mattconnor.org

I so am. Amazing that is. With the school year kicking back in, I may (or may not) post more often. And redesign as I attempt to avoid work.

Anyway - I’m in Germany right now, posting from Jill’s sister Lauren’s house in Kindsbach, which is about 5 - 10 miles outside of Kaiserslautern. Jill and I flew in last Tuesday, and then went drinking in nearby Landstuhl (home of the US Army hospital - apparently the first stop for injured troops from Iraq) at an Irish pub and then at The Tree Bar, which is located about three stories underground and has an actual tree growing up the inside of the spiral staircase leading down. (photos, by the way, are not mine - as it was late, poorly lit, and I was jet-lagged and a few drinks in, my attempts to record the place didnt come out that well).
We also explored scenic Kaiserslautern (mostly wandering the pedestrian-only commercial part of downtown) and helped Lauren refurnish her apartment at Ikea before heading to Munich for the weekend. It may have been the fact that its high season for tourists and the weather was nice, but Munich was packed. We spent some time in the historic Hofbrau Haus (nice weather, massive steins of delicious beer, shaded courtyards, and authentic-ly large pretzels with good company make me a very happy man) and meandered through the Altstadt (Old Town) for a while. Over the weekend we also hit up the beer garden in the English Garden (another pretzel, another stein, and half a chicken - literally chopped in half off the spit), and I got to see some of the churches.

We stopped at Dachau on the way back, which was certainly a sobering experience. The board of directors for the site have done a good job of laying out the historic background that lead to Hitler’s rise to power and contextualizing how exactly the Third Reich was able to succeed as they did. The former camp maintenance building has been preserved and filled with exhibitions detailing the history of the Third Reich and the evolution of the camp and the role Dachau played in the overall system of German concentration camps. The text originally painted on the roof of the maintenance building (”There is one path to freedom. Its milestones are obedience, diligence, honesty, orderliness, cleanliness, sobriety, truthfulness, sacrifice and love of the fatherland.”) is gone, but “Arbeit Macht Frei” (”Work will make you free”) is still visible on the cast-iron entrance gate, and the towers and a version of the fencing around the camp are all still in place.

[Side note: Is there anything in America regarding the Japanese internment camps, monument wise? Not an equal scale of atrocity by any means, just a connection regarding confronting national history from that period.]

Anyway, spent a day or two just hanging out at Lauren’s recuperating before making a day trip to Luxembourg yesterday. I liked Lux - city on a hill, some old fortifications intact, tiny tiny country, royal family - though we overpaid for a dinner that no one liked because Lauren and Jill panicked and ordered real food instead of the sandwich and ice cream they wanted. It was an odd experience. Also, parking garages with spiral ramps that go five stories underground are bizarre. And Lauren’s in-car navigation system has most of Luxembourg (city) as a giant blank spot, so we spent some time driving in circles. Still, a fun trip, and I can see why all the Miami kids love spending time in Lux. It probably would have been a fun thing to do.

Anyway - thats the update for now. Flickr crap (or fantasy baseball) later if the weather stays crappy and I decide I’m done reading about the Apostle Paul.

Mid-finals week. Therefore, in the spirit of avoiding work….

Chelsea players looking uncomfortable with their sexuality!

from: the offside

Minor sports focus here for a while. Why? Simple. I’m avoiding doing any meaningful work.

And with two baseball posts in a row, its time to return to the fitba. The “Matt’s favorite team roundup” will now commence.

Hearts have made a good showing, beating Hibernian 1-0 in the Edinburgh derby, which helps keeps them 9 points in advance (and brings a measure of pride, even if the game sounded crappy as hell). They’re still 6 behind Aberdeen for third, which could be made up without too much difficulty. And it looks like Frail is in line for the head coaching job, which could be good. Former Hearts player, a Scot; he could help settle some of the internal strife. And Romanov may be considering adding 6 high profile players in the off-season, so that could also help.

Newcastle is….well, solidly mired in 11th. And they just lost to Man City. And Michael Owen is still not back. At least they’re not being relegated, I guess.

AC Milan is also sorta middle of the pack. Ugh. Though, on the upside, they did tie Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final. Which, realistically, they should have won. They lut up a late goal which they shouldn’t have conceded, and then were handed a penalty they didnt deserve to go up 2-1. Then they let up yet another goal that they should have stopped with literally seconds left. So they drew a game they should have won, at home. Now they need to win, not draw, in Munich to proceed. So, if you want to call that a good result, then sure, something good happened to one of my other teams.

Oh well, I guess its back to baseball for the time being.

Alright, I was planning on a post per day, but this is far too cool to pass up. It’s the TGV in France, hitting 574.8 KpH. Or about 357 MpH, if Google calculator is to be trusted. Its a long video (15 minutes or so) and the whole thing is in French, but its still absolutely fantastic to watch.

I’m sure there are at least a few sporadic readers of the site who would find this somewhat interesting.

One league down, one to go.

I’ve branched out this year, and joined two fantasy leagues which I plan on competing seriously in (and winning). This is the GLS league, mainly consisting of Wisconsinites in the video game studies program there. Im in cause of Sean, who apparently like losing to me, and invited me in.

This is a fifteen-person 5×5 league. So more players, fewer categories to deal with. From what Sean tells me though, most of the players are n00bs - my experience with fantasy ball should give me an immediate edge.

Anyway, second draft analysis:

C - Ivan Rodriguez, DET (1B)
1B - Adam LaRoche, PIT
2B - Brian Roberts, BAL
3B - Mark Teahen, KC
SS - Carlos Guillen, DET
OF - Alfonso Soriano, CHC
OF - Bobby Abreu, NYY
OF - Jason Bay, PIT
Util - Alexis Rios, TOR (OF)
Util - Casey Blake, CLE (1B, OF)
Bench - Rocco Baldelli, TAM (OF)
Bench - Craig Biggio, HOU (2B)
Bench - Kenny Lofton, TEX (OF)

SP - Jon Garland, CWS
SP - Mark Buehrle, CWS
SP - Jeremy Sowers, CLE
SP - Jeff Francis, COL
RP - Bobby Jenks, CWS
RP - Todd Jones, DET
P - Joe Borowski, CLE (RP)
P - Justin Duchscherer, OAK (RP)
Bench - Pat Neshek, MIN (RP)
Bench - Freddy Garcia, PHI (SP)

First off - my OF is amazing. Soriano is only going to get better playing his home games in Chicago instead of Washington, and he went 40/40 last year, and 30/30 in 2005. Is 50/50 possible? Maybe. Abreu is likewise a 30/30 threat at the least, and playing in New York (an hitting 3rd for them) means he’ll collect a ton of runs and RBIs. Additionally, I think he’s adjusted to the new city and new league by now. I have a man crush on Jason Bay. He’s also a 30/30 candidate with good numbers, even while playing on the misbegotten Pirates. Three OFs representing a possible 300+ runs, 100+ HRs, 300+ RBIs, 100+ steals, and an average in the .290s makes for a happy Matt. I like Pudge behind the plate, Roberts at second, and Guillen at short. Solid IF core, there, especially in a league this size. Im not too sure about LaRoche and Teahen - I see LaRoche’s numbers dropping in Pittsburgh, and the last player on the Royals worth owning was Carlos Beltran in 2003. Rios, Blake, and Baldelli should all be okay filling the Util slot, with Blake possibly on first. I’ll play the hot bat there. Lofton is old, and only speed and average. I may try to move him. Biggio is also old, and still has some power from 2B, but that average is atrocious. Another trade candidate.

The rotation is where this team falls apart. Seriously. Beurhle, Garland, Francis, and Garcia all had ERAs over 4.00 last season. Buehrle, in particular, seems to be on the downside of his career. When Cleveland’s number 4 seems to be your staff ace, you know you’re in trouble. On the other hand, I have 3 closers, which seems to be above average. Sure, Jenks is injured, Jones is old, and Borowski is nowhere near the best man in the pen in Cleveland, they’re all starting the season closing. Duchscherer and Neshek both seem to be good in middle relief - which I really don’t need. Duchscherer could close if Street goes down again, but Neshek shouldn’t be in line for saves. He’d just be some WHIP/ERA assistance.

Obviously, the pitching on this team is terrible. Abyssmal, even. I have enough OF that I might be able to pick up some pitching in trade - and pitching is pretty easy to acquire on the FA market. What I need most is a legitimate ace - someone with a shot a 20 wins w. a sub 3.50 ERA. That and a few free agents should cover it for me. Possibly a new 1B or 3B to round out the offensive side of things.

Conclusion: not as good a draft as possible, but certainly decent with a fairly good shot at the league title.

Both of my fantasy leagues have drafted (which is good, since the season has started) and now that I’ve had a chance to decompress and recover from one of the busiest weekends I’ve had in a long time, its time to analyze my draft. This is the first post of a two-part; 1 post for each league.

Up first, the WABL. This league is mostly the same group of people (now all male) with some additions and revisions and the like. We’re down to 10 people from 12, and we’ve stopped being a keeper league due to lack of interest. Its an 8×8 league rather than a 5×5, so middle relievers become somewhat more important. Good fun, but the small league size has definitely affected the talent pool.

With that said, my team:

C - Ramon Hernandez, BAL
1B - Lance Berkman, HOU (OF)
2B - Ian Kinsler, TEX
3B - Scott Rolen, STL
SS - Hanley Ramirez, FLA
OF - Carl Crawford, TB
OF - Willy Taveras, COL
OF - Pat Burrell, PHI
Util - Michael Young, TEX (SS)
Util - Jason Giambi, NYY (1B)
Bench - Brandon Phillips, CIN (2B)
Bench - Orlando Cabrera, LAA (SS)
Bench - Brad Hawpe, COL (OF)
Bench - Pedro Feliz, SF (3B)
Bench - Adrian Gonzalez, SD (1B)
Bench - Kevin Youkilis, BOS (1B, 3B, OF)

SP - Roy Halladay, TOR
SP - John Smoltz, ATL
SP - Ben Sheets, MIL
SP - John Lackey, LAA
RP - Armando Benitez, SF
RP - Jason Isringhausen, STL
P - Jorge Julio, FLA
P - Mike Gonzalez, ATL
Bench - Dontrelle Willis, FLA
Bench - Jered Weaver, LAA

Obviously, my main strength is starting pitching. Halladay, Smoltz, Sheets, and Willis are all legitimate number one starters, and Lackey is currently the staff ace for the Angels. Jered Weaver should do well once he’s back from the DL. 5 or 6 upper-tier pitchers is fine by me. The bullpen I’m not as sold on. Benitez and Isringhausen are both injury risks (and I question how many save chances the Giants will have in first place), and Jorge Julio isn’t a lock to hold his job the whole season. Mike Gonzalez I like - he’ll replace Wickman and close in Atlanta by the end of the year. Which will help when Julio loses his job. Notice I only have one middle reliever. Right now, I’m out of the running for holds. May have to address that. Or just punt the category.

Offensively, the first thing I notice is the amount of speed on the team. Crawford and Ramirez are both 60-steal threats, and Willy Taveras is pure speed, no power. Phillips, Cabrera, and Kinsler could all put up decent numbers there too. In terms of power, the only big guns I see are Berkman and Giambi. Gonzalez could be ok, and I have a lot of guys who should put up HRs in the 20s, but another big bat couldn’t hurt. I have 3 solid SSs, so I may try to work a trade there. Pedro Feliz I think I’m going to dump - I like Youkilis better for average and runs, especially if I can find power through the FA pool or a trade. Im not really a huge fan of Pat Burrell, either. I may see if I can package him with an SS (Michael Young, maybe) for a bat and a reliever. We’ll see. Trades in this league are few and far between. No one likes trading, unless they’re letting Sean rip them the hell off.

All things considered, I’m pretty content with the auto-draft here. I have more offensive players than I like to carry, but I’ve got some position flexibility, a fantastic rotation, and a decent pen. I can pick up some free agents to cover the weaknesses I have, and hopefully make a trade or two.

I haven’t actually embedded any video in this thing yet, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

For Andrew, mainly, and because its the sort of absurd thing that happens in football now and again. I’m reading too much BBC news. The “football” designation is the first one that pops to mind, rather than “soccer.” Though, frankly, it would have been easier if we Americans hadn’t screwed it up and just stuck with calling football “football” and invented a name for the American version of the sport.

Anyway, Paul Robinson of Tottenham Hotspur scoring a goal from his own half agaisnt Watford.

‘Cause Hearts & Newcastle both seem to have tanked recently (0-4 against Dundee United? Allegations of national divisions, with the Lithuanians not even eating meals with the rest of the team? Real nice work there, guys.) I may as well get some enjoyment from one of Andrew’s teams.

BTW, Thomas, if you’re reading this: I have no idea who you’re following these days. I know Andrew’s SPL, EPL, Serie A, and Scottish 2nd Div. teams, but I’m not too sure on yours.

…has unquestionably arrived. Daylight Savings Time has ended, the temperature is in the 60’s, and I am wearing shorts and walking around barefoot.

It’s a beautiful time of year, which makes me want to travel for some reason.

It’s also spring break, which means Oxford-town is nigh well empty, as all the undergrads have abandoned town for whatever it is they do for spring break. I can’t really say, as the only spring break adventure I ever had was a visit to NYC with Jill which entailed visiting a number of family members along the way. Ah well. Oxford is beautiful when the students aren’t here. If only everything wasn’t shut down this week.

Oh - I am officially a doctoral program reject all across the board. So hooray for that.

Sorry for the rant below. I didn’t notice how long it had gotten.

Of course, no one will see it except the spam bots lurking in the comments.

[in an ideal world, this marks my intent to post here more often.]

After reviewing the first papers assigned for my class, I came to the realization that I needed to focus more on method; divorcing one’s faith from one’s analysis of a text can be a difficult task, especially at this level. And looking at some of the more foundational texts for modern Christianity compounds the role further. Incongruities in Genesis are much easier to accept for the Christian apologist, as that is more a Jewish text, which provides a built-in “out” for them when dealing with the text.

The book of Daniel proves slightly more problematic, as it purports to tell of the end times, which have obviously not occured yet. Getting students to accept the probability that the text is a product of the Maccabean revolt rather than the Babylonian exile is one thing. Getting them to acknowledge that the text reads as a message to the Maccabees rather than as a long-drawn out prophecy still active today is another.

The problem only compounds when moving into the New Testament literature. There is a certain level of critical disbelief necessary to dealing with the gospels and other NT evidence. This is the stuff that most students are going to feel most strongly about. My task is to get them to approach the subject matter from the most objective place possible, and to allow the text to speak for itself as much as possible. Does Paul seem to believe that he will be alive when the end of the world happens? Does the early Christian community share the belief that the second coming will take place any day now, and certainly within that generation? Does the author of Revelations aim his message to the church in the far-flung future or to a contemporary community undergoing persecution? The text would seem to provide answers to all of these questions. Unfortunately, the answers found are not the ones that devout Christians would expect to find.

The issue of support between the “Old Testament” and the New Testament is another issue. The passage Matthew selects - Isiah 7:14 “A virgin shall give birth and shall call the child Immanuel.” - is a correct citation, but completely removed from its context with no evidence to suggest anything but a bounded prophecy aimed at King Ahaz somewhere in the 7th century BCE. These are problematic issues for the apologetic student.

Its an issue that I anticipate having to face as long as I stick with this field. The subject matter I’ve chosen is inherently controversial (which, I admit, adds to its appeal). I don’t see this sort of attachment occuring in other departments, outside of a few specific examples. Biology and evolution? Possible problem. Geology and the age of the world? Possible problem. But are there any students whose entire worldview could be shaken by something discussed in a math class? Does an education class have the potential to affect something foundational to someone’s self-image? I’m not knocking those fields, or attempting to overstate the importance of mine - I’m just working through this as a reality which I need to deal with.

The entire methodology of my field is going to be inherently offensive to many of my students, because I’m not willing to take “God” for an answer.