The SoapBoxers

It is that time of year to re-cap what has happened in the sports world in 2011. Although you may not agree with some of the items here, or have your own “Top 10” Here is the Johnny Goodman Top 10 Sports Stories of 2011.

Until Next Time….Stay Classy Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

Last night, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters formally accepted an $51.7 offer from the Texas Rangers. This gives the Rangers an exclusive 30 day window to negotiate a contract with Darvish.

But didn’t Darvish get $51.7 million?

No, his team got $51.7 million.  More accurately, his team gets $51.7 million if Darvish and the Rangers reach an agreement.  If Darvish doesn’t sign with the Rangers, the Fighters get nothing.

Why is the team getting fifty million bucks?  Because they are allowing Darvish to leave with two years remaining on his contract.  They are being compensated for the loss of his services.

How much will Yu get?

Almost certainly in excess of $50 million, as he has a strong desire to surpass the deal Daisuke Matsuzaka signed with the Boston Red Sox.  It’s quite possible that he will end up signing a six year deal worth around $75 million, bring the total cost to the Rangers to around $125 million.

I’d be very surprised if the length of the deal was shorter than six years, as six years would buy out Yu’s arbitration years.

Can the Fighters help?

If Darvish and the Rangers end up a few million dollars apart, the logical thing would be for the Fighters to kick in the extra cash to make sure the deal gets done – otherwise they’d risk losing the $51.7 million fee.

However, this is not allowed.

Is he worth the money?

That’s the $125 million question.  Japanese pitchers have had a spotty performance record in MLB.  Part of this is due to the fact that it can be difficult to judge talent when they are playing against Japanese hitters who are a notch below MLB players (but still very good players).  Also, Japan uses smaller baseballs than the US, so there’s an actual physical adjustment.

There are inevitable comparisons to Matsuzaka, but I think Darvish stands to be a better pitcher in MLB than Matsuzaka.  Althought Matsuzaka’s numbers in Japan were very good (108-60, 2.95 ERA), Darvish has been phenomenal, with a 93-38 record and a 1.99 ERA.  Darvish, at 6’5″, is also nearly a half foot taller than Matsuzaka.  (If that seems really tall for a Japanese player, it might be worth pointing out the fact that Yu’s dad is from Iran).

What this all boils down to is that Darvish will likely cost the Rangers a total of $16 to $20 million per year for the duration of his contract (counting the money paid to Darvish and well as the money paid to the Fighters.)  That’s a lot of money, but there won’t be any other cost associated with the signing.  They won’t have to give up prospects in a trade, surrender draft picks by signing a free agent, or even use their own draft pick on him. 

The Rangers were trying to plug the hole left by the departure of C.J. Wilson.  With the acquisition of closer Joe Nathan allowing Neftali Feliz to join the rotation, and now the possible addition of Darvish to the mix, the Rangers should again be a force to be reckoned with – although the Angels, fortified by the addition of Wilson as well as Albert Pujols, should also be a great team.

What’s a Ham Fighter?

The Ham Fighter is a cornerstone of Japanese mythology.  The ham fighter is a pig who takes a sword and shield into battle alongside brave samurai …

Are you believing any of this?  No?

OK, let’s look at the team’s name: Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.

• Hokkaido – This is the location of the team.  Hokkaido is the norternmost of Japans four largest islands.
• Nippon Ham – This is the company that owns the team.  They sell meat, most notably ham. Nippon is Japanese for “Japan”.
• Fighters – This is the team’s name, equivalent to “Cubs” or “Yankees” for MLB teams.  Calling the team the Ham Fighters is just silly.

How much will Yu’s wife get?

Yu is in the midst of a divorce.  However, I know nothing about Japanese divorce law, so I have no idea how much his wife could get.

Can I buy a “I heart Yu” shirt?

Yes.

I Love Yu by ElectoralCollegeGear
See other Baseball T-Shirts

How do you use your spare time? I have a great opportunity over the next few weeks to really relax and get some stuff done at home. Between vacation and a plant winter shut down, I will not be going back to work until the New Year. So what to do with all of that time? First and foremost, I will be writing. I will be working on my science fiction novel that I started over a year ago and I will be putting my first book into the proper formats to allow people to download from the Hyrax store.

Next I will be making cookies, lots of cookies. My daughter came home from College this weekend and the first 10 dozen are made with the dough for an additional 20 dozen in the refrigerator waiting for morning. That represents 30 dozen cookies of 5 types so far. We still need to make 3 more types. We will not be making all of Martin’s favorite cookies this year, partially due to lake of time, and partially since I will not be able to take many into work.

A year ago, I would have talked about playing video games, but not this year. Video games are a great escape mechanism, but in the end, they only have entertainment value. This year I am taking up crocheting again. I learned to crochet at the feet of my grandmother when I was very young. It was a way of staying up late and a way to hear stories of the past. It is a comfort to crochet now that I am older. Remembering back to those days, usually at Christmas time when my grandparents would visit. Now I sit by the fire watching football and crocheting.

This year, I am working on an afghan for my daughter to take back to college with her. It is a simple design, cream-colored variegated yarn for the top and dark green for the border. No special patterns, just a simple double stitch in a rectangle. It is just as time-consuming as computer games with the benefit of producing something useful, eventually.

My wife knits, something I do not have the skill or training to try yet. She is even taking classes at a local weaving and yarn shop. She will eventually make some really complex articles from hats and sweaters to socks and mittens. You can make similar items with crocheting, but I am sticking to the easy stuff for now, blankets and throws.

I hope you fill your spare time with whatever is enjoyable to you. I also hope that you actually get some spare time, if not during this holiday season, then sometime in the near future. I am a Catholic, so I will wish everyone an early Merry Christmas (we are still in Advent after all). I have many friends and relatives who are Jewish and I wish them a happy Chanukah. My hope is that every person around the world has a chance to prosper, experiencing joy and happiness, during this holiday season and every day.

Image via Wikipedia

For those of you that do not know what Amazon Prime is, let me tell you. To be honest, I had no idea what it was until about somewhere around a year ago. At a cost of $79 per year (or $6.58/month for you math junkies), Amazon Prime members enjoy “free 2 day shipping, instant streaming of movies and TV shows, and instant access to thousands of Kindle books”. It truly is what it says, too. As a member I have not noticed any hidden “catches”. The 2 day shipping? It’s really true. In fact, in many cases, you get the package(s) that you ordered the next day. Now, don’t quote me on that because I don’t want any angry readers! But I can’t recall a time where a package did not come within the 2 days, unless the item was on backorder, unavailable, etc.

Free 2 Day Shipping

One of the main reasons we opted to join the Amazon Prime club….for those of you that are frequent Amazon shoppers, you know that to avoid shipping costs your order has to be from Amazon itself (not one of the “sellers” that just sell on Amazon) and also has to be $25.00 or more. In many instances, we found ourselves filling orders to meet the $25.00 requirement and avoid shipping. Why not just pay the shipping? Well, if I’m going to have to pay the extra either way I’d rather actually get something for the extra money, right? Yes, I’m right! So, since joining Amazon Prime, I can’t even imagine how much money we’ve saved from filling orders with stuff that we really weren’t intending to buy. Maybe not a TRUE benefit of the program, but definitely very helpful.

Another very minor (or major, depends on what you think) benefit…..if you’re like me at all, it’s kind of nice to be able to order something and get it within a couple of days, versus waiting 5/7/10 days to receive it. Again, minor, but the somewhat instant gratification of receiving what I ordered that quickly is nice.

For those of you that are rushing out now to join Amazon Prime, be careful. Only products that are Amazon Prime eligible will qualify for the free 2 day shipping. That being said (because I have to say it), in the past several months since joining Amazon Prime I have yet to come across an item that I wanted to order and it was NOT “Prime” eligible. So don’t let that stop you from joining. In fact, they have a free one month trial of the program. We did it, and that’s what got us hooked. It’s a way to verify that everything I’m telling you is in fact true.

Free Video Streaming

I spent a lot of words on the shipping aspect alone, because that is the greatest benefit for me. They do have unlimited instant videos and movies. This is secondary to me because the movie selection is nothing like what you’d find on Netflix or in the video store – it’s just a subset of the entire Amazon Instant Video collection.

The streaming includes a lot of older movies, but nothing of the new release nature. They also include a decent selection of TV shows, but again, nothing that is extremely new.  One thing I’ve noticed is that they include the first few seasons of a show, but not the later seasons.  It seems like they’re trying to get you hooked on a show, then charge you to get the later seasons – a pretty smart strategy.

The movie/show playback and video quality is good … not great, but not horrible either.  You do need a compatible device in order for the streaming to work.  You can read more details about the program here.

I just don’t see the movies/shows library as the main reason for somebody to join.  Nonetheless, it’s a nice bonus if you were going to join Prime anyway.

Borrow Kindle Books for Free

Amazon recently added a Prime feature that benefits Kindle owners.  You can borrow one book per month from the Amazon Owners’ Lending Library for free.  This is similar to the feature of being able to borrow books from your local library, except that there’s no due date.  You can keep a book for a year if you want … but you can only check out one book at a time (and a maximum of one per month), so you can’t borrow another one until you return the one you have borrowed.

The lending library is a subset of the entire Kindle eBook collection, but just on the teaser page, I see recognizable names such as Michael Lewis, Suzanne Collins, and Stephen Covey.  Don’t worry – the authors (and publishers) are being paid.  Amazon is creating a pool of money each month, and this will be split based on how many times a book is borrowed.  If The Cell Window is borrowed as often as Moneyball, Kosmo will get as much money as Michael Lewis (and his publisher).

Like streaming, it’s probably not worth it to join Prime just to take advantage of the ability to borrow Kindle books – but it’s a nice added feature.

Worth the cost?

So, is Amazon Prime worth the $79/year? Yes, it definitely is. But, to prove that to yourself, join the club for a month for free and see for yourself. You’ll be happy you did.

We’ve all seen it. And if you haven’t seen it, you’ve at least heard of it. Rick Perry released a new ad titled “Strong”. If you haven’t seen it, you can view it here.

The ad was posted a week ago. Why is that important? It already has over 600,000 dislikes. That makes it the most hated video on youtube….even more than Rebecca Black’s “Friday”. If you haven’t heard that song and you don’t enjoy good music, feel free to view it here.

And I knew it wouldn’t be long before “Bad Lip Reading” jumped on it. And they did.

So why is everyone so upset about Rick Perry’s ad? Well, I get his point. I understand what he’s saying. I do think it is wrong that our kids can’t say “Merry Christmas”…but I tell them to. We celebrate Christmas in our home and we say “Merry Christmas”. 

I need to address the “gays serving openly in the military” line. I think I come from a unique background. While my husband was serving in Iraq, I moved in with my sister-in-laws…who are now legally married. I asked my husband his feelings on gays in the military and he said it didn’t bother him “as long as they don’t make an issue out of it.” That’s the key. And that’s what makes me mad about this whole gay/straight issue.

I don’t walk up to people and say, “Hi, I’m Sarah and I’m straight,” because who I sleep with doesn’t define me. And honestly, it shouldn’t define anyone else either. Gay, Straight, whatever.  Those who choose to allow it to define them need to re-evaluate their life. WHY would you make your choice in a life partner the focus of your life?  It shouldn’t be.

My dad taught me I have to know who I am before I can share myself with anyone else. That’s one reason why I didn’t get married right out of high school (or even college). Because I was still learning who I was as a person. I don’t need someone to complete me. I can share myself with someone but I am complete in myself.

Who I chose to spend my life with does not define me. Don’t make it an issue and it won’t be an issue. If you love your Country enough to serve and possibly lay down your life for your Country, you should be defined as a solider, not as a gay soldier. Because who you choose to share your life with should have nothing to do with your ability to fire an M-16. And my husband agrees. And he’s been there.

Do I understand what Rick Perry is trying to say? Yes. Do I think he needs a new writer? Yes. Because I think his point could have been made in a totally different way. Maybe he was trying to snag the Christian voters with this move. But I think he alienated a lot more than he gained.

This ad was not “Strong” by any means.

Each year when the weather turns bad in the Midwest, and the theme of holiday parties are in the air, we seem to hear more about accidents and fatalities involving drunk drivers.

Cameron Freeman was just 21 years old last fall. The date was November 23rd to be exact.

He was in a car with three other friends, who were hit by a person driving while intoxicated, and in a stolen pick-up truck.

Three of the friends were injured. Cameron was not so lucky.

Cameron was born on December 7th, 1989. For the historical buffs like me, that is a pretty important day in the annals of the history of our country. It also coincidentally is the day I lost my mother in law to cancer some years ago.

Most parents would be full of rage and hate. I myself have thought about I would have acted in this moment of crisis. I can tell you from some of my own personal experiences in life that you really do not know for sure how you react to extreme adversity until you are square in the middle of the situation and facing it. When adversity strikes with full force, you react based on your morals, beliefs, upbringing and values. In my opinion in these moments you don’t choose how to act or react, things you have done your entire life, the things you believe and who you really are has already chosen your reaction for you.

So instead of being full of hate, anger and resentment, Paul and Shelly Freeman, the parents of Cameron, responded this way….

An excerpt from the Lincoln Journal Star from November 30th of 2010 –

“Wouldn’t it be lovely if we used the number 7,” said Shelley. “Instead replace that anger with seven acts of compassion.”

And that’s how Shelley would like her son to be remembered.

“That could be Cameron legacy, I would love for that to be Cameron’s legacy,” said Shelley. “With fondness it would be nice if we could call that the Cameron effect.”

So, the Freemans forged full ahead and with the help of some friends started the Cameron Effect.

Many businesses in the Lincoln area have jumped on board. Union Bank has distributed money via some of their employees. These individuals go around town and hand out envelopes of money in the form of $100 bills to complete strangers.

Here at our workplace, the unit of people I work with is doing something similar this year. A pool of money was put together and then was a few of us will take the divided up funds and use that to make a difference to someone else. Our only charge is to report back to the members of our team with what you did, and why you chose the person or people that you chose to give your gift to during this holiday season.

The media locally tends to give this plenty of coverage and for good reason. It is nice to reflect on something good happening in the world instead of always reading about bad economy, unemployment, politics, the latest crimes, and all of the other bad things that fill our newspapers and evening newscasts.

So in this holiday season, be thankful for what you have and if possible, pass along the Cameron Effect to someone where you live. Tell your co-workers about it. Pay it forward.

Once again, Tim Tebow saved the day, rallying the Broncos to an overtime win against the Chicago Bears. Tebow is now 7-1 as a starter, and the Broncos have won six straight and find themselves atop the AFC West.

So, while Tebow is building a reputation as a winner, he’s also criticized for his lackluster numbers. He’s completing less than 50% of his passes (48.5), and averaging just 6.5 yards per attempt. Tebow has only topped the 50% rate in three games. However, those three games are the last three, suggesting that he may be improving. He’s only topped 200 yards in two games – but those are the last two games.

The Broncos cut ties with Kyle Orton earlier this year, meaning that the 2011 Broncos are Tebow’s team. However, it remains to be see whether he is the long term answer at quarterback, or whether the Broncos will go after a quarterback in the draft.

What’s my opinion? I think that Tim Tebow is, at best, the second coming. The second coming of Kordell Stewart, that is.

Heisman Trophy

Robert Griffin III of Baylor won the Heisman Trophy.  I was happy to see RG3 grab the award.  Not only does he have the physical tools to succeed, but he’s also a smart guy – he has already earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and is working toward a Masters in Communication.  Some teams is going to get a great person – and great player – in the draft.

The Heisman also bring welcome publicity to a Baylor program that was downtrodden in recent years.  Baylor won 4 games in November 2011.  In the prior 15 years, they had won 4 November games, total (an average of about 0.25 wins per year).

Ryan Braun

Reigning National League MVP Ryan Braun made the news by reportedly testing positive for synthetic testosterone.  Although this is bad news for Braun and the Brewers, I think this is good news for baseball.  In the past, the players who tested positive were either players nobody like much (Palmeiro and Manny) or guys nobody had ever heard of.  Braun is a rising superstar just coming into his prime.  A positive test result from such a player indicates that MLB’s testing is on the level, and that there are no sacred cows being protected.

BCS

I’m not a fan of the BCS matchup between LSU and Alabama.  If Alabama wins a squeaker on a neutral field, how does this become more important than LSU’s win at Alabama?  I wonder how big of a win Alabama would need to push ahead of LSU with the computers.

I hate seeing rematches in bowl games.  Alabama had their chance at LSU, and LSU proved that they were better.  Step aside and let the next team have their chance.

NBA

I haven’t followed the NBA much since Magic Johnson retired (and even less since Alonzo Mourning retired).  I must be really out of touch if Marc Gausol is worth $58  million over 4 years.  I don’t mind seeing superstars get paid, but I don’t think MG’s in that class.  I think one of the reasons the NBA is in financial trouble is because they pay role players and minor stars absurd amounts of money – not necessarily that the actual superstars are overpaid.

It is the time of the year for office parties. Whether celebrating a religious holiday or just the culmination of another year of work, the cold weather and the shorter days, this is the time when most offices have parties. Most of the groups I have worked with set up some kind of order for the food, some people bring appetizers, other vegetable dishes, others sides and some deserts. For some reason, almost every group I have been associated with has cornered the managers to provide any meat to be served or at least the main dishes. This year, no limitations have been put on me, so I will double down on what I bring.

As many of you know, I really enjoy making and eating cookies. This holiday season just gives me license to indulge. I have a set of favorites that I bake. Last year I provided my favorite dozen recipes as a free down load. This year I have added two recipes; Date-Nut Pinwheels (a favorite of my Father in Law) and traditional chocolate chip cookies. Here is a downloadable pamphlet of the 2011 updated version of Martin’s cookies. (attach here). I will be making way too many cookies for my office party. Some of the extras will go to the factory area of the company I work for. The rest will be for me and my family.

Just to have some appearance of a healthy attitude, I will also provide a side of pasta salad. When I make pasta salad, the pasta is sort of an after thought. I put in lots of vegetables including; corn, peas, green beans, lima beans, broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion, and black olives. All of this with the pasta (tri-color fun shapes), and diced cheese tossed with standard Italian dressing. Easy to make and filling. Now I am hungry. I guess the message today is, if you are not writing, start cooking!

Editor’s note: Today’s story is a rerun. This story originally ran on May 21, 2010.

Father Joseph Dugan finally gave in to frustration and set the church’s financial statements off to the side. The once thriving parish was shrinking each year, as the young people went off to college and followed job opportunities out of state. For the last five years, donations had not kept pace with expenses. The parish was having to dip into savings. The account that was intended for capital improvements was quickly being drained.

Father Dugan had more pressing issues to tend to this evening. Agnes Sherrill was being buried in the morning. Agnes had been a parishioner for her entire life – ninety three years. Tonight’s wake had been very small affair. Agnes and her late husband had no children, and Agnes had simply outlived her relatives. There were a handful of friends, as well as people from the parish who turned out to show their appreciation for Agnes’ devotion to the church.

Dugan was always saddened by these types of funerals. It seemed that there had been an awful lot of them lately. Maybe the rotten winter weather was just putting the priest in a pessimistic mood. He shook off the feeling and set his mind to composing a fitting eulogy for such a fine human being.

The next day, as he walked back to the church after the funeral, Father Dugan cheered himself up by thinking of Agnes being with the Lord in heaven. This put him in a better mood, although he knew that Wednesday nights wouldn’t be the same without her boisterous shouts of “Bingo!”.

To Dugan’s great surprise, the mail held good news for the parish. It contained two checks from the estates of deceased parishioners. The money definitely came at an opportune time. The parish would be able to rebuild their capital improvement fund. Perhaps the ancient furnace could finally be replaced, allowing the temperature inside the church to rise back above sixty degrees.

As Dugan thought about the two women who had been so generous, he realized that they had also been honored with very small funerals. Like Agnes Sherrill, they had left behind no living relatives. Once again, Dugan had the distinct feeling that there had been a lot of these types of funerals lately. He decided to prove to himself that he was wrong. He grabbed his calendar and began to leaf through it.

Dugan soon realized that his gut feeling was correct. There had already been six such deaths this year in which the parishioner left behind no living relatives – and it was only March. Most of the previous years had only seen five or six such deaths. Dugan was puzzled. Why was there such a spike this year?

Dugan had no time to ponder such mysteries, and soon put it behind him and immersed himself in church business again.

Father was distributing communion during mass the next Sunday when he noticed that the deacon next to him push aside a couple of hosts, seemingly looking for a specific wafer among the identical hosts. When Dugan saw Deacon Taylor pick up a host whose color was a different shade than the others, the pieces all clicked. Dugan pretended to lose his balance and stumbled into the deacon. Deacon Taylor lost his balance, and dozens of hosts fell to the ground. Dugan handed a host to Mary Davis as Taylor picked up the hosts from the carpet.

After mass, Dugan noticed that the discolored host was no longer present. Dugan was certain that he had seen it, and had a good idea why Taylor had taken it.

Two hours later, Dugan was struggling with a difficult decision when the phone rang. It was a detective from the police department, informing him that Deacon Taylor had walked into the precinct and confessed to poisoning several members of the parish so that the church would inherit money from the estates.

Note: In the wake of Albert Pujols opting to leave the Cardinals and sign with the Angels, I asked a friend of mine who is a die-hard Cardinals fan to write about his reaction.