Band: Northwestern University Wildcat Marching Band
University: Northwestern University
Founded: 1911
Current Director: Daniel J. Farris
Fight Songs: "Go U Northwestern" and "Rise, Northwestern!"
The routine above is a nice one. I especially like the waving flag effect. "Go U Northwestern" was written by Theodore Van Etten in 1912. I can't find writing credits for "Rise, Northwestern!"
All This and Football, Too
My Picks for the Week: 11/16
My Picks for the Bowl Season: 16/23 (2nd place out of 12 players in total points, tied for 9th in maximum points)
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
On the Coffee Table: Reed Browning
Title: Cy Young: A Baseball Life
Author: Reed Browning
Image via Open Library
As I have written before, biographies are tricky, especially when source material for the subject is limited as is the case for most turn-of-the-20th-century baseball players. I admire Professor Browning for his candor in confronting those limitations. He readily admits when the sources are scant and when he's offering his own subjective viewpoint, occasionally using the first person to address the reader directly. It defies biographical conventions but all to the good, I say. I much prefer this approach to a writer presuming to know the thoughts of a person long dead, essentially filling in the gaps with unsupported supposition or outright fiction.
I knew next to nothing about the great Cy Young before I started the book and now I am filled with admiration. Browning ends his book with a discussion of Young's place in history, presenting compelling arguments for and against including his name among the all-time greats. His 511 career wins, by far the most ever, offer the strongest case. Controlling for era is essentially impossible. Every athlete is at the mercy of two factors entirely beyond his or her power to change: his birthday and his opponents. Every sport changes over time. Rules, equipment, competitive depth and thousands of other elements are constantly fluid.
All any pitcher can do is take the mound and play the game, one pitch at a time. No pitcher of Young's era, indeed few of any era, did the job so well for so long. I think his stamina is particularly remarkable for an era when such extreme demands were placed upon pitchers: much longer outings and shorter rest intervals than are expected of today's hurlers. It's interesting to note, I think, that very similar arguments of consistency were made for Bert Blyleven's recent election to the Hall of Fame. That's not to say that Blyleven belongs anywhere near Cy Young's stratum.
The structure of the biography is interesting. Browning intersperses the chronological season-by-season accounts with broader perspective chapters on matters such as Young's family life, the specifics of his pitching arsenal, public perceptions and so on. In some ways, I would have preferred to have those discussions better integrated into the chronological reckoning but all the same information came through in the end. I'd say the book's greatest success is in its explanations of the drastic transitions the sport went through over the course of Young's 1890-1911 career: increasing the distance between pitcher and batter, counting the first two foul balls as strikes and the two-league structure among others.
Author: Reed Browning
Image via Open Library
As I have written before, biographies are tricky, especially when source material for the subject is limited as is the case for most turn-of-the-20th-century baseball players. I admire Professor Browning for his candor in confronting those limitations. He readily admits when the sources are scant and when he's offering his own subjective viewpoint, occasionally using the first person to address the reader directly. It defies biographical conventions but all to the good, I say. I much prefer this approach to a writer presuming to know the thoughts of a person long dead, essentially filling in the gaps with unsupported supposition or outright fiction.
I knew next to nothing about the great Cy Young before I started the book and now I am filled with admiration. Browning ends his book with a discussion of Young's place in history, presenting compelling arguments for and against including his name among the all-time greats. His 511 career wins, by far the most ever, offer the strongest case. Controlling for era is essentially impossible. Every athlete is at the mercy of two factors entirely beyond his or her power to change: his birthday and his opponents. Every sport changes over time. Rules, equipment, competitive depth and thousands of other elements are constantly fluid.
All any pitcher can do is take the mound and play the game, one pitch at a time. No pitcher of Young's era, indeed few of any era, did the job so well for so long. I think his stamina is particularly remarkable for an era when such extreme demands were placed upon pitchers: much longer outings and shorter rest intervals than are expected of today's hurlers. It's interesting to note, I think, that very similar arguments of consistency were made for Bert Blyleven's recent election to the Hall of Fame. That's not to say that Blyleven belongs anywhere near Cy Young's stratum.
The structure of the biography is interesting. Browning intersperses the chronological season-by-season accounts with broader perspective chapters on matters such as Young's family life, the specifics of his pitching arsenal, public perceptions and so on. In some ways, I would have preferred to have those discussions better integrated into the chronological reckoning but all the same information came through in the end. I'd say the book's greatest success is in its explanations of the drastic transitions the sport went through over the course of Young's 1890-1911 career: increasing the distance between pitcher and batter, counting the first two foul balls as strikes and the two-league structure among others.
The New 52: The Third Issues
I'm down to three titles of interest from DC Comics's New 52. Following are my reviews for the third issue of each of those series. I got Green Lantern and Justice League online whereas I picked up a hard copy of Green Lantern New Guardians.
Green Lantern #3
Image via Hill City Comics
Bear in mind, I haven't read issue #4 yet. I don't know what comes next in the Hal Jordan disintegration saga. But I'm becoming a bigger Sinestro fan with each passing month. To me, the idea of the arch-nemesis becoming the superhero is truly inspired. I'm working under the assumption that eventually, Hal Jordan will have survived his current predicament and become the star of the series once again but I'm not sure the GL story will continue to hold my interest in that case. I may be more inclined to follow Sinestro wherever he goes next.
Admittedly, I'm a newbie and not as invested in Hal Jordan as those who've been devoted to the series for years. But I can't help agreeing with Sinestro when he says he's better than Hal, and Hal knows it. I'm pretty sure we all know it. He's smarter, wiser, more disciplined, less impulsive and every bit as strong. The floating Oompa-Loompas feel he is less altruistic but, at least for the moment, that doesn't seem to be the case. His devotion to the people of Korugar, at any rate, appears to be pure and true. I guess I am more a Sinestro fan than a Green Lantern fan. We shall see if that holds going forward.
Justice League #3
Image via Batman-News.com
The brawling. I've really had enough of the brawling. If the big fight scenes are to be the focus of this series, it may also have trouble holding my interest long-term. In a team book, there should be personalities and relationships to explore. I still enjoy the banter between the heroes, though the jabs at Batman for lacking superpowers already feel overdone. However, Green Lantern calling dibs on Wonder Woman was genuinely funny. I'm delighted that Aquaman has been introduced. He was my favorite as a kid. But I'm disappointed that, at least at first appearance, he's a bit of an arrogant jerk. I'm not ready to give up on this series just yet but I'm worried.
While I was less impressed with the story, the artwork for this book is outstanding. There are a lot of nice Wonder Woman images. I like the one of her with a sword in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other.
Image via Maybe Tomorrow
But I'd say my favorite frame was the one of reclaimed-from-the-brink-of-death Cyborg blending back into the scene at the ocean.
Image via World of Black Heroes
Green Lantern New Guardians #3
Image via ComicXHub
My growing distaste for the brawling continues. I need more from these stories. The development, in this issue, of the Orange Lantern Corps was interesting. At this point, despite the fact that I gave up on Red Lanterns after two issues, an examination of each individual corps would be more interesting to me than the New Guardians storyline. Of the three #3 issues I've read, this is the only one that didn't pass my curiosity test for issue #4. However, as with JL #3, a lot of the artwork is highly satisfying. I really like this one:
Image via Quelque chose de bizarre
Summing Up
And then there were two. I promise, I haven't been systematically eliminating titles. I'd have been delighted to be enthralled by all 52 books from the get go. But in my quest for series that I can settle into and enjoy for the foreseeable future, the DC stories aren't doing enough for me. I'm even a bit worried about the two titles I have left. More on those very soon...
Green Lantern #3
Image via Hill City Comics
Bear in mind, I haven't read issue #4 yet. I don't know what comes next in the Hal Jordan disintegration saga. But I'm becoming a bigger Sinestro fan with each passing month. To me, the idea of the arch-nemesis becoming the superhero is truly inspired. I'm working under the assumption that eventually, Hal Jordan will have survived his current predicament and become the star of the series once again but I'm not sure the GL story will continue to hold my interest in that case. I may be more inclined to follow Sinestro wherever he goes next.
Admittedly, I'm a newbie and not as invested in Hal Jordan as those who've been devoted to the series for years. But I can't help agreeing with Sinestro when he says he's better than Hal, and Hal knows it. I'm pretty sure we all know it. He's smarter, wiser, more disciplined, less impulsive and every bit as strong. The floating Oompa-Loompas feel he is less altruistic but, at least for the moment, that doesn't seem to be the case. His devotion to the people of Korugar, at any rate, appears to be pure and true. I guess I am more a Sinestro fan than a Green Lantern fan. We shall see if that holds going forward.
Justice League #3
Image via Batman-News.com
The brawling. I've really had enough of the brawling. If the big fight scenes are to be the focus of this series, it may also have trouble holding my interest long-term. In a team book, there should be personalities and relationships to explore. I still enjoy the banter between the heroes, though the jabs at Batman for lacking superpowers already feel overdone. However, Green Lantern calling dibs on Wonder Woman was genuinely funny. I'm delighted that Aquaman has been introduced. He was my favorite as a kid. But I'm disappointed that, at least at first appearance, he's a bit of an arrogant jerk. I'm not ready to give up on this series just yet but I'm worried.
While I was less impressed with the story, the artwork for this book is outstanding. There are a lot of nice Wonder Woman images. I like the one of her with a sword in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other.
Image via Maybe Tomorrow
But I'd say my favorite frame was the one of reclaimed-from-the-brink-of-death Cyborg blending back into the scene at the ocean.
Image via World of Black Heroes
Green Lantern New Guardians #3
Image via ComicXHub
My growing distaste for the brawling continues. I need more from these stories. The development, in this issue, of the Orange Lantern Corps was interesting. At this point, despite the fact that I gave up on Red Lanterns after two issues, an examination of each individual corps would be more interesting to me than the New Guardians storyline. Of the three #3 issues I've read, this is the only one that didn't pass my curiosity test for issue #4. However, as with JL #3, a lot of the artwork is highly satisfying. I really like this one:
Image via Quelque chose de bizarre
Summing Up
And then there were two. I promise, I haven't been systematically eliminating titles. I'd have been delighted to be enthralled by all 52 books from the get go. But in my quest for series that I can settle into and enjoy for the foreseeable future, the DC stories aren't doing enough for me. I'm even a bit worried about the two titles I have left. More on those very soon...
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
My Football Fantasy: 9th Place
College League: won, 104.91-71.24 (finished in 9th place out of 12 teams)
Vermont League: won, 88.12-73.66 (finished 9th out of 12)
My Player of the Week: Jairus Byrd (Safety, Bills)
Photo via NextGenSports
The Bills are currently my team defense in the college league and they had a big game: 14 points allowed, 3 sacks, 4 interceptions and 2 touchdowns. Byrd was responsible for 1 interception and 1 touchdown. His father, Gill Byrd, was a star defensive back for the San Diego Chargers.
The season is over in both leagues and I finished in exactly the same spot. Waseda Alum won the College League whereas my blogging friend Marc won the Vermont League. I need to devote time in the off-season to devising a new strategy. My minimum goal for next season: the playoffs in both leagues.
My Player of the Year
Player: Matthew Stafford
Position: Quarterback
Team: Detroit Lions
Photo via isportsweb
Stafford was my player of the week four times. He was a steal, auto-drafted in the sixth round of the VL draft and has been the 5th most productive player in fantasy football this season. This is his third year in the NFL, not an unusual time for a breakout year. More importantly, he has led the Lions to the playoffs for the first time in the 21st century.
Vermont League: won, 88.12-73.66 (finished 9th out of 12)
My Player of the Week: Jairus Byrd (Safety, Bills)
Photo via NextGenSports
The Bills are currently my team defense in the college league and they had a big game: 14 points allowed, 3 sacks, 4 interceptions and 2 touchdowns. Byrd was responsible for 1 interception and 1 touchdown. His father, Gill Byrd, was a star defensive back for the San Diego Chargers.
The season is over in both leagues and I finished in exactly the same spot. Waseda Alum won the College League whereas my blogging friend Marc won the Vermont League. I need to devote time in the off-season to devising a new strategy. My minimum goal for next season: the playoffs in both leagues.
My Player of the Year
Player: Matthew Stafford
Position: Quarterback
Team: Detroit Lions
Photo via isportsweb
Stafford was my player of the week four times. He was a steal, auto-drafted in the sixth round of the VL draft and has been the 5th most productive player in fantasy football this season. This is his third year in the NFL, not an unusual time for a breakout year. More importantly, he has led the Lions to the playoffs for the first time in the 21st century.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Family Adventures: A Christmas Constitutional
After lunch today, we went out for a walk, just up to the top of our road and back. We got a light coating of fresh snow for Christmas, just enough to make the pine trees look as if they've been dusted with powdered sugar. I managed to get a few nice pictures:
One of our holiday traditions is for Our Girl to pick a charity for our family donation. This was our sixth year doing it and she's chosen a different worthy cause each time. This year, we gave to our local public library. If you'd care to do the same, find one near you at www.publiclibraries.com.
Happy holidays!
Peace on Earth.
One of our holiday traditions is for Our Girl to pick a charity for our family donation. This was our sixth year doing it and she's chosen a different worthy cause each time. This year, we gave to our local public library. If you'd care to do the same, find one near you at www.publiclibraries.com.
Happy holidays!
Peace on Earth.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
I'm with the Band: Southern Miss
Band: The Pride of Mississippi Marching Band
University: The University of Southern Mississippi
Founded: 1920
Director: Dr. Mohamad Schumann
In the Bowl Game As Free Vacation Sweepstakes, the Hawaii Bowl is the big prize. Bowl games have been played in Hawaii since 1936, 23 years before statehood.
All This and Football, Too
My Picks for the Week: 3/4
My Picks for the Bowl Season: 5/7 (2nd place out of 12 players in total points; 9th out of 12 in maximum points)
University: The University of Southern Mississippi
Founded: 1920
Director: Dr. Mohamad Schumann
In the Bowl Game As Free Vacation Sweepstakes, the Hawaii Bowl is the big prize. Bowl games have been played in Hawaii since 1936, 23 years before statehood.
All This and Football, Too
My Picks for the Week: 3/4
My Picks for the Bowl Season: 5/7 (2nd place out of 12 players in total points; 9th out of 12 in maximum points)
On the Coffee Table: Kurt Vonnegut
Title: Galápagos
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Image via Shifting Baselines
When I first started The Armchair Squid a couple years back as a sports blog, I'd pondered possibilities for new directions down the line. Science fiction seemed a strong candidate - another interest I pursued as a child despite the rest of my family's indifference. I expected, however, that film or television would be the likely blogging gateway to the sci-fi world. Instead, it was books.
In anticipation of this possible transition, I've tackled a few sci-fi classics over the past year - Frankenstein, The Island of Doctor Moreau, From the Earth to the Moon, I, Robot and The Martian Chronicles - but have not posted reviews. With the 12 Books in 12 Months challenge behind me, I felt the time had come for The Squid to branch out. I decided to begin with an old friend.
I first read Vonnegut in high school when Cat's Cradle was assigned to my 11th grade English class. To say I was impressed is putting it mildly. Apart from his great humor, Vonnegut's bold irreverence for the novel form was very refreshing to a 16-year-old kid who was just beginning to catch on that school could be fun and intellectual exploration gratifying. I later read other books on my own: Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions and Palm Sunday, a collection of essays. The latter contains many wonderful musings on the writing craft which I still bear in mind whenever I read fiction.
All of that said, Galápagos is a fun read but not Vonnegut's strongest effort. The basic story, a random assemblage escaping from the mainland to ultimately offer humanity a new beginning, would have been plenty interesting enough without Vonnegut's typical temporal wanderings. Maybe I'm too old to be impressed by all of that anymore. For me, a great read is when you forget you're reading a book at all and suddenly realize you've plowed through 100 pages in one sitting. Vonnegut seemingly never wants you to forget that you're reading. While marking those characters soon-to-die with asterisks provides modest levity to an otherwise dark tale, I found the practice jarring. My Wife hates Vonnegut, as she explains in her Slaughterhouse Five post. I now feel that I can understand why.
Of course, Vonnegut has very tough competition at our house right now: J.R.R. Tolkien. I recently finished reading The Hobbit to Our Girl and we're now several chapters into The Fellowship of the Ring. In film or print, all I really want is a good story told well and very few can match Tolkien on that measure. Not many can claim to have created such a rich and textured world as Middle Earth. If the literary profession were a boxing circuit, I doubt Vonnegut would even survive the first round against Tolkein. To his credit, though, Vonnegut would be the first to concede his opponent's superiority.
I anticipate many re-reads in my science fiction explorations: Douglas Adams, certainly, and probably full immersion in Asimov's oeuvre at some point. I think Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are also both worth another look, if only to remind myself of why I loved Vonnegut in the first place. And yes, I still do, even though Galápagos didn't do it for me. I leave for now with the author's interview with Jon Stewart:
And here is his list:
LIBERAL CRAP I NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN
Give us this day our daily bread. Oh sure.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Nobody better trespass against me. I'll tell you that.
Blessed are the meek.
Blessed are the merciful. You mean we can't use torture?
Blessed are the peacemakers. Jane Fonda?
Love your enemies - Arabs?
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. The hell I can't! Look at the Reverend Pat Robertson. And he is as happy as a pig in s**t.
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Image via Shifting Baselines
When I first started The Armchair Squid a couple years back as a sports blog, I'd pondered possibilities for new directions down the line. Science fiction seemed a strong candidate - another interest I pursued as a child despite the rest of my family's indifference. I expected, however, that film or television would be the likely blogging gateway to the sci-fi world. Instead, it was books.
In anticipation of this possible transition, I've tackled a few sci-fi classics over the past year - Frankenstein, The Island of Doctor Moreau, From the Earth to the Moon, I, Robot and The Martian Chronicles - but have not posted reviews. With the 12 Books in 12 Months challenge behind me, I felt the time had come for The Squid to branch out. I decided to begin with an old friend.
I first read Vonnegut in high school when Cat's Cradle was assigned to my 11th grade English class. To say I was impressed is putting it mildly. Apart from his great humor, Vonnegut's bold irreverence for the novel form was very refreshing to a 16-year-old kid who was just beginning to catch on that school could be fun and intellectual exploration gratifying. I later read other books on my own: Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions and Palm Sunday, a collection of essays. The latter contains many wonderful musings on the writing craft which I still bear in mind whenever I read fiction.
All of that said, Galápagos is a fun read but not Vonnegut's strongest effort. The basic story, a random assemblage escaping from the mainland to ultimately offer humanity a new beginning, would have been plenty interesting enough without Vonnegut's typical temporal wanderings. Maybe I'm too old to be impressed by all of that anymore. For me, a great read is when you forget you're reading a book at all and suddenly realize you've plowed through 100 pages in one sitting. Vonnegut seemingly never wants you to forget that you're reading. While marking those characters soon-to-die with asterisks provides modest levity to an otherwise dark tale, I found the practice jarring. My Wife hates Vonnegut, as she explains in her Slaughterhouse Five post. I now feel that I can understand why.
Of course, Vonnegut has very tough competition at our house right now: J.R.R. Tolkien. I recently finished reading The Hobbit to Our Girl and we're now several chapters into The Fellowship of the Ring. In film or print, all I really want is a good story told well and very few can match Tolkien on that measure. Not many can claim to have created such a rich and textured world as Middle Earth. If the literary profession were a boxing circuit, I doubt Vonnegut would even survive the first round against Tolkein. To his credit, though, Vonnegut would be the first to concede his opponent's superiority.
I anticipate many re-reads in my science fiction explorations: Douglas Adams, certainly, and probably full immersion in Asimov's oeuvre at some point. I think Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are also both worth another look, if only to remind myself of why I loved Vonnegut in the first place. And yes, I still do, even though Galápagos didn't do it for me. I leave for now with the author's interview with Jon Stewart:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Kurt Vonnegut | ||||
| ||||
And here is his list:
LIBERAL CRAP I NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN
Give us this day our daily bread. Oh sure.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Nobody better trespass against me. I'll tell you that.
Blessed are the meek.
Blessed are the merciful. You mean we can't use torture?
Blessed are the peacemakers. Jane Fonda?
Love your enemies - Arabs?
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. The hell I can't! Look at the Reverend Pat Robertson. And he is as happy as a pig in s**t.
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