David A. Arnott

SBN: The Mets, Bernie Madoff, And The "Vig"

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:06:38 -0500

SBN: The Mets, Bernie Madoff, And The "Vig":

Oh my. This episode from the Mets’ insanity brought to you by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Tim Tebow. Green Eggs and Ham. Auto-Tuned. Via PFT

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:51:16 -0500

Tim Tebow. Green Eggs and Ham. Auto-Tuned.

Via PFT

"I refuse to allow the courts to arbitrarily determine who my friends, neighbors, and constituents..."

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:42:39 -0500

“I refuse to allow the courts to arbitrarily determine who my friends, neighbors, and constituents are…”

- Michele Bachmann, openly misunderstanding pretty much everything about everything.

snfantasybaseball: Draft Strategy: Brad Pinkerton, Matt...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:36:05 -0500

snfantasybaseball:

Draft Strategy: Brad Pinkerton, Matt Lutovsky, and David A. Arnott discuss different fantasy baseball draft principles. Get an edge by finding the right balance between hitters and pitchers, and by building “tiers” to help adjust your needs during the draft.

Download MP3

I’m very proud to share the first episode of the Sporting News Fantasy Source Baseball podcast this season. I’ll be hosting and producing a new episode every week. They’re free to all, so follow snfantasybaseball on Tumblr, subscribe with iTunes, or subscribe in your RSS catcher of choice.

"The advance pro scout, Clay Moser, was brought on board by coach Mike Brown. Of the three college..."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:39:51 -0500

“The advance pro scout, Clay Moser, was brought on board by coach Mike Brown. Of the three college scouts listed in the Lakers’ media guide, Ryan West — Jerry’s son — is the only one with a résumé and a workload. The others are Jesse Buss, who’s currently unable to travel due to an injured leg, and a guy known throughout the organization simply as “Chaz.” His name in the media guide is Charles Osborne, and supposedly he’s a nice guy… That’s right, the book on Chaz is that he’s a former bartender who also happens to be longtime friends with Jim Buss from their days in the horseracing business.”

- Ken Berger gives us what may be the defining image of a proud franchise spiraling out of control behind the scenes.

Target knows you're pregnant, even if you don't tell them

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:53:00 -0500

Target knows you're pregnant, even if you don't tell them:

I think I understand why this creeps people out, but it’s not like they’re going through the journal I kept in high school and publishing those thoughts.

Via Wonkblog

At BofA Stadium tonight, for a work function

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:02:07 -0500

At BofA Stadium tonight, for a work function

Via @AndyHutchins, here’s fantastic fan-shot footage of...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:34:23 -0500

Via @AndyHutchins, here’s fantastic fan-shot footage of Jeremy Lin’s buzzer-beater against the Raptors last night.

"The problem, of course, was the ceiling of that team. Between Martin, Ariza, Scola, and Okafor, the..."

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:46:34 -0500

“The problem, of course, was the ceiling of that team. Between Martin, Ariza, Scola, and Okafor, the Hornets would have locked in long term to a core with extremely minimal opportunity for growth. A 7th or 6th seed could have provided a shot at perhaps a wobbly Spurs team, maybe a fun revenge series against Chris Paul’s Clippers. But come the summer, the Hornets would add something akin to the 22nd pick from the draft, nothing else (cap and tax considerations) and that would have been that. Off to 2012, maybe another 7th seed. Rinse and repeat. The Hornets would have been “competitive” but not competitive, the lamb that reigned supreme amongst its fellow sheep, elated to be satueed in its own juices for the NBA’s lions. It’s always puzzled me why NBA fans are satisfied with this kind of existence.”

- CO. SIGN. At The Hive explains why the New Orleans Hornets were better off with the deal they got than the one David Stern vetoed.

I’ve been saying much the same thing for years.

andyhutchins: cureforbedbugs: cureforbedbugs: Aaron Carter...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:05:50 -0500

andyhutchins:

cureforbedbugs:

cureforbedbugs:

Aaron Carter vs. LMFAO - Aaron’s Party Rocking

I left Tumblr open overnight and this was the top post I came back to, and it feels like a reassurance (Thank you, all of you; I’ll get back to you when I can) that everything’s gonna be okay. It’s also fucking awesome.

Unexpectedly excellent at this precise moment.

"Woman-beating rage-broccoli Chris Brown lip-synced his single “Turn Up the Music” (without being..."

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:47:23 -0500

“Woman-beating rage-broccoli Chris Brown lip-synced his single “Turn Up the Music” (without being threatened by Sir Elton John) and danced roughly as well as a third-rate Chicago footwork dancer. He ended his performance by back-flipping off the stage, though sadly not off the earth.”

- Sasha Frere-Jones, in his recap of Grammy night.

NYTimes feature on Mooresville school

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:38:44 -0500

NYTimes feature on Mooresville school:

Anyone interested in education — especially in the Charlotte area — must read this. TL;DR version: A Mooresville school has figured out how to use laptops to provide differentiated instruction, in ways that go beyond grade levels and touch social differences.

Via @ScottGrafRadio

Fashion Sunday

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:29:18 -0500

Fashion Sunday

therodbenson: This is awesome.

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:33:09 -0500

therodbenson:

This is awesome.

Rush hour traffic on University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:27:31 -0500

Rush hour traffic on University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC

delacruzpahati: cause all I do is lin lin lin and if you goin’...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:47:22 -0500

delacruzpahati:

cause all I do is lin lin lin
and if you goin’ in put your hands in the air…

…The year of the @JLin7…

"But if Flegr is right, the “latent” parasite may be quietly tweaking the connections between our..."

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:33:09 -0500

“But if Flegr is right, the “latent” parasite may be quietly tweaking the connections between our neurons, changing our response to frightening situations, our trust in others, how outgoing we are, and even our preference for certain scents. And that’s not all. He also believes that the organism contributes to car crashes, suicides, and mental disorders such as schizophrenia. When you add up all the different ways it can harm us, says Flegr, “Toxoplasma might even kill as many people as malaria, or at least a million people a year.””

- The Atlantic with a story on you might be at the mercy of a brain parasite… RIGHT. NOW.

Via The Hairpin

SF Giants fantasy baseball preview -- Buster Posey

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:51:07 -0500

SF Giants fantasy baseball preview -- Buster Posey:

Unfortunately, in the 48th game, [Buster Posey] broke his leg while blocking the plate, prematurely ending his year. But what’s often ignored in the disappointment of a lost season is that up to that point, Posey’s power had mostly deserted him.

Sure, he was hitting .284, but with only four home runs, he was on pace to hit only about 13 for the season. Even those four home runs obscure how little power he’d displayed: he only had five doubles and was slugging .389, for an ISO of .105. True, he’d also stolen three bases — he started out as a shortstop in college, after all — but that’s not the offensive profile of an elite fantasy catcher. Even assuming he would have gotten hot later in the season, we’re talking about, at best, matching Miguel Montero’s production, the fourth-best catcher by our Roto Rater measure.

And that’s where I went wrong in our Winter Mock Draft. In our projection for Posey, we’re guessing he comes back from injury essentially the same hitter he was in ‘10 and will be a top-five fantasy catcher. If he had simply repeated his ‘10 line in ‘11, one could take into account his age and justify picking him as the first or second catcher off the board. However, he got hurt in ‘11, and he wasn’t hitting particularly well when his season ended.

My full article is behind the paywall at SportingNews.com’s Fantasy Source.

HS student comes back to basketball after auto racing career stalls

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:18:51 -0500

HS student comes back to basketball after auto racing career stalls:

Matthew Godley gave up on basketball for three years, looking to pursue a career in auto racing instead.

Having seen success as a driver since age 9 in Bandoleros, Legends and late-model series, it seemed like the logical choice. Then the economy took a downfall.

“Some of my sponsors had to back out,” said Godley. “But I took advantage of another opportunity that seemed a little dark. I picked basketball back up.”

"No delegates for the GOP nomination will actually be awarded in any of these three states based on..."

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:15:20 -0500

“No delegates for the GOP nomination will actually be awarded in any of these three states based on today’s votes. So, essentially, what’s going to happen tonight is a complete farce that will be manhandled into importance by campaign managers and political reporting.”

- Gawker reminds us that no delegates were actually awarded last night. Also, a Mitt Romney Robot joke.