Bears: Worst 6-6 Team in the History of the NFL?

It would take a serious effort to convince me otherwise.

Fire Joe the Somebody

ZJ beat to the punch on this one. My first though on hearing about FJM's demise was that I (and maybe some friends) could fill the void pretty easily. Not that I could hope to be half as funny as those guys, but I'd probably be just as good as ripping holes in terrible sports journalism. Of course my first though was to try to get firejoebuck.com, but it looks like I was little slow on the draw again. It also looks like firejoebuck.blogspot.com is taken, but not really being used for anything. What a pity. I bet either of those would generate a decent amount of traffic. I thought about focusing on Chicago sports, but with Marrioti gone from the Sun-Times, Rosenbloom is the biggest hack in town, and I'm not sure many people know who he is. Oh well, I'll think about it.

While I'm talking sports, Phil Rogers in the Tribune has this nugget:

Free agents Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu have been mentioned, but don't be surprised if Hendry instead adds a lesser hitter with more flexibility, such as the Kansas City Royals' Mark Teahen...

DeJesus would not be moved cheaply, but sources hinted the Cubs could get the 27-year-old Teahen for a package built around either Felix Pie or one of two young infielders, Mike Fontenot and Ronny Cedeno.

More flexibility? Are we talking ability to touch his toes, or willingness to ride the bench for long periods of time? Hopefully it's the later, because this guy's numbers look even worse than Fukudome's. Pie and Cedeno I can live without, but Fontenot had a .911 OPS last year. Admittedly he platooned and only had about 280 PAs, but his OPS wasn't that much worse against lefties (.893, very small sample size, though) and actually his OBP was a little better. Teahen had a .715 OPS last year (with a whopping .313 OBP) and struck out almost three times for every walk he drew. I swear, if Hendry moves Fontenot (packaged or otherwise) for Teahen, I'm quitting the Cubs.

The coveted GiT endorsement goes to...

Barack Obama. There you have it. I will vote for him tomorrow. I probably even would have volunteered some time if I didn't have fifty papers to grade and a test to write tomorrow. I'm not going to write much more for the same reasons. My main reason for this choice is that John McCain is a repulsive scumbag who has run a revolting campaign. That's good enough for me.

Dog Bites Man

Yes, I know that like all men, all politicians have a disposition towards mendacity. But John McCain excels supremely at the practice even by politicians' standards. I really don't think he's capable of opening his mouth without just making shit up. Here he goes again today:

“My opponent is working out the details with speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise your taxes, increase spending and concede defeat in Iraq. He’s measuring the drapes. And as you noticed, the night before last, he gave his first address to the nation before the election. And this week he settled on a chief of staff!’’

The RNC also has made a similar statement, based on this blurb. So, yeah. Anonymous sources have said that "Obama's campaign has approached Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel about possibly serving as White House chief of staff" (emphasis added), which contact has been denied by Emanuel's office. In McCain-speak this becomes "He settled on a chief of staff!"

Reminiscent of earlier this week when McCain claimed that Obama had written his inaugural address. Actually, an aide had written a hypothetical address for a generic Democratic candidate before he was even working for the Obama campaign.

And when the Washington Post accuses a candidate of perpetuating a vile smear - well, that's probably as close they'll ever come to publishing the truth - the man is a habitual liar.

Second Prize (Updated Below)

Last weekend, I traveled to the lovely Wisconsin Dells, along with pals Greg and Niko (neither of whom are terrorists) for the 25th annual Dells Spells Scrabble tournament. I entered as the 13th seed out of 18 in Division I. Almost two months ago I quit playing online Scrabble, and I haven't done any kind of word study since Arden Cup in May, so my expectations were low. I set of goal of a 6-6 record for the weekend. Play began early Saturday morning. Here's a game by game breakdown.

Game 1 vs. Vincent V. Vincent is a club-mate that I haven't beaten in a long time. He started with JAWING for 50, but I came right back with FITTINGs, and was leading most of the game, until I lost a turn by challenging SCUP. Not sure what I was thinking there; it just looked bad to me. He was able to capitalize on the remaining esses, and I lost 356-413. Record: 0-1 -57

Game 2 vs. Michael D. For the second straight game, I bingoed on my first turn, this time with ALEURON. Michael tried REWATER* for a 2x2 on his second turn, which I challenged off. I couldn't block both spots for WATERER on his next turn, and he pulled a blank bingo out of the bag (I don't remember the word) on the next turn. I was able to answer with CORNEAS, but that set him up for WHEY for 49 on a triple. I got another free turn later when I challenged off AEROS*, and managed to get within two points, but his blank and S in the endgame were too much to overcome. Final score: 402-425. Record: 0-2 -80.

I was kind of irritated to lose a game in which I won two challenges, but the karma started to swing my way.

Game 3 vs. David J. This time I didn't bingo until my second turn with SODOMiTE to a triple. I led almost the whole way and prevailed 388-338. Record 1-2 -30.

Game 4 vs. Winter. This was a real back-and-forth shootout and probably the most fun game of the tournament for me. I struck on my third turn with TESTOOn, Winter hit back-to-backs with ANORETIC and REVIEWER in the top of the fifth and sixth, and I came right back with CTENOID, and clinched it with OUTLEARN. Score: 477-431. Record 2-2 +16.

I head to lunch right on pace for my goal. But I've got some tough games in the afternoon.

Game 5 vs. Lisa 0. Two impressive plays from Lisa. She used the L from my ZLOTY for a sweet 2x2: RURALITY for 90. She also got down AQUATONES for 89 later. Both were blank bingoes, but I don't remember which letters. I only managed the pedestrian STANINE. Score: 372-432. Record: 2-3 -44.

Game 6 vs. Joey M. Well, I pulled ZITHERS out of the bag for a 108 point head-start. I ran into some U-trouble on my next turns, but was rewarded when I chickened out of the clearly superior CUTUP and opted for MEOU. I got down PICAYUnE to a triple for 95, and continued to draw well enough to keep Joey out of the game. Final: 468-321. Record 3-3 +103.

Game 7 vs. Melissa R. The first bingo didn't come until the bottom of the fifth this game, when I put down LANDsmEN for a whopping 58 points. I could've gotten iNLANDs down for a few more, but having both blanks is usually too much for me to process for some reason. Melissa countered with UNHAILED, but I was able to get EROTICS a turn later, and then after playing YUM to an IOOP leave, with the idea of scoring, taking out a hot-spot, and clearing some of the crap out of my rack, I hit POISONER. No substitute for luck. Final: 438-372. Record 4-3 +169.

I was incredibly satisfied with my first day. 4-1 over my last 5 games, and it turned out I was just warming up. Sunday's games:

Game 8 vs. Steve H. The bingo early formula worked again. Holding ?BKNOOR on my second turn, I saw two of the possible eights, and Steve obligingly laid out an O for me. He came back nicely with HEADY for 45, but I laid down FETIALES for 84. I opted for this over FEALTIES, because I figured there was a small but extant chance that the former would draw a challenge, which it did. The extra turn, and continued decent draws sealed the deal. Final: 426-369. Record: 5-3 +226.

Game 9 vs. Marty M. Bingo early and often is a winning formula. For the second straight game I bingo on my 2nd and 3rd turn. This time it's WIDENER followed by UNABATED (a good Sunday word). I also get big Z, X and J plays. Final: 485-325. Record: 6-3 +386.

Game 10 vs. Mike W. SNORTED on my third turn was followed by REATONE* from Mike, which I challenged off. I was kind of surprised; although I'd only played Mike once before, I had seen a decent number of games at Twin Cities this spring (which he won), and was impressed by his word knowledge. Mike had to spend some turns fishing, and meanwhile I got down AGELESS, and later BATTERIE. Final: 490-321. Record: 7-3 +555.

Game 11 vs. Jim K. I just drew everything this game. I got VESICANT for 102 in the top of the second, as Jim struggled through tough racks. OUTFINd put the game out of reach, although I did stumble and try BAILY*, my only phony of the tournament. I got the turn back when Jim tried HOA*, and I hit MeNTORS late. Final: 495-291. Record 8-3 +759.

This put me in second place. I joked with Steve Pellinen before Sunday's games that I just needed to win out to clinch the tournament. Actually, it turned out that Joey was 9-1 going into Round 11, so I needed Lisa to beat him to have a shot, which she did. I had Joey on spread, so a win would've clinched it. The anticlimax:

Game 12 vs. Joey M. Joey opened with VESPID, and I had ?AAEGNU. I sensed there was something there, but I just didn't feel good about GUANAsE. I opted for VAU over VAGUE, thinking I had a very good chance of bingoing on the next turn. Indeed, I got tANKAGE down at 7H (the only playable bingo), but this allowed Joey to hit OXO for 42, and after a series of good plays (including TOKENED for 55, and WAISTED for 89 followed by HEMOSTAT for 64) he pulled away. The last blank allowed me to do QIs/HEMOSTATs for 72, keeping it somewhat respectable. I can't feel bad about this one, I just got outplayed by a better player. Score: 368-452.

Final Record: 8-4 +675 2nd Place. Tons of fun overall, and I'm looking forward to the Twin Cities tourney next month.

Update: I forgot to congratulate Niko for taking 2nd place in Div. 2 with a 10-2 record. We were both playing for the division win in our final games. Also my new rating is up and it's 1706! About time I made that milestone; I was at 1660 after Annapolis in May of 2007.

Debate

Well, I guess a relatively uneventful debate is good for the guy who's solidly leading in the polls. Obama looked alright overall. I think he should have brought Iraq up first and foremost in the budget cutting question, and missed an easy point on the Ahmadinejad question: How would putting preconditions on a meeting remove the purported legitimizing effect of meeting with Ahmadinejad? I'm assuming "preconditions" here means something like allowing in inspectors, or suspending nuclear activities and not repudiating statements about Israel*. McCain did manage to make himself look pretty ridiculous with his repeated bleating of "How can we sit across a table...", and condescending with his "Senator Obama doesn't understand..." remarks.

*I suppose calling McCain on the mistranslations of Ahmadinejad's comments would have backfired.

As of this moment...

The Cubs have six players with at least 20 HRs on the year, and none with at least 30. I have to believe this is a unique occurrence in the history of MLB.