Friday Link-O-Rama

I feel like doing one of these posts, so here goes:

• I collected baseball cards growing up and gained my love for number from them. The genius of Joe Posnanski goes through an observational history of stats on baseball cards, and if you've ever collected (even if you were only a 1990s card boom collector), you'll enjoy it.
• From my little corner of Huskerland, a few thoughts on fear and how it can govern life at times.
• The election might be over in most corners of the country, but Nate Silver continues to show his intellectual mettle.

And one personal thought of the day:

Politics has seemingly devolved into being like college sports, where you root for your team vehemently and disparage your rivals while trying to purport your team's superiority. So what happened to good, open discussions about ideas in the forum where it matters the most?

A tale of two analysts

The title of my latest post over at Seamheads

Veteran's Day

If you're at least a third-generation American, you almost certainly have a relative who served or is serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Today is their day. Thank them for their service.

Post election day thoughts

1) The smarter campaign won. This is obvious, but it does make me wonder what happens if John McCain does more talking about issues rather than trying to tear down Obama's image. For me, it was the constant disparaging of Obama, especially during the debates, that didn't allow the Maverick image to shine. Of course, imitating Obama's campaign didn't make him seem better either.

2) Now, I have as much hope as anyone that Obama can make good things happen in government. But I'll know the Daley Machine has extended its reign to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. if Patrick Fitzgerald is disposed of as the U.S. District Attorney in Chicago while Obama is in office. Of course, this could also lead to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago, which many are now predicting in Chicago.

3) Affirmative action goes down in Nebraska. Gay unions go down in California. Yet Colorado can't figure out when a person's life begins. Here's a hint: 80% were wrong.

4) Lots of promises means they will either be fulfilled or 1994 will repeat itself in 2010. Mr. President-elect, you've been warned.

And lastly, the word of the day is:

Obamanation

For you Democrats out there, this is a synonym of domination. For the Republicans in the crowd, just think of what other word it sounds like if you say it really fast. It'll help you survive for at least the next 2 years.

Cole Hamels = John Cleese?

You decide.

(H/T to the wonderful wife)

Back in business

Man, this whole not posting thing does not work well, now does it? Ok, reset button time (for the fifth time)...

The Olympic Gymnastics Rant

Gymnastics is one of those Olympic sports that I literally only pay attention to during this quadrennial celebration of sport, and I probably wouldn't mind if NBC didn't broadcast so much of it in future games. That being said, the brouhaha over He Kaxin and her fellow Chinese gymnasts' ages lead me to ask the IOC and FIG this:

WHY ARE YOU ASKING THE CHINESE!?!?

Let's backtrack a bit. First, before the Olympics, FIG (the international gymnastics governing body) examined the Chinese-issued competition passports of the Chinese gymnastics team, which stated all of their team's athletes were 16, and thus eligible, even amid the swirl of suspicion that those ages may not be true; a Danny Almonte case in reverse.
A few days ago, new media investigative reports brought these age issues back into question. Now, put yourself in the FIG Investigator's shoes. In the case that new evidence arises that puts these same issues in doubt again, should you go check the same source for different documents and stop there, or should you examine other legitimate records?
Obviously, if a fraud is being perpetrated, the perpetrators, if they're worth anything, should backtrack to forge what is necessary in case of investigation; in this case, birth certificates. So why stop there? I'm almost certain that gymnastics has a World Junior Championships event for athletes not age-eligible for this highest level of competition. Wouldn't you have records from that stating the ages of the competitors there? Wouldn't a gymnast in line for an eventual spot on a national team have competed there? Again, I have to pose these as questions because, as I said, I don't follow gymnastics outside of the Olympics, nor do I care to.
It seems to me the logic used in this case is to take the accusation, ask the accused to provide their own evidence in refute, and if they produce valid proof clear their name without any cross-examination. It is that lack of an extra validity check that has me questioning these findings, and odds are if news does break that China cheated in this case, you can surely bet that it won't come with the spotlight on.