The Great Steven is Back!!!!

Some people still read this blog. And for the record I have the following assets:
- Xbox 360
- Gizmo (pictured)
- Cheesehat (pictured, gift from Jessica's mom)
- Snuggie (www.getsnuggie.com)

Quick thoughts by me.....

1) Fareed Zakaria's Sunday morning show is awesome
Today they had Eliot Spitzer on, the most effective prosecutor of financial corruption that ever lived. Spitzer's contention is that we don't neccessarily need more laws on the books to regulate Wall Street, its just that the regulators need more creativity/gumption/balls. Can't we get this guy some sort of job in the Obama administration? Who cares if he likes the hookers? I was excited when the Rockets traded for Ron Artest even though he physically assualted an innocent fan. The reason: he makes the Rockets win more games. And assault is WAY worse than picking up a hooker.

2) By paying the retention bonuses, AIG made thing much worse for them/us in the long run
AIG did not act in their best interests by paying those bonuses. It is politically impossible for lawmakes to let this stand. So they passed a clawback bill that will have a bunch of terrible unintended consequences. And retention bonuses? Who cares if AIG retains the decision makers who laid out AIGs business plan of insuring corporate debt like it was a car or a house. Let them find a better job if they want to skip. I'm sure having AIG Vice President on your resume opens a lot of doors for you. Giving these guys a retention bonus is akin to resigning Tracy McGrady to a 5 year contract, or voting for George W. Bush a 2nd time (sorry Dad).

3) The Astros will be awesome
Mike Hampton? Aaron Boone? Pudge Rodriguez? LaTroy Hawkins? I think the Astros will be great. Of course I just woke up from a coma I have been in since 1999.

Shane Battier is the best player of all time

...okay, maybe not.



I loved Moneyball by Michael Lewis. He just wrote an article for New York Magazine on Daryl Morey the Rockets general manager and apparently the next coming of Billy Beane (but still yet to win a playoff game).

His analysis, which he won't share, indicate that Shane Battier, despite his inability to score points, get rebounds, blocks, steals, assists or any other stat that we would find important, is still an unbelievable player. No one knows why, except for the Rockets office.

The article is long, but was easily the best article of any kind that I have read in a long, long time. And since I'm in grad school and sit in class for 3 hours at a time, I read lots of articles. Check it out.

check out the article here

Also, Morey was on Bill Simmons podcast. check it out here (hour long).




no one reads this blog anymore. so here goes:

The Rockets will win a playoff series
The Texans will make the playoffs next year
The Colts will not (the jags will as well - with MJD being the best rb in the AFC)
The Astros will suck
As the Dow Jones numbers return to 1997 numbers, so will Mike Hamptons stats.
A&M will lose in the first round of the tournament - so will Texas
Obama has done a poor job so far.
He's also done exactly what he promised (despite promising contradictory things)
The Republican response has been even worse.
Rush will run for President in 2012.
The same state that voted for Huckabee, will vote for Rush - so will brazos county
The libertarians will elect an insanely libertarian candidate that appeals to no one but ayn rand and anarchists
Craig will vote for that person.
Steven will fall in love with a new financial guru who is somehow more incorrect about the market than Jim Cramer
Steven will lose all of his air conditioning cash.
Adam will foreclose on Steven's assets.
Steven has no assets
Adam will lose his job



lets start this thing up again.