posted on June 24, 2011 by DSD

If you have found your way to this quiet corner of the internet and do not know what this post’s title is referring to, then odds are you googled something else entirely. However, if you are here to read about the Dodgers, then I suggest you first read this excellent synopsis of how exactly Frank McCourt has pillaged the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Here’re the key points:

  1. McCourt has transferred most of the revenue generating assets of the team to holding companies external to the team that McCourt himself owns. These include, but are not necessarily limited to: Dodger Stadium, the associated parking lots, and most egregiously of all, the right to sell tickets to Dodgers games (as in permanently, regardless of where the Dodgers play their games). The article above implies the Dodgers still own licensing and perhaps broadcast rights, but otherwise, I’m not sure if there is anything the Dodgers can do to actually earn money. Continue reading →
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The Dilution of Hall of Famers in the World Series

Posted on March 20, 2011 by DSD

I’m a regular reader of Joe Posnanski, and while I sometimes skip his non-baseball posts, I came across this post in which he had the following line referring to the 50th anniversary all-time team:

“… going back to Mikan, every NBA champion except one had at least one of those 50 greatest players. Most had multiple greats, but with one exception they ALL had at least one.”

The exception in question was the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics. They did, however, have a Hall of Famer in Dennis Johnson. This reminded me of the curiosity of the 1980’s Dodgers teams. I believe the ‘80s is the greatest decade for the World Series. In those ten years, nine different teams won titles, 14 different teams participated, 4 series went the full length, including an all-time great in 1986. Even two of those that didn’t go all the way were dramatic in their own ways: the 1988 for the shock of the Dodgers and Kirk Gibson thumping the Bash Brothers, and 1989 for the tragic shock of the San Andreas Fault. Continue reading →

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