Let me get office douche on you here for a second and say ‘first, some housecleaning items’. 
1. We’ve hired another writer. He’ll be named ‘The Business’ and his first post is below this one. Please have a read and welcome him into this effed up little family of ours. I’ve already got one e-mail from a lady who said that he’s “disgusting” and “not funny”. So he’s acclimating nicely.
2. I’ve added a ‘Staff’ section on the right hand sidebar so people can see just who the hell works here and what they do. You’d be surprised how many people think that I just write everything on this site, but that’s not the case. At all. So before you get pissed at me for something, make sure and read the byline. I’ve also included e-mail contacts for all the staff, so if you want to reach out to them directly, feel free.
3. I don’t want to deep tease too much, when I’m not sure how/if it’ll turn out. But I think we’ve got something in the pipe this week that you’ll find enjoyable and hopefully something we can do more often. I’ve said too much already…
Rooting for numbers.
99% of Cardinal Nation has come to grips with the fact that the Birds will be missing the playoffs for the third time in four years of Albert Pujols’ prime. But that hasn’t stopped them for rooting for the team via ‘the numbers’.
They root for Wainwright to get to 20 wins or Pujols to hit 40 home runs or whatever statistical milestone their guy is gunning for in 2010.
Frankly, I don’t know if there could be a sillier single thing than rooting for the numbers. And it’s not because I hope that Rootbeer doesn’t get to 20 wins- because I hope he does.
Simply: it doesn’t affect me as a fan. Not one iota.
Wins help get the team closer to the postseason. In which I can rip of Cubs fans for not being there while simultaneously rooting for the guys when the nation focus has turned their way. The games are more fun, more intense, more meaningful. It’s awesome watching October baseball when your team is still in the hunt.
Stats are kind of the byproduct of success as a team. The more good stats you accumulate, more likely the amount of wins increases. Hence, your chances of playing past the regular season are increased. Stats in and of themselves are nice for the guys you’re pulling for, but once they’ve been eliminated- they matter none.
I’ve never had a passionate argument about Adam Wainwright’s win total in a bar. I have re-enacted his breaking ball against Carlos Beltran in the 2006 NLCS 100 times. 20 wins is irrelevant to me and only important to Wain-O’s agent. So pulling for this arbitrary number is not only silly, it’s probably counterproductive to actually securing his services the next time he’s up for a contract.
Some have made the argument that it’s about watching baseball, and that they’re not ready to give up the summer just yet. You know what, I get that. I feel the same way. I’ll watch an inning here or an Pujols AB there, just to know that fall hasn’t totally started in earnest yet.
But the outcome of those AB’s is irrelevant to anything in my or your sporting life. So don’t try to act like you’re rooting for ‘stats’ when all your doing is drowning your sorrow for another lost season.
With apologies to the troops overseas that were miffed at the Friday Links’ absence on Friday… here are the Friday Links on a Monday.
See what I did there? Genius.
- Malibu from American Gladiators talks injury. Wow- the 80’s were awesome! LINK HERE (HT FWC)
- 31 foods with their names misspelled. I don’t know why this is funny. LINK HERE
- Inside the world’s most opulent private jets. LINK HERE (HT:JRH)
- Why do criminals always wear Yankee hats? LINK HERE (HT: JRH)
- Cranktexts can waste up to an hour of your day. It did mine. LINK HERE
- Graphjam probably could have taken me from a D to a D+ student in math. LINK HERE
- Cameras attached to birds will make you want to fly. LINK HERE
- Just not what you want to see when you step up to the urnial. LINK HERE
Many apologies for not having these up in a timely fashion this weekend or Friday for that matter.
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