Class Act

I just finished reading a rather unextraordinary column is Slate about recent plagiarism scandals in the academic world. It's pretty uncontroverial even if it does seem to hand Doris Kearns Goodwin a pass when it comes to her transgressions. Maybe her plagiarism was unintentional, but she did reach a private settlement with the plagiarized author and did not subsequently publish a correction.

The most striking thing about the article is the final paragraph, where the author states:

For all the media hysteria that standards had fallen, it should be noted that Bellesiles was stripped of his job, Ellis suspended for a year, and Goodwin bounced from the PBS NewsHour and the Pulitzer Prize board. These were all perfectly appropriate punishments. Ambrose, as an author who simply didn't care about his scholarly reputation anymore and who could get paid handsomely for cookie-cutter best sellers, seemed distressingly beyond penalty. But, a lifelong smoker who had testified in court on behalf of big tobacco, he died of lung cancer in October 2002.

Is is just me or is that last sentence quite over the top and vile?

Sox Trade Lee

If the Sox were going to trade any of their big right handed hitters, I always thought it made the most sense to trade Carlos Lee. Without a doubt, Carlos Lee is a good ball player. But his trade value to the Sox was greater than his true value on the field.

Or so I thought until Kenny Williams pulled the trigger and traded El Caballo to the Brewers for light-hitting Scott Posednik and a relief pitcher. Without a doubt the Brewers came out on top talent wise in this deal. I would like to believe even Kenny Williams realizes this. So the key to this trade is the $6 million in salary that the Sox just unloaded. Rumors are that the Sox plan on picking up another starting pitcher.

This deal will need to be judged in light of any free agent signing the Sox make with the money they saved unloading Carlos. The Cheat runs the numbers here.

Great Article, Great Blog

If your into college basketball I would suggest reading this great article on last week's Illinois-Wake Forest game. And if your into Big Ten basketball, definitely check out the site where I found the article, Big Ten Wonk.