Here are updated baseball power ratings. For example Arizona is 24th best teams and they have played .71 runs worse per game than average. Their schedule was .11 runs per game better than average. Arizona’s home park  is .27 runs better per team per game for hitters than an average hitter’s park. Coors Field is an amazing 1.33 runs better per game per team for hitters than an average park. The poor Orioles have played baseball’s toughest schedule while the Reds have played the easiest schedule. The Giants have the best defense and Tampa Bay has the best offense.

Usually I blog on sports but I watch too much TV and read many  novels, so here are some random thoughts.

Books

• Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom exceeds the hype. Every sentence is dead solid perfect. The book perfectly captures contemporary America and the ups and downs of marriage,
• My swimming buddy Cathy lent me the teen novel Hunger Games. Great escapist  fare. Katniss is a great role model for teenagers.
• One Day is a great novel that may change your life. Everyone age 15-40 should be required to read it. The book really shows you  how by living for todayand  ignoring tomorrow, you can really screw up big time!

TV

There are 4  keys to successful drama:

1. We need to care about the main players.
2. The characters need situations where they face difficult decisions where there is often no right decision.
3. People try and keep secrets, and they come back to haunt everybody!
4. Characters should not be perfect, but have strengths and weaknesses like real people.

Now a brief review of my favorite shows

• Even if you hate football watch Friday Night Lights. FNL deals with real people with real problems and football is a really small part of the show. Eric and Tami’s marriage is the most realistic in history. Riggins’ is TV’s sexiest male, and both men and women adore him.
• I hate to admit it, but I still love Weeds. The critics panned this season, but I really enjoy seeing my favorites put in new difficult situations. Mary Louis Parker is one of the world’s greatest actresses(I hope you saw here Tony winning performance in Proof!)
• Nurse Jackie is fantastic. Edie Falco’s Emmy was well-deserved but this show is more a drama than a comedy. Nurse Jackie is a drug addicted, adulterous Saint. You really need to watch to understand what I mean.
• Unites States of Tara is also great. I love the portrayal of the kids who are more like real kids than the kids on most shows. John Corbett is a wonderful husband and Tony Collette is amazing in her portrayal of Tara’s multiple personalities.
• It is no accident that Mad Men has won three straight Emmys. The acting is first rate. Every character is flawed but we still care deeply about them (although I hate Betty!) The episode of September 5 with Peggy and Don was beyond amazing. If you want to start watching you really need to start from the beginning to understand what’s going on. The  show perfectly captures New York in the 1960′s. The recent evolution of Don Draper into a decent person is a joy to watch.
• We have started watching Brothers and Sisters on DVD and are halfway through season 3. This show is a joy to watch. You are totally convinced you are watching a real family. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and we laugh at least 10 times an episode. If you want a new drinking game, take a sip of wine  (it’s good for you, see this week’s Time Magazine!) whenever someone says “Mom!”
• Gossip Girl is a guilty pleasure. Blair is a bad person but I love watching her. Chuck is a tortured soul and I love his struggling with his good side and inner demons. Unlike other shows I can never guess what is coming next. The plotting is brilliant.
• That’s all for now XOXO!

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The Baseball Playoffs are almost upon us, so it is time for Baseball Power Ratings. Here they are. We see, for example, the Braves have played .75 runs better than average due to being .27 runs better than average on offense and .48 runs better than average on defense. This ranks 4th in the majors. Colorado is the best hitter’s park, with 1.43 runs per team scored there per game (as compared to average hitter’s park.) The Reds are not as good as people think, having played the easiest schedule (.37 runs easier than average. The Pirates are beyond pathetic, worst on offense and worst on defense. We note that the best teams (Tampa and Yankees in regular season)  may not be best in playoffs because in playoffs teams often use 3 starting pitchers while during regular season 5 starting pitchers are needed. Playoff predictions will be coming later.

With apologies to Vanessa Williams, USA “saved the best for last.” A great defensive performance keyed a solid victory in the gold medal game. Here are the final ratings. USA played 27.8 points better than average; 19.37 points better than average on offense 8.44 points better than average on defense. I should have Major League Baseball ratings up tomorrow.

Prediction tomorrow USA 80-78 Lithuania 80 Serbia 77.

Here are updated  ratings

USA +23 Offense -4 Defense +27 overall

Turkey +8 offense -17 defense +25 overall

Lithuania +2 offense -7 defense +9 overall

Serbia +6 offense +3 defense +3 overall

Forecast  US 92-74 OVER Lithuania

Turkey 87-65 over Serbia

Now that the first eight games of the knockout round are complete we can come up with some reasonable power ratings for the World Baksetball Championship. For example, USA is 30.11 points better than average; 21.74 points better than average on offense and 8.37 points better than average on defense. Running through the final round of 8 teams 10,000 times USA wins 85% of the time, Turkey 13% and the other six teams a total of 2% of the time.