I've Been a Bad Bad....

blogger.



Anyway... here are the updates...

The Taxes Update

I didn't want to comment on any of Charlie Rangel's tax machinations (he is, after all, my congressman), although he has gotten superficial coverage in the Economist, the NY Times, and elsewhere. (Edited to note: I was glib - A Taxing Matter has had great coverage on this and other recent tax issues. Much better than I, anyway.

Bottom line: The AMT is scheduled to apply to a shitload of middle-class families in '08 absent at least a "one year patch" extending prior laws exempting more and more American taxpayers. The patch is a political necessity. Rangel proposed (and the House W&M committee passed) a bill that offset the cost of the patch and some popular extenders with (1) a change in taxation of carried interest and (2) a change in the taxation of deferred comp.

Grassley, et. al., have said that they did not view an AMT patch as requiring revenue offsets because the AMT was never intended to have the bite it now has (which is odd since it was never indexed to inflation).

Thus, we find ourselves in a bit of a stalemate. Although not that much of one as Rangel has already basically caved (via Tax Notes) and agreed to look at other possible revenue offsets besides the carried interest raise. See this also from Rep. Emanuel.

Here is my view: (1) A change in legislation allowing tax-exempts to invest in funds that borrow to fund their investments will pass, (2) The carried interest and deferred compensation bills will be deferred to '09, but then pass and (3) Whatever happened to the "Blackstone Bill"? It was not included in Rangel's bill. Would have thought that would be a great revenue raiser.

Lots of other interesting tax stuff, but, it will have to wait.

The Death Update

I realized today as i was writing an entry in my "bricks and mortar" journal that the book I was writing in was intended to be used as a book of remembrance for Dean Gordanier, a brilliant tax lawyer who passed away about 4 years ago in Boston.

He was a great man, a great tax lawyer. A brilliant guy, one who touched all who came in contact with him. He was always there with a hug or a clap on the shoulder and while a bit prickly, was the first to share with you a wide, kidlike grin when things were right in the world.

He also thought accountants "whores and charlatans". Of course, this was before the Andersen meltdown. Now he'd call them scurrulous and scaredy-cats. That was Dean.

So I should be careful to make sure my bricks and mortar journal is sturdy. For Dean.

The Rest Update

Since baseball season is over, the rest of the updates, will be the... um... "Rest" Update, like Paul Harvey says.. the rest of the story.

-- The Bills - Losman back in again. Damn. And I just got my hair cut. Seriously though, the team is more suited to a QB with his particular skills. Speed, dangerous long ball, acrobatic catches. It's not a possession receiver team. Hopefully they can keep the 'fish winless this week.

-- The Sox - Schilling resigned yesterday (have you noticed that the same word means two absolutely opposite things? resigned/re-signed. EERIE). Anyway.. Great K with Schill. Hopefully they'll sign Lowell and a spot starter for the rotation, and perhaps some backup IF help. Otherwise, not sure what else they need (except for a new starting C of course, but that's not happening).

That's it for tonight. I'm tired and my Sapphire and Tonic is empty.

Oh, almost forgot. This makes me happy.

Taking a Deep Breath

Lots to talk about today, first and foremost:

The Red Sox

It's amazing how something can go on for more than 6 months, night in, night out, and then be over in a flash - like the previous 6 months never happened. That's how I feel today after the Sox swept the Rockies. Forgotten are the calls to bench Pedroia for Cora, to trade for Jermaine Dye at the deadline and bench Drew, to go back in time and reverse the Beckett/Lowell for Hanley Ramirez/Anubal Sanchez trade, to inquire whether Ortiz and Manny have been juicing all these years. Forgotten are the picayune and picky - whether Beckett should have pitched Game 4 of the ALCS, whether Tito should have pulled him in Game 1 after 5, whether Julian Tavarez should have been on the postseason roster instead of Gagne. Today, there is just joy and relief and the fulfillment of expectations. That is the biggest change since '04 and the reason why many people now think the Sox are the new Yankees. Becuase we expect success and are gratified when it is achieved, instead of hoping for success and overwhelmed and surprised when it happens. A great change.

some wrap up thoughts:

-- This team was built, as Joe Posnanski so aptly pointed out before the ALCS, on imrpoved starting pitching, an improved bullpen and an improved Mike Lowell. Those three things, plus the emergence and contributions of Ellsbury and Pedroia were on full display the last week.

-- Someone at MLB - PLEASE order FOX to replace McCarver and Buck with an announcing team that actually is involved in the game, doesn't just promote the hot storyline and isn't reduced to spouting totally empty platitudes (actually Buck was not that bad this year, but McCarver has been reduced to a caricature of his already shopworn self).

-- I was not at all interested in the World Series last year - partly because work was absolutely insane, but more because the Sox were not involved and my dad had just died. I didn't think of him a single time last night. I'm not sure if that's progress or just life, but there it is.

The Blogs

Soxaholix are note perfect

Jere has his head in the clouds and has a really cool recording of the call of the end of last night's game. Give it a listen. Man, I miss Castiglione.

Away Team has a cool set of pictures celebrating last night's win.

If this video doesn't bring tears to your eyes, I don't know what to tell you (via Sox & Dawgs)

That's it on the Sox. I'll leave you with one picture (woke up this morning and had this greet me on the cover of the NY Times):



The Bills

Is it o.k., as a fan, to be extremely happy your team won, but still have dissatisfied, wondering how they did it, and worried for the rest of the season?

That's how I felt about the Bills 13-3 win over the Jets yesterday.

It's as though Jauron and the coaching staff (more Fairchild than anyone else) was trying to take away the Bills' chances of succeeding as well as screwing up. It's like when you're raising a kid (I can say this now that I have one) - you can't put them in a bubble - yeah, they'll fall, bump their heads, get hit by a car, whatever, but they'll also have a chance to succeed. Watching the first 3 quarters, it was apparent that while Edwards had been designated the starter, he wasn't "A Starter". Some examples:

-- Calling a shovel pass on 3rd and 8 in the Red Zone on the Bills' first successful drive. Yeah, they were in field goal range, but again, what is the risk of taking a shot at the end zone there? You throw a pick, you throw a pick - they're not making the playoffs so they should take more chances (note, this is exactly the OPPOSITE of the horrible call against the Cowboys when they were AHEAD by two scores to pass on a similar down, distance and situation).

-- Another conservative call in the third quarter when they were driving - 3rd and 4 and they call a flanker screen - it was busted anyway.

-- 3rd and short late in the game, and they run straight up the middle for no gain - the third consecutive handoff up the middle. A run is the right call, but why not a sneak, or an inside handoff (they got a FG to go up 6-3, but could have sustained the drive with a better call).

Luckily, they called a few downfield passes for Losman which put the game away - one which Roscoe Parrish should have hauled in, one that Evans improbably did.

Like I said, I like the result, but I doubt the plan.

The Bills blogs:


Goose's Roost has a great picture of Losman.

The prolific Brian Galiford over at Buffalo Rumblings has the game story and a piece on the "QB controversy".

My take on the "controversy" is that the team was built to run an offense that features a lot of downfield passing and a power running game. It was not built for a game manager, dink and dunk style game such as they have tried with Edwards. That woudl argue for Losman to start; however, either way, they HAVE to pick one guy or the other and run the offense they think gives the team the best chance to win WITH THAT GUY.

I'm happy they're 3-4 with the injuries they've had, but they should be 5-2, and that failure is due to a failure of process.

A Day Late...

But we'll do the Bills update anyway.

I knew it would be a close game, but I had it coming out the other way - with Baltimore grinding away at the Bills D and coming out on top on a late FG. I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall, Edwards did fine given (i) the defense and (ii) the playcalling. As I thought, they took about 3 shots downfield. One connected with Evans. One resulted in a pass interference play. One was woefully underthrown.

He's still not crisp on intermeidate routes - especially to the sideline - what got him in trouble against Dallas and caused his 1 INT in this game. As the TV guys noted, he doesn't look off coverage and so gives defenders time to jump routes (although his INT was just a bad throw).

I was originally of the opinion that they should stick with Losman. He showed enough down the stretch last year to get another shot. But he clearly isn't Levy's or Jauron's guy and Ralph himself seemed to have ordered the switch. He won't himself beat any good pass defenses, but he'll pull a Trent Dilfer and allow Lynch and the D to keep them in close games. All that said, I agree with Brian Galiford at Buffalo Rumblings that they need to stick with one guy or else Jauron should be fired.

Speaking of Lynch - that kid is going to be good, especially once the Bills get a good O line. He has excellent patience for a rookie, sticking behind the line until a hole opens up. Excellent draft pick.

Playcalling and clock management? Meh. Not nearly agressive enough on the drives in the red zone (a draw on 3rd and 10 from your opponent's 10? Really?) And then once again, down the stretch, much too conservative on offense (running out the clock is fine, but contrary to Easterbrook, repetaed runs right up the middle won't get it done - especially with this O line) and on defense (it was more a case of Boller missing plays - Bills were once again willing to give up yards). It worked because Baltimore's defense is so inept, but they've got to be more agressive when in TD territory.

Game recaps:

Goose's Roost

Buffalo Rumblings

Bills Gab

Sunday Evening Update

Yuck.

Nasty.

Nachos! (at least my lunch wasn't ruined)

The Bills were putrid in nearly every phase of the game today. (The punting was, as usual, good). Losman looked lost (Lostman?). Lynch was mainly shut down (mostly because the blocking up front was not good). Even against the non-stop blitzing, the playcalling did not adjust - didn't see any screens, draws, etc. Where was the coaching staff? And at some point you have got to take the training wheels off. Let Losman throw the ball downfield. I only counted two attempts over 25 yards in the entire game. Unacceptable.

On the other side of the ball, the Bills played a bend but don't break defense in the first half, which absolutely killed them on third downs. The Steelers converted 7 of their first 9, including a 3rd and 7 and a 3rd and 10 (at least). They could not get any kind of pressure on Roethlisberger and when they did could not contain. At some level I understand the Steelers are simply better, but apart from holding them to field goals at the end of drives, the Bills just did not look interested.

Now, the Kevin Everett situation may have been weighing on the team, but I don't think so. They didn't look flat, at least in the first quarter. Lynch was fired up. Defense was fired up. They just executed really, really poorly, and then gave up late in the game.

Two plusses: Moorman, as usual. And i do applaud Jauron's decision to go for it on a 4th in Steeler territory (around the 40 iirc). Even though they didn't convert, it was the right call.

Buffalo Rumblings has a good pseudo-live blog.

Also putrid so far - My NFL Picks. 5-8-1 through the late afternoon games. Thankfully, my Bears pick in my suicide pool is still alive.

Off to watch 60 Minutes (the highlight shows are now unwatchable), then flipping back and forth between the Pats-Chargers (27-17 Pats) and the Sox-Yanks (4-1 Sox). See you all later.