Before They Turn the Summer Into Dust

Congratulations to Mr. Ben Grant for naming "Wading in the Velvet Sea" by Phish as the Song of the Day for Sunday and Monday. Ben, I'm not sure if you can use this illustrious award to obtain immunity from being called on class but give it a try anyway.


Prof. Torts revealed today that he not able to sit and watch an entire baseball game on TV, and he actually admitted that he is (gasp) a Yankees fan. I'm pretty sure if I had made such a poor decision in my baseball allegiances, I would never reveal that to anyone outside of the five boroughs of NYC, but he is the man who hands out the grades in Room 120, so I guess he can do whatever he wants. As Prof. CivPro once said, "It's good to be the King."


Speaking of baseball, congrats to Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken on their election to the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of '07. Also, with only 23% of the vote, it looks like Big Mac is never going to get the necessary 75% for inclusion in Cooperstown. Once players become eligible for enshrinement, they are on the regular ballot for 15 years. After that, they slip into the netherworld known as the Veterans Committee where anything can happen.


I think we are just going to need a few years of perspective from the Steroid Era to really sort out the historical response of institutions like the Hall of Fame regarding the era. Are we really just going to exclude everyone from the era on suspicions and allegations or are baseball writers going to begin requiring some sort of proof before they can send players like Big Mac into baseball purgatory? Only time will tell.

Current Reading

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama