Kibitz:  (intr) US and Canadian informal to interfere or offer unwanted advice, esp as a spectator at a card game

[from Yiddish kibitzen, from German kiebitzen to be an onlooker, from Kiebitz busybody, literally: plover]

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It's the raucous skittles (as opposed to the hushed, main tourney) conference room, $250k tournament.  Two masters sitting across from each other, pieces flying around as they analyze a draw they just played.  50 guys standing in an elevator-sized area rubbernecking the celebrities sitting down.

The Kibitzer is the 23-year-old b'wana with pants up to the top of the strike zone, brown bag packed by his mom ... imagine the most caricatured Trekkie you've ever seen, and believe me, square it or cube it.  Actually, square it and cube it... anyway, this is the guy giving the loudest, inanest advice to the MegaMinds. 

Since the celebs are generally polite, the kibitzing usually goes on for a while before one of them knocks the Kibitzer's hand away trying to grab a piece for a suggested move ...

That give you a feel for why we never much got into the 16-point-by-point dissection of a Bob Finnegan article?  :- )  The guys I know who go point-by-point have richly-blue skin tone... go play yer own game, man...

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Point-by-point, detail kibitzing is gross.  (Detail conversation, in a comments thread, between equals/friends, that's not kibitzing.)  But in Geoff Baker's case, we'll make an exception.  The moment he stops being awesome, we'll advise promptly.  As you know, we live to serve.  But that moment has yet to arrive.

Why the Bakery is not the hippest -- why other sites are cooler hangouts with cooler clientele, somebody else can take up another day.  But in 2010 Baker has been best, and by several orders of magnitude.  It's Baker who has been telling you, all year, what's going to happen before it does.

:pinkfloydundertrack: GET ON WIT' IT!

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Headline

 ... No bottom in sight for Mariners, but maybe one coming for Don Wakamatsu ...

Geoffy's article, we note, rolled up traction like a monster truck in oiled topsoil.  The day after Geoff wrote it, discussion turned to whether Monday, the off-day, would be the day...

As of August 2, I'm baffled as to why Capt Jack hasn't gotten down to SwingTown yet.  What's the holdup here?

As y'know, I think Wak is one of the upcoming great managers.  The night is fallin' and the music's callin' and he'll have more chances.  But, like Baker, we're talking about Jack Zduriencik's attitude here, which has become obvious.

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Let's assume that Zduriencik already knows what he's going to do.  Why wait until the winter?  Several reasons, none of them carrying a lot of merit as far as we can tell:

• Z wants to coincide the change with a winning streak - give the new guy a chance to win
• The new manager (or interview process) that Z has in mind, isn't available now
• Lincoln and Armstrong are dubious about the change, making it more of a gamble for Z than it would be after a little more losing
• etc etc

None of these are convincing -- for example, there's nothing wrong with finding an interim manager who will be added to your short list this winter --  but that's another story.

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Part 2

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