2008 Presidential Election

As with most people, I have certain passions in my life. And as with most people, there are certain things that irritate me. The topic that I will address concerns baseball (a passion) and passionately uninformed arguments about the Dodgers (topic of irritation), and since this is one of my rambles, I will commence my rambling.

I found out today that Paul DePodesta was fired from his position as General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Quite shocking news. Yesterday, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times wrote an article entitled “Wanted: Depo Man,” which basically trashed DePodesta but gave no indication that the GM of the Dodgers was on his way out the door. It’s mere speculation, at this point, to say when DePodesta knew that he would be fired or at what point Frank McCourt (owner of the Dodgers) decided to fire his young Harvard-educated employee, but one of my qualms with McCourt and the Dodgers is the timing of his firing. If McCourt wanted to go in a different direction with a new general manager, he should have done so at the end of the season. I think it was a very cowardly act on McCourt’s part to have DePodesta ax Tracy and then have the audacity to fire DePodesta while he’s looking to fill a managerial vacancy. I’ve wanted to give some support to McCourt’s Dodgers and have an optimistic outlook on things, but it seems difficult to do so at this point. McCourt constantly spouts about returning to the “Dodger Way” of doing things as if making rash firings is a time-honored Dodger tradition.

So that’s my first qualm. The timing of this decision puts the Dodgers into more perceived chaos and absolutely makes the Dodgers look like a second-class organization. McCourt’s personnel decisions seemingly twists and turns based on what the local media reports in the newspaper.

Now, I will try to analyze Mr. Paul DePodesta by debunking common folklore about how he destroyed the Dodgers.

“Moneyball” doesn’t work. DePodesta doesn’t value team chemistry or other intangibles.

Absolute hogwash. “Moneyball” gave Paul DePodesta an opportunity to become the GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it was also ultimately his undoing. Today’s Los Angeles Times puts DePodesta staring at a laptop computer and lends credence to the idea that analyzing statistics and crunching numbers must not be useful in evaluating major league talent. DePodesta did not invent statistics or sabremetrics or “Moneyball.” DePodesta is an economics major that uses econometric analysis as part of his decision-making process in evaluating baseball talent. What’s wrong with that? When people say that they don’t agree with “Moneyball,” they have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. The basic thesis behind the book was basically a fundamental economic argument that the best way to build a baseball team is to exploit market inefficiencies and allocate money in a rational way.

(to be continued)

"He's the new Federal Reserve Chairman," says Will Ferrel, who plays Alex Trebek on SNL's "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch. Sean Connery, although he knows that the correct question is Ben Bertrand, chooses not to answer as such but rather says, "Roth 401(k), which is obviously wrong since everyone knows that a Roth 401(k) is an after-tax vehicle that is a 401(k) with Roth IRA-like features. Mr. Connery will not win any money for his charity. He certainly is no Ted Turner who generously donated $1 billion to the United Nations and believes that Warren Buffet should not be an Ebenezer Scrooge and follow suit... Notice the rather odd usage of bold.... Keep that in mind....

Make a commericial, SNL-type skit, short film, documentary, mockumentary, sitcom, movie trailer.... anything multi-media...

$50

Just do it.

Why do Poor Countries have a higher birth rate than rich countries?

1) "Children are an inferior good."
2) "The opportunity cost of having kids is higher in wealthier nations for women."
3) "There is no Social Security in poorer nations."

$3 to write an explanation, draw a demand graph and somehow evaluate these three rather odd statements.

When compiling anything of importance or when passing out items in bulk, always proof-read twice, check for grammatical errors, and read the fine print for inappropriate comments. Just a mental note to self... :)

Life throws you many curveballs. And, indeed, many curveballs have been thrown in my direction. Some of these aforementioned curveballs have been of my own doing. Some not. There doesn't seem to be any logic to what's being said right now, but that's okay. These are MY RAMBLINGS! I choose to talk about things in metaphorical terms to my pleasing!

Well, I hope you guys and gals from Periods 2-6 are enjoying my website or at least finding some jollies from it. Is this website a positive externality? My feeling is that 10 years from now, high school classrooms are going to require constant web usage. The internet is a pretty amazing tool, don't you think?

One thing I wish I could add to the site is a message board. The guestbook is the only way I can quasi-achieve this, but the danger in that I run the risk of having comments on the site that would not be in the best interests of the class.

Well, that's the end of my ramblings. If any of ya'll can make it out to Anaheim Hockey Club at 4:00 PM, Saturday, October 8th, to watch your instructor play roller hockey... www.anaheimhockeyclub.com... I will grant you $10 in Park's Place currency... I offer this because there is about a 0.1% someone will read this between now and then and actually follow through with this task...

and I'm up at 2:09 AM... aish!
The opportunity cost of studying economics is SLEEP!!!!