The Justice League

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do my civic duty and potentially determine the fate of complete strangers. That's right - I was on Jury Duty! In my county, you have to serve either one day or one trial, whichever is longer. If you are not selected for a case by the end of the day, your obligation is done and you can't be called for the next three years.

Many people dread the idea of serving, but as I see it, there are several advantages. First, it's a guilt-free way to get out of work. Second, it is interesting to see how "the system" really works. Hint: it's a lot less exciting than you see in movies or TV. On the negative side, there is a certain amount of boredom and repetition involved, as I learned about 10 years ago when I was on a jury for an assault case. That case lasted three days; a lot of the testimony covered the same ground.

But back to yesterday. They make you report at 8AM, so I had to leave the house earlier than usual. When I got there, there was a long line waiting to go through the metal detector (I got through without setting it off). You have to watch an orientation video that is somewhat less than riveting. A judge then comes in to swear in all jurors. Then you wait.

At about 10:30, my number was called and I was part of a group of about 50 who went upstairs to a court room. The case being tried was for burglary. This was the second day of jury selection for this case; they still had not found 14 jurors who were acceptable to both sides. We were each given a questionnaire covering such topics of previous jury service, if we had ever been victims of a crime, etc. I was among the first from our group to be interviewed by the judge. One of my responses concerned my family's home having been burglarized when I was about eight years old (we weren't home at the time). The defense attorney requested that I be excused, and although they don't tell you the reason, I'm sure that my past experience had something to do with it.

I was sent back down to the juror room. Soon it was lunch time; I had a roast beef and cheese sub and an iced tea. After an hour, I returned to the court house. In the afternoon, they only called one more pool of jurors; I was not one of them. About 4:00 we were thanked for our service and dismissed.

So that's my story of jury duty. It was an enjoyable day overall. I listened to my iPod and read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" (which I had never read before). In the morning I was sitting next to a very talkative man and it looked like I wouldn't get any reading done. But in the afternoon I was able to avoid human interaction :-)

I strongly encourage everyone to face jury duty with a sense of anticipation, not dread.

baseball predictions

Well, the 2010 baseball season is now underway. My Yankees are playing the Red Sox tonight in the first game of the season. So now is the appropriate time to make my predictions for the year. Just a note, the following are based on absolutely no solid evidence; they are heavily influenced by my own likes and dislikes.And please, do not use these for wagering purposes. So without further delay:

American League
East: Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles
Central: Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Royals, Indians
West: Angels, Mariners, Rangers, Athletics

National League
East: Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Mets, Nationals
Central: Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Astros, Pirates
West: Rockies, Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Diamondbacks

Playoffs
Yankees over Twins in 3
Rays over Angels in 4
Yankees over Rays in 6

Rockies over Cardinals in 5
Phillies over Dodgers in 4
Rockies over Phillies in 7

World Series
Yankees over Rockies in 5

Awards
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
NL MVP: Ryan Howard
World Series MVP: Mariano Rivera

Book review: "Open" by Andre Agassi

I recently checked out Andre Agassi's autobiography from the library. Since it is considered a new book, it can only be checked out for two weeks instead of the usual four. This concerned me; I wasn't sure that I would have enough free time to read it. These concerns turned out to be unfounded - I was finished in less than a week. It was a well-written and unflinching account of his life and career.

I'm not a big tennis fan; I pay a little attention during the Grand Slam events, but that's it. Agassi was one player that I did root for, even though sometimes his image as an anti-establishment punk was a bit much. I often root for underdogs, and since Agassi was often in Pete Sampras' shadow, I think he seemed like one. Of course, Andre won eight Grand Slam tournaments and was ranked number one in the world more than once; making him perhaps the most successful underdog ever.

But back to the book. Agassi goes into a lot of detail about his childhood as well what seems like every tournament he ever played. Throughout the book, he is brutally honest about his behavior and feelings. He goes into detail about his drug use, his marriage and divorce to Brooke Shields, and the physical pain he endured towards the end of his career. Multiple times he mentions always hating tennis; having been forced into it by his father. He comes across as now being at peace with everyone in his life. He reserves most of his criticism for himself. The book is refreshingly free of anger and cheap shots at others - with one exception.

One story did seem out of place, given the overall tone of the book. Agassi mentions that Pete Sampras once tipped a valet parking attendant only one dollar. This story seemed quite unnecessary. There were a couple of other passages that were critical of Sampras as a player and rival, but this was the only story in the book that was really mean. A few weeks ago, Agassi and Sampras were playing an exhibition match for charity. It was supposed to be a fun event, with players wearing microphones. After Sampras imitated Agassi's pigeon-toes walking style, Agassi made reference to the tipping story. This led to Sampras directly aiming a serve at Agassi's head, then some tense moments between them.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the book. It was a fast, though at times uncomfortable, read. I would recommend it to anyone who had even a passing interest in tennis in the late 1980s or 1990s.

Mattress Shopping

Today was a milestone day for our family. We bought a new twin bed for my almost three year-old son. It gets delivered tomorrow; though we're keeping the crib installed in his room for a while in order to ease the transition. Hopefully, it will go relatively smoothly. I have no doubt that keeping him in bed before he falls asleep each night will be a challenge.

After we got home from the store, I got to thinking. We bought a new bed for our daughter a few years ago, and a new bed for us a couple years before that. But now we likely won't be in the market for a new mattress for another decade or so. I would imagine that this scenario is similar for most families. So how do so many mattress stores stay in business. There are several of them in our area. I just can't imagine that there is enough business to go around. Perhaps I'm wrong - how often do people buy new mattresses?

Book review - "1920 - The Year of the Six Presidents"

I just finished reading another book (six so far this year!). It was "1920 - The Year of the Six Presidents" by David Pietrusza. This book tells the story of the 1920 presidential election and the six former or future presidents who played roles in this election. The presidents are:

1. Theodore Roosevelt, who previously served as president from 1901-1909. After a failed third party run in 1912, he was considered the front-runner for the 1920 Republican nomination. However, he died in 1919, throwing the process into turmoil (TR's death means that technically, the book is misnamed. But I guess six is more dramatic than five.)
2. Woodrow Wilson, the current president, who was considering a run for an unprecedented third term. However, poor health (which was mostly hidden from the public) prevented this.
3. Warren Harding (SPOILER ALERT), who won the 1920 election.
4. Calvin Coolidge, Harding's running mate (ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT) who became president upon Harding's death in 1923.
5. Herbert Hoover, who did great work as part of the Wilson administration; administering aid to war-torn Europe.
6. Franklin Roosevelt, who ran for Vice President as James Cox's running mate for the Democratic party.

The first several chapters focus on short biographies of each of the above men. Then we move to the primaries and the campaign. I was amazed at how much politics have changed in the past 90 years. These were the days of the "smoke-filled rooms", where deals were cut to determine who the candidates would be. The candidates did very little campaigning; Harding spent most of the time at home in Ohio, giving speeches from his front porch to those who came to see him. The major issues of the day included Prohibition, voting rights for women, and whether the US should join the League of Nations (Wilson's forerunner of the United Nations).

The book was well-written. Even though the results are already known, there was an air of suspense to the narrative. I also found some interesting insight to the lives of these men who each played major roles in the shaping of America in the first half on the 20th century. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in American politics and elections or this period of history.

Book review - "The Yankee Years"

I just finished reading "The Yankee Years" by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. It is the story of Torre's 12 seasons as the Yankees' manager. The 475-page book could be summed up as follows: "Jeter good. A-Rod bad."

Actually, it's not quite that simple. The bigger story is: "Players who were on the championship teams of 1996-2000 good. Players who joined the Yankees in 2001 and later bad."

I have no doubt that Torre was treated poorly by George Steinbrenner and the rest of the Yankees front office during the last couple of years of his tenure. However, the book seemed to be just a long string of complaints about how things weren't as good as they had been during the dynasty. I think we all have a tendency to long for the "good old days", not realizing that those days weren't always so good.

The book ends when Torre's contract isn't renewed after the 2007 season. Since then, he has gone on to manage the Dodgers, while the Yankees won the 2009 World Series. It was a shame how things ended, but I guess that all good things eventually come to an end.

Final thought on the book: an interesting read, but I'm glad I got it from the library rather than paying for it. Overall, it was worth reading for Yankees fans.

efficient vs exciting

Like many people, I watched the Super Bowl this past week. I was happy that the Saints won for a couple of reasons. One, when I first started following football, the Saints were usually among the worst teams in the league. So I always kind of rooted for them as my second favorite team, behind the Steelers.

The other reason I was happy about the results of this Super Bowl is that I didn't want the Colts to win. I don't feel any animosity towards the team, and Peyton Manning seems to be a good guy. However, the Colts play a style of football that I find uninteresting. Their offense is designed to pick up 10 yard gains seemingly at will. There seems to be a never-ending string of short slant passes. While it's admirable that the team has developed such a cold efficiency, it is dreadful to watch.

I think that a parallel can be drawn to baseball. In recent years, many teams have developed a "take and rake" offensive philosophy. That is, they are willing to take a lot of pitches while waiting for a pitch they can hit for a home run. This style results in a lot of walks and strike outs; which are the least interesting aspects of baseball.

In both sports, the "best" offense is the least entertaining. As a fan, I want to see stolen bases and extra-base hits in baseball; and long passes in football. Quite frankly, this has turned me off somewhat from both sports. I'm much less inclined to watch entire games. I doubt that I'm alone in this. But since these styles have been determined to be more effective, we're probably not going back. I just find this a little sad.