Kelly Rowland is Excited for XBox
2008-06-05 23:33:00 Kelly Rowland is Excited for XBox Former Destiny?s Child member Kelly Rowland attends MTV?s Xbox party at the MTV headquarters on Thursday in Sydney, Australia. ?So many people have asked myself, Beyonce and Michelle the questions about another Destiny?s Child reunion and I don?t know when that is right now,? Kelly explained to Take40. ?Everybody is basically dibbling dabbling in their own things and I?m excited about it as well and supportive of each other above anything. And I think as long as that support system is there then everybody really has nothing to worry about. We?re forever friends whether people see us singing songs together or not.? Source: Just Jared
MAKE MONEY ONLINE | PAID SURVEYS 101
2008-05-04 06:06:00 Copyright © 2008 khairulazmi.com. Visit the original article at http://www.onlinebisnes.com/blo-g/make-money-online-paid-survey-s-101/. Make Money Blogging Learn how to make money online taking surveys for money! Find out where to begin for FREE at: www.realisticonlineincome.com/s-urveys.html If you like this post, buy me a coffee.
Kango to Uptake - How important is your travel buisness name?
2008-04-10 09:35:00 I received an email this morning from Kango informing me that they are changing their name to Uptake. The new name is deemed to be more relevant to the business’ aim of gathering, organising and delivering the collective travel wisdom from the internet. It’s a big step to change your name and I’m sure that ...
Personal Finance QuickTake: To Hell with Homeowner's
2008-03-26 21:30:00 Treasury Secretary Paulson said today the housing prices should be allowed to continue to fall in order to allow markets to stabilize and allow buyers to come back into the market.In other words...That $1.2 Trillion worth of Home Owner equity at stake in the crisis should evaporate. That $1.2T is from a seperate report looking at the write-offs that may happen in regards to loans. It doesn't take into account the lower values of homes that people will hold onto. Regardless $1.2 Trillion equals $4800 for every man women and child in the US, or $24,0000 for my family alone.The problem with that statement is that it does forget families, which is whose skin this is peeled from. Imagine...they believe the sending my family $2100 is going to be a big stimulus to the economy...what do you think asking me to pay back that $24,000 is gonna do to the economy?Unless a stabilization plan is put into place, people en masse are going to walk away from their homes. It is already happening. Then ...
Personal Finance QuickTake: RIP Bear Sterns
2008-03-17 20:23:00 According to a report from AP, Four Days after saying the company was OK, Bear Stearns will sell out to JPMorgan-Chase for the bargain price of $2 per share, or $236 Million.This is a stunning reversal for Bear Stearns, that will at least save them from bankruptcy, as the Mortgage Liquidity crisis gets its first well-known victim.The Fed jumped in already and not only approved the buyout, but also guaranteed $30 Billion of Bear's assets, essentially making the buyout risk free for JPMorgan. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it will guarantee all business ? such as trading and investment banking ? until Bear Stearns' shareholders approve the deal, which is expected to be completed during the second quarter. The acquisition includes Bear Stearns' midtown Manhattan headquarters. JPMorgan's acquisition of Bear Stearns represents roughly 1 percent of what the investment bank was worth just 16 days ago. It marked a 93.3 percent discount to Bear Stearns' market capitalization as of Friday...
Personal Finance QuickTake: Carl Icahn
2008-03-12 22:21:00 Carl Icahn is a pretty interesting guy. Along with Henry Kravis of KKR, he was one of the most feared names in Industry. The shear mention that Carl Icahn was "on the phone to talk to you", would scare most CEOs into writing him a check to go away!60 Minutes had a great piece on him and how he makes his money, and as one of the Top 20 richest people on the planet, he does know a thing or two about how to make money. He might not make companies cower with just a call anymore, but he does know how to rattle his sabre.Icahn was one of a handful of Corporate Raiders that bought up companies with little or no cash, loaded the company with debt and would then spin then off or tear them apart. Think Gordon Gekko from the movie "Wall Street". Icahn's famous takeover of TWA in 1985 is the stuff of legends. But the Airline was stabilized and saved, at least for a time, but a lot of people were put out of work.He is now known more as a Board of Directors worst nightmare. In an era of huge CEO...
Personal Finance QuickTake: The World According to Ram
2008-03-03 22:16:00 Ram Charan is one of the leading experts in the world today in advising businesses. Frankly, he is in the rarified Air with Buffett and Drucker IMHO. He isn't boisterous, he isn't a Hacksaw sort of guy, he isn't a guru. He IS someone that lets you see past where your focus usually is.As you can see I am a big fan. Yahoo ran a series with Ram called "What Every Company Should Know." Given that most reading this run a blog, which IS a business if you have ads up!I really how Ram breaks down topics that feel huge to great bite-sized morsels that you can really learn from. My favorite in the series was, "The Basics of Money Making" where Ram takes you through all what is takes to make money. And really whether you are a business or an individual, there are great lessons here.Read and Enjoy!
Personal Finance QuickTake: Ten Filthy Rich Traits
2008-02-10 22:32:00 The Street.com via Yahoo Finance ran a piece this morning about the "Ten Traits that Make You Filthy Rich." Just like in the book, "The Millionaire Next Door" they make the case that personal finance and living within your means is none of the best determining factors on whether or not you will be financially successful.Their Top Ten list:Patience - Being able to wait to make purchases, ride out stock dips and save for the long termSatisfaction - Being happy with what you have. In Dave Ramsey's speak...avoiding Stuffitis!Organization - Being as productive as possible. Avoiding Stupid Taxes such as late fees!Discipline - "Personal finance isn't a way to get rich quick, but is a disciplined execution of your lifetime plans." Perfect!Reflectiveness - Learning from you mistakesCreativity - Doing whatever it takes to get out of debt, avoid picking up new ones and being agile in all things!Curiosity - Learn, Study and Improve yourself. I like to always look at Constant and Never-Ending ...
Personal Finance QuickTake: Yahoo say "No Thanks!"
2008-02-09 22:02:00 "Thanks, but No thanks!"Basically that is the message that Yahoo is sending back to Microsoft. They are couching this as "You are way under-estimating the value of the company." But really this comes down to fit. Yahoo sees Microsoft as, if I can steal from Star Trek, The Borg and they don't want to be assimilated!The only issue is they might not have a choice. Microsoft has put out an offer to the level that Yahoo can't just say no to and walk away. Shareholders are going to want to understand how they are going to deliver that value to them then.Here are their options:Sell to someone else - Unfortunately the other potential suitors don't want to pay this sort of premium, and Google can't buy them. The FTC would never allow it due to competition issues. No White Knights around.Go Private - A LBO, or Leveraged BuyOut. Fine a year ago, not the credit markets are dried up, especially at the leverage this deal would take!Piece off the Company - They could try to sell of chunks of t...
Personal Finance QuickTake: PayPal Rule Changes
2008-02-08 22:28:00 PayPal rankled many of its customers by hiking fees and various recent policy changes. One was particularly irritating: eBay's plan hold payments sent through its PayPal payment service for up to 21 days in certain circumstances. Basically the freeze will apply to accounts that eBay believes are high risk. Holding on to the funds makes refunds faster to return if there are issues. The question is; "What is high risk?"According to the report, you Feedback can be one way to hold up the payment process, to the point where 2 negative comment in a 30-day period, could hold up your payments. As the article asked: Can PayPal legally freeze funds at will for up to three weeks? The answer is yes. While PayPal offers interest-bearing accounts, debit cards, and other trappings traditionally associated with banks, it legally isn't one.A lot of Bloggers are eBay sellers and traders as well and while I would like to see buyers protected, I hope those who are honest don't get punished!How about...
Personal Finance QuickTake: Rebate Compromise
2008-02-08 00:14:00 It looks like we will get a tax rebate this summer after all! Today the Senate worked out a deal that adds a benefit for disabled Veterans an the elderly.The rebate would still be $600 for individuals and $1200 for couples. The Senate plan would also cut business taxes in hopes of reviving the economy. Individuals making up to $75,000 a year and couples earning up to $150,000 would get rebates.They are going to try to get the Bill to President Bush to sign as soon as possible in order to start mailing checks as soon as May. Thirty-three Republicans joined 46 Democrats and the Senate's two independents to pass the measure. Sixteen Republicans voted against the plan.Here is a link to a calculator for a potential rebate.I habve to say that I am surprised that they worked this out so quickly, but it seems that someone (Pelosi) brought the Senate to their senses that derailing this would be really bad politically.
Personal Finance QuickTake: AOL
2008-02-05 22:08:00 While the Microsoft Battle rages on it seems like thinks are a bit quite on the AOL front. Give no doubt that Microsoft and Google will go tit for tat if needed.My guess is that if it looks like Microsoft will get Yahoo, my gut is that someone makes a play on AOL. AOL has been a drain on TimeWarner's stock since the merger. They keep trying new business plan but don't have the traction.However, they do have traffic. AOL is still the #45 web site in terms of reach according to alexa.com. But more importantly it has two thing Google wants; a great content brand name and a very popular email source. Imaging the Gmail/AOL market share...Nice!If Google does go for it, perhaps NewsCorp will. They have done a wonderful job monetizing mySpace (regardless of what you feel about the looks). AOL would be a great content pick up and Murdoch doesn't want to be left out either.So my guess is if TimeWarner was ever gonna sell this off, now is the time. Microsoft put a very high valuation out th...
Personal Finance QuickTake: Microsoft to Buy Yahoo
2008-02-01 22:21:00 Microsoft made an unsolicited $44.6 Billion bid for Yahoo today. Yahoo's stock has been weak lately as they continue to lose market share to Google and have failed to take advantage of internet advertising.Microsoft's surprise offer of $31 per share is a 61% premium on where Yahoo's stock ended the day before.For a while now it has felt like to me that Yahoo lost it's way. A few years ago they had the chance to buy Google for $2 Billion and passed it up, deciding to be a media company that had search as opposed to a search company that was expanding.Google really had out maneuvered Yahoo, snapping up YouTube, creating and mastering AdSense, buying Blogger and Feedburner. Microsoft, with MSN has never been a serious competitor, but they do have deep pockets and are good at identifying niches that they want to grab market share with. This would be the largest acquisition in Microsoft history!I think this is a great marriage if it happens, and the stockholders are going to demand i...
Personal Finance QuickTake: Tax Rebate - Senate Version
2008-01-31 22:14:00 The Senate version of the stimulus package is too complex and apt to have even more added to it over the coming days. This according to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.The Senate lowers the rebate to $500/$1000 from the House $600/$1200. It does increase the recipient count though buy adding 20 million seniors that were not going to get anything under the House Version. It also raises the maximum income level to $150,000 for individuals and $300,000 for couples.The interesting thing was that it showed that higher income families were less likely to spend the rebate and to put it into savings...this is opposite of a trickle down theory...It would be interesting to see the data.Any-who, this still has to go to the floor and be pork-ified as well. Frankly, I believe the only hope to get these by May-July is gone unless they get it done fast. This is because the next step is to get it into committee to hammer out the compromise. The more difference in the bills the longer it will take.C...
Personal Finance QuickTake: Fed Cuts Rate 1/2%
2008-01-30 22:25:00 At their regular scheduled meeting today the Federal Reserve made another 1/2 point cut. The market reacted by jumping 200 points only to fall back down.The Fed also made it clear that they will continue to make cuts in order to stimulate the economy. This cut follows the surprise 3/4% cut that just happened.Dual edged sword here, the cuts will mean that anyone with a rate pegged to the Prime Rate will see lowered interest payments (nearly all credit cards). Mortgages and refinancing should go lower, although they are balanced out a bit by demand as well as how fast the Treasury Ten-Year drops.The downside is that 4 is the new 5...Until rates go up we won't see a lot of 5% Savings deals, unless it is a lockup or new customer offer. Also CD offers will continue to go down.Basically the government wants us all to spend our way out of the upcoming (or here) recession! For our personal financial needs we are going to do what we can to get our FICO score to 720 and refinance...How about...
Personal Finance QuickTake: Buyouts
2008-01-28 21:50:00 Chrysler announced today that they will offer buyouts of up to $100,000 to its hourly employees. Chrysler had just last year renegotiated their contract with the UAW to allow them to hire some new workers at a lower pay scale.From a personal finance angle, would you take 2-3 years salary or keep your job?For e it would be tempting as it would push me to start my own business, or buy one that I have been considering. With that sort of cushion behind me I could afford to take a bit of a risk...But it is still a risk.There is a reason they are doing this. It isn't out of the goodness of their heart, just ask the 33% of white collar workers that were offed. They got basic severance. However the blue collar workers have a contract and the company can ill-afford a strike, nor the payout from violating the contract.The US based manufacturers are getting leaner everyday, which will hopefully mean healthier, although a credit crisis won't/isn't helping.If you did take the money what would...
Take5
2007-12-29 03:15:00 Click to enlarge Take5 1.02 Very easy to use but powerful animation recorder. Capture images from a video camera or webcam and instantly play them as an animation. Edit timing and order and see the result in real-time without the need render the scene. Ideal for quick line-testing. For those that remember the ...
New Ownership, Buckley, and tidbits
2007-12-19 05:25:00 I am proud to announce today that I have been hired as a consultant in the game and have sold Bucco Blog to Baseball Interactive Media (BIM), a privately held group in New York City with interests in Pittsburgh. The deal closed today and a press release will be sent out in the next week I'm told. Over the winter a couple of media groups talked with me about purchasing Bucco Blog like Calkins Media, but BIM became aggressive late. You may have already noticed some subtle changes the last few days and what they have planned for Pirates fans at Bucco Blog is unprecedented. It's an exciting time as this franchise moves forward. The good news is that they want me to continue posting. My first love in the game is the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise so I'm happy to do just that. Plus, my consulting work is part-time so I still have availability, but my ears will hopefully be closer to the ground. Thank you fans - your readership made all this possible. A special note of thanks goes...
By: The RotoFeed
New Dance 4/16/07 Hot Monday, Jamaica ?NRV?
2007-12-18 17:37:00 Hot Monday, Firelinks Promotion April 2007 in Jamaica features the latest dances such as the tek wey youself, and let me loose, featuring hottest Jamaican dancers such as Kieva, Ding Dong, Mad Michelle, Bita, Mumsie, Cadillac, Culla Culla, and many more! Videod and Edditted by the Hottest and most known Jamaican Dancehall Video Producer, ...
By: Music Videos
Readers ask Jake
2007-12-09 06:44:00 "Salary dumps, clueless, or nobody answering?" -- JT, Baltimore, MDYour email gave me the thought for yesterday's article so I had to post this first. There's no question the Pirates are being fiscally conservative with player payroll for whatever reason. Call it salary dumps, convenient culture change dumps, or anything else you want, but the fact is, they have/are dumping. But what does that really mean? Right, nothing. Not yet, anyway. We don't know what the Pirates short-term goals are yet, much less their long-term ones. But consider this - assuming McLouth is the opening day centerfielder, every single position player except Jose Bautista and Adam LaRoche has been mentioned in trade rumors so far this winter. Where there is smoke there is usually fire. So it's not irrational to conclude the Pirates are at least listening to offers on gutting the roster. As I've said here many times over the last two years, that's the route I would take. The Pirates imported a...
By: The RotoFeed
How to disguise a salary dump
2007-12-08 07:13:00 Make no mistake about the Pirates intentions this winter - they are dumping salary to cover their fanny. And they have done a good job (the figures above include arb raise guesses for Phelps and Castillo had they been members of the club). Looking at the above table, which is a quick guesstimate, we see the Pirates have shaved about $1.8M from 2007's 25-man and can apply that to the remaining arb eligible players in Sanchez, Nady, LaRoche, Grabow, and Bautista. Obviously, $1.8M won't cover the five eligible so, chances are, we will see another dump. Marte's $3M should just about do it, assuming they add another MLB minimum salary player on the roster for him. But it will cover Littlefield's salary if he doesn't work this year. I doubt they stop there and have a funny feeling we are going to see Bay traded and, by the July trade deadline, also see Bixler brought up and Wilson dumped. Either that or Huntington will play the other Wilson until September. Those two additional dum...
By: The RotoFeed
Switched On: TakeTV is SanDisk?s flash drive-in
2007-10-31 08:58:00 Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment. This week’s marks the column’s third anniversary. Flash Drive, Gadgets, General, Images, SanDisk, Switched, TakeTV, Tcehnology News
Dear Kevin: The fans say..
2007-10-01 01:53:00 .. don't let the door hit your butt as you walk. Ok.. just kidding. What I will miss..1-- Not having to watch the local foreclosure lists.. 2 -- Not having to calculate the daily write-off amount on your loans.. 3 -- Calculating the teams win/loss rate when you are sitting behind the plate at PNC since 2001 (.478 - I guess you knew when to stay upstairs).. 4 -- Wondering how you could be so Internet friendly and your organization so anti-Internet (hint-hint Frank.. open the doors to bloggers).. 5 -- All the wonderful hits my site received looking for news on McClatchy and Company.. 6 -- Wondering how I was going to get a ticket to sit beside you for one game to pick your brain apart.. 7 -- Wondering if you still had your fan protest shirt from the Bay Area.. 8 -- Wondering why you were so anti-Pittsburgh in your hiring.The fans despise you but I have to admit I hoped you would pull it off until you lost control. I know you wanted to. Good luck. Jake del.icio.us Digg ...
By: The RotoFeed
Time to take a break
2007-09-24 06:18:00 It's been a grueling grind the last two years here driving the daily beat following a losing team, so I've decided to take some time off the next couple of weeks. I'm off to Miami and places beyond to follow the Cubs on their road to the WS thanks to a gracious friend from WGN. I'll be back full time once the Cubs are eliminated. In the meantime, I'll still be available via email and I'll be occasionally posting, just not daily. Ok - that's pathetic. You got me. But it's the perfect time to take a break because there isn't much that's going to be happening the next few weeks around Pittsburgh anyway. As for Neal Huntington? He has a chance to make it some around the game have said if he's able to put together a decent scouting and development team. He's known as an excellent planner and organizer so he'll immediately bring some relief to Jeff Andrews' aching writing hand (sorry Jeff, I couldn't resist). What I mean to say is, Huntington's going to make a lot of c...
By: The RotoFeed
Yin Yang Controversy
2007-09-17 19:17:00 The Pittsburgh Pirates division run ended quite some time ago but they have been playing loose lately and have won six of their last nine series against contenders. And that's where this story begins. Before the players could even step one foot onto their charter from Houston to San Diego Sunday, they found themselves embroiled in a major controversy. It seems there are some folks who follow the Dodgers that are calling Jim Tracy's credibility into question in the Pirates upcoming four-game series with the Pads. Why, they ask, did the Pirates request Tony Armas Jr. (career 1.13 ERA, 0.50 WHIP vs Pads and second best starter ERA on team in September) to be removed from the rotation in favor of John Van Benschoten (11.38 ERA, 2.29 WHIP in second half) Monday? And if Tracy absolutely wanted to go with youth, why not Bryan Bullington instead? And why, they ask, did Tracy put Xavier Nady back into the lineup Sunday in Houston knowing he isn't 100% when the Pirates have the 6th best O...
By: The RotoFeed
MLB.tv Suks
2007-08-15 06:49:00 Two outs, bottom of the ninth, we are leading by a run, Capps has a 3-2 count on their cleanup hitter and.. .. my MLB.tv screen goes black. This happens all the time. My cable company's phone service via the Internet doesn't break as often as I get booted from a live MLB.tv game, so what the heck is MLBAM's problem and why in the world can't they get it straightened out? At first I thought it was connectivity issues between my office's six-meg connection and BAM's distribution servers. That turned out to be the case only twice in 42 dumps from MLB.tv I've had just in the second half. To be fair, connectivity can clear up in an instant so perhaps it was more often than that along the way - but my traceroutes never found that to be the case. Then I started seeing routine problems with BAM's login servers that required ridiculous wait times, they failed DNS requests, and at times the login server wasn't even online to answer like they only had a one-way connection to one logi...
By: The RotoFeed
Was Adding Morris Really That Puzzling?
2007-08-01 06:41:00 Dave Littlefield traded off Rajai Davis and a player to be named later for Matt Morris at the deadline and everyone seems to be puzzled over the deal. Most of the fans and media think the deal was off the wall. Here are a few examples: ESPN's Keith Law said:"Another year, another bizarre acquisition by the Pirates. But while last year's move to get Shawn Chacon was puzzling, acquiring Matt Morris is inexcusable. The last thing the Pirates need is another starter who gives up more than a hit an inning.."Baseball Musings said:"What are you trying to do Dave, keep finishing last? .. The sound of Pirates fans pounding their head against the wall can be heard here in Massachusetts."First let's consider what we know to be facts about the Pirates current rotation and any potential replacements. If you read Bucco Blog you know I have had Tom Gorzelanny with a red flag for about three weeks now, I've had John Van Benschoten with a red flag for almost two months, Duk...
By: The RotoFeed
Fans For.. WHAT???
2007-07-27 04:13:00 I just received an unsolicited email from the group called "Fans For Change" where they shared with me a 'challenge letter' that was purportedly published in the Post-Gazette, as well as calling for all irate fans to show up at the Pirates August 28th game wearing a green shirt and to sit in Section 140. In the email they said:"Members of Fans for Change realize that the best way to get the attention of Mr. Nutting is to actively pursue the support of his current season ticket holders."I'm not sure I understand how creating the world's largest Key Lime Pie lookalike in the stands is going to change baseball in Pittsburgh as we know it. And I certainly don't understand why this group continues to beg fans who are upset at the ownership group to give their money to them. And their email suggested they will be equipped with paper bags to put over their heads and more signs at the August 28th game. None of that makes a bit of sense to me. If this group rea...
By: The RotoFeed
What Will Bob Do?
2007-07-07 08:45:00 Since the McClatchy era is finally coming to an end that we can all touch and smell, I suppose it's only fitting that I start this blog fresh and new. Eventually I'll put up the old posts at buccoblog.com for you to research if you want. -- On July 2cd, I sent this email to the Pirates beat writer Alan Robinson for the Associated Press who I assumed still has a relationship with his ex-boss Ogden Nutting:"Ogden Nutting hasn't gotten where he has in life believing things like, outside of a few players, the youth the Pirates have in the organization are going to take them anywhere. And he has to see the mortar holding the foundation starting to crumble at his boys feet with everyone from the fans, to the sponsors, to their own personnel, now walking on egg shells. This isn't playing out like a typical Ogden Nutting venture. I have to believe his main objective was to put himself in a position to have a healthy cash cow (ala Schott/Selig) for a few years knowing revenues were ...
By: The RotoFeed
Forward From the Past
2007-07-07 04:40:00 First of all, let me say that I have decided to bring Bucco Blog back to life. That being said, I've learned a lot about my writing in the last 48 hours. After the Pirates began a discussion forum in 2000 at pirates.com, I became a very active participant. Over the years I threw out my opinions like any fan might do. In 2005, something changed. After I uploaded years of research to a Pittsburgh newspaper columnist, another writer at the same newspaper came out with a financial article on the Pirates containing much of the material I had submitted to the columnist just a few weeks earlier. That was a major blow to me, especially since the article received the acclaim it did. Now I won't go as far to say my material was copied. I mean, I believed the writer when he told me he didn't use my research. And everything I submitted was either freely available on the Internet, available in the discussion forum at pirates.com where the fans and I discussed it over Christmas of 2004, or w...
By: The RotoFeed
Correcting Misconceptions
2007-07-05 07:26:00 I want to clear up a few questions that have been asked of me.-- this has absolutely nothing to do with MLBlogs or MLB. In the nineteen months I have blogged here, the MLBlog family has been nothing but supportive of my interest in the Pirates. Nor have I ever been censored here. -- this doesn't have anything to do with the Pirates either. Again, in the nineteen months I've blogged here I have never been served with any official notice from the Pirates to say this or that, or to not say this or that. Nor did I shut the blog down because the Pirates were threatening legal action against me. I would have fought that. While they never brought me into their family, they never shunned me either. -- this is not a PR stunt against the Pirates. Hardly. I think I was the only individual in the country that supported the organization's pick of Moskos, of them sending McCutchen to AA this spring, and perhaps the only Pirate blogger against the latest walkouts. I have been contacted from ...
By: The RotoFeed
The Final Post
2007-07-04 09:22:00 With tears in my eyes I have to say Bucco Blog is now closed. Over the last week I received some emails from someone purporting to be a member of the Pirates front office that I felt had a threatening tone. I don't know if the email addy actually belongs to a member of the Pirates front office, but I have been led to believe it does. Taking everything this individual said as gospel, I owe him an apology because I mentioned he performed a task he said he does not do, although as a fan I honestly thought he did. To him I say I am genuinely sorry. If he hadn't blocked all my email accounts, I would have told him myself. But looking at the big picture, when it gets so bad that someone in the industry for over a quarter of a century even worries about a stinking fan blogging about his favorite team, something is very wrong, especially when the blogger is also the recipient of the individuals foul-mouthed anger. For the record, don't bother to ask me questions about the incident beca...
By: The RotoFeed
Hard Pitch Counts and Young Pirate Arms
2007-07-01 10:40:00 I happen to be one of a handful of believers that pitch counts matter when developing young pitchers. By young, I mean less than 600 innings in the major leagues. Until a pitcher reaches that level, I am of the opinion they have to be handled with kid gloves. There are conditional limits as well. In March and early April as young pitchers are stretching out, once they hit 25 pitches in an inning an alarm should sound in the pitching coach's mind. At 30 pitches they should be pulled or the pitcher faces injury from poor mechanics while fatigued, as an example. If you have read my blog than you know I have been tracking Burnett, JvB, and Bullington's pitch counts very closely. I've talked here about how abusive it was in my mind for Burnett to have to throw 39 times off the mound in the 2cd inning May 30th and then forced to pitch the 3rd inning where he threw another 37. That's off the wall ridiculous and sure enough, he was put on the DL two days later with arm fatigue. The same...
By: The RotoFeed
Are The Fan's Being Duped?
2007-06-30 10:31:00 I just don't get it. One of the limited partners in the Pittsburgh Pirates is the CBS Corporation, and CBS Radio and CBS Broadcasting are entities of them. One of the media's more outspoken critics about the Pirates planned protest has been KDKA radio's Fred Honsberger. He's got green walkout t-shirts at his website, songs of protest, and he's been joined by KDKA TV Sports Anchor, John Steigerwald, blasting the Pirates. But get this - KDKA seems to be owned by CBS: Plus, KDKA-TV seems to be also owned by CBS. What we are seeing is two media giants in Pittsburgh (KDKA Radio and KDKA-TV) being very loud about the walkout and both are seemingly a part of the CBS family which is a partner in the Pirates current ownership group. So why would CBS allow that? Are the fans being duped? You know - hey, be mad Pirates fans. Bring your family, buy tickets, and then walkout after the Pirates cash registers have already rung their bell - over, and over, and over. Let's do this several t...
By: The RotoFeed
Capitalism Plunge
2007-06-27 08:11:00 Bucco Blog has always been a commerical-free zone and one of the only stops on the Internet where you could read Pirates content without being hammered with ads. One thing I have learned the hard way lately is that a Google PR7 rating is only as good as the revenue stream you have flowing from the site. Bucco Blog gets thousands of visitors every day and because our traffic continues to go through the roof, we're getting some very lucrative offers as well. Today I added the basic Google text ads. Later this week I expect to be able to offer some real-time stats for you in exchange for an exclusive limited partnership with a well known group I'm sure you will enjoy. Let's take this thing to the next level.. together. Jake
By: The RotoFeed
Fans For Change: Hold 'Em or Fold 'Em?
2007-06-25 22:50:00 Some Pittsburgh Pirate fans are frustrated and they are planning a walkout June 30th after the third inning as their statement of protest. The local media reaction to the walkout has been a mixed bag of worms - everything from Mark Madden's ridicule to Bob Smizik's applause. So I decided to ask others what they thought of the walkout and/or boycott idea (the complete email of each respondent are listed in the comment section):"[M]y advice to Pirates fans is to stop going to the game until they make an effort to field a winner. You should be aware, the outcome might be that they move the team from Pittsburgh." -- Sports Economist David J. Berri; Associate Professor of Economics, California State University-Bakersfield; author at The Sports Economist "So, in terms of sports teams, I have to conclude that fan boycotts are not in the best interests of the fans involved. The best thing for fans to do is stand by their team and attend games regardless of the team record, ...
By: The RotoFeed
30 Minute Trashcan Meals: Bucs Sign Phelps
2007-06-23 02:37:00 What an absolute waste of media ink, blogger space, and fan time: claiming Josh Phelps off the waiver wire. I assume Littlefield was joking when he said:"He'll give us a little more flexibility and he will help strengthen our bench. And it will allow us to use (Ryan) Doumit more freely." Gee.. chew your burger, spit it out on the floor, stomp on it with your muddy feet, have your dog swallow and regurgitate it, then eat it for dinner and you finally get to the roster value of Josh Phelps. You think Brad Eldred is a poor defender at first? You haven't seen Phelps. You think Adam Dunn has a long swing? Scouts don't mention bat speed with Phelps - they talk about stopwatch time. Phelps as a backup catcher? Sure - let's put a career 41 inning receiver behind the plate with all our youthful sinkerball arms heating up. I suppose this signing could only mean one of three things:1 -- The Indy Indians need a replacement level player for Eldred and Littlefield plans to put Phelp...
By: The RotoFeed
The One Eighty-One Question
2007-06-17 00:26:00 Pirates winning percentage 2cd half 2006: .514Pirates winning percentage 1st half 2006: .333 Difference: .181 That difference was the largest in franchise history and it's something that a few National League front office people are starting to whisper about as the Pirates go from hitting on two of eight cylinders to four lately - can they possibly repeat their performance? Right now the team is playing a full .100 points better than the first half of 2006 and if they win just 10 more games out of the remaining 21 before the break, they will end up a .440 first half team. To do that they need to sweep the Sox, take at least 2 of the remaining 6 series by a 2-1 margin, and then win one game in the other 4 series. That would give them 39 first half wins. Is that realistic? No - on paper we are horrid in Miami, typically get manhandled by the Cubs, Nats, and Brewers at PNC, and Seattle and the Angels are anything but a pushover. But this is baseball - anyone can win any day with a l...
By: The RotoFeed
Excuse me. But did ..
2007-06-16 08:36:00 .. Oliver Perez just walk into Yankee Stadium and throw a 5-hit shutout to beat Roger Clemens and the white hot Yankees who had won nine straight games and had scored no less than four runs per game the last 15? "We ran into a buzzsaw," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "He shut us down completely. The thing that's impressive is that he's wild enough to keep you from zeroing in. He's sort of all over the place -- he'll throw it up, he'll throw it down, he'll throw it away -- yet he has quality pitches."Listen to Dave Littlefield in MP3 or Windows Media format as he tells Bucco Blog last year why he dealt Perez. I think it's only fair to wonder why Maholm or Duke wasn't in this deal instead. Ughhh..
By: The RotoFeed
Nutting Has a Real Opportunity
2007-06-12 01:04:00 Late November last year I made a bold statement:"Nutting can make a night and day difference in the Pirates organization by firing David Littlefield right now and hiring a true black-n-gold die-hard like Tony LaCava as GM. Tony could move Bay, Duke, Gonzalez, and Wilson for the best 0-3 packages he can get today, take the money saved from the payroll and revamp the minor league system with true black-n-gold development teams, pour money into deep scouting and research, and build a winner around the little talent we have in the farm like we should have started doing four years ago."I received more email responses to that one post than anything I've written in this blog covering the Pirates these last two seasons. It also drew attention from a lot of professionals in the industry - they generally liked the idea, albeit some didn't like the thought of a 100 rbi guy being dealt. We're at the point the organization needs a sacrificial lamb if they want to maintain a fan bas...
By: The RotoFeed
Maholm vs Clemens
2007-06-09 10:13:00 Can you believe the line on this game? -247 Hello, as I run for Pinnacle with a couple hundred in my hands. See, the Yankees have lost 22% of their last 31 games Clemens has thrown with odds over -200 going several years back. Not only that but the Rocket lost 2 of his first 3 in 2006, and 5 of his first 6 in 2005 plus lost 3 times to the Pirates that year. Maholm is by far the most polished pitcher the Pirates have under pressure. He's faced up to opposing aces almost 3/4 of the year in 2006 so Duke would get some run support. He's been there, done that. Facing Clemens is just another page in his book. Now let's not forget the mighty Yankees offense is now in full-gear.. that Maholm has lost more games than he can count this year.. and that the collective lineup of the Pirates that has faced Clemens is batting a mere .209 against him. Throw all that out the door. Instead, consider that there will be more media in the Pirates clubhouse than they typically see in an entire year, ...
By: The RotoFeed
Let The Media Butt Kissing Begin
2007-06-05 22:21:00 I like the Stats Geek and read him with passion every week, but there times where it is clear he hasn't been watching the misery he writes about, or he's slanting his writing to kiss Pirate ownership butt. If you read this week's article, then you know what I mean. Here's a couple of clear examples:"Maybe the only thing surprising to fans will be that this bullpen does not stick out as particularly bad in the National League. To be sure, the Pirates relief corps' earned run average is a lousy 4.71 in a league where the average bullpen ERA is 4.00, but much of that is due to stinking up the mound when the game was already out of hand."The Pirates pen has given up a NL high 102 runs and 97 earned runs, so I'm not sure why the Geek is trying to minimize the truth here. As far as the statement "much of that is due to stinking up the mound when the game was already out of hand", that's just plain inaccurate, unless the Geek thinks 4 runs behind is "...
By: The RotoFeed
Double-Whammy Headed Our Way?
2007-05-30 10:18:00 Are the fans being set up for a huge letdown in two annual events that will take place over the next two weeks? First will be the draft. I've already made my recommendation this year. But like all the other fans, I have a sneaky feeling we are going to overdraft a player that doesn't fit into our plan because we can sign him cheap for the slot. I mean, that has been the current owner's modus operandi and I don't expect it will change this year. Since I discussed this in detail in the link above, let's move on. One week after the draft (I'm guessing June 11th) will be Dave Littlefield's annual "We are Sellers" announcement to the rest of the organizations. Let's face it, while Dejan is doing his best to stir the "why not now" pot, and as badly as the fans want to see us compete in what they perceive to be a weak league this year, nobody is really thinking straight. Three of our starting eight position players (Duffy, Bautista, and Nady) have never seen a...
By: The RotoFeed
Hey Bud, is Cheating Allowed?
2007-05-30 06:53:00 I wasn't going to post this but I've had teenage ballplayers asking me if Hopper cheated and, if he did, why isn't he being removed from the game like Pete Rose was, or suspended like Brian Moehler when the sandpaper was found in his glove, or facing public ridicule like Sosa did with the corked bat incident? Why is Hopper getting off scott free, everyone wants to know? As Hal Brody once said:"There's no room in baseball for cheaters. Not for Sammy Sosa, Joe Rookie or any other major leaguer. Commissioner Bud Selig must send this message ? immediately and authoritatively."Hopper is no different. He is clearly a cheater and Bud Selig needs to wake up and take immediate action because the game's integrity is on the line.
By: The RotoFeed
Media/Others Unfairly Rip Duke
2007-05-17 10:23:00 Dejan in his Q & A Thursday:"Nothing is crazy when you look at the incredible opponent's batting averages against Duke and Maholm."Gene Collier in his column Thursday:"Zach Duke didn't deserve to win anyway. The Pirates' opening day starter hasn't won in 51/2 weeks, and while last night's performance fit the always suspect dimensions of a quality start, the fit itself felt like new dress shoes.""To win consistently, someone will have to pitch a lot better than Zach Duke did last night. Perhaps Zach Duke should."Paul Meyer's game recap:"Starter Zach Duke weathered eight Florida hits -- he leads the major leagues with 69 hits allowed..."ProTrade said Monday:"Zach Duke Has Been Worthless..."It's everywhere you look -- discussion forums, blogs, newspapers, and fantasy guides -- no matter the words they use, they all mean basically the same thing - Duke stinks. Funny, but when the Pirates lost 4 of Duke's first 5 starts in 200...
By: The RotoFeed
Is It JvB Time?
2007-05-14 02:01:00 Is it JvB time in da 'Burgh? Van Benschoten is pitching very well in Indy. Over 37 innings and 138 at bats against him, he has allowed just 30 hits (.217 BA), only one home run (0.24 HR/9), he has a decent 6.32 strikeouts per 9 inning rate, and neither left hand or right hand batters have more than a .615 OPS against him. If he has a fault so far, it is the typical Pirate first inning blues as he has walked 18% of the batters he has faced this year. But once they get on base, they have gone nowhere as he commands a strand rate over 80%. And even if a runner happens to get in scoring position on him, he shuts the door as his .067 BA with RiSP shows us. That's pretty much dominating a decent league early on this year. When I saw JvB last year in rehab he was pounding the zone but lacked good touch-n-feel on his pitches yet. Obviously he has at least gotten some of that feel back. The Pirates have JvB slotted to pitch the same day Tony Armas Jr. is and with the Marlins coming to town...
By: The RotoFeed
Is the Mindset Gone Now Too?
2007-05-13 08:52:00 In October last year I showed everyone that there were two stats that defined the Pirates 2006 season. DER (Defensive Efficiency Ratio or, the percentage of balls in play that aren't home runs converted to an out by our defense) and H/R (how many hits it took to score one run - hits divided by runs scored). DER So far this year the Pirates have a .691 DER and the NL average is .712. While we are ahead of our 2006 DER of .676, we are tanking hard. For instance, in the last 30 days it has been .686 and in the last week, it is just .672. That's not very good. H/R Dejan Kovacevic wrote in the Sunday Pirates Notebook that Jeff Manto has the full support of Dave Littlefield. The article quotes Littlefield as saying:"I'm confident in Jeff Manto and his abilities," Littlefield said. "He's in his second year as a major-league hitting instructor, and he's the same guy who was part of a player who won a batting championship that no one would have expected last year, as well...
By: The RotoFeed
Untitled - January, 2006
2007-05-10 10:47:00 If Paully and I could be together again. Would I be enough for her? If you could be my lover. If you could be my dream again. read more &raqu-o;
What The Bucs Need To Do
2007-05-07 22:20:00 I received a few emails wondering what I would do right now if I was Dave Littlefield. Make a trade? Blow up the roster? What..? I would do very little. Let's take a look at who we really are and where we are going. Statement 1 -- Our strength is our pitching. The Pirates have a few good consistent bats like Bay and Sanchez, but the rest of the roster is inconsistent and/or streaky. And we already know our defense has been putrid the last few years. So that only leaves pitching as our strength. What kind of staff are they? The Pirates had the 6th highest GB/FB ratio staff in the game last year and 8th highest in 2005. But is that what we want? Years ago I was shown this very basic concept that is more important in the NL than the AL, but still holds true in either league. Teams with the higher GB/FB rates that also have good defensive efficiency behind their pitchers, win in baseball. After removing the Pirates since we are looking at them, the remaining nine highest GB/FB teams ...
By: The RotoFeed
The Mistaken Agenda
2007-05-05 01:32:00 Wow - write anything on the topic of a blogger wanting media credentials and your email box fills up faster than a bathtub from a fire hose. I've received every kind of response you could think of from the 'My best friend just lost his twenty-three year position with an established newspaper and your wanting to take his place?' type of email, to those that say 'Keep on pushing' types. I had a couple of short conversations with journalists in the Baseball Writer's Association of America (BWAA) fraternity and both of them asked me the same basic question - why would you even want credentials? My response seemed to shock them -- I didn't really want media credentials. When I became a FidoNet mail carrier in the 80's, or helped stream the first live Internet broadcast of a state Supreme Court in the mid-90's when only NASA and CNN were doing live productions, or agreed to consult to an Attorney General's Office creating the nation's first Cyber Bill of Right's, I wasn't thi...
By: The RotoFeed
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