And we have our first malcontent in response to my decision to stop accepting Facebook friend requests from total strangers. Kevin R.’s response to my message asking him to follow the fan page instead:
omg, that is so pretentious…have a lovely day…
After which he promptly blocked me from even responding to him.
Speaking of Facebook, Slate’s Big Money site has an op ed on why Facebook’s current model won’t work. It’s interesting – I’ve said before that I don’t know how Facebook thinks it’s going to make money off of me – but I don’t know that I was convinced of anything. I guess it’s better than this travesty, an article that trashes MBA educations, written by a guy who hasn’t actually been to business school but appears to know all about what’s taught there. (For the record, I’ve said before I’m not sure that business school is a good financial decision for most people, and it certainly wasn’t for me given the career change I made after attending.)
This weekend doesn’t just mark Opening Day in MLB, but in baseball leagues all over the world. Japan’s NPB started up last night; Korea and Germany start tonight; and France and Sweden (yes, Sweden) start along with MLB on Sunday. The Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse starts next Saturday.
A simple recipe for lemon squares. Not quite my cup of tea – where’s the chocolate, dude? – but the picture is appealing.
Links over at the Four-Letter: Yesterday’s chat, my Wednesday hit on The Herd (around 6:20), my Thursday hit on First Take (and no, that’s not my photo), and our MLB preview package, with two sentences from me on each team covering one rookie hitter and one rookie pitcher who could make an impact in 2009.
Isn’t that why you set up the fan page on Facebook?
Seattle media reported that one reason for Morrow reverting back to a closer was due to his diabetes. Apparently his diabetes led to an abnormal amount of fatigue for a starter. Is this a plausible reason to move him?
Keith,
Re: Yesterday’s chat. Gavin Floyd’s definitely everyone’s favorite sell high candidate, have you seen him in person recently? I haven’t, but did get to watch 12-15 starts over the past year and became a big believer in the curve (I think I’m the outlier). The fastball still has a little too much John Wasdin in it.
You have to give Zuckerberg and his buddies credit for building the site in the first place, but running an internet business that makes money from advertisements is awfully difficult, and at this point it’s pretty clear that he’s in way over his head.
As a recent CS graduate, I look at the decisions they’ve made and I can pretty clearly see the personalities of my former classmates coming through. This is his baby, and he doesn’t want to be a “sellout” by turning it over to Yahoo or loading it down with ads.
They should’ve taken Yahoo’s $1.6B offer, or any other sucker’s for that matter. Internet success is fleeting, especially the kind that is completely reliant on network effects. Even if you assume they’ll continue to grow their user base, it’s pretty hard to see how they’ll be able to monetize it.
I’m not a Facebook (or Myspace or Twitter) guy myself, but given the level of interaction on this blog, why couldn’t Kevin R. just have been happy posting on the comment section here? Does it make people feel special to claim that they are Facebook friends with celebrities?
Did they photoshop your head onto someone else’s body? That picture was making me uncomfortable.
I set up the fan page because I’m getting 30+ requests a week, and the rate is accelerating. I’ll hit the cap inside of two years, maybe inside of 15 months. And yes, there are about ten other ways to interact with me, so Kevin is just being a baby.
Christian, I have seen Floyd a handful of times and his curve is a 50 for me, whereas it was a solid 60 when he was in AA. It’s not an out pitch.
MJ, I don’t see it. Jason Johnson is a diabetic and durability wasn’t an issue. (Effectiveness was, but that’s another matter.) It sounds like a post hoc application of an explanation for a move that is tough to justify on baseball grounds.
I may be in the minority on this one, but I hate the idea of playing the first game on Sunday night. It kinda ruins the idea of “Opening Day” imo. I loved the tradition of the Reds playing the opener and EVERYONE starting play on the same day. It really felt like an event.
Also, outside of chocolate, I’ve got to say that lemon-based desserts are my favorite.
Keith, did you have the opportunity to see Walter Silva in person? Can you expand at all on what you saw and if you think he was a good pickup?…crazy that a virtual unknown Mexican Leaguer is going to be the Pads’ #3.
I’m with Rick on the opening day thing.
Rick-Agreed.
You know what else sucks? The Mets opening their stadium with a NIGHT GAME on a Monday night. I’ll still go, enjoy the hell out of it and probably miss work the next day but it’s not a real “opening day.”
The Facebook article misses one of the biggest points in marketing – people are sheep. As long as the advertising doesn’t steal from the purpose of the site – displaying to our friends how desperate our lives are (ate a taco, must put it on Facebook) – then Facebook will be able to monetize the site.
BTW, even though Opening Day has lost its virginity, I’m still excited when it wants to hang out.
Keith,
Mark Ellis of .321 ’08 OBP fame will be most underrated player in the AL in ’09?
Facebook is in position to know more about you than any other site, provided that you use it frequently enough. If they can figure out a way to elegantly upsell relevant items (say, targeted items from Amazon, or local businesses), that could potentially be a lucrative revenue stream for them.