#AskSpector: Who's a good dog? Who's a good doggy? That's right, you are!

Jesse Spector

#AskSpector: Who's a good dog? Who's a good doggy? That's right, you are! image

Welcome to the first #AskSpector Tweetbag of 2015, where everything is just as it was in 2014 -- you send questions on Twitter, using the #AskSpector hashtag (or responding to the weekly call for questions), and the answers come right here.

I've been sick since New Year's Day, but if Michael Jordan can score 38 points in the NBA Finals with the flu, I can answer some questions, right?

Oh, is it arrogant to compare myself to one of the greatest athletes of all time? Do you even know how much Gatorade I've been drinking?

Let's do this.

 

 

That's an adorable dog! And Fenway is a good dog name. I like what's going on here.

Not enough ballparks have good dog-naming potential. I would rail against corporate naming, but it's not just that, because Wrigley is a corporate name but also a good dog name. Shea was a good dog name, but now the Mets play at a place named after a bank. Then again, Chase is a bank, a ballpark, and a fine dog name.

To me, the OK current dog/ballpark names are Angel, Busch, Chase, Dodger, Fenway, Miller, Rogers, Turner, and Wrigley. Maybe you could add Kauffman or "K," but that's still only one-third of ballparks, and Turner Field will be gone in a couple of years. Fortunately, there are historic names like Shea, Shibe, Forbes, Crosley, and others, but there should be more dog-friendly park names.

 

 

Yes. There still is plenty of time for the Orioles to make moves. Baltimore's only real needs are the corner outfield spots and depth, and there still are several free agent outfielders available, including Nori Aoki and Colby Rasmus, while teams like the Padres and Red Sox still have such a surplus of outfielders that trades appear inevitable. Remember, the Orioles didn't sign Nelson Cruz until February 24 last year. Patience can be a virture.

 

 

I think he would. I'd pick Mark Wahlberg, though, in part to be able to add Han Solo to the ledger for the "can you believe Marky Mark eventually wound up..." game. I do legitimately think he'd do well with the role, though.

 

 

I haven't been to a gym in a long time, but when I went, I really didn't like the bicep station. It was always somehow way harder than it felt like it should be, and I'd rather just do biceps with free weights, because that is a pretty easy muscle to exercise with dumbbells.

 

 

I don't think the Mets' pursuit of Troy Tulowitzki, or anyone else, has very much to do with the Yankees. The Mets want to be good and win on their own, and probably recognize that the Yankees, even in a downturn where they have not made the playoffs since 2012, remain a competitive team. Creating that generation of new fans like in the 1980s will happen for the Mets if they give the kids of today a reason to be interested. I think that's starting to happen anyway.

 

 

It's impossible to predict what Billy Beane's finishing move or moves will be, because a lot of it depends on waiting to see where other players go and what other teams do, then scooping up resultant bargains as the market sorts itself out. The apple pie Blizzard that I had at the airport in Minneapolis in October is my favorite one I've had.

 

 

Jamey Carroll, if there's any justice in the world.

 

 

For me, right now, it's the fact that this was the first year that I ever actually got a flu shot. I'm not an anti-vaccine person. I just hate needles. But I was worn down enough by family urging me to get the shot that I did it. And now I have the flu anyway. It's infuriating.

 

 

This led me to spend entirely too much time on The Cardigans' YouTube page, although not really too much because I still like The Cardigans. The reason I say "too much" is because as a matter of research to answer this question, not much time is needed. The answer is Nina Persson. I'd much rather be able to sing really well in a wide variety of styles than play an instrument. I love to sing... I'm just not very good at it.

 

 

I find it hard to pick against Johnny Bananas, who's won three of the last five Challenges, and has a good partner in Nany who still is looking for her first Challenge win. Leroy and Nia would also be a pretty good pick.

 

 

Always maintain perspective. Don't get into straw man arguments. Remember to have fun.

 

 

I would love it had there ever been a team called the Walla Walla Walla Wallans.

 

 

Last year is last year. This year is this year. There's no way that last year could be this year, because then this year would be next year, and next year isn't until next year.

 

 

Of those choices, definitely Daryl Boston Cream Pie, and still that by a close margin over Sean Berry Compote and Roberto and Sandy Mallomar.

 

 

Partially a matter of your own personal taste, to be sure, but there also are more movies and books about baseball than most other sports, so a lot of the best sports books and movies are about baseball. My favorite sports book is actually "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro," about an Italian soccer team, and "Hoosiers" might be the best sports movie. But it's all subjective.

 

 

 

 

You would have to ask Jared what happened to his big jeans, but if he is not answering your questions, that complicates matters. I don't know the man, so I can't tell you what his motivation is for not responding to your queries. Perhaps he is too busy promoting Subway sandwiches. This made me think about how it's been a very long time since I have eaten a Subway sandwich. I am just fine with that.

 

 

No, really. If you've been watching sports lately, you've probably seen this ad.

Yeast rolls. Four times in 30 seconds, they use the phrase "yeast rolls." Could Golden Corral not have come up with any other name? How about Golden Rolls? That would tie it to the name of your restaurant. How about anything but saying "yeast rolls" over and over again? Also, the "that's how we roll" at the end of the commercial... oy. Anyway, the closest Golden Corral to my house is 54 miles, so they're not getting my business anyway and I'm sure they don't care what my opinion is when it comes to their hideously-named food products.

 

 

I'll take the over. The Padres still have too many outfielders, and Preller seems pretty aggressive about hitting that trade market.

 

 

Different cheeses have different uses, so it's tricky, because how do I prioritize mozzarella's contribution to pizza against cream cheese's importance to bagels? Actually, you know what? It's ricotta.

 

 

I faded in and out of sleep during the playoff games this weekend, but for the most part, what I saw was this kind of thing, where you had to say to yourself, "how the hell are these teams actually in the playoffs?" and "how stinking bad must the teams be who didn't make the playoffs?" and "oh, right, I did see a bunch of the Giants this year, and that's how stinking bad." But the question is why we watch, and the answer is that playoff anything makes for compelling viewing because of the stakes, regardless of the actual quality of play.

 

 

I don't think anyone thinks it's witty. I think people call the shootout "the skills competition" as a derisve way of saying that it's not real hockey, and should be left to All-Star weekend festivities. I remain a steadfast supporter of ties for all sports in the regular season. Yes, even baseball, although I'm not delusional enough to think it will ever happen, and there is some level of fun in torturing yourself by staying up to watch a 20-inning West Coast game in May.

 

 

It's the same person, the guy who wrote the song that made my baby fall in love with me. Barry Mann co-wrote the song, but he also sings it, so the person in question must be the co-writer, Gerry Goffin.

 

 

The prospect game really is not my strong suit, but Texas has built itself a pretty good and consistent pipleine through the farm system.

 

 

I was there and it was my first one, so it'll always stick out in my mind -- the Super Bowl. Man, was that game over fast.

 

 

The Pats. I mean, it's not like there are a ton of Patriots fans outside of New England. They are the heels of the NFL world, a role that Bill Belichick has embraced quite a bit. Obviously, there are more fans of any team around during good times, but my wife's family has had Patriots tickets since the beginning of the franchise and it's not like people in New England were really rooting for other teams. It's just that until the Patriots got good, they didn't have a lot to cheer about.

 

 

I went to the Blue Jays-Mets games in Montreal last year and had a great time, but I will not be returning this year because the timing does not work out for me.

 

 

No truly great events really jump out at me, but for a shockingly small crowd, there's definitely something -- September 8, 2003 at Yankee Stadium, there was a make-up game between the Yankees and Blue Jays from a rainout earlier in the year. The game was notable as Vinnie Chulk's major league debut and not much more than that. The Yankees rolled to a 9-3 victory behind some strong pitching by Mike Mussina. A friend and I went to the Bronx very early that day, to be sure we could get there when the gates opened, because it was Hideki Matsui bobblehead day, and bobbleheads only went to the first 10,000 fans. The attendance wound up being 8,848 -- the last time in Yankee Stadium's history that there were fewer than 10,000 fans. It was surreal and really cool to be there on a day when it was so empty.

 

 

This is a half-baked idea.

 

 

It should be Wild-Jets on a frozen lake somewhere between Minnesota and Manitoba.

 

 

It's waffles, then French toast, then pancakes. Do not take pancakes being last as me saying that pancakes are bad. If you give me pancakes, I will be a happy pancake eater. I would rather have waffles or French toast, though.

 

 

I don't think I'd make a great commissioner at all. I have absolutely no experience in negotiating large-scale labor contracts, television rights, or anything else.

 

 

I would say neither. On balance, having lost David Robertson and Brandon McCarthy when also factoring in their additions, the Yankees probably are close to the same overall level of talent that they were. I don't think it's as futile as the Titanic analogy, though. They've gotten younger, which means something, and a lot of 2015 will depend on health.

 

 

Cole Hamels?

 

 

I still haven't seen it. I'm sure that in the coming years, I will get more than my fill of Frozen, so I am not in a hurry.

 

 

Unless something changes, yes.

 

 

It doesn't even have to be a fever dream. The Mets have enough pitching that you can feel free to have regular dreams about the Mets being a playoff team, and we all know that once you get to the playoffs, anything is possible. Then again, the entire 1986 Mets season took place inside Dwight Gooden's baseball card.

You've got to have the teamwork to make the dream work.

 

 

I don't know. I started today by talking about Michael Jordan. I recognize Jordan's greatness, but I'll never actually like him, not after having been a Knicks fan through the 1990s. But the Knicks had their chance in 1994, went back to Houston with a 3-2 lead in the series, and then... ugh, let's not talk about John Starks. It's not all John Starks' fault. It's not. More than 20 years later, I've come to terms with that. But why is the Knicks? To remind fans of other sports teams that it could be worse, perhaps? I don't know. I just don't know. What I do know is that even though the Knicks haven't won an NBA title in my lifetime, the stupid Pacers have never won an NBA title, even when they had Reggie Miller shoving the hell out of Greg Anthony and getting away with it. So there.

Jesse Spector