The View From Wisconsin

In a very odd way, I ended up returning to my Internet roots to solve a problem I'd wanted to solve for some time.

A little reveal here: I have had some issues with some websites on this big ol' place we call the Internet. (You can probably guess which ones; I'm not going to go into the details.) Now, for some time I've known that IE and most other browsers and internet apps access a file called "hosts" to map host names to IP addresses. Basically, if you type in some sort of shortcut in a web browser, it takes you to the list in the hosts file first before looking it up on the internet. The main use of this file nowadays is to use it to block websites at the core - basically, keeping you from even getting to the site at all.

I've used Spybot Search & Destroy to populate the Hosts file with blockable websites, and learned quickly to add my own as well. However, there was one thing I could not figure out: how to do it in the Mac OS.

I found out that there is a hosts file in OS X.4, located over in a hidden (from the Finder, at least) folder called /private/etc/. The Mac OS, however, is very very touchy about changing files like this, since anything in the OS's hidden files are password protected, as with most UNIX-type coding.

So I had to figure out how to get to that file and then edit it with a copy of the hosts file that I'd ported over to my Mac via my trusty thumb drive. It wasn't until I found some arcane coding tips that I discovered I could do it using an editor named "nano", which was part of the Mac application called... Terminal.

Terminal. Which was how I developed my first website on Exec-PC, about 16 years ago. And yes, it was back using the old Mac system 8. The app I used with Exec-PC, though, was something called pico... which was the editor that nano is based upon.

After a few starts and stops, I realized that I could use a UNIX code to edit the hosts file:

sudo nano /private/etc/hosts

By using the SUDO code, I could get around the password protection and save the thing, once I edited the file. And, with nano, I could simply copy and paste the hosts file list from my text file version to the hosts file on my Mac.

Nice and easy, right? Heh, WRONG. It wasn't that I couldn't do it - I did - it was that the file was 8,016 lines long. It took a good long chunk of time to get it all pasted; a little more than two hours, since nano could only post about one line per second. Once it was done, though, I saved it and cheered mightily.

Then came the fun of clearing the DNS cache. Took me a couple of stops and starts to do this in Terminal, but I got it done - and the blocking worked.

• If Bucky Badger actually ends up playing in a bowl game this year, I'll be shocked. The Big Ten may be weak as a whole, but losing week in and week out isn't helping this program.
  
• I don't get it. This Predators team should be a lot better than it is. I mentioned my SOMH adventures before; the Preds' power play in SOMH is immensely better than their real-life counterparts. Yes, I know that the Blackhawks are a drastically improved team, but being at the bottom of the power-play rankings in the NHL (while your AHL squad is near the top, by the way) isn't helping.
  
• I have no feel or sense for the NFL season this year. There's just no level of excitement for the Packers or compelling reason for watching any other NFL game - other than just watching that train wreck of a throwback jersey the Broncos are wearing.
  
• If it means no more November baseball, I'm all for monthly doubleheaders for each team to help condense the baseball season. I'm not sure if it's Fox, MLB or what to blame for the late starts to the World Series, but shouldn't the first few games be played during the day on the weekends, during weather that has at least a 50% chance of being decent instead of wet and cold?
  
• I have a bad feeling that, if they actually manage to get game six of the ALCS underway tonight, and if the Yankees beat the Angels, that the Yanks will end up sweeping the Phillies in the World Series.
• Woke up a bit early this AM to discover that the alarm clock was reading an hour early. Immediately realized this must have been the old DST weekend, back in the days when DST was the last Sunday of October. Not sure how many devices in my house will need to be fixed.
  
• Somewhat surprised/saddened to hear that the Bank of Elmwood went under on Friday. I have a classmate of mine from Park who worked there, and I remember my parents doing some banking there. I know it's part of a larger nationwide trend, but still - it's sad that a bank that was around for nearly 50 years couldn't make it to 50 because of the home mortgage crisis.
  
• After all those years of using my Macs for pretty much everything, I think I'd be lost if I had to go back to using the Mac exclusively. I still have too much stuff in my Mac archives to get rid of it completely, but I'd manage to live if I had to do without.
  

I spent the majority of this week that I had off on vacation doing some playing around with my copy of Strat-O-Matic Computer Hockey Version 6. Mostly, it was an effort to try to update the teams so I could do some season simulations; the main problem is that the player sets that I have are from the two seasons before and after the "You-Know-What".

Since SOM doesn't allow you to directly alter player cards by entering player stats, you have to do some "estimating" for those players who either don't have cards (virtual cards, of course) or have cards that were practically non-existent (20 or fewer games played for players who have played much more in the ensuing three seasons). This wasn't easy, considering that about 10-12 players per team were either new or drastically changed over the ensuing seasons.

I followed the following rules of thumb in adding/subtracting players:

• If a player's stats hadn't changed drastically since 2004 or 2006, I pretty much left the player's card/stats alone. A lot of players fell into this category, as I didn't want to make things more difficult that they were going to be.
  
• If a player's stats were drastically more or less than it had been since 2006 - for example, Shea Weber (who spent most of 2005-06 with Milwaukee of the AHL) - I used a "comparison" method to determine a player who did play in 2004 or 2006 (or even some Hall-of-Famers) who was most similar to this player. I used this sparingly, as most players were pretty much established from 2006.
  
• If the player started playing in the NHL after 2006, and played a significant number of games afterward, I used their 2008-09 stats to determine a similar player from 2004 or 2006. I typically had to use this for five or six players per team.
  
• If the player started playing in the NHL this season, but had played hockey elsewhere (AHL, NCAA, Juniors, Europe) between 2006-2009, I used an "estimate" of their performance to determine their stats for similarity estimation. This was easier for some players than others, but for rookies it was a necessity.
  

I made the estimates of similar players using an Excel spreadsheet (of course; you'd expect anything less from me?) and the stats from 2004 and 2006. There were two methods of comparing players:

• For skaters, I used the four basic stats - games, goals, points, and penalty minutes. I used the absolute difference between the player I was comparing and every player in the 04/06 NHL. I had a tolerance level for each of the categories: 10 games, 5 goals, 15 points and 25 PIM's. If a player was beyond that amount of games/goals/whatevers between the player and the comparisons, the match total for that player was set at 1000. For each player, I totaled the sum of the differences between them to determine the player's "Match" score with comparison player. The lowest total was generally the player's card that I used in the game (unless the two players weren't from the same position, like a Defenseman and a Forward).
  
• Here's an example: Chicago RW Patrick Kane's 2009 stats were 80 games, 25 goals, 70 points, and 42 PIM's. His similarity scores matched him to two players from 2004: Shane Doan of Phoenix (79 gp, 27 g, 68 pts, 47 PIM) and Steve Sullivan of Chicago/Nashville (80 gp, 24 g, 73 pts, 48 PIM). His "Match" score for both was 10 points. As delicious as the irony of using Sully as Kane's "match" would be, I opted to use Doan instead. Kane's top five were rounded out by Martin Straka (2006 NYR, 11), Slava Kozlov (2006 ATL, 12) and Mark Recchi (2004 PHI, 13).
  
• For goaltenders, it was a bit more complicated: I used the goalie's games played, minutes played, wins and losses, goals allowed and saves made as the comparison stats. The thresholds were also different: 10 games, 240 minutes, 5 wins, 5 losses, 30 goals and 100 saves.
  
• The example for goalies: Steve Mason, the Calder Trophy winner for the Columbus Blue Jackets, played 3,664 minutes in 61 games, with 33 wins and 20 losses, 140 goals allowed and 1,518 saves. He had only five matches that didn't have one stat that wasn't out of range (something that happened a lot with goalies, by the way): David Aebischer (2004 COL, 109); Dan Cloutier (2004 VAN, 231); Evgeni Nabokov (2004 SJS, 261); Chris Osgood (2004 STL, 272); and Curtis Joseph (2006 PHX, 275).
  

Now, as a Predators fan, there was this nagging question I had about Nashville, and whether or not the Preds would be a different team if a certain player currently playing for Salavat Yulayev Ufa would make a difference with this team. Guess what - it would. The Predators ended up finishing fourth overall in the Western Conference. The two biggest surprises? The Phoenix Coyotes AND the New York Islanders made the playoffs, while the Penguins missed the playoffs.

I'm not sure if I may have had some Mustard-colored glasses on with some of the players on the Predators, but this team just looks like it should be better than it is.

I got some feedback about my previous post on franchise transfers, and after sitting down to do some figuring and remembering of sports history, I came up with some interesting facts:

• In terms of "pure" franchise existence, only 66 teams in the major leagues have not moved or otherwise transferred elsewhere (significantly) during their tenure as a franchise. 17 of those are league founding franchises (Celtics, Red Sox, Bills, White Sox, Reds, Indians, Broncos, Nuggets, Tigers, Edmonton Oilers, Pacers, Canadiens, Knicks, Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, 49ers and the Maple Leafs).
• There are six more franchises that "transferred" from their original locales, but not of a significant enough distance to justify a true franchise transfer (NY Giants to New Jersey; New York Jets to New Jersey; Cavaliers from Richfield to downtown Cleveland; Florida Panthers and Miami Dolphins from downtown Miami to Sunrise; and the Angels from LA to Anaheim). The move of the NY Giants was the shortest of the them all, only 14 miles west from the Bronx. The Angels move was 40 miles SE from downtown LA and the Chavez Ravine area.
  
• The Pittsburgh Steelers merged with two different NFL teams during World War II (the Cardinals and the Eagles); the franchise never stopped playing completely in Pittsburgh during that time.
  
• The Cleveland Browns are an expansion team, but retained a franchise name that was transferred elsewhere.
• The Chicago White Stockings (now Cubs) suspended operations in the National Association for two seasons after the Great Chicago Fire. The White Stockings' owner, William Hulbert, raided the Boston Red Stockings' club for players in 1875 to fill his team's roster in the NL's inaugural season of 1876.
• I had completely forgotten that the Phillies were a "replacement team" for the Worcester Ruby Legs of the NL.
  

An interesting point was brought up on Twitter recently among Predators fans wondering if the team should try to take advantage of the Titans' failings so far this NFL season. The discussion led to a reference of how Bud Adams dragged the team to Nashville from Houston, and how the Predators were the "true" home team in the city.

This led to discussions about whether or not it was "right" to support a team that had been, in essence, "stolen" from another city and their fanbase. This gave me some pause, because of the obvious situation with my beloved Brewers (fka the Seattle Pilots). I wondered to myself how many of the 122 current Major League teams could legitimately say they were beholden to no other city for their franchise - either from expansion or from the inauguration of the league in which they began play?

The good news is, about 60% of the teams in the four major leagues fit this bill. However, there are some names that are not on the list that would surprise you.

Here's the "All Original" list:

• Anaheim Ducks
• Arizona Diamondbacks
• Atlanta Falcons
• Atlanta Thrashers
• Boston Bruins
• Boston Celtics
• Boston Red Sox
• Buffalo Bills
• Buffalo Sabres
• Carolina Panthers
• Charlotte Bobcats
• Chicago Bulls
• Chicago White Sox
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Cincinnati Reds
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Cleveland Indians
• Colorado Rockies
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• Dallas Cowboys
• Dallas Mavericks
• Denver Broncos
• Denver Nuggets
• Detroit Tigers
• Edmonton Oilers
• Florida Marlins
• Florida Panthers
• Green Bay Packers
• Houston Astros
• Houston Texans
• Indiana Pacers
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Kansas City Royals
• Los Angeles Kings
• Miami Dolphins
• Miami Heat
• Milwaukee Bucks
• Minnesota Timber Wolves
• Minnesota Vikings
• Minnesota Wild
• Montreal Canadiens
• Nashville Predators
• New Orleans Saints
• New York Giants
• New York Islanders
• New York Jets
• New York Knicks
• New York Mets
• New York Rangers
• Orlando Magic
• Ottawa Senators
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Philadelphia Phillies
• Phoenix Suns
• Pittsburgh Penguins
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Portland Trail Blazers
• Saint Louis Blues
• Saint Louis Cardinals
• San Diego Padres
• San Francisco 49ers
• Seattle Mariners
• Seattle Seahawks
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Tampa Bay Lightning
• Tampa Bay Rays
• Toronto Blue Jays
• Toronto Maple Leafs
• Toronto Raptors
• Vancouver Canucks
• Washington Capitals

There are two teams that I was hesitant to include, because of the nature of their current existence: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the San Jose Sharks. The Angels haven't left the Los Angeles metro area since joining the AL in 1961, but it's not like they represented the city of Los Angeles the whole time (despite what Arte Moreno may want us all to believe).

The Sharks are a completely different story, though: yes, they are an NHL expansion team, but for the longest time their initial owners (the Gunds) were part-owners of the Minnesota North Stars. The Gunds purchased the North Stars after their NHL club, the Cleveland Barons, had ceased operations in 1978, and in an agreement with the league they essentially merged operations of the two franchises. A decade later, the Gunds wanted to get out of Minnesota, and to do so the NHL did some wrangling to allow them to have the Sharks as an "expansion" franchise, while a group led by Howard Baldwin (who actually wanted a Bay-area franchise for the NHL) were given the North Stars - and both teams were subject to an expansion draft in 1991 (after, ironically, the Stars had made a run to the Stanley Cup finals against the Penguins).

Back to the list - there are a couple of very interesting omissions. The Chicago Cubs, for example. How could a team that had continued to play in the NL in the same city since 1876 be considered a "beholden" team? William Hulbert, the team's owner and founder of the National League, essentially raided the Boston Red Stockings of the National Association to build his White Stockings team. The real issue, of course, was that Hulbert was tired of the contract jumping of players from team to team, and wanted to have an organization of baseball clubs that respected their fellow members' contracts with players from year to year. Still, Al Spalding essentially brought with him to Chicago most of the roster of the National Association champion Boston Red Stockings when the NL started up in 1876.

The Red Stockings (who, of course, we now know as the Atlanta Braves) managed to recover from this to win eight pennants before the end of the century, but in a somewhat backwards way (as practically everything was back in these nascent days of professional sport in the US) the Cubs as a franchise were essentially beholden to the city of Boston and their baseball club.

I could give reasons for other teams' omission from this list (the Blackhawks, for example, are essentially the Portland Rosebuds of the WCHL, as are the Red Wings really the Victoria Cougars of the same league), but it's pretty transparent that most of the teams not on this list are obviously transients. Yes, that includes the Yankees, who were the Baltimore Orioles for a whole of two seasons in the AL before moving to Manhattan in 1903.

What's scary is considering the teams on this list that were true "founding members" of their sports leagues. There aren't many out there.

• Boston Celtics (BAA original member, joined the NBA)
• Boston Red Sox (AL original member)
• Buffalo Bills (AFL original member, merged into NFL)
• Chicago White Sox (AL original member)
• Cincinnati Reds (AA original member, joined NL)
• Cleveland Indians (AL original member)
• Denver Broncos (AFL original member, merged into NFL)
• Denver Nuggets (ABA original member)
• Detroit Tigers (AL original member)
• Edmonton Oilers (WHA original member; merged into NHL)
• Indiana Pacers (ABA original member)
• Montreal Canadiens (Only remaining NHA franchise)
• New York Jets (AFL original member, merged into NFL)
• New York Knicks (BAA original member, joined NBA)
• Pittsburgh Pirates (AA original member, joined NL)
• Saint Louis Cardinals (AA original member, joined NL)
• San Francisco 49ers (AAFC original member, merged into NFL)
• Toronto Maple Leafs ("expansion" team in NHL's inaugural season)

• Wanted: offense. Please apply at 501 Broadway, Nashville TN. Must know how to skate.
  
• Both of LA's teams and the Yankees have won their series; Phillies and Rockies are tied at one game apiece in their series (with snow in the forecast - move it to Miller Park!).
• Twins should have won at least one of the games in their LDS. That non-call on the fair ball was a series-changer at Yankee Stadium III. Methinks Bud needs to confab about mistaken fair-foul issues being challengeable by replay.
  
• My fantasy football league teams are struggling. I'm 2-2 in all three leagues (NFL.com, Yahoo Public and my NQRFPTFL Yahoo league), and I'm struggling this week in two of the leagues.
  
• I never did get why idiots would want to run out onto the field of play, either after a game or especially during one. It's so much a "look at me, ha ha! I'm dumb!" move that it's an embarrassment. I don't think anyone's going to remember that on the last day of baseball at the Met.
  
• By the way: I do regret never seeing a baseball game at the HHH Metrodome. I think the main reason why I never had a desire to do so is that the Twins were the "enemy" for so many seasons that I really had no desire to enter the opponent's den.
  

Yep, it's that time again: The 2009 MLB Standard Runs and Cy Young Points All-Star Teams.

For those of you unfamiliar: Standard Runs is a Run Estimation metric (somewhat) of my own creation that takes OBP, Total Bases and Net Steals and adjusts them to account for all runs actually scored in a season. I explain it elsewhere in this fine blog, as I also do for Cy Young Points for pitchers.

Here's our lists of the best players in both leagues at their positions:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C - Joe Mauer, MIN (16.1 OFIB, 131.7 SR*)
1B - Miguel Cabrera, DET (16.0 OFIB, 127.8 SR)
2B - Ben Zobrist, TAM (13.9 OFIB, 108.1 SR)
3B - Michael Young, TEX (11.7 OFIB, 101.7 SR)
SS - Derek Jeter, NYY (12.5 OFIB, 120.4 SR)
LF - Jason Bay, BOS (12.7 OFIB, 107.2 SR)
CF - Denard Span, MIN (9.9 OFIB, 93.0 SR)
RF - Ichiro Suzuki, SEA (17.0 OFIB*, 113.7 SR)
DH - Adam Lind, TOR (13.6 OFIB, 117.4 SR)

C - Victor Martinez, CLE-BOS (12.9 OFIB, 103.4 SR)
1B - Mark Teixeira, NYY (14.2 OFIB, 127.1 SR)
P - Mark Buehrle, CHW (0.15 OFIB, 0.96 SR)

ST - Felix Hernandez, SEA (39.5 CYP*, 1.289 PER)
ST - Zack Greinke, KCR (26.0 CYP, 1.194 PER)
ST - CC Sabathia, NYY (25.3 CYP, 1.616 PER)
ST - Justin Verlander, DET (23.0 CYP, 1.657 PER)
ST - Josh Beckett, BOS (22.3 CYP, 1.781 PER)
RL - Alfred Aceves, NYY (14.5 CYP, 1.566 PER)
RL - Matt Palmer, LAA (13.4 CYP, 1.812 PER)
CL - Andrew Bailey, OAK (18.2 CYP, 1.015 PER)
CL -Mariano Rivera, NYY (15.3 CYP, 1.061 PER)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C - Brian McCann, ATL (9.6 OFIB, 79.4 SR)
1B - Albert Pujols, STL (21.5 OFIB**, 160.9 SR**)
2B - Chase Utley, PHI (15.8 OFIB, 114.8 SR)
3B - Pablo Sandoval, SFG (18.3 OFIB, 117.5 SR)
SS - Hanley Ramirez, FLA (16.1 OFIB, 126.6 SR)
LF - Ryan Braun, MIL (16.0 OFIB, 131.7 SR)
CF - Matt Kemp, LAD (13.44 OFIB, 104.70 SR)
RF - Andre Ethier, LAD (13.39 OFIB, 104.67 SR)
P - Micah Owings, CIN (0.93 OFIB, 7.77 SR)

1B - Prince Fielder, MIL (17.2 OFIB, 139.7 SR)
1B - Derrek Lee, CHI (16.7 OFIB, 115.9 SR)
LF - Matt Holliday, OAK-STL (14.7 OFIB, 114.3 SR)

ST - Chris Carpenter, STL (40.3 CYP**, 1.159 PER)
ST - Adam Wainwright, STL (29.8 CYP, 1.382 PER)
ST - Tim Lincecum, SFG (23.8 CYP, 1.289 PER)
ST - Josh Johnson, FLA (22.7 CYP, 1.555 PER)
ST - J.A. Happ, PHI (17.2 CYP, 1.481 PER)
RL - Blake Hawksworth, STL (8.7 CYP, 1.050 PER)
RL - Nick Masset, CIN (7.6 CYP, 1.187 PER)
CL - Jonathan Broxton, LAD (19.0 CYP, 1.267 PER)
CL -Heath Bell, SDP (14.5 CYP, 1.411 PER)

THE NO-STAR TEAM
P - Bronson Arroyo, CIN (-2.54 OFIB, 1.08 SR)
C - Dioner Navarro, TAM (-7.0 OFIB**, 30.8 SR; worst OFIB of any regular position player)
1B - Chris Gimenez, CLE (-3.1 OFIB, 6.6 SR)
2B - Aaron Miles, CHC (-4.2 OFIB, 8.5 SR)
3B - Bill Hall, MIL (-3.9 OFIB, 18.6 SR)
SS - Ronny Cedeno, SEA (-5.2 OFIB, 11.2 SR)
LF - Trevor Crowe, CLE (-2.6 OFIB, 17.2 SR)
CF - Willy Taveras, CIN (-3.9 OFIB, 32.9 SR)
RF - Brian Giles, SDP (-3.7 OFIB, 16.3 SR)
DH - Aubrey Huff, DET (-1.8 OFIB, 8.1 SR)

CF - Carlos Gomez, MIN (-2.7 OFIB, 30.3 SR; worst SR of any regular position player)

ST - Aaron Harang, CIN (-8.17 CYP**, 2.116 PER)
ST - Jose Contreras, CHW (-6.41 CYP*, 2.546 PER)
ST - Francisco Liriano, MIN (-5.54 CYP, 2.704 PER)
ST - Justin Masterson, CLE (-5.46 CYP, 2.350 PER)
ST - Jeremy Guthrie, BAL (-5.35 CYP, 2.378 PER)
RL - Felipe Faulino, HOU (-5.10 CYP, 2.921 PER)
RL - Yuseiro Petit, ARI (-4.58 CYP, 2.703 PER)
CL - Brad Lidge, PHI (-0.15 CYP, 3.367 PER)
CL - Matt Capps, PIT (1.9 CYP, 2.725 PER)

* - Led League. ** - Led Majors.

Major League averages (per 486 PA/162 IP):

• 3.7 OFIB
• 58.2 SR
• 3.8 CYP
• 2.083 PER

I've been playing around with this list for a while, and figured I'd share it with the world since it came up in conversation on Twitter.

Most of the lyrical content Contemporary Christian Music (CCM, also known as "Christian Rock") can be boiled down into a set of 12 different categories. Now, I'll let it be known right now that this is not a knock against any particular CCM artist, but when music tends to get formulaic, it loses any particular meaning to the listener. This is important, since the primary purpose of most CCM songs is for outreach and encouragement.

So, here they are. If you think I missed a few, or if you can come up with a few examples of your own, feel free to comment.

1. Hallelujah Praise The Lord Again
Examples: "Praise The Lord", The Imperials; "A New Hallelujah", Michael W. Smith
This is when the main theme of a song is about praising the Lord or singing Hallelujah – over, and over, and over again. These make good "worship songs" - like Hillsong's "For All You've Done". The problem is that there's not a whole lot beyond the "Hallelujah Praise The Lord" to encourage people.

2. Name-dropping
Examples: "El Shaddai", Amy Grant; "One True God", Mark Harris
God has many names; if the main theme of the song is about one of them (or more of them), it fits this type of song. By the way, the one thing that bothered me over the years was what exactly El Shaddai, El-Elyon na Adonai, and Erkamka na adonai actually meant. Thanks to Wikipedia, I found out: "God Most High", "God Almighty, Oh Lord" and "I love you, Oh Lord". Which, translated into English, makes it sound more like entry #1.

3. The Love Song To Jesus
Examples: "Calling On You", Stryper; "Free To Be Me", Francesca Battistelli
The first song in this genre of CCM songs was actually, "What A Difference You've Made In My Life" by B.J. Thomas and Ronnie Milsap. Songs of this content almost sound like the singer is talking about their boyfriend/girlfriend and not God or Jesus. Ms. Battistelli's song (or is it Mrs. Goodwin now?) isn't quite as "Oh I lurrrvve you Lord" as this category would normally require. That's one of the keys to these "tropes", as you could almost refer to them by - don't overdo them, and you have a pretty good song.

4. The Conversion Story
Examples: "Lucas McGraw", Petra (1974); "You Found Me", Big Daddy Weave
This is a song that tells about the conversion experience of the singer – or of another person. Big Daddy Weave's version is a Saul/Paul-like conversion experience, which isn't very common (at least, not with Christians I know). If it's a true testimony of what the singer's conversion was like, though, it can be very powerful. "Lucas McGraw", however... I wonder sometimes if Bob Hartman doesn't do a facepalm every time he hears that record.

5. Cover a Hymn
Examples: "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)", Chris Tomlin; "How Can I Keep From Singing?", Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin is the champion at this kind of genre nowadays, but there have been plenty of Christian rock bands who've done a rock version of a hymn. In fact, this one punk-Christian rock band (One Bad Pig) did a cover of "Holy, Holy, Holy".

6. Pick a Verse, Any Verse
Examples: "More Power To Ya", Petra; "Everlasting God", Lincoln Brewster
Choose a verse in the Bible, and form an entire song around it. Petra was somewhat famous for doing this sort of thing; it's actually an easy "crutch" of sorts for Christian singers who've gotten a new meaning from a passage of scripture. Another example would be Amy Grant's "Thy Word", but that's also an example of our next category...

7. Sing a Psalm for Sixpence
Examples: "How Majestic Is Your Name", Keith Green; "How Great Is Our God", Chris Tomlin
This is a variant of the "Pick A Verse," except that the verse or verses are from the original songbook of God, The Psalms. As I stated previously, Amy Grant's "Thy Word" is a lifting of Psalm 119:105. David was a great man, a man after God's own heart, but he wouldn't have been a very good CCM artist - he was way too detailed in his lyrics.

8. Throw in a God Reference
Examples: "Find A Way", Amy Grant; "Free To Be Me", Francesca Baltiselli
This is a song that's about something non-scriptural – life in the modern world, unfaithful spouses, dents in the fender, and whatnot. Then, in one of the last parts of the song, the word "God" is thrown in. The problem with this type of a song is that even The Beach Boys ("God Only Knows") could write one like this. A lot of CCM prior to 1998 and Steve Camp's call for reformation was leaning towards this - trying to be "mainstream" but using God as a "hook".

9. The Storyteller
Examples: "For Annie", Petra; "Slow Fade", Casting Crowns
Sometimes the "storyteller" song gets confused for a country song, because it tells about suffering or heartbreak. Usually, the end of a "Storyteller" song is either "how they found God" (see "Mommy Don't Love Daddy Anymore", Rez Band) or "how we can keep this from happening again" (see "For Annie"). Mark Hall and Casting Crowns have gotten this right - witness not just "Slow Fade", but the song "What This World Needs".

10. The Prayer
Examples: "Crack the Sky", Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart; "Give Me Your Eyes", Brandon Heath
When a song sounds more like a prayer to God than anything else, this is what results. If it's plain that the person involved wants something that only God can give him/her, the only thing missing from this song is an "Amen." And even then, you might get that thrown in. This category sometimes gets thrown in with the "One More Hallelujah" category, like Christy Nockels' song, "Life Light Up".

11. The Words Of God
Examples: "Rise Again," Dallas Holm & Praise; "By Your Side", Tenth Avenue North
This is when the singer takes the First Person Singular of God. It can be controversial when used, though; Dallas Holm's song was actually converted from first-person ("drive the nails in my hands") to third person ("laugh at Him, where you stand") in different versions. It can be very moving when done right, though.

12. Combination
Truly great CCM songs are a combination of one or two of the previous types of songs – mostly because it's very hard to write from strictly one POV for an entire song. If there's thought, concern, and a desire to stick to scriptural tenets in the music, you have something that's lasting - and not just a one-hit wonder that you hear 20 times on K-Love for a month and then practically never again afterwards.

Nothing like a little "light reading" for an overnight... I, like most other knowledgeable hockey fans, sat down and read through Judge R.T. Baum's decision of "No Sale" in the Coyotes bankruptcy case. There was a lot there, but I think there are a few things that can be taken from the decision:

• Balsillie expected way too much from the court when he tacked on the "must move to Hamilton" provision to his bid. What Rodier and his band of Weasels didn't realize when ol' Diamond Jim dug in his heels about the 'Yotes is that the court was required to provide "adequate protection of any interest in the property being sold free and clear of that interest." That's legalspeak for, "If anyone other than the buyer is interested in the property under bankruptcy protection, the court has to make sure their interests are protected." In the NHL's case, that's the right to determine who owns the team and where they play.
  
• The NHL may have a conflicted interest in their bid, but that's because they are in the unique and unenviable position of being an affected party and a potential debtor. However, that doesn't mean they can't bid on the team, nor does it mean they rescind their rights to determine where the team plays because they bid on the team.
  
• PSE's bid was rejected outright by the court simply because the NHL rejected them, and because the NHL has the right to do so. It was interesting that the court realized that the NHL has the right (under anti-trust law, as I mentioned previously) to determine who owns a team, where that team plays its home games, and how much money a team must pay to be able to play home games elsewhere. Ballsy and company are best to not even attempt to litigate against the NHL on that point, because that is the equivalent of suing Bentley because they won't let you buy a Veryon with Monopoly money. Okay maybe not; it's more like the case of an individual owner in a condo association suing the entire association over the right to own more than one dog in their unit - even though the condo rules say they can't. (Not that I have any experience with that sort of thing...)
• The only thing standing in the way of this mess ending is the NHL coming to some sort of an agreement with Moyes and Gretzky over their standing as creditors. If they bump their bid up to include the pair as creditors, and essentially "buy them off", Baum would likely hand the league the keys to the team in short order. And as soon as that is done, it's likely Jerry Reinsdorf can start negotiating with the City of Glendale to become the real owner of the Coyotes in 2010-11.
  
• The saddest thing about this whole fiasco is that the Coyotes as a franchise may be beyond repair in Glendale. Bettman and the NHL will do whatever it takes to try to keep the team there, but the team was put behind the 8-ball this year financially with the uncertainty accompanying the bankruptcy hearings. Nothing short of a sustained playoff run could possibly get this team out of financial straits by June of next year.