And we’re back! I’d apologize and complain about being busy but screw it, I don’t owe any of you an explanation. The following is less “this is a cool story and odd disease name” and more “I find the pathophysiology of this disease interesting so maybe one of you will too.” It’s also going to require a little more background than usual. I’ll try to start from the ground-up.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a widespread and deadly condition. A leading cause of death in the US (3rd in the most recent census data available), COPD encompasses chronic bronchitis and emphysema. I’ll stick to emphysema, as it’s the more interesting of the two. While there is a rare genetic cause (A1AD, more prevalent among Northern Europeans), the main cause of emphysema is cigarette smoking.
Every time a tragic event happens, humans will react with emotions like disbelief, shock, sadness, anger and for some of us, humor. There are many factors that go into how we react to each individual event. Those factors may include: physical proximity to said event, background, personal experiences, upbringing – just to name a few. I am of the opinion that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to react to events like these – celebration being an exception, which would be an absolutely despicable reaction to a tragedy. Continue reading →
First of all, what is the official name of this year’s Wrestlemania? Is it Wrestlemania 29, Wrestlemania XXIX, Wrestlemania NY/NJ or WWE’s 2Wrestlemania9 XXIX in New York and New Jersey but really New Jersey? Anyway, the crew here at HFTE are proud to bring to you thoughts, analysis, comedy, predictions and maybe a gambling tip or two.
Also, please welcome special guest commentator Brian Pickett, who will be joining in on the fun! Please follow him on Twitter, you won’t regret it.
The fine folks here at Heading For The Exits were gracious enough to host my team-by-team baseball previews. Look for a new one every day from March 1st through March 30th. Last but not least, it’s the NL East. The final team we’ll cover is the only thing that anyone in D.C. can agree on.
Cy Young Candidate / Fire-Fearing Bridge Guardian Stephen Strasburg Does His Thing
You remember that movie The New Guy, where the gawky, miserable teenager transfers schools after being expelled and serving time in prison and immediately attains rock star status amongst his classmates through a serious of both planned and unplanned events? It has nothing to do with the Nats, I was just reminiscing about how fucking terrible that movie was.
For the Nationals, life atop the NL East appears to be the status quo. With two legitimate staff aces and Cy Young candidates heading the rotation, a deep, clutch bullpen (yes, yes, Drew Storen NLDS rage anger threaten his family with bandsaws), and top talent at just about every position on the field, only the Nats themselves can ruin their claim to the division. Last season ended on a sour note in the playoffs, but even reaching that stage was something of an accomplishment after finishing at or below .500 every year in their brief history. Considering they won 18 more games than 2011, 29 more than 2010 and 39 more than 2009, well, that steady amount of growth means something is going right. With the core of the team young and improving, D.C. could host a World Series game for the first time in 80 years.
The fine folks here at Heading For The Exits were gracious enough to host my team-by-team baseball previews. Look for a new one every day from March 1st through March 30th. Last but not least, it’s the NL East. And now, put your completely objective hands together for my main sports obsession.
“Well, at least people will stop staring at my waistline.”
My apologies if this isn’t quite as biting as some other pieces. I’ve been ragging on the Barves for so long now that the snark tank is almost empty, and the promise of potential success has me quite randy. Actually, if I might take this space to bitch about the new wildcard play-in rule that fucked over the Braves last year… no, no, I won’t do that either. Let’s talk about sex.
You see, when a man and a woman love each other very much, they do some nasty things to each other. 9 months later, a baby comes out. 26 years later, that baby spends the better part of 3 months annihilating NL hitters and steals my heart, only to shatter it in a wildcard play-in game against the Cardinals. And yet, and yet… I cannot stay away. I spend the better part of March resisting every urge to spend all of my auction draft money on him.
Kris Medlen, you are Body’s unreasonable sports crush of 2013. May God have mercy on your soul.
The fine folks here at Heading For The Exits were gracious enough to host my team-by-team baseball previews. Look for a new one every day from March 1st through March 30th. Last but not least, it’s the NL East. For shits and giggles, let’s briefly check in with a team who decided that relevance was so passé.
“I just realized the baseball looks like Geodude. This game is SAHWEET!”
You guys remember when the Phillies had the rotation of the century? Here, it went something like this:
The fine folks here at Heading For The Exits were gracious enough to host my team-by-team baseball previews. Look for a new one every day from March 1st through March 30th. Last but not least, it’s the NL East. Next up, we check in with the team that’s sitting outside Trump Tower banging on an empty paint can and begging for change.
Hey, you said all I had to do was keep the bench warm for you!
I do not envy Mets fans. Whereas the Marlins were busy embarrassing themselves on the field, the Mets have been doing a great job of it there as well as everywhere else. A good rule of thumb: unless your owner is Mark Cuban, you do not want their name appearing in the news, and even then, not next to a name like Bernie Madoff. Fred Wilpon might have been the next owner to have his MLB team seized right out from under him, and oh how glorious that would have been. At least the Dodgers had a good reason for theirs; shared ownership of the team involved with a messy divorce needed mediation from the league. But this? This would have been Wilpon losing the team because of being duped by a con artist. Unfortunately, it seems like that dramatic bullet was dodged, so for now, we just get to watch the team continue to pick up the pieces. Let’s watch, shall we?
The fine folks here at Heading For The Exits were gracious enough to host my team-by-team baseball previews. Look for a new one every day from March 1st through March 30th. Last but not least, it’s the NL East. Today’s team is the one with the gigantic, faded “Yard Sale” sign out front and the murder-suicide in the attic.
I promised myself I wouldn’t write 500 words about the Marlins… so here we go.
The fine folks here at Heading For The Exits were gracious enough to host my team-by-team baseball previews. Look for a new one every day from March 1st through March 30th. We’re coming down the home stretch now, stopping in the NL Central. We’ll briefly check in with a team who just made the single greatest offseason acquisition in the history of baseball.
The big issue for the Brewers last year was bad luck. Mat Gamel was, frankly, a failure at first before tearing his ACL. Corey Hart finally found a home as his replacement on a squad that was tiring of his (lack of) range in the outfield but not before the season was well out of hand. The bullpen was an unmitigated disaster with formerly reliable closer John Axford blowing 9 saves and holding an ERA well over 5 through the end of August. Francisco Rodriguez, following several seasons of sub-3 ERA ball, similarly collapsed, turning in a significantly lowered K rate and an ERA over 4. By the time everything got sorted out, and they won an astounding 24 of their last 30, it was too late.
But now? Yuniesky Betancourt has arrived. The man, the myth, the legend, the savior of Brewers baseball has come back to thrill fans and win over new hearts after spending a year on vacation with the Royals and, briefly, the Phillies minor league system. Let’s ask the good folks on the internet what they think about Yuni.
The fine folks here at Heading For The Exits were gracious enough to host my team-by-team baseball previews. Look for a new one every day from March 1st through March 30th. We’re coming down the home stretch now, stopping in the NL Central. We’ll briefly check in with a team who would be well served to look up the word “regression” in the dictionary before the trade deadline.
Taking Chapman’s closer role away? You better believe that’s a paddlin’.
The Cincinnati Reds are a team that basically exists on another planet for me. They had the second-best pitching staff in the MLB, though a distant second behind the Rays, with breakout performances by Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, and Aroldis Chapman, a Bronson Arroyo resurgence, and the steady presence of Mat Latos. Given all this, I honestly wouldn’t have placed their pitching staff in the top 10. I reckon I forgot to check my East Coast privilege last season at the door or something.
So why am I predicting them to not repeat as division champions? Well, I don’t believe in Bailey or Arroyo. At all. I expect these guys to give quite a bit back in terms of performance this year. The bullpen is good, but it’s not sub-3 ERA good. If Jonathan Broxton becomes the lynchpin of the relief corps, expect a few games to end in very ugly fashion. On offense, I can see only modest gains over last year’s team, not enough to make up for the regression the pitching offers. All told, I see them giving up enough of a lead to make the Cards, Brewers, and Reds all possible champions in a photo finish.
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decided that relevance was so passé.
