I’m trying to write more often and probably the easiest way to make that happen is writing a bit about sports. There has certainly been a lot going on in the sports world, and while it hasn’t been enough to distract from everything else going on in the world, it’s been great to watch. The MLB season is winding down, the NBA Finals are about to start, and both footballs have kicked off their seasons, along with their fantasy seasons.

Oakland A’s

The A’s clinched their first AL West division title since 2013 and finish as the 2 seed in the AL and fourth best record in all of baseball. Their reward? Facing a Chicago White Sox team that finished only one game behind them in win/loss percentage but are the 7 seed because the AL Central was very good and they lost the tiebreaker with Cleveland. Both of those teams are decidedly better than the 6th seeded Astros and probably better than the 5 seed Yankees. To top it off, the A’s get the juicy noon TV slot for the first two games. As usual, we’ll have to make our own luck.

I don’t feel great about our chances considering we’re without Matt Chapman, a bunch of hitters had been slumping until recently, and two of our three best starters are lefties when the White Sox crush lefties. Honestly though, I’m not sure I could say how the team looks since I’ve mostly been watching basketball over the A’s games. At least the noon time slots won’t conflict with any NBA Finals games!

MLB side note: The Angels fired Eppler, which I get considering the lack of major league success, but he’s done a great job with their farm system, especially the position players. I blame Pujols’ contract and Arte Moreno.

NBA Playoffs

The Finals are about to start and it’s an underdog Miami Heat team against LeBron’s Lakers. I can’t help but think we already know how this is going to go, but maybe Spo, Jimmy G. Buckets, and Bam can make it interesting. The Nuggets did nearly take Game 2 from the Lakers and had so many chances in Game 5. It will be an interesting stylistic battle at the least and should be an enjoyable series as long as the narratives around it don’t get too out of control. It has been a lot of fun watching Murray and Jokic team up and get this far, and it was vintage LeBron in the closeout game where he just wasn’t letting the Lakers lose.

Now he’ll be matched up against a fierce competitor in Butler and old foe Andre Iguodala, though I suspect he and Frank Vogel will target Dragic, Robinson, and Herro whenever possible. Whether or not Spo will be able to keep those guys on the floor over better defensive options will be an interesting subplot, but I think the Bam against AD matchup will be what I watch the most.

Fantasy Football

Fantasy football is in full swing and my team is hurting. Saquon is done for the season and my running back group is, um, subpar. Myles Gaskin is now my RB1 and my depth is being tested every week. I got my first win of the season this week and won a side bet, too, but it’s not looking good long term. I swung a trade - gave up Tyler Lockett for Terry McLaurin and Darrell Henderson, but only one other team owner is engaging much at all. I also picked up Tee Higgins and Justin Jefferson, and might try to get Laviska Shenault for that rookie receiver squad.

Premier League

The Premier League is also back in action, and now that I’ve been watching for a few years it’s getting easier to keep up with who is who and everything. I’m maybe even understanding soccer a bit better! Definitely understanding how fantasy soccer works more and moving up in my leagues there.

Despite my fantasy success, Chelsea has looked very meh to open the year. Game 1 against Brighton was sluggish and game 2 against Liverpool was a good solid match before Andreas Christensen got a red card after being beaten badly on a run by Sadio Mané. Unfortunately we got a really bad Kepa mistake after halftime when he kicked the ball right to Mané in front of goal to let Liverpool up 2-0. Personally I think a lot more of the damage lies with the defenders than most seem to, but between that play and his record of letting in goals from beyond the box, it doesn’t look good.

Game 3 was another stinker that we were very lucky to get any points from after the defense was horrid in the first half against recently-promoted West Bromwich Albion. Marcos Alonso was pretty bad and I was a little surprised to see Christensen get the nod over Zouma as the center-back opposite Thiago Silva. I’m not sure Caballero really had a chance with any of the three goals, but he didn’t do any better than Kepa. I’m hopeful that Kepa gets time in the non-league matches so he can at least try to improve and keep his confidence up.

We have yet to really see Ziyech, Chilwell, and new goalie Mendy out of the big new additions, though Havertz and Werner have both played a bunch and so far seem solid. I’m encouraged by some of the little things that Havertz does and look forward to seeing that extend to more goalscoring. Werner seems like a player that will have bouts of brilliance and create a lot of chances, but might also frustrate.

I’m very excited to see the whole team fit, especially with how Pulisic might fit in once he’s healthy, but the season will likely again come down to how the team is able to defend.

Odds & Ends

I have officially made the most progress on Bayesian Methods for Hackers yet, and it’s going well and I’m excited to keep going. I had made good progress on my NBA salaries work, but managed to overwrite the data again. It really takes the wind out of you, though at least some of the finished work can be used to make redoing the rest of it easier.

I made millet pecan muffins from the Cheeseboard cookbook last weekend and they turned out great - especially considering it was my first time making muffins from scratch!

What I’m Reading

• As I said, Bayesian Methods for Hackers, though I’m not sure a textbook should count…
• How to Do Nothing - really enjoying this book so far
• ProPublica’s climate change features

I will be spending the holidays at my parents’ home and in this pandemic that means being there for pretty much two whole months. I’ve got a rough reading list for those two months, but need to cut it down to size:

• Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
• Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (this is a need to finish)
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (if it ever arrives in the mail)
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
• One of my books by Jacques Barzun
• The Census Taker by China Mieville
• The Logic of Scientific Discovery by Karl Popper