Red Sox Offseason Update: Andrew Bailey, "10 things"

Ten things I like about the Red Sox' acquisition of Andrew Bailey


1. He's young. At only 27, Bailey has had 3 seasons' worth of MLB experience.
2. He's good. In those three seasons, he has a 2.07 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and has 21 BB in 75 IP.
3. He's NOT Jonathan Papelbon.
4. He's way cheaper than Jonathan Papelbon. (He's made $1.3 million in 3 years, which is significantly lower than the four-year, $50 million deal Papelbon received with the Phillies.)
5. We didn't really give up anything. The Red Sox traded Josh Reddick and two prospects (so basically Reddick), and we have enough young right fielders where we can afford to trade away one...or five, if we want.
6. Ben Cherington means business. Theo came to Boston with a plan, and that plan succeeded, and it looks like Cherington is following a similar MO now that he's at the helm.
7. The pitching just keeps getting better. You really can never have too much pitching, as we've seen with the career-long demise of Daisuke Matsuzaka, the frailty of Tim Wakefield, and all of the shenanigans that went on in the Boston clubhouse this year.
8. The 2012 Red Sox are a new team. With the many offseason moves made, it will be a different look for the Red Sox as they celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, which will help to diminish what happened in 2011.
9. Daniel Bard gets to start. With Mark Melancon sliding into the setup man role, Bard can move to the starting rotation. Which I really like because it will force Bard to think like a pitcher, instead of pumping 98-mph fastballs across the plate in one inning of work.
10. "You ever drunk Bailey's from a shoe?"

Self-reflection

I think that one of the coolest things we can do with our lives is to learn about ourselves. Learn how we think, what we think and why, and what makes us who we are. I believe that interactions with people are the driving force behind the revealing of our true character. Our relationships with people can bring out the best and the worst of us, but in either case, it's something about ourselves that we know as a result of that interaction. The interactions will never stop, the relationships will always be forming and changing, and we must change and adapt with them. When we do that, we find out more information about ourselves and what we're capable of, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically. That is valuable information that must be harnessed and carefully crafted in a way to touch the lives of those around us. To extend our knowledge beyond ourselves, to others, so they can learn about themselves. To pass on the wealth of information there is about our minds. If we embrace the bad and use it to create the good, then we can achieve greatness.

"A season is a lifetime, Krzyzewski likes to say, and whether you win or lose that last game, you're born again. You go back to work - back to applying a standard and discipline and showing empathy and emotion."

Bicycle

A secret, shared for the world to see
Coated in clever words and phrases
So some know some, and one knows all

A secret, tucked in between bursts of loudness
Quiet, but with as much meaning as the loud
That it can be whispered or yelled

A secret, representing the cycle
Building you up to stand taller
Among the fallen and the small
So when you fall
It can bring you up to ride the highs of the cycle

Desktop backgrounds: NHL

Since I have so much free time on my hands, I figured I'd look up some NHL desktop backgrounds, and see what cool ones are out there. Same deal as my post for the MLB teams, so here we go!

Anaheim Ducks

Boston Bruins

Buffalo Sabres

Calgary Flames

Carolina Hurricanes

Chicago Blackhawks

Colorado Avalanche

Columbus Blue Jackets

Dallas Stars

Detroit Red Wings

Edmonton Oilers

Florida Panthers

Los Angeles Kings

Minnesota Wild

Montreal Canadiens

Nashville Predators

New Jersey Devils

New York Islanders

New York Rangers

Ottawa Senators

Philadelphia Flyers

Phoenix Coyotes

Pittsburgh Penguins

St. Louis Blues

San Jose Sharks

Tampa Bay Lightning

Toronto Maple Leafs

Vancouver Canucks

Washington Capitals

Winnipeg Jets

An honorable mention classical piece

By honorable mention, I mean I have NO IDEA how I didn't put this in my classical pieces post. Just kidding! I know exactly how it happened. It's the "I love this but have no idea what it's called" phenomenon. Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner. And if you grew up with Hey Arnold, then you might know it from one of my favorite episodes ever, when the class goes to see an opera. One of the top moments in Hey Arnold history.

Life events

If you didn't believe Facebook dominated our social lives before, you better believe it now. With the introduction of the timeline, Facebook (as far as I'm concerned) IS our life now. We have our friends, pictures, family members, work, education, cover picture, places visited, what you did on this day in this month four years ago, and our "life events." As in, sicknesses we overcame, when we got glasses/contacts, when we learned a new language, bought a new car, got a new pet...where does Facebook get off on insisting we tell everyone everything? People don't need to know how many pets I've had - that is not something people usually dish out to the public.

Would it bother you if you didn't know any of this about me? Me neither.

It's unsettling to think that so many people want the world to know this much about them. If everyone knows everything about us, then nothing becomes special. No one becomes special. At least not in the eyes viewing a computer screen. The people who you want to share your life with should not be all x-hundred friends you have on Facebook.

10 classical pieces

(Editor's Note: No, this is seriously about classical music.)

Finals week means many different things to people. For some, it's the countdown to going home for winter or summer break; others see it as the week from Hell where there are papers, exams, projects, whatever, and about five each to get done in not a lot of time. For me, finals is the best opportunity I get to listen to classical music. I'm able to focus a lot better if I'm listening to strings and brass (although for whatever reason, I haven't applied this knowledge outside of the end of the semester). Not that I can't focus and listen to Foo Fighters or Explosions in the Sky at the same time...it's just that classical music creates the notion that I'm in a study-type atmosphere (as in, I own a study with shelves of books, mahogany-painted walls, and a globe on a table that I never use). So, without further ado...

1. Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture. V for Vendetta lovers, you know what I'm talking about here.

• Part 1
• Part 2

2. Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake. I don't know how, but I feel like I've heard every movement of this song at some point or another.

• Scene
• Waltz
• Dance of the Little Swans
• Introduction, Scene, and Dance No. 2
• Hungarian Dance
• Spanish Dance
• Neapolitan Dance
• Mazurka

3. Tchaikovsky - Romeo & Juliet. The chromatic scale in this piece....om nom nom.

4. Bach - Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude. I don't care how much I'm currently in love with Tchaikovsky...this piece is transcendent of literally all other classical music. The end.

5. Pachelbel - Canon. Like just imagine crafting a flawless study guide listening to this. Imagine doing anything listening to this! Automatic peace setting.

6. Aaron Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man. Two things make this not really classical. Dude doesn't get referred to by only his last name, and he was born in the 1900's (even if it was 1900). Regardless...try telling a story with this playing. Greatest feeling ever.

7. Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata. Literally as soon as I typed that out I pictured this piece being the music for a sex scene in an Inception-type movie where it's really slow and minor-sounding.

8. Carl Orff - O Fortuna. This piece will forever remind me of the ALMOST most epic moment of my entire life. Ask me about it some time.

Where it all happened.

9. Giachino Rossini - William Tell Overture. QUICK DO SOMETHING REALLY FAST AND EXCITEDLY!!!!

10. Jacques Offenbach - Le Galop Infernal. Despite part of this being my text message alert for a few months last year, this is just awesome. Probably not the best studying music, but I doubt the William Tell Overture is either. I'm not even really trying for good study music. This is just awesome classical stuff.

What I want to do for my career

I drafted my fantasy basketball team this morning, and before the draft, I was looking up some draft-day tips and strategies on ESPN's website, and I came across a simple graphic.

Simply put, this chart shows the numbers of players who are 1, 2, 3, and 4 standard deviations above the mean for all of the categories on the left. From the chart, you can see that 12 players are 3 standard deviations or more above the mean in assists, which means that there is an abundance of assists to draft. I wasn't as intrigued by the chart itself instead of the work it took to create the chart. ESPN has statistics and data from every single player, every single game, and every single box score, combines them to create season totals for each player, and then uses the data to see which players excel above all others at their position. And I thought about it...all the data entries, research, number-crunching...I would LOVE to get paid to do that.

Stonehill "problems"

Every time I give a tour of Stonehill, I'll mention at least once or twice that I absolutely love it here, never want to leave, and will have to be removed from the premises for them to get me out of here. Know why? Because Stonehill is AWESOME. I've unfortunately come to realize that not everyone here feels the same way I do. Which is too bad, because you can never have enough of the purple sunglasses feeling. One hashtag that I come across when I hit up the Twitter is #stonehillprobz. What I don't like about this (besides the fact that it's not "problems") is 1) people complain about things and attribute them to Stonehill even though Stonehill has nothing to do with it, and 2) people complain about things about Stonehill when this is, as I said, AWESOME. Allow me to explain:

• "crappiest thing about finals week? Friday is my worst day."
• This falls under the "more of a college problem" category. Also, it being finals week throws off the daily schedules. Comes with the territory.
• "calculus final..."
• Really? I mean you're in a Calculus class, did you not expect that you'd have a Calculus final?
• "should be writing some papers or studying for my finals yet i find myself on twitter and deleting my 100000 listserves"
• I feel like that one's on you...
• "The worst part about leaving campus is knowing that when you get back you're most likely going to have to park in lot 17"
• Deductive reasoning: You have a car which implies you're not a freshman which means you don't live in the Sem. Meaning that any walk on campus you're going to have to make is probably 7 minutes, tops.

I mean maybe it's a good thing that this is what people have to complain about here, but still - what good does it do you to complain about your school? And yes, I know what you're probably thinking - I'm doing the same thing, right? Sure, this is probably hypocritical of me to talk about people complaining, but that's what I have the problem with, not Stonehill. I'm not complaining about Stonehill (nor would I ever). Stonehill has been too good to me in my first three semesters for me to think it's anything less than exactly what I was looking for in a college. Which is why I push the "this place is awesome" theme. Which is what I believe everyone here should do. You came to Stonehill for a reason, so stick by it. Be good to Stonehill, and it will be good to you. Simple as that.

The Journey

I don't care that I'm writing my one-year anniversary blog post a week early. What I have to say won't be as good if I say it at any point other than right now, and if I let that happen, I won't be okay with it. One week from some time last night will be one year since the beginning of my blog. This will be blog post #149. And in the past 148 blog posts, I've learned a lot more about myself than I have in any year of life, I think. I've become aware of who I am as a person, fought with what I believe, been afraid of whatever circumstance belief leaves me, shared in bonds and relationships that I never want to lose, cried more than I have in probably the first 19 years of my life combined, been continuously moved by Explosions in the Sky, and a ton of other things that I could write an entire blog post about. But that's not what this is for. This is for the journey.

At the mass for Jeffrey Cooney today, Father Mark was talking about Jeff's journey, and how he had already completed his journey with us, and how he was successful in living and loving. He would then begin his everlasting life with God, and life goes on. But that word. Journey. We're all on one. And no, I won't cliché you with it being more important than the destination. This is bigger than a cliché.

The first great poem I read was "The Journey" by Mary Oliver. Since my sophomore year of high school, it's been my favorite poem, and when friends engage me in emotional struggles they are facing, I always connect it to that poem somehow.

The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to savethe only life you could save.
     -Mary Oliver

Stars burning through the sheets of clouds. That's what I imagine nirvana to be like. Or perfect bliss, or grace, or whatever you wanna call it. To me, there is nothing more powerful than the idea of stars burning through the sheets of clouds. That penetrating force that shreds what is in its path. And in the poem, that sensation can only be felt by listening to your own voice. The voice that keeps you company as you stride deeper and deeper into the world. There will be people in our lives that come and go, that enter and exit our lives, but there will always be one constant. You. You will always have yourself as you stride deeper and deeper into the world. Be aware of that. Acknowledge it. Everything comes from within. We have the people around us, who we surround ourselves with because of the love and care we share with them, but the only one who can save us is ourselves. When we save ourselves, we can then be there for others in their time of need, so they can save themselves. Listen to your own voices first. Indulge them. See what they have to say. Keep it by your side as you stride deeper and deeper into the world. Into life. Let that voice be the foundation for the other voices you have around you. The ones of your friends and family. The voices of the people who you share love with. Because we are all on a journey. And that's what doing the only thing you could do is about.

Values Game #6

What is your favorite quote?

Two things before I answer this question. One - this question wasn't part of our Values Game during Orientation, nor was it in the packet containing all of the questions, so consider this my first original Values Game question. And I think it's pretty easy to see why I'm posting it; everyone has a favorite quote, but it's why that makes it so meaningful. It's that distinction to only you that makes those words so special. Two - Explosions in the Sky is horribly beautiful to listen to. It almost always makes me think. Not even about anything in particular. I can focus on my homework while listening to them, or I can type out words that seem to have effortless flow while listening to a song I discovered as recently as today.

As far as my favorite quote, I have two of them. One about quotations themselves, and one about life.

"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ironic bliss in this quote is pretty easy to see, but the depth behind it is amazing. Like I said before, we all have a favorite quote (or two). We all have a favorite song, or poem, or saying, or whatever. But what we have to say is more important. What our values are, instead of the values we take on from what we see between the quotation marks. The words we produce ourselves, instead of copying and pasting them from someone else. Sure, they may have said it better. But how do you say it? And with that, my second quote:

"Life is nothing until it is lived, but it is yours to make sense of; the value of life is nothing other than the sense you choose." -Jean-Paul Sartre

Unfortunately, Sartre did say it a hell of a lot better than I did, and in way fewer words. And if that sounds familiar, you're probably thinking about my meaning-of-life post, my last post of my freshman year at Stonehill, sitting on the stone wall outside Martin, facing the residence hall where I spent some of the most important months of my life. The value of our lives really is the set of values that we create based off what we surround ourselves with. The people in our life, the love we share with others, the ties we establish, and the memories we create. And none of that comes from quotes. Sure, we can read a quote and start believing in it and living by those quotes, but ultimately, this is our life. Create your own quotes to live by.

Now that I can take a deep breath, I'm going to have to think about this blog post in the months to come. By which I mean, I'm going to have to find a way to condense this into the five seconds I have to answer should this question come up during next summer's Orientation.

TFB

I almost never blog about football. Initially, I had a second half of a sentence planned, but had no idea what I wanted it to be, so it's just that one sentence. Anyway, the Patriots' magic number is 1, given that we swept the Jets and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over them, and the Pats are finding ways to win and keep pace with the rest of the division leaders, currently sitting at 10-3. The lone division leader without a 10-3 record is the Denver Broncos, sitting atop the AFC West at 8-5 after another weekly miracle by Tim Tebow. New England will travel to Denver to face the red-hot Broncos, who are 7-1 since instating Tebow under center. (Editor's Note: Is "instating" even a word? I know "reinstating" is, but I never hear "instating" used...) Now sure, Tebow's good. But that's a very loose definition of good. Yeah, the dude's 7-1, but he's completing less than half his passes and barely has over 100 yards passing per game. But come on...the dude's 7-1. He's second in the league in game winning drives (4) and tied for first in comebacks (4). So we know the guy can win. Here's the thing though - we already knew the guy could win. He won two national championships at Florida. and the SEC Championship in the two years he didn't win the BCS title game.

But you know who else can win? TFB. The guy who's on pace for seven million passing yards this year, has completed over 60% of his passes every year he's been a starter, won his first 10 playoff games, and is 120-35 as a starter. Look at the quarterbacks Tebow's gone up against since Week 7 - Matt Moore (Dolphins), Matthew Stafford (Lions (and Tebow's lone loss this season)), Carson Palmer (Raiders), Matt Cassel/Tyler Palko (Chiefs), Mark Sanchez (Jets), Philip Rivers (Chargers), Christian Ponder (Vikings), and Caleb Hanie (Bears). None of these quarterbacks are near the same level as Tom Brady. And none of these teams are as good as the Patriots (despite the fact that our defense may or may not play with 9 men on the field at all times). Besides, we have Miami and Buffalo at home to close out the season - we will win at least 2 of these final 3 games, if not all of them, putting us in place for at least a wild-card-round home game, if not a first-round bye, and potentially home field throughout. The offense is putting enough points to salvage the lackluster defensive outputs each week, no one beats us at home (except the Giants (why can't we beat the Giants? #cursed)), and TFB. That's it. TFB. Basically, here is what the Patriots should be thinking before every game.

"Does the other team have Tom Brady? No. Do we have Tom Brady? Yes. Alright cool we're gonna win this game because we have TFB." We got this. I ain't afraid of no Tebow.

Life is like a last-second shot

You have the ball with 20 seconds on the clock, and running. Standing in front of the defense, in a tie game, waiting for the right fraction of a second to start your play. You've been entrusted with the ball, and you can't let your teammates, coaches, and fans down. You don't want to, either. Your team has no timeouts, so you don't have a chance to draw up a play. You're not sure how the defense will react once you start your offense, and all of these thoughts are swirling through your head as the clock ticks down to 14, 13, 12...You begin thinking about whether or not you can win the game in overtime. But you don't want to have to worry about that. You don't want to think about what happens if you don't make this last-second shot. So what do you have to do? You have to make it count. You have to use every ounce of strength you've built up, you have to use every brain cell you have to react to the defense, and you have to use every molecule in your body to make the right moves and have the right form once that shot goes up. Nine, eight, seven, and you begin to run your play. Your teammates position themselves should you want to utilize them, but this one's all you. Take your defender below the free-throw line, step back, and take a 17-foot jumper. The same one you've practiced hundreds of times. The same one you dreamed about taking as a kid. But this isn't practice. This isn't your dream. This is the last-second shot. This is it.

The world we know

What happens when you know exactly what you want to say, but have no idea what the right words are? After multiple failed attempts to answer that question, I've decided that when you can't find the right words, find someone else who does. And all throughout this evening and tonight, I've been trying to find the right words. Some words don't do it enough justice. Some words don't seem to fit. And when that happens, I go searching for something that can say what I'm thinking better than I can.

“Life is nothing until it is lived; but it is yours to make sense of, and the value of it is nothing else but the sense that you choose.” --Jean-Paul Sartre

"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." --Proverbs 3:6

I've been trying to find something to piece this all together, and haven't come across anything that's stuck. Not even House has been able to help me. I couldn't help but play "Lose You" by Pete Yorn at least once today, thinking about that episode and what happened today. Then I listened to "The World I Know" by Collective Soul, and grew attached to that for a few minutes. But as I was sitting here, typing this post out, I thought about a song that I haven't heard in a long time, and a song that has the feeling (right now, at least) that could tie this together. "Strength of the World" by Avenged Sevenfold. It's not perfect, it might not even be close to perfect, but that's where I'm at right now. This blog post is so immensely all over the place right now, but I'm strangely okay with that. I think that's how this stuff goes for a while. No one knows what to do this soon after something like this. But everything works itself out in the end. Heh. Everything works itself out in the end.

"It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, is just progress." --LOST

Let there always be progress in our lives, and let there be progress in the eternal life that Jeff has.

Rest in peace, Jeff. You will be missed and loved.