bamatone.net

Original URL: http://bamatone.livejournal.com/277773.html

Meet my new team: "whoosh went my ira"

Batters:
C: Brian McCann (Braves)
1B: Derrek Lee (Cubs)
2B: Alexei Ramirez (White Sox)
3B: Jorge Cantu (Marlins)
SS: Michael Young (Rangers)
OF: Josh Hamilton (Rangers)
OF: Matt Holiday (Athletics)
OF: Pat Burrell ((Devil) Rays)
Util: Mike Aviles (Royals)

Pitchers:
SP: Tim Lincecum (Giants)
SP: Ryan Dempster (Cubs)
SP: Justin Duchscherer (Athletics)
SP: Jair Jurrjens (Braves)
RP: Brad Lidge (Phillies)
RP: Kerry Wood (Indians)
RP: Joey Devine (Athletics)

Here's the rub. I have only two bench spots for the entire roster, and right now they're both filled by pitchers. And of course there is only one DL spot. Ugh. The good news is I have some flexibility with position players. Ramirez can also play SS and OF, Cantu can also play 3B, and Aviles can play 2B and SS.

There is a scoring change this year. I convinced the commish to replace hits with on base percentage (OBP) as a batting category.

I might win with this roster; I might not. As always, it will depend on injuries and luck. But I think it's pretty decent, so I will pat myself on the back. I'm just happy this draft only took about 50 minutes. Last year it took about an hour and 45 minutes and went 21 rounds. Because we had fewer roster spots this year (and because we drafted at 10:30pm and 8 people didn't show up and thus autodrafted), we only had to go 16 rounds. *thumbs up*

Opening Night is Sunday, April 5 and features the Braves @ Phillies on ESPN!

Original URL: http://bamatone.livejournal.com/277493.html

Friday: Wilhagans and Temerson Bar from 4:15pm until... ? Got to see Moeface! Then Claire's house for very awkward times.

Saturday: Closed down Bento for Spring Break with Grant and Candice, then one beer at Innisfree just to say we drank.

Sunday: Day of rest, then Claire's calzone discards at Mellow Mushroom for dinner.

Monday: Temerson Bar? from ? until ? (This is my haziest night.) Wait, just remembered! Started at El Rincon at 6ish, then Houndstooth, then Temerson.

Tuesday: Innisfree from 1:30pm until 9:30pm. Woke up in a balmy sweat at 2am.

Wednesday: Subdued Midweek at Wild Wings. No one would continue the drinking with me afterward! Lame.

Thursday: Opening round of March Madness. Fixing to go to Jasper to see a Stillman's women's softball game. Yes, you read that right.

Friday: Detroit Red Wings @ Atlanta Thrashers with sushi beforehand with Trent, Cayla, and Erin!

Saturday: TBD

Sunday: Expected day of rest.

Original URL: http://bamatone.livejournal.com/276787.html

Shit's gettin' sour in the state of Alabama.

The Irondale City Council passed an ordinance promising to jail or fine Jefferson County officials if they impose a fee on those who are not sewer customers to help save the debt-ridden county from bankruptcy.

In other (also sour) news...

The Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition trust fund is in trouble.

The Birmingham News reported today that the trust fund backing Alabama's prepaid college tuition program has lost more than 45 percent of its value in a year and a half -- including 20 percent lost to the recent stock market collapse -- and program managers are scrambling to find ways to keep paying students' tuition.

The money paid into the fund by the parents and grandparents of thousands of current and future students is uninsured, authorities said Monday.

The Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition trust fund currently has assets totaling $484 million, said Gregory Fitch, chairman of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. In September 2007 the fund had assets totaling $899 million, according to program documents. In September 2008 the fund totaled $606 million.

My dad starting paying into PACT when my sister and I were kids. It was a very good investment, and I definitely got more money out of it than we put in. All I can do is shake my head and thank God it's not affecting me.

It makes me angry, though. It should make you angry, too. How did we get into this mess? I've written about it some before, but it's all just drops in the bucket. I read something over at Fortune Magazine today that gives a really good snapshot of the beginning of this financial collapse. (Thanks, Jason.) I'm not going to get into it, but it's really scary to think just a handful of people could bring down a Fortune 500 company that never had a losing quarter in its 85 year history. And from that point on, it was just dominos. The best quote is the very last paragraph:

So should these men share in any blame for what happened to the capital markets in the wake of Bear Stearns' collapse? Former Bear CEO Alan Schwartz has told friends that he sees their role this way, "These things happen and they're big, and when they happen everybody tries to look at what happened in the previous six months to find someone or something to blame it on. But, in truth, it was a team effort. We all fucked up. Government. Rating agencies. Wall Street. Commercial banks. Regulators. Investors. Everybody."

And even if we actually figure out how all of this happened... What to do about it now?