Friday, January 18, 2013

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 1/18/13

I can't get enough of this Manti Te'o story.  It's one of the sickest/craziest/most hilarious stories I've encountered in my lifetime and I absolutely cannot stop reading and talking about it.  I mean, what a fucking loser.  I don't care what the reasons are, being a starting middle linebacker for the most widely-recognized football team in the country and then going through with a plan to create and kill off a fake online girlfriend in an age where there was no way you were going to get away with it is absolute lunacy.  It's bizarro world shit of the highest order.  And just so we're clear, if you honestly buy this "victim of a cruel joke" excuse that Te'o and Swarbrick are selling, you are a complete moron.

What really gets me, and what I think isn't being given enough attention here, is that he and his little Twitter buddy waited around until his grandmother died in real life to kill off the fake girlfriend.  Were they sitting around planning the end date for the fake girlfriend like writers for a TV show?  Were they always planning on doing it after the grandma died?  Did Manti Te'o WANT his grandma to die just so he could piggyback the dead girlfriend on top of that?  I'm a pretty cold, tasteless dude, but that's low even by my standards.  Now onto the links!

- Mike Eder of TYA had a pair of great posts on individual hitters' swing mechanic problems.  On Monday, he covered A-Rod and his bad hip, and on Tuesday he looked at Kevin Youkilis and his hands.

- On Tuesday, Josh Norris of Minor Matters posted some early details on the Yankees' 2013 MiL Spring Training schedule.

- Greg Cohen of Sliding Into Home got back into the blogging groove by stating that he did not like the idea of Andy Pettitte pitching in the WBC this year.  Based on Andy's recent health track record, I'm inclined to agree and am glad he's off the roster.

- Bryan Van Dusen of The Greedy Pinstripes put an interesting spin on the "slow offseason" complaint that many have had by looking at the Yankees' activity compared to other teams.

- Alex Pugliese of Yanks Go Yard asked who from the A-Rod-Youkilis pairing made the most sense as the everyday third baseman this season.

- On Wednesday, Mike Axisa of RAB looked at early projections for Derek Jeter based on his ankle injury for 2013 and beyond.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog broke down the dollars on Rafael Soriano to determine who was a winner and loser in him opting out of his Yankee contract and signing with Washington.

- On Thursday, Chad Jennings of LoHud discussed Eduardo Nunez's middle-of-nowhere situation and brought up an interesting high-ceiling career comparison.

- El duque of It Is High... is getting tired of waiting for Cash to make his customary January move, and tired of waiting for the kids in A-ball.

- Brien Jackson of IIATMS pointed out the lack of compatability in Hal's "getting under the luxury tax but not being open to extensions" payroll policies.

- On Friday, Steph Bee of Pinstriped Bible mused on the idea of trading Curtis Granderson.  It's an idea that almost everybody out there has had come across their mind at some point.

This week's Friday Jam comes from Nine Inch Nails.  Trent Reznor is pretty damn boss these days, winning Academy Awards, recording with QOTSA for their new album, and reportedly considering bringing NIN out of retirement.  I saw Linkin Park cover this at a concert one time and a bunch of younger mid-teens kids in the crowd had no clue what the song was.  That was sad.  Those kids should have been slapped.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  Say hi to your fake internet girlfriends for me.

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