Mo's Marketplace | January 2007

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Celtics, Lakers: The Lost Rivalry

    The 80’s are behind us and tonight a young Celtics team without its Superstar takes on Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. This young Celtics team is entertaining but is well on its way to win the NBA lottery and a chance at Greg Oden.. The team isn’t as bad as it sounds, they don’t lack heart, they simply lack experience. Without, Pierce they lack a guy who can turn a game around in seconds and gives them extra leadership on the floor. Tonight it will be the...

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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

BHAGs and Moments That Make Up a Dull Day

“Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way” ~Pink Floyd, “Time” 10 years 120 months 6240 weeks 43680 days 1048320 hours 62899200 ...

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Monday, January 29, 2007

Horse Hypocrisy

Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner, was euthanized today as a result of a nasty leg break last year.  CBS Sportsline characterizes his passing as "A Brave Fight."  You've got to be kidding.  Anthropomorphizing an animal's struggle as being a brave fight is simply ludicrous yet it doesn't stop there. The anthropomorphizing hides a more insidious characterization of the physical battle this horse was asked to wage. According to canada.com, "the four-year-old underwent...

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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Now what?

The Patriots lost three days ago and I'm finding it hard to move forward.  For sure, there's plenty of things to do at work and, of course, there is the rest of life to live, but there is this empty little hole where in Patriots Super Bowl frenzy should be.  Alas...nothing. A little disheartening.  I looked at the injury report earlier in the week and had seen Troy Brown listed as "doubtful" because of the flu, and I had my questions - this is actually, you know, contagious,...

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Tuesday, January 23, 2007

State of Patriots Nation Speech

Greetings, this is Mo and we’re here at Mo’s  where Coach Belichick will be making his annual “State of the Patriots Nation” speech. Today’s speech will likely discuss several aspects of the Coach’s vision for next season as well as how his vision for this past season played out. Of specific interest will be his discussion of the “Guest Receiver” program trotted out this year or of the “NPLB” or “No Punter Left Behind”...

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Friday, January 19, 2007

Chikin Ramen: Momofuku Ando (安藤百福)

On Friday, January 9, a person of import to many Americans quietly passed at age 96 due to heart failure.  This man had a great influence in my own personal history and I was unaware of his influence until I learned of his death. Momofuku Ando was the founder of a Japanese food company called Nissin.  His major invention: Instant Ramen Noodles.  The 6 for $1 foodstuff that has kept more than this starving college student (after all, if it comes down to food or beer, one will...

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Orville "The Zombie"

Have you seen the new Orville Redenbacher Popcorn commercial?  Have you ever seen anything so completely creepy? I want you to do something:  Click HERE to watch the new Zombie Orville, then click HERE to watch Old School Orville.  Better yet, open them both up in different windows, listen to a portion of one and then listen to the other.  Talk about bringing out your dead.  It seems ConAgra foods, that company which owns the Redenbacher name, has increased it's...

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The World Is Flat, So How Do We Fix Things?

Lest there be any question as to whether the world is indeed "flat" as Thomas_L._Friedman talks about in the book "The World Is Flat" Mexicans would like to debate the point.  And I would like to see a debate on how we go about "fixing" things. One of the largest issues facing the new Mexican government is…the cost of tortilla. The increase in the cost has at it’s core, the increase of the use of ethanol in US gasoline – we currently...

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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Adam Vinatieri vs. The Patriots "System"

On my TSN Blog, I'm running a "group prognostication" for this weekends NFL Championship games, based on The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki, and specifically the opening anecdote: Francis Galton's 1906 visit to a county fair in which the crowd accurately guessed the butchered or the "slaughtered and dressed" weight of an ox when their individual...

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5 Minutes to Midnight

Kill for gain or shoot to maim But we don’t need a reason The golden goose is on the loose And never out of season Some blackened pride still burns inside This shell of bloody treason Heres my gun for a barrel of fun For the love of living death.” ~Iron Maiden, "2 Minutes to Midnight"  In 1953, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, placed their “Doomsday Clock” at 2 Minutes to midnight as a result of the United States detonating the hydrogen...

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Call for Lefty, Saving Money, The Borg, and More

Well, I’m sitting at my notebook, watching Jeopardy (which, by the way, I totally scored on final Jeopardy – I knew Defense was the only federal department not to use the “.gov” TLD) and my cell rings. “Private Number.” Mrs. Mo says, “Just answer it,” so I do. Some guy is looking for (get this….wait for it….) “LEFTY.” LEFTY! Ack! People are actually called “Lefty”? Needless to say this was a wrong number, but apparently my cell isn’t too far off from Lefty’s. As long as I don’t get a subpoena...

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Monday, January 15, 2007

So, Tell me again - The Pats are arrogant because...

So the Patriots have advanced to the AFC Championship game and currently stand at 14-4.  The Patriots quietly returned despite the talk this year that they are no longer an elite team in the NFL or that the men running the team have allowed arrogance to catch up with them.  David Givens signed with the Tennessee Titans after getting a boatload more money than the Pats were offering.  Deion Branch demanded to be traded when the Patriots offered decent money, but refused...

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Sunday, January 14, 2007

New England/San Diego - Wrap Up

          From NFL.COM: The San Diego Chargers gave Tom Brady one chance too many, and that’s exactly what the three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback needed. Brady and the New England Patriots shocked league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson and the Chargers on Sunday, winning 24-21 to move within one win of their fourth Super Bowl trip in six seasons. The Patriots will play the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday at 6:30 in Indianapolis for the AFC Championship...

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Saturday, January 13, 2007

Ravens Fail to Excorcise Ghosts of 1984

So the Colts get a chance to suck the life out of Baltimore again.  Before the largest crowd ever in Baltimore, the Indianapolis Colts wiped the Baltimore Ravens out of the playoffs 12-6.  In what could have been a exorcism for the city, and for the new generation of Baltimore football fans, history beckoned and came back to haunt the old school Baltimore football fans.  I can imagine there being a significant dichotomy in the city between those probably about 38...

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Friday, January 12, 2007

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Refered by Boston Sports Media Watch, I found John Tomase's Boston Herald piece discussing the Patriots against "young" QB's - operationally defined here as having less than 3 years of experience - that haven't fared well against the Patriots over the last 5 years:   "Twenty-two times over the last five years a quarterback with fewer than three years experience has faced the Patriots for the first time. The Pats have won 17 of those games, including six...

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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Secret of Eternal Happiness

I have found the secret to eternal happiness.  It’s very simple.  It has worked on an international basis.  What is this magic elixir?   LOW EXPECTATIONS.  Yes, my dear friends, lower your expectations for everlasting happiness.  The Danes are among the happiest in the world despite “bad weather, bad food, and high alcohol consumption.”    Last week, the New York Jets could hold their heads high – they had exceeded the expectations of...

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World News...kind of

I saw the headline "Arroyo calls for a strong anti-terror pact"and I'm thinking, "Wow, Bronson Arroyo is taking on world affairs?"  Well, no, Gloria Arroyo, the President of the Philippines.  Oops.  While on world events, I think I have an explanation as to what that stench over New York was.  Put it this way: it happened just after both the New York Jets and the New York Giants were unceremoniously bounced out of the playoffs; it happened as...

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

MLB Mish Mash: Dumb Signings, HOF, Bad Uni's

So, you thought the Royals handing out $55MM to Gil Meche over 5 years was a pretty...well, dumb move.  How about the Seibu Lions spending some of their $51MM windfall from the Red Sox posting fee for signing of Daisuke Matsuzaka (Newly assigned the #18 on the Sox roster and previous wearer of the Lions #18) to sign the previous wearer of the Red Sox' #18, Jason Johnson to a 1 year, $3MM contract.  I can picture the outrage now: You replaced Matsuzaka-son with John-son? ...

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New England/San Diego

The New England Patriots have been a dominant team in a league of parity over the last ten years, and certainly the most over the last 5-6. A lot of that is on the line this weekend when they travel to San Diego for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. The last time the Pats played the Chargers (last year) they were shellacked 41-17. The first time the Pats played San Diego in a playoff game was the 1964 AFL championship game. That didn’t end well for the Patriots. The only time the...

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Monday, January 08, 2007

Random Musings

It seems a couple of people didn't like my last post at TSN. Lew Troop posted a piece on the outrageous T&R on what are essentially obituaries for Mario Danelo, so that a couple of people don't like me pulling on the homer sweater for my team after a big win doesn't bother me much at all. I'll take that as a mark of honor. Tony Romo has to bumming pretty seriously after Saturday. You know, all he really needed was for his kicker to lay just one block down. That's why teams like football...

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NFL Playoffs

The Playoff football this weekend was a bit of a mixed bag. The Seahawks/Cowboys game demonstrated that the NFC may have reached parity, but I have to say it looked a lot more like mediocrity. The Indianapolis/Kansas City game was one of the most boring, and dare I say worst coached games I've seen in a long time. The New England/New York game, however, was a very good game from my perspective. Okay, so I'm a homer, I make no excuses on that, but I think New England demonstrated that they...

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