I watched SportsCenter after the Raiders-Chargers game tonight, and about ten seconds into “Plays of the Week,” Chris Berman stopped and said, “Let me do it again.” On live television. So the visuals switched to the “coming up on SportsCenter” sequence and Karl Ravich did the voice-over for it. Then about ten minutes later Chris Berman did the plays of the week like nothing happened.
Did anyone else see this and/or think it was strange?
I just read this story on Fox Sports.com: Rangers might want to trade for Ramirez. Are they crazy? Do they remember what happened when they got A-Rod? Nothing, that’s what. They lost financial flexibility (even though A-Rod deferred money every year) and they sucked each of those three years.
Sure, Texas might make a deal with Boston that leaves the Red Sox responsible for, say, half of Manny’s pay. Let’s say that happens, and they still have reasonable financial flexibility. But the deal reportedly would send Alfonso Soriano to Boston in exchange for Ramirez. I don’t like this deal on paper or on the field.
Manny’s got better numbers than Soriano. But Manny bats right in the heart of that monstrous Boston lineup (see: David Ortiz). Put him in a no man’s land like Texas, and teams will pitch around him. On the other hand, Soriano might blossom in Boston, even more than he already has.
Manny is also four years older than Soriano. Sure, we’ve seen hitters like Barry Bonds go crazy after turning 36, but Manny Ramirez doesn’t appear to take care of his body the way Barry Bonds does (steroid speculation aside). Manny in Texas would likely experience an offensively-depressed transition year, followed by one or two years in which he finds some of the magic from his glory years in Boston (but still won’t reside in a Boston-caliber lineup), then sees his stats drop off. At that point you’ll see more “Manny being Manny” clips on Sportscenter and/or Ramirez will ask to be traded in July.
Meanwhile, Soriano would also likely experience a transition year after going to his third team in four years. After that, he would at worst be a solid lead-off hitter, and at best move to third in the lineup if he develops into more of a power hitter.
If I were Texas’s GM I would avoid this deal. But it’s Texas, and they’ll probably go for it. If I were Boston’s GM (Why not me?), I’d jump at this deal — to rid myself of the annual Manny headache and to get a younger player with talent and speed.
ESPN Soccernet has an article up about a new $1 million exception the MLS is likely to approve. This exception would give each team the ability to sign a high-profile, foreign-basesd player. It’s called the “David Beckham Exception,” although $1 million would not be enough to land Beckham today. I enjoyed the article not only for its depth, but its analysis of the league’s future and development into a money-maker from its roots and current status as a money-loser. Read the article here.
Gmail now features automatic virus scanning of file attachments. Unlike Yahoo Mail’s virus scanner, Gmail’s scanner does not appear to be powered by a third party such as Norton or McAfee. Apparently, Google has developed this virus scanner internally.
It begs the question: Will Google release its own branded desktop virus scanner? It could integrate with Google Desktop Search. Google Sidebar could inform you of the status of your system scan. You could search Google’s virus encyclopedia. (I find both Norton’s and McAfee’s to be lacking.)
Look for it.
Mozilla today released Firefox 1.5 on its website. My Firefox 1.0.7 (or whatever) couldn’t find an auto-update — I assume Mozilla hasn’t readied the upgrade file yet — So I downloaded the full installer and ran it. It brought in all my settings flawlessly. This isn’t surprising considering that the previous “auto-updates” just downloaded the latest full installer.
Of the three touted features I place the most value on — better back and forward button performance, better pop-up blocking, and arrangeable tabs — I can only say for sure that the tabs are noticeably different. You can rearrange them. This is good. I’ve longed for that feature more than once. Faster back button? I never noticed it crawling before, but it’s certainly pretty good now. And better pop-up management? Every couple days I’d find a site that defeated the previous Firefox’s blocker, but I honestly can’t remember what any of those sites are and if the new Firefox blocks them, I probably won’t notice them anymore anyway.
PS — I uninstalled Google’s Web Accelerator because it seemed to have stopped saving me time. I decided that unnoticeable time savings weren’t worth any RAM hit. So I nuked it.
Additionally — I got an email from Thomas Rice, whose name I didn’t recognize. He’s got a new website called MyLinkVault. He emailed me the link because he read my posts on DP.com about networked bookmark services. I’ve started to use his site, have started a review, and will probably post it on Saturday. I don’t know if he sent me the link with the expectation that I would review it, but I must point out two things that strike me about the fact that he sent me the link:
1. I’m flattered that the guy who owns the site would email me about his new product. (It’s professional-looking.) And
2. I can’t believe there are people out there (besides my RIT friends) who read my site. Yeah, the logs show IPs from all over the world, but who would believe people actually assimilate information they read on DanPremo.com?
The Motorola Razr V3c is coming to the Verizon Wireless Network. See promotional website. No timetable indicated, but you can sign up for an email announcement when it is available. I filled out that form. I’m up for a new phone around July and you can bet that if I can get a Razr I’ll jump at it. Unless the Pebl is available for Verizon by then … but I doubt that. Maybe in another two years …
Yesterday I recalled that the Xbox 360 Premium System comes packed with an Xbox Live headset. Today while reading Xbox.com I was reminded that the Premium System comes packed with HD cables.
The Core System isn’t worth it. I’d probably be spending $200 extra on the stuff not included with it. Hopefully I won’t buy it over Christmas in Allegany and then have to lug it back to Atlanta in my suitcase.
Last night I drove up to Perimeter, GA to get an AeroBed. While I was in Perimeter, I stopped by Best Buy to 1) Cash in my $5 reservations for Perfect Dark Zero and Project Gotham Racing 3 and 2) See if they had any more Xbox 360s. Thy didn’t have any more systems, but I got the games. And felt very sad.
Then I went to SuperTarget to get the AeroBed. Of course, the first department I visited was the video games department. They had Play & Charge Kits and Hard Drives (Hard Drives!). I picked up a Plug & Charge Kit. And felt very sad.
While I was at SuperTarget I spotted CNN personality Kyra Phillips. Also, I bought several sweaters.
So the fact that Target had hard drives makes me second-guess my Premium-or-none stance on the Xbox 360. Maybe I should have gotten a Core system, and then I could have gotten the hard drive and a wireless controller and I’d be all set. I’d have that unsightly wired controller, but I suppose I could have sold it to Gamestop for $20 bucks or so … maybe I made the wrong choice. Still, at some point over the next month or two I’ll get a Premium System and you can bet I’ll be patting myself on the back.
Until then, I’ll be able to look back and know that I was bored. And felt very sad.
It’s now November 22, 2005, 12:25 AM. Xbox 360 launch day.
About 35 minutes ago I drove over to my nearest Wal-Mart. There was a small group of guys standing and/or sitting outside the main entrance. “Are you in line for the Xbox?” I asked.
“Yeah,” the last in line replied. “They’ve got ten — and you’re number ten.”
Hot.
“But they’ve got two premium systems,” he continued, “and eight core packages.”
FTW.
That was about 11:53. I waited, thinking that perhaps the people standing out in the cold were somehow misinformed, or that an ill-intentioned Wal-Mart employee had fed them a line. At 12:01, the person in charge came out, locked half of the doors, counted us, and told us that there were ten systems. I yelled up to him, “Do you only have two premium systems?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I stood there for about one more minute, then decided to catch up with number eleven in line (who had left, dejected) and give him my spot. I haven’t waited for this just to get a Core System, then blow another $140 bucks on a hard drive and a wireless controller, just to have people come over to my crib and ask why my disc tray isn’t chromed out.
So I drove to Best Buy. Behind the automatic sliding doors employees had affixed black sheets to hide the magic inside from onlookers. I guess. Or maybe they do that every night. A couple of people were asking for jumper cables, and then an employee asked me if I was there for the Xbox 360. “Yeah.”
“Talk to the man in there.”
I started for the narrow gap in one set of sliding doors. Before I got too close, a man emerged from behind the black curtain. “You’re here for the Xbox 360?”
“Yep.”
“What’s your name?”
“Daniel.”
“Your last name?”
“Premo.”
“D-a-n-i-e-l-P-r-i-m-o?”
“P-r-e-m-o.” Members of the Premo family are accustomed to this sort of exchange.
“P-r-e-m-o. Okay. I’ll put your name on the list.”
“What do I have to do?”
“At six AM we’ll be handing out tickets based on the order your name is on the list. Then at nine we’ll be opening the doors and giving systems to people with tickets.”
“Will it be a premium system or a core system?”
“That depends on the other people on the list. This store is getting 58 systems.”
“So 55 out of 58 — that’s probably going to be a core system.”
“I’d say probably” — and the guy hesitates for a second, like there’s even the possibility that this store got 55 premium systems and only three core packages — “it’ll be a core package.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Thank you.”
So I won’t be getting up bright and early to go to Best Buy. I refuse to buy a core system, even if I have to wait until January. Supposedly more systems will be shipped every week. I won’t be surprised to get a premium pack next week. God knows Gamespot and Joystiq will commit coverage to additional shipments through Christmas.
The Sports Guy’s latest column at ESPN.com deals with GM Theo Epstein’s departure from the Boston Red Sox.
Maybe I’m biased — I’ve gotten to the point where I look for a new Sports Guy column every day, even though I know it’s not daily (but I don’t know how often it is produced) — but I think this is the best Sports Guy column I’ve ever read. For just a moment it transcends sports, yet barely avoids becoming sappy or turning into an after-school special.
I watched game three of the Red Sox – White Sox ALDS this year and I didn’t feel elation. (Did I write about this already?) I felt somber. I noticed my own feelings and thought that I should feel a kind of manic satisfaction over the Red Sox loss. Certainly I’m not happy to see Epstein leave the Red Sox. Maybe I just root for a guy who’s roughly my age doing one of the most interesting “average joe” jobs in my favorite sport. Or maybe somewhere along the way I developed a healthy amount of respect for the Red Sox. Sure, I don’t like Manny or Ortiz — but I don’t laugh at them anymore.
Maybe I’m sad to see Theo go because I read Moneyball. Maybe I’m sad because his departure is indicative of an epidemic ravaging not only the sports world, but this whole country — young people with genuinely new and good ideas, pushed aside by wealthy old men.