Month: December 2010 (Page 1 of 2)

Farewell 2010

December 31, 2010 / DB

Well, this is it. The final post of 2010. Everything will be different the next time I post. Or nothing, really, other than the date stamp.

It’s been a solid break here at the B. house. The girls have driven us a little crazy, but we’ve survived. An experiment to finally get all the girls sleeping normally – putting them all in one room – showed promise early, but has gone off the rails a bit the last few nights. But there’s still hope that sometime in 2011 we will go back to sleeping like a normal family.¹

We’re actually heading out tonight for our first New Year’s party in recent memory. It’s kid-friendly, and we’re unlikely to make it to midnight, but it will still be nice to get out of the house for a change and spend the evening talking to adults.

I hope each one of you has a safe and happy New Year, no matter how you spend it and who you spend it with. Thanks for checking in and putting up with all my nonsense in 2010. There’s plenty more nonsense to come in the new year!

I spent most of last night sleeping in the same room as all three girls. L. tossed and turned, slapped me in the face, threw her body across mine, and cried periodically. C. was having bad dreams and somehow managing to throw a tantrum in her sleep. Once I leaned over to her, shook her gently, and asked what was wrong. She replied, “I don’t like sleeping. It’s not so much fun,” as she continued her mid-sleep meltdown. Weird. And then M. was up in her top bunk grinding her teeth like she had thrown down a bunch of Ecstasy before bedtime. That’s a rather long-winded way of saying I got very little sleep last night. ↩

Post Holiday Gift Ideas

December 28, 2010 / DB

I imagine some of you have gift cards for the iTunes Music Store, Amazon, or other entertainment/book stores burning holes in your pockets. Since I’ve burned through a lot of music and books over the past year, here are some recommendations for some ways to spend that virtual cash one some real gifts to yourself.

Albums

Really you can just look at my Favorite Songs of 2010 list and pick up the albums those songs are on. To save you a trip to the archives, here are a few that stood above the rest.

The Winter of Mixed Drinks – Frightened Rabbit. No surprise here. A fine follow-up to their ’08 instant classic The Midnight Organ Fight. If you want well-crafted, painfully honest music, this is where to look.

The Archandroid – Janlle Monae. One of the most surprising, interesting, audacious albums to come along in ages. It doesn’t matter what genre of music you prefer; chances are you’ll find something to like on this. She was 23-24 when she wrote and recorded this album. Who knows what she’s capable of.¹

Body Talk – Robyn. Get the full version, which pulls together all three EPs that were released over the course of the year. And prepare to shake your ass.

Contra – Vampire Weekend. Feel-good music that will help you get through the bitter cold of winter.

Books

As I write this, I just finished book #53 for the year. That’s right, twice in three years I’ve exceeded the magic Book-A-Week pace. I’m pretty pumped. I’m thinking about getting myself a trophy or printing up shirts.²

This year was obviously a big transition as I purchased a Kindle in May. Thus, I bought more books this year than in any time in recent memory. I also dipped into the free book world and read a few classics along with a handful of contemporary novels that were free. If I had to select five books to recommend, though, I don’t think you could go wrong with any of these.

This Is Where I Leave You – Jonathan Tropper. Our fearless protagonist finds his wife in bed with his boss, and resolves the situation in a completely understandable and ridiculous manner. Shortly after, his father dies and he and his dysfunctional family must sit in Shiva for seven days to mourn. Things quickly spin out of control. Everything about this novel is hilarious and outrageous, but the writing is so good that each twist and turn seems completely realistic. This is the funniest serious novel I’ve read recently.

A Visit From the Good Squad – Jennifer Egan. A lovely, multi-perspective novel tracing the lives of a group of friends, and the people around them, over a 40-year span. The first half is as well written as anything I’ve read in a long time. The second half doesn’t quite match that opening, but is still quite good.

The Imperfectionists – Tom Rachman. SImilar to Goon Squad above, a book that is closer to a collection of related short stories. But each is perfect, and moves the overall story forward nicely despite the constant changes in focus.

Dark Places – Gillian Flynn. Dark and twisted and terrific.

The Crowd Sounds Happy – Nicholas Dawidoff. This was marketed as a baseball book. In fact, baseball plays only a part of this memoir, which tells of Dawidoff’s life with a mentally ill father, as an outsider in his school, and about the search for identity we all go through.

Further proof Rolling Stone magazine sucks. They only gave The ArchAndroid 3.5 stars. But if the Stones or U2 put out an album of crap, it’s sure to nab 4.5 stars. ↩
And I wrote a “novel” this year. I kick ass. ↩

Christmas 2010

December 27, 2010 / DB

The always entertaining, much anticipated B. family Christmas review.

So the girls were wound up last week. Actually, they were about ten steps beyond wound up. A long week of no school with sub-freezing temperatures meant they had been cramped up in the house. Threats about Santa skipping the home of girls who didn’t listen to their parents didn’t work anymore. They were getting too many sweets each day, there were too many guests, and there just wasn’t enough running room in the house to get all that energy out. They were 1000 miles per hour, screaming all day, every day leading up to Christmas.

Despite that, they were generally excellent at Christmas Eve Mass. Which is a very good thing, because this was the longest Mass I ever had the privilege of sitting through. 90 minutes. We were fortunate in that we got a late arrival waiver thanks to the kids. Several of the in-laws spent over 45 minutes holding seats for us before the Mass even kicked off. But M. and C. sat and read books quietly most of the time while L. passed from person-to-person and enjoyed the sights and sounds.

We went into church as the first flakes of what promised to be a decent snowstorm drifted down. I thought back to another Christmas Eve in Indy, in 2002, when we were in the midst of a blizzard while in church. That night, you could see waves of snow blowing past the windows during Mass. This time, the storm petered out and only left a dusting on top of all the snow we already had. So the Christmas was white, but it was going to be white anyway based on the last couple weeks’ storms.

We were up a bit late, between Mass and the traditional family meal afterwards. We put the girls to bed close to 9:30, and it was about the easiest night we’ve ever had. They all went to sleep quickly. We gave M. strict orders not to come out of their room before 6:00 AM. They were nice enough not to charge into our room until 6:20. We had them turn on the TV and they gave us another 30 minutes or so of dozing before they came and bugged us again. M. and C. were ready to go, but L. had crawled into bed with us and was more interested in getting some more sleep. While we prepped to go downstairs, she laid in our bed with her arm thrown over her eyes to keep the light out.

Down the stairs we went and, Lo!, Santa had come! The jolly old elf brought some fine gifts for the girls. A Rapunzel tower and Toy Story 3 for all the girls. A Rapunzel doll for M., a fashion Barbie for C., and some dress up dolls for L.. A Toy Story 3 play set. A Lego farm. An Etch-a-Sketch. Some books. We had not loaded up stockings before, but this year we filled them with all kinds of goodies from the dollar aisles at Target. They enjoyed those as well.

Santa brought Ye Olde Blogger an official Kansas City Royals road jersey. No name on the back, thankfully. It would have sucked to have received a Greinke one, no?

Later in the day we hosted a family brunch and then returned to the in-laws for dessert and visiting.

It was a good holiday. The girls were pleased with the gifts. They had each pulled some last minute changes to their lists on us, but were reasonably pleased that what they got didn’t always match what they had been asking for.

Now another week of trying to keep the girls occupied until school starts again. Fortunately, the weather is supposed to improve as the week goes on, so perhaps we’ll be able to get them outside.

I hope you and yours had a fine Christmas as well.

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Eyes All Aglow

December 20, 2010 / DB

I don’t remember when I figured the whole Santa thing out. I’m guessing it was in the first-second grade range, which seems about right for most kids who are either only children or the oldest kid in their family. I do know that outwardly I was sure to keep believing for at least a year or two after the shades were lifted.

In my family, we had both family presents and Santa presents. The family presents were set out under the tree gradually over December, tempting you constantly. Santa gifts arrived Christmas Eve and were waiting unwrapped under the tree on Christmas morning.

I wasn’t a fool. I figured if my parents and aunts and uncles thought I was still down with the Santa myth, that meant an extra 3-4 presents each year. I didn’t want to mess with a good thing.

I mention all of that because if form holds, this could be the last Christmas that M. is fully invested in the idea of Santa. Where now she accepts the idea that the Santas we see in malls and stores are the real Santa’s helpers, a year from now her questions may be more pointed. Her cynicism sharper. Her understanding fuller. We might get another year or two out of her, but after this Christmas, nothing is sure.

So I’m enjoying her complete belief this year. Over the past couple weeks, she had a couple moments where she demonstrated how into the idea of Christmas magic she was.

Two weeks ago, we had a Saturday snow storm. We only got 3-4″, but it was the thick, heavy stuff that packs well. While I shoveled the drive, the girls played next door with our neighbors. When I finished the drive, I began making a snowman in our front yard. The girls were so preoccupied playing that they didn’t notice what I was doing. So I slapped it together quickly and then walked over to the garage to put the shovel away.

A few minutes later, the girls came running over, chased by the neighbors. They stopped abruptly when they saw the snowman.

“Dad, did you make that snowman?” M. asked.

“Snowman, what snowman?” I turned and looked where she was pointing. “Wow, where did that come from?”

“You didn’t make it?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, M., I was busy shoveling. How did I have time to make a snowman?”

She considered that quietly for a minute. “Where do you think he came from, then?”

“I don’t know. He must be magic.”

“Guys!” she screamed. “The snowman is magic!” She and C. and the five-year-old neighbor all screamed and danced in delight. It was a Christmas miracle! The eight-year-old neighbor stood there silently, giving me a knowing look. It was like he knew I had made the snowman and there was no magic involved, but he didn’t want to say anything just in case he was wrong and not believing somehow impacted what showed up under his Christmas tree. Smart kid.

A week later, we went for a post-dinner drive to look at Christmas lights. A house down the street has a large, inflatable Santa riding in a sleigh with a team of reindeer in front of it. It was very windy that night, and the sleigh was rocking in the gusts. M. saw the movement and began shouting.

“It’s moving! Guys! It’s moving! It’s real! It’s the real Santa!”

S. and I were dying in the front seats.

She’s not exactly a tiny tot anymore, but her eyes certainly are aglow.

C. is busy asking for every single toy, game, or activity that she sees on TV. Those five minute commercial breaks on Nick Jr. can double her Christmas list. “Dad, I want that,” or “Mom, I want to put that on my Christmas list,” are her standard comments. I estimate she’s asked for roughly 10,000 things this year.

L. is just beginning to understand what’s going on. She’s a huge fan of pretty much any Christmas cartoon or movie. She talks about Rudolph all the time. During every song in The Polar Express, she jumps up and dances around the room. She’s also all about the Baby Jesus. We have two different nativity scenes, and she enjoys taking the Baby Jesus from both of them and telling us that they’re brother Baby Jesuses. “Dey brudders.”

Oh, and one more big thing. Our girls visited with Santa on Monday. It was the first time any of them had sat with Santa. We went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum’s annual Jolly Days event. The highlight is a big “Yule Slide.” We’ve always done that in the past, but this was the first year C. was big enough to go on her own. So she and M. “raced.” And S. and I went down at the same time, with me holding L.. All three girls loved it.

Anyway, we went through the other Christmas stuff and when we got near Santa, there were only a couple kids in line. L., of all people, had been begging to go sit with Santa a couple weeks ago, so we figured this was as good a time as any. All three girls sat with Santa, each a little nervous. At the last second C. said she didn’t want to do it, but she sat down anyway. They all smiled for a picture, M. and C. told Santa what they wanted while I helped L. explain what she wanted, and they all used good manners when they left. It was about as solid a success as you could ask for.
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Goodbye, Zack

December 19, 2010 / DB

Finally, it happened. And again I went to bed about 20 minutes too early and missed the immediate buzz.

The Royals sent Zack Greinke (and Yuniesky Betancourt) to Milwaukee for a package of four young players. When I worked through my Twitter feed Sunday morning, I was flooded with news of the trade. First were the rumors, which began just after I went to bed Saturday night. As I caught up to real time, the news was getting locked in. Within half an hour, the trade was confirmed by multiple sources. Again, we live in a crazy age for disseminating and gathering information.

My first reaction was shock. Milwaukee had never been mentioned by those in the know, or even those not in the know who were willing to hazard a guess. It was always Texas, Toronto, and the Yankees as the most likely trade partners, with Atlanta, Washington, and the Dodgers listed as other teams who could get involved. Where the hell did the Brewers come from?

Me second reaction was confusion. Who the hell were these guys the Royals were getting in return? Had Dayton Moore pulled off a coup, had he done about as good as he could do, or was this the latest trade in which the Royals got nothing back for their best trading chip? Thus, I relied on what the Twitterati were saying. Early returns were not good for the Royals. Opinion seemed to be Moore didn’t get enough back for a 27-year-old Cy Young winner who had four plus pitches and a favorable contract. But I wanted to hear what Rany Jazayerli said before I got depressed.

When Rany did check in, he thought the four players the Royals brought in had their merits. Kevin Goldstein loved the talent the Royals got. Keith Law hated it.

What the hell was I supposed to think?

After reading dozens of articles about the trade, my third reaction holds: I don’t think the Royals got enough in return for Greinke. If you’re going to trade your franchise centerpiece exclusively for prospects and players with limited time in the Majors, at least one of those should be a sure-thing, can’t-miss, gem-of-the-organization type player. None of the new Royals fit that bill. If you want MLB talent in return for your ace, you should be getting someone else who has All-Star potential. None of the new Royals fit that bill, either.

It feels like Dayton Moore panicked a bit and forgot he was dealing from a position of strength, both in terms of Greinke’s contract status and the depth of talent already in the Royals’ minor league system. Sure, Greinke announced last week he wanted out of Kansas City. Fine. Work the, ahem, process. To be fair, maybe Dayton did talk to a bunch of teams and Milwaukee had the best offer of talent and an agreement from Greinke to go there. But at least one source said there were other teams who would have liked the chance to talk to Moore and see if they could beat Milwaukee’s offer. Use the off-season, play other organizations off each other, and get the best possible package of talent.

I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed the Royals lost the face of their franchise, yet again. I’m disappointed that it seems like, yet again, they did not get an adequate return in the exchange.

But I’ll reserve final judgement. The Royals weren’t going to win this year. Now they’re going to suck ass this year. But one, maybe two of the minor league prospects will go north with the team this March. A couple more might come up over the course of the season. A couple more could make their debuts in September. Spring training 2012 should be an exciting time when this much-hyped flood of talent hits the shores. Maybe the Royals didn’t get a star from Milwaukee Sunday. But perhaps they got enough pieces that, with what they already have on the farm, they can field a team that can contend in two or three years.

These are the Royals, though. I’m not holding my breath.

Update (9:45 AM, Dec. 20): Poz has weighed in. He may have wiped out any optimism I had left.

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Best Music Of 2010, Part 3

December 15, 2010 / DB

As the numbers get smaller, the hits get bigger!

Here we are. The end of another year. I’ve listened to a lot of music over the past 11 1/2 months. iTunes tells me I’ve added over 700 songs over that period. I would guess that I’ve sampled well over twice that number, often giving songs a listen or two and if they didn’t meet my stringent standards, I chucked them aside. Long story short, I put in the work to break it down for the people.

And so, I present to you my ten favorite songs of 2010.

10 – “Hurricane J” – The Hold Steady. You know you’re living right when you can put out a solid four-star album and it seems like a disappointment. That’s the case with the Hold Steady, who put out three straight classic albums before this year’s Heaven is Wherever. It was good enough. For many groups it would be a career-high. But not for Craig Finn and friends. The lyrics weren’t quite as good, the music not quite locked in as in the past.

This song is a perfect example. A first-class rocker, yet it doesn’t compare to past classics like “Stuck Between Stations,” “Your Little Hoodrat Friend,” or “Stevie Nix.” Yet it still cracks my top 10.

9 – “Get Some” – Lykke Li. And here’s our second Swedish artist. Apparently she had a bad breakup between her last album and her current one. The heartbreak has served her well, as her music has taken on a darker, edgier quality.

8 – “Don’t Do It” – Sharon Van Etten. Van Etten is known for her stark, confessional songs. At first listen, this song doesn’t seem like much. But the more you listen, the more it opens up and sucks you in.

7 – “The Diamond Church Street Choir” – The Gaslight Anthem. They’re from Jersey and sing about the common folks. Of course they get compared to Springsteen. Their sound isn’t quite as Springsteeny as the Hold Steady, but they certainly have the rest of it down. I’m not sure the Boss ever wrote a hook as good as the one in this song, though.

6 – “Fuck You” – Cee-Lo Green. I boldly said this was the best song of the year the first time I heard it. It suffers a little because of the sense of novelty surrounding it, from the lyrics to the many remakes and remixes. But that novelty factor hides that this is nearly a perfect song. Listen to every note Cee Lo sings, listen to all the backing vocals, listen to the layers of music. Its brilliance is hidden behind the shock value of its title. This is classic, pour your heart out, soul music.

5 – “Good Evening” – The Concretes. Holy crap, more Swedes! This time some sexy, slinky, seductive Swedes. Or at least that’s what they sound like, here.

The audio on this video is very poor. Not sure why there’s not a better version available anywhere.

4 – “England” – The National. I don’t give The National the attention they deserve. They are a band that demands you listen to their albums in full, without distraction, so you can mine the meanings buried deep within. My life now doesn’t allow those deep, continuous listening sessions. Shame, because as much as I enjoy their music anyway, I imagine they would be life-changing if I could allot the time needed to fully appreciate it.

This is a terrific version of the song, but it loses the power of the drums from the studio version. I don’t know about his technical proficiency, but the National’s drummer is as good as anyone at propelling songs forward, adding tension and drama to already fantastic music.

Oh, and I highly recommend skipping the nonsense at the beginning of this video. Pause it, let it load, and then move to 2:20, where the music starts.

3 – “Dancing On My Own” – Robyn. This year I read a couple Swedish novels (Stieg Larsson, translated, of course), we bought a Swedish auto, and I listened to a lot of Swedish music. I probably ate some Swedish fish along the way, too. Robyn is certainly the class of this Swedish invasion. “With Every Heartbeat” cracked my top five of the decade list a year ago. Her Body Talk project this year, a series of three EPs released over the year, was an audacious and perfectly executed endeavor. Upon the release of Part III, all three sections were bundled into one full-length. There isn’t a bad song in the bunch, and this is its finest.

2 – “Cold War” – Janelle Monae. On an album full of bombast and surprises and delights, this simple, emotional track was the standout from one of the most original, essential artists to emerge in recent years. If she doesn’t become a super-duper star, America sucks.

1 – “FootShooter” – Frightened Rabbit. My favorite new band of the last five years or so followed up their epic 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight nicely with this year’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks. It is largely about picking up the pieces and moving on.

But this track could have easily fit on Organ Fight. While the rough edges have been polished up – this is the music Coldplay could have been making had they gone a different direction – all the honest, embarrassing pain is still there. The last minute or so is simply perfect. And the chorus features the best line of the year: “Buck up your ears my dear I’m verbal when I am loaded.” Great drums, too.

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Best Music Of 2010, Part 2

December 15, 2010 / DB

And now for part two of my year-end list of favorite songs.

20 – “Twice If You’re Lucky” – Crowded House. Anytime Neil Finn releases an album, he gets a spot in my year-end countdown. This track claims his spot for 2010, another in his long line of perfect pop pieces. I think he can roll out of bed and write two of these without any effort.

19 – “Sleep Forever” – Crocodiles. They were nice enough to put out a stellar shoegaze track, so I’ll return the favor and slap in into my top 20.

18 – “Heaven’s on Fire” – The Radio Dept. Our first entry from Sweden. There will be more. There’s something about this song, especially the instrumental break in the middle, that makes me think of early 90s r&b. I can imagine the band dressed like Boyz 2 Men – matching sweater vests, baggy shorts, tall, wool socks, and hiking boots – doing a simple, choreographed dance to that section. Makes me laugh every time I hear it.

17 – “Comin’ Through” – The War on Drugs. A little Verve-like, a little psychedelic, a little jammy. All good.

16 – “Boyfriend” – Best Coast. One of the defining sub-genres of 2010 was the rise of retro, girly, garage rock. Out of a slew of fine artists and songs, this is the best example of that sound.

15 – “I Saw the Light” – Spoon. Spoon never blows you away, but their albums never disappoint, either. The extended instrumental outro to this is fantastic.

14 – “Love Fade” – Tamaryn. Dream pop + shoegaze = delight.

13 – “Holiday” – Vampire Weekend. Another song that has faded a bit of late, mostly because they sold the rights to not one but two different ad campaigns for the holidays. Still, the finest song on one of the most enjoyable albums of the year.

12 – “Tin Man” – Future Islands. The most distinctive vocals of the year carry this surprisingly catchy song. I found myself growling “I am the Tin Man,” often, while my daughters gave me strange looks.

11 – “Month of May” – Arcade Fire. The Arcade Fire is now three-for-three on albums. Each of their full length releases has been excellent, this year’s <em>The Suburbs</em> the latest in that line. This simple, punky track was the most direct expression of the frustration of growing up in the suburbs.

Check back tomorrow for the final ten songs.
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Best Music Of 2010, Part 1

December 13, 2010 / DB

’Tis the season for year end lists. I’ve been blogging for seven years now, and each December I’ve posted a list of my favorite songs of the previous year.

Why mess with a good thing?

Here are my 20 favorite songs of 2010 . Not necessarily the best or the most played in my iTunes library,¹ but the ones from which I squeezed the most enjoyment.

I don’t know what it says about my selections this year, but few of these songs have official videos. So I offer an assortment of live performances and audio clips I’ve been able to dig up on YouTube so you can sample each song. I hope you enjoy them and find a few new favorites of your own.

For starters, the bonus tracks. To be honest, these five songs and then the songs from 12-20, or so, are all equally enjoyable. It was kind of luck (or unluck, depending on your perspective) that knocked these down into the extra section.

“The Hair Song” – Black Mountain. Here’s a song that should be in a commercial (we have a couple coming up that have been co-opted by the advertising gurus). This sounds like something that should be played loudly while driving down a windy, rural road on the way to or from a lake on a hot summer day.

“Don’t Really Know Me” – Snowden. I’m not convinced this band is actually from Atlanta. Everything about them sounds European.

“Doubt” – The Corin Tucker Band. The former Sleater-Kinney co-lead is out on her own now, and she rocks.

“One Day” – Kings Go Forth. Are they from Milwaukee 2010 or Lagos 1973?

“I Forgot to Fall” – Music Like a Vitamin. I have a thing for Scottish Indie Rock, as my love for Frightened Rabbit will attest. So when the lead singer of Frightened Rabbit joins members of several other Scottish bands to put together an impromptu supergroup, of course I’m on board.

Look for songs 20-11 tomorrow.

Plus five bonus tracks I couldn’t quite weed out. ↩

Winter Meetings

December 9, 2010 / DB

For some reason, I get crazy about baseball in the off-season. Perhaps it is because in baseball, an active off-season can transform a franchise. There is always that hope that perhaps the Royals might make an interesting, intelligent signing or trade that could put the post-season within reach. Or maybe it’s the drama of how the rich teams will divide up all the free agent talent, wondering who will find the right mix of performance for dollars and actually benefit from all their spending. And the non-baseball fan will probably say it’s because baseball is boring and the only time it’s really interesting is when rosters are changing.

Whatever. When it gets cold, I miss baseball. I read all the free agent and trade rumors ravenously. I daydream about summer nights listening to a game on the radio (or, um, my iPhone I guess). I contemplate finally, after nearly 40 years, buying Strat-o-Matic and spending my winter nights recreating games.

This is the rare off-season when the Royals are players, although, unfortunately as sellers rather than buyers. As I wrote a few weeks ago, if they can get the right return, I think you have to trade Zack Greinke. I don’t like it, but at this point his value is as much about what he can bring in a trade as what he brings on the mound. I’ve been constantly checking the various rumors sites to see what the latest on Greinke is. It seems like nothing will happen until Cliff Lee signs, if Dayton Moore is smart. But this is Dayton Moore we’re talking about, so he’s liable to pull the trigger two days too early.

I was disappointed by the Jeff Francoeur signing. Mr. Newman in Brookside pointed out that at the dollars involved, it’s not a terrible move. Truth is I can’t get too worked up about it. Francoeur is not a good player. There’s little reason to believe that he will recapture whatever mojo he had when he first came up with the Braves. But his contract doesn’t wreck the Royals’ payroll or keep a more deserving prospect off the field. I’ve been conditioned so long to expect a horrible signing or trade for Francoeur, that it’s tough to see any good in his arrival.

And then Dayton went out and got Melky Cabrera. OK…not sure how to react to that at all. Another former Brave (although he didn’t come up with the Braves like Francoeur did) who has limited skills and value. Another mediocre outfielder for a team that has plenty of those already. I’m not seeing the need for Cabrera. Some have pointed out this could mean the end of Alex Gordon’s time in KC, but why sign Cabrera now if you’re thinking of moving Alex? No one else was going to snatch Melky up. Let him sit, make the Gordon trade, and then sign him. Some of whatever value Gordon has just withered up since the Royals have to move someone now.

Oh well, it’s not like the Royals were going to win anything in 2011 anyway. It would just be nice if the moves that Moore made were more than thoroughly predictable stop-gaps that involved guys who have rolled through Atlanta.

Getting away from the Royals, I went to bed about 20 minutes too early last night. When I woke this morning and refreshed Twitter, I saw that the Red Sox had locked up Carl Crawford. I miss the days when Boston was a reasonable alternative for all of us Yankee-haters. I liked them a lot better when they had Manny and Pedro and then a bunch of normal contracts. While they still spent a lot of money, they were clearly not in the stratosphere with the Yankees. Now, it’s those two in a level clearly above the other big market teams. If Bud Selig wants to expand the playoffs, how about putting the Red Sox and Yankees in their own division, with only one getting to the playoffs each year? They can play each other 60 or so times a year, which will make ESPN and Fox happy. And then there’s no chance that Tampa wins the East and some West team sneaks into the Wild Card and we’re forced to somehow deal with a post-season that lacks the Big Two.

Oh, and expanding the playoffs is dumb. Very dumb. On every level dumb, from what it does to the post-season to the refusal to shift/shorten the regular season to accommodate it. As a child of the expansion era, I’m a big fan of the league championship series concept. But the way things are going, I’m beginning to fall into line with those who say to scrap the modern system, get rid of all the divisions, and go back to two leagues playing for a single playoff spot in the World Series.

Yes, I am becoming a grumpy old man.

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Reporter’s Notebook – Another First

December 6, 2010 / DB

High school basketball is in full swing in Indiana now. The girls have been playing for almost a month and all the boys teams across the state now have games under their belts.

Friday night I covered my first boys game of the year. It was a lot of fun and was another first in my career.

The game started with the visitors, who were not my team, jumping to an 11-2 lead. They were up 24-12 midway through the second quarter and the hosts, ICHS, were getting nothing out of their offense. I was already struggling to come up with things to ask the coach after the game, thinking my questions would revolve around first game jitters, the other team having already played a game, etc. ICHS made a few defensive stops, finally got something out of their offense, and by halftime it was a three-point game.

ICHS had five possessions to start the second half in which they could have cut the lead, but did not. I figured that was probably it when the lead ballooned back to eight. But another run had it down to two at the end of the third. Then, crazily, ICHS began to dominate. Over the next six minutes they built a nine-point lead. The gym was rocking and I was both looking forward to talking to the coach after the game and debating what player I should talk to.

But the game was not over yet. The visitors did a textbook job of cutting into the lead. They got quick but smart shots on offense, fouled quickly on defense, and benefitted from ICHS missing six of 12 free throws over the final 2:00. ICHS also committed a couple dumb fouls that put the visitors on the line for cheap points with no time lost. The visitors hit a three with :16 left to cut the lead to two. They fouled with :06 left. ICHS missed both free throws. The starting center for the visitors grabbed the rebound, went the length of the court and laid the ball in for the tie.

Overtime. My first overtime game! My initial thought, beyond the excitement of a close game, was that I hoped we just played one OT, because my stat sheet only has room for one overtime and I wanted to have time to write a decent story. Fortunately ICHS scored seven quick points and cruised to the win.

I had a good interview with the coach. It was his first game as head coach at his alma mater, so he was particularly pumped. I had 45 minutes to get my story out. It was decent, but I’m not sure I got all the excitement of the night into it.

So that was fun.

I’ve done a handful of girls games already. One thing that’s been nice about this year is how I’m seeing some kids I’ve covered for three or four years. There is one girl in particular who is especially fun to watch. Three years ago she was a freshman bench player for EHS, the sad sack school I cover frequently. She only got in the games late, when they were down by 50 or so. She weighed about 70 pounds, wore glasses, and ran around like a chicken with her head cut off. She would run into people on defense and if she got the ball on offense she either immediately turned it over or chucked it towards the basket, whether she was in range or not. It was kind of funny and kind of sad at the same time.

Last year, she ditched the glasses and was probably up to 85 pounds. She still didn’t play much, but she clearly had learned a lot more about the game. This year, she’s starting as a junior. She probably weighs 110 pounds and while she’s not ripped, she’s all muscle. And she carries herself like someone who not only knows how to play the game, but has confidence in her skills. It’s a dramatic change that’s been fun to watch. She’s still not all that good, mind you, but she’s come a long way. She might be a decent player as a senior.

Her whole team has been funny to watch, too. Last year they had their best season in a decade, finishing right around .500 and winning a game in sectionals. They lost their best player, arguably the best in school history, but have everyone else back. That group of players helped to win sectional titles in both volleyball and softball last year. They’ve learned how to win. Like the girl I wrote about above, the entire team looks like they spent a lot of time in the gym over the summer. These girls all have shoulders and arms now. And they also all think they’re ballers. Rather than run any kind of offense, they all pretty much put their heads down and barrel towards the basket. I love their confidence, misplaced as though it may be.