November 11, 2011
Link-O-Rama
• Wilson Ramos, the Twins prospect traded to the Nationals for Matt Capps in mid-2010, was kidnapped from his home in Venezuela and remains missing.
• Jim Thome is recruiting Michael Cuddyer to join him on the Phillies.
• Hopefully this book can be found in the fiction section.
• Rockies reporter and columnist Jim Armstrong was dismissed from the Denver Post following 27 years at the newspaper after being named in a sports betting indictment. It's a complicated issue, but considering how many sportswriters bet on sports, openly talk of betting on sports, and even write about betting on sports ... well, it just seems like Armstrong got a raw deal.
• I've long been fascinated and frustrated by Eddie Murphy's career and Bill Simmons' movie-by-movie and quote-by-quote recap is a great read.
• Who knew the pizza industry employed so many artists?
• This is why I work from bed, not from the couch.
• Next year's Society for American Baseball Research convention will be in Minnesota from June 27 through July 2 and SABR announced that the event will be held in downtown Minneapolis at the Marriott City Center, which is walking distance from Target Field. I haven't missed a SABR convention since attending my first one in Cincinnati as a 21-year-old in 2004, so I'm hoping to see tons of Twins bloggers and AG.com readers there.
• As part of the interview process Theo Epstein made the Cubs' candidates manage simulated games, which is what happens when the people who grew up reading Bill James and playing Strat-O-Matic start running MLB teams.
• In fairness, this is probably how my colleagues would describe me too.
• I watched a few minutes of an MTV show called "I Used To Be Fat" and it reminded me of this Mitch Hedberg joke: "I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too."
• Community creator Dan Harmon was already a genius, but this proves it. Also, thanks.
• High school football announcers are the best:
"Py-ro-technics!"
• One of my articles was selected for the fourth annual "Best of MinnPost" collection.
• Never forget: Minnesotans elected this guy governor.
• Dave Attell talking with Joe Rogan for two hours about random stuff was pretty great.
• This is what they mean by a match made in heaven, except the exact opposite.
• My favorite Joe Frazier memory is him singing "When Somebody Loves You Back" by Teddy Pendergrass to woo Robin Quivers. One of his few losses, although it was a split decision.
• One of my childhood favorites, Heavy D, passed away at age 44. Eerily, his final Twitter post was mourning Frazier's death.
• Louis CK is taking his next stand-up special straight to the internet.
• Stand-up comedian, Parks and Recreation writer, and Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com candidate Chelsea Peretti was a great guest on Pete Holmes' new podcast. Follow her on Twitter, too.
• I'm not necessarily proud of this, but I watched an arm wrestling documentary on Netflix and it was really good despite some cheesy attempts to ramp up the drama.
• If you're not sure what to think of the Penn State situation, please read this and also this.
• My aunt's new book got a great review.
• Joe Christensen wants the Twins to finally induct Camilo Pascual into their Hall of Fame.
• As a Howard Stern fan this saddens me, but as an NBC employee it wouldn't be so bad.
• If they need a designated hitter who can't hit, count me in too.
• Ben Revere is, as always, adorable.
• This week's "Gleeman and The Geek" was an emergency episode recorded immediately after the announcement that Terry Ryan was replacing Bill Smith, so John Bonnes and I spent 105 minutes discussing what the general manager move means for the Twins' present and future.
• Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is Heavy D and The Boyz with a live version of "Now That We Found Love":
