LouisEly

Actually, every team that Marquette has lost to is either ranked now or was ranked when Marquette played them. In fact, I believe the only team that Marquette lost to that is not ranked now is Gonzaga, and they are tied with Saint Mary's atop their conference at 11-3 in conference and 22-9 overall.

Wisconsin got help by San Diego State getting swept by BYU. SDSU doesn't have any quality wins other than St. Mary's, so their loss should knock their seeding down below Wisconsin. Marquette did their job, but with lots of top 25 teams losing this week to unranked teams that doesn't help Marquette. If they win their last two and finish 11-7 in the Big East, 20-11 overall with 9 of the 11 losses to top 25 teams I think they get in as a 9/10 seed.

I thought that too, until I heard that Sports Illustrated is coming out with their swimsuit issue video in 3D. If that industry starts putting out product in 3D that could be what really launches that technology.

Yup. Work is a function of mass and distance. The longer your arms and the heavier you weigh, the more work it takes to do a pull-up, push-up, etc. I have a 36-37" sleeve and weigh 220 lbs. I calculate the distance I have to pull my body to do a pull-up to be about 21-22"; compared to someone who has a 32" sleeve that distance should be about 4", or 25%, more. Compared to someone who weighs 170 lbs that's 30% more body weight. So to do a pull-up requires roughly 62% more work for me than someone who has 32" arms and weighs 170 lbs.

Marquette lost to St. Johns by fewer points than Duke did. As a comparison has only beaten two currently ranked teams - Ohio State and Purdue, both at home. Same number of current top-25 teams that Marquette has beaten (Syracuse & Notre Dame). Wisconsin's win over Minnesota is roughly equivalent to Marquette's win over West Virginia. Of those 20 games you reference against "decent" competition, 11 of them have been against teams currently ranked in the top 25. Wisconsin has only played four games against teams currently ranked in the top 25. If Marquette played in a weaker conference like the Big 10, they would have a better record.

Actually I recall hearing that before last season he made a significant adjustment in his stance/swing, opening his stance so that can see the pitch better with both eyes. I seem to recall hearing him say it made all the difference in the world.

Marquette has recruited big men, but they haven't been able to keep them. Last year they had Yous Mbao, a somewhat raw 7'2" guy who transferred after his freshman year. The year before they recruited a 6'9" guy who was one of the top juco players in the nation, but he got arrested/convicted of something fairly serious so they yanked his scholarship. Three years ago they recruited Otule but he has been hurt the last two years and hasn't played much until this year. They had another 6'10-7' guy four years (edit: Liam McMorrow) ago who had to quit playing due to medical reasons. They have no reason to be in the tourney with their record - especially on the road I wouldn't say that - they've led in the second half in almost every game they lost. They blew what, a 16 point lead at Louisville in the last five minutes? The game against St. Johns was the first game this year that they've lost by more than 9 points, and this is a St. Johns team that opened up a can on Duke two weeks ago (a team that Marquette barely lost to early in the year). In some ways, Marquette isn't that much different than the Green Bay Packers this year - lots of close losses that could have been wins had a couple of different bounces of the ball gone a different way. If you eliminate the automatic bids of lesser conferences the tourney in reality takes the best 40 teams in the country, and based on how they've had second half leads against so many top-25 teams I'd say that they are one of the 40 best teams in the country, probably around #35 or so.

There seems to be a little bit of age discrimination in the NBA draft now. Part of it is a function of players leaving early, but over the last few NBA drafts there have been very few seniors taken in the top half of the first round. If you are a younger player it seems like you have a better chance of getting drafted because you are still seen as "projectable" or having potential. Seniors, like older college players, are not seen as having the ability to develop. So it wouldn't surprise me to see Taylor leave early - they may see him as having more value being a year younger this year than a year older next year. On an unrelated note, unless they make a run in the Big East tourney it's hello NIT. They needed this one at home against St. Johns.

Both UW and Marquette with impressive come-from-16-points-down in the second half wins this week. I'm used to seeing them blow 16 point leads - can't remember the last time either of them came back from 16 point deficits. Ohio State fans must absolutely hate Wisconsin by now - we've peed on their parade twice this academic year. I think some people forget how difficult it is to make it to the Final Four. There are 10 BCS bowl teams each year out of roughly 120 D-1 schools; the Final Four represents the top four out of over 300 D-1 schools. Statistically speaking, it is a lot more difficult to get to the Final Four than to a BCS bowl game. That being said, the concern is still there about who will step up to replace Leuer/Nankovil next year, and Jordan the year after.

My vote would be Oakenfold or Tiesto remixing current hits. Don't have to worry about auto-tuners or flubbing the lines. Dance/house is (finally) mainstream here in America. Won't happen, but it would be better. Between the Peas and Aguilera, those two performances pretty much summarized why I don't go to major concerts. And I second the Chrysler 200 commercial as best. May not be the best product, but was the best commercial. Couple on first date is second, beaver/Bridgestone third.

Jim C gave the best rendition of the National Anthem that I ever recall hearing in my life, and he should be required to sing the National Anthem at every major sporting event similar to how Michael Buffer is the ring announcer at every fight and many other things. I've had enough of people trying to put their own spin on it. Like bjk said above, if you're going to diva it up you better not screw it up.

Firstly, the garlic fries, they're better than everyone says. For me, the garlic fries have a peak marginal utility of about three. Starting with about the fourth fry, the law of diminishing returns starts coming into play real quick. Sentimentally I have to go with Miller Park. I was at the very first game ever played at the Keg, the exhibition game against the White Sox. Took an hour redialing on the phone to get through to get tickets. I remember walking in through the gates by home plate and walking out to look at the field and just being mesmerized. It seemed like there was a little smoke or fog in the air that just made it seem surreal. After all the years at County Stadium, walking into MP I was just blown away. That, and being able to get brats and multiple varieties of Leinies. You don't know how much you love something until you can't get it anymore. And you don't realize how easy and cheap it is to get to/park by the stadium. Petco, Dodger Stadium, AT&T, Fenway... not so much. Oh yeah, and a lot of stadiums don't allow you to tailgate. None of the stadiums in CA allow it. Logically I'd go with Petco. The surrounding Gaslamp district is fun, and one of my favorite restaurants in the world is the Gaslamp Strip Clup (an upscale grill-your-own steakhouse, the name is a play on words from their signature cut of mean - the New York strip). The rooftop lounge at the top of the Marriott is always a good time. It can get a little hot on Sunday day games. Fenway is next. As someone else said, knowledgeable baseball fans and easy to talk to - they were in awe of my jersey. Not good food though. And the women... aren't pretty. SFO is nice for day games, but can get real chilly at night games even in the summer if the fog and wind pick up. And the food... see above.

Some people around here think we should keep everyone in the minors until they are out of options instead of breaking camp with the 25 players consisting of the best at each position/role. So that way we can suck the first two months of the season and be out of the race by June... but then we don't have to pay for a Super Two!

Going with the "not mentioned yet" theme I'll take: Brewers - Josh Hamilton - need LH balance and can play CF (have to admit Mauer was the guy in mind until I saw that davego mentioned him) Packers - D'Brickashaw Ferguson - LTs are harder to find than RBs and Rodgers' health is the key to the success of the team (I think Thomas is better but he was already mentioned) Bucks - Amare Stoudemire - more power presence down low with Bogut plus Bogut's injury propensity, but Kevin Martin and his career .384 3-pt FG% would really help out at SG (tough choice between Stoudemire and D. Howard because of Howard's career 59% FT% vs. Stoudemire's 78% career FT%)

http://espn.go.com/espnnetworks/index On a related note, Comcast has a package where you get internet and TV plus a supplemental sports package that includes Big 10 Network and all ESPN networks in HD with taxes and everything included for $78.50/month. That's not bad at all considering that the internet speed will probably run $39/mo alone, and is about as close as a sports fan is going to get to being able to pick their own channels. This is your internet speed (on a Saturday morning - probably slower from 7-10PM on weeknights): http://www.speedtest.net/result/1133185856.png

+1 on that TLB I'm guessing that there were licensing or patent issues preventing the cheese covered deep fried bacon wrapped bratwurst that guy sells (or used to sell) outside of Lambeau? Hell, is there any legitimate reason to order something other than a brat with Stadium Secret Sauce? I got $20 that says they didn't even think of the potential hazards of a skewer.

Verizon FiOS - read it and weep: http://www.speedtest.net/result/1125114286.png Cable is famous for very slow upload speeds - it doesn't have the capacity that fiber optic has.

Granted it was a very small sample, but I don't know that Melvin had much of a choice - the Brewers were in a pennant race in 2007 and could not afford to have a guy in the pen with a 3.00 WHIP and 4 walks in 2.2 IP. They lost the division to Chicago by two games. Balfour couldn't get an out against Cincy, giving up two walks and a hit in extra innings to lose that game, and promptly untied a game against the D-Backs giving up 3 runs in two innings after a stellar start by Capuano. Those two games cost them a tie for the division.

It was pretty frustrating to see Jarmusz camp out on the three point line for that last shot of regulation, too, when there was absolutely nobody between him and the basket and they didn't need the three. In his defense, there was one second left on the shot clock, so going to the basket was not an option. That being said, he was wide open; all he has to do is draw iron and the clock keeps running and the Badgers at least have a shot at a rebound. I have been pretty turned off by the last few recruiting classes and think this team is setting up for big step backwards when Leuer and Nankivil are gone next year. I know every year we say that and every year someone steps up, but this year I really believe that statement. I just don't see anyone with the talent to step up to fill their spots. Berggren has improved a lot from last year but still has a ways to go to get to Polar Bear status. Bruiser, Berggren, Gasser, Brust, and Dukan are going to have to step up big time next year in order for them to make the tourney, much less contend for a Big 10 title.

They have been high on Schafer pretty much since they drafted him. He was sent to A-ball almost straight from the draft and made it to AA in his first full season in the minors. Two years ago when they played their last two or three spring training games in LA they brought Schafer with him and he was the first OF off the bench in the game against the Dodgers I went to. He is an excellent defensive player and has had a lot of assists. On top of that he bats LH so he will add balance to the lineup. What Nichols says about him has nothing to do with the players they traded away.

Looked like right before tipoff there were a lot of Michigan State fans disguised as empty seats.

And some of the mental illness is caused by drugs.

The thing that struck me the most was that one of the first things his mother said to him was, "Don't disappoint me." It good for people to get their life back together, however that statement speaks volumes about the choices he made in life. The biggest cause of homelessness is drugs.

Price now lowered to $125. Or equivalent trade-in value towards an iPad or similar tablet computer.

Standards do change, and that's why we need to consider what the standards were at the time the player played. 30 years ago if you couldn't hit but could draw walks you wouldn't get playing time, so you can't hold OBP against a player because that wasn't a metric that was considered important at the time. You had to hit to get into the lineup. That's especially true with Latin ballplayers - you had to hit in order to get signed and make your way through the minors, thus many of those players hack at pitches outside the strike zone because they are/were conditioned to believe that they had to in order to make it and stay in the big leagues. So we need to look at the standards of the time to judge if a player was hall-worthy. You can't judge a player by current standards - parks change, fields change, PEDs change, strategies and game/season management change, key metrics/stats change... you have to look at a player compared to his peers at the time he played. 30 years ago pitchers routinely threw 10 CGs a season; now they protect the arms so much that last year only four pitchers had more than five, and only three had more than five in the prior two years. 30 years ago Rick Langford threw 28 complete games in a season; now Roy Halladay leads the league with 9. 30 years ago four man staffs were the norm; now it's five man staffs. 30 years ago Steve Carlton threw 300 innings a year; now the league leader is 230-250. 30 years ago you didn't have supplements, and PEDs were very limited - it was more "uppers" and "greenies" and not HGH and steroid masks. 30 years ago a Gold Glove meant something; now it's almost an extension of the Silver Slugger. 30 years ago Astro Turf was in almost half of all stadiums and it was just carpet on top of concrete; now only a few stadiums have artificial surfaces and they are field turf. You can't use today's metrics to judge HOF candidates, because the game is so much different now compared to when they played.