Who Did You Play Against, Joe Dimaggio?

With this season being the 60th anniversary of Joe Dimaggio's seemingly untouchable record of getting a hit in 56 consecutive games, there has been a great deal of chatter about why no one had come close to matching his record since 1941. Statisticians might call this a "Black Swan", an outlier so far outside the standard deviation as to be nearly impossible. In the years since, the closest anyone has come to Mr. Coffee's record is Pete Rose with 44, which is the same number that the previous record owner, Wee Willie Keeler (did that nickname keep him from getting dates?) in 1897.

Kostya Kennedy has a small piece in Sport Illustrated about what an enigma this record is, including some explanations about why no one has come close. The standard explanations are that pitchers are so much more specialized today, and have so much more information on hitters. But don't hitters also have more info, as well as modern technology as a teaching tool to groove their swings?

I have another explanation. Joltin Joe was not playing against the best players in the world when he set that record, only the best white players. I have long believed that any record set before baseball fully integrated should have an asterisk for this reason. As I write this I am watching the Bosox try to hang on for a sweep of the Evil Empire. Andruw Jones is playing for the Yankees tonight, which reminded me of all the hits he took away from hitters when he was younger and a brilliant fielder. Take all the minority players in the game today who would not have been invited to play in the Majors in 1941, and replace them with inferior White players, and tell me there wouldn't be a lot more hits falling. I bet some clever Sabremetrician could even estimate this effect.

The real question is why no one on TV ever has the guts to point this out!

Our Crazy Health Care System

This speaks for itself. Makes it hard to understand why we can't fix this!


Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Wouldn't a Lion Make a Nice Pet?

Saturday Kip and I visited the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO, about 30 miles east of Boulder. This is a place that rescues large, wild animals that have been kept or raised in captivity, and might otherwise be destroyed. So, we spent the afternoon watching lions and tigers and bears (OH MY!) running, eating, roaring and socializing, as well as wolves, leopards and cougars. This place has been featured on 60 Minutes (see video) and recently in the Wall Street Journal, a feature that talked about their recent adoption of 17 circus lions from South America.

Very cool place that probably shouldn't have to exist. Many of the animals were confiscated from idiots who thought they would make nice pets when they were young, you know, because they would never grow up and be dangerous. Kind of like humans with a cute new baby, not realizing it would some day be a teenager. Makes you wonder how we claim to be the most intelligent animals.

If you're in Colorado, go visit. But take your binoculars, as this is NOT a zoo. Although some of the animals are still caged, as they are being socialized, there is only one large observation area, and many of the animals are in large areas a ways away.

60 Minutes News Story from Wild Animal Sanctuary on Vimeo.

"Freedom Riders" airs 5/16 on PBS

Back in Feb. I wrote about the film "Freedom Riders", which I had seen at the Boulder International Film Festival. Great documentary about the brave men and women who risked their lives to help desegregate the south.

It is airing on Monday 5/16. Watch it with your kids! They need to know how far we have come in this country in 50 years, how far we still have to go, and how far backwards the Tea Baggers want to drag us!

Watch the full episode. See more American Experience.

Did killing Bin Laden help Obama?

You can watch all kinds of talking heads on TV speculating on the above question, but what does the market say? Well, the chart on the futures contract for his re-election soared last night from 58% to 70%, then settled at 62% by this afternoon. Intrade allows people to be on future events. Pretty cool. See the Obama chart HERE.

Interesting take on Bin Laden death

Not wanting to get all my news from the "Lamestream media", I found a very interesting alternative. We know what Americans are thinking. What about the rest of the world? You can get an interesting take at Al Jazeera in English. They had pictures of Osama's compound I had not seen on US tv, and reaction from Taliban in Pakistan, who, as you would imagine, pledge revenge.

Wish they could have waited a week to do this. I am up to my ass in school stuff to grade, but all I want to do is follow this story.

How DID the National Debt Get So Big?

Last week of school, so not much time to write. However, I just must share THIS WASH-POST STORY about how we went from surpluses to huge deficits and a serious debt problem all in 10 years. But remember, no matter what the facts say, it is all Obama's fault!