1. Sabres I have not had the time to really get down and dirty with the Sabres this year (wait, that came out wrong) - to really follow the Sabres this year. I had expected they would be down following the loss of Drury (Go BU) and Briere. After the first two games, I looked to be right, but they bounced back nicely.
Of course, Goose's Roost and BfloBlog cover the Sabres much more closely (and betterly) than I could hope to.
For example,
Goose's Roost has this excellent breakdown of the Jochen Hecht deal - a great signing, and great sign, that Drury and Briere notwithstanding, Regier is going to try to keep the young core together.
And BfloBlog has this hilarious Daily Show-esque mock interview. I don't want to spoil it - just check it out. The funniest thing I've read all day (especially since Deadspin has turned into one hell of a whine and bitch-fest the past few days).
2. Bills The enterprising soul who set up the Fire Dick Jauron blog has a new post tying the potential Toronto games and the benching of J.P. Losman (and his flowing locks) to the ineptitude of Mr. Jauron. (Note: Goose's Roost also weighed in on this)
As far as this weekend's game is concerned, the Bills D should keep it close - there will be some revenge factor against McGahee and Boller is atrocious. The Ravens D is still scary, but not the stout squad it has been in the past. I'd take the Bills and the under - then again - I am a horrible handicapper.
3. Miscellany Joe Posnanski's blog is tremendous, although the commenters are crazy.
In local news, TaxBoy is nearing 9 months now and is standing - not unassisted - he needs to hold on to something to keep from falling. I can't believe it. He also weighs about 20 lbs - so now he's noticeable when I carry him around.
St. John - 5 weeks away. Can't wait.
Showing posts with label TaxBoy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TaxBoy. Show all posts
Friday, October 19, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Baseball Update
All glory be to Rick Ankiel on a truly massive day today. 2 HRs, 7 RBIs. Cards win. Still have hope. He was the first starting pitcher I took in my roto draft the year after he melted down in the playoffs (I had taken Benitez before him - ugh). Needless to say, my pitching was not fantastic that year. Anyway, it really is a tremendous story - not quite the real life Natural (maybe Tommy John is a better analogy - someone who truly had to reinvent himself), but quite impressive.
The Viva el Birdos blog captures the true excitement and joy of a fan watching an amazing event involving his team better than I could. Check today's thread out here and scroll down to the comments around 4:30. Just tremendous.
Sox, as I write this, are p 7-6 in the top of the 9th against the Orioles. Covelli (a/k/a Oscar Gamble Jr.) is having a tremendous night - 3 run HR, 2 singles, stolen base, fantastic catch of a Tejada liner on a dead sprint toward the centerfield wall. I like him better and better each game, even with his struggles. Three things I noticed: (1) I think we are seeing the beginning of the inevitable Mike Lowell slow-down. I think at age 33 (my god - I am older than someone who has gray hair in his beard), on pace for high ABs, and based on his second half track record, he appears to be slowing down and needs rest down the stretch, the race for top 5 in the MVP vote notwithstanding. (2) The Sox have at least 3 guys who do not use batting gloves - Crisp, Mirabelli and Kielty. This must be some kind of high among major league teams. I wonder if they all do the Alou to keep their hands supple. (3) Gary Thorne is possibly the worst play by play guy in MLB (yes, I am including Michael Kay who at least tries to instigate discussions among his myriad color guys). He insists on calling a three run home run a "3 RBI home run". He also continually misidentifies hitters, pitches, etc. Palmer is especially prescient, so he almost covers for him, but yeesh. Awful.
The Taxes update
Huge day in Congress as twenty witnesses testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee regarding all manner of tax issues, from taxation of carried interest in investment funds to AMT to taxation of publicly traded partnerships. I'll have a full report later once I am able to review the testimony, but initial thoughts after reading prepared remarks and seeing initial commentary is that nothing will get done this year unless it is part of an enormous tax bill which proposed a major overhaul of the AMT, nothing will ultimately end up getting done on taxation of carried interest because (1) not enough revenue there to make it worthwhile and (2) lawmakers will be convinced that taxpayers will just develop a workaround anyway (which they will) and (3) they're deathly afraid of doing anything to harm the economy in the current climate. This is an initiative that would have better been taken up when consumer confidence was higher, people could feel comfortable spending against the equity in their houses and the debt markets weren't in the crapper.
IRS also released more liberal rules on reverse 704(c) allocations for hedge funds. I am reviewing.
The Death Update
Former DC first lady Effi Barry passed away today at the age of 63. She had been suffering from Leukimia. To paraphrase Dave Chappelle as Rick James, Cancer is a hell of a disease. One could argue that Ms. Barry did more for the poor of DC than Marion ever did. Anyway, the story is here and of course my thoughts and prayers go out to her entire family.
It was about a year ago, after we told that the TaxBoy was in fact going to be a boy (and hopefully a lefty), that I decided I'd better fly home and see dad. We knew he was terminal at this point, but didn't know how long he would have. Patients with small cell lung cancer at his stage have an amazingly short life expectancy so I figured 6-12 months, even with treatment. Maybe double that if we were lucky. Anyway, I hadn't seen him since the July 4 holiday (and a stressful one at that) and so wanted to see him. I booked a flight on American Eagle for the week of 9/22. I really wanted to show him the movie review book Ernest Ng and I had put together (ranking the Top 10 movies each year since the advent of commercial film - to see how many I had wrong). Didn't get to really show it to him.
All glory be to Rick Ankiel on a truly massive day today. 2 HRs, 7 RBIs. Cards win. Still have hope. He was the first starting pitcher I took in my roto draft the year after he melted down in the playoffs (I had taken Benitez before him - ugh). Needless to say, my pitching was not fantastic that year. Anyway, it really is a tremendous story - not quite the real life Natural (maybe Tommy John is a better analogy - someone who truly had to reinvent himself), but quite impressive.
The Viva el Birdos blog captures the true excitement and joy of a fan watching an amazing event involving his team better than I could. Check today's thread out here and scroll down to the comments around 4:30. Just tremendous.
Sox, as I write this, are p 7-6 in the top of the 9th against the Orioles. Covelli (a/k/a Oscar Gamble Jr.) is having a tremendous night - 3 run HR, 2 singles, stolen base, fantastic catch of a Tejada liner on a dead sprint toward the centerfield wall. I like him better and better each game, even with his struggles. Three things I noticed: (1) I think we are seeing the beginning of the inevitable Mike Lowell slow-down. I think at age 33 (my god - I am older than someone who has gray hair in his beard), on pace for high ABs, and based on his second half track record, he appears to be slowing down and needs rest down the stretch, the race for top 5 in the MVP vote notwithstanding. (2) The Sox have at least 3 guys who do not use batting gloves - Crisp, Mirabelli and Kielty. This must be some kind of high among major league teams. I wonder if they all do the Alou to keep their hands supple. (3) Gary Thorne is possibly the worst play by play guy in MLB (yes, I am including Michael Kay who at least tries to instigate discussions among his myriad color guys). He insists on calling a three run home run a "3 RBI home run". He also continually misidentifies hitters, pitches, etc. Palmer is especially prescient, so he almost covers for him, but yeesh. Awful.
The Taxes update
Huge day in Congress as twenty witnesses testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee regarding all manner of tax issues, from taxation of carried interest in investment funds to AMT to taxation of publicly traded partnerships. I'll have a full report later once I am able to review the testimony, but initial thoughts after reading prepared remarks and seeing initial commentary is that nothing will get done this year unless it is part of an enormous tax bill which proposed a major overhaul of the AMT, nothing will ultimately end up getting done on taxation of carried interest because (1) not enough revenue there to make it worthwhile and (2) lawmakers will be convinced that taxpayers will just develop a workaround anyway (which they will) and (3) they're deathly afraid of doing anything to harm the economy in the current climate. This is an initiative that would have better been taken up when consumer confidence was higher, people could feel comfortable spending against the equity in their houses and the debt markets weren't in the crapper.
IRS also released more liberal rules on reverse 704(c) allocations for hedge funds. I am reviewing.
The Death Update
Former DC first lady Effi Barry passed away today at the age of 63. She had been suffering from Leukimia. To paraphrase Dave Chappelle as Rick James, Cancer is a hell of a disease. One could argue that Ms. Barry did more for the poor of DC than Marion ever did. Anyway, the story is here and of course my thoughts and prayers go out to her entire family.
It was about a year ago, after we told that the TaxBoy was in fact going to be a boy (and hopefully a lefty), that I decided I'd better fly home and see dad. We knew he was terminal at this point, but didn't know how long he would have. Patients with small cell lung cancer at his stage have an amazingly short life expectancy so I figured 6-12 months, even with treatment. Maybe double that if we were lucky. Anyway, I hadn't seen him since the July 4 holiday (and a stressful one at that) and so wanted to see him. I booked a flight on American Eagle for the week of 9/22. I really wanted to show him the movie review book Ernest Ng and I had put together (ranking the Top 10 movies each year since the advent of commercial film - to see how many I had wrong). Didn't get to really show it to him.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Your Taxes Update
Two things today as well. First, the IRS is suiing Darryl Strawberry for $115K in unpaid taxes and $350K in penalties. This after he's already spent 6 months in home confinement after pleading guilty to criminal tax fraud charges. The unpaid taxes derive mostly from unreported earnings at card shows. Sad. He still hit 8 homers in the Simpsons softball game, so he's got that going for him. Maybe his son can help bail him out with that second round NBA money.
Next, Senator Charles Schumer is reportedly working on a bill to tax carried interest as compensation. He's flip-flopped on this issue, having previously come out against Rep. Sander Levin's bill. He claims that he has always supported the tax increase in theory, but wanted it applied to all industries (oil and gas, etc.), not just private equity and hedge funds. This is worrisome news, but I still think nothing will happen on this in '07.
Your Baseball Update
Watched the last few innings of the Sox last night. Even though they were 1-41 in "comeback" games this year (i.e., games where they were trailing after7 8), I just knew the D-Rays pen would blow it.
Three things I noticed: (1) Gagne's slider/curve/change was nasty. The pitch he struck out Pena on was just filthy. If he can spot his change like that and use his heat effectively (he was hitting low to mid-90s with his fb), he'll be fine. I think the high leverage closer-type situation also suited him well. (2) Varitek is an immensely boring interview. I know this isn't news, but man, he can't even show a little emotion on the night Lester returns to Fenway and the Sox finally come from behind and win? And I am certain that he toned it down even further once he realized the NESN feed was being played over the stadium loudspeakers. I'm not asking for Kevin Millar-style antics, but cut the Bull Durham cliche crap. (3) What happened to Gagne's goggles. He's wearing regular glasses now? Maybe that's his problem.
Some links: Surviving Grady's Take - celebrating the "at last" feeling - I agree - I was pumping my fist when Coco hit the gamewinner. Although I didn't think it was really ever in doubt.
Singapore Sox Fan rightfully notes the Al Reyes-Nomar connection. I had forgotten about that. I can't believe that guy is a major league closer.
Yanksfan v SoxFan Scroll up though for the nice remembrance of Rizzuto
Your Death Update
Which brings us to your death update. The first thing the Taxbabe (D-Nice) said to me when I mentioned that Rizzuto had passed away was "The Money Store" (take a look at Phil in action here). Not to get all Ruth Fisher on you, but it's little remembrances like that that help deal with death and loss. I almost forgot, and had to be reminded by someone, about one of the things I found most endearing about someone who just passed away. His hilarious Money Store commercials. Never mind that he was shilling for a bunch of predators. He was our shill. Here is a nice remembrance of his work for the Money Store.
I wonder what the first thing people think of when my dad's name is mentioned. I wonder how many of those things are things that I would remember or immediately recall. As it gets further and further away from his passing, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities to reminisce. I need to take better advantage of the ones I have.
Your Bonus REX Update
He hit the 15 lb mark yesterday (double his birth weight) at 6 months and 16 days. Very excited given how slow he was to put weight on. He gets cooler and cooler every day. Hard to remember how tiny he was when he was born even though it was just 6 months ago. Pictures help, but they're not perfect (picture-perfect? no such thing).
Two things today as well. First, the IRS is suiing Darryl Strawberry for $115K in unpaid taxes and $350K in penalties. This after he's already spent 6 months in home confinement after pleading guilty to criminal tax fraud charges. The unpaid taxes derive mostly from unreported earnings at card shows. Sad. He still hit 8 homers in the Simpsons softball game, so he's got that going for him. Maybe his son can help bail him out with that second round NBA money.
Next, Senator Charles Schumer is reportedly working on a bill to tax carried interest as compensation. He's flip-flopped on this issue, having previously come out against Rep. Sander Levin's bill. He claims that he has always supported the tax increase in theory, but wanted it applied to all industries (oil and gas, etc.), not just private equity and hedge funds. This is worrisome news, but I still think nothing will happen on this in '07.
Your Baseball Update
Watched the last few innings of the Sox last night. Even though they were 1-41 in "comeback" games this year (i.e., games where they were trailing after
Three things I noticed: (1) Gagne's slider/curve/change was nasty. The pitch he struck out Pena on was just filthy. If he can spot his change like that and use his heat effectively (he was hitting low to mid-90s with his fb), he'll be fine. I think the high leverage closer-type situation also suited him well. (2) Varitek is an immensely boring interview. I know this isn't news, but man, he can't even show a little emotion on the night Lester returns to Fenway and the Sox finally come from behind and win? And I am certain that he toned it down even further once he realized the NESN feed was being played over the stadium loudspeakers. I'm not asking for Kevin Millar-style antics, but cut the Bull Durham cliche crap. (3) What happened to Gagne's goggles. He's wearing regular glasses now? Maybe that's his problem.
Some links: Surviving Grady's Take - celebrating the "at last" feeling - I agree - I was pumping my fist when Coco hit the gamewinner. Although I didn't think it was really ever in doubt.
Singapore Sox Fan rightfully notes the Al Reyes-Nomar connection. I had forgotten about that. I can't believe that guy is a major league closer.
Yanksfan v SoxFan Scroll up though for the nice remembrance of Rizzuto
Your Death Update
Which brings us to your death update. The first thing the Taxbabe (D-Nice) said to me when I mentioned that Rizzuto had passed away was "The Money Store" (take a look at Phil in action here). Not to get all Ruth Fisher on you, but it's little remembrances like that that help deal with death and loss. I almost forgot, and had to be reminded by someone, about one of the things I found most endearing about someone who just passed away. His hilarious Money Store commercials. Never mind that he was shilling for a bunch of predators. He was our shill. Here is a nice remembrance of his work for the Money Store.
I wonder what the first thing people think of when my dad's name is mentioned. I wonder how many of those things are things that I would remember or immediately recall. As it gets further and further away from his passing, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities to reminisce. I need to take better advantage of the ones I have.
Your Bonus REX Update
He hit the 15 lb mark yesterday (double his birth weight) at 6 months and 16 days. Very excited given how slow he was to put weight on. He gets cooler and cooler every day. Hard to remember how tiny he was when he was born even though it was just 6 months ago. Pictures help, but they're not perfect (picture-perfect? no such thing).
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
He's Sure no Tavarez...
Jon Lester had the hook going last night, and some high cheese (the third inning strikeout of Hafner was particularly sweet) as he came back from cancer and more or less shut down the Indians. Sox win 6-2
Here is a good game short by Dan Lamothe at Red Sox Monster. And here is Over the Monster's take.
Rex was up early today, then back down, so I am up making the coffee this morning. Need to head to work shortly soon, though, so this is it for the first post.
Here is a good game short by Dan Lamothe at Red Sox Monster. And here is Over the Monster's take.
Rex was up early today, then back down, so I am up making the coffee this morning. Need to head to work shortly soon, though, so this is it for the first post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
