’)“With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”
– Barack Obama, 1/20/09
* Apparently the Yankees bought another World Series
* Woman at bakery supposedly fired for being too sexy, so she takes her clothes off for the newspaper. I love Brit tabloids.
* Toyota makes a profit
* Grayson counts the dead in GOP districts thanks to lack of health care reform
* Carly Fiorina shouldn’t be anywhere near the US Senate
* George Stephanopoulous is an idiot
* 54 years ago today, Dr. Emmet L. Brown came up with the flux capacitor.
* Kim Kardashian. Princess Jasmine. Halloween.
Great Scott!!!!
Nice quote.
SF, I assume we’re looking at the same link.
I like how the paper is looking for other people who were fired for being too sexy, too. Maybe it’s an epidemic! Across Britain, sexy people are being let go every day!
I wait in vain for the US news to pick up on this for a November sweeps story.
A.
Well, you know, the unemployed can probably be more easily persuaded to get their kit off for the camera for a few quid.
The Yankees didn’t buy another World Series. They defeated the defending champions because they were the better team and had more breaks in this series. Yes, the Yankees have baseball’s highest payroll but a willingness to smartly spend a lot of money is a lot better than foolishly spending a lot of money, say, in the style of Dan Snyder.
Tell it to Bobbi Flekman.
Tell it to Bobbi Flekman.
BTW, Flekman’s line about money talks and bullshit walks was already old when I was in high school and that was during the mid-1960s.
How wonderful for you. Thanks for sharing. What else can you tell us about yourself?
Well, what do you want to know?
The Yankees didn’t buy another World Series. They defeated the defending champions because they were the better team…
…because Steinbrenner went out and bought the better team. It’s not because the Yankees are a better organization, with good management and a good farm system that nurtures high quality players. It’s because Steinbrenner opens up his fat wallet and showers the flavor-of-the-month free agents with unbelievable mounds of dough every year. The fact that the yankees don’t win the series every year is proof of how crappy their organization is.
The fact that the yankees don’t win the series every year is proof of how crappy their organization is.
No, this is actually proof of how difficult it is to emerge triumphant from the regular season and playoffs every year. The Yankees are probably never, ever going to win four pennants in a row as they did, say, from 1955 to 1958 or eight pennants in 10 years as they did in the same decade but they are not a crappy baseball organization no matter how much we think Steinbrenner is a jerk.
Having the money for a large payroll doesn’t necessarily mean you’re assured of success. But not having it means you’re probably going to struggle.
Well, I don’t know of any baseball team owners who are poor. Some are more willing to spend money than others. If the owners of the Pirates or Athletics, for example, don’t want to spend money to put a better team on the field then they should sell their teams.
Good point. And some of it’s beyond money. There’s probably no amount of money that would have kept Andy Pettite in Houston.
There is no amount of money that would induce me to live in or around Houston either. In fact, any portion of Texas.
The Yankees spent $15 million on Mariano Rivera.
The Cincinnati Reds spent $14 on Aaron Harang.
The Houston Astros spent $19 on Carlos Lee.
The Kansas City Royals spent $12 on Jose Guillen.
It’s not what you spend: it’s how you spend it.
And how do the total payrolls compare?
Baseball needs a cap. If you’re a baseball fan of a small market team (other than the occasional outlier like Tampa Bay last year), honestly, what’s the point?
Baseball needs to split the gate from TV revenue as they do in the NFL. Big market teams would still have an advantage (as one could argue they should), but it wouldn’t be so pronounced.
The NFL has national contracts. MLB has market-by-market contracts. And if one team (say the Cardinals) is able to haggle for better deals while the Pirates and Royals just take the first offer, why should the Cardinals be penalized for improving their situation?
The best idea I’ve seen is to implement a market tax. Teams that play in NYC, LA, & Chicago have to pay premiums to play in those larger markets (and have access to the larger fanbases). The money is then funnelled to teams who play in smaller areas like Milwaulkee and Kansas City. It would also disincentivize franchise relocation, because you’d have to pay a higher market tax if you moved away from smaller cities.
A direct comparison to the NFL is misleading (I admit I made a mistake!), because of the national contracts for the NFL, but splitting the TV gate would be a good first step. Bill James covered this a while back.
I’m not a Yankees fan but Matsui was awesome last night
I’m not a Yankees fan either but I agree with you. Matsui’s work a bat was nice to watch. So was Chase Utley’s and I don’t like the Phillies at all.
I hate the Yankees. But you gotta admit they had an awesome team this year and played excellent baseball.
I stopped rooting against the Yankees when they managed to put the encroachment of the Red Sox Nation on hold several times over the past 15 years. They couldn’t hold the Sox off forever but they did a good job for a long time. I almost always cheer for the National League but I can’t find a voice for the Phillies, Padres or Astros.
since i don’t care about baseball, i’m just going to comment on how ridiculously hot Kim Kardashian’s Halloween costume is…
BEST
DISNEY-INSPIRED COSTUME
…EVER!
dressed like that, she could almost make me give up being an atheist for Lent.