Daily Archives: August 19, 2004

Enron cases are different

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You know that the criminal cases related to the demise of Enron Corp. are a different breed of cat when articles such as this appear in the Houston Chronicle explaining what former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling are going in their spare time while preparing for trial:

Enron’s two former top guns are keeping busy — one doing court-ordered charity work at a warehouse and the other pulling together a self-explanatory Web site.
Ex-Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling has been seen doing menial chores at a Houston Habitat for Humanity warehouse and ex-Enron Chairman Ken Lay and staff are working on an Internet site to present information he wants the public to know about his case.
Skilling is fulfilling a magistrate judge’s order that he do charity work by mopping up and doing other chores at a Houston Habitat for Humanity warehouse. . . U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy required that Skilling, whose lawyers said preparing his legal defenses was his full-time job, also perform community service while on bond.
Skilling’s codefendant ex-Chairman Ken Lay is working with his staff preparing a Web site not yet ready for viewing.
Lay has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of conspiracy and fraud relating to his last months at Enron and four felonies relating to fraud in his personal banking. . .
Kelly Kimberly, Lay’s publicist, said they are in the process of developing background on Lay and up-to-date information on his case.
When last contacted about the Web site, www.kenlayinfo.com, Kimberly said no launch date had been chosen.

Is it just a matter of time before the Justice Department hires publicists and and creates websites for the prosecution?

Break’em up

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The Stros and the Phillies picked up this afternoon where they left off last night as the Stros came back from a 7-2 deficit with a seven run seventh inning to sweep the Phils and win their fourth straight, 12-10.
Oddly, the Stros’ big rally actually began with the Stros in the field as they pulled off an Ensberg to JK to Lamb triple play (the Stros first since 1991) with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fifth. Then, Bidg started the seventh inning heroics with a two run shot that was quickly followed by Lance Berkman‘s massive two run yak to staight away center. Then, as the Phillies relievers proved that they are one of the worst groups in the league, light-hitting Eric Bruntlett uncorked a three run tater to left to complete the explosion. The Stros tacked on a couple more on JK‘s double in the ninth to complete their scoring.
Carlos Hernandez was roughed up in his second start since being recalled from AAA, which is to be expected as he continues to regain arm strength from last season’s labrum surgery. After Bullinger fiddled around with allowing the Phils to close to within 12-10, Miceli came in to get the final out in the eighth and then Lidge closed this one out with a spotless ninth.
The Stros come home to meet the Cubs in a weekender with Pete Munro leading the way on Friday, with newly-recalled Brandon Backe probably going on Saturday and Roy O pitching the Sunday matinee. The Phils come to Houston for a little payback in a three game series that begins on Monday.

Joe Sheehan on the Stros: “Time to say good-bye”

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Joe Sheehan is one of the best writers at the incomparable baseball Baseball Prospectus. Yesterday he penned the following summary analysis on what has happened to the Stros this season and the prospects for the future:

For the Astros, Roger Clemens is a candidate for the Cy Young Award, and Roy Oswalt has been a top-ten starter in the NL. Andy Pettitte and Wade Miller, however, have combined for 30 starts, while Tim Redding put up a 5.73 ERA and lost his spot in June. Brandon Duckworth was awful in his stead.
The trade of Billy Wagner to the Phillies has been blamed for some of the Astros’ pitching problems, but the real culprit was the rotation. The Astros had plenty of pitching with which to replace Wagner in the back of the bullpen–Brad Lidge has been dominant, and Octavio Dotel was effective before being traded–but when three-fifths of the rotation averaged 5 2/3 innings a start, the strain on the bottom of the staff cost the the team a lot of games in the early part of the season.
It didn’t help that this was the year in which the Astros’ offense finally died, and it did so while getting Craig Biggio’s best season since he was a second baseman back in 2001. The team’s .257 EqA ranks 12th in the NL. This will be the first below-average offense the Astros have had since 1991, Jeff Bagwell’s rookie season. Thirteen years later, Bagwell has been part of the problem, his bum right shoulder limiting him to a .443 slugging average that is flirting with his career low.
Jeff Kent and Morgan Ensberg have been disappointing as well, and a team carrying Brad Ausmus and Adam Everett just can’t affford that many underachievers. Even upgrading from Richard Hidalgo to Carlos Beltran in June wasn’t enough.
It would be nice if there was one easy answer to the Astros’ collapse, but there isn’t, and that’s baseball. Sometimes, if everyone is a little off-a couple of pitchers get hurt, a couple of hitters find their decline phase-you’re not good enough to win any longer. That’s the edge the Astros, with their love for their veteran players, have balanced on for a few seasons now. This year, even with Roger Clemens coming aboard and doing Roger Clemens things, they finally fell off.
It’s time to start over. While there will be a considerable desire to bring back the popular core of this team for another run, there’s no baseball reason for doing so. It’s an old team with no upside whose best player, Beltran, isn’t coming back. There’s no core of young talent ready to step in an rejuvenate the lineup, and there isn’t the willingness or ability to spend $100 million on the payroll, which might be enough to keep the engine running.
The Killer Bs had a long and prosperous run, winning four division titles in five seasons at their Larry Dierker peak. That they never won a playoff series became their story, but the fact remains that this is the dominant team in the storied history of the NL Central.
And it’s time to say goodbye to it.

Hat tip to the Astro in Exile for the link to Mr. Sheehan’s piece.

California’s worst nightmare

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Check out Tyler Cowen’s mini-review of an independent Mexican film that sounds both interesting and hilarious.

NY Times picks up on “Houston. It’s Worth It” campaign

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Following on Charles Kuffner‘s blog post on the subject, this NY Times article reports on the the “Houston. It’s Worth It” Internet-based branding campaign, which permits people who visit a Web site to describe why they enjoy Houston:

Financed in part by Michael Zilkha, a wealthy wind-energy entrepreneur and a prominent patron of the arts in Houston, a guerrilla-style branding offensive began this month. The campaign, using the slogan “Houston. It’s Worth It,” relies on descriptions of urban afflictions and images of giant mosquitoes and cockroaches to convey a sense of how Houston is nevertheless beloved by many residents.
The Internet-based branding campaign permits people who visit a Web site, www.houstonitsworthit.com, to describe in their own words why living in the city has its advantages. Functioning as a blog, or Web log, the site has received hundreds of comments from residents or people with a connection to the city.

The Times reports that one of the main goals of the originators of campaign was to distinguish it from past failed campaigns to promote Houston:

Distancing the campaign from past efforts was of paramount importance to its creators at ttweak, the marketing and advertising company based in the leafy bohemian district of Montrose. Ttweak became known in the last year for leading the unconventional advertising strategy for Bill White, a Democrat who was elected mayor of Houston in December.
“The ‘in spite of all the afflictions here’ angle really appealed to us,” said Randy Twaddle, who owns ttweak with a partner, David Thompson.

Or, as the website puts it:

“A city must know itself before it can sell itself.”

Read the whole piece.

Update on the sad case of Jamie Olis

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David Gerger, appellate counsel for former Dynegy finance employee Jamie Olis filed Mr. Olis’ appellant’s brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals this week in which Mr. Gerger contends that Mr. Olis’ conviction and 24-year prison sentence should be overturned because of insufficient evidence and U.S. District Judge Sim Lake‘s alleged misapplication of federal sentencing guidelines.
Interestingly, Mr. Gerger also represents former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow in connection with his plea bargain with the Enron Task Force, and Judge Lake is also overseeing the pending high profile criminal cases of former Enron executives Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, and Richard Causey.
One of Mr. Gerger’s main arguments is that Mr. Olis’ sentence should be subject to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Blakely v. Washington that suggests that federal judges should be prohibited from increasing a sentence using factors not proved before a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Previous posts are here on the Blakely decision.

Stros edge Phils in wild one

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Roger Clemens hurt his right calf running the bases (he does everything for the Stros, you know) and watched as his teammates beat the Phils 9-8 on Wednesday night in the type of game that just might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in the Phils’ decision on when to fire the Boa Constrictor.
Carlos Beltran‘s two-run double in the eighth inning was the game winner on a day in which — as predicted here — the Stros learned that Andy Pettitte will have season-ending elbow surgery next week. Pettitte and the Stros are telling the media that he expects to be ready to pitch again by spring training in 2005, but don’t bet on that. Best case is that he pitches again sometime next season, more likely by around June or so.
Clemens is day to day after straining his right calf running to first base on his two-run single in the fourth, but doesn’t expect to miss his next start. Before he left the game, the Rocket gave up four runs in three innings in this unusually wild affair. Beltran finished with two hits and three RBI for the Stros, who somehow remain just are six games behind the Giants in the race for the NL wild-card playoff spot. The Stros hitters uncharacteristically cranked out 13 hits, including at least one by every starter. Just to make sure that this see-saw game ended on an appropriate note, Brad Lidge retired a pinch-hitter on a shallow fly ball with the bases loaded to end the game. The loss means that the Phils are now 1-8 on their current homestand, which is not going over well with the Philly locals
The Stros have moved Carlos Hernandez up in the rotation to pitch today’s businessman’s special in Philly before the club returns home to battle the Cubbies in a weekend series at the Juice Box.