This one… And this one… This one here…

And yet I’ll turn on the TV next week holding out hope for a turnaround…

I really have no place to put this, so why not here? This may have been one of the funnier FJM posts I’ve ever read. Amazing work.

Cubs-Dodgers starts in 10 minutes. Huge series — probably the most intriguing DS in a pretty overall-intriguing DS year. Cubs trying to overcome 100 years of failure, the result of a curse put on them by a man with a goat. (This, unlike other curses, is actually true. It is an actual curse. A real-life witchcraft/black arts type situation. I know, I know — I don’t generally believe in curses, but in this case, science, logic, and reason all point to the Cubs’ failure to win a World Series being the result of an honest-to-God occult situation. It’s hard-core fucking Goonies type stuff. That’s the deal.) And the Dodgers trying to overcome exceptional mediocrity with the help of Manny Ramirez, who apparently, Red Sox fans are surprised to find out, has been phoning it in since July of 2002.

Anyway, it should be a very interesting series, and not just because it’s fun to listen to Ron Santo’s insane-yet-somehow-charming homerism. But let’s get right to the heart of the matter. How do Yankee fans feel about it?

Let’s Talk About What’s Important Here [FJM]

I just got into work not too long ago.  Beamed up the news of the morning, and found out that George Carlin passed away last night.  It wasn’t all too long ago that Carlin was touring, and if it wasn’t for the lack of money at the time I would have liked to have been there. 

His HBO comedy special from a few years back is the only stand-up show that I laughed through the entire time, having to watch it more than once to catch the jokes I missed while catching my breath.  While he didn’t exactly have kind things to say about religion, government or even the game of baseball, he had a way to make everything funny.  The only guy that really forced you to sit back and say, “Hey, wait a second.  He’s right!”

He lived a good life, didn’t take shit from anyone, and made a living doing it.  I think one of the saddest parts of the whole story is that there isn’t anyone that I can see filling his shoes.  Ever.  He’ll be very missed.

And thank god for DVD collections.  Even if George didn’t believe.

As much as some people hate construction, I love seeing cranes downtown.  Look at any pictures of China, or even the UAE, and you’re bound to see cranes building something.  Whether or not they’re appropriately using resources isn’t the point.  The fact is that they’re building – not just resting on history and what-not.

So, seeing this news in today’s PD gets me pretty pumped.  Not only does the name “Jacobs” remind me of a winning baseball team, but it’s a good sign that one of the better busisnessmen in the area thinks building would provide benefit. 

Plus, we could use some buildings that do not have boards on the windows.  That’s always a plus.

I remember a few years ago, I used to play this computer game called “Civilization” where you were trying to start a civilization in ancient times, and you had to fight off raging hordes and build villages and learn new technologies and all of that … it was a pretty fun game in a geeky sort of way. But what I remember most is that there was this cheat mode on it where you could automatically own all the new technologies and you could have as much money as you wanted … so, basically in cheat mode these raging hordes would come at you with clubs and spears, and you could smite them with military helicopters and guided missiles and atomic bombs. That’s what I think it’s like to be a Red Sox and Yankees fan.

Joe Posnanski, be thy name.  Meanwhile, my Indians have dropped nine of ten.  Sigh.

Fans Who Boo Loudest, Suffer Least [Joe Posnanski]

No player on the Cavaliers makes me as nervous as Anderson Varejao when the ball is in his hands.  Thankfully, the big man channeled his inner “Z” last night and tore of the Celtics over the final few minutes.

My man Rick has an excellent recap over at WFNY… Highly suggested.

Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Varejao [WaitingForNextYear]

Taylor Buckley.  18-year old kid.  Murderer. 

San Francisco Gate

I know…rare is it that I double-post, but this Friedman piece is worth checking out, regardless of partisanship.

No doubt that energy policy is going to be a HUGE component of the whole ‘platform’ this summer.  Especially each week that you find yourself at the gas station, filling up you premium-gassed guzzler.  I really have to sit back and decide for myself what I think is the best. 

At first, Hillary’s “tax the big guy” stance seemed adequate.  But Friedman puts that in a different light.

No, no, no, we’ll just get the money by taxing Big Oil, says Mrs. Clinton. Even if you could do that, what a terrible way to spend precious tax dollars — burning it up on the way to the beach rather than on innovation?

The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.”

Keep in mind that Friedman was in Bill Clinton’s cabinet – so he’s not exactly Hill-bashing here…

Just food for thought.

What do the Cavaliers and Hillary have in common?  Both needed a game-changer yesterday, yet both fell short.