Jon Marthaler bakes up a batch of delicious links just for you. Other times, you can find him here and here. While he didn't specifically supply the image of that hipster dinosaur, we think he would approve of our choice. Jon?

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Happy Halloween! If you're a parent, I wish you the best this weekend as you herd your kid from house to house, hissing "SAY THANK YOU!" from the bushes and trying to keep your costume-blinded children from being run down by passing cars. The least you can do is go to the grocery store and buy marked-down peanut butter cups next week. Go ahead and gorge. You've earned it.

As for the links:

*Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated writes about New York soccer player Thierry Henry, who - as opposed to, say, David Beckham - actually is in America to play soccer, not just build a brand. Henry - who was among the best strikers in the world not all that long ago - is thrilled, too; in New York, he's finally found a place he can blend in.

*The Sports Economist blog takes up a personal pet peeve of mine - the figures that come out during every major tournament about how much money is being lost by unproductive workers. As the blog points out, we're looking at these numbers all wrong.

*Two very good posts from Canis Hoopus: first, an essay about why the key to this year's Wolves team isn't Kevin Love or Michael Beasley or Jonny Flynn - it's Darko Milicic. Second, some notes on a meeting with assistant GM and superscout Tony Ronzone. For the remaining Wolves fans, these posts get my highest recommendation.

*And finally, from commenter fasolamatt (who, if Rand is to believed, has a long-lost twin who referees state soccer matches): a look at the possible names for a Los Angeles football team.

That'll do it for me, except for one more link from Rand (via reader Don S.): if you're running cross country in Wisconsin, nature may provide its own extra level of difficulty. Here's my question: given all of the money that has permeated girls' high school cross country, how do we know FOR SURE that it was a real deer?