Wrapping up the 2013 Masters

Posted on April 23, 2013 by AD

Just over a week ago, Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters, beating Angel Cabrera in a sudden-death playoff to claim the green jacket. It’s true that such a playoff in a major golf tournament always is exciting, but the way we arrived at this one– Scott holding steady as numerous golfers faded back to (in Cabrera’s case) or below him on the leaderboard– felt a little anticlimactic. Still, among those leaders, Scott did the best job of holding steady while the course conditions did anything but, and after near-misses on his putts all day, he finally sunk them when he needed to on eighteen and the playoff hole.

A big thanks to guest blogger Luke Watson, who stopped by to lend ALDLAND the benefit of his golf acumen and insight as a guest blogger. (His posts are here and here.) Back at his own site, Hotdogs and Golf, he recently published a very thoughtful post-Masters post that’s worth your time.

While Luke’s collaboration with this site was the big media story of the tournament, another story about a broken golf collaboration has received almost no attention anywhere but these very pages. Continue reading →

On paying college athletes: Schools’ obligations under the status quo

Posted on April 22, 2013 by AD

Last week, Clay Travis argued, credibly, that all Wonderlic Test scores should be made public. For whatever reason, these scores are the only NFL combine results not made public. Every year, though, someone leaks a few of the scores to the media, and this year was no exception. According to the testing company, a score of ten indicates literacy, while a twenty indicates average intelligence. The three leaked scores were a twelve (Justin Hunter, Tennessee), an eleven (Cordarrelle Patterson, Tennessee), and a seven (Tavon Austin, West Virginia). Travis explained his larger takeaway point:

So all three of these wide receivers tested borderline literate, and substantially less intelligent than an average security guard would test.

Yet all three receivers have been eligible to play college football for years.

Isn’t this prima facie evidence of academic fraud? I mean, if you can barely read the Wonderlic test, how in the world have you been eligible at a four year college without significant cheating?

Travis goes on to writhe in the muckety muck of “academic fraud . . . one of the great untold stories of major college athletics” and cast now-common aspersions on the NCAA.

It’s the NCAA that tends to bear the brunt of the building criticism of the college athletics status quo from the likes of Travis and his former employer, Deadspin, and the NCAA probably deserves most of that criticism. On this issue, though, it’s the schools themselves that deserve a critical assessment, not the NCAA.

The boom-bust cycle that is the volume of the discussion over whether college athletes should be paid is in a boom phase at the moment, but the substance of the conversation has not changed much over the years. Those in favor of paying college athletes point to the large revenue streams college athletics produce for schools and the NCAA and argue that it’s wrong that the athletes are not allowed to share in those profits; those opposed argue that the student-athletes are being compensated in the form of a free college education. The two sides actually seem to agree, at least implicitly, on the fundamental premise that college athletes should be compensated, and their disagreement is with the degree to and manner in which the athletes should be compensated: Proponents want new cash payments, perhaps held in trust, for the students, while opponents believe a free education constitutes sufficient compensation.

Test results indicating that students are flirting with illiteracy after three or four years of college are evidence that schools are not even keeping up their bargain to provide student-athletes with an education.

The High Road to Taos (via Stio)

Posted on April 19, 2013 by AD

“When I got to New Mexico that was mine. As soon as I saw it that was my country. It fitted to me exactly, ” Georgia O’Keefe to Alfred Steiglitz 1940.

Saturated colbalt contrasts the stucco wall the shade of pimentón de la vera. The history, precision and elegance of the Northern New Mexico captured my heart. After meditating on the landscapes of O’Keefe’s New Mexico, I climbed through the Santa Fe Sangre de Cristo Mountains, winding down state road 503 along a historical route called The High Road to Taos.

The Solomon Extreme Freeride Championship, at Taos Ski Valley, began the next day and I was anxious to compete for the very first time, but I found strength and inspiration in the enchanting landscape of Northern New Mexico. … Read More

(via Stio)

King in the North(west)

Posted on April 19, 2013 by bpbrady

In my quest to bring you more columns on teams you could not care less about, I am starting a semi-regular column on the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners have been my favorite team since I got into baseball, largely due to a fondness for Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball on SNES. I still maintain that it is one of the best games of all time, although it is obviously not on the level of Game of Thrones or my personal favorite game of all time, Mass Effect 2. This column was really also just an excuse to make another Game of Thrones pun, which I’m super good at. Like yesterday I posted this recipe for direwolf shaped scones on Facebook and called it Game of Scones. How great is that?

Anyway, the Mariners just wrapped up a series against AD’s second favorite team, the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won 2 out of 3, although all three games were fairly competitive with Wednesday’s game going to 14 innings. The one win the Mariners got was against Justin Verlander. Go figure. Although there is a fairly large talent gap between the two teams (a 150+ million dollar payroll can do that), the Mariners have had a lot of success against the Tigers in recent years so this was kind of a disappointing result for Seattle. Still, you can never be too disappointed beating Verlander and I was doubly happy because he is on one of my fantasy teams and he turned in a solid start despite losing the game. Woof, this is reading like a Live Journal post, huh? Or at least what I imagine a Live Journal post would read like.

Coming into the season I thought that the Mariners could be a surprise team a la the 2012 Orioles or Athletics given the acquisition of some offensive firepower in Mike Morse and Kendrys Morales. This of course assumed that their young core of Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero would make a leap, which has not happened yet. The Mariners have also been bit by the injury bug, having several regular players go on the disabled list. Things could still turn around, and the fact that Seattle gets a good number of games against the Houston Astros could be the difference if they want to snag a wild card over an AL Central or East team. Still, their league worst offense over the past several seasons must make strides, and that is no given.

A Mariners post wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the King in the North(west), Felix Hernandez. Felix is off to a stellar start to the 2013 season, and continues to prove that he is one of the top pitchers in the major league. Is another Cy Young in his future? If I could see into the future I would tell you, but I can’t, so I won’t.

That’s it for my first Mariners column. I don’t blame you for skipping over it, because I doubt it interests you very much. But if you read through the whole thing, here is a stellar gif of Khal Drogo as a reward. Who do you guys think would win in a fight between Khal Drogo and the Mountain? Let me know in the comments.

ALDLAND Podcast

Posted on April 18, 2013 by bpbrady

Spring means a lot of things, but mainly it means Game of Thrones and baseball. Those are easily the two best games of all time and both promise to be very exciting as spring turns to summer. Who are your guys’ favorite Game of Thrones characters anyway? Why don’t you tweet @ALDLANDia and tell us some characters and things you like about Game of Thrones? Baseball is also happening, and it is also exciting. Jayson Werth even uses the Game of Thrones intro music as his walkup song! How cool is that? Join cohost Marcus “Primetime” Paschall and I as we go division by division and provide you with the most comprehensive preview of the MLB season that is also two and a half weeks late. But don’t blame us, because we had other stuff to do like watch Game of Thrones and come up with theories on Game of Thrones. Seriously I come up with like at least three theories a day, it’s not even funny.

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Download the ALDLAND podcast at our Podcasts Page or stream it right here:

Upton Abbey: Episode 3 – Hosting Royalty

Posted on April 17, 2013 by AD

I attended my first Atlanta Braves game last night, with the then-AL-Central-leading Kansas City Royals in town for the first of two games in thirty-six hours.

Getting to Turner Field via public transportation is easy, particularly considering Atlanta’s bad reputation for transit. The park itself is nice and clean, with three escalators ferrying us to the top level, where we were sitting. Originally constructed as part of the 1996 Olympic complex (it cannot in any way be overstated how much Atlanta loves the ’96 Games), it does not show its age, even if the third escalator broke down while we were on it, bringing to mind Mitch Hedberg’s bit. But let’s not dwell on the notion of being too lazy to take the stairs on one’s way to sitting and watching three hours of baseball. Instead, let’s note that Turner Field has roving Chick-fil-A vendors and a nice view of the downtown skyline.With a seating capacity of roughly 50,000, it actually is bigger than Comerica Park, but even sitting in the top section, I felt closer to the game than one might at some technically smaller parks, and there didn’t look to be a bad seat in the house.

It was good that we were closer to the game, too, because Continue reading →

Rasheed Wallace, perhaps the NBA’s best character, has again retired

Posted on April 17, 2013 by AD

ESPN New York reports:

Veteran forward Rasheed Wallace has retired from pro basketball for the second time, the New York Knicks announced Wednesday.

Wallace played in 21 games this season with the Knicks but had missed most of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot.
…
A first-round draft pick in 1995, Wallace played 15 seasons in the NBA and won a title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. He retired in 2010 after one season with the Celtics in which the team lost to the Lakers in the Finals. Wallace came out of retirement to sign with the Knicks in October.

He finishes his career with averages of 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The four-time All-Star has been known as a volatile player and finishes as the all-time leader in technical fouls with 304.

About a million things could be written about Sheed, but none of them would be as interesting, engaging, or fun as Sheed himself. (E.g., this Grantland profile.) Instead, let’s just say that Sheed played hard, most of the time, and Sheed don’t lie, all of the time.

Bay of Cigs: Run distribution, science(!), and the liklihood of a Detroit comeback

Posted on April 15, 2013 by AD

We’re a dozen games into the season and the Tigers, with a few hiccups, are off to a respectable 7-5 start. Despite the day/Pacific time starts and my living outside the Tigers Radio Network, I’ve been able to keep decent track of these first few series and, while mindful of small sample size they represent, I was beginning to notice something concerning.

Continue reading →

A Song of Bryce and Fire

Posted on April 15, 2013 by bpbrady

AD has been writing about his new favorite team lately in the popular column Upton Abbey. Since I can’t allow him to praise the Barves unchecked, I will now write a semi-regular-ish column on their division rivals, the Washington Nationals. So now you get three columns on teams you (probably) don’t care about. But you should read all of them so you can get some culture and have something to talk about with your co-workers at the ol’ water cooler.

This past weekend saw a series between the scorching hot Bravos and the hot-but-not-scorching-hot Washington Nationals. The series did not go so well for Washington, as they got swept and only looked competitive in the first game. I attended the Saturday game with noted blog subject Bad Jeremy, who is almost as big of a Braves fan as AD. The game was a 3-1 Braves victory that saw the Nats do very little in the way of making offense and the Braves do slightly more. Evan Gattis carried the Braves, hitting a two run homer that caused Bad Jeremy to get out of his seat and flex at all the Nats fans in the surrounding area.

The highlight of the game was, as always, the Presidents’ Race. George Washington jumped out to a big lead early on with Teddy Roosevelt, Abe Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson trailing behind. Newcomer William Howard Taft was nowhere to be found, and everyone in attendance wondered where he was. The answer to that question was soon revealed, as Taft emerged from the right field bullpen to join with Teddy in beating up George Washington. Apparently there was some beef between Presidents 26 and 27 and President 1. Who knew? Jefferson and Lincoln continued past, neck and neck, until Jefferson went into his kick and won what was one of the more exciting Presidents’ Races in recent memory.

Despite being swept by the Barves, the Nats have looked good early on and seem like they are more than capable of making it to their second postseason in franchise history this year. They have some great young arms in Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzales, not to mention the bats of Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth. This weekend’s series could very well be a preview of the 2013 NLCS (where the winner will go on to get swept by the Seattle Mariners in the World Series). Stay tuned for more of A Song of Bryce and Fire, and also for a Mariners column with the working title of King in the North(west). Baseball, huh? How about it?

The 2013 Masters: Pimento Cheese is the New Hummus

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Luke Watson, special to ALDLAND

Guest blogger Luke Watson is here this week to cover the Masters. Read his first post here. -Ed.
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The Masters is known for many things but probably the most delectable item is the pimento cheese sandwich. Now, I’m typically just about hot dogs and golf, but once a year I think it’s important to take a closer look at the snack that’s quickly making its way to parties all across this glorious land.

As a young boy growing up in Texas, I was accustomed to a nearly weekly pimento cheese sandwich. My mother would sometimes make her own version, using velveeta and shredded cheddar. On trips to the coast, we would stop off at the HEB and grab a tub of the good stuff, slather it on some wheat bread and get on down the road. Nothing says vacation in Texas like warm sandwiches, soggy tortilla chips, and a can of Dr. Pepper. But, this blog ain’t about Texas vacations, it’s about golf…

The Masters, apparently, has some mighty fine pimento cheese sandwiches. And, for a dollar fifty, it’s a heckuva deal. Those I’ve talked to tell me that they have a little more oniony kick than your typical southern style PCS, but they’re a great break from the sometimes awful heat and humidity. Coronas are a good option, too. Now, they come pre-made but I don’t think that’s all that awful — you’re there for the golf, not the freshness of the sandwich.

I’ve always said that if Old Crow whiskey is good enough for Ulysses S. Grant, it’s good enough for you. Same goes for pimento cheese. As a matter of fact, my favorite PCS recipe comes from Martha Stewart. It’s the Tabasco that does it. And, if Mrs. Stewart and the members of Augusta National Golf Club are fans, it’s fine for you to be one as well.

I brought some pimento cheese spread to a party a few weeks back. People were skeptical at first, until they tried it. And then they were all over the stuff. Made me proud. It’s definitely going to be a go-to for parties I attend in the future.

On the course, aside from a hotdog, it’s a fantastic choice for a mid-round snack. It’s benefits are many: it’s filling; it’s tasty; it stays together really nicely; and it can be scarfed down quickly.

A little update for those interested in golf and not pimento cheese:

It’s a pretty packed leaderboard. So far, my picks are doing ok.
- Johnson: -5
- Westwood: -2
- Rose: -2
- Dufner: E
- Poulter: +4

The leaders are at -6. Who are they? It’s Sergio Garcia and Marc Leishman. It should be known that I have Sergio Garcia as a pick in my office pool because someone else picked Rose.

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Luke is the author of Hotdogs and Golf, and he tweets @LukeGolf2012.