Worthless and Weak

Sometime in the past, Outback steakhouse aired a commercial featuring NFL color man John Madden and NASCAR superstar Dale Jarrett, which was of a very little concern to anyone.

Except for visitors to my site. I get a few hits a day from various search engines queries of some combination of "Dale Jarrett John Madden Outback." At first I thought maybe it was just one person, but at closer inspection, it seems that they all have different IP addresses and such. All of this poses a great mystery to me. First, why would anyone care about it. Second, if they are looking for information about it, why would they keep on coming back, even when I only have one short description of it. Thirdly, do that many people out there care about the Dale Jarrett John Madden Commercial? Is it that big of a deal?

So, I'm begging you, if you got here by searching for "Dale Jarrett, John Madden Outback" or something like that, please, for the love of all that is good an holy, tell me why. I'm begging you. Leave me an e-mail: ThaddeusMcMonster@gmail.com, an IM at ThadeusMcMonster, or leave a comment, or something, please!!!!

Since I haven't yet looked at my predictions for the baseball season, how about I look at them and see how I did.

My predictions:

AL EAST:

prediction:

New York
Boston
Toronto
Baltimore
Tampa Bay

actual:

New York
Boston
Baltimore
Tampa Bay
Toronto

So I nailed two of the positions. Score, 2 of 5.

AL Central:

prediction:

Minnesota
Kansas City
Chicago
Cleveland
Detroit

actual:

Minnesota
Chicago
Cleveland
Detroit
Kansas City

Well, I got the leader, score, 6 of 10.

AL West:

prediction:

Anaheim
Oakland
Seattle
Texas

actual

Anaheim
Oakland
Texas
Seatle

Again, I get the first two, which isn't bad, I don't think. Score, 8 of 14.

Wild Card,

Prediction:

Boston

Actual:

Boston

Nailed it. 9 of 15

Basically, I nailed the American League, picking all four playoff spots. On to the NL.

NL East:

Prediction

Philly
Atlanta
Florida
New York
Montreal

Actual:

Atlanta
Philly
Florida
New York
Montreal

My best so far, although predicting the Expos to finish last isn't that impressive. Score, 12 of 20.

NL Central:

Prediction:

Houston
Chicago
St. Louis
Cincinatti
Milwakee
Pittsburg

Actual:

St. Louis
Houston
Chicago
Cincinatti
Pittsburg
Milwakee

Well, only Diamond Mind got ST Louis winning it, but I got Cincy right! 13 out of 26.

NL West:

Prediction:

San Francisco
San Diego
Arizona
Los Angelos
Colorado

Actual:

Los Angelos
San Francisco
San Diego
Colorado
Arizona

Yeouch! 13 of 31.

NL Wild Card:

Prediction: Chicago

Actual: Houston

ok 13 of 32.

So far, not overly bad, although I must say that I did much better on the AL than on the NL.

on to the world Series.

I had boston over houston in 6 games. So I'll give myself a point out of 2.

14 of 33.

Awards:

Predictions:

MVP

AL: Garret Anderson
NL: Mark Prior

Cy Young

AL: Pedro Martinez
NL: Mark Prior

ROY:

AL: Joe Mauer
NL: Johnny Estrada (this was my worst pick, as he wasn't even a rookie)

Actual:

MVP:

AL: Vlad Guerro
NL: Barry Bonds

Cy Young

AL: Johan Santana
NL: Roger Clemens

ROY:

AL: Bobby Crosby
NL: Jason Bay

So I got nothing.

0 for 6, which brings me to 14 of 39, a 35.9 percent rate.

I've been trying to figure out who is funnier, Lewis Black or Mitch Hedberg.

I'm not sure, they're both hilarious, although perhaps have the exact opposite styles. Well, maybe Steven Wright is further from Lewis Black, but whatever.

Anyway, I think that Hedberg is a bit funnier, although you have to be in the right mood for him, while Black will just assault you with his material. It might not even be funny, I don't know, its just gets so damn mad about it. So its not his material thats funny, its him. He just gets so damn mad that its just funny.

I have never done drugs, (other than alcohol, but who hasn't), so I really have no idea what its like to be stoned. But apparently, you laugh at stupid things. Which is exactly what a Mitch Hedberg routine is like. He just says the stupidest things, and you can't help but laugh at it.

Discuss.

I'm going to California tomorrow to see my brother and my new niece.

And the weather has to be much better better than here, if only by default.

Well, see you all later, peace out!

http://worthlessandweak.freeservers.com/seth.html

Well, a while ago I started this list of the greatest players who played their entire career with one team. And I kinda stopped doing it, because I got busy with school, and then moving into my new place, and then I forgot by baseball books at home. So, now I've got them back, and I'm ready to get on with this thing. Anyway, here it is, the greatest baseball players (pitchers excluded) who played their entire careers for one team, part 3.

11 Robin Yount:
Milwakee Brewers, Shortstop. 2856 Games, .285 avg, 1406 RBI, 251 HR.
Could have easily put him ahead of Brett, but I had to choose somebody. Two time MVP.

12 Al Kaline:
Detroit Tigers, Right Field. 2834 Games, .297 avg, 1583 RBI, 399 HR.
Youngest player to ever win the batting title. He had a cannon for an arm, was good but not great offensively, never won an MVP but finished 2nd twice.
Overall, a very good player who maybe doesn't get the credit he deserves.

13 Johnny Bench:
Cincinati Reds, Catcher. 2158 Games, .267 avg, 1376 RBI, 389 HR
Perhaps the greatest defensive catcher ever, (certainly one of the best) and not bad on offense either, granted, his batting average wasn't that high, but he more than made up for it in home runs. One of the greatest players on one of the greatest teams ever.

14 Tony Gwynn:
San Diego Padres, Right Field. 2440 Games, .338 avg, 1138 RBI, 135 HR
Has the 21st highest batting average ever. Excluding post 1930 players (when people pretty much stopped hitting .400), he has the 6th highest batting average ever. Two of those players (Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth,) played half or so of their games in the 20's, one (O'Doul) played about a third as many games as Gwynn (which is why you've never heard of him), and one played half his games in Coors park (Helton).
So you can make a good argument that Gwynn is the second best hitter for average ever. (the best post 1930 is Ted Williams).
Anyway, he's certainly the best offensive player who didn't hit for power since people starting hitting for power.
(as a side note, you're probably wondering why I chose 1930 as a cutoff point). The reason is that in the 20's, they averaged a .286 batting average, while in the 90's, for instance, they averaged .261.

15 Ernie Banks:
Chicago Cubs, Shortstop/First Base. 2528 Games, .274 avg, 1636 RBI, 512 HR.
He is regarded as the only shortstop to hit 500 home runs, but he really played more games at first than short. But he had his best seasons as a shortstop, he was a good enough defensive shortop, and a terrific offensive one.
On a side note, isn't it kind of odd that several of the best shortstops ever played a lot of games at other positions. Banks, Wagner, and Yount played a lot at other positions.