Blogorama – It Sucks to Grow Up Edition

By On January 7, 2011 · 7 Comments

 

I took a bit of a hiatus from Blogorama! the last couple weeks because of the holidays. Who wants links when there’s all that food, fun, and merriment to be had?

But now we’re back, bitches.

What an interesting week, and not just here on this space. I know, I know, I can’t believe that there’s a world that exists outside this blog either, but it’s true! And it provided us with plenty of things to think about.

  • Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven got elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mark McGwire (not to be confused with our guy with a similar name) got his lowest percentage of votes yet. He’d have trouble getting in even without the PED scandal, as his career numbers are pretty underwhelming. I mean, consider what kind of a hitter he was and those two years he had, and he still ranks 79th in OBP. That stat was practically created for guys like him!
  • Governor Andrew Cuomo gave his State of the State Address. Optimism level raised to “Cautious.”
  • Gerry Rafferty, one-half of Stealers Wheels (“Stuck in the Middle of You”) as well as a successful solo artist (“Baker Street”) succumbed to a tragic and prolonged battle with alcoholism. Sadly it took his passing for me to finally purchase and listen to “City Life,” which is simply gorgeous and worth whatever the place you buy music will charge for it.
  • President Obama will be visiting Schenectady on Tuesday. My contact at Fuccillo Hyundai informs me that, unfortunately, Billy Fuccillo will be in Florida opening a new Kia dealership next Tuesday and thus won’t be able to meet with the President. I am every bit as disappointed as you are.
  • The Albany All-Star Roller Derby Girls have their season opener this Saturday at 8:00pm at the Washington Avenue Armory. Check out their site for more info.
  • At the same time, Beware! The Other Head of Science will play a show at the Troy Bike Rescue with other great bands, also at 8:00pm. Roller Derby Girls and Beware Guys – if either of you you really loved me, you never would have asked me to choose.
  • The City of Troy could use ten seconds of your time. CLICK HERE to vote in the Pepsi Refresh Grant and help revitalize downtown Troy. We can do this, guys!

And now…

Cold water, getting rid of cable, getting in shape for the New Year, and more. This…is Blogorama.

 ——-

WE’RE YOUR SOURCE: This Week on the Times Union Blogs

My Polar Bear Plunge Baptism (Funnies – Greg Aidala)

Investing in Public Safety (David Kaczynski)

Obama is Coming to Schenectady! (Schenectady blog – Will King)

The Time Warner Cord is Cut (Daniel Nester)

And She Went Into the Bedroom… (Chuck Miller)

Jumping the Gun – on Albany’s Proposed 2am Bar Curfew (Albany blog – Vincent Barr)

The “How Do I Start” Checklist (Real [Fit] Life)

“Bob’s Burger’s” Undercooked (Television – Glenn Teichman)

Dale Miller leaves Dale Miller Restaurant (Table Hopping)
…and they’re renaming it “Taste.” In that same vein, from now on “Kevin Marshall: In the Present Tense” will be known as “Blog.”

Cops Can Read Your Texts Without a Warrant (High School – Katie Marufucci)

New Year (Animal Rights – Nicole Arciello Berhaupt)

More amazingness is after the jump.

 

 

IN OUR AREA CODE: Buttons, Bands, Broomsticks and More!

MEANWHILE, IN THE REST OF THE WORLD…

 

ART

MMA

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  • http://twitter.com/jgrhodes JGR

    Best Dance of the week: http://www.dlisted.com/node/40311

  • Dal

    You really think McGwires numbers are underwhelming? Are you being sarcastic? Frankly I think the whole PED thing is overblown. All these sports bloggers and writers acting as if they have such higher morales. There was nothing stopping anyone from doing them, meaning not doing them could cost you your job or money to someone that was. If anyone is at fault here I think its MLB for looking the other way and let it go rampant. Now there is suspicion of anyone who played in that era and put up good numbers. If taking some steroid would net me an extra $50 million contract you better believe I would be doing them as well.

    • http://blog.timesunion.com/marshall/ Kevin Marshall

      Dal - No, not being sarcastic at all. He had two ridiculous monster years, and even with those extraordinary numbers from those two years inflating his career stats, there’s many that will say they’re still not Hall-worthy.

      He’s a career .260 hitter with no MVPs and no rings on his fingers. He’s 67th in RBIs, 195th in Runs scored, and was ineffective defensively in all but his first five years in the Majors.

      Doing one thing well – and over a very short period of time – doesn’t qualify in the minds of many for a player to be Hall of Fame worthy.

      To put it in perspective, Roger Maris isn’t in the Hall either. It’s always been an elite club, and McGwire was only an elite player for two seasons, and even that’s arguable since he was really only good at one thing, which didn’t get his team into the playoffs.

      McGwire was a good -maybe very good – but not great player.

  • Get Real ©

    It’s all a conspiracy. MLB ratings were hurting. McGwire and Sosa brought them back. But now they’re the black sheep of the MLB?

  • Dal

    -Twelve time all-star
    -Record for HR as a rookie with 49 and Rookie of the year
    -Four years of 50 or more HR
    -11 Years of 30+HR, how many players you think have done that?
    McGwire was a guy you pitched around and was a threat most of his career.
    -The man is 10th all time in OPS which has become one of the default metrics for measuring offensive output. Mentioning his .260 average is pretty silly as thats a terrible metric for evaluating performance.
    -Those that win MVP are rarely the most deserving players though they have been getting better at it in recent years with paying more attention to sabermetrics and placing less value on actual RBI’s and batting average.

    Yeah, he was good at one thing -> run production! One of the most effective run producers in baseball history!

    Frankly being top 10 or top 100 of anything in baseball is quite impressive given the long history. McGwire falls into the top 10 of quite a few categories including OPS(10), SLUGGING(8), HR(10). If you go to baseball reference and click on just about any offensive stat his name will appear in the top 100.

  • http://kingsrandomness.wordpress.com/ Will King

    I would have thanks you earlier for the double shout out on the Blogorama this week, BUT I had my wisdom teeth out this morning.

    I now have four less teeth.

    Also, thanks for the shoutout! :D

    • http://blog.timesunion.com/marshall/ Kevin Marshall

      Anytime. Have fun with the painkillers!

      But not, you know, too much fun.