Wandering Words

Lookin' like a lot of poop for the week. Not gonna lie, I was not anticipating (and certainly disappointed by) a forecast of a week of clouds with chances of thunderstorms. Thunderstorms = flight delays = chaos

I'm glad I booked flights to get in a day early now...

Reno 2008 Round 14

Vs. captaino.

Play the Game 

A close game against fairway from 2 weeks ago.

Play along!

Going back over the fives today, I made this dorky observation:

You can put a front C hook on HOOK to make CHOOK.

(It makes more sense if you pronounce the five as C-HOOK.)

With his single in the fifth inning, Cano now has at least two hits in six straight games.

http://www.sheldoncomics.com/forums/sheldontalk/5477/

"Crazy Train," as 9,000 e-mails have proven to me in my inbox...was indeed an Ozzy song. Don't know what my brain was thinking, there. I heard Ozzy in my head signin' it, but wrote "Iron Maiden". I'll fix that when I get back from San Diego.

And, lest the mob turn on me for this vicious error, let's all remember the lyrics:

"Maybe its not to late

To learn how to love

And forget how to hate"

Last year, Robinson Cano hit absolutely dreadfully in the first half of the season and was a man on fire in the second half. In 2006, his first half numbers weren't quite as dreadful as last year, but he also made a sharp improvement in the second half, especially in the power department, hitting 11 of his 15 homers after the All-Star break. On the other hand, in 2005, his rookie season, there was no appreciable difference between his hitting in the first and second halves.

The following numbers are his first/second half season splits of OBP/SLG/OPS for his first three seasons in the majors.

2005 1st half: .313/.459/.773
2005 2nd half: .325/.457/.781

2006 1st half: .353/.439/.792
2006 2nd half: .380/.635/1.015

2007 1st half: .314/.427/.741
2007 2nd half: .396/.557/.953

Those splits in the last two years are astounding. They really look like the numbers of two completely different players. Based on those two years, many fans and sports media types have been quick to label Cano a second-half player, but I've been deeply suspicious of that. Is a similar performance exhibited by Cano in two of his three years in the majors really enough to make a pattern? Maybe it was just coincidence that his 2006 and 2007 seasons look so similar, and in the long run he will not continue this pattern.

But less than a week after the All-Star break, it appears as if history is repeating itself. Cano was somehow even worse in the first half of this season as last year (.285/.358/.643). That's bad enough to lose your job in the majors for a lot of teams, including the Yankees, if only they had more depth at second base. And yet, as we've come into the second half of the season, Cano is even hotter than the ridiculous weather we've been having here. In the five games since the All-Star break his numbers are (.522/.870/1.391). Obviously, he's not going to keep up numbers like that over a longer stretch, but it sure as hell seems to bode well for the second half.

http://web.mit.edu/jasonkb/www/quackle/

Questions? Comments? Problems?

Someone on the Quackle list said her dictionary was messed up but didn't post info about her OS etc. My guess is the problem is that she had her lexicon set to cswfeb07, which finally got nuked. How's it look? I haven't tried the Windows version yet myself.

Discuss. 

http://www.cartoonlabs.com/comics/index.php?date=2008-07-23&show=sinfest

Sinfest
Tatsuya Ishida

http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/080723.html

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http://quackle.org

Give it a go!

As part of its exhaustive testing, this new release did not pick my best play answer to my previous post, 1l (H)I.

 There will be a special prize category in Orlando for LJ players and friends. (I'm not posting this to CGP or OSPD-Scrabble groups.)

The highest scoring ANTELOPE play, as included in the Canonical SF Scrabble Slakcerz Antelope List, will win a hand-made ANTELOPE tile bag. 

xpmorgan  will have the bag and I will leave up to him to figure out how people can report their plays.

I expect updates on decisive ANTELOPE plays, so that I can judge the success of my endeavour.

Good luck to all.

http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080723

http://www.sheldoncomics.com/forums/sheldontalk/5471/

For everyone going to San Diego, I've put together a one-page, easy-to-print-out guide to the 'con. It has everything a Sheldonista needs to know on one page.

Grab the full-size, 8.5x11" file *HERE*, print it, and bring it with you to the show!

Also! If you have a specific original comic strip you were hoping to pick up on the cheap in SD, e-mail me before 8AM PST on July 23, and I'll bring it with me. Thanks!

http://xkcd.com/453/

The first Test between India and Sri Lanka starts in about 45 minutes. Looking at India's side -- Gambhir and Sehwag opening, Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly, Laxman as batsmen, then Karthik, Kumble -- who can bat a bit -- and Harbhajan Singh (who needs to not slap anyone), Zaheer Khan, Sharma -- dang that's a good eleven. The Sri Lankan side will be hard pressed against them. Except for two things. One, they're at home, and they always do exceedingly well at home. And two, everyone is going gaga over Ajantha Mendis. He's being called the next Murali -- bowling all kinds of spin balls with a flick of the fingers. He took six wickets against India in the final of the Asia Cup -- can he repeat that sort of magnificent bowling in his maiden Test match?

We shall see.

PS -- Sadly, the Slinga Malinga, who bests Ryan Sidebottom for Best Hair in Cricket, is hurt again, and not available for this match. That could be a fearsome attack -- Murali, Vaas, Mendis, Malinga....

Malinga takes four in four balls against South Africa in the World Cup last spring:




UPDATE: Apparently it's monsoon season in Sri Lanka. They probably won't start for at least another few hours. Grr. Who schedules Test matches during monsoon season?

so i'm excited about the 19th annual DOORNAIL - I tournament. i'd be very happy if i got 8th place, but they should pay 10. realistically i'd like a top 20 finish or at the very least 14-14. i've been doing decently at tournaments recently, at least winning a little money here and there but it's much harder to place here. in any case, i'll see everyone in just a few days. 72 hours from right now i should be taking the expensive ass shuttle to the hotel (there's no public transportation in orlando?) and checking in.

of course, i also want to have fun, but as we all know, scrabble isn't fun, it's hard work. for example, if your opp starts with AUXeSIS, burning 4 power tiles and now you're 92 points behind with AEIIILR, what's your best play? depending on how you're doing in the rest of the tournament the best play could be throwing your rack at your opponent and taking a shot of 151.

see you all soon!

Reno 2008 Round 13

Play the Game

I'm going to the Yankee game tonight! First game of the season for me. And they've been rolling lately. Woot!