Comments on: We now have a reason to explain why Matt Kemp will improve or regress in 2011

By: Jeremiah Graves

Jeremiah Graves — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 06:47:30 +0000

No one likes to hear fantasy baseball stories, let alone fantasy baseball stories about people they don’t know, but I’ve gotta toss this one out there…

Before last season, my buddy was trying to decide on his keepers. He was torn between Joey Votto/Matt Kemp/Ian Kinsler for his second keeper. I lobbied for Votto–sensing a breakout year–or Kinsler because 2B is such a shallow position.

He didn’t understand why I wasn’t so high on Kemp in 2010 after his big year in 2009 and my reasoning was simple: “Rihanna.”

You don’t start dating a pop diva with a history of front-page relationships and not suffer in one way or another. He didn’t take my advice and suffered the consequences.

Additionally, there is a reason I always have a column in my pre-season fantasy baseball spreadsheets dedicated to major offseason changes in personal life…that shit is real, y’all…

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:55:59 +0000

Au contraire, I find it absurd to yearn for a landscape enshrouded by the great white death from above in order to celebrate a thinly veiled pagan dying-and-resurrected god myth set in the Judean desert where it's 102° in the shade and even the scorpions are slathering themselves in SPF50 sunblock. But the weather is less of a problem here than the music. There's nothing you can rub on your mind to keep Christmas music from softening it to the point of aesthetic putrescence. Ecccchhhh. Give me three weeks in a Buddhist monastery in a mountain redoubt in Japan. I'll kill the time moving rocks around to tune the waterfall and give my ears a rest.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:19:30 +0000

What? Are you upset that you never have a White Christmas in Miami? Try spending Christmas in Edmonton or Winnipeg for a change of pace.We can never be certain if we will have snow on the ground in Toronto on the 25th.

By: xpensivewinos

xpensivewinos — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:17:06 +0000

Gee, where is a rich, young, famous major league baseball player going to find another hot girl in Los Angeles?

Looks like he’s going to die alone……poor bastard.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:12:14 +0000

Probably the finest album by a folk-rock star whose love life had just gone down the porcelain goddess was Mitch Cohen’s Cry For Help. I used to kick back with a sterno and a pipeful of yaghe and listen to it for days on end: http://www.morethings.com/fan/a_mighty_wind/photo_gallery03.htm

Calling it Quits was a bit overproduced for my taste, though – but at least it was pretty miserable. Happy music can drive you up the wall, especially during Christmas, and double especially if you’re stuck in an elevator with Bing Crosby on a digital loop.

By: Dan in Katonah

Dan in Katonah — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:11:00 +0000

Someone should track the “Milano Effect” and see what Alyssa’s impact was on guys like Penny, Russell Martin, Zito, etc.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:05:56 +0000

Right after, actually.

By: oldtimefamilybaseball

oldtimefamilybaseball — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:24:22 +0000

Right before Christmas, eh? Looks like someone didn’t want to buy any Christmas presents.